Chapter 15

The family with the surname "Shi" might be unclear to others, but for Ah Fei, it was crystal clear. He even slapped his head and cursed himself for being a fool, wondering how he could have not thought of it.

Ah Fei's mother in his previous life was surnamed "Shi." This was a very rare surname, and it was said that at that time, there were only about eight thousand people in all of China with this surname. However, this surname was not passed down from ancient times but was changed later. The original surname was "Shi."

According to the "Records of the Three Kingdoms: Book of Wu," there was a scholar named Shi Yi, whose courtesy name was Ziyu, from Yingling County in the State of Beihai. He once held a position in the state, and the governor, Kong Rong, said to him, "The surname 'Shi' is too common; it would be better to change it to 'Shi.'" Shi Yi, who always followed the will of his superiors, immediately changed his surname, becoming the ancestor of the Shi family.

Shi Yi's surname change must have happened just a few years ago. The branch of the Shi family that moved to Lelang did not receive the notification, so they did not change their surname. This misled Ah Fei, who, based on the pronunciation, thought the person he was looking for was named "Shi Yi," only to realize it was actually his mother's ancestor, Shi Yi!

After the shock, Ah Fei felt a sudden clarity—there was a fundamental difference between the Shi family and the Shi family. In the late Han and Three Kingdoms era, there were no famous people with the surname "Shi," but Shi Yi had a dedicated biography in the "Book of Wu." Because he was his mother's ancestor, Ah Fei had paid close attention to him, reading Shi Yi's biography several times. Later, Shi Yi fled to Jiangdong and joined Sun Quan, eventually becoming a high-ranking official, the Secretary of the Ministry, and lived to be over eighty years old.

"Looks like I made the right move... I should have a bit of Shi Yi's blood in me... souls don't have blood... anyway, everything happens for a reason! You damn heavens, you really are amazing!" With this, Ah Fei's confidence grew. He straightened up and, with a thud, knocked on the door ring.

The door ring, unlike a doorbell, could not carry the sound far. However, it was not necessary for it to carry far, as only wealthy families used door rings, and they usually had a doorman. The doorman typically lived in a small house at the gate. So after Ah Fei knocked three times, the door was pulled open with a creak.

Ah Fei immediately rushed into the gate, fell to his knees, and startled the old man who opened the door. "Who are you? Why are you knocking so urgently?" Before the old man could finish speaking, Ah Fei deliberately hoarsely called out, "My late father's name was Yi, I am Shi Xun, and I seek to see my elder uncle."

The old man was taken aback. The Shi family, though not large, had moved to Lelang many years ago, and this had left no deep impression on the old man. After a moment, the old man casually replied, "Are you looking for our master? He serves in the state and is not at home."

Ah Fei felt a buzzing in his head—Shi Yi was not at home... He had feared complications and hoped to meet Shi Yi first, as he was the patriarch of the Shi family. If he could gain Shi Yi's trust, others' strange remarks would be irrelevant. If he met others first, the more he met, the more likely he was to slip up, and if the information reached Shi Yi's ears, it might leave some隐患 (hidden dangers).

However, the situation was now such that he could not hesitate or retreat. He asked the old man, "Who is in charge of the household now?" The old man replied, "The eldest son is in charge."

If it was the "eldest son," it should refer to Shi Yi's eldest son. Strangely, in most biographies in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms," the descendants of the main characters were usually mentioned, including how many sons they had and whether they held office. However, this was not the case for Shi Yi. In his previous life, Ah Fei had not found the Shi family's genealogy but had investigated thoroughly. However, the notable descendants of Shi Yi only appeared in the Tang Dynasty, and the generations in between were blank. Did Shi Yi have sons? Daughters? How many? Perhaps they died much earlier than their father and did not serve in Eastern Wu, so they were not recorded in history.

So many strange thoughts flashed through his mind, but his hands were not idle. He hurriedly pulled out the letter from his bag, stood up, and handed it to the old man—kneeling was to show his exhaustion from the long journey and his eagerness to seek refuge, but he was pretending to be the son of a concubine in the Shi family, so he couldn't keep bowing to a doorman.

With the letter presented, the old man naturally had to help deliver it. He invited Ah Fei inside to rest in the doorman's room, re-locked the door, and hurriedly went to the courtyard with the wooden tablet in hand.

Ah Fei sat in the middle of the doorman's room on a straw mat, closed his eyes, and re-evaluated the situation and his strategy. Just as he was about to finalize his plan, he heard footsteps. He opened his eyes and saw the old man leading a young man to the gate. The young man was holding the wooden tablet he had just handed over.

The young man was about seven or eight years older than Ah Fei, with a fair complexion and a short beard. He wore a red silk headband and a black cotton robe, dressed for leisure. The doorman's room was very small, and Ah Fei, sitting inside, saw the young man stop at the door—stepping in would have caused a collision. He bowed slightly, looked Ah Fei up and down, and frowned, asking, "Are you Shi Xun?"

