After running around all day, his feet were sore and weary. Once he soaked them and changed into a pair of cloth shoes, his whole body felt at ease.
Lu Liu still wanted to pound his legs, but Li Feng told him to rub his face instead. Lu Liu glanced at him several times before obediently going over.
Standing beside the washbasin, he cupped Li Feng’s face in both hands and kneaded without any method at all. After a while, it became less like rubbing and more like simply touching his face. The atmosphere grew inexplicably intimate.
In a low voice, Lu Liu called his name. “Da Feng, your beard has grown back again. Will you shave it?”
Li Feng shook his head. “It is time for me to grow a beard.”
He was much older than Lu Liu—already twenty-six this year. It was time to cultivate facial hair.
Lu Liu stroked the faint stubble along his lips and smiled. “If you grow a beard, you will look even more like Erhuang—hairy all over your head and face.”
Li Feng opened his eyes and looked at him steadily.
With his rough, wild nature, there was not a trace of sharpness in his gaze. It was not naive, nor especially clear, but more like certain animals relaxing freely in a place where they felt safe.
“I look like Erhuang?” Li Feng asked.
Lu Liu had been holding his face. Hearing that, his hands slipped behind Li Feng’s ears, feeling the black hair tied up there. Lately, he liked wearing it in a high tail, which made him look dashing. A fistful of thick hair filled his hand—coarser than Erhuang’s fur and lacking that warm, fuzzy heat.
“You are the father,” Lu Liu said. “Erhuang takes after you.”
Li Feng reached out and pulled him into an embrace.
Lately, everything seemed tied to dogs. Teaching the children was like training a puppy. Even growing a beard made him resemble one.
He nipped twice at Lu Liu’s cheek and suggested that they admire the moon and eat chicken that evening. Then he wiped his feet, put on his shoes, and the two of them went out together.
At dusk, Hai Youtian came carrying two quilts to look for He Qingzao.
He understood propriety and avoided suspicion, so he did not go to the shop but came to Lu Liu’s house instead.
Li Feng had just stepped out to pour away the foot-washing water and happened to run into him.
Hai Youtian set the quilts on the bamboo bed and said to Li Feng, “I found these when reclaiming a rental. Around Mid-Autumn, many tenants move out. I picked out two good quilts to bring over. You can pass them to Fulang He. The weather is turning cold. Whether he uses them as blankets or takes them apart to make padded clothes, either way is fine.”
He truly was a good person, still thinking of a tenant who had already moved away.
Their household had bought many mooncakes. Li Feng called toward the house. Lu Liu, who was in the kitchen, came out after hearing him and handed Hai Youtian five mooncakes.
Hai Youtian rubbed his nose. “This is too embarrassing. I did not spend any money.”
That was precisely the point. These two good quilts, if taken to a pawnshop, could fetch three qian of silver. He had given them freely for someone else’s use.
Lu Liu asked, “Did that tenant not even have time to sell the quilts?”
Hai Youtian said, “Some tenants are too embarrassed to go to a pawnshop. Some leave in a hurry and do not have time. When we reclaim a place, we often find quite a bit of belongings left behind. Either we move them to another property, or we sell them privately. I usually tidy them into the courtyard. When prospective tenants come to view the house and see the furniture already there, ready to live in, it is easier to close the deal.”
Since dinner at home was not ready yet, Li Feng walked with him to deliver the quilts to He Qingzao.
As they walked, they chatted.
For instance, whether the broker’s office took a Mid-Autumn holiday, and why Hai Youtian was not going home that day.
Hai Youtian said, “When there is no work, every day is a holiday. Lately, we have been busy. Picking up leftover belongings—that is silver. Everyone scrambles for that kind of work. My home is small. If I go back, it is crowded. I am more at ease staying at the broker’s office. The manager eats well and drinks well and leaves me a portion too. I will not go home to compete for food.”
Li Feng bore no ill intent; he was simply curious.
“Can you save enough silver to redeem yourself?”
The last time he had gone to the pleasure quarters, the people there could save silver to buy back their freedom.
Hai Youtian nodded. “Yes. But I save slowly. I am not eager to leave the broker’s office. Life outside is too difficult. The moment you open your eyes, you must spend money. You need to rent a house and buy grain. You might not even find suitable work. And once outside, people ask why you are not married yet, how old you are this year. All of that adds up to silver. I would rather not return home and add to the burden.”
Li Feng grew even more curious. “Are all the brokers at the office indentured?”
