Fu Mei Li heard the hesitant knock on the door. She knew it was Jin Mingyu.
"Come in big brother, the door is open."
Mingyu came into the room that was dimly lit with an oil lamp. The flame flickered, casting mysterious shadows on the woman's skin that was fair as snow.
Mei Li was sitting on the bed, combing and drying her damp hair. The fresh scent after bathing lingered around her, tantalizing Mingyu's nose.
Mingyu couldn't help but stare at the little woman in the room. His gaze roved from her smooth forehead down to her dainty eyebrows, pert nose, and finally to her pink lips that looked fresh and alluring like newly bloomed petals in spring.
This woman had been eating better in the past few days and had gained some weight. She didn't look so hapless anymore. With her current looks and temperament, she was looking more and more like the pampered noble lady that she was.
She was only wearing her inner robe at this time and this fact caused ripples in Mingyu's heart
Mei Li couldn't stand being stared at anymore, so she looked into Mingyu's eyes feeling somewhat nervous despite her resolution to try to get closer to these brothers.
"Big brother, do you want to sleep on the inner side of the bed or the outer side?" Desperate to break the awkward silence, Mei Li could only ask this question.
"Outer side." Mingyu kept his cool and detached demeanor.
Silence reigned once again. Mei Li actually had several questions to ask this eldest Jin brother, but she was finding it hard to voice those things out.
When Mingyu noticed that Mei Li finished drying her hair, he moved towards the oil lamp. "Let's go to sleep." He hurriedly extinguished the lamp.
"Ah…" Mei Li was unprepared for the sudden darkness.
She heard the rustle of Mingyu's clothes as he moved towards the bed. Feeling more nervous, she hurriedly climbed onto the bed and moved towards the wall. She laid down and faced the wall. Mingyu also laid down and faced the other way so that their backs were toward each other.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Mei Li finally found her courage.
"Big brother, are you asleep?" Of course, she didn't think he was. After all, it was only a few minutes since they burrowed into the quilt.
Mei Li turned her body to face Mingyu's back. She couldn't actually see well in the dark but she could see an outline of his rigid back and hear his breathing.
The man didn't reply.
Mei Li didn't want to let him go. She really had some important questions to ask.
Suddenly, Mingyu felt the little woman poking his back a few times while saying "big brother" in that soft voice that somehow made him feel like there's a cat scratching his heart.
He didn't reply to her at first but eventually relented. He also turned to face Mei Li, or at least her outline in the dark. "What is it?" 'What exactly are you doing or are you trying to seduce me?' Mingyu really wanted to ask this out loud but he kept quiet in the end.
"Big brother, can I ask you a few things? I hope you won't get angry."
"Hmm, you ask." Mingyu secretly chided himself for overthinking.
"After a few days of staying here, I can guess that the Jin family used to be doing well. How come things are like this now?"
Mingyu kept quiet for some time and the room suddenly felt colder, which made Mei Li nervous. He wouldn't really be angry, right?
Mingyu finally replied in his cold voice, "The Jin family became a huge landlord in Shenghuo village for the past three generations. We now own around a hundred mu of land in and around the village, plus a couple of mountains."
"Unfortunately, things turned out not so good in the past few years." He trailed off again.
Mei Li knew the recent years were not any good for the brothers, but she had to ask for the details anyway. If she was to live here and be a part of this family, she cannot remain blind to their issues.
"Big brother, can you please tell me what happened?"
"Why?"
"That...am I not your wife now? Shouldn't I know what's going on with this family?"
Mingyu was taken aback. It seems she was right about this.
"What do you wish to know?"
"Big brother, you don't have to tell me the exact details of the past few years. I just wish to know our family's money situation."
Mingyu sighed. He didn't plan to hide those matters from Mei Li. These things were known by most of the villagers anyway and she would have found out if she asked around. He actually appreciated her directly asking him.
"Although we were considered well-to-do in this village, the family spent a lot of money over the past ten years. First, there are five of us brothers and raising this many children naturally cost my parents more. In my fathers' generation, they were only two brothers so there was less of a financial burden then."
Mingyu continued, "Both my fathers advocated that we hone our minds and bodies. They wanted all of us to be literate. Sending us to school chafed away at the family's savings. And even though the rest of my brothers did not pursue any further education after being able to read and write, our parents wanted at least one of us to take the imperial examinations."
"So, I went to the capital to follow my parents' wishes and seek honor for the family. I sought to pass the examination as soon as possible, but still I had to spend years in the capital. Studying and living there was expensive as you know."
He stopped talking for a while and his next words were tinged with remorse. "To subsidize my studies and to raise my brothers well, my fathers decided to expand our business to the capital. However, they were used to being landlords in the village and doing small business in the nearby town. They weren't prepared for the complexities of the capital."
"After a series of bad decisions and falling victim to a few unscrupulous merchants, our family ended up in debt. Then, one day, when my fathers were on their way to the capital, they met bandits and lost their life."
Mingyu's voice became more strained. "After learning of our fathers' passing, our already sickly mother's health declined further. Her severe sickness lasted for almost three years and she finally left us in spring of last year."
"To solve the business issues left in the capital and to bring my fathers' bodies back to the village, we had to borrow money again. Then when my mother got extremely sick, we got into more debt just so we could pay for the doctor and medicine. The drought happened as well and the harvest was very poor last year. In the end, we couldn't save our mother and exhausted the family' finances."
The room became silent once more. Mei Li didn't expect that the brothers would go through such heartbreaking events in just a span of a few years. It's a wonder that they could still live upright and even smile.
Mei Li's heart went out to them. She was further motivated to help the Jin family not only for herself, but also for these brothers who had to carry such heavy burdens.