What was most worth mentioning was that Lin-ge’er from their family had become the chief manager in the county town. Walk through the whole village—whose family wouldn’t envy that?
Lu Yang had promised before that if there were any good opportunities or lucrative positions in the future, he would take care of Da Song first.
Next year he was going to build a mill. One person wouldn’t be enough to handle it, but two would be just right, so he planned to have the brothers Lu Song and Lu Bai both go. When things weren’t busy, the two brothers could take turns resting; when it was busy, they would work together.
On ordinary days, their wives or husbands could keep an eye on things. The place was so close that if anything happened, they could respond quickly.
Talking about this at the table made the wine feast even livelier—so lively that they wished they could keep drinking until dawn.
As for the matter of relocating the graves, with their help secured, once the wine had gone around a few times, they brought up the burial land and the Xie clan relatives themselves, without Lu Yang needing to say much. They pointed at their own heads, patted their chests, and guaranteed that no one would be allowed to come cause trouble, that the graves would be watched carefully.
Zhao Peilan thanked them and clinked cups with them.
Lu Yang chatted with everyone, his chopsticks busy the whole time.
There were many honest people in his family. Setting aside the two fathers, even his mother was the same—she only dared to pick from the dishes right in front of her. The table didn’t rotate, so Lu Yang kept putting all kinds of food into their bowls.
That night, Xie Yan didn’t compete for attention. Together with Lu Yang, he took good care of the elders at home. Their bowls were never empty.
It was already very late, and the Lu family home couldn’t accommodate everyone. Since it was only a bit more than a li away, they didn’t stay overnight, instead returning to rest at the farm. Lu Song and Lu Bai drove the donkey cart to take them back.
The farmhouse had reserved earthen rooms—old and worn, but the heated brick beds had been repaired, more than warm enough to sleep on.
The tenant farmers, having eaten a meal of dumplings, busied themselves with odd jobs, helping heat the beds and boil water, extremely attentive.
The next day, they slept in and then went back to Lu Family Village. By the time they arrived, it was already noon.
From that day on, they began preparing New Year foods. They fried meatballs, tofu cubes, and dough rings. Lu Yang also tried frying twisted fritters and braided pastries.
The pig-slaughter feast had been hearty, and he wasn’t stingy with these foods. He sent Xie Yan over to deliver some to the elder uncle’s household as well.
The house was small, and the kitchen couldn’t fit many people. Lu Yang wanted to be closer to his father, so the father and son sat inside together, while Xie Yan stayed outside accompanying his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
Somewhat awkwardly, Xie Yan found a topic, took out red paper to write couplets, and asked Lu Erbao what kind of couplets he wanted.
Lu Erbao was illiterate. Over the past several decades, the number of times they had posted couplets could be counted on one hand.
Xie Yan: “……”
Had they posted couplets last year? They probably had—he just hadn’t paid attention.
They must have. If he hadn’t noticed, Lu Yang would have.
Xie Yan measured the size of the door lintel, cut the paper, and wrote the couplets.
They had bought plenty of red paper, so he could write several sets.
He gathered up the leftover scraps, along with the extra bits from his parents cutting window decorations. He boiled some paste over the stove, and outside on the wall, used the paste to form the character “Lu,” then pasted red paper over it, making their home look especially festive and eye-catching.
He had used the same method before at the shop.
Back then, he had pasted many characters in red paper outside the shop, making it stand out.
Seeing there were still many scraps left, Xie Yan also pieced together phrases like “Reunion and Togetherness” and “Harmony and Happiness.”
When Lu Yang came out of the kitchen and saw it, he praised Xie Yan lavishly.
Xie Yan was pleased. And when he was pleased, he wanted to do something extra.
He used paste again, shaping four human figures and covering them with red paper. From their height and build, one could tell at a glance that two of them were Lu Erbao and Wang Fengnian.
The two children they were holding hands with couldn’t be distinguished—who was older, who was younger, who was the older brother and who the younger.
Xie Yan had his own way of distinguishing them. Beside them, he drew poplar and willow trees. The trees were tall and strong, sheltering the family of four from wind and rain.
Lu Yang and Lu Liu had already grown into adults, becoming tall trees themselves, able to shield the family from the elements.
When he finished, he called Lu Yang out to look.
Lu Yang had been about to call him back inside—it was cold outside, and Xie Yan wasn’t wearing gloves; his hands were already red from the cold. But when he came out and saw the completed picture, recognized himself and his brother from the shadows of the trees, and understood the meaning of the drawing, Lu Yang’s eyes reddened.
His family’s top scholar was truly good at comforting people. Even scraps of paper could be turned into something so touching, softening his heart.
