Cui Wu and Lu Jinshu are two widowers of the same age from Jibei Village.
They are also the village's very own study in contrasts.
When they were born, one had a family that dug up a century-old wild ginseng root in the mountains, turning the Cui family from rags to riches. The other's father fell to his death in the mountains on the day he was born, and his family never recovered.
As they grew up, Cui Wu was strong and sturdy, able to kill a cow with one punch. Lu Jinshu was sickly and weak, panting after every step and raised on medicine from childhood.
After they started families, Cui Wu was generous and broad-minded, always ready to help, with plenty of friends. Lu Jinshu was gloomy, timid, and selfish, with no one but himself.
Everyone said of Cui Wu, "The eldest son of the Cui family is sure to make it big someday!"
But whenever they spoke of Lu Jinshu, they all shook their heads.
"That fifth son of the Lu family? He'll be lucky if he doesn't starve to death!"
By every measure, Lu Jinshu was utterly outclassed by Cui Wu.
There was just one thing Lu Jinshu had over him.
He had one more child than Cui Wu.
The villagers watched the two little ones trot along behind Lu Jinshu, who carried nothing, each holding a small basket, and all of them looked on with sympathy.
"Those poor kids, stuck with such an unreliable father. Who knows how much they'll suffer!"
They had no idea that the little ones' bamboo baskets were packed with delicacies from the mountains and sea they had never even seen before.
Only the village children gazed at Lu Hua and Lu Xiao's little baskets with shining eyes.
They practically drooled with envy. "So what if their dad is the village loser? If someone gave us baskets like those, we'd want our dads to be village losers too!"
