Lu Yang took a liking to one particular house. In this one, the bedroom and study were connected, separated by a moon gate. Upon entering, there was first a small tea room, suitable for receiving guests and drinking tea. Past a screen lay the bedroom. From the bedroom, a moon gate opened farther inside, leading to a small study.
Xie Yan’s collection of books had been steadily growing. At the prefectural academy, his reading volume had skyrocketed. The range of books he encountered and the topics debated there broadened his thinking greatly. The essays he had once memorized now seemed to come alive. Every new thing he learned connected naturally to what he had studied and pondered before, and as a result, his notes increased day by day.
Once bound, those notes became volumes in their own right. Stacking them made them hard to find.
They had moved three times, and Xie Yan had always squeezed his studies into the same room. Even at the prefectural academy, he complained that the dormitory was cramped.
Lu Yang paced back and forth inside the house, measuring distances with his steps, stretching out his hands to gauge proportions, repeatedly calculating the sizes of the study and the bedroom.
In Xie Yan’s letters, the quiet study was mentioned again and again.
After lunch, when digesting his meal, Xie Yan liked to stroll between the bookshelves.
If a desk were placed in the bedroom, there would be no way to do that.
The moon gate was already there, and the study itself was limited in size—there was no way to make it larger. But he could remove the tea room, set up bookshelves outside, and clear out the treasure cabinets on both sides of the moon gate to hold books.
The bedroom could also be adjusted further. They did not have much luggage. Aside from everyday clothing for the four seasons, they had not added extra garments or footwear. Apart from bedding, nearly everything else consisted of books.
He could add another bookshelf along the wall. When Xie Yan grew tired from reading, he could walk from the inside to the outside. After resting his mind, he could walk back in again. Books would surround him on every pass—something he would surely enjoy.
Houses with this layout could be jointly rented by two families. The other side was not opened up, consisting of three long, narrow rooms. It would comfortably house Mother and Shun-ge, with one extra room left as a guest room.
There was also space for keeping livestock, located in the front courtyard. A shed could be built along the courtyard wall.
The broker said that livestock sheds had existed before. But for many years, the people living here were all academy students. They squeezed through crowded streets when going out, and keeping animals was actually inconvenient—walking on two legs was faster. Gradually, no one kept livestock anymore, and the sheds were dismantled. If someone wanted one now, it could be rebuilt.
Seeing that Lu Yang was clearly the decision-maker, the broker looked at him and said, “I’ve got workers on hand. Just give the word—before you move in, I’ll have the livestock shed built and the well cleaned. If you don’t want the trouble, I can also have firewood, rice, flour, and grain delivered all at once. Take a look and see what else you’re missing. All the existing furniture can be used. Anything else you want added, just make a list. Within ten days, I’ll have everything taken care of.”
Lu Yang checked the time and then took Shun-ge to see several nearby houses.
He also looked at ordinary residences. Some mud houses had tiled roofs and looked half-new, half-old. Inside, the walls were pasted with scrap paper, so there was no crumbling plaster. They were sufficient for a family of four, but there was no screen wall—everything ran straight through, like a rural courtyard. With comparisons made, and with his satisfaction and imagined plans for the study, this moon-gate house seemed flawless by contrast.
In the end, they returned to the house with the moon gate, and Lu Yang began negotiating the price.
The broker refused to quote a number. He only said the house had excellent feng shui—that a juren had once lived there, and that the moon gate had been built by that very juren. It was a place that gathered scholarly energy. Scholars who lived there could benefit from the favor of the Literary Star.
Lu Yang: “……”
He already called Xie Yan a future zhuangyuan. By that logic, why would Xie Yan need to absorb a mere juren’s scholarly aura? Wouldn’t that mean studying backward?
Lu Yang said, “You don’t know this, but my family does business. We’ve got small children and elders at home. We don’t want to live somewhere too noisy, and we worry about disputes with neighbors who run businesses. That’s why I’m looking near the academies. This house is big, and I was even thinking of remodeling that study to store valuable goods. Gathering scholarly energy? I don’t need that. I want my valuable merchandise right under my nose—something I can see even while sleeping. If you said it gathered wealth, I might listen to a few words.”
The broker: ?
He immediately wanted to take Lu Yang to see other houses. There were several with the same layout—Lu Yang could live however he liked. The feng shui of this house could not be ruined; he still needed to rent it out in the future.
