Trust

The village stayed lively for half the night. Even watered-down Peach Blossom Drunk still packed a powerful kick, and quite a few of the adults ended up drunk.

Holding Wang Xiaojing's hand, they wept. "This isn't your fault. Your second uncle died just like that—we're heartbroken too. You were locked in the silver mine as well, forced into it with no other choice. Just don't do this sort of thing again in the future."

Then they clutched Pan Yun's hand and wailed, "Little Yun, thank goodness for you and the Mountain God! Otherwise, we'd all have died in prison. That old bastard surnamed Wu even wanted to sell my daughter off as someone's concubine. In his dreams! A daughter of the Wang family would rather die than become a concubine!"

Then they grabbed Wang Fei Yin, crying and laughing at once. "Fei Yin, you can't measure up to Little Yun. How does that old saying go? The waves behind in the Yangtze push the waves ahead, slapping the later waves to death..."

Wang Fei Yin said, "...It's 'the waves behind in the Yangtze push the waves ahead.' Besides, I'm neither the wave ahead, nor can Junior Sister slap me to death. You've had too much to drink. If you don't sober up soon, your wife will slap you to death."

"Am I afraid of her?" The man's eyes widened, and he immediately straightened his back, shouting, "Come on, I'm from Fenshui Village on Mount Sanqing, how—"

His wife smacked him in the face with the shoe sole she had only half-finished stitching, then twisted his ear and dragged him home. "Still drinking? Still drinking? Are you going to the fields tomorrow or not? Get home!"

Pan Yun and Wang Xiaojing stood beneath the shadow of a roof some distance away,