For some reason — perhaps it was the era filter or the man’s exceptionally upright aura — Lu Youling felt inexplicably nervous in front of him.
Mortified by his blunder, his face hot with embarrassment, Lu Youling answered softly, “My name is Lu Youling.”
The man’s smile faded slightly. He savored the three syllables on his lips, then replied in a gentle voice, “It’s a beautiful name.”
Lu Youling’s heart fluttered.
Pressing his lips together, not knowing where to go, he just stood there frozen. Then, his stomach — which had only had one meal in the past two days — chose that exact moment to let out a loud, long “Grrrrrrr~~.”
Oh crap.
Lu Youling froze.
He couldn’t believe that thunderous rumble had come from his own stomach.
He slowly lifted his head. To his horror, he saw the man’s lips twitching with suppressed laughter, his eyes curving as he looked at him.
“!”
Now even the tips of Lu Youling’s ears were burning red.
Before his face could grow even hotter and he could stammer out an apology, the man spoke first, his tone apologetic. “My apologies — I didn’t think it through. You’re a young woman, you’ve been starving for so long, and then you had to endure all that on top of it. You must be completely exhausted.”
The man called out to the boy beside him: “Shuisheng, take Miss Lu to the west wing and find an empty room for her to stay in. Clean it up, bring a quilt, and some food. And from my luggage, take some shampoo powder, toothpaste, toothbrush, towels… Put together a set of those daily necessities for Miss Lu as well.”
In those days, shampoo came in powder form — a Western import.
Toothpaste and toothbrushes were even rarer luxuries.
Knowing how valuable these things were, Lu Youling quickly waved his hands. “No, no — I’ve already troubled you far too much. I couldn’t possibly let you spend so much on me…”
“It’s nothing. If it weren’t for my brother…” Gong Ze’s smile dimmed slightly. He lowered his eyes, as if reluctant to speak ill of the deceased, then said, “You almost became my sister-in-law. Our family has treated you poorly. And don’t call me ‘you’ so formally. If you’d like, you can call me Gong Er.”
Gong Ze smiled with a gentle, virtuous humility.
He presented himself as a soft-hearted, respectful, gentle, educated man.
With the proud spirit of an intellectual from that era, the ‘foolishness’ of self-sacrifice, and the magnanimity to not keep score.
Lu Youling instinctively touched his wedding gown.
So he doesn’t realize I’m a man. He thinks I’m a woman, almost his sister-in-law, and feels guilty about that — which is why he’s being so considerate and courteous.
Perhaps it’s precisely because I nearly became his brother’s wife that he’s treating me, his ‘little sister-in-law,’ so kindly.
For a moment, Lu Youling’s heart was a jumble of emotions — both deflated and ashamed.
But he couldn’t, of course, reveal he was a man. He could only lower his head and say softly, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The boy named Shuisheng walked over and said, “Miss Lu, let’s go. I’ll take you to find a room.”
“Mm.”
Lu Youling stole one more glance at the handsome, gentlemanly man, then turned and stepped over the threshold of the back hall.
But he had only taken a few steps when a voice called out behind him: “Wait a moment—”
Lu Youling paused and turned around.
Gong Ze had already walked up to him. He gently pressed something into Lu Youling’s hand. Looking down, Lu Youling saw it was a handful of red-paper-wrapped candies and an egg.
“Your complexion is too pale — you might have low blood sugar. Eat something. Candies are good for girls.”
The man spoke with concern, showing no sign of looking down on Lu Youling, even in his current state as a woman.
With that, he waved and turned to leave.
Lu Youling held the little red paper packet and watched his tall, straight figure walk away.
But I’m not a girl…
“Miss Lu?”
“…It’s nothing. Let’s go…”
Lu Youling was assigned a fairly decent room in the countryside.
Shuisheng swept the kang for him, laid down wool felt, and only then placed the quilt on top. He had Lu Youling sit by the edge of the kang, then cheerfully wiped the table and cabinets clean, running back and forth to bring hot water and daily necessities, and lit the kang for him.
Every time Lu Youling tried to help, Shuisheng stopped him.
Finally, Shuisheng snuck out and then back in again. Under Lu Youling’s curious gaze, he pulled a bundle out from under his shirt. Opening it up, inside were a pair of women’s long-sleeved shirt and long pants in powder blue with floral print.
“You can’t keep wearing that wedding gown forever. These are for you. They were my sister’s, but she never wore them once — they’re brand new.”
Lu Youling had wanted to take off the wedding gown for a long time, but he had no other clothes.
Even though the new clothes were also women’s, the fabric was good and they were new — already wonderful.
Lu Youling thanked him profusely.
At the same time, he said apologetically, “But these are your sister’s new clothes. If I wear them, what will she do?”
In the old countryside, a decent outfit was worth a fair bit of money.
To his surprise, Shuisheng chuckled. “It’s fine. Making this outfit cost two yuan. The Second Master gave me five yuan. My sister isn’t upset at all — she’s happy she can order an even better set and buy some new hair ties too!”
Lu Youling was taken aback. “These clothes… are from him? From him?”
“Of course! Only our Second Master is that kind-hearted.”
“And you don’t have to thank me for cleaning your room — the Second Master made me do it. He also gave me a lot of brown sugar. Brown sugar is precious stuff! During the holidays, if someone gives you half a catty of brown sugar as a gift, that’s a really big deal!”
Seeing Lu Youling’s dazed expression, his eyes darted thoughtfully.
“Miss Lu, you should remember our Second Master’s kindness.”
“I can’t chat anymore — the front needs people right now. I have to go after I finish this. Rest well, Miss Lu. If you need anything, come find me or the Second Master. Your life before was hard, but with the Second Master backing you, things will be easier from now on.”
