Chapter 5: Second Brother is No Longer Foolish

“What’s that? Your stingy old hen laid eggs?” Aunt Chen asked in surprise.

Tan Yiliang smiled and said, “Yes, and quite a few of them.”

Aunt Chen saw the eggs in his basket and felt envious. She hesitated for a while before going to get the brown sugar.

Uncle Chen urged her several times before she finally went back into the house, using a small spoon to scoop out a tiny amount.

Tan Yiliang was stunned when he saw the tiny spoonful. “Aunt, this brown sugar is really too little.”

Aunt Chen rolled her eyes. “If you don’t take it, then don’t complain. This is all there is.”

Tan Yiliang sighed in resignation. A little bit was better than nothing. He handed over the eggs and prepared to take the small spoonful of brown sugar.

Aunt Chen looked at the basket of eggs, and her heart suddenly filled with joy.

“Big Brother!”

At that moment, The Second son,  Tan Erqian came running over and pulled Tan Yiliang away.

“Second Brother, wait, I’m just getting the brown sugar,” Tan Yiliang struggled.

But Tan Erqian held on tighter and dragged him straight away from their doorstep.

Aunt Chen looked on, disappointed. She could have exchanged a small spoonful of brown sugar for a whole basket of eggs, but now it had all fallen through.

Uncle Chen gave her a glare and then turned to go inside.

Aunt Chen peeked out, took a look, and then went back.

Tan Yiliang stopped in his tracks. “Second Brother, didn’t you see I was getting the brown sugar?”

Tan Erqian , with a serious expression, replied, “Big Brother, exchanging a whole basket of eggs for a spoonful of brown sugar is a loss!”

“How is that a loss?”

Tan Erqian  quickly responded, “Big Brother, each egg can be sold for two wen. Twenty wen can buy half a jin (about 250g) of brown sugar. This basket has at least twenty eggs, which can sell for at least forty wen, enough to buy almost half a jin of brown sugar, enough for Mom to eat for half a month.”

Tan Yiliang calculated for a while before finally realizing, “Second Brother, you’re right.”

But as he finished speaking, he suddenly looked up at his younger brother. “Wait, wait, that’s not right.”

Tan Erqian  furrowed his brows. “What’s not right? Could it be that I made a mistake in my calculation?”

Tan Yiliang stared at him for a long time. “Second Brother, how come you’re no longer foolish?”

When he was younger, his second brother had been frightened into a stupor by wolves in the mountains. Though he was around twelve or thirteen years old, his mind was like that of a three or four-year-old child. But the words he just spoke—his second brother was clearly no longer that child.

Tan Erqian  scratched the back of his head and smiled. “I don’t know what happened. Suddenly, I just understood.”

Tan Yiliang immediately understood. His second brother’s condition had improved—his foolishness was gone. He quickly called out to the house, “Father, Mother, Second Brother is no longer foolish!”

Tan Erqian ’s face darkened. “Big Brother, let’s first figure out how to sell these eggs.”

By now, it was getting late, and the eggs couldn’t be sold right away.

Tan Yiliang’s father scolded them both, but upon hearing that his second son was no longer foolish, he soon forgot about the scolding and was filled with joy.

He told them to go to Pingyang County early the next day to sell the eggs, then, in disbelief, he started bombarding Tan Erqian  with a series of questions.

Tan Erqian  answered smoothly, with clear reasoning. Not only was he no longer like a three or four-year-old child, but he seemed like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old.

Overjoyed, Tan Yiliang’s father laughed so much that he nearly fell into the stove, almost toppling over the fire pit.

“We, the Tan family, finally have hope!”

Tan’s Wife hugged the sleeping little child, her heart full of joy. Husband, remember to boil a few red eggs tomorrow and bring them to my family to share the good news.”

“Alright, alright,” Tan Erqian ‘s father replied as he pushed some firewood into the stove and made a pot of egg soup. Though there was no brown sugar, eggs still had to be eaten.

The little girl nestled in Tan’s Wife’s arms quietly opened her eyes and looked around with her shiny, dark eyes.

Through the hazy, mud-and-thatch house, it felt a bit poor and shabby, but at least they had managed to survive and were still holding onto life.