As Chen Lian rounded the corner of the alley, he came across an old man with a straw rack slung over his shoulder, adorned with brightly colored candied fruit skewers.

There were skewers of hawthorn, yam, frozen pear, apple, and crisp persimmon.

In Qingshui County, anything could be put on a stick and candied.

They were glazed with wild honey, attracting a dense swarm of bees that buzzed all around. The very sight was enough to make your mouth water.

Chen Lian hurried after the man, fished out two copper coins, and bought a candied hawthorn skewer. He found some steps to sit on, eating his treat while he waited for Li Cun to find him.

As for chasing after Chen De’an and his cousin, that was out of the question.

He absolutely wasn’t going to chase after them. His grandmother had warned him time and time again not to ruin his cousin’s marriage prospects. If he did, she’d cut off his allowance and leave him to starve at his private academy.

Chen Lian had no great ambitions. He just enjoyed good food and spent his time figuring out how he could marry Chunyue as soon as possible.

He’d made no headway on the latter, but as for the former, he certainly wasn’t going to let himself go hungry.

As he was enjoying his candied skewer, Chen Lian lifted his head to look around. As he did, his eyes met those of his older cousin, who was just walking out of an apothecary.

’Now I have to say hello.’ 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Chen Lian sauntered over. "De’an, Wanqing, Yao’an! What brings you all here? Why were you at the apothecary? Is someone in the family not feeling well?"

Chen De’an frowned the moment he saw Li’an. The young man was the spitting image of his father—shiftless and undisciplined all day long. Just looking at him made De’an’s temper flare.

"What’s it to you? Let me ask you, it’s a day off, so why aren’t you home? Do you have any idea that your father took money from loan sharks? Your family is in an absolute uproar, and you have the nerve to be out here chewing on a candied skewer? Chen Lian, how can you be so carefree?"

The candied skewer slipped from Chen Lian’s hand and plunged downward. Luckily, his reflexes were quick, and he managed to snatch it out of the air.

But his hand closed around the hawthorns, getting sticky from the glaze. Frowning, Chen Lian stuck his gooey fingers into his mouth and licked the sugar off them, bit by bit.

Chen Wanqing couldn’t bear to watch. She pulled a waterskin from her basket. "Hold out your hand. I’ll pour some water on it so you can wash it."

"No need to trouble yourself, Cousin Wanqing. It’s all just sugar; I can just eat it. Wanqing, this stuff about my dad borrowing from loan sharks... that’s not true, is it? No matter how unreliable he is, he wouldn’t knowingly jump into a fiery pit. That’s just asking to die!"

"De’an wasn’t lying. Third Uncle really did take out a high-interest loan. However..."

Chen Wanqing explained how, because of their father’s promotion, the loan sharks had gotten nervous and issued a new IOU. She finished by saying, "Father was so furious he kicked Third Uncle and broke one of his bones. On top of that, from the shock and the cold yesterday, Third Uncle came down with a fever. He stayed at the clinic last night instead of going home."

She told him the name of the clinic. "You should go see him. I don’t know if he’s feeling any better yet."

With a CRUNCH, Chen Lian bit off the last hawthorn and waved a hand at his cousin. "I’ll go check on him right now. Wanqing, you all go on about your business. First Uncle was right to hit my dad. If he hadn’t, Dad would just get even more out of line. And don’t worry about Grandmother coming to your house to cause trouble. I’ll stop her."

As soon as the words were out, he bolted, moving so fast his feet were a blur.

Chen Yaoan stared after him, dumbfounded. "Cousin Li’an is really fast."

Chen De’an sighed. "Li’an might be a bit of a letdown, but he’s not a bad person. A good shoot from a bad bamboo stalk... It couldn’t have been easy for Third Uncle and Third Aunt to raise a son like him."

Chen Wanqing, however, sounded regretful. "Third Uncle and Third Aunt are counting on him to make a name for himself so they can finally one-up our branch of the family. If Li’an can’t pass the exam to become a Scholar before you do, De’an, I’m afraid his life at home will be difficult."

"Him? Become a Scholar before me?" De’an scoffed. "I’m not just boasting, but that’s probably more difficult than Jing ever managing to pass his exam."

Yao’an chimed in, sounding like a little adult. "Stop saying ’Jing’ this and ’Jing’ that. You should start calling him Brother-in-law. If you really can’t bring yourself to say that, just call him ’Brother’."

"Chen Yaoan, you little brat! I give you an inch and you take a mile, huh? Now you’re lecturing your own brother?"

Bickering playfully, the two brothers soon arrived at Qingxiang House.

The umbrella shop next to Qingxiang House was still crowded with people asking about the umbrella-making apprenticeships. But clearly, the whole affair was losing steam. Plenty of people came to inquire, but very few actually signed on. This put Mrs. Zhu in a foul mood, and she greeted the three siblings with a sarcastic tone.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here? If it isn’t the beloved sons and daughter of our illustrious Mr. Chen. I must say, now that you’re all young masters and a young lady from an official’s family, why are you still running a business? Aren’t you just competing with us common folk for profit? It wouldn’t look very good if word of that got around, now would it?"