"Zhi, I don't like meat. You eat it."
Fang Lan struggled to tear her eyes away from the chicken, the tantalizing aroma forcing her to swallow hard.
'Who in this world doesn't like meat? Maybe that lie would have worked on this body's previous owner.'
'But the Fang Yue of today saw through her little lie instantly.'
"We'll split it."
Fang Lan started to refuse, but just then, Fang Yue had already stuffed the piece of chicken into his sister's mouth.
'In my last life, I never got to experience the love of a sibling. This time, I have a brother, a sister, and parents.'
'Life may be hard, but there's a certain sweetness to it.'
As the savory flavor of the meat filled her mouth, Fang Lan's eyes narrowed in pleasure.
When she opened her eyes, Fang Yue had already finished a small bowl of vegetable soup and had half a flatbread dangling from his mouth.
He was carrying lunch for his father and brother: four flatbreads, and a gourd filled with two bowls' worth of wild amaranth soup.
"Sis, I'm off to bring Dad and Big Brother their lunch."
He left the house and walked for a quarter of an hour, arriving at a wide, open field.
From a distance, he could see his tall, thin, and deeply tanned father, Fang Mu, and his brother, Fang Cheng, already resting under a mulberry tree at the edge of the field.
"Zhi, what brings you here? Where's your mother?"
Fang Mu asked as he took the flatbreads and the gourd of soup.
His brother, Fang Cheng, was more taciturn. He simply took a flatbread and began to eat, showing no reaction to the fact that someone different had brought their lunch today.
"The young master of the Liu Family has returned, so Mom is over there helping out." Fang Yue set down the two bowls and poured the vegetable soup from the gourd into them.
"The Liu Family's young master came back to the village?"
Fang Mu repeated the words. It's unclear what he was thinking, but his gaze shifted to Fang Yue beside him. A flicker of heartache crossed his deeply tanned face before vanishing without a trace.
For a time, the only sound under the mulberry tree was that of them eating.
But, just then,
As Fang Yue watched his father and brother, his stomach let out two shameless growls.
He had eaten just before leaving home, but he couldn't stop the rumbling now.
In the silence, the sound was quite loud.
Fang Cheng looked up at a blushing Fang Yue, then picked up a nearby flatbread and offered it to him.
"Zhi, here."
"No, Big Brother, you eat it."
Fang Yue quickly refused. Fang Cheng still had to work in the afternoon.
Even though it wasn't the busy season for farming, there was still plenty of work to do in the fields.
If he didn't eat enough, he definitely wouldn't make it through the afternoon.
The Fang Family only ate two meals a day.
Father Fang and his brother, Fang Cheng, who worked all day in the fields, each got two flatbreads and a bowl of soup per meal.
Fang Lan, who made decorative knots at home, and Fang Yue, who tended the ox, each received one flatbread and one bowl of soup per meal.
As for their mother, Ms. Chen, she helped in the kitchens of the Liu Family, where her employers provided her with lunch, so she only ate dinner at home.
"Zhi, you eat it."
Fang Cheng may not have been a man of many words, but he deeply cared for his younger brother and sister.
Seeing this, Father Fang, who was sitting nearby, smiled. What parent wouldn't be overjoyed to see their children so loving and harmonious with one another?
"Cheng, break off half for your little brother," Father Fang said in his deep voice.
Fang Yue had been injured not long ago; he'd almost died, and even now, he hadn't fully recovered.
Father Fang's heart ached even more for his youngest son, who had been caught up in the incident.
"See? Dad said so. Take it, Zhi."
"Alright. Thank you, Big Brother. Thank you, Dad."
Fang Yue couldn't help the stinging in his nose and almost burst into tears.
A little while later, Father Fang and Fang Cheng finished eating.
Fang Yue gathered the empty bowls, said goodbye to his father and brother, and started for home.
"Here. You've got to work this afternoon. How can you do that on an empty stomach?"
Watching Fang Yue's back recede into the distance, Father Fang took out half a flatbread and stuffed it into Fang Cheng's hand before he could react.
Then, with a look of stern authority, he said, "Don't say a word. Just eat. We work after you're done."
~~~~~~~
On the way back, Fang Yue's steps were exceptionally light.
The crisscrossing rice paddies gradually fell away behind him, and a dirt road about five feet wide appeared up ahead.
This was the road connecting the village to the outside world. It led east toward several other villages before merging into the main road that ran to Xiahe County Town, over two hundred li away.
On the flat road, a few children from the village were busy drawing on the ground, playing a game of tic-tac-toe.
But just then, the road began to vibrate, and soon, the sound of shouting could be heard.
Just then, two riders and a horse-drawn carriage came thundering from the east, arriving in front of Fang Yue in the blink of an eye.
The carriage was wide, taking up nearly the entire road. At the front, atop a tall horse, a rider in close-fitting attire shouted a curse.
"You damn peasants, get out of the way!"
Fang Yue was completely stunned. 'I can't believe they have 'drag racing' in ancient times,' he thought, 'even if it is with a carriage.'
They had no intention of stopping. Before Fang Yue could even react, the carriage was already bearing down on the children.
The brown horses, though only common draft animals, were at a full gallop. With that much momentum, if they actually collided, the children's small, frail bodies wouldn't stand a chance.
If they weren't killed outright, they would be gravely injured.
But the children, who had likely never encountered such a thing, seemed to be frozen in fear.
They stared blankly at the charging carriage, not even knowing they should dodge.
It seemed that in the next moment, a tragedy was about to unfold.
It all happened in a flash, and even Fang Yue, who was watching from the sidelines, felt his mind go completely blank.
"Are you trying to get yourselves killed? Move!"
The rider's angry shout was right in his ears. It snapped Fang Yue out of his stupor. He dropped the bowls and gourd and lunged toward the child nearest to him.
He grabbed the child and tackled them both sideways, rolling into the grass at the side of the road.
'I only managed to save one. The others are probably done for.'
As they tumbled, Fang Yue didn't dare to think any further. The carriage was moving too fast; he'd had no chance to save the others.
The next moment,
NEIGH!
The panicked cry of a horse rang out.
Hearing this, Fang Yue's heart sank. 'Did they actually hit them?!!'
At that thought, he scrambled to his feet and looked frantically toward the road.
But the gruesome scene he had braced himself for was not there.
Instead, a bare-chested, powerfully built man had a hand on each of the two galloping horses, and had somehow managed to bring their charge to a dead stop.
Behind the man stood the three terrified children.
Only now did they seem to snap out of it, and they began to wail and cry.
"H-how is that possible?!"
'Fang Ergou's dad... how could Mr. Fang Hu possibly stop two galloping horses?!'
Seeing this scene nearly shattered the worldview Fang Yue had held for decades.
'No matter how strong a person was, the most explosive force they could generate was a few hundred pounds at best.'
'It was obviously impossible for that to stop two galloping horses.'
'And yet, it was happening right before my very eyes.'
Fang Yue stared, utterly dumbfounded.
'Could it be... that what Dad once said was true?'
'Mr. Fang Hu knows Martial Arts!'