Li Feng said, “…Hurry up and bring it out for me. It’s getting dark, and I still need to return to the stronghold.”
Xie Yan could only speak plainly: “Who are you bossing around?”
As the saying goes, once there’s a first time, there’s bound to be a second. Li Feng made a mental note—next time in the prefectural city, he would have to properly deal with this bookworm.
He called out to his brother-in-law. Xie Yan, feeling cheeky, clung to Lu Yang’s arm and said, “In my household, my husband is in charge.”
Li Feng then looked at Lu Yang and called him “brother.”
Lu Yang didn’t understand what was happening but laughed heartily.
He had no idea what Li Feng had come for. He patted Xie Yan and told him to fetch it.
Xie Yan got up and went back into the house, returning with two small scrolls for Li Feng.
Seeing the scrolls, Lu Yang guessed immediately.
“For Brother Liu?”
Li Feng nodded. “I haven’t had time to stay at home much this year. I see he cries easily.”
Lu Yang hadn’t added anything else, and said lightly, “Xie Yan bullied you, that’s his fault. Another day, let him draw a painting for you.”
One shouldn’t refuse a gift out of foolishness. Li Feng unrolled the scrolls and was very pleased. He made a request to Xie Yan: “Next time, I want a scroll this big. Just one painting, both of us full-length, and make it affectionate.”
Xie Yan: “…”
Clearly, Li Feng was the one bullying him!
Li Feng didn’t care what Xie Yan thought. Taking the scrolls, he drove to the wine shop, loaded the wine onto the cart, and headed back to the stronghold.
He had run around too much during the day. Leaving the city gates on schedule, by the time he returned to the stronghold, it was completely dark.
After eating first at home, Lu Liu couldn’t help but keep peeking outside, uncertain whether Li Feng would stay in the county tonight or return late.
After dinner, he carried a lantern and looked around the yard, even sending Er Huang out to check.
Er Huang ran down the mountain path, met Li Feng along the way, barked joyfully, and ran back, barking at Lu Liu.
Lu Liu couldn’t understand the barks, but he could tell from Er Huang’s mood—happy, delighted—that Li Feng had returned. His worried expression melted into a full smile.
Li Feng’s cart came around the bend and moved straight toward the yard. Seeing the mule, he waved and called out.
“Da Feng! Why are you back so late? We’ve all finished dinner. Have you eaten?”
Shun-ge’er, tidying herbs in the yard, heard the call and set his work aside. He came over and helped Lu Liu clear the way for Li Feng’s mule cart.
Li Feng replied, “Bought some goods, went to the Lu family, and also picked up something from Xie Yan.”
The stronghold was far. A round trip took half a day. Visiting a few households meant nightfall.
Other goods were carried back by Da Qiang, but the wine was Li Feng’s responsibility. All the heavy items, he first unloaded, then had Shun-ge’er lead the mule to the barn, feed the old animals, and finally move the wine barrels into the small shop. The woodblocks were carried into the house.
Lu Liu went to the kitchen to warm food for him. Mother helped, bringing a basin of hot water for Li Feng to wash his face and hands.
Li Feng ate in the kitchen. Mother boiled hot water and washed up, then called out to Shun-ge’er in the yard: “It’s dark, finish up tomorrow.”
Shun-ge’er obediently replied, put the herbs into a dustpan, carried them to the small shop to lock up, and went to fetch water to wash up.
In the kitchen, Li Feng took out the two small scrolls for Lu Liu.
Lu Liu carefully unrolled each one. All were paintings.
During his stay in the county, he had seen his older brother’s sketchbooks. The two brothers resembled each other so closely, yet in these paintings, one could immediately tell the difference.
Li Feng had chosen scenes from their everyday life together.
Eating together, feeding the dog, studying character cards, sunbathing, even riding in the cart together.
Li Feng said, “It’s funny. I thought being together every day was ordinary, but when I asked him to paint, I couldn’t think straight for a long time. I couldn’t figure out what we did day after day.”
