Chapter 30: One Should Be Reasonable 

The old house. 

“Oh, Big Brother’s back! What’s the matter? Ran out of travel money on your way to the prefectural city and came home to squeeze us for some?” 

Zhao Dawen’s face darkened instantly. 

Old Master Zhao couldn’t bear to see his eldest son wronged. “What nonsense are you spouting? Your Big Brother has been studying day and night for this family. And you? What have you ever done for this family, huh?” 

“I’ve done nothing at all—which is exactly why you threw me out,” Zhao Dashu replied with utter indifference.

Old Master Zhao was so furious he nearly grabbed a stick to beat him to death. 

Zhao Dawen took deep breaths, reminding himself not to stoop to arguing with a fool—now wasn’t the time for petty squabbles. He’d settle things once he got his hands on the recipe. 

“Third Brother, look at you—look at what you’ve done to Father! Hurry up and apologize, and we can still be one family.” 

How familiar this scene felt! 

Zhao Dashu glanced at Second Zhao. So these two were the real brothers, huh?

“Enough. What do you want from me? Spit it out—I’m busy.” 

Zhao Dawen, who prided himself on being a scholar, couldn’t help but show disdain at Zhao Dashu’s vulgar language. 

Zhao Dashu thought to himself: ‘So they called me here just to make me uncomfortable and show off their precious eldest son?’ 

“Third Brother, we asked you here today to discuss the matter of the family division,” Zhao Dawen said, straightening his robes before sitting down with a stern expression. 

Zhao Dashu studied his elder brother’s dignified facade and couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever he was planning was anything but honorable.

“What, you think you didn’t give me enough and now you feel guilty? Planning to make it up to me?” 

Old Madam Sun couldn’t hold back any longer, completely forgetting her eldest son’s instructions. “‘Pah!’ Make it up to you? You don’t deserve it! Hurry up and hand over the recipe for removing the bitterness from bamboo shoots, then get the hell out!” 

Zhao Dawen looked up at the sky in exasperation—how could he have such a mother, who was utterly useless and only made things worse? 

Old Master Zhao roared, “‘Shut the hell up!’” 

She was asking for another beating. If it weren’t for the lack of hands to do the work at home—and the fact that she couldn’t afford to be injured—she’d have learned her lesson last time. But no, she just couldn’t remember pain, the brainless fool!

Old Madam Sun pouted in grievance, shrinking into her chair and falling silent. 

Madam Wang watched with disgust. ‘At her age, does she have no shame? Pulling that pitiful, meek-wife act—who does she think she’s fooling?’ 

Zhao Dashu had known they wouldn’t seek him out without an ulterior motive. But even he hadn’t expected them to be this shameless. His face darkened like a storm cloud—’this’ was his family? A family that couldn’t stand to see him thrive? 

“Father, Big Brother, since you’ve already looked into it, you must know whose recipe this is. They took me in out of pity after I was kicked out with nothing. I’ve been living under their roof, eating their food—and now you want me to betray their livelihood? Tell me, if I did such a thing, could I still call myself human? Would I even dare to show my face in Laomuzhu Village again?” 

He turned to Zhao Dawen, his voice sharp with accusation. 

“Big Brother, you’ve studied the classics. Did your teachers really teach you to repay kindness with treachery—to stab your benefactor in the back?”

Zhao Dawen felt a sting of shame under his younger brother’s reproach—how dare Third Brother speak to him like this! Who did he think he was? No wonder Father had cut him out of the family. Such an unruly creature would only bring trouble if kept around. 

“Third Brother, we’re not asking you to betray anyone’s trust. We just want you to talk to Liu Shunzi—aren’t you two close? His resources are limited. If our families work together on this recipe, with my connections, we can expand the business and earn far more. Think about it—what takes you a year of small-scale work, I could accomplish in mere days. When the profits come in, we’ll split them, with him taking the larger share. How does that sound?” 

‘Oh ho, now he’s spinning grand promises?’ 

‘Who’d believe that?’ 

“That’s Liu Shunzi’s recipe—it has nothing to do with me. If Big Brother wants to collaborate, go ask him yourself. But I doubt he’ll agree. Folks in our village don’t have your lofty ambitions—we’re content with modest gains.”

Second Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly. ‘Third Brother never studied, did he? Then why do his words sound so damn reasonable?’ Little did he know, these phrases were things Zhao Zhenyu had occasionally blurted out—Zhao Dashu had simply memorized them and was now putting them to use. 

“Third Brother, your Big Brother only wants what’s best for you and Shunzi. He’s offering his connections to help Shunzi earn more—if it were someone unrelated, do you think he’d bother? It’s only because you two are close, and he’s your own flesh and blood. Would he ever harm you?” 

Zhao Dashu shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. 

Old Master Zhao fumed silently. His third son, now acting like a broken jar that couldn’t be shattered further, was utterly beyond his control. Zhao Dawen kept shooting his father meaningful glances—’the family division, bring up the division again!’ The father and son shared a tacit understanding. The old man nodded slightly to show he got the message. 

“Third Son, last time we divided the family, I acted in anger—I was impulsive. These days, with your family gone, the house feels lifeless and cold. And truth be told, the division wasn’t entirely fair. So I’ve been thinking… let’s nullify the previous split. Besides, your Big Brother is about to take his exams—how can we divide the family at such a critical time? Move your family back in, and everything will be just like before. What do you say?”

Zhao Dashu thought: ‘No, no, no—I finally escaped my father’s control. There’s no way in hell I’m going back now. Only a fool would do that.’ Besides, what had life been like after the division? What had they eaten? And what had life been like in the old house? What had they eaten there? 

Was he so spineless that he’d give up white rice and fine flour just to return and gnaw on cornbread again? 

“Father, the family’s already divided—there’s no undoing it. Besides, my household register is independent now, and it’s been filed with the authorities. I think things are fine as they are. Weren’t you always saying I’d tarnish Big Brother’s reputation? That I’d mooch off him? Well, I’ve thought it over—it’s time I grew up and stood on my own. Let’s just leave things be.” 

“So now that your wings have hardened, you look down on us old folks, is that it?” The old man’s icy gaze bore into Zhao Dashu. After not seeing him for a while, his face had filled out, his complexion ruddy—clearly, life next door had been good to him. 

“Father, what kind of talk is that? Ask anyone in the village—does Zhao Dashu lack filial piety? Which family divides their property the way ours was divided? Did I complain? Father, a person should be reasonable. Some things, once done, are done. There’s no going back.”