Lowering his voice, he said to Henry Carter in a relaxed tone, “He doesn’t even have a single servant left now—what can he possibly do to my father and me?”

Henry Carter could only give a bitter smile.

Chapter Five: Grandpa Is Back

……

Although the house had already changed owners, the buyer was generous enough to allow the The Carter Family family to stay a few more days.

It was a pitiful situation, really. The old lady of the The Carter Family had long since passed away. William Carter’s wife was still alive, but as soon as trouble struck the family, she took their youngest daughter and returned to her parents’ home.

As a result, in the vast courtyard, only two pairs of father and son remained.

The main rooms at the front were all locked up, so the four of them could only temporarily settle in the back servants’ quarters.

If even the masters were in such straits, it went without saying that all the servants, maids, and concubines had long since been dismissed. With no one left to wait on them, they had to do everything themselves.

By now, dusk was falling. In the kitchen of the back quarters, firelight flickered—that was the The Carter Family family preparing their dinner.

Charles Carter was squatting in front of the stove, expressionless, feeding firewood into the hearth.

William Carter, wearing an apron, stood by the stove, rather skillfully adding rice and vegetable leaves into the big pot.

Meanwhile, Edward Carter and his son sat on the threshold with their hands tucked into their sleeves, craning their necks in anticipation.

They had already switched to two meals a day, eating porridge at every meal. The thin gruel they’d had in the morning had long since disappeared without a trace. The father and son, stomachs growling, waited hungrily for dinner.

The current situation was a world apart from when they first arrived. But Henry Carter had already calmed down. After all, that wealth and splendor had vanished like a bubble in an instant—he hadn’t even figured out what was going on before he was cast down to the mortal world. Since he’d never truly possessed it, there wasn’t much to feel lost about.

What surprised him was that his uncle and father, these two brothers, actually had remarkably strong nerves. In just two or three days, they were eating and drinking as usual, showing no signs of breaking down. He wondered whose genes they’d inherited to be so resilient.

“Brother, put in a bit more rice,” Edward Carter called out when he saw his elder brother had only added two handfuls of rice before tying up the grain sack.

“Complaining about a free meal! This is all from my official ration, you know,” William Carter retorted, unmoved, shooting him a glare. “All you do is sit back and eat without lifting a finger, and you still have so much to say.”

“Fine, you take a break, I’ll do it,” Edward Carter said, rolling up his sleeves and getting ready to stand.

But everyone else looked alarmed. William Carter said with a look of disgust, “Get out of here! Even pigs wouldn’t eat what you cook.”

“But you ate two big bowls of it the day before yesterday!” Edward Carter protested, eyes wide.

“Get lost!” William Carter angrily dumped another handful of rice into the pot, finally making Edward Carter shut up.

Henry Carter squatted there, staring blankly at the adults in his family, thinking, What kind of people are these?

Looks like I’ve really fallen into a pit.

……

Once the porridge was ready, the four members of the The Carter Family each took a bowl and squatted side by side under the eaves, slurping it down by the light of the stove.

With some hot porridge in their bellies, Uncle had the energy to sigh and complain again.

“Sigh, it’s already the fourth day—why is there still no news? I think the old man’s chances are slim.”

“Don’t worry, brother, it’ll be fine,” Edward Carter mumbled through a mouthful of pickled vegetables. “These radishes are pretty crisp. Let’s pickle some more tomorrow.”

William Carter ignored this foodie, glared past him at Henry Carter, and said, “How could I have been so muddleheaded as to listen to your nonsense, you little brat?!”

“If you really had borrowed those fifty thousand taels, Grandpa definitely wouldn’t have made it back,” Henry Carter retorted, curling his lip. Even if Uncle was an honorary official, surely he’d at least seen how things worked? How could he have so little common sense about being an official?

“Listen to that! Is that something a person would say? Nothing good ever comes out of your mouth!” Uncle was so angry he took a big gulp of porridge.

“Did you hear that, Father? Your nephew’s a dog—so what does that make you, big brother?” Now it was Edward Carter’s turn to be displeased.

“Go ahead and defend him! If the old man dies because of you two, he’ll come back to haunt you even as a ghost!” Deciding he wanted to live a couple more years, Uncle chose not to argue with this father and son. As he stood up to get another bowl, he muttered, “Maybe tomorrow we should put on mourning clothes, carry a coffin to the Censorate, and make a scene—see if they’ll let him go.”

“Are you trying to get me killed?!” An angry voice suddenly rang out by his ear.

“Dad, I’m just trying to save you…” William Carter replied absentmindedly. Halfway through, he suddenly froze, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, and stammered, “A g-ghost…”

Before he could finish, someone kicked him hard on the rear. “It’s your old man, not a ghost, you idiot!”

“Dad, Grandpa’s back,” Charles Carter quietly reminded him from the side.

Clutching his backside, William Carter turned around and saw an angry little old man standing at the door, still in the posture of having just kicked someone.

Who else could it be but his father, the dignified third-rank official Albert Carter?

Stealing a glance at the shadow on the ground, William Carter finally relaxed and exclaimed in delight, “Dad, how did you get back?!”

“What, were you hoping I’d die out there?!” Albert Carter looked at his sons and grandsons squatting under the eaves with bowls in hand, and grew even angrier. He glared at them and scolded,

“It’s only been a few days without me, and you’ve already ended up like this?”

Before he finished speaking, a loud rumbling sound was heard.

All the sons and grandsons turned to look at Albert Carter’s stomach.