Once he turned into the alley, Xie Yan barreled straight ahead, rushing along. Before he even reached the front gate, he was already calling out for his mother and his husband.
Lu Yang had been at home these days, waiting especially for him. Hearing the voice, he took two steps outside, then suddenly stopped and said to Zhao Peilan, “Mother, I’ll go to the room to get something.”
Zhao Peilan didn’t think much of it and let him go.
She went to open the door. The moment it cracked open, she saw Xie Yan’s bright, radiant smile.
“Mother, I’m back!”
The book attendant arrived a step later than Xie Yan, carrying two bamboo boxes. He hurried to the gate and delivered the books and draft papers.
The three of them entered the courtyard. The book attendant helped carry the bamboo boxes into the main hall, then left quietly, not wanting to disturb the family reunion, and returned to the Wu household.
Xie Yan swept his eyes around and didn’t see Lu Yang. He asked Zhao Peilan, “Mother, where’s Yang-ge’er?”
Zhao Peilan was still looking at him, circling him once, checking that he hadn’t grown thinner and that he seemed to have grown a bit taller. She muttered, “Looks like I need to make another pair of pants.”
Hearing his question, she said, “Yang-ge’er said he went back to the room to get something. Maybe he couldn’t find it. Go look for him in the room.”
Xie Yan didn’t think much of it and headed straight inside.
The door was open. He entered the main room and turned the corner, immediately seeing the portrait on the wall.
Seeing the painting put him in an even better mood. He eagerly went inside and looked around the room.
The room was small. As soon as you entered, there was a narrow passage, with the kang bed on one side and the desk on the other. Lu Yang wasn’t there.
Xie Yan froze for a moment, thinking Lu Yang must have gone to Zhao Peilan’s room to get something, and turned to go to the other room.
He had only taken two steps when Lu Yang’s voice came from the room behind him.
“A-Yan!”
Xie Yan turned his head. Lu Yang was half-hidden behind the door, poking his head out to look at him, smiling broadly, eyes bright.
Xie Yan strode over. “You’re home!”
Standing in front of Lu Yang, he grinned and accused him, “You were hiding from me?”
Lu Yang hadn’t been hiding—he had just wanted to give him a small surprise.
“You saw me so easily—aren’t you pleased with yourself.”
Xie Yan lowered his head and planted two quick kisses on Lu Yang’s face.
“You called me. I’m pleased anyway.”
Lu Yang touched his cheek and said, “You’re getting bolder and bolder. Broad daylight, and you dare kiss me.”
Xie Yan immediately replied, “I even kissed you twice!”
He was so happy, overflowing with excitement, his voice loud and animated.
Lu Yang laughed as he listened, pulled him into the room, and circled him as well, looking him over carefully. Then he stood in front of him, measured his height with his hand, and said, “You really do seem to have grown taller again. Are your pants too short?”
Xie Yan felt they were a bit short, but still wearable.
Lu Yang tiptoed and raised his hand, saying, “At the rate you’re growing this year, if you get this tall by next year, I’ll only reach your armpit.”
Xie Yan deliberately bent down and hugged him, acting all meek and dependent. “Then I’ll talk to you like this.”
Lu Yang laughed so hard he nearly collapsed and told him to sit and rest.
“Are you hungry? Shall we eat first? After eating, I’ll heat water so you can bathe, wash your hair, sleep well, and rest. Once you’re rested, we’ll talk properly.”
Xie Yan hadn’t been hungry, but after Lu Yang asked, his mouth started craving food. He missed home-cooked meals and said he was hungry.
He didn’t want anything special—just some steamed buns or mantou, and maybe a bowl of porridge.
The family shop sold buns and mantou. Every morning when Xie Yan went to the academy dining hall, he would think of Lu Yang and miss him terribly.
Lu Yang hadn’t gone to the shop to knead dough for a while. He touched Xie Yan’s stomach and said he’d go to the shop to get some buns to satisfy his craving. If he kneaded dough now, it would need time to rise before steaming, and they wouldn’t be ready until evening.
Hearing that, Xie Yan said he wasn’t hungry anymore and would wait until evening.
“I ate on the road. The jolting made me uncomfortable—let me rest a bit before eating.”
Lu Yang touched his face and kissed him again.
“I’ll go heat the water now. Let’s talk outside.”
Xie Yan answered and went with him hand in hand to the kitchen.
