Last summer, Scholar Sullivan's wife suffered from heatstroke, and her already frail body suddenly collapsed. In order to get medical treatment for his wife, he even sold off their original three-courtyard house. As a result, people took advantage of his urgency and forced the price of a house worth a hundred taels down to just forty taels. Scholar Sullivan, being a man of scholarly pride, disdained borrowing from relatives and friends, and actually gritted his teeth and sold the property. He rented a cheap little building in a remote alley, settled his wife and child there, and sought doctors and medicine for his wife.

In the end, the money flowed out like water, but Adam Sullivan's mother’s illness only grew worse. By autumn, she was bedridden, and by the end of the year, she finally passed away. Brian Sullivan used the remaining money to bury his wife, only to find that he could no longer afford even the cheapest little house. The father and son had no choice but to “build a hut and live in it.”

Of course, this was Mr. Sullivan's refined way of putting it. In reality, it meant using bamboo and wood as the frame, covering it with straw mats for shelter, and putting together a one-room thatched hut. Although it was cramped and damp, at least it was a nest to call their own, wasn’t it?

At this point, the family’s only source of income was the stipend rice from the county school, six dou per month. In theory, if they were frugal, they could just about get by, but “a half-grown boy starves his father”—Adam Sullivan was at the age of growing, and his appetite was even bigger than his father’s. How could this little bit of polished rice be enough? Scholar Sullivan had to exchange it at the grain shop for the worst quality indica rice, which could get them nine dou. Adam Sullivan would then go to the countryside to dig up wild vegetables and catch some loaches, just barely managing to provide food for the two of them.

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As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly, and it couldn’t be truer. A few days ago, Adam Sullivan went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables and was bitten on the calf by a startled venomous snake. By the time the boys who were with him brought him back, his face was already dark with poison, and he looked as if he wouldn’t make it.

What happened afterward, Adam Sullivan didn’t know. When he slowly woke up, he found himself in an attic room. Although the beams and rafters were covered with spiderwebs and the air was filled with a musty, sour stench, it was still much better than that drafty, leaky, dark, and damp thatched hut.

As he was staring in a daze at a spider spinning its web, Adam Sullivan heard his father say, “Alright, alright, Chao Sheng, time to take your medicine.” He was helped up. Leaning against the pillow, he sized up the man he would now call father. The man’s hair and beard were disheveled, his face pale, wrinkles had already formed at the corners of his eyes, there seemed to be bruises at the corners of his mouth, and there were some fresh scratches on his cheekbones. His long robe was filthy and torn, as if he’d been in a fight and, unsurprisingly, lost.

Seeing Adam Sullivan open his eyes and look at him, Brian Sullivan's eyes were full of excitement and joy. He said emotionally, “We really have to thank Miss Yin. If it weren’t for her saving you, the two of us would have been separated by life and death forever…” As he spoke, his eyes reddened and tears began to fall.

Seeing him cry, Adam Sullivan felt his own nose sting a little. He wanted to say something to comfort him, but his throat felt blocked, and he couldn’t utter a single word.

Noticing the change in his expression, Brian Sullivan quickly wiped his tears and said, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?” Seeing Adam Sullivan look at the medicine bowl, Brian Sullivan said sheepishly, “I almost forgot.” He picked up the bowl, scooped a spoonful of the brown herbal decoction, blew on it a few times, and then carefully brought it to his lips.

Adam Sullivan frowned and took a small sip, but it wasn’t as bitter as he’d imagined; instead, it was a little sweet amid the bitterness. Seeing his frown relax, Brian Sullivan said happily, “You never liked taking medicine since you were little, so I bought some apricot blossom honey to mix in. The doctor said it would help you recover.” He then helped him finish the whole bowl of medicine.

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After wiping Adam Sullivan’s mouth with a towel and laying him back down, Brian Sullivan let out a long, satisfied breath, as if he’d just accomplished something important. Only then did he straighten up, put the empty medicine bowl and the broken bowl on the table, and plop down on the stool, bending over in exhaustion and taking a deep, heavy breath.

Adam Sullivan watched as he filled a bowl with hot water, picked up three greenish-yellow fava beans from the broken bowl, hesitated for a moment, then shook his hand and dropped two of them back into the bowl, leaving only one in his hand.

He examined that single bean for a long time, then Brian Sullivan closed his eyes, slowly put it in his mouth, and chewed it gently, as if savoring it endlessly, unable to let go.

After a long while, Brian Sullivan slowly opened his eyes, shook his head slightly, and recited, “Cao E brings fresh green beans, Qianyu and Tongxing make good soy sauce; the best cook from Dongguan prepares them, and in the mouth they’re soft and tender.”

Adam Sullivan was embarrassed; he had never known that eating a single bean could bring such happiness.

Seeing the look of disbelief on his face, Brian Sullivan took a sip of hot water and said, “Chao Sheng, you just haven’t tasted it. The bean is cooked through but not mushy, soft but not falling apart, and when you chew it, your mouth fills with saliva. The five-spice aroma is rich, salty and fresh, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. If you could pair it with some yellow wine, even the Earth God would want to try it.”

‘Hasn’t the Earth God ever tasted anything good?’ Adam Sullivan rolled his eyes, but Brian Sullivan thought he was complaining about not sharing the food, and quickly explained, “It’s not that I don’t want to share with you, but the doctor said you can’t eat anything hot, cold, sour, or hard. Let’s wait until you’re better.”

Adam Sullivan nodded weakly. Seeing Brian Sullivan eat the other two beans at the same slow pace, then wipe his fingers on the rag and drink the whole bowl of water, he said with satisfaction, “Now that we’ve had dinner, it’s time for us to go to bed.”