When the wedding hour approached at the treetop,
The bridal carriage set off right at noon.
The banquet was prepared after dusk,
Everyone was busy until midnight.
Hosting the wedding banquet at ho, even if it was just three to five tables, was still tiring until the sky turned dark, seeing off all the guests, then cleaning up the leftover food and bowls and chopsticks, and neatly arranging the furniture and utensils of You Ran House for soone to collect tomorrow.
Even with helpers, Jiang Sheng felt like collapsing on the bed after mopping the bluestone floor.
"It's said the bride is most tired on her wedding day, so Auntie must be much more exhausted," she wondered aloud, sitting curled up in a small wicker chair.
No one answered.
The only elder, Zhang Xianglian, had married into the Kong family, leaving behind just so youngsters and naive girls.
"Rest early if you're tired," Xu Mo said, rubbing his sore fingers.
His job was the easiest, just collecting money and keeping records, yet he still felt sore in his neck and shoulders, and was slow on his feet.
"Do we need to tally today's silver?" Zheng Ruqian looked at the big bag of copper coins. For the first ti, he wasn't eager to count money. "Should we give it to Auntie?"
According to rural wedding customs, the gold and silver recorded in the wedding ledger belonged to the bride's family, because it needed to be returned by the bride's family.
But this dowry was given by Zhang Xianglian herself, so it should be returned to her.
"Let's take it to Auntie tomorrow, or keep it and give it to her when she visits?" Fang Heng was the only one still energetic. To him, these were trivial tasks.
"When she visits. Let Auntie rest these few days," Xu Mo decided.
Everyone nodded in agreent.
No one knew when, but Wen Zhiyun had co over with Little Bamboo, one holding a lidded bowl, one holding an empty bowl. "Everyone worked hard today. Have this Eight Treasure Soup to invigorate you. It also has a calming effect."
It was so nice to have a doctor at ho. No need to worry about minor injuries or tonics for health.
Eight Treasure Soup sounded wonderful.
Jiang Sheng imdiately sat up and drained the big bowl.
Zheng Ruqian, Fang Heng and Xu Mo also accepted without declining. The eight Jiang siblings and the Wang siblings each drank a bowl too.
Only the last bowl was left, for their young fifth brother.
Wen Zhiyun carefully held it, looking left and right, but didn't see Chang Yan anywhere.
"Where's Fifth Brother?" Jiang Sheng also noticed sothing amiss. "Where did Fifth Brother go?"
The siblings weren't inseparable, each having their own matters, like Xu Mo's schooling, Fang Heng's military service, or Zheng Ruqian's travels.
But whenever they were ho, they didn't leave each other's sight, even if busy they'd let their family know ahead of ti, to avoid worrying them.
Jiang Sheng had to go to Jiuzhen Store and the workshops, and Wen Zhiyun still needed to see patients at the clinic, but Chang Yan was the most leisurely, rarely leaving the house.
Where could he have gone?
Was he in danger, or taken away directly?
The more Jiang Sheng thought about it, the more afraid she felt. She had just set down her bowl when the knock ca at the gate.
Her eyes lit up. She leapt up from the wicker chair. "It must be Fifth Brother, one of you locked him outside. Luckily we're not asleep yet, let's open the door for him..."
But as Wang Xiaosong went to open the door, it wasn't Chang Yan but the newlywed Zhang Xianglian and Master Kong who appeared.
No Fifth Brother.
Before Jiang Sheng could feel disappointed, she hurried over in surprise. "Auntie, why are you here? Did sothing happen?"
Nothing could be more important than the wedding night.
Master Kong's usually jolly round face was grave for the first ti. Zhang Xianglian was trembling as she said, still flustered, "Where's Little Five? I'm here to find Little Five."
They exchanged glances, tension coiling up in all of them.
They were looking for Chang Yan too, their little fifth brother at ho.
"When I was sorting the dowry tonight, I opened Little Five's envelope. Inside..." Zhang Xianglian's voice broke as tears fell. "Inside was a title deed, a title deed!"
That alone was shocking. She had asked the literate Master Kong to look, and it turned out to be the title deed for this two-courtyard house they'd rented for two years. Just the annual rent was 100 taels of silver. One could imagine how much the property was worth.
Chang Yan had always been well-behaved and reserved, the only one without any outstanding talents.
Where did he get the money and how did he buy the title deed, even preparing it as part of Zhang Xianglian's dowry?
These countless doubts swirled in the siblings' minds as they rushed to search the rooms without a second thought.
One empty, two empty, three also empty.
Until Zheng Ruqian cried out in alarm.
Everyone crowded around to see six small wooden figurines placed neatly on the wide desk, weighing down a sheet of smooth paper that bore a few large characters in Chang Yan's handwriting.
"I've been away for too long, it's ti to go ho. Don't be sad, your Little Five forever," Xu Mo read aloud.
Silence fell after he finished.
After five years of brotherhood, they'd never heard him ntion any family or that it was ti to go ho. What family called back a child they'd fostered out for five years?
"And didn't Fifth Brother say he lost his mory?" Jiang Sheng said, tones vaguely aggrieved.
Did he regain his mories?
"Little Five never said he lost his mory. You assud, and he didn't refute," Xu Mo said, picking up the six figurines.
Since last year, Chang Yan had taken up carving.
He was diligent. With no foundation, he slowly honed his skills, wasting batches after batches of wood. His fingertips were calloused, but he finally carved lifelike miniatures of the siblings.
Eldest brother forever reading. Second brother counting money. Third brother wielding a staff. Fourth brother with a dicine box on his back. Little sister holding a candied haws.
And him, hands clasped behind his back, calm as still water.
They were a family. Even in hardship, they would unite and rely on each other, just like how the carvings stood side by side, helping each other survive.
But now, Chang Yan had gone ho.
"We never said he couldn't go ho. Why didn't he bid farewell to his brothers' faces, why not say where his ho was." Zheng Ruqian sat on the bedside, aggrieved. "Why did he sneak away, even on the happiest day of Auntie's life?"
"I think it was to delay our discovery of his disappearance," Xu Mo said softly. His fingertips holding the figurine had turned white from force.
He had planned everything, truly cunning for their clever Little Five. But had he calculated their disappointnt, their sister's choked sobs?
"Could Little Five have been threatened?" Fang Heng rembered his own past, gripping his blade tightly. "Then I must find him. I'll rescue my brother."
Everyone fell silent again. These were just guesses. No one knew the real reason Chang Yan left or where he went.
In the dead silence, a lone frail figure curled up tightly, face drenched in tears.
"Little Five, are you leaving ? How could you...leave ."
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