Lu Liu felt deeply moved as he listened.
Making salted duck eggs required time. After preparation, they had to be brined for twenty to thirty days. If He Fulang had a bit more capital, he could make more at once—say thirty eggs a day. In a month, that would bring in over three taels of silver. After deducting costs, their food and daily expenses would be more than covered.
He could not understand what Liu Youli was thinking. With such a good skill at hand, why not use it to earn money, instead of letting his husband wash clothes for others?
Lu Liu carefully calculated everything with He Fulang. He told him that once he had capital in hand, he should not let it sit idle. As long as there was grain at home, he could buy more eggs and salt. After some time, another batch could be sold for profit.
Now that they had earned some silver, he should also speak properly with Liu Youli. If they could loosen their purse strings a little and both live more frugally for the sake of the business, then endure for two or three months, things would improve. By winter, salted duck eggs would sell even better—there would be few fresh vegetables available. If they made and sold them continuously, even if they did not amass a fortune, at least their meals would improve. They could even buy some charcoal for heating in winter, so the man would not be cold while studying.
He Fulang could not quite remember all of it, so Lu Liu repeated himself twice.
Patiently, Lu Liu explained again, earning a compliment from He Fulang. “You are really capable. I am not so quick with words.”
Lu Liu straightened his back proudly. “My older brother is even more capable!”
He Fulang knew that well. When Lu Yang spoke, it came in layers upon layers. Two ears were hardly enough to keep up.
After counting the eggs and tallying the copper coins, money and goods were settled. He Fulang went home.
Lu Liu carried the duck eggs inside to store them, waiting for Lu Yang to return. Then the two brothers went to find their fathers, and the four of them headed out together to listen to storytelling.
Lu Yang had gone to see a jade craftsman. The old master had been introduced by a jade dealer and already had several large commissions. Lu Yang’s small piece of jade was hardly urgent—more something to handle and admire.
It had been delivered at the beginning of July. It would likely be ready around September or October. By then, Xie Yan’s provincial examination results would be out, just in time to wear the jade ornament.
Lu Liu asked curiously, “Brother, what are you having the jade carved into?”
Lu Yang kept it secret and asked instead, “If it were you, what would you make?”
Lu Liu said he would make a Guanyin pendant, or a large Buddha pendant, or perhaps a blessing plaque.
His mind did not twist and turn over elegance. He only thought of safety and protection.
Lu Yang said what he chose was similar, but still would not reveal the details.
The teahouse was not far. The four entered and took their seats. As luck would have it, the storyteller was still narrating The Cases of Judge Bao.
Lu Yang smiled. “How nice. We saved money!”
The two fathers chuckled and told them to order a couple more plates of pastries.
Lu Liu ordered a plate of sugar cakes. In the past, when he went to town, he had always craved them. In the county they cost five wen each. In the prefectural city’s teahouse, they were forty wen a plate—five pieces in total, eight wen each.
Each piece was slightly smaller but more refined in appearance, molded into shapes and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Lu Yang ordered a plate of sesame brittle candy. The small dish held perhaps fifteen or sixteen slices, about two liang in weight, costing forty-five wen.
The two fathers ordered peanuts and melon seeds—the most common snacks in a teahouse. Not the cheapest, but the most enduring.
They also ordered a pot of maojian tea. The four of them held white porcelain cups, watching the tea leaves stand upright in the water, breathing in the rising steam, smiles on their faces.
Lu Liu said to Lu Yang, “I used to drink barley tea most often—roasted from our own grain. It gives the water a taste. We also made rice tea. Roast the rice, steep it, and the grains swell up large. Like barley tea, once you finish the water, the barley and rice have no flavor left—just bland when you eat them.”
At the Chen household, Lu Yang had been fortunate enough to drink some tea occasionally.
Families with decent means usually bought a few packets of tea to brew. Drinking plain water alone felt strange.
Some households liked alcohol, buying wine to drink at home as if it were water. That was not something ordinary people could manage.
Lu Liu grinned. “Dafeng likes wine. Not as water yet. Should I buy him some?”
Lu Yang gave up on him. “Why does your Dafeng come up in everything?”
Lu Liu only grinned wider.
Lu Erbao sipped his tea, watching the storyteller. Even the way the man struck a pose looked impressive. He asked Lu Yang, “Is a storyteller the same as a schoolteacher?”
