Xie Yan said that last sentence with deep resentment.
Lu Yang suddenly burst out laughing. “Did you forget to wash your hands after using the latrine?”
Xie Yan had washed them!
He said, “I was the last one to draw lots. They were all laughing—probably deliberately saved the bandit lot for me. They said I’d mainly be taking notes. Being a bandit was just to make up the numbers, it doesn’t really count.”
Lu Yang nodded and asked whether he had eaten yet. “Do you want me to buy you some food?”
Xie Yan shook his head. “No need. The restaurant staff is delivering food. This time it was Sheng Da who organized it—he bought wine, dishes, and tea snacks. We can eat until midnight.”
If not for the special topic of today’s debate, he really wouldn’t have been willing to stay.
He said to Lu Yang, “I’ll go home tomorrow. You all hurry back now—while it’s still light, walk faster and don’t linger outside. When I get home tomorrow, I’ll tell you about being a bandit.”
Lu Yang laughed again when he heard this. “Alright then. If you’re not being the top scholar anymore and want to be a bandit instead, I’ll be waiting to hear about it. Go on in now—I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.”
Xie Yan couldn’t suppress his excitement, yet still pretended to be reserved. “Oh, no need for you to pick me up. I can come back by myself!”
Lu Yang immediately went, “Oh,” then said, “Alright, then I won’t come.”
Xie Yan’s eyes flew wide open in disbelief, as if he wanted to argue back. Lu Yang turned and smiled. “Go on. I still need to look at houses tomorrow—right near the Prefectural Academy. Picking you up would be on the way anyway, no trouble. Go in now. Shun Ge’er and I are heading back.”
Xie Yan obediently went inside.
Not long after, he quietly poked his head out and whispered to the gate attendant, “Has my husband left yet?”
The attendant helped him look and said, “He’s gone—almost out onto the main street.”
Xie Yan stepped out of the gate and stood openly on the street watching.
Lu Yang seemed to sense it. He turned around and saw Xie Yan standing there like a stone waiting for his husband.
Xie Yan had grown taller. Standing in the street, his waist and legs straight, he no longer looked like the little old man standing under the tree at the village entrance.
Lu Yang waved at him and pulled Shun Ge’er along, walking even faster.
They needed to get home quickly, and Xie Yan should go back in soon as well. There was a debate that night, and not much time left for him to eat.
Lu Yang had never seen Xie Yan participate in a debate. He knew Xie Yan had improved, but he also knew that when it came to social awareness, he still had a long way to go.
For example, when Xie Yan brought sauces to give to others, he would scoop out two spoonfuls for himself. Or when everyone was discussing how to capture him—the “bandit”—he sat there leisurely eating crispy pastries and walnut cakes, sipping top-grade tea, so comfortable that he showed not the slightest sense of danger.
His classmates glanced at him. After a brief silence, they continued with the next round of discussion, pretending not to see him at all.
……………………………………
In early March, Lu Liu went to the county town together with Li Feng.
They didn’t have anything urgent to do—just to stroll around and take a look.
Since Living off the Mountains had opened a shopfront and a small workshop in the county town, they went to the shop first after arriving.
San Miao and Miao Xiaohe were busy inside. Everything in the shop had already been put in order. Two rows of shelves had been set up—one side displaying various mountain goods, the other displaying seasonal vegetables, selling produce together.
Because they didn’t sell buns or steamed bread, unlike Lu Yang’s shop which had heavy physical work, just the two of them could handle things. If something came up, they could rotate duties.
People could live in the back courtyard. With just the two of them there, they didn’t rent another place to stay.
Lu Liu and Li Feng stood outside and took a look. Once there were no customers, they went inside to walk around.
The front couldn’t be left unattended, so San Miao stayed out front with Li Feng to watch the shop, while Lu Liu and Miao Xiaohe went to the back to drink tea and chat.
Miao Xiaohe couldn’t stop talking once he saw him. “Finally, a familiar face! I was about to burst! Back in the village, everyone kept saying how great the county town was—this good, that good. But once I actually came, after the novelty wore off, I sit here every day like I’m locked up. The neighbors on both sides are all doing business too. Inside, the clerks and shopkeepers are all men, so I can’t just chat all the time. After a while, I barely even talk with San Miao anymore. Whenever a customer comes in, my eyes practically turn green—I just want to keep them here to talk with me for three days and three nights!”
Lu Liu was stunned listening to this. His older brother had never mentioned anything like this.
