This was a family of five, with three generations living under one roof.
The family's name was Sun, and the elderly couple were both quite robust.
The man of the house was the patriarch's son, a woodcutter who had just returned from chopping firewood.
His wife was inside and did not appear to greet the guests.
Hearing the child's shouts, Brother Sun came out to welcome Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei inside.
Fang Shuwen introduced himself as a traveler who had failed to find lodging for the night. Seeing their home, he had taken the liberty of knocking, hoping they might take them in for the night.
As he spoke, he took out some silver.
Brother Sun, who had an honest and simple face, quickly refused the silver.
"When you're on the road, it's easy to run into a bit of trouble."
"There's no need for such formalities, my friend."
"You and your wife can stay in our side room tonight. There's no need for the silver."
Without giving Fang Shuwen a chance to refuse, he turned, went back inside, and called out,
"Wife, we have honored guests! Go to the backyard, catch a chicken, and slaughter it. We need to give our guests a proper meal."
"I know."
The woman's voice, however, was cold and detached.
Only after Brother Sun urged her on did she finally emerge from the room.
Fang Shuwen glanced up, and the corner of his eye twitched.
It wasn't because the Sun family's wife was beautiful. Instead, her face was crisscrossed with numerous scars.
One eye was fine, but the other was a milky, sightless white.
Her hands trembled slightly, and she couldn't hold things steadily. He couldn't tell what kind of injury she'd suffered. When she walked, she dragged one foot, clearly limping.
Seeing this, Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei exchanged a look, both able to see the astonishment in the other's eyes.
The Sun family's wife was clumsy and uncoordinated. She fumbled around outside for a long while, and all they could hear were the squawks of the chicken and her own startled cries.
At this, Brother Sun gave Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei an embarrassed smile before turning to go outside himself.
Fang Shuwen's hearing was exceptionally sharp. He heard Brother Sun—the same man who had been so amiable and honest-looking in front of them—begin to curse furiously the moment he stepped into the backyard.
"You useless bitch! I ask you to do one simple thing, and you can't even get that right?"
"I told you to kill a chicken, not fight it to the death!"
"Useless! Tell me, what are you good for?"
"It's only because I'm charitable enough to keep you that you're even alive! If you left, you'd starve to death in three days!"
"Tell me... seeing these outsiders, are you getting ideas about running away again?"
"Are you!?"
Before long, his curses were accompanied by the sounds of blows.
But the Sun family's wife never uttered a single word.
Fang Shuwen's expression darkened. The man's final words seemed to expose a certain truth.
Normally, it wasn't his place to meddle in another family's affairs.
But he stood up anyway. He gave Zhou Qingmei a meaningful look, a silent warning to stay alert, and then strode out of the room.
In the courtyard, the boy was holding a wooden stick and mercilessly beating a large, yellow dog.
When he saw Fang Shuwen, he tossed the stick aside, his eyes lighting up as he looked at him.
"Big Brother, why did you come out?"
"It's nothing."
Fang Shuwen smiled and gave a noncommittal answer, heading straight for the backyard.
The boy hurried after him, but his short legs couldn't match Fang Shuwen's long strides. He struggled to keep up, calling out from behind,
"Big Brother, wait for me! What are you going to the backyard for?"
Fang Shuwen reached the backyard in just a few strides. As he looked up, he saw Brother Sun hastily retracting his hands.
Meanwhile, Brother Sun's wife was clutching her throat, coughing repeatedly.
Clear finger marks were visible in the gaps between her fingers.
Brother Sun spoke in a fluster,
"What brings our guest to the backyard? You could have just waited out front."
"Oh, I had to relieve myself... I figured there might be a privy in the backyard."
Fang Shuwen said, glancing around.
"Doesn't look like it..."
"Hahaha, we have a saying around here: 'When you need to go, don't look up; the whole land's a privy.'"
"We don't have any privies in these parts. Just go outside and find a private spot."
Brother Sun's simple and honest expression returned.
Fang Shuwen then said,
"By the way, Brother Sun, I think your father was calling for you just now."
"He was?"
Brother Sun was skeptical, but he didn't dare ignore the possibility and hurried to the front of the house.
Only the young boy remained.
"Do you need any help, Ma'am?"
Fang Shuwen asked the woman.
She glanced at Fang Shuwen with her one good eye.
"Decided you don't have to go?"
"Suddenly, the urge has passed."
"If the urge has passed, you'd best be on your way. We're a poor family. We don't have enough food to be feeding fine folks like you."
Her voice was dripping with ice.
Just then, the young boy—the one whose eyes had been shining so brightly—shot his mother a vicious glare.
It was enough to make the woman instinctively take a step back.
Fang Shuwen simply nodded.
"Very well. Since you don't need my help, I'll go back and wait."
"Don't you worry, Ma'am. We fully intend to pay for the chicken. Brother Sun is a good man and refused our money, so I'll just leave some silver behind quietly. After we're gone, you can give him a heads-up."
With that, he gave the boy's head a little ruffle.
"Come on. The urge is back. Show me where I can go."
"Oh, okay!"
The boy nodded eagerly and led Fang Shuwen out of the house.
By the time they returned, the chicken had been killed.
As Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei walked into the main hall, they were greeted by a fragrant aroma.
After so long of traveling rough and sleeping under the open sky, it had been fine at first, but the prolonged hardship had started to become an ordeal.
Now, smelling this delicious aroma, they found it truly hard to resist.
After more than an hour, the meal was finally served.
The Sun family's grandfather and grandmother both took their seats. The table was mostly laden with dishes of wild vegetables, but the most fragrant by far was the platter of chicken.
Brother Sun's wife carried it in with both hands and slammed it onto the table, causing broth to splash everywhere. It nearly spattered onto Fang Shuwen's hand.
Brother Sun was once again the picture of good-naturedness, apologizing profusely on his wife's behalf.
His wife, however, was still seething. Finally, she grit her teeth and snapped,
"I'm going to lie down. I've lost my appetite."
And with that, she left.
Brother Sun gave a wry smile.
"My apologies for my wife's behavior. It's a family disgrace. Come, let's eat. Pay her no mind."
Fang Shuwen smiled and picked up a chicken leg with his chopsticks, placing it in the young boy's bowl.
The boy didn't eat it right away, looking instead to his father. Brother Sun immediately spoke up,
"No, no, that won't do at all."
"You're our guest, you should eat it. He doesn't deserve something so good."
Without waiting for Fang Shuwen to protest, he took the chicken leg and placed it back in Fang Shuwen's bowl.
Fang Shuwen just smiled at this, but then he felt a light tap on his foot from Zhou Qingmei. Her voice reached his ear, as faint as the buzz of a mosquito:
"It's drugged."
Fang Shuwen merely nodded. Then, to Zhou Qingmei's utter astonishment, he picked up the chicken leg and took a bite.
"Mmm, delicious."