“No,” Lu Yang replied. “One tells stories for people to hear. The other teaches reading and writing. Being a scholar still has prospects. Xie Yan could also become a teacher.”
Wang Fengnian thought about how Xie Yan spoke, then glanced at the storyteller. He said to Lu Yang, “Teaching is better. If he told stories, he might just ask the customers for money directly. That would not be good.”
Lu Yang was speechless.
Was his future top scholar truly doomed? Why did even his honest fathers carry such stereotypes?
Lu Liu bit into his sugar cake, lowering his head to stifle laughter.
Lu Yang poked his cheek. “You mischievous Brother Liu.”
Once the pastries arrived, they listened attentively, chatting less. Any comments or exclamations centered on The Cases of Judge Bao. After one session, half an hour had passed.
There was a generous patron today. After a short rest, the storyteller returned to tell another segment.
By the third story, Lu Liu sensed something unusual and leaned close to whisper in his brother’s ear.
“Brother… was that you?”
Lu Yang pretended ignorance. Lu Liu understood.
This storytelling session had been paid for by his brother.
He still had much to learn. Arranging things in advance like this—so their fathers could save money while enjoying more—had not even occurred to him.
He told Lu Yang, “Brother, you are a bit like Dafeng. The two of you do many things but say little.”
Lu Yang said, “Are you missing your Dafeng?”
Knowing he did not want to pursue that topic, Lu Liu smiled and shifted back to discussing The Cases of Judge Bao.
The four of them spent the entire afternoon at the teahouse and returned home before dinnertime.
Once back, they could not stop talking about the story, making Shun Ge’er terribly envious.
That night, Shun Ge’er pestered Lu Liu endlessly to retell it, exhausting Li Feng in the process. Only after Li Feng carried him back to his room did it end.
The next afternoon, Chen Guizhi invited Zhao Peilan and took the restless Shun Ge’er to hear the storytelling. That evening, when Xie Yan heard about it, he came over to lament with Li Feng. “The two of us are the pillars of our households. We do not need our mothers to take us to hear stories.”
Li Feng said smugly, “Tomorrow my husband is taking me to listen. You will not get to go. You have to study.”
Xie Yan fell silent.
He had known Li Feng was competing with him!
Soon after, Lu Yang came out and scolded Li Feng. “Listen to you. A grown man needing his husband to coax him!”
Li Feng called Lu Liu over. “Come look. Your brother-in-law is useless again, making your brother come out to play the villain.”
Xie Yan stuck his head out from the next room. “Who is useless? My husband is willing to manage me. You are just jealous!”
Lu Liu circled them, pleading in his familiar tone, “Stop arguing, please!”
Chen Guizhi told Shun Ge’er to bring out a mat and spread it on the ground. She carried the two babies over to crawl and play.
The group gathered together, cracking melon seeds, watching the show, chatting about The Cases of Judge Bao. Weifeng and Weimeng had never been hunting dogs. Seeing their masters argue so animatedly, they circled excitedly. Erhuang, the mature elder dog, focused on the babies, encouraging them to crawl more.
Night fell, and the lively day came to an end.
On the third day of the seventh month, the Beginning of Autumn arrived.
The autumn heat was fierce; the weather remained sweltering. Lai Zhen came to deliver books, along with a box of fine ink.
The books were requested by Lu Liu. The fine ink was a gift for Lu Yang.
Last time, Lu Yang had said he did not recognize many characters. Afterward, Hong Chu had remarked that he was being modest and sent over good ink for him to use.
Lu Yang once again invited Lai Zhen to stay for tea. The family had just cooked noodles, so he served Lai Zhen a bowl of oil-splashed noodles. Lai Zhen ate heartily.
Having once shared the experience of visiting the pleasure quarters, Lai Zhen was less formal than before. After sitting down, he chatted casually with them.
Lu Yang would be accompanying the examination candidate to the provincial capital and would not return until September.
He would not be able to pay a Mid-Autumn visit, so he asked Lai Zhen to pass a message to Hong Chu.
“When I return, I will definitely go find him to hang out.”
At the phrase “go find him to hang out,” Lai Zhen showed a strange expression. After a moment, he said, “My young master is also going to the provincial capital. There is business to discuss. You may run into each other.”