Lu Yang said, “This is the house I want. Name a price. Houses near academies don’t lack tenants, but people like me—renting several properties at once—are rare, aren’t they? This is a big deal. Give me an honest price, and I won’t waste words.”
The broker’s bottom line was eighteen taels of silver per year. Even if Lu Yang didn’t want the scholarly aura, it still existed. With children living here, they could absorb it from a young age and someday achieve high honors themselves.
Lu Yang said, “Sixteen taels a year. If you agree, keep the neighboring house for me as well. If not, I’ll ask another broker tomorrow.”
The broker stared. “How can you just switch brokers like that?”
Lu Yang replied, “If you don’t want to make money, I’ll find someone who does.”
The broker said, “At sixteen taels, I really won’t earn anything.”
He looked at the sky, thought for a moment, and said, “Go home and discuss it. This house truly doesn’t lack tenants. If you don’t decide today and come back another day, someone else may take it.”
Lu Yang laughed softly and left with Shun-ge.
Shun-ge kept trying to look back, ears pricked, and whispered, “Brother Yang, why didn’t he try to keep us?”
Lu Yang said, “If a house doesn’t worry about being rented, why would he keep us?”
Shun-ge grew anxious. “Then are we not renting it anymore?”
Lu Yang replied, “We will. But the price is truly too high. In the county town, renting a shop for a year costs about the same. A shop can make money and gradually pay itself off. A residence is just a place to sleep. Since he says people come and go every year because they can’t endure it, that means wealthy scholars are few—and scholars with spare silver even fewer. Studying is not a short-term effort. Since it takes endurance, any silver on hand should be saved where possible.”
He taught Shun-ge to pay attention to details, to analyze from the information already available, and to use that understanding to gauge others.
“The house is good—we think so too. But in just one afternoon, we’ve seen three like it. He said someone moved out before the New Year, but it’s already after the New Year now. We’ve been walking around here for days. We’ve seen many large houses, but few small mud houses. Along the way, the mud houses are lively and fully occupied. That means the mud houses are what truly don’t lack tenants. The big houses may look desirable, but the market isn’t that strong. They’re waiting to see if a wealthy client comes along.”
Even so, the annual rent for mud houses was still around ten to twelve taels. The price of larger houses could not be pushed down much further. Otherwise, Lu Yang would have wanted to rent one for under fifteen taels.
They would slow things down today. He had already seen what the study could be like. Even if they missed this one, he could choose another house and have someone renovate it—he could still create a proper study for Xie Yan. There was no need to rush.
Shun-ge felt a little ashamed. “I thought we were just looking at houses…”
He had only looked at size, immediately thinking about arrangements once inside, comparing everything to their home. He thought bargaining was just bargaining—if it worked, it worked; if not, they would look elsewhere or make do.
Lu Yang himself was not completely certain either. “We’ll keep looking.”
Lu Yang stayed near the academy and left from that side, heading toward the prefectural academy. He arrived just in time for Xie Yan to finish classes and went to pick him up.
Xie Yan hurried out and told Lu Yang that he had a debate meeting that evening. He would be staying in the dormitory and would not be coming home.
“It was agreed on a few days ago. Everyone has prepared for several days. We’re discussing theft cases in the prefectural city. Shouldn’t I listen?”
Lu Yang raised an eyebrow. “They’re debating that? What is there to debate?”
Xie Yan chatted briefly with Ji Mingzhu and was able to pass some information on to Lu Yang.
“They say there are many suspicious points. First, the docks were already robbed once—how could the same method succeed a second time, and with such a slow response? Second, the prefectural docks and the Old River Township docks are not far apart. If the naval troops pursued them, how could it be that after the cargo ship was burned and sank into the canal, not a single bandit was caught? Third, the authorities are loudly claiming to hunt bandits, but acting laxly. The Hong family also shows no anger over being robbed. These reactions are all very strange.
“But they said tonight’s discussion will only cover how to deploy defenses at the docks. They’ll talk about strategies like luring the enemy into a trap and catching them in a jar, as well as the authorities’ response plans. They won’t go into the real situation in the city. It’s just an exercise—divided into four factions for discussion, with some people playing the role of bandits. I had bad luck with the draw. I ended up as a bandit.”
