Chapter 71

If Yan Baiyu had ignored Li Cunxin, Li Cunxin might have cried for a while and gradually calmed down on her own.

But Yan Baiyu gently held her, soothed her, and instead caused her emotions to completely crumble.

The vast, chaotic tide of emotion crashed down like a tsunami. Li Cunxin’s body trembled and shivered within its storm. Her body jerked upwards as she gasped, like a hiccup, then collapsed downwards as she released the breath, like half a cough.

“They smashed my… my wine…” Li Cunxin’s words came out haltingly. The hot tears spilling from the corners of her eyes stung her skin.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t bear to lose that jar of wine. It was the dashing of her hopes that caused her such pain. The shattering of that wine jar reminded her of the despair of something lost irretrievably.

It was like a child, just old enough to remember and understand, encountering disappointment for the first time—not yet having learned how to reconcile the grievance and frustration in their heart, left only with tears to vent their emotions.

Yan Baiyu released her and half-squatted before Li Cunxin, holding her left hand and tilting her head up to see Li Cunxin’s tear-filled eyes. “Cunxin, when giving a gift, there are two things that matter. First is the intention. As the old saying goes, ‘A goose feather sent from a thousand miles away; the gift is light, but the sentiment is heavy.’ There’s a real truth in that cliché. Sincerity and genuine feeling are the true weight of the gift. Second is suiting the recipient’s tastes. A gift’s value isn’t in its price tag, but whether the recipient likes it. This jar of wine… I know you put your heart into it. Even though I didn’t receive it, I’m still very happy. You accomplished both the first and second points. The gift itself is just a vessel; whether I receive it or not doesn’t matter anymore.”

Li Cunxin wiped her tears messily with her palm, unable to dry them completely. Her emotions didn’t calm in the slightest. Stubbornly, she said, “But I wanted… I wanted to give it to you…”

A sudden realization dawned on Yan Baiyu. She understood now that Li Cunxin’s emotional collapse wasn’t solely because of this jar of wine. There were accumulated worries, perhaps pressure, the regret of not being able to keep Mei Wenqin, or perhaps pain from even earlier times…

Li Cunxin had merely found an outlet. “They smashed my wine” was an incantation.

It was like ordinary people, crushed by work pressure, life’s setbacks, and the pain of their family background. They don’t break down; they walk on, numb, like puppets. Then one day, they stub their toe on a table leg, and the sharp, shooting pain makes them scream as if gone mad, shouting “It hurts! It hurts!” before collapsing in tears.

How much could it really hurt? Was it truly that soul-rending? Not necessarily. It’s just that a crack had opened in their heart, and all the pent-up emotions needed to flow out.

Yan Baiyu understood this. She understood that any words of comfort were superfluous at this moment. And so she felt more tenderness and love for her than ever before.

She abruptly stood and embraced Li Cunxin again. This time, she wasn’t loosely holding her; she held her deeply. She could feel Li Cunxin’s tears soaking through the fabric of her clothes near her stomach. The scorching heat of those tears made her skin tremble lightly.

Li Cunxin seemed to have tired herself out from crying, and with her head injury, it wasn’t long before exhaustion and drowsiness made it impossible to keep her eyes open. Yan Baiyu helped her lie down on her own bed.

Li Cunxin felt as if she’d emptied everything inside her, thrown it all out. Her body was hollow and powerless, yet also lighter and clearer than ever before. The moment she touched the bed, she fell asleep. It was as if her body had hit rock bottom and rebounded—having purged the filth, it was desperate to absorb new energy.

Yan Baiyu sat on the edge of the bed. Li Cunxin lay curled on her side facing her, legs bent, body curved in an arc that encircled Yan Baiyu’s outer edge. Her fingers were still resting in Yan Baiyu’s palm.

The night was very still. Yan Baiyu looked down at Li Cunxin, a flicker of emotion stirring in her heart. She used the back of her fingers to smooth Li Cunxin’s hair behind her ear, her thumb brushing over the outer curve of her ear—warm, soft.

Her gaze, fixed on Li Cunxin, grew very, very deep.

A knock came at the door. Yan Baiyu flinched slightly, as if snapping out of a trance. The clarity returned to her eyes. She rubbed her own brow and let out a slow breath, steadying herself. After a moment, she released Li Cunxin’s hand, got up, and quietly went out, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Yan Baiyu placed the candle on the table, unlatched the door, and pulled it open. The faint light spilling from the main hall illuminated three figures standing outside. “What’s wrong?”

Xu Yin and Zhao Penglai stood in front, side by side. Behind them was another person, holding some items, his head bowed nervously.

Yan Baiyu glanced at him. She recognized him but couldn’t recall his name.

Zhao Penglai pointed at the man. “This is Liu Kan. He came to confess something. It’s about Zhang Hejun’s group.”

Yan Baiyu had already asked Yu Muyang and Zhao Penglai about recent events in the village. She knew the name Liu Kan and, naturally, knew what he’d done. Now, connecting the name to the face, she couldn’t help but frown.

Xu Yin asked, “Where’s the Village Chief?”

Yan Baiyu glanced back at her own room and stepped aside to let them in. “She’s asleep. Come in and tell us.”

Yan Baiyu gestured for the three to go into Li Cunxin’s room to talk. She followed last, carrying the candle, and closed the door to muffle the sound.

Yan Baiyu set the candle on the small bedside table and sat on Li Cunxin’s bed. Xu Yin sat on a nearby chair. Zhao Penglai stood by the table. The three of them faced Liu Kan, their sharp eyes glinting with piercing light as they stared him down.

