Chapter 26: Envy and Pride

News that Lady Bai had entered the Chen household spread like wildfire, instantly becoming the talk of the entire street where Chen Jiu-si lived.

One had to understand Lady Bai's status in Xiantao Village; she was highly esteemed and looked up to by the common folk. Not only did she have Physician Bai, but more importantly, she was connected to Wu Zhong, the manager of the fish weir.

With such status, who in Xiantao Village—or even the entire Xiantao Town—would dare to disrespect the Bai family?

Even Yu Biao of the Yujia Bureau would have to treat the Bai family with courtesy. At the very least, he would have to be polite on the surface.

And now, Lady Bai had actually visited a degenerate gambler, causing the village's gossips to speculate wildly.

"Hey, did I see that right? Was that Lady Bai? Why did she go to Chen Jiu-si's house?"

"Yeah, could someone in Chen Jiu-si's family be sick?"

"What are you talking about? Even if someone were sick, they'd ask for Physician Bai. Why Lady Bai? She can't treat illnesses."

"Exactly. And don't forget, Physician Bai has a grudge against Chen Yongwang. Why are their families interacting now?"

"Right, right, this is just too strange."

As the crowd chattered amongst themselves, someone spoke up.

"I know what happened!"

Everyone turned to look at him. The man said, "Yesterday, I saw Chen Jiu-si carrying Physician Bai back to his house. It looked like the Physician sprained her ankle while gathering herbs on the mountain and ran into Chen Jiu-si..."

Hearing this, the others were filled with envy.

Chen Jiu-si's luck was simply too good.

To save Physician Bai was to do a great favor for the Bai family. If the Bai family took special notice of him, his status in Xiantao Village would skyrocket.

He had truly struck gold.

*Why wasn't it me who saved Physician Bai!*

*If such a good thing had fallen into my lap, how wonderful would that be?*

In an instant, countless people began to envy Chen Jie. Befriending the Bai family was something many dreamed of. Setting aside everything else, consider Wu Zhong, the Physician's son-in-law.

He was the manager of the fish weir. On the Mianshui River, he was practically a local emperor. If the commoners wanted to go downriver to fish, they had to get his permission and pay taxes.

The fish weir was a place everyone in Xiantao Town wanted to work in. Not only was the labor easy, but the profits were substantial. More importantly, if one performed well, there was a chance to join the Fishermen's Guild.

And once you joined the Guild, you truly became part of the elite.

Consequently, countless commoners tried to use connections and favors to get into the fish weir, but very few succeeded.

The surrounding neighbors' eyes were green with envy, feeling that Chen Jiu-si had indeed hit the jackpot.

Some were so angry they stamped their feet, like Chen Sanliu. Seeing Chen Jiu-si do well was even more unbearable to him than his own bad luck!

...

The villagers had little else to talk about, so once this news broke, it spread rapidly, and more onlookers gathered.

When the door opened, Lady Bai was escorted out. Chen Jie stood at the doorway with Su Yunjin and said, "Auntie Bai, I will come over after I finish my lunch."

Lady Bai replied, "Mhm, no rush. There is nothing urgent today; you can come tomorrow."

Chen Jie said, "Thank you for your kindness, Auntie. But I have nothing to do this afternoon, so I'll stop by to see if I can be of any help to you."

Satisfied with Chen Jie's attitude, Lady Bai said, "Alright then, I'll be going."

After she left, Chen Jie watched her walk into the distance. At that moment, Chen Erba approached with Hu-zi.

"Uncle Erba," Chen Jie greeted him.

Chen Erba looked at him and asked, "Jiu-si, what was Lady Bai doing there? She didn't come to cause you trouble, did she?"

Seeing Uncle Erba's worried expression, Chen Jie smiled. "Haha, don't worry, Uncle. It's a good thing. I ran into Physician Bai on the mountain yesterday... It just so happened that she needed an apprentice, so she chose me..."

Chen Jie explained the situation.

"What? Physician Bai wants to take you as an apprentice!"

