Volume One: River City Lyric Chapter One: The Li Siblings

The warm spring sunshine, accompanied by a gentle breeze, soothed Li Ling’s weary heart. It was as though warmth had spread through him from body to soul, every pore relaxing in comfort.

Footsteps sounded nearby. A delicate young girl who looked to be in the bloom of youth carefully carried over a bowl of medicinal broth and called out, “Brother, it’s time for your medicine.”

Li Ling was thin and pale from his illness. He smiled and gave a slight nod before taking the bowl. Holding his breath, he gulped down the entire bowl of pitch-black medicine, then let out a long breath.

It tasted awful!

Though he had been in this world for nearly half a month, he still couldn’t get used to treating illness by drinking bowls of traditional herbal medicine.

Half a month earlier, Li Ling had been a promising young man from the twenty-first century. As an accountant, he had enjoyed bright prospects. He worked as tirelessly as an old ox, rising earlier than a rooster and going to bed later than a dog, all for the sake of building a good future, finding a fine girl, starting a family, and having two children. That would have been enough to satisfy him for the rest of his life.

But because he had pushed himself too hard at work, he had fallen asleep at his desk while working overtime to earn a bonus—and never woken up.

When he regained consciousness, he discovered that he was no longer in the modern world he knew. Instead, he had traveled several centuries into the past, to the Great Yue Dynasty, a realm that had never existed in the historical record.

His present identity was that of an eighteen-year-old scholar living in Jiangcheng County, within Hengzhou Prefecture of Huaibei. Aside from himself, his family consisted of a younger sister, Li Yue’er—the girl who had just brought him his medicine.

Only after seeing her brother finish the medicine did Li Yue’er smile happily. “Brother, the physician said that if you take the medicine for another ten days, you’ll make a full recovery.”

The corner of Li Ling’s mouth twitched. He really couldn’t stand drinking that bitter medicine twice every day. He immediately tried to reason with her. “Yue’er, I feel much better these days. Why don’t I stop taking it? I know our family is nearly out of food and still owes money. We can’t keep wasting what little we have.”

“How can curing your illness possibly be called wasting money?” Yue’er said anxiously. She blinked in protest, and a mist of tears appeared in her large eyes.

Li Ling instantly raised his hands in surrender. Watching his sister, who had devoted herself wholeheartedly to caring for him, reminded him of his parents and younger sister in his former life. His sister had never been as considerate or understanding as Li Yue’er, but they had still shared a deep bond after so many years together. And now…

He nodded. “All right, I’ll do as you say. I’ll drink the medicine for another ten days. Look how worried you are.”

Only then did Li Yue’er brighten again. “Brother, you have to keep your word…”

A tremendous crash shattered the warmth of the little courtyard. A group of fierce-looking men with crooked features and murderous expressions burst through the door.

The bald man at their head, whose shining scalp reflected the sunlight, swaggered toward Li Ling and shouted, “Li Ling, Eldest Son Li, you’re certainly living comfortably. But don’t forget that your family still owes our master, Lord Zhuang, two hundred silver taels!”

The sudden intrusion terrified Yue’er. Several of the men cast greedy, lecherous glances over her body, making her even more frightened. She immediately shrank behind Li Ling and softly called, “Brother…”

Li Ling’s brows drew together at once. Along with inheriting this body, he had inherited much of its former owner’s memories. He knew the men were telling the truth, but—

Before he could speak, a woman appeared beyond the left wall of the courtyard and shouted at the group, “Baldy Huang, you’re going too far! You know perfectly well that the Li siblings are barely scraping by, yet you keep coming to hound them for money! Besides, it wasn’t Eldest Son Li who incurred this debt. Their foolish father borrowed the money and then vanished without a trace. If you want to collect, go find Li Tong!”

Li Ling cast a grateful glance at his neighbor, Auntie Jin, who had stepped forward to help. She had indeed assisted the siblings considerably in the past and was a genuinely kind neighbor. She could help them with food and daily necessities, but a dispute involving money clearly could not be settled with just a few words from her.

Sure enough, Baldy Huang stroked his smooth head and snorted. “What would a woman know? I’m carrying out Lord Zhuang’s orders. How does that saying go…?”

He glanced at the men beside him, and one of the sharper ones promptly supplied, “A father’s debt is paid by his son. That’s only right and proper.”

“Exactly. A father’s debt is paid by his son. Since Li Tong disappeared after running up the debt, naturally we’ll collect it from his son. If you can’t pay, we’ll take this courtyard—and your sister—as repayment. If that still isn’t enough, we’ll send you to Lord Zhuang’s estate to work off the rest!”

Seeing Baldy Huang’s arrogant face, Auntie Jin flushed with anger. “Have you all forgotten the law? Your men already seized the entire Li family estate. Now you even want to take the people?”

