They stomped around on the road, laughing and playing to their hearts’ content. When they got home, they coaxed the child to sleep, and then the two of them turned in as well.
In the middle of the night, Chen Jiu went into labor. Chen Guizhi went over to help. The baby was born during the night, and by dawn the sound of an infant’s cries carried through the air. Both father and son were safe.
That day, Li Feng was heading to the county seat to ask Old Master Lu to carve printing blocks for a shop sign, and while he was at it, he planned to go to Chenjia Bay to deliver the good news. Chen Jiu’s maternal uncle put down his farm work, and the whole family set off for Li Village.
After Lu Liu brought the wet nurse home, he took some time to go check on Chen Jiu. When Chen Jiu gave birth, his older brother and his father had both been by his side. Seeing this, Lu Liu felt no envy at all—only that it was truly wonderful.
After leaving there, he went to sit and chat with Yao Fulang.
Seeing the joy written all over Lu Liu’s face, Yao Fulang said to him, “It’s like you’re the one who just had a baby.”
Lu Liu smiled broadly. “Both father and son are safe—that’s a happy occasion.”
When the third month arrived, Li Feng and the others would be setting out for the prefectural city again.
Judging by how often they traveled, after two more trips, Lu Liu would be leaving as well.
Yao Fulang reached out and took Lu Liu’s hand. “Will you be able to come back often to visit?”
Lu Liu nodded. “I will.”
Their home was here. Their roots were here.
His father-in-law had not relocated the family graves; every year, they had to return home to pay their respects.
His mother was getting older, and the children were still young—it was inconvenient to bring everyone along. But Li Feng and he could bring Shun-ge’er back.
His older brother’s family would also return, and they could travel together.
He spoke only sweet words to Yao Fulang. “Of course I’ll come back. My An-gege is still here waiting for me!”
Yao Fulang pushed him lightly. “So sour! I’m not your Da Feng—don’t say that to me!”
Lu Liu asked, “Don’t you like hearing it?”
Of course he did.
Yao Fulang laughed until he looked like a fool himself.
Once the house was settled, they put down roots, and life in the prefectural city officially began.
Shun-ge’er had thought that Lu Yang would go look at shop fronts or wander around the docks. Instead, Lu Yang stayed home washing his hands and cooking, circling the stove day after day. This was completely different from the grand enterprise Shun-ge’er had imagined.
Lu Yang, however, was perfectly content. In the morning he steamed buns, stir-fried an egg sauce, and made a large pot of mixed mushroom soup. Early each day, the husband and husband went out together to treat Xie Yan’s classmates to breakfast—mainly the few classmates Lu Yang knew well.
They ate at the prefectural academy. The little book attendant carried the food box out, Lu Yang took it home to wash the dishes, then tidied up the remaining dough and made some extra-small buns.
This kind of bun was something he had figured out back when Xie Yan was sitting for the exams. It was perfect as a snack. Each bun was tiny. You put them in a pan and toast them over low heat—more like pan-frying flatbread. The outside browned nicely, and you could eat them one by one. Someone with a big appetite could grab a handful at once. They were very fragrant.
Lu Yang had made them a few times back in the county seat. Once he got the technique down, after the buns were cooked, he would use the leftover heat in the stove to roast them a bit longer, driving out the moisture from the center. The result was crisp and crunchy—very flaky. This was the texture Xie Yan liked.
He made two big bowls. One bowl stayed at home for Shun-ge’er and Mother to eat, and the other he poured into a bamboo tube and took, still warm, to Xie Yan.
It happened to be lunchtime. He did not bring a full meal today—just this one bamboo tube of small buns, enough to give Xie Yan a bit of pleasure.
Xie Yan was overjoyed. “Why are you here again?”
Lu Yang coaxed him gently. “Because I wanted to see you.”
That made Xie Yan so happy that he swayed his head from side to side, the corners of his lips lifted high, smiling at everything.
Their new home was not far from the prefectural academy. Lu Yang told Xie Yan to stay at the academy, just like when he studied in the county—go out early and return late. There was no need to rush home at midday.
Xie Yan was obedient. Whatever Lu Yang said, he followed. After seeing him briefly at noon, Lu Yang turned back, gathered Mother and Shun-ge’er, and went out to shop in the streets.
They had moved with light luggage, bringing only some household items. Things like the iron wok and spatula had to come with them, but small items such as bamboo chopsticks and bamboo tubes had not.
Bamboo tubes were one of their main containers for carrying food. Lu Yang wanted to buy several to keep at home. In the future, he would also fry flour for Xie Yan, putting the toasted flour and sugar into bamboo tubes so Xie Yan would have something to eat when he was hungry.
They bought all the cleaning supplies they needed, but the kitchen still lacked a few things.