Ah Fei clasped his hands and bowed slightly, "I am Shi Xun, your younger brother. May I ask..."

The young man nodded, "My father's name is Yi, I am the eldest son, and my name is Zhu."

Ah Fei quickly bowed deeply, "Elder brother, please accept my respects."

Shi Zhu extended his left hand to support him, then asked, "I have read the letter on your behalf. How is Uncle Yi?"

What a good question! Ah Fei was secretly delighted. He had hoped for this question! He suddenly widened his eyes and shouted, "My father has passed away!" As he shouted, he trembled, rolled his eyes, and hit his head on the wall, fainting...

Ah Fei was not really unconscious. Even with excellent acting skills, one could cry or laugh on command, but not faint. He pretended to faint to avoid talking to Shi Zhu and hoped Shi Zhu would quickly send someone to the capital, Juxian, to bring back the patriarch, Shi Yi.

With his eyes closed, he heard Shi Zhu's slightly panicked voice, "Why is this... quickly send for a doctor..." Then the old man's voice, "He fainted from shock, pinch the philtrum, and he will wake up." Shi Zhu said, "Then pinch quickly!"

Ah Fei cursed the old man in his heart. He was unsure if pinching the philtrum was effective and how effective it was. Should he let the old man pinch and continue pretending to be unconscious, or should he "wake up" and how should he respond? Just as he was troubled, he heard a voice outside, "Don't pinch, don't pinch!"

Shi Zhu asked, "Why not pinch?"

The voice said, "If he fainted from shock, pinching the philtrum will wake him, but if he fainted from exhaustion, pinching will worsen his condition. It's better to carry him inside, lay him down, and then quickly send for a doctor."

Ah Fei could not let them really bring a doctor. Who knew if the doctor was competent or not? If he exposed himself, though there would be no severe consequences, it would raise suspicions. So after a while, he was carried out of the doorman's room and into another room. As soon as he was settled on a mat, he pretended to take a deep breath and slowly woke up.

"Xun brother, Xun brother." Shi Zhu, sitting in front of him, called out urgently. After the chaos, Ah Fei judged that Shi Zhu, though the eldest son and in charge of the household in Shi Yi's absence, lacked strong adaptability and might be easier to deceive. He didn't know who the other person was.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Shi Zhu, "Elder brother..." Then he noticed another person sitting behind Shi Zhu, who looked similar but was dressed more formally. "This is..."

"This is my younger brother, Shi Yu, courtesy name Wentai."

"Ah, Second brother..."

"Xun brother, you misunderstood," the person smiled, and his voice confirmed he was the one who had stopped the old man from pinching. "I am the fourth brother."

"Fourth brother..."

Shi Yu asked, "Uncle's letter is unclear. Can you tell us the details?"

Ah Fei couldn't help but curse in his heart—You really get straight to the point, don't you? Do you have to make me rehearse my plan in front of you? Your elder brother is still here, when is it your turn to speak?! It seems this Shi Yu is a sharp person, and I need to be extra careful around him.

He thought this but, on the surface, squeezed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, "My father offended the county official and has passed away... I came from afar, and now I am overwhelmed with grief and confusion..."

Shi Zhu quickly intervened, "Xun brother, don't worry, rest well. I have sent a fast horse to bring back our father. We will discuss Uncle's matter when he returns."

Ah Fei mentally gave a thumbs up: Yeah, Elder brother, you are a good and honest person, thank you.

The Shi brothers did not stay long. They comforted Ah Fei, told him to rest well, and then left. Whether to recognize this distant cousin and how to arrange his stay would be decided when Shi Yi returned.

Ah Fei raised his head slightly and looked around. The room was not large, about seven or eight square meters, with white walls and no decorations. The window was small, with fine diagonal lattice, and was covered with thin gauze due to the cold winter. Fortunately, it faced south, providing some light.

He was placed in the center of the room, head east, feet west, on a straw mat and a fine hemp mattress, covered with a fine hemp quilt filled with cotton. On his left, to the south, was a door and a window. On his right, to the north, stood a simple screen and a bronze lamp. Behind his feet was empty, but in front of his head was a cabinet and a table, with his bag, bow, and ring-headed knife on top.

After the long performance, Ah Fei felt a bit tired and exhausted. Thinking about the long act he had to perform when Shi Yi returned, he decided to rest now—after all, energy was the capital of deception. So he closed his eyes, and soon snored, gradually falling into a deep sleep...

Perhaps due to his nervousness, he couldn't relax even in his dreams. He first dreamed of returning to his original time and being forced by his boss to write a 70,000-word speech in one night. Then the boss's face and attire changed, becoming Shi Yi, who shouted at him, "Write a 200,000-word rhapsody... What, you can't write? You must not be a descendant of the Shi family!"

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