Despite the late autumn night, a cold sweat inexplicably broke out on Liu Kan’s back.

Zhao Penglai said, “After dinner, he came to me with these copper tools, asking me to plead his case.” As he spoke, Zhao Penglai chuckled.

Yan Baiyu carefully examined the farming tools Liu Kan was holding. In the firelight, their color was dull, not as darkly lustrous as ironware, but the texture didn’t look like stone either. So it was copper.

Zhao Penglai said to Liu Kan, “Speak for yourself.”

Liu Kan set the tools on the floor. He was silent for a moment, not daring to meet the three people’s eyes, simply keeping his head down. “About six or seven days ago, when I was working in the fields, I saw three people coming from the north. The one leading them was Zhang Hejun. They seemed to be looking for something. When they got here, they called out and barged right into the Notoginseng Field.”

Yan Baiyu had already asked Yu Muyang and Zhao Penglai about the whole Zhang Hejun incident and was clear on the sequence of events. Hearing Liu Kan’s words, a suspicion formed in her mind. She narrowed her eyes.

“They probably saw the field was well-tended and realized someone had cleared it. They reached the edge of the ridge and looked around. Seeing me in the field, they came over and asked if they could borrow some notoginseng.” Liu Kan could feel the gazes from above almost scorching him. He braced himself. “I was angry at the time. And, being an idiot, I deliberately told them they could pick as much as they wanted.”

Xu Yin said coldly, “So what those people said actually had some truth to it. The notoginseng and potatoes were traded for copperware. They just had the wrong owner, and you took the credit.”

“I… I… After the first time, I knew I’d made a mistake. I felt guilty. But the Village Chief didn’t investigate. I got a little lucky, thought maybe I’d get away with it. So I pretended not to know. But two days later, Zhang Hejun and the others came back with more copperware, wanting to trade for more notoginseng and potatoes. I… I was caught between a rock and a hard place. If I didn’t trade, I was afraid they’d go to others in the village and the first incident would become known. I panicked, wanted to cover it up. My brain short-circuited, and I agreed to let them dig. I didn’t dare accept the copperware, but they insisted on leaving it. Plus, their mental state seemed a bit off. I was worried and didn’t dare refuse. But I didn’t dare use it either, so I tossed it in the woods at the end of the potato patch.” Liu Kan wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I only found out Zhang Hejun was caught when I heard the commotion in the village today. I never imagined things would blow up this big…”

“Actually, back in the summer, when the Village Chief spoke to me, I… I knew I was wrong. I was just, I was just… sigh…” Liu Kan scratched his head. “After I went out on my own, I wanted to come back every day. I just couldn’t swallow my pride…”

Yan Baiyu closed her eyes, listening quietly to Liu Kan’s words. The fabric of her clothes near her stomach was still damp with Li Cunxin’s tears. She took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing to slits. “You want to come back?”

Liu Kan didn’t answer, tacitly acknowledging it.

Yan Baiyu’s voice was cold and hard, the chill in her eyes piercing Liu Kan. “Do you think this is a game? You can just leave when you want and come when you want?”

If Yu Muyang were here, with his explosive temper, knowing the truth, he’d have already kicked him. But these three in the room were too composed—so much so that masking their emotions was second nature. Even when angry, they’d choose more appropriate means, or ways that better preserved their interests.

Yan Baiyu glanced at Xu Yin. Xu Yin stood up, took two steps to Liu Kan, grabbed the man’s clothing, and started dragging him out. The force was such that Liu Kan couldn’t break free. He could only stumble along, half-panicked, half-confused, following Xu Yin.

The cold moon lit the road. Xu Yin dragged Liu Kan to the neighboring house and knocked on the door of the place Yunxiu and Xia Qing lived. The house had been lent to Yang Tainan’s group to stay in temporarily. It was Zhang Hejun, sleeping on a makeshift bed in the main hall, who came to answer the door.

Zhang Hejun was very wary. He opened the door only a sliver. Seeing Xu Yin, he hesitated, then pulled the door fully open.

Xu Yin dragged Liu Kan and flung him onto the doorstep. “Was it this man who gave you permission to dig the notoginseng?”

Zhang Hejun froze, then jolted as if from a dream. He quickly crouched, grabbing Liu Kan’s clothes to haul his upper body up for a look. His facial muscles twisted in fury. “It was you!”

Zhang Hejun glared at Xu Yin, his resentful expression seeming to blame them, accusing their village of slandering them during the day.

Xu Yin said from the side, “This man lives in our village, but he’s not one of us. He only just confessed to taking your copper. Settle this score yourselves. We’re handing him over to you. Do what you want.”

With that, Xu Yin turned and left.

The night wind made Liu Kan shiver. He hurriedly called out, “Brother Xu— Ow!” A punch landed on his cheekbone, stunning him for a long moment.

Zhang Hejun’s face twitched, and his fist came crashing down on Liu Kan again. His eyes were red with rage, teeth clenched. “So it was you causing trouble all along! Think we haven’t suffered enough already?!”

Liu Kan protected his head, dodging, trying to run. It wasn’t just Zhang Hejun sleeping in that main hall; there were two others. They’d been awake for a while. Wrongly accused during the day, unable to defend themselves, they’d been bottling up a bellyful of fire. Now, seeing the true culprit, how could they stay calm?

One hadn’t even put on his shoes; he leaped over the threshold and charged out, jumping into a flying kick. “I’ll fck your ancestors!” He sent Liu Kan sprawling face-first onto the ground.