Lu Yang bought a lot of seasonings. Perhaps because there were so many restaurants and taverns in the prefectural city, with a complete and thriving commercial chain, these consumables were cheaper than in the county seat. For daily life, they were indispensable. After buying all the commonly used seasonings, Lu Yang also picked up some less common ones, like starch and Sichuan pepper. He also bought sesame paste and peanut paste—he had never tried them before, but had heard they were delicious mixed with noodles, so he wanted to give them a taste.
They also needed ingredients. He wanted to make donkey-rolls, so he bought soybean flour, glutinous rice flour, and red beans. The red bean paste used in store-bought donkey-rolls was usually sparse, and eating too many pieces could get cloying. Making it himself, he could adjust the proportions.
After moving, they still had not held a housewarming feast. They discussed it and decided to just cook a few homestyle dishes. It was all family—no need to fuss over formalities.
The three of them went to the market and bought seasonal vegetables. Leeks, green beans, and eggplants were in season now. Some people were also selling wild greens and bamboo shoots. Lu Yang bought some of each. They had come a bit late and missed the egg sellers, so he planned to come back another day.
They also went to buy meat, and picked up a big bone for Wei Meng. After the meat was eaten, the bone could still be gnawed on to wear down his teeth.
After making the rounds, the baskets on their backs were completely full.
Finally, they went to the general store to buy daily necessities. They were running low on tooth powder and needed to buy a few boxes. They also needed winnowing baskets, bamboo baskets, wash basins, and foot-soaking tubs. They bought soap beans and soap as well. Seeing bamboo brushes and washboards, they bought one of each too.
By the time they headed home, all three of them were carrying loads in their hands.
Shun-ge’er felt heartache over the cost of vegetables. “Back home, eating these things didn’t cost money at all. Families would even give them to each other.”
Buying vegetables alone had already cost a string of coins, and that was just for one trip.
Lu Yang had a clear sense of things. He told Shun-ge’er, “Living in the city, food and drink are actually small expenses. It’s different from the countryside. To make a living in the city, you either work for someone else or set up your own stall. Either way, you have to deal with people—and with a lot of people. Social obligations are the most expensive part. You have to maintain relationships day to day, give gifts during holidays, and when another family sends out invitations, you have to contribute your share.
“You might ask, if you’re working for someone else, why do you still need to maintain relationships? All I can say is that people who don’t do that are honest folk. Honest folk do the hardest work, earn the least pay, and can be replaced at any time by someone who comes in through connections. With so many people competing for one job, if you can’t afford gifts, then your mouth has to be sweet, your eyes have to see work, and you have to make people comfortable enough that they can’t do without you—that’s a skill too.”
Shun-ge’er had never worked outside before. He only knew that earning money was hard; he did not realize that holding onto a job long-term was even harder.
They rested at home for a while, brewed a pot of tea, and then the three of them prepared dinner together.
Lu Yang liked eggplant and knew how to cook it. He made one plate of dry-fried eggplant and another of eggplant braised in sauce, along with green beans stir-fried with pork and bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork. They had not bought eggs, so the leeks were stir-fried plain.
They did not go to fetch Xie Yan after school that evening. With the food already on the table, Xie Yan ran home on his own. Only when he saw his family all there did a smile finally appear on his face.
As the third month began, the weather warmed, though mornings and evenings were still cool.
Lu Yang fetched hot water, mixed it with cool water, and used warm water to wash Xie Yan’s face and hands.
Xie Yan did not know what he had done that day, but both his hands were stained with large patches of ink. Even after scrubbing with soap for a long time, faint marks remained.
He said, “I held an ink stick in my hands and polished it for a long time. I washed up at the academy already, but it didn’t come clean.”
Lu Yang asked why he had been polishing an ink stick. Xie Yan said, “Ji Mingzhu stuffed it into my hands. I was thinking about something, and when he handed it to me, I just took it.”
Lu Yang called him silly. Xie Yan only smiled.
There was no wine at home, so in the evening they used rice broth in place of wine, just drinking a little to go through the motions.
The dinner was abundant. When Xie Yan heard it was a housewarming meal, even rice broth tasted fragrant. These dishes were all ones he liked. He picked up food quickly and often, looking extremely hungry. He used to be able to eat only one bowl of rice; now he could eat two.
During the meal, they said a few auspicious words and chatted about what they had done that day. Each person spoke a little.
After dinner, Lu Yang called Xie Yan into the room, tugged at his robe, and checked whether his pant legs had gotten shorter.
“Doesn’t look like you’ve grown taller.”
Xie Yan stood next to him and gestured for comparison.
From his own perspective, he felt that he had grown a tiny bit taller again.
