"Brother Rui, is there enough money at home? Do you need to borrow some?" Third Lady called out to stop Fang Rui.

"Thank you for your kindness, Third Sister, but my family still has some savings. We won’t be needing any for now..." Fang Rui politely declined.

"That’s good."

Third Lady held Nannan’s hand and said with a smile, "If you ever need anything, just let your sister know..."

...

Returning home.

Fang Rui explained the matter of the increased fee: "...Mother, that’s what happened. Our family has another expense to bear."

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family listened, also furious. "They’re pushing people to their breaking point!"

"Our family can still manage... But for other families, I’m afraid it won’t be long before another one ends up ruined, just like the Chus’ did..." she sighed.

But anger was just anger, and sighs were just sighs. Afterward, she still prepared the fee to be paid the next day.

Like most people in this world, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family had a gentle disposition. Unless pushed to the absolute brink, she would never find the courage to rise up and resist.

Of course, having a family to care for was a major reason—they were all people with families. They couldn’t be reckless; they didn’t dare risk it all!

Wisps of cooking smoke curled upwards, filling the air with the scent of everyday life.

Fang Rui gazed out the window, knowing that this night, many households would be far from peaceful.

However, that had nothing to do with the Fang Family.

With him here, he could be a mountain, a great dam, holding back all the wind and waves, allowing this small home to maintain its precious tranquility.

Tonight’s dinner: Sorghum Flour porridge, Sorghum Flour pancakes, and a bowl of stir-fried wild vegetables.

The meal was simple, but the atmosphere was warm.

After dinner.

As it turned out, no other families came to the Fang Family to borrow money.

For one, most families in Willow Alley could still scrape by for the time being by taking from their future food money—robbing Peter to pay Paul.

For another, aside from Third Lady’s House, the other families were relatively distant from the Fang Family. Even if they needed to borrow money, they would choose someone they had a better relationship with, where they felt more certain of success.

Otherwise, not only would they fail to get the money, but it would also create an awkward situation. Wouldn’t that make it difficult for either side to interact in the future?

...

Tonight, Fang Rui didn’t go to the Black Market. After dinner, he washed up early and went to bed.

That girl, Fang Ling, came to sleep in his room.

CREAK!

Fang Rui went to the window and opened it, wanting to air out the room, but he heard the sound of quiet sobbing from some unknown household, carried on the wind.

He paused, thinking to himself, ’It must be a family that couldn’t scrape together the fee...’

"Brother?" Fang Ling, seeing him frozen, scrambled up from the bed and called out.

"Yes, I’m coming."

"Brother, I want to hear a story."

"Alright. Tonight, I’ll tell a story about Sun Wukong..."

A glint flashed in Fang Rui’s eyes. ’Today we cheer for Sun Wukong, only because the demon fog has returned! In this world, who knows when a person like the red sun rising in the east will appear to save the masses from their suffering...’

Him?

He was an unambitious sort, wanting only a peaceful life. Perhaps that thought would change someday in the future, but for now, it hadn’t.

Fang Rui shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside, and began to tell the story of the "Great Turmoil in Heaven." He recounted it with such flair that the characters came to life, and scenes seemed to appear right before their eyes.

Amidst the sound of his voice, the moon rose. Moonlight streamed in through the window, spilling before the bed and flowing like water.

Outside, the chirping of nameless insects on a summer night mingled with the quiet sobbing from some unknown direction. In this environment, Fang Ling drifted into a deep sleep.

...

「The next day.」

When Lord Hu came again, most of the families in Willow Alley paid the fee.

Pay, and they could barely cling to life; refuse, and their families would be ruined immediately... It was a very easy choice to make.

The Fang Family was among them, of course. However, as Fang Rui handed over the fee with a broad smile, he silently added another mark against this dead tiger in his heart.

Besides them, there were three or five families who hadn’t scraped together enough money... Lord Hu and his two cronies ransacked their homes. Only after confirming they couldn’t even squeeze two taels of oil from their bones did they issue an IOU, forcing them to leave their handprints as a signature...

They had survived this ordeal.

The families of Willow Alley were not happy; instead, their faces were even more etched with worry.

Life was already hard to bear, nearly impossible. They had been hoping to hold out until autumn, for the drought to ease, but they never expected... the Tiger Gang to pull a stunt like this.

The days ahead, one could imagine, would be even harder, even more bitter!

...

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another half a month had passed.

And how were the Fang Family’s days?

They were doing alright.

Supported by the profits from the finished medicine business, the Fang Family’s grain stores had not only not been depleted but had actually increased slightly.

In the Black Market, things like soybeans, meat, and pork lard were becoming increasingly rare. Twice Fang Rui had been lucky enough to find some, but he was outbid both times.