Chen Erba's face lit up with joy. "Haha, good! This is great news! To gain Physician Bai's appreciation and learn her skills, you will be able to earn respect just like your uncle in the future. Good, very good! This way, you won't have let your uncle's expectations down!"

"Haha, Brother Jiu-si, congratulations!" Hu-zi added with a wide grin.

Chen Jie smiled and said, "Uncle Erba, we are stewing fish for lunch today. Please bring Auntie and come eat; we can celebrate together."

"This..."

Uncle Erba hesitated. In these times, every household lived on a tight budget.

In later generations, inviting someone over for a meal was nothing, but in this era, it was a significant social gesture.

After a moment of hesitation, Uncle Erba finally nodded. "Alright, I will definitely come at noon."

Chen Jie nodded with a smile and turned back into the courtyard.

As Chen Erba walked back, he left behind a crowd of onlookers. One of them nudged Chen Sanliu and said, "Hey, Sanliu, why did they invite Uncle Erba to eat but not you?"

Chen Sanliu's face turned ashen. He said through gritted teeth, "Who cares about his meal? That ungrateful wretch."

"Hey, Sanliu, you're being petty. Just because they didn't invite you doesn't mean you have to curse them."

"Hmph, am I wrong? That Physician Bai has a grudge against my uncle. Taking Chen Jiu-si as an apprentice is clearly meant to humiliate my uncle, yet he just agreed without a second thought for my uncle's dignity. I'm telling you, outsiders can't be trusted... *Sigh*."

Chen Sanliu sighed and walked home with his hands behind his back, looking quite aggrieved.

The people behind him spat at his display. Chen Sanliu was truly a piece of work; when he wanted his son to enter the fish weir and was spending money to give gifts to the Bai family, his mouth was as wide as a lotus flower, calling Physician Bai "Auntie" with the utmost flattery. Back then, he hadn't given a single thought to his uncle's dignity.

To say this now—pah, what a person.

At noon, Chen Jie stewed a large carp, weighing seven or eight catties. After removing the entrails, it was still six or seven catties. Even the entrails were edible, such as the swim bladder, liver, and roe.

He prepared a large pot of stew and a pot of steamed sorghum rice. When it was time to eat, Chen Erba arrived, bringing along Chen Xiaohu and Auntie Erba.

However, Chen Erba did not come empty-handed; he carried a jar of yellow wine. Judging by the soil on it, it seemed to have just been dug up from the ground. Uncle Erba said it had been buried when Xiaohu was born, and there were two jars in total.

Since it was a happy day, they dug up one jar to drink. In terms of value, this jar of wine was worth far more than the fish.

Chen Erba was not one to take advantage of others. The reason he brought his whole family was that he feared Chen Jie would refuse the wine. By bringing his family to eat Chen Jie's fish while giving him a jar of wine, no one could claim anyone had gained an unfair advantage.

Unable to refuse, Chen Jie accepted the wine. During the meal, Chen Jie and Uncle Erba sat in the seats of honor, with Xiaohu sitting submissively nearby. Su Yunjin and Auntie Erba refused to sit at the table and stayed in the kitchen to help.

Though Little Bean was envious, he could only stand there. Chen Jie stood up to ask Auntie Erba to sit, and then insisted that Su Yunjin and Little Bean sit as well. Though the two refused, Chen Jie was firm, and they eventually sat down.

During the banquet, Chen Jie expressed his gratitude for the care the Erba family had shown his household during his recent period of hardship, especially the care shown to Yunjin.

Uncle Erba said, "Yunjin is a good girl. She has suffered quite a bit following you; you must treat her well..."

His words brought tears to Su Yunjin's eyes. Auntie Erba quickly tried to lighten the mood, while Hu-zi and Little Bean acted as if they had met their match, eating the stewed carp frantically.

Uncle Erba was getting old, and his tolerance for alcohol was not great. By the end, he was clearly drunk. He held Chen Jie's hand, repeatedly urging him to study medicine diligently under Physician Bai so that his uncle's craft would not die out.

Then, with a mixture of tears and smiles, he said, "Jiu-si, if you can learn it well, I will be truly happy. Truly!"