A Complete Mess of Emotional Debts

Chapter Sixteen: A Complete Mess of Emotional Debts

"If you do that, won't you become one of those corrupt officials..." Yan Wu Shi said softly. Honest parents always hoped their children would walk upright and live with integrity.

"Then I'll be a corrupt official." Zi Bofeng snorted. If he could let his father live freely and happily, and let himself live at ease, then he had already fulfilled more than half his wish. If he could make the villagers live happily too, that would be even better. If not, there was nothing to be done. As for everyone else, he was no saint; he could not govern the whole world.

"Brother, you're a corrupt official!" Little Stone burst into giggles. These past few days, he had truly enjoyed the happiness of acting spoiled and throwing his weight around before Zi Bofeng. Before this, he had not even dared breathe too loudly around him.

"Is it that funny that I'm a corrupt official?" Zi Bofeng glared at Little Stone. "You little lackey!"

The two of them began roughhousing again.

Watching Zi Bofeng and Little Stone laugh and play, Yan Wu Shi's brows remained furrowed. She said quietly to Zi Jian, "Big Brother, you may have your reasons for not paying taxes, but for Little Stone and me not to pay taxes, it still doesn't feel right..."

Who would have thought that Zi Bofeng's ears were now sharper than a dog's? Hearing this, he turned his head and said, "Auntie, if you think it doesn't feel right, why don't you marry my father?"

That question was utterly earth-shattering. Yan Wu Shi immediately flew into embarrassed fury, grabbed Zi Bofeng's ear, and twisted it hard. Amid Zi Bofeng's cries of pain, she pulled Little Stone away and left.

Did I offend some baleful god today? Uncle Zhuzi beat me in the morning, Si Gou beat me in the afternoon, and Auntie beat me at night. Could it be that this year is unlucky for me? Bah, bah, bah, bah! My luck is great!

"Dad, did I say something wrong?" Zi Bofeng turned to look at his father. "Don't tell me you and Auntie really only share sibling-like feelings. Your son's eyes are bright as snow!"

His father had only just passed thirty, while Auntie was not even thirty yet. They were both at the age of wolves and tigers, dry kindling and blazing fire—yet somehow they just could not come together, could not be lit. If his father was not anxious, Zi Bofeng would be anxious on his behalf.

"Get lost!" Zi Jian smacked Zi Bofeng on the head, then turned his face away, trying to use the flickering candlelight to hide his crimson face.

"Dad, since we're talking about this, I need to have a proper word with you." Zi Bofeng pulled over a stool and sat closer. "Have you noticed? The way Uncle Zhuzi looks at Auntie, his eyes are glowing green like a wolf's. Don't drag your feet and let Uncle Zhuzi snatch Auntie away. Where else would you find such a good woman as Auntie..."

"Hey, what medicine did you take wrong today?" Zi Jian finally became certain. Ever since his son had returned from the examination, something had been off. Very off. It was as though he had become a different person.

"Never mind what medicine I took. Dad, just tell me whether you like Auntie or not." Zi Bofeng dragged his stool even closer, nearly pressing right up to his father's face. He was really taking an inch and demanding a mile.

"Go eat your food. Children shouldn't meddle in grown-ups' affairs." Zi Jian waved him off.

"Tch. When you were my age, you were already my father." Zi Bofeng waved dismissively. "Little Stone already has a little wife, and you still won't let me meddle? Don't you want to hold a grandson?"

Well, well! His son was truly acting outrageously today! Zi Jian was deeply displeased. Where had his solemn, proper son gone? Give that son back to him!

My son can't possibly be this arrogant!

Seeing his son pick up his chopsticks and start eating as if nothing had happened, Zi Jian's anger flared. "Eat, eat, all you know is how to eat! Your Auntie and Little Stone haven't eaten yet. Hurry up and bring half of this over to them!"

So what if he was a Xiucai? He still had to obediently listen.

"Oh..." Zi Bofeng grinned slyly and obediently agreed, glancing sideways at Zi Jian.

Zi Jian's old face was so red, he could have spread batter over it and fried pancakes.

Zi Bofeng divided the dishes and rice in half and carried them across. After he knocked on the door, Little Stone opened it with a creak. He had clearly been waiting for him.

Seeing Zi Bofeng arrive, Little Stone whispered, "Brother, what do we do? My mother is angry at you."

"Your mother isn't angry at me at all. Auntie is delighted inside..." Zi Bofeng tapped Little Stone's filthy little nose. "What does a little runt like you know? Take the food inside before it gets cold."

"Hmph, I'm not a little runt! I already have a wife." Little Stone shook off Zi Bofeng's finger, wrinkled his nose, bared his teeth at him, and turned away.

Zi Bofeng tied his belt to the door bolt, pulled the door shut, then tugged the bolt to help Little Stone bar the door from inside. With another flick of the belt, he pulled it free from the bolt.

As he helped Little Stone shut the door, he heard Little Stone say to Yan Wu Shi inside, "Mom, Brother said you weren't angry. He also said you were delighted. Ow..." Yan Wu Shi had clearly smacked him on the forehead, followed by a soft scolding: "Loose tongue!"

"That Little Stone, why is he so thoughtless? Sometimes, the truth can't be spoken..." Imagining Yan Wu Shi's embarrassed and angry expression, Zi Bofeng chuckled. Little Stone had truly been wronged.

