1

In Chinese ancient, in a Yucheng county, the host in one of the richer family, Zhou Huai'an, sat in the hall with a disappointed expression and his wife, Madam Zhou, sat beside him, trying to console him:

"My master (in ancient China the way for wife to call her husband), don't be too worry, Chuyu is still just a child. Despite his mischievous nature, his teacher has said that he has extraordinary talent. Not only is he better in his study than his peers, but he even outshines children older than him. At such a young age, he has already passed the Children's Examination, County Examination and Prefectural Examination."

While Zhou Huai'an listened to his wife, he replied:

"It is true but this child's playful nature is quite a concern. He goes to school one day and spends the next days idly. You know well that our eldest son, Zhou Chuqin, and the second son, Zhou Chuqi, are both so well-behaved, but he is the only one who is mischievous and naughty. I wonder who he takes after. His mother is a knowledgeable and gentle woman, and I don't recall being like this when I was his age. How can he be this way?"

His wife said with a smile:

"My master, that child knows what to do. No matter how mischievous he is, he won't hurt himself. You know that he is so afraid of pain a lot that even a tiny scratch will make him cry incessantly. And he stares at the wound for a long time, leaving his mother, Caifeng, at a loss as to comfort him. Every time, it is his siblings who take turns to soothe him."

Zhou Huai'an could not help but laughing:

"From childhood to now, he has always looked like this. All of you have spoiled him a lot, only Zhou Xiang, his elder sister, doesn't pay him any attention. Not only this, she mocks him with harsh words. He doesn't reflect on his fragility. Instead, he comes to you to complain. He seems to understand that only you and I can handle Xiang'er in our family."

Mrs. Zhou interjected:

"Because he is the youngest son in this family." 

However, Zhou Huai'an sighed and continued, saying:

"My lady, I really don't know how to thank you. There are four social classes in our dynasty, Yuhong Dynasty, that are scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants. In our family, we have three social classes, but the scholars class has always remained untouched. It has been a great regret of mine. The eldest son, Chuqin, gives me more confidence. He assists me in managing our family's businesses, and this child indeed has some business acumen. He has more ideas and methods for making money, combining our family's agricultural, industrial and commercial interests. Seeing him this way makes me quite content. I'm assured to pass this family's legacy to him in the future. As for the second son, Chuqi, to be honest, I'm a bit disappointed. At the beginning I hoped that he would focus on his studies, participate in the imperial examinations, and make up for my regret. But I didn't expect that he would be so fascinated with Chinese medical when he was a child. He loved spending more time in the pharmacy, which owner is my father-in-law, to study those herbal medicine. I could not bring myself to stop him when I saw the joy in my father-in-law's face."

"My father has mentioned that he plans to entrust all of his pharmacies to Chuqi in the future."

"As long as your father is happy with it."

"Come on, I know you too well. You probably wish for Chuqi to learn Chinese medical from my father. I don't have any brother to inherit my father's business so all of the shops will belong to you soon or later."

Zhou Huai'an "hehe" laughed mischievously, wearing a sly smile, and said in an appeasing manner:

"My dear, How you speak of me in such a disgraceful manner! You are the hostess in our Zhou family. We are a loving couple with heart and soul. Now we have two sons and two daughters. If it weren't for you injuring yourself while giving birth to Xiang'er so that you were unable to have more children and your desire was to help me make up for my regret, you wouldn't have arranged that Caifeng became my concubine so there was one more chance for me to have my third son, Chuyu. Otherwise, the two of us would have been a couple for life."

"Because Caifeng is not only beautiful girl but also from a respectable family of scholars. Otherwise, I would not dare to let her be your concubine. My father has known her family for a long time because her mother has been in bad health."

"Indeed, if it were not for her father passing away on his way to the imperial examination in Jingdu and her family falling into poverty with her mother being quite sick, I didn't think her family would agree to let her be my concubine. But thanks to you treating her like your younger sister and my father-in-law continued to provide medical care for her mother, they willingly stayed in our family."

At this moment a young woman walked in and bowed to the couple Zhou, saying:

"I am going to kitchen to arrange dinner for today so I come here and ask you whether you have any specific dishes you'd like to have."

Mrs. Zhou looked at his husband and Zhou Huai'an replied:

"I don't have any particular preferences. The daughter-in-law and you decide the menu. Now I am going to the accounting office to review the account. Chuqin is planning to find the business opportunity in the capital when he accompanies Zhou Zheng, our eldest daughter, to the capital for her wedding. She will live with her husband in the capital after wedding. If possible Chuqin wants to open a shop there so now it is better for me to help him to finance."

After saying this, he got up and left the hall. Mrs. Zhou also got up and accompanied him out, along with their daughter-in-law, Junior Mrs. Zhou.

Then the women returned to the hall and Mrs. Zhou sat down, saying

"Come and have a seat, I don't have more rules to you. Is Dun'er asleep?"

