Returning Home in Glory

After leaving Tian Heng's Black Clothes Gang, Young Master Shen hurried back to his parents' home without stopping.

His parents and Younger Brother had long been waiting with eager anticipation. While he was still at the foot of the mountain, his mother impatiently came forward to greet him.

"My son, how does the Earl's Manor's Young Lady treat you?" his mother asked eagerly.

Young Master Shen said, "She treats me very well."

His mother said, "Then Mother can rest easy."

The Earl's Manor's two warriors carried box after box of gifts into the house: bolts of cloth, rice and flour, meat, and plenty of medicinal herbs.

MuLan had been very thoughtful. Knowing that Young Master Shen's father and Younger Brother were injured, she had specially prepared a great deal of wound medicine and tonics.

Then Young Master Shen took out three hundred gold coins and placed them before his father. "Use this money to build the family a new house, with the finest bricks and tiles."

His father's expression changed slightly. "Da Lang, you are now part of the Earl's Manor. It is fine for us as your parents to benefit a little, to eat and drink a little better, but we must never take the Earl's Manor's money. We cannot let them think you are funneling things out, ruining your reputation."

His father had put it tactfully. More bluntly, he feared Young Master Shen would gain a reputation for feeding the inside while helping the outside.

Young Master Shen smiled. "These gold coins were not given by the Earl's Manor. I earned them myself."

His father asked, "How did my son earn them?"

Young Master Shen said, "Your son invented a new Dye formula and sold it to a major Silk merchant in the city. Before, I did not dare use it openly, but now that I have become the Earl's Manor's son-in-law, I can use this money openly and without worry."

Naturally, Young Master Shen could not tell his parents that he had extorted this money from Tian Heng. If he did, they would be even less willing to use it.

Even so, his father still hesitated. He had doted on Young Master Shen since childhood and truly could not bear to spend his money.

Young Master Shen said, "Build a large house so I will have somewhere to stay when I come back. If MuLan comes back with me someday, she cannot possibly stay in this thatched hut, can she?"

Those words immediately made his father resolve himself. They had to build a new house—a large one.

Although he felt that the Earl's Manor's Young Lady would never come to his home, if she ever did, they could not let his daughter-in-law have nowhere to stay and cause his son to lose face.

"A large house would cost no more than a dozen or so gold coins. Why would we need three hundred?" his father asked.

To be honest, he had never even touched a gold coin before. In the past, he had only used copper coins, with silver coins being the very limit.

If you went to the market to buy something with a gold coin, people simply would not have enough change.

And in the countryside, even building a large brick-and-tile house with five or six rooms, using the best blue bricks and stone slabs, with a spacious courtyard and surrounding walls, would not cost a hundred gold coins.

Young Master Shen said, "The house must be large and imposing. The walls must be thick, and the courtyard walls must be high."

"Alright!" his father said.

Meanwhile, his Younger Brother Shen Jian stood beside them, gazing at Young Master Shen with longing in his eyes. He had always been nothing but a bottom-rung street thug. Now that his older brother had become the Earl's Manor's son-in-law, he had long wanted to leave this little village and see the wider world.

Young Master Shen said, "Focus on recovering from your injuries. Once you are well, your brother will take you out. I will make sure you have a future."

"Alright!" Younger Brother said in delight. "Once I become awesome, I'll marry Widow Liu into the family."

His ambitions were still as lofty as ever.

Next, Mother prepared a lavish lunch, even though it was already afternoon.

Young Master Shen happily shared a meal with his family.

Mother invited the Earl's Manor's two warriors to eat with them, but they refused. After moving the gifts inside, they went straight outside, stood there, and took out two flatbreads for lunch.

It was a form of respect, but in a way, it was even more a form of distance. They did not wish to get too close to Young Master Shen's family.

Though they were willing to risk their lives to protect Young Master Shen, they still looked down on him in their hearts, and Young Master Shen was even less able to order them around.