After secretly laughing for a while outside Yan Wu Shi's home, Zi Bofeng felt that this ought to dissolve the restraint they had maintained for so many years. Those two clearly had feelings for each other, yet they simply would not pierce that final layer of window paper. How could they have such incredible self-control?

But when he turned around, he saw a tall figure standing behind him.

"Wah!" Zi Bofeng jumped in fright, then saw that it was Yan Lao Wu.

"Old Master, did you need something from me?" Zi Bofeng asked when the old man did not speak.

"You're the one who has something to discuss with me." Yan Lao Wu said in a muffled voice. "Stop playing dumb. I know it's about collecting taxes."

If it were not about taxes, was there any need for Zi Bofeng to visit his home twice that afternoon?

Why had Yan Lao Wu come? Could it be because of Si Gou?

Zi Bofeng looked at Yan Lao Wu suspiciously. Rarely, Yan Lao Wu's old face reddened. "You young fellow, are you going to make me stand here while we talk?"

"It isn't convenient to talk at home either. Since it's official business, let's go to the Private School." Zi Bofeng was no longer afraid of Yan Lao Wu. After calling out to Zi Jian, he and Yan Lao Wu headed for the Private School one after the other.

Seeing that this brat was putting on airs again, Yan Lao Wu felt displeased. But remembering how he had been unable to sit or stand at ease all afternoon, he shook his head and followed.

The more Yan Lao Wu thought about it that afternoon, the more wrong it felt. He had been a hero all his life—at least, he considered himself one—and yet he had never done anything so lacking in honor. When he heard that Si Gou had even beaten Zi Bofeng over the tax matter that afternoon, he felt even worse. He had not eaten dinner and had waited until now, but in the end he could not resist coming to find Zi Bofeng.

"Now that you're the Village Chief, collecting taxes is ultimately still your responsibility. I can only offer you a few suggestions." The two arrived at Zi Bofeng's study and took their seats as host and guest. There was not even any tea; they simply began talking dryly.

After saying that, Yan Lao Wu did not wait for Zi Bofeng to say anything more and launched into it all at once.

The more Zi Bofeng listened, the more astonished he became.

The man's eyes were nearly clouded with age, yet he knew every household's assets better than his own. He knew exactly whose taxes could be collected, whose would be difficult to collect, and how much each family would have to sell.

"Tomorrow, I'll give everyone a heads-up. Paying taxes concerns the entire village, but there's no way we can scrape together three times the tax..." After saying this, Yan Lao Wu patted his backside and left, carrying the distinct air of, "Fellow Daoist, I can only help you this far."

Zi Bofeng watched him leave, his feelings complicated. His decision that day had indeed been right. Yan Lao Wu was not deliberately opposing him; he simply had not been able to see things clearly for a while.

But now, Zi Bofeng had formed a plan. He did not entirely need Yan Lao Wu's help anymore.

Zi Bofeng sat in the study for a while, sorting through his thoughts. Before long, he heard Zi Jian's voice outside: "Bofeng, are you in there?"

Seeing that his son had not returned, Zi Jian worried he might go hungry and brought the food over again.

Father and son ate in silence in the study. They ate until they were about eighty percent full, then neither had the heart to continue. Both went home to sleep, weighed down with thoughts.

Zi Bofeng barely slept that night, and from the room across from his, he could hear that his father was also tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Not far away next door, someone else was unable to sleep as well. Yan Wu Shi lay on the bed, holding Little Stone in her arms as she gazed foolishly at the bright moon outside the window, unable to stop a smile from appearing on her face.

How could Bofeng, that child, dare to say anything at all... He really makes people like him!

Thinking this, Yan Wu Shi hugged Little Stone tighter. Listening to his murmured sleep-talk, she hid her blushing face beneath the blanket.

But it was not only Zi Bofeng who barely slept. That night, eight out of every ten people in Lower Yan Village lay awake. The remaining two were children too young to understand anything.

The only adult who slept soundly was Lao Si, the tax clerk who had gone for another round of drinking that night. His snores shook the heavens, keeping even Yan Lao Wu from sleeping.

By the fourth watch, Zi Bofeng had finally drifted into a hazy sleep. But not long afterward, he heard shouts outside, as though something major had happened.

"Bofeng, Bofeng, get up!" Zi Jian shook Zi Bofeng for a long while before he reluctantly opened his eyes. "Class isn't starting for a while yet. Let me sleep a little longer... Cover roll call for me..."

"What is this child babbling about? Get up quickly, something terrible has happened! Something happened to Si Gou!"

Si Gou? The moment he heard that name, Zi Bofeng jolted awake. Only then did he suddenly remember that he seemed to have forgotten about Si Gou and the Yan Clan Heavenly Soldier...

No wonder he had tossed and turned all night.

He hurriedly threw on his clothes and ran outside. There, he saw Yan Wu Shi holding the bleary-eyed Little Stone as she looked around outside.

The family of four gathered and headed toward the Ancestral Shrine. Before they even arrived, they had already endured countless gazes along the way, most of them uncertain and alarmed.

At the entrance to the Ancestral Shrine, Yan Lao Wu stood at the gate. Zi Bofeng walked over and asked, "What happened?"

The other three from the Zi family—women, children, and those not bearing the Yan surname—did not have Zi Bofeng's status as Village Chief, so they consciously remained behind.

Yan Lao Wu heard nothing, as though he had been frightened into a statue.

Zi Bofeng looked up—and was stunned as well.

Record of Raising Monsters