Lu Liu held up the scrolls and examined the paintings closely. His eyes studied Li Feng as he compared the paintings to the man in front of him. They were remarkably lifelike.
He chuckled. “Because day by day, we mostly eat chicken together. There’s nothing else to paint. Once you have some free time and the child is born, if we go out together, there’ll be plenty of things to paint.”
Li Feng pouted. “We haven’t eaten chicken together in ages.”
Lu Liu said, “Then we bathe together. That can’t be painted either.”
He liked the one where they were watching stars together. A few simple strokes, the night soft, the people tender. The house was small and unremarkable, yet in the painting, they leaned together, peaceful and beautiful.
Li Feng sighed. “Don’t we have any serious matters?”
Lu Liu thought for a moment, comforting him: “Don’t worry. I looked at your sketchbook. Most of the drawings are of you alone. There aren’t many of you with your brother-in-law. We live together—so of course we eat, drink, and do chores together. If you’re busy outside, we’ll just meet at night. We’re a couple; we sleep together at night. Who cares if we don’t eat chicken?”
Li Feng was convinced. After dinner, Lu Liu put away the scrolls. The couple washed up and returned to the room to continue looking at the paintings.
Life was ordinary—three meals a day, raising the dog, learning characters, sunbathing, going out. Nothing earth-shattering.
Li Feng kept one scroll for Lu Liu; he kept the other. They hadn’t been together much this year, so looking at the paintings was like seeing each other.
The next day, Lu Liu found scraps of cloth and sewed two cloth cases. He braided silk cords and threaded them through the cloth openings to make drawstring closures, storing the two scrolls safely.
Li Feng returned early that day. While the sun still shone, Lu Liu cleaned his ears.
He said, “Da Feng, I’ve been thinking. Painting our daily life is what’s real. These everyday moments are the days we’ve lived well. You earn money to support the family, I take care of the home. Only then can we smile together.”
Ears cleaned, words heard clearly.
Li Feng’s heart melted. Indeed, he was all smiles.
In this way, they had accomplished quite a few serious things after all.
Li Feng said, “Next time, paint me cleaning your ears.”
Lu Liu said, “Then you can paint me putting on your socks!”
They went back and forth, finally summarizing: “Brother-in-law, you’re exhausted.”
The couple basked in the sunset glow, laughing heartily.
After returning home, Xie Yan didn’t immediately go to the private school. He went out with Lu Yang to watch the theater for a day and returned early, ate a light meal, and rested.
Starting the next day, he began organizing his notes.
In the prefectural city, he had been busy reading new books without organizing the notes. He only selected part of the content for the book boy to copy and once sent a batch to Wu Pingzhi. At home, he would give Wu Pingzhi another copy. Li Feng also had a copy. The rest Xie Yan had to organize himself.
He usually worked inside his room, going page by page, stacking sheets. For his notes, he marked them with red ink to integrate his second thoughts and avoid confusion.
After a while, he would get up, move around, do other tasks, to refresh his mind.
The small scrolls promised to Li Feng were mounted during this period.
On this return home, he had more time. He spread out a large sheet of xuan paper on the table, preparing to paint guardian door deities.
The door deity paintings were a long-promised task for Boss Ding. He hadn’t had the chance to paint them before. The desks in the prefectural academy were too small, so he painted at home.
Wu Pingzhi knew he was home and often visited at noon to ask questions.
Xie Yan now only answered questions; he did not offer new opinions.
He hadn’t yet understood what Old Master Cui meant and wanted to take his time.
Lu Yang brewed tea, served cakes, and mentioned to Wu Pingzhi about buying horses.
“Two foals. Can we get them by the end of the year?”
Wu Pingzhi thought for a moment. “We should be able to. Exchanging cloth for horses is common. My father knows a few horse traders. I’ll talk to him.”
The prices had already been discussed. Stallions were easy to get; mares were harder.
Lu Yang was buying them for his little nephew. Since his brother’s wife was expecting twins, he bought two foals.