Of course, Young Master Shen had no intention of pressing his warm face against their cold one. If they did not want to come in for a meal and preferred gnawing flatbread outside, then so be it.

Even when Mother wanted to brew them tea, Young Master Shen said there was no need, giving each of them a bowl of plain cooled boiled water instead.

Young Master Shen made a decision in his heart.

He had to have trusted subordinates of his own. He did not need many—even one or two capable men would do. The key was that, upon hearing Young Master Shen's orders at critical moments, they could charge forward without the slightest hesitation.

And whenever Young Master Shen had something to do, he would not need to go himself. He could simply send someone.

Having to personally handle everything was just too pathetic.

Subordinates were not about quantity; loyalty and competence mattered most.

Next, Young Master Shen brewed medicine for his father to drink. Then he applied new medicine to the place where Younger Brother's bone had been broken, before rewrapping and securing it with clean strips of cloth.

His parents almost greedily savored this warmth and happiness.

Their beloved eldest son had actually become so filial and sensible. Everything was simply too wonderful.

The sun gradually slanted westward. Young Master Shen formally bid farewell to his parents and prepared to return to the Earl's Manor.

Mother's eyes brimmed with tears, yet her face was full of smiles as she watched Young Master Shen leave.

"Da Lang, Big Fool has gotten into trouble. Things don't look good. Go take a look at him."

Just before he left, Mother could not help saying it.

Big Fool had been Young Master Shen's only friend before, and he had protected him since childhood.

When Younger Brother Shen Jian protected Young Master Shen, he fought others for him. When Big Fool protected Young Master Shen, he took the beatings in his place.

As Young Master Shen headed to Second Fool's home, the villagers pointed and whispered all along the way through Maple Leaf Village, hiding behind their doors to watch the spectacle.

Their gazes upon Young Master Shen were incomparably complicated.

Who would have thought that Young Master Shen, that useless good-for-nothing, would soar into the heavens and become the Earl's Manor's live-in son-in-law?

The second fool they had once looked down upon was now perched high above them, someone the villagers could no longer even hope to look up to.

Envy, jealousy, and hatred!

Yet whenever Young Master Shen's gaze fell on them, each of them plastered a fawning smile across their faces.

Still, they could not help maliciously speculating that Young Master Shen had once been driven out by the Xu Family, and perhaps before long he would be cast out of the Earl's Manor too, slinking back in disgrace to his thatched hut on the mountain.

These villagers were simple enough, but they were also shrewd.

They had sympathy, but they were unwilling to see others living too well.

Best of all was for you to be worse off than me, so that I could occasionally help you once or twice, satisfy my kind heart, and gain a sense of accomplishment.

Young Master Shen swaggered through the village without the slightest intention of stopping to exchange pleasantries with any of them.

It was not as though he had become emperor and needed to put on an act like Emperor Gaozu of Han.

Young Master Shen's family had come from elsewhere. On top of that, he was handsome, and he had once had something wrong with his mind, his intelligence far below normal.

Thus, the people of the village had not merely looked down on him in the past—they had bullied and ostracized him as well.

From childhood to adulthood, countless village children had picked on Young Master Shen.

Whenever that happened, Second Fool would use his sturdy body to shield Young Master Shen from stones—and once, even from foul mud.

Like Young Master Shen had once been, Second Fool's intelligence was rather low.

Or perhaps Second Fool was more like the protagonist of Forrest Gump—simpler, more single-minded.

He had been somewhat abnormal from the moment he was born. He had weighed a full twelve jin at birth.

After giving birth to him, Second Fool's mother had died in a difficult labor.

Once he came into the world, Second Fool had shot up in height.

Even though he never had enough to eat each day, by the age of eighteen he had grown to two meters and ten centimeters, like a giant.

No one knew why. His parents had both been ordinary people, yet he alone was unlike everyone else.

Second Fool ate an enormous amount every day, but he worked just as hard. Alone, he could match three or four laborers, and his strength was boundless.

In short, he was extraordinarily gifted, no ordinary man.