Miao Xiaohe led him inside and poured him tea.
It was good tea—a gift returned by a traveling merchant. San Miao had gotten a share as well.
Miao Xiaohe continued, “When I was learning characters and doing accounts before, my head hurt so badly—like being forced up a perch. I had no choice. Now whenever I have free time, I run to places selling food to learn from them. There are lots of people there—it helps me breathe a bit.”
Lu Liu asked, “My brother wasn’t like this when he watched the shop?”
Miao Xiaohe nodded. “I asked Shopkeeper Lu. He said their shop has buns and steamed bread to make, plus things like vegetable days, game days, sauce days—there’s work every few days. Kneading dough alone takes several hours every day. Since the fillings have to be fresh, they go out daily to buy fresh meat. When oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar run out, they have to restock. Everyone in the shop has something to do. When there’s a bit of free time, they can sit and rest without feeling bored. I’m just too idle.”
For such a small shop, hiring more people wasn’t necessary—it would just waste money.
Miao Xiaohe also chatted with the neighbors and found that most of them had small workshops. He started thinking that it would be great if their own workshop could open soon.
They could dry mushrooms and sort mountain goods in the county town as well. He could go back and forth between the two places, at least moving around day to day.
The workshop would have to wait until Chen Jiu gave birth and finished her confinement—around late April or early May, it could be opened.
Lu Liu also suggested inviting one of the sisters-in-law from home to come visit for a couple of days.
Miao Xiaohe shook his head. “Easy to invite, hard to send away. Everyone’s fine usually, but once your family suddenly stands out, others might not say anything, but they’ll definitely feel uncomfortable. It’s already March—farm work is about to get busy. San Miao and I are in the county town, not exposed to wind or sun, not going to the fields to plant, just guarding the shop. San Miao doesn’t even go into the mountains anymore. If I say I’m bored, that I’m stifled, that I want to play and chat—my heavens, how many people would that offend? If they came, would they even be able to leave? This isn’t even our own shop.”
His words came fast and dense. After listening for just a while, Lu Liu believed him—he really was suffocating.
So Lu Liu stayed and talked with him properly.
Actually, there were many things that could be done in the shop—it just depended on whether one was willing to calm down and do them.
Learning required reinforcement. Leaving everything else aside, handwriting alone needed constant practice to become neat.
Opening a shop meant waiting for customers, but the shop’s reputation could be spread deliberately. Lu Liu had seen that whenever new goods arrived at his brother’s shop, they would go out to call customers in.
They could also think about how to sell goods, how to cater to the seasons. If he didn’t want to do any of that and just watch the shop, then at least he had to practice writing, right? And arithmetic too.
After all that, he could do some needlework or bamboo and straw weaving—just like back in the village. Whenever hands were free, there was always something to do.
Miao Xiaohe said, “Back in the village, when your hands were free, your mouth wasn’t. Everyone sat together chatting while working. Doing things alone is boring.”
Lu Liu thought for a moment, then asked him, “Don’t you think things through on your own usually? When I’m at home, a whole day passes just like that.”
Miao Xiaohe asked, “How does a whole day pass?”
Lu Liu explained carefully.
In the morning, he had to cook. After people ate, he still had to feed the dogs and livestock. Once that was done, he washed clothes and swept the house. Many chores were done along the way—daily cleaning didn’t take much effort.
Goods in the small shop needed to be inventoried regularly, and when there was time, jars and crocks had to be wiped down. Before you knew it, it was noon again. Then cooking, eating, feeding the dogs and livestock again. After that, most afternoons were free.
Wasn’t being free a good thing? Being free meant you could do many things. Lu Liu needed to study and read. In the afternoons, he usually read aloud to the two children, then practiced writing and wrote letters. He also did needlework.
He was currently embroidering mandarin-duck bellybands. He had already worn one himself—it was quite good. He wanted to make one for his older brother.
One wasn’t enough, of course. He needed two to rotate. First, he would make two for his older brother, then one for himself.
Shun Ge’er was living in the prefectural city, and they had to keep him in mind. Lu Liu planned to make a pair of shoes for Shun Ge’er.
That child loved looking pretty and enjoyed dressing up at home. Before, when he saw Lu Liu making embroidered shoes for his brother, he had been so envious. Lu Liu’s hands were always busy and he hadn’t found the time yet. Once the bellybands were finished, he would make a pair of embroidered shoes for Shun Ge’er.