Hai Youtian shook his head repeatedly. “No, no. I am different from them. My indenture contract is held by the broker’s office. If a household takes a liking to me, I will go serve elsewhere as a servant. If I redeem myself, I leave the broker’s office entirely. I do not know whether I would be allowed to return and work there.”
Li Feng thought he was of good character, worked briskly, and spoke with some tact. If he were free, he could be hired to help.
This matter could wait. They would speak of it after the festival.
They entered the shop through the back door. He Qingzao was busy in the rear courtyard.
Recently, some customers had come for dinner. Shun Ge’er was attending to them in the front, while He Qingzao ladled soup and hurried back and forth several times. When he finally had a free moment, he led them inside.
Li Feng and Hai Youtian did not go into the room. They stood in the small courtyard and let him carry the quilts inside himself.
The place was too cramped. Using the quilts as blankets was fine, but if they were taken apart to make padded jackets, he would need more space. Li Feng mentioned this to him. He Qingzao could only say yes, that he understood.
He turned to Hai Youtian and thanked him, his eyes already reddening.
Hai Youtian waved his hand and was about to leave.
After thinking a moment, He Qingzao invited him to drink a bowl of pork rib soup.
The pork rib soup was sold by the bowl—eight copper coins each.
In this tiny place, one step took you into the kitchen. Familiar with it, He Qingzao brought out a bowl of pork rib soup and pushed it forward with both hands toward Hai Youtian. Holding five mooncakes, Hai Youtian glanced at Li Feng. Seeing he did not object, he drank the bowl of soup. The smile on his face deepened. What he had done today was well worth it.
He Qingzao did not have much money. After Hai Youtian left, he clutched the hem of his clothes and stammered when speaking to Li Feng.
Li Feng said, “It is fine. We will deduct it from your wages.”
He Qingzao felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted. Gratitude filled his face as he thanked him repeatedly.
From the front, Shun Ge’er called for more soup. He Qingzao hurried to the kitchen to fetch it. Li Feng did not stay and returned home.
At dinnertime, the shop was busy. When Lu Liu heard about it, he went over to help for a while.
After Chen Guizhi finished eating, she came to relieve him. A little later, Wang Fengnian also arrived.
There were already enough hands there, so Lu Liu went back home to eat.
At the table, there were few people—Lu Erbao, Zhao Peilan, and Lu Liu.
Li Feng had gone to feed the dog and the horse, bringing the two little ones along. Before they could even speak, they were already learning to raise dogs and horses.
Today was Mid-Autumn, and the provincial examination had ended.
Zhao Peilan was worried. She had managed during the day, but that evening she had little appetite.
Lu Liu placed food in her bowl. “Auntie, do not worry. Brother-in-law is excellent at studying. When he left for the examination, he seemed especially confident. Before he went, Da Feng even told him what to do if he felt nervous. He knew it all. He will surely leave the examination hall smoothly today.”
Zhao Peilan did not know whether Xie Yan would leave the examination hall that day or the next. If it was today, that was fine. If tomorrow, then Lu Yang would spend the festival alone. So far away, without a familiar face by his side—how would he manage?
Lu Erbao was troubled by the same thought. It was such a distant place, and the examination lasted so many days. Xie Yan looked so scholarly and frail—could he endure it? Eating and drinking were manageable; at worst, they could spend money. But he had heard the place was cramped. How did they even sleep?
And Lu Yang—Lu Yang was not taking the examination. With this matter hanging over him, he would not be able to calm his mind for anything else. It might wear him down. He had only just regained his health. What if he fell ill again? Being sick in a strange land was no small matter.
Lu Liu turned to comfort him as well. “Elder Brother has plans and does everything in an orderly way. If he wants to take good care of Brother-in-law, he cannot collapse himself. Those who accompany examinees cannot become a burden. He knows that. And Elder Brother is not someone who merely counts the hours in anxiety. He wants to accomplish things too. This time in the provincial capital, he will surely go around and see what he can. Young Master Wu is there as well. There will certainly be someone at home to keep him company. It will all turn out well.”
As for which day Xie Yan would leave the examination hall, Lu Liu truly had not asked.
If Zhao Peilan did not know, he certainly did not either.
After thinking for a moment, he added, “Mid-Autumn is about family reunion, is it not? Do you remember? This year Brother-in-law’s birthday was postponed, and we still celebrated it the same. Even if it is one day late, it is fine. They say the moon on the sixteenth is rounder than on the fifteenth. When they admire it then, it will be even bigger and brighter.”
After a few words of reassurance, the expressions on Zhao Peilan’s and Lu Erbao’s faces improved somewhat.
Lu Liu placed more food in their bowls and urged them to eat a little more.
