"You blockhead!"
WHACK!
The broom struck him, but Chen Yong barely felt the pain. Still, he dropped to his knees at once.
"Aaah! It hurts! It hurts so much, Mom..."
The one hitting him was his mother, a haggard-looking woman in her thirties dressed in a simple linen shirt.
Seeing her son's antics, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She tossed the broom aside, sat down, and began to cry.
"Mom? Mom, what's wrong? Did someone bully you? I'll go beat them up," Chen Yong said fiercely, scrambling to his feet.
"You!"
"Huh?"
Chen Yong was dumbfounded.
"Just look at you! What good is all that strength when you eat enough for three people? Times are tough, so your father has to travel for business and is gone for a year, a year and a half at a time. Your little brother and sister are still young. Even though our family has some savings, we're just eating our way through them. Instead of going hunting to earn some food, you turn away the people who are going! Tell me, isn't that infuriating?"
"Sigh, I shouldn't have had you. Honestly, why do you have to eat so much?"
As his mother started nagging again, Chen Yong's face soured. "Mom, Chen Li is no good. All those young thugs are always hanging around him. Besides, I don't want to betray Brother Nuo."
"Brother Nuo, Brother Nuo, is that all you can talk about? What if I, your own mother, made you choose between him and me? You'd still pick your precious Brother Nuo, wouldn't you?"
Chen Yong's mother was furious. 'How can my own son be so dense!'
'He's hell-bent on following that Chen Nuo kid. What's so great about him? It was different before. He could read, and his family were physicians... that was respectable. Plus, he's my own nephew, so of course, we had to support him. But now?'
'Following him means we'll starve!'
'Even family can't change that!'
But then, she saw the hesitation on Chen Yong's face.
???
!!!
'He hesitated?!'
'He actually hesitated!'
"Fine, Chen Yong, are you even my son anymore?!"
"But, Mom... Brother Nuo... he's really important too. He's my family. I... I can't choose."
!!!
His mother's fury boiled over.
She snatched up the broom and started chasing him all over again.
Behind the door, two little heads peeked out, watching in secret.
"Second Brother, Eldest Brother is getting hit again..."
"Shh..."
...
「Lunchtime.」
His mother suddenly spoke up. "I hear that Chen Li kid has gathered a group and is getting ready to go hunting in the mountains."
"How many people did he gather?" Chen Nuo asked, holding his bowl.
"I think six or seven of them. They're all strong young men from our clan who get along well with him."
"He didn't bring along those hooligan followers of his?"
"I didn't see them. I reckon they'll head up the mountain after they finish their meal."
'So Chen Li wasn't completely unprepared. He brought sturdy clan members, not that unreliable rabble.'
Chen Nuo fell into thought, then noticed his mother looking like she wanted to say something but was holding back.
"Mom, what is it?"
"Son, about this Clan Leader position... how exactly are you planning to fight for it?"
"Don't worry, Mom. I have a plan."
"Oh, all right then. If you really can't win, just let it go. At least we can make a living now."
"Yeah."
"Oh, by the way, son... about your marriage to La Zi. Have you given it any thought?"
?
Chen Nuo was stunned.
He glanced at Sister La, who hadn't spoken a word since the meal began, and everything clicked into place. 'I was just wondering what was up with her. So that's why.'
'In this era, factors like agricultural output and frequent wars meant most people married at fifteen or sixteen. In times of conflict, some even married at thirteen. At fifteen, he was at the perfect age to get married.'
"About that... Mom, our family's situation isn't great right now. If we were to hold a wedding, it would have to be very simple. I'm afraid we couldn't even afford a proper feast, and we'd be a laughingstock. Besides, the timing is wrong. Let's wait another two years."
"Sigh, you have a point. You're trying to become the Clan Leader, so you need to focus. But La Zi is already eighteen. In another two years, she'll be considered an old maid. You need to get a move on."
"Yes, I'll definitely take care of it within two years," Chen Nuo promised. He had no real objections to marriage. 'Free love is just nonsense. Instead of finding someone you love, it's better to find someone who loves you and build a relationship from there. That's the real way to live.'
'Sister La treats me well, she's good-looking, and I know her through and through. What more could I ask for?'
Across the table, the usually feisty Sister La's ears were bright red. She kept her head down, utterly silent.
She just kept putting more food into Chen Nuo's bowl.
Chen Nuo smiled, and also put some food in Sister La's bowl.
Watching this, his mother beamed with delight.
...
「The village entrance.」
Bows, arrows, knives, hunting dogs, dried rations, water, and some hunter-made insect-repelling powder.
This was Chen Li's full gear. He was flanked by six others, all strapping young men of eighteen or twenty. Each carried a knife and a pack of rations, their faces a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
Behind them stood a large crowd of villagers—men and women, young and old—all chattering away.
But aside from the worried families of the hunting party, most were praising Chen Li's capability, saying he'd lead the men to a successful hunt and that the position of Clan Leader would surely be his.
That's right. Everyone knew about the contest for Clan Leader. In a small village like this, news traveled fast; what happened in one household was common knowledge by the next day.
"Hey, what about Chen Yong and Chen Nuo? Why haven't they done anything?"
"Probably scared stiff, haha."
"What nonsense. Chen Yong is famous throughout Chen Manor for his strength, and I hear Chen Nuo can practice medicine now. Either of them is better than a good-for-nothing loafer like you."
"What did you say?"
"Hah! If you ask me, none of these young pups like Chen Li or Chen Nuo are fit for the job. It takes a grown man in his thirties like us to..."
"What? You think you're more capable than the Granduncle?"
"..."
Amidst the noisy chatter, Chen Li and his party set off for the mountain.
...
「The ancestral hall.」
A rocking chair swayed gently. In it, an old man sat with his eyes half-closed, his breathing long and even.
THUMP THUMP THUMP.
A man in his thirties with the wrinkled face of an old farmer strode in.
"Granduncle, Chen Li has gone up the mountain. He took..."
After hearing the report, the old man opened his eyes, their cloudy depths betraying no emotion.
"Granduncle, what do we do now?"
"Old Jin, don't worry about them. A man must forge his own path."
"Yes, sir," the farmer-like man replied with a sigh.
"What about Chen Nuo's side? Any movement from them?"
"None."
"I see."
The old man closed his eyes again.
'I'm not wrong about people. The next Clan Leader will be either Chen Nuo or Chen Li.'
'Chen Li has made his move. Now, the clan members will naturally go to Chen Nuo, regardless of what he does.'
'The pressure will force both of them forward.'
'Until a victor emerges to lead the entire clan into the future!'