After all the worry and anxiety he had carried before, once it was spoken aloud, Lu Liu realized that many of the problems he had been fretting over did not actually exist.
He glanced again at Zhao Peilan. Lu Yang said, “Our whole family talked it over, and everyone agreed to do it this way.”
Lu Liu smiled as well. “After I talked it through with Li Feng, I also brought it up with Mother. She said it was fine too.”
Since both brothers wanted to take everyone with them, things immediately became much easier.
When the banquet finally broke up, the two brothers went out to help clear the dishes.
Lu Liu had only just finished his month of postpartum rest, and the weather was too cold for him to be exposed. Lu Yang was a guest, so he only needed to lend a hand gathering the plates and bowls together.
Several of the wives and husbands who had attended the feast stayed behind to help clean up. With so many people, all the dishes were finished off, and the washing went quickly. What remained was tidying the kitchen and returning the tables and chairs.
Wang Meng lived nearby and went with Li Feng to carry them back.
Once everything was put away, the family gathered again in the main room, sitting around the stove and the brazier, chatting and talking together.
There was something important to discuss today. After the brothers had talked it through between themselves, they could finally explain their respective plans to the two fathers.
Lu Yang was going to the prefectural capital. When the two fathers heard this, they froze for a long moment. They had long known they would not be able to keep their children. The elder uncle’s family had always said that a scholar with promise would only go farther and farther, farther from his hometown.
They still remembered how Xie Yan had looked when he came to propose marriage—dull and stiff. Now he was livelier than before, but still seemed childlike. They had thought this would happen several years later. They did not know the cycles of scholarly examinations. They had sold fried flour before and knew about the county exam; beyond that, they only recognized a few terms by name.
Seeing their stunned expressions, Lu Yang explained things in more detail.
He talked about Xie Yan’s studies, about his exam rankings, about how unfriendly the county school scholars were, and about the advantages of the prefectural academy. These were all things the two elders had never heard of before. It felt as though they had stepped into a completely unfamiliar world, learning about matters utterly different from farming fields and raising chickens.
Lu Yang explained carefully, and they came to understand that this choice was inevitable.
They could accept it. They asked when Lu Yang would be leaving.
Lu Yang gave them a rough timeframe—no later than the third month, possibly around the second month.
The two elders kept saying yes, over and over, nothing but agreement.
Lu Yang then talked about what kind of business they would run to support themselves after going to the prefectural capital. He touched briefly on the bookshop, but when he got to the engraving and printing workshop, he once again went into great detail. He described every step of how a book was printed and what the people in the workshop would need to do.
Lu Erbao and Wang Fengnian did not know why he was explaining so much. Bewildered, they nodded. “Yes… yes, that sounds very complicated…”
Lu Yang said, “A workshop like this needs people to work in it. My godfather has the skills, but his family alone isn’t enough. In the past, they mainly carved woodblocks and printed a small number of sample books. I want to bring you over to help. There’s nothing hard about it—just printing books, sewing them together. It’s all light handwork, very simple.”
At that point, the two elders suddenly realized that Lu Yang wanted to take them to the prefectural capital. Their instinctive reaction was to refuse.
What would they go there for? They did not know how to do anything. Going would only make them a burden. Life in the city—every sip of water, every trip to the privy cost money. They were not going.
They said they would not go, then looked at Lu Yang anxiously, afraid he might be angry.
Lu Yang only smiled. “Then why don’t you listen to what Liu’ge’er thinks?”
His attitude greatly soothed them, and they turned to look at Lu Liu.
They had already told Lu Liu their decision before—that they would not go anywhere, that they would stay in Lu Family Village. They wanted Lu Liu to keep them there.
But Lu Liu was also going to the prefectural capital. The two elders’ tears fell without restraint, suddenly dropping down.
They raised their hands to wipe their faces, responding vaguely, only saying that going to the prefectural capital was good.
Lu Liu then explained the arrangements for after going to the prefectural capital. He had not traveled much this past year and had never been to the prefectural capital himself. Everything he knew about what would happen there was something he had discussed with Li Feng. He could only speak in general terms, not in great detail.
What he was certain of was that he would open a shop selling mountain goods and food. His father and daddy could come over to help.