After singing his master’s praises, Shuisheng dashed off.
Lu Youling sat alone on the warm kang, new clothes over his legs, toiletries and a hot water bottle on the table.
After a long moment, he took the red paper packet out from his clothes.
He peeled the egg but couldn’t bring himself to eat it all at once. Even though his mouth was watering and he kept swallowing saliva, Lu Youling carefully broke the egg with his fingernails into tiny crumbs.
He ate them, took a sip of hot water to wash down the remnants, and let the eggy fragrance — something he had scorned in his past life but now savored as a delicacy — spread through his mouth. Only then did he pick up a piece of candy and put it in his mouth.
The sweet taste instantly relieved his dazed, starving brain.
He relaxed his body. No more worrying about going hungry or not having clothes to wear. No more worrying about being forced to play the wife to a dead man and be a widow for life.
Lu Youling felt he had finally survived.
“Gong Ze…”
Touching the new clothes over his legs, Lu Youling muttered to himself, “This man is too good. If I were really a girl, I’d probably have fallen for him already.”
The only problem was that he was too soft-hearted.
So handsome, so upright, so helpful, and so generous and courteous…
Lu Youling couldn’t help but worry about Gong Ze.
Gong Ze had reached out to help him — a complete stranger — without expecting anything in return, treating him with such sincerity. What if he came across a scoundrel with a conscience worse than a dog?
This era was not very kind to kind-hearted, gentle scholars.
Especially to those with integrity and moral backbone — scholars like Gong Ze, who was as elegant as bamboo, showing no desire for conflict.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the man’s amused expression when he explained he wasn’t really “Gong Er,” the way his lips twitched as he held back laughter. The image lingered in Lu Youling’s mind. He smiled to himself, then, realizing he was smiling, didn’t know why he was acting so strange.
“I should focus on how to get through the next few days… I can’t pretend to be a woman forever…”
Originally, Lu Youling had planned to run away. Instead, he’d run into a benefactor and, to his surprise, found a place to land in his confused, suffering transmigration journey.
·
After the body had lain in state for a day, before dawn broke, both Old Master Gong and the eldest son were buried.
Since the eldest had died from that kind of disease, everyone was quite wary of him. Those carrying the coffin demanded an extra two yuan; otherwise, they refused to lift it.
Gong Ze suggested cremation.
The old lady said that if he cremated her son, he might as well cremate her too.
Gong Ze thought for a moment, then nodded and replied, “Alright.”
The old lady’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. She pointed at Gong Ze and stammered, “You— you— you—” for a long time, almost fainting with rage.
As for Old Master Gong… the father and son had died together. Separating their burials didn’t feel right, and there was no need to hold two separate ceremonies. So Gong Ze simply bundled them together and sent them both off in one go.
In the morning, they wept at the burial. By noon, they were happily eating the feast.
The Gong household was wealthy, and with the patriarch dead, the feast spread out beyond even the courtyard, all the way into the open.
Every family in Fenshan Village — people who hadn’t tasted meat all year — showed up. Some were just poor and greedy. They swallowed their pride, grabbed a scallion as a gift, and showed up with their gaggle of children.
Back then, people didn’t bring cash gifts of three or five thousand. Everyone brought things — vegetables, fruit from their trees.
The more dignified ones gave sugar and tea.
The old lady was reluctant to serve meat to this crowd of freeloaders, so she had the chef make a big pot of mixed mutton soup.
In the early days, mutton organ meats were cheap. A few marrow bones and some organ meats could be boiled into a huge pot of soup. Those who had “gifted” a scallion were seated at the outdoor tables, drinking mutton soup and eating ceremonial flatbread.
Don’t think she was stingy.
People still praised her. Who would dare slaughter a sheep or an ox? How extravagant!
For the indoor seats — those who had gifted money or valuable items — including the village chief and other important figures — each table had a plate of thinly sliced, braised mutton, along with braised eggs. There was also roast chicken.
Even the relatively well-off village chief couldn’t help secretly salivating.
“No wonder the Gong family is wealthy,” the village chief sighed.
“No one in our village would dare eat their chickens. They’re like precious children. Think of how much grain it takes to raise a chicken — and it lays one egg a day. Before my hen is too old to lay eggs, I’m definitely not slaughtering her.”
“Everyone’s like that.”
The villagers laughed. “Look — even the village party secretary has let down his airs.”
The party secretary had finished elementary school — in 1950, that already put him ahead of sixty percent of the country. He usually wore a starched shirt and acted a bit aloof.
Now, with a sip of liquor and a bite of beef, he was eating twice as fast as usual.
Seeing this, the village chief laughed and urged everyone to eat quickly.
Gong Ze walked a few laps through the crowd, making himself known to the village chief and the party secretary, leaving a good impression of himself as an educated, humble, and soft-hearted intellectual. He then asked how much the Gong family’s farmland could sell for.
The village chief paused and looked at him. “You’re selling land?”
Without a trace of guilt, Gong Ze poured the village chief a drink and said, “I’ve been away for so many years. I actually have connections and a little business in the capital. I just never told my family. The only reason I came back was that my brother was seriously ill. Now that my father and brother have both tragically passed, I still have work to do in the capital. I’ll have to leave sooner or later.”
He was lying.
The original character didn’t have any “little business” in the capital.
But Gong Ze needed a plausible reason for his actions.
Besides, the timeline of this world was heading rapidly toward the era of cooperatives — when the land of the landlord class would be confiscated.
If he sold it now, he could still recoup his costs. Wait until next year, and he’d only be able to sit on the ground and cry.
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