"He played with his younger aunt, Xiang, for quite a while and got tired so he fell asleep. "

Mrs. Zhou chuckled:

"Xiang'er probably made him cry again, right?"

Junior Mrs. Zhou also smiled and said:

"There are only Xiang and Chuyu who are naughty in our family. Today Chuyu went to the shop with Chuqin and no one played and made a quarrel with Xiang. She had to amuse Dun'er instead. Actually I do like Xiang comes over to my room because I can do some embroidery when Xiang helps me take care of Dun'er."

"As long as she is not causing trouble to you. Well, by the way, it is better to ask Caifeng what she'd like to eat." 

Mrs. Zhou was about to send a maid, but her daughter-in-law stopped her, saying:

"Mom, please wait a moment. I met Caifeng in the corridor when I was on my way here. She didn't have any specific dishes to eat but she just asked me whether I could make a bowl of ginseng soup for her mother."

Mrs. Zhou sighed and said:

"How poor Caifeng is! She has had a tough life. Her father not only accomplished nothing but also died on his way to the imperial examination. He spent half of his life studying and still couldn't achieve much. Her family was already struggling and her mother was sick seriously. It's been even tougher. That's why she had no choice but to be a concubine."

"Actually sometimes I had a chat with her. She said it has been lucky for her to get married with my father-in-law and you treat her like your real sister. Everyone in our family respects her. Not only you but also the siblings dote on Chuyu a lot. All of us are taking care of her mother. Maybe her mother would have passed away a long time ago if there was no help from our family. So she is content. The only thing that she has worried now is about her mother's health."

"Her mother's illness is quite persistent. Your grandpa (Mrs. Zhou's father) told me that it was unbelievable for him that she has lived for more than ten years."

"Well, that is also because of Grandpa's excellent medical skills."

Mrs. Zhou looked at her daughter-in-law and said jokingly:

"Flatter." Junior Mrs. Zhou also chuckled and then Mrs. Zhou continued: "Do we still have ginseng at home?"

"Yes, mom, Chuqi brought some yesterday, which is specially for Caifeng's mother."

"Great! Let us..."

Just as Mrs. Zhou was about to continue speaking, a boy, 14 years old, entered from outside. He had fair skin, distinct features, rosy lips and captivating eyes. However, he wore a somewhat aggrieved expression as he walked in, accompanied by a young servant carrying a paper bag. Upon seeing him, Mrs. Zhou asked immediately:

"Chuyu, what happened? Weren't you supposed to be with Chuqin at the blacksmith's shop?"

Zhou Chuyu paid his respects to Mrs Zhou and then to his sister-in-law. He extended a finger wrapped in gauze to Mrs. Zhou and looked at her with a sense of grievance. Mrs. Zhou glanced at the servant, Guzi, behind him. Guzi shook his head slightly and gave a subtle smile to his mistress. Mrs. Zhou smiled and said:

"What is the matter? Come here and let mom have a look."

Zhou Chuyu, with tears in his eyes, looked at Mrs. Zhou and said with a distressed expression:

"Mom, you are still smiling. It really hurts. I was cut by a piece of iron and bled a lot."

"Okay, okay, it is mom's fault. Did you go to Chuqi's pharmacy?"

Zhou Chuyu nodded and said:

"Chuqin was too busy to accompany me to the pharmacy. I went to there with a person from the blacksmith shop. Chuqi applied medicine and bandaged it for me. He even bought me some sauce pork, my favorite food."

Guzi handed over a paper bag filled with food to Junior Mrs. Zhou. It seemed that the meat was for whole family. Zhou Chuyu continued:

"Mom, it really hurts. Can you cook something delicious food to comfort me, please?"

Junior Mrs. Zhou asked:

"Chuyu, what would you like to eat? Just tell me."

Zhou Chuyu replied:

"My dear sister-in-law, just something that can replenish my blood because I lost a lot."

Then he looked around with a bit hesitant and Mrs. Zhou smiled and asked:

"Are you looking for your eldest sister, Zheng? I think she is doing embroidery in her room."

Junior Mrs. Zhou said:

"Yes, she is. And your elder sister Xiang is also there with her."

"That means if I go to Zheng's room, Xiang will definitely tease me with the mean word. She must say that I am 14-year-old but still so delicate. Mom!"

Mrs. Zhou pulled him close and asked:

"My boy, is it still hurting?"

Chuyu, with a slightly depressed look, shook his head and Mrs. Zhou continued:

"That is great. Now you are already an uncle and you are no longer the youngest in this family. If you continue to be like this in the future, your nephew, Dun'er, will tease you too. Do you understand?"

Zhou Chuyu was momentarily taken back then replied:

"I know but it really hurts and I bled a lot."

She gently stroked his head and said:

"Well, let your sister-in-law prepare the dishes you like. You should go and see your little mom. I will call you for dinner later."