All in all, the Fang Family could eat their fill, but their meals lacked any oil or richness.

Forcibly supplying his body’s needs with large amounts of coarse grains was difficult for Fang Rui at first, but now, he was slowly getting used to it.

The other families in Willow Alley, however, were having a much harder time.

They couldn’t even guarantee one meal a day, and that one meal was likely a watery gruel so thin they didn’t even dare add much wheat bran.

Fang Rui keenly observed that his neighbors, even the adults, were listless. Day after day, they would avoid moving if they could, lying down rather than standing. The children were even more sallow and gaunt, having lost all their lively energy for play.

The situation in Willow Alley was no exception; it was a microcosm of the reality for the vast majority of people in Changshan County Town.

In fact, those in even worse situations were not few in number.

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family no longer allowed Fang Ling to go outside; it was getting more and more chaotic out there. She knew full well that people driven mad by hunger were capable of anything.

Despite the chaos outside, the Fang Family remained a haven of peace.

「That evening.」

"...Thank you so much, dear!"

Sister-in-law Cai Gen, carrying a sack with two jin of wheat bran, poured out a torrent of grateful words as if they cost nothing, thanking her profusely as she left.

After she left.

Fang Rui closed the door and sat down across from Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, a grave expression on his face. "Mother, we can’t lend out any more grain, or else..."

Sister-in-law Cai Gen wasn’t the first person to come to the Fang Family to borrow grain.

Over the past half a month, quite a few families in Willow Alley had gotten the same idea.

Although the Fang Family was relatively distant from their neighbors and not on particularly good terms, people were going mad with hunger. What use was there for pride?

Coming to the Fang Family to borrow grain was just a shot in the dark.

After being neighbors for so many years, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family couldn’t just turn them away when they came to visit. Especially since they wouldn’t ask to borrow grain directly, but would beat around the bush, making small talk...

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family had her own way of dealing with it: for those she was merely acquainted with and barely interacted with, she would play dumb and complain about her own hardships, insisting she had no grain to spare. But for those she was a little closer to, with whom she shared a bit of neighborly goodwill, her soft heart would lead her to lend out a little.

Of course, she wasn’t a fool. She was reluctant to lend out Sorghum Flour, only giving away wheat bran, and not in large amounts—just one or two jin at a time.

But by now, she had already lent to three or five families.

"...That amount is already approaching a dangerous threshold. It might have even attracted the attention of opportunistic people."

A glint appeared in Fang Rui’s eyes as he said, "Mother, have you noticed? The number of people coming to our house to borrow grain these past two days has increased."

"That’s true."

Seeing how serious Fang Rui was, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family took it to heart and promised solemnly, "Alright. I won’t lend any more. No matter what they say, I won’t lend anything from now on."

It was the same old story: aside from Third Lady’s House, the other neighbors in Willow Alley were all relatively distant from the Fang Family. Their relationships were just so-so.

Being kind-hearted was one thing—ten or twenty jin of wheat bran wasn’t much—but when it involved the safety of her own family, that was something she absolutely could not allow.

"That’s good."

Fang Rui breathed a sigh of relief.

He had spoken with such gravity, but in reality, nothing might have come of it. The risk wasn’t that great at the moment; he just wanted to make Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family take it seriously and nip the danger in the bud.

Even so, Fang Rui didn’t dare to be careless. It wasn’t the ten thousand certainties he feared, but the one uncertainty. He wouldn’t dare gamble on even the slightest possibility.

’Honestly, I’m not afraid of any accidents when I’m at home. It’s just that, when I go to the Black Market every few days...’

In Fang Rui’s opinion, even locking the door wasn’t safe enough.

For this.

He had a solution: recently, when he went to the Black Market at night, he would have Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Fang Ling hide in the cellar. He would then block the entrance with a large stone that no one without extraordinary strength, or an Entry Grade Martial Artist, could possibly move.

This was much safer.

Having settled the matter.

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family sighed with emotion. "The other day, when it was time to pay the fee again, the families who had taken loans from the Tiger Gang... they all ended up ruined, just like the Chus’ did..."

"This world... when will it all end?" She seemed to be asking Fang Rui, yet she also seemed to be muttering to herself.

"Who knows?" Fang Rui also sighed.

The farmers in the countryside had gone bankrupt on a massive scale long ago; now, it was the city’s turn.

"Everyone is struggling, everyone is suffering. We just have to endure it slowly. Relatively speaking, our family is already well-off."

"Yes!"

"Sigh!"

"Sigh!"

Two long sighs escaped through the window, swallowed by the deep night, like the whimpering of the age itself.

...