This New Year was a year of reunion. Lu Yang spent it in the village, gave red envelopes to all three elders, stayed up with them to welcome the new year, sitting on the heated brick bed, drinking tea and cracking melon seeds. When the New Year arrived, they set off firecrackers, then kneaded dough together and made dumplings.
From the first day of the New Year onward, fried foods were always on the table.
Whether it was because they were happy—good spirits coming with joyful occasions—or because they ate and drank well, or because the couplets, fortune characters, window decorations, and wall displays were so red and abundant that they made everyone glow, everyone looked radiant and smiling.
Lu Yang bought extra firecrackers, saying they should make it lively.
Whenever a guest came, he would set off a string of firecrackers in welcome, attracting many children to come pay New Year visits.
Ginkgo and Pomegranate had come home on New Year’s Eve and came to pay their respects almost every day. The way they looked at Lu Yang was just as Xie Yan had said—like gazing at the moon.
Lu Yang was older than the two of them. Seeing how clingy they were and treating them as younger brothers, he also gave each of them a red envelope, which delighted them greatly.
On the second day of the New Year, Lu Lin and Zhang Tie came home to pay respects and brought with them the six taels of silver they owed for the house.
This money came from selling the old family home. Since Lu Yang had given every bit of it to Zhao Peilan to keep, he didn’t stand on ceremony with Lu Lin.
As the younger brother, he didn’t give Lu Lin a red envelope. Instead, he had fried a lot of food and let Lu Lin come eat his fill and take some to go.
Lu Lin had some free time during the holiday and wished he could stay at his natal home and not go back. Unfortunately, he couldn’t. They were usually very busy and rarely had a chance to show filial piety before his parents-in-law. It wasn’t appropriate to stay too long at his parents’ home. After just two days, they had to return to Shangxi Village.
Knowing that Lu Yang would be leaving for the prefectural city after the New Year, Lu Lin cried when it was time to go.
Lu Yang couldn’t bear to see him cry and kept him there, coaxing him again and again.
“I’m not leaving right away. After the New Year, I’ll still stay for a while. The two places are close. Look, I’m still doing the mushroom business. Whenever you miss me, you can just follow the caravan to the prefectural city. Getting a travel permit is very convenient. I also want you to see the world there. Why cry like this? My heart hurts seeing it!”
Lu Lin was worried about being pregnant and finding it hard to travel.
Lu Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He wiped Lu Lin’s tears. “Brother Lin, pregnancy lasts ten months—less than a year. That’s not long. People you want to see, you’ll always be able to see them. Don’t cry. I’ll write to you more often. Every time the caravan makes a round trip, it can carry letters. You should study too, and write letters to me in the future.”
Hearing that they could write letters made Lu Lin feel a bit better.
He told Lu Yang, “I’ve learned so much following you. When you’re not around, I always feel uneasy. Usually there’s nothing big going on, but I still keep thinking about you. Even my father never taught me this much.”
Fate between people was a wondrous thing. At the very beginning, Lu Yang had never imagined they would have such a deep bond.
Thinking back on the path he had walked, his eyes grew moist.
“Brother Lin, teaching and learning is one kind of bond. Brotherhood is another kind of bond. In the future, I won’t have much left to teach you, but we will always be brothers.”
Lu Lin nodded firmly and reached out to hug him.
Lu Lin was a very traditional young husband. Even seeing illustrated manuals would make him blush and gape in embarrassment. He wouldn’t discuss such things with Lu Yang at all. With Zhang Tie in the shop, though they were clearly a married couple, they hardly ever exchanged flirtatious looks, always restrained and reserved.
So this hug was unexpected for Lu Yang—but it was gentle and warm.
Lu Yang hugged him back and told him again, “I won’t rush to leave after the New Year. I might not set out until after the second month. I’ll stay at home another month or two. If you keep crying, I’ll be forced to leave—I won’t be able to stay.”
Lu Lin tugged at the corner of his mouth, forcing out a smile, wiped his tears, and said, “Then I’ll see you after the New Year. I still want to treat you to a meal.”
Lu Yang agreed. After seeing the couple off, his family also packed up, preparing to go to Li Village for the full-month celebration.
The scene of Lu Liu giving birth felt like yesterday. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
…………………………………………………………
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Wheat and Zhuangzhuang reached their one-month milestone.
A banquet was set at home, inviting only a few close relatives and friends, yet the house was filled to capacity.
From Chen Family Bay, Eldest Uncle Chen came. From Li Village, several families of relatives arrived, along with Wang Meng and his brothers. By the time Lu Erbao and his spouse, along with Lu Yang’s family of three, arrived, there were almost no seats left.