He also had two children. When the household got busy, they could lend a hand.
He wanted to bring them to the prefectural capital too.
The two elders could guess the ending as soon as he started speaking. Before he voiced his final decision, they kept muttering and trying to change the subject. Lu Liu was not disturbed by this and calmly finished everything he wanted to say.
The two elders then looked at Xie Yan and Li Feng, then at the two in-laws.
No one had any objections. Everyone was waiting for their answer.
Lu Yang picked up the thread again and said to them, “Father, don’t be afraid. Don’t think that we’ve already decided everything and are just notifying you, forcing you to make a choice. That’s not the case. We’ve simply thought through what we want to do, then told you and discussed it with you, hoping you’ll go with us.
“This has nothing to do with owing anything, and nothing to do with compensation. Liu’ge’er and I have no other intentions. We just want the family to live together.”
Living together as a family was something they found impossible to refuse.
Still, they were uneasy. Still afraid.
Chen Guizhi persuaded them gently. “You only have these two children. If you don’t go with them, what are you staying at home for? If anything happens later, it’ll be hard to manage both sides. You two might be able to endure things at home, but do you really want the children to be unable to return home even if they miss their parents? It’s such a long road—what if something happens along the way?”
Lu Liu dragged over a stool and sat beside them, holding their hands. “No need to rush. There’s still one or two months to think about it. This is just the first time we’re bringing it up. You can think it over carefully and tell us later.”
Lu Yang could tell that they very much wanted to go together. There were only a few people in the family, and the two elders’ hearts were entirely with their children. They were only afraid of being a burden, of becoming dead weight.
Lu Yang smiled at them and said, “Liu’ge’er has woodblocks here. The things printed from them might embarrass you to look at, but I’ll take you to try it out. Once you’ve tried it yourself, you’ll know it’s very simple. Easier than learning how to slaughter pigs.”
The woodblocks were all in the small shop, lined up in a row.
The images carved into the wood were reversed. Just looking at the blocks, you could only vaguely make out the shapes.
Lu Yang took them to print a book, teaching them step by step.
He demonstrated once, then gave verbal instructions and let them all try.
Lu Liu gathered some sheets of paper, aligned them, clamped them together, marked the hole positions with a charcoal pencil, then used an awl and a small hammer to punch holes, and finally threaded needle and thread to bind them.
The brothers taught them slowly. This work really was not difficult—after doing it a few times, one became proficient. It was just monotonous and dull, requiring patience with solitude.
As the two elders tried it, they were always afraid of delaying things, constantly glancing outside the shop. No one came to say anything.
Lu Erbao handled the paper with extreme care. He knew paper was expensive and was afraid of damaging it. When Wang Fengnian sewed the book, he worried about sewing it poorly. Every stitch followed exactly the same order as when Lu Liu bound books.
They could not fully relax yet, but as they tried it, their anxious hearts gradually settled.
They asked, “If we don’t get used to it, can we still come back to live in the village?”
Lu Liu pressed his lips together and looked at his older brother.
Lu Yang nodded. “Yes. If you don’t get used to living there, don’t hold it in. Just say so.”
Living in a place you cannot adapt to is like being in prison.
They were bringing them over to enjoy their later years, not to make them suffer.
The tension in the two elders’ expressions suddenly eased. Lu Yang could see the answer in their eyes, but what they said aloud was, “We’ll think about it. We’ll go home and think it over.”
Before actually moving, there were too many variables.
Since they did not give a definite answer, the two children did not have to push them.
Lu Liu was still a little anxious, but when he saw his brother give him a look, he swallowed his words and did not press them.
Trying out the book printing took a long time. With that settled, it was time to say goodbye and each return home.
With the new year arriving, Lu Yang remembered what he had said before and asked Shun’ge’er whether he wanted to go with him.
“If you want to follow me and learn a trade, then after the Lantern Festival, have your older brother send you to the county.”
Shun’ge’er wanted to go. The family had already discussed it. He looked around—his mother and older brother had no objections—and he agreed with a broad smile.
Leaving Li Village, the two fathers returned to Lu Family Village, while Lu Yang and the others headed back to the county.
