Adam Sullivan didn’t quite agree, but was very satisfied that he didn’t have to justify himself, so he pressed his lips together and smiled without saying a word.

　　※※※

　　Brian Sullivan paced heavily around the room a few more times, then suddenly stopped, looking at Adam Sullivan with great seriousness, as if he had made the most important decision of his life. In a deep voice, he said, “Chaosheng, I’ve decided. From now on, I will stop studying.”

　　Adam Sullivan rolled his eyes, thinking to himself: ‘So all my words were for nothing.’ He was about to speak to persuade him, but Brian Sullivan waved his hand to stop him: “Just focus on recovering your health, don’t worry about anything. Your father will take care of everything.”

　　Adam Sullivan vaguely guessed his decision, and with a look of reluctance said, “You…” He had just started to speak when a heavy knocking interrupted him.

　　When the two of them turned to look, the door had already been pushed open, and an angry woman appeared before them. She wore a gaudy, wrinkled long dress, her figure was short and fat, and her face was unpleasant. Pointing at them with a finger like a carrot, she started cursing: “You old man and little girl, walking around the hall so early in the morning, are you in a hurry to report your first pregnancy or what!”

　　Adam Sullivan was not used to her Anchang dialect at all. Anyway, since it was just cursing, there was no need to listen. He wanted to drive the foul-mouthed woman out, but he didn’t have a bit of strength in his body and couldn’t even sit up; he wanted to argue with her, but could barely understand what she was saying, so he just glared sideways in frustration and let the old man deal with her.

　　But Brian Sullivan was clearly no match for this shrew. His face turned red, but he couldn’t get a word out. After being scolded for a while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: “Can’t a person even walk around in his own room?”

　　“What? Your own room?” The shrew spat furiously: “Is this your house? Last night this was still my attic, wasn’t it?” She then launched into another rapid-fire tirade, none of which Adam Sullivan could understand.

　　Brian Sullivan, however, understood every word, which made his expression very unpleasant. Several times he tried to retort when she paused for breath, but to his surprise, her lung capacity was astonishing—she kept up her endless tirade without the slightest pause.

　　Helpless, Brian Sullivan could only remain silent, his face dark, letting her scold as she pleased.

　　The shrew cursed for more than a quarter of an hour, and only when a man called her home for breakfast did she spit a thick wad of phlegm and say, “If you don’t die and get out in a day, I’ll curse you for a day!” With that, she waddled her fat backside and laboriously went downstairs.

　　Watching her stumbling figure leave, Brian Sullivan stewed in silence for a long while. Suddenly, his stomach growled loudly, and he said angrily, “Barbaric and rude, simply hopeless!” This finally lightened his mood a bit, and he forced a smile at Adam Sullivan: “Chaosheng, you must be starving, right?”

　　Adam Sullivan shook his head and said softly, “Why did that woman lose her temper? I think she was just looking for trouble.”

　　“Looking for trouble? She certainly was.” Brian Sullivan gave a bitter smile: “This attic was originally her storeroom. Now that we two have taken it over, of course she’s unhappy.”

　　“We’re living in her house?” Adam Sullivan asked in disbelief. In his impression, the old man was a bookworm obsessed with saving face, the type who would rather build a straw hut than live under someone else’s roof. How had he suddenly changed?

　　“No.” Brian Sullivan’s expression darkened, and he shook his head repeatedly: “This is the Shen family compound. Our own family’s patriarch arranged for us to stay here. As for that shrew, she’s just like us—she came to rely on the family, only she got here first and is bullying the newcomers.” The more he spoke, the gloomier he looked. Not wanting to say more in front of his son, he forced himself to cheer up: “Ignore her. Just think of it as a tiger fallen to the plain, bullied by dogs.”

　　As he spoke, he picked up a sack of rice from behind the door, carefully poured some into a clay pot, then silently added water and lit the fire, sitting by the little clay stove in a daze, muttering to himself.

　　Adam Sullivan could vaguely make out that he was reciting, “When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person…” and knew his father must be feeling terrible. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to put it, so he could only offer a soft comfort: “Everything will get better.”

　　Brian Sullivan’s body stiffened, and he nodded hard, but said nothing more. When the rice porridge was ready, he ladled out a big bowl and set it in front of Adam Sullivan, asking gently, “Can you eat by yourself?”

　　Adam Sullivan moved his wrist and nodded, “No problem, I have some strength in my hands now.”

　　Brian Sullivan placed the bowl on the edge of the bed and said softly, “Eat slowly. After you finish, keep sleeping. The doctor said sleep is the best medicine.”

　　Adam Sullivan nodded again. He saw the old man pick up the clay pot, turn his back, and sit down facing away, as if eating, or perhaps sobbing.

Chapter Three: Five Hundred Years in a Dream (Part Two)

　　After a hasty breakfast, Brian Sullivan tidied up the household items, then brought a clay basin to the bedside and instructed, “If you need to relieve yourself, use this. I’m going out for a bit.” He hurriedly closed the door and went downstairs, almost as if fleeing.

　　As soon as he left, the little attic became quiet, though the noise from outside gradually drifted in.

　　Through the half-open window, Adam Sullivan saw white clouds floating in the blue sky, the color so pure. This boy, used to seeing only gray skies, was entranced for a long time before coming back to himself. He pricked up his ears to listen to the sounds outside the window. He heard the rumbling of boats passing over water, the soft, lilting banter of Wu dialect, and the laughter of children at play.