Lu Yang said, “Uncle Wu is worried about you. Have you looked in a mirror? Your complexion is scary.”
Wu Pingzhi had looked. “Once I get home from the private school, I don’t open a book. If I can’t sleep, I just lie there. After seeing you today, I’ll keep lying down. I even had the physician prescribe something to calm my mind. I really need to rest—I can barely catch my breath.”
Even as he spoke of resting, after exchanging a few polite words about family matters, he pulled Xie Yan back into talking about essays again.
Lu Yang listened from the side, not interrupting.
From time to time, he glanced at Wu Pingzhi and couldn’t help recalling his own convalescence. Back then, he had always said he couldn’t let go, couldn’t stay idle. Even while taking medicine, he kept running around; even sitting at home, he worried and exhausted himself. When his family saw him like that, weren’t they feeling the same way now—anxious and helpless, heartbroken and irritated at the same time?
The two of them stayed at the Wu household for a long while and even remained for lunch.
Seeing Wu Pingzhi in this state, Xie Yan asked him, “Why don’t you come to the prefectural city with me? I can teach you regularly.”
Wu Pingzhi declined for now. “There are too many things I don’t understand. If I study with you all the time, I won’t use my own brain. Thinking things through on my own is hard and painful, but I need to make my brain work and experience that pain. My aptitude is average. I don’t have a photographic memory. Time is short, and I can’t even repeat things many times. The only thing I can do is make myself feel pain—pain is what leaves a deep impression.”
Hearing this, a sudden flash of insight struck Xie Yan.
Back at the prefectural academy, when he consulted Old Master Cui, he had said that he lacked a process of independent thinking. What he carried in his mind was all distilled essence drawn from the experience of others.
He arrived at conclusions through debate, like a flower without roots—beautiful but fragile. What he needed was to plant a seed himself, let it slowly sprout, and grow fruit imbued with his own thinking.
Xie Yan opened his mouth, then looked at Wu Pingzhi’s haggard face and swallowed the thought.
The road had to be walked step by step, and scholarship was the same—cultivated bit by bit. Once Wu Pingzhi crossed this hurdle, then he could teach him again.
They had come by horse-drawn cart, and today they returned it.
The horse was the same horse, but the flatbed cart had been swapped for another. Wu Pingzhi didn’t mind at all and even said there was no need to return it. Hearing that Lu Yang had bought Xie Yan a horse, he laughed inexplicably. Turning to look at Xie Yan, he saw Xie Yan grinning like an idiot, which made Wu Pingzhi laugh again.
“All right, I won’t keep you any longer. You should head back. When the New Year comes, I’ll go pay my respects to Auntie.”
Lu Yang told him that the auspicious day would be a bit later, after the eighth day of the first month. They would be going to the village to celebrate the New Year and would wait until after the babies’ one-month celebration before returning to the county.
Wu Pingzhi knew Lu Liu. Hearing this, he went out with them and took them to a tailor’s shop, choosing several sets of children’s clothes to bring along.
Lu Liu had once come to their home for a banquet—it counted as fate.
After taking their leave again, they returned home after dark.
Zhao Peilan had prepared dinner and kept it warm on the stone slab in the main hall.
The house had a heated kang, and there were two wall fireplaces in the hall.
The stone slab stayed warm, so food placed on it wouldn’t cool.
When the couple came home and saw this, they both praised her, saying it was a good idea they themselves had never thought of.
Xie Yan asked her, “Mother, we came back so late. You don’t seem worried?”
Zhao Peilan had nothing to worry about. “You weren’t in the village. You went to the Wu family—of course you’d have endless things to talk about. As long as you came back, it’s fine.”
She had changed, and that change made Xie Yan very happy. At dinner, he chattered nonstop.
Inspired that day, after the meal he went to write an essay.
Lu Yang washed up and rested first. He had already slept for a while when Xie Yan finally climbed onto the kang.
Half-asleep, Lu Yang asked, “Did you wash your feet?”
Xie Yan said he had.
“I’m very clean. If I’m dirty, I won’t even hug you.”
Lu Yang didn’t respond. He had just asked, and then fell asleep.
The next day they rested, bought some wine and dishes, bought red paper, packed things up, and returned to the village for the New Year.
Zhang Tie traveled with them, helping drive the little colt to the farmstead. Then he could return to Shangxi Village to visit his parents, go back to the shop, and wait for the market to close before heading home for the New Year.