“Who can they blame but their own father?” Baldy Huang cackled. “He had to gamble, and after losing, he borrowed even more. He squandered the family fortune and dragged his own children into the mess. Whose fault is that?”

He fixed his gaze on Li Ling. “Well? Eldest Son Li, let’s hear your answer.”

Only then did Li Ling slowly rise from his chair. His gaze swept across the idlers and thugs before him, and he appeared remarkably calm.

Everyone found this strange. Auntie Jin and Li Yue’er knew Li Ling well. He had always been timid and weak, never daring to quarrel with anyone. In fact, his present illness had been caused when these men came to collect the debt before and frightened him so badly that he had nearly died. So why did this sickly young man now seem far bolder than before?

After looking over the group, Li Ling finally spoke. “Brother Huang, what you’ve said is reasonable. Since the debt was incurred by my father, as his son I have no way to evade it…”

“That’s right. Since you can’t repay the money, then—”

“Not so fast.” Li Ling shook his head, cutting him off. “Some matters need to be clarified first. I remember very clearly that my father initially owed eight hundred and twenty-three silver taels. Over the following six months, he sold off our family property piece by piece and repaid nearly eight hundred taels before leaving Jiangcheng County. Isn’t that so?”

When the other man fell silent, Li Ling smiled. “If that is the case, then we owe you only a few dozen taels at most. Where did this enormous debt of two hundred taels come from?”

Baldy Huang was visibly taken aback, but then he gave a vicious laugh. “This is what happens when the entire Li family is made up of scholars who know nothing of the world. Don’t you know that gambling debts accrue interest? You said yourself that your father took six months to gather eight hundred taels. Two months have passed since he fled, which makes nearly a full year altogether. With interest compounding upon interest, let’s say your family owes one thousand taels. Subtract the eight hundred already repaid, and two hundred remain. Not a single copper is wrong.”

Li Ling had already deduced from the men’s repeated harassment that his shameless excuse for a father had borrowed money at exorbitant interest. Even so, the outrageous sum they demanded made his eyelid twitch.

But he soon smiled again. “Even so, that doesn’t justify your coming here today.”

“Kid, what are you implying? Are you looking down on me and my brothers?” Baldy Huang demanded angrily.

He stepped forward twice, clenching both fists until his knuckles cracked. The thugs behind him also revealed unfriendly expressions, as though they might attack at any moment.

Li Yue’er grew even more frantic. She clung tightly to one of her brother’s arms, unable to utter a word. She had heard that if she were dragged into Lord Zhuang’s household, her life would be ruined.

Feeling her fear, Li Ling quickly patted the back of her hand. Then he smiled. “I’m not saying that. I’m only saying you’ve come too soon. Lord Zhuang and my father signed a written agreement stating that the remaining debt would be repaid before the Mid-Autumn Festival in the eighth month. It is only the beginning of the fourth month, so there are still four months to go. Surely you cannot disregard the agreement and force us to pay early? Besides, judging from the amount you claim we owe, it seems the interest for this period has already been included.”

“Is that true?” Suspicion appeared on Baldy Huang’s face.

“Of course. I still have the agreement they signed.”

As he spoke, Li Ling took a document from inside his robe. Straightening up, he held it out toward them.

In truth, this was one of only two benefits that his shameless father had left behind for the siblings. Of course, it might also have been a loophole deliberately left behind to give himself a chance to escape his creditors.

Baldy Huang and his men could barely recognize a handful of characters among them. They widened their tiny eyes at the document, then stared blankly at one another, unable to say a word.

If they had known about this agreement, they would never have come to collect the debt today. But leaving just like that would make them lose face.

Li Ling gave them no time to think. He snorted. “It is only right and proper to repay a debt, but debt collection must follow the rules. You have no right to force someone to repay before the agreed date. If you insist on causing trouble, I’ll take this matter to the authorities and let them decide who is in the right!”

With matters brought to this point, Baldy Huang and his men had no choice but to back down, however unwillingly.

The bald man snorted. “Don’t get too pleased with yourself, boy! Even with another four months, you’ll never be able to produce two hundred silver taels. When the time comes, you’ll see what we do to you. Let’s go!”

After leaving them with that threat, Baldy Huang and his gang finally slunk away.

Only after watching them disappear through the gate did Li Ling let out a breath and slowly relax. He had genuinely feared that the men would attack him regardless of the consequences. In his current frail condition, he might well have been unable to withstand a beating from several thugs.

Only then did he notice two pairs of puzzled eyes fixed upon him, as though they were looking at a strange new person. They belonged to his sister, Li Yue’er, and Auntie Jin.

The latter was straightforward by nature and immediately asked, “Eldest Son Li, what happened to you? You seem like an entirely different person! You were so eloquent that even Baldy Huang and his men ended up leaving.”

Li Yue’er joined in, both astonished and delighted. “That’s right, Brother. Why are you so different from before? You never even dared speak to them in the past…”