Though he was huge and possessed incredible strength, Second Fool had always been harmless to man and beast, with an honest face and pure eyes. He never fought.

When others hit him, he would simply turn around and offer them his back, never striking back even once.

When Young Master Shen was beaten, he would wrap Young Master Shen in his arms, then turn his back for others to hit.

Second Fool did not live well. Three years after his mother died, his father remarried and had another son with his stepmother.

From then on, Second Fool was treated as though he had been picked up off the roadside. If not for his ability to work, he probably would not even have had food to eat.

Of course, even though he could work, he was never allowed to eat his fill. His stepmother gave him only Corn Rice and strictly rationed it; most of the time, he went hungry.

His mother had said that something had happened to Second Fool, so Young Master Shen hurried anxiously to Second Fool's home.

When Young Master Shen arrived at Second Fool's courtyard, he found that the family was doing fairly well. His father was a renowned hunter and also served as Maple Leaf Village's Militia Leader, so they lived in a three-room brick-and-tile house with a walled courtyard.

"Where is Second Fool?"

After entering, Young Master Shen did not see Second Fool. Only his stepmother and younger brother were there.

Second Fool's Stepmother froze when she saw Young Master Shen. "You fool, why are you here?"

She immediately covered her mouth, for Young Master Shen was dressed in finery and had two warriors with him.

"Second Fool went to work," Second Fool's Stepmother said. "What do you need, Young Master Shen?"

Gone to work? Hadn't Mother said something had happened to him? "Where is he working? I'll go find him." Young Master Shen said, "Also, I'm giving your family some money. You must make sure he eats his fill every day, understand?"

Then he took out a bag of money containing a full fifty silver coins.

Once Young Master Shen had fully established himself at the Earl's Manor, he would take both his younger brother Shen Jian and Second Fool away. But for now, Second Fool still needed to remain at home for a while. Even if only a tenth of this money was spent on Second Fool, it would be enough to let him eat his fill.

Second Fool's Stepmother's eyes lit up. She hurriedly accepted the money pouch and nodded frantically. "Don't worry, Young Master Shen. I'll definitely make sure Da Zhuang eats his fill every day. I'll even give him meat. You're the one with promise and a conscience, Da Lang. Even after making it big, you haven't forgotten your friends."

Second Fool's Half-Brother saw Young Master Shen dressed in such wealth and immediately grew jealous. He sneered, "Second Fool? He's probably been dead for ages, tossed into some Mountain Gully."

Young Master Shen's expression changed at once. He rushed out of Second Fool's house.

A quarter of an hour later, Young Master Shen found the abandoned Second Fool in a Mountain Gully.

He was so thin that he was little more than skin and bones, barely clinging to life, his entire body stained with blood.

A towering man over two meters tall had wasted away until only a skeletal frame remained. His chest was grotesquely swollen, and the signs of broken bones were plainly visible.

But those eyes were still pure. When he saw Young Master Shen, delight even appeared in his gaze as he weakly called out, "Second Fool, you're here? I missed you so much!"

"Yeah, I'm here." Young Master Shen's eyes grew hot. "What happened to you? How did you end up this badly hurt?"

Big Fool said, "Younger Brother was being naughty and provoked a tiger on the mountain. I saved him, but the tiger smacked me a few times. Several bones broke, and I coughed up blood. Father had no money to treat me, so he left me here."

The moment those words came out, Young Master Shen could no longer hold back his tears.

Bastard, beast! Just as they said—get a stepmother, and you get a stepfather too.

Big Fool's younger brother was no good. He bullied Big Fool every day, and bullied Young Master Shen too. Sometimes he threw dirt into Big Fool's food, sometimes bugs into Big Fool's bedding, sometimes stole money and pinned it on Big Fool, and sometimes went out causing trouble before framing Big Fool for it.

Even so, Big Fool still protected that younger brother.

Now, he had been injured by a tiger while saving that bastard of a younger brother, yet his father had actually thrown him here to wait for death.

They were worse than beasts.

I'll never let them off!