This year they were spending the New Year at the farm. Two tenant households lived there. The houses were old, dilapidated earthen huts. They would make do this year, and next year they would repair them together with the mill.
After unloading their luggage and settling the colt, they left three jin of pork and five jin of flour for the tenants, telling the two households to make dumplings together.
The tenants wouldn’t plant until spring. These days they sat together worrying—so much land, yet not a single draft animal assigned. How were they supposed to plow next year? Seeing the landlord act so generously, they were both anxious and delighted. Taking advantage of the festive mood, they hesitantly brought up the matter of livestock.
If not an ox, even a donkey would be good. They were also short on farming tools.
Lu Yang reassured them. “This year is too rushed. We’re not in a hurry to turn the soil anyway. Let’s get through the New Year first. Everything that’s needed will be bought.”
With his words, the tenants were happier than if they’d eaten dumplings.
Dumplings were just one meal; farming was a long-term matter.
The family of three, bringing along their dog Weimeng, went to Lu Family Hamlet. From there it was quick—no more than a quarter of an hour.
They first went into the Lu family’s little broken house to sit and warm up, unloading the things from the cart.
Lu Yang had brought oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, along with rice and flour. He had also gone to the Chen family tofu workshop to buy some tofu.
Chen Laoda had taken over the workshop and was thrilled. When Lu Yang came to buy tofu, he gave buy-one-get-one-free. He practically didn’t make any money—ten blocks of tofu for ten copper coins. He asked Lu Yang to be understanding; he was saving up rent. Otherwise, he would have just given it away.
Lu Yang took out half of the tofu, then took five jin of oil and five jin of salt, and together with Xie Yan went to visit the eldest uncle’s household.
The second daughter-in-law there had given birth—a baby boy. The whole household was overjoyed and had long said they would slaughter the New Year pig, just waiting for Lu Yang to arrive.
As soon as the couple stepped through the door, Miao Qing called out to her two sons, telling them to gather a few more brothers to slaughter the pig.
It was already afternoon. Lu Yang tried to persuade her, but it was useless. Miao Qing was smiling so hard her eyes became slits.
“I’ve been thinking about this for days. Don’t try to stop me—just wait to drink!”
Lu Yang went to see the second cousin’s wife and gave her the longevity lock he had prepared for the baby.
The baby hadn’t reached one month yet and was still too small. The longevity lock was for the mother to keep, to be worn when the child grew a bit.
He gave silver outright, leaving the mother at a loss for words. She called out loudly and summoned Miao Qing inside.
Seeing that he had given silver, Miao Qing froze and refused to accept it no matter what.
“Oil and salt already—and now silver too? Take it back at once. If you don’t, I’ll get angry!”
Lu Yang pushed it back and forth with her. When she returned it, he pushed it back again, saying, “I bought this for the child. Why are you in such a hurry? The child hasn’t even said he doesn’t want it. Keep it for now. When he can talk, ask him—if he says he doesn’t want it, then return it to me. Why rush now?”
This was completely unreasonable!
Miao Qing couldn’t outmatch him and accepted the longevity lock. She had him sit down and made him brown sugar eggs.
In a farming household, every bit of money had to be saved. Being a little generous with food and drink was already remarkable. With so many mouths to feed, everything bought had to be divided, leaving little per person.
Their family was only slaughtering meat more frequently now. They weren’t so lavish as to drink brown sugar eggs like water. Usually, only the daughter-in-law who had just given birth could have them.
Since Lu Yang had come, he could have a bowl.
Their top scholar also got a bowl.
If Lu Yang hadn’t firmly stopped them, they would have gone to send a bowl to Zhao Peilan as well.
It was noisy and lively here, and beneath the politeness there was a sense of closeness.
Lu Yang didn’t stay long. He said, “I haven’t spoken with my father yet. I came straight here as soon as I arrived. I’ll go back first and come over later with everyone to eat the pig-slaughtering feast.”
Miao Qing agreed.
After the couple finished their brown sugar eggs, they returned home to talk about the bustle at the eldest uncle’s house and the pig-slaughtering feast that night, then asked about the pig sales at home.
The sow had successfully mated; it was unclear yet whether she was pregnant—they would have to wait and see.
Butcher Liu had bought all the fat pigs. Live pigs were eight copper coins per jin. They kept the sow and sold both boars, earning a total of a bit more than two taels and four qian of silver.
Hearing the amount, Lu Yang felt it was quite good.
If all three pigs had been sold, they could have gotten over three taels and six qian.
