Chapter 56: Raising the Dead and Bringing Back to Life

Having successfully found an external supporter, Li Fengyu finally managed to relieve his urgent crisis. However, looking somewhat puzzled, Li Sen asked, "Fengyu, how were you so sure that Lin Chu would help you?"

Li Fengyu smiled faintly and replied, "Let me tell you a story."

During the Spring and Autumn period, the ruler of the State of Zhongshan held a grand banquet for his ministers, serving a large pot of mutton soup and ordering servants to ladle it out to the guests. With many people and little soup, when it came to the turn of Grand Master Sima Ziqi, the soup had run out.

Upon returning home, the more Sima Ziqi thought about it, the more wrong it felt. He convinced himself that the ruler had deliberately sought to humiliate him in public: "Everyone present today was a high-ranking minister. No matter how incompetent I may be, I am still a Senior Grand Master. Everyone else was served the mutton soup, but the ruler deliberately withheld it from me in front of so many people. Everyone else was enjoying their meal while I had nothing—this is clearly looking down on me! Besides, someone was even drinking while casting smug smiles in my direction. Hmph, as if this place is so remarkable! If they won't value me here, another place surely will!" Filled with indignation, he defected to the State of Chu.

Lobbying the State of Chu, Sima Ziqi persuaded them to attack Zhongshan, and the State of Zhongshan fell in an instant. Looking up to the heavens, the ruler of Zhongshan sighed, "I have lost my state over a single bowl of mutton soup." During his flight, two men followed closely behind him all the way. Turning back, he asked, "What are you two doing here?" They replied, "Once, when our father was starving to death, you bestowed upon him a pot of cooked rice. On his deathbed, he told us: 'If the ruler of Zhongshan ever faces peril, you must give your lives for him.' Therefore, we have specifically come to offer you our service." Only then did the ruler of Zhongshan understand: "Favors are not measured by the abundance of people, but by arriving in times of distress; grudges are not measured by depth, but by the sting to the heart. I lost my nation over a bowl of mutton soup, yet gained two loyal men with a single pot of rice."

Chinese civilization is profound and vast. The story of "sharing a bowl of soup" teaches us that Sima Ziqi was an unloyal and unrighteous villain who betrayed his country merely for a morsel of food, and he deserved condemnation. Yet from another perspective, what Sima Ziqi was fighting for was not just a bowl of soup, but his dignity and respect. The fall of Zhongshan was ultimately caused by unfair distribution and unclear rewards and punishments—a hidden danger that was bound to erupt sooner or later.

Li Fengyu continued, "To bestow a favor upon someone, it doesn't have to be something of immense value; what matters is whether it meets a genuine need. Similarly, offending someone doesn't require a catastrophic wrong; it all depends on whether you have wounded their heart. Back then, I extended a helping hand to Lin Chu during his most difficult moments, which is why he has always kept it engraved in his heart and is bound to help me at a critical juncture. As for his father, I never provoked him, nor did I harbor any deep hatred toward him, yet he constantly plotted against me in the shadows."

Suddenly enlightened, Li Sen remarked, "Your understanding of human nature and your approach to doing things are truly remarkable."

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