Zhao Peilan was already heating water. The two of them washed their hands and kneaded dough.
While waiting for the hot water, the family chatted.
Xie Yan wrote many letters home. At the prefectural academy, he focused on studying and didn’t go out much, so he didn’t have many experiences. Aside from things he had already mentioned, he talked about meeting Second Brother Cui during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Xie Yan had never met such formidable scholars in the county. Talking about essays with him had been immensely enjoyable.
“Old Master Cui said Second Brother Cui hasn’t sat for the exams in many years. The capital really is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.”
Lu Yang asked, “How so?”
Xie Yan said, “In places that value literature, talented scholars abound. It’s hard for any one scholar to stand out. Everyone is compared against other outstanding scholars. Those who make it out are truly talented, but once they enter the examination hall, fall behind by even one rank and you’re beaten—you don’t make the list.”
The scholars of the capital were formidable. Even Second Brother Cui hadn’t passed the provincial exam—it was simply too difficult.
Xie Yan spoke about it with lingering excitement, like a storyteller, recounting what he said, what the other person said, how exhilarating it all was, sharing it with his family.
Recently, Lu Yang had started reading books and essays. He hadn’t attended a private academy or received proper early education, but his literacy had caught up. The books at home all had Xie Yan’s annotations. What he understood, he read; what he didn’t, he skipped. He was no longer the illiterate man who only recognized a few sentences—he could at least roughly judge whether an essay was good or bad.
Zhao Peilan knew more characters than he did. Though she hadn’t read in years, her foundation was still there. Some things she understood, others she didn’t, but she listened with great interest.
Half a night of debate couldn’t be finished in a short time.
Once the water was heated and the dough set aside to rise, Xie Yan carried the water to bathe.
Lu Yang prepared his clean clothes and came over to scrub his back.
Xie Yan was shy, trying to cover himself, which made Lu Yang laugh at him.
With the doors and windows closed, the room was dim. Lu Yang told him to be more open.
“If you let me look, I’ll let it go. If you don’t, I’ll light a lantern and shine it on you, inside and out, and look you over thoroughly!”
So domineering.
Xie Yan smiled and let him look.
He wasn’t wearing any clothes—there wasn’t really any “inside or out.”
Lu Yang glanced into the bath tub, startling Xie Yan into losing his composure. He clamped his legs together, trying to hide himself.
Lu Yang surrendered.
Early autumn was cool. Move a little and you get hot; sit still too long and you feel chilly—a very difficult season to deal with.
Lu Yang stopped teasing him, moved behind him to scrub his back, and washed his hair along the way.
When the two of them came out, Zhao Peilan had already lit the stove, so they could sit there and dry their hair.
Xie Yan’s hair had grown longer too. Tied in a high ponytail, it fell to his waist.
Scholars didn’t favor cutting their hair. Xie Yan was young, his hair black and glossy, quite handsome—just troublesome to tie.
He had also grown a beard. He didn’t plan to keep it and needed to shave it off. He didn’t know how to do it himself and didn’t want the book attendant to do it either, so faint green stubble had appeared.
Lu Yang brought over a small knife and shaved him.
After shaving, he trimmed his eyebrows and cut his nails.
Xie Yan nearly laughed himself silly, leaning against Lu Yang’s leg and even wanting his ears cleaned.
Lu Yang missed him too. Even as he teased him verbally, he went and fetched the ear spoon and cleaned his ears.
The three of them sat together. Xie Yan didn’t continue the earlier topic and instead asked about how things had been at home.
Everything was well. Lu Yang told him where they had gone to play when his younger brother stayed in the county, what they had eaten and drunk.
“Rest at home for a bit. I’ll take you out too. Studying needs a balance of work and rest.”
When Xie Yan got tired of studying, he would switch activities—drawing, playing chess. Lately, he had also been exercising, getting up to run a couple of laps.
He rarely went out to play, had few friends, and didn’t really understand the fun of it.
Since Lu Yang wanted to take him, he agreed to go.
People said bathing relieved fatigue. Xie Yan grew sleepy while soaking. After getting out, he was alert for a while, chatted for a bit, then started yawning and grew drowsy again.
At home, there was no need to force things. If he was sleepy, he slept.
His hair wasn’t completely dry yet. Lu Yang had him lie on his stomach for a while, fetched a cotton cloth, and gently dried his hair for him.
