My name is Ji Zhang. I have lived in Taoshan Village with my mother since I was a child. I also have a younger brother named Ji Huai.
My mother told me since I was a child that we are the only real mother and son, and Ji Huai is just a guest, not our real relative.
When I was little, I didn’t understand: “Why should Ji Huai just go find his biological parents? Why should we raise him?”
"Silly child, Ji Huai is born with a strong physique. If you keep him by your side, you can use him as a servant and earn money for your education in the future."
I was unhappy: "Do I have to study? I don't like studying."
"You must study," said the mother with a fierce face. "Only by studying can you become a superior person. You must stand higher than everyone else, making them envy you and rely on you."
I asked my mother, "Why do you do this? Isn't it better to stay in Taoshan Village?"
"No," said the mother. "Your biological father raised us away from home because he despised your low social status. Then he died, and his family bullied us, an orphan and a widow, because we had little influence and kicked us out without a second thought. They were convinced you would never amount to anything, so I'm determined to raise you well so I can go back and slap them in the face."
My biological father, who made my mother so angry, was just a seventh-rank official. In order to make my mother happy, I vowed to become an official in the future.
My mother was depressed and passed away when I was seven years old. Before she left, she held Ji Huai's hand and asked him to take good care of me.
At that time, I was hiding outside the window and listening to my mother's instructions to Ji Huai.
"Ji Zhang's father has been very kind to us, and he himself comes from an extraordinary family. Since our benefactor has entrusted him to us, we must take good care of him. You must support his education, even if it means selling everything you have and making things difficult for yourself, but don't make our benefactor's child suffer. Remember, we owe him this!"
Ji Huai responded sullenly, "I know, mother."
A smile appeared on my mother's face, and after Ji Huai left, she called me in again.
"I've already told Ji Huai that he will support your education. You just need to ask him for money. I know him, and he won't refuse. My health won't last much longer, so you must take good care of the things I give you. Don't let Ji Huai know about it. It might be very useful in the future."
After my mother passed away, I was depressed for a few days, but I soon recovered. Relying on others to find things was too passive. I determined to study hard, make a name for myself, and become a superior person in the future.
Ji Huai did not use the money from his family. He went out to work as an apprentice. He only returned home once in a long time. Later, he only came back once every few months, and finally once every half a year and a year.
I don't know what he does, and I never care. I just know that if I run out of money, I ask him for it, and if I can't find any ancient books, I ask him to help me find them. He always has a way.
In this way, the days passed one by one, my family built a big house, and I passed the imperial examination, but no one came to see me.
Ji Shen lived next door to me. One day, I saw a beautiful girl knocking on his door and asking him if he would marry her.
I fell in love with her at first sight, and later I learned her name - Yun Yuan.
Just when I thought I had no chance, to my surprise, Ji Shen rejected Yun Yuan and instead married a beautiful woman. I even attended his wedding banquet and gave him a penny of silver.
Ji Shen’s wife is Yan Xiaoman. I know Yan Xiaoman because the Yan family’s tofu is very famous. I heard that it is made of beans. It is white and tender, melts in the mouth, and has no bean smell. It is very suitable for the elderly. Whether it is stewed, fried, or cooked into soup, it tastes good.
I heard that the method of making tofu was first invented by Yan Xiaoman. Many chefs bought beans but could not figure out how she made the soy milk into blocks.
It is said that some people used the wrong method and poisoned themselves, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. After this incident, fewer people studied tofu.
After Yan Xiaoman married into Ji Shen's family, she came up with another kind of food - braised pork. I can smell the fragrance coming from her house every day. I don't know what spices she put in it, but the taste is really overpowering.
Ever since I met Yun Yuan that time, I have been paying attention to her. Her parents have both passed away and she is having a hard time at home. Just when I was planning to ask a matchmaker to go to her house to propose marriage, she found me first and asked me if I was willing to marry her.
Of course I do.
The Ji family insisted on paying me twenty taels of silver, so I wrote a letter to Ji Huai and successfully married Yun Yuan.
Yun Yuan and Yan Xiaoman have a deep hatred and often have unpleasant arguments with Yan Xiaoman. She intends to compete with Yan Xiaoman, and I will try my best to meet any request she makes.
I wrote more letters to Ji Huai, and sometimes I would mention Yun Yuan in them, and my love for her was revealed between the lines.
Ji Huai would send me money every time, sometimes dozens of taels, sometimes hundreds of taels. I would buy clothes, pearl hairpins, and everything Yun Yuan liked.
She can be willful sometimes, but she's very easy to coax, like a cat. I like her very much.
I thought I would live with her forever, until one day I put on the jade pendant my mother gave me and went to the back mountain, and then I met Uncle Wu.
Between power and Yun Yuan, I chose power.
I told myself that the separation was only temporary and that I would definitely come back and take Yun Yuan away, making her a noble lady, wearing gold and silver and having a group of servants.
In order to prevent Ji Huai from coming back to find me, I pretended to be dead so that they would not come to me. I knew the safest way was to kill them, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
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