There was a lantern festival for Mid-Autumn, and the streets were lively. Lu Liu wanted to invite the family to go admire the lanterns together.
Zhao Peilan shook her head. “I am not going. I will head to the shop in a bit. I have already arranged with your mother to spend the evening there.”
Lu Erbao also declined. He would stay behind to watch the house.
There were horses, a dog, and two small children at home. A grown man had to remain. After Zhao Peilan went to the shop, Wang Fengnian would return shortly.
That made Lu Liu feel embarrassed. “You are all busy, and only Da Feng and I are going out to have fun?”
Zhao Peilan urged him to go. “You just started raising children, so you do not know how troublesome they will become later. While the two of them still cannot walk or talk, the two of you should enjoy yourselves more. Once they can walk and speak, they will cling to you terribly. They will want to follow wherever you go. Even whispering a private word will not be convenient.”
Lu Liu’s face reddened inexplicably. He nodded in agreement.
After dinner, Lu Erbao told him to leave the bowls and chopsticks. “Your father and I will wash them later. If there is nothing else to do, we will busy our hands a bit. You two should head to the streets early. It will not be as lively if you go too late.”
Lu Liu glanced at the sky and obediently left.
This year, they had not made lanterns at home. There truly had been no time.
He returned to his room to change into a bright new outfit. Li Feng had already handed the children to Lu Erbao and Zhao Peilan.
The two little ones had always been cared for in turns by the family. Though they clung to their fathers, they did not resist being held by others. They babbled twice and were distracted into play. With that, Lu Liu and Li Feng headed out.
Once outside, Li Feng bought Lu Liu a rabbit-shaped lantern.
Seeing his hands empty, Lu Liu bought him a round moon lantern.
The two husbands carried their lanterns through the night. They heard there was a poetry gathering on Moonlight Bridge. Though neither had ever seriously read poetry collections, they went to join the excitement and listen to the scholars compete in verse.
Lu Liu did not understand much. From a distance, he watched the scholars—young and old—walking as they recited, spirited and full of pride. Without realizing it, he tightened his hold on Li Feng’s arm.
“Da Feng, Da Feng, do you think Zhuangzhuang could be like that someday? How should we raise him to become a great scholar?”
Li Feng did not know either. “We will hand him over to Xie Yan after he finishes the examinations.”
Lu Liu burst out laughing. “Good thing we live close by. Otherwise, how could I bear it?”
He stayed close to Li Feng. Relying on his height and strength, Li Feng kept pushing through the crowd until they squeezed their way to the very front.
At Mid-Autumn, one eats crabs.
They had not prepared any at home. Lu Liu had never even tasted crab before.
Li Feng noticed a vendor selling crabs and watched carefully for a while, learning how to crack and clean them. Only then did he pay for two. He handed the lantern to Lu Liu and began dismantling the crabs, feeding him bite after bite of crab meat.
The crab meat could be eaten plain or dipped in sauce. Lu Liu liked both ways.
He was greedy for more. Li Feng bought several more. The two of them ate their fill and brought the rest home so the family could have a taste.
The vendor said crab should be paired with a bit of wine. Lu Liu said he would drink later—there was still chicken to eat that night.
After finishing at the poetry gathering, they did not go elsewhere. Hand in hand, lanterns swinging, they made their way home. Passing small stalls along the road, they bought various toys suitable for the little ones.
The shop was still lively. Scholars who had been out enjoying the festival returned to the academy. Some had not eaten well and came out searching for food. They turned into the family’s small eatery, guessed a lantern riddle, won a mooncake, and felt warmth spread through their hearts.
When Li Feng got home, he cleaned all the crabs and waited for the others to finish their work. He brought out a jar of wine and let everyone have a cup.
The children stayed indoors to avoid the wind.
Lu Liu felt warm all over. Remembering they had not yet admired the moon, he and Li Feng carried out stools and sat in the courtyard, leaning against one another as they gazed up at the bright full moon.
Li Feng brought out half a jar of wine. He drank several mouthfuls before Lu Liu took a single sip.
Because of Li Feng’s hearty drinking style, Lu Liu ended up drinking more than usual.
He tilted his head back to look at the sky, then turned to look at Li Feng.
Their size difference was obvious. Sitting beside him, Lu Liu seemed smaller. If he tilted his body to look at Li Feng, his gaze could slip past the roof tiles and catch a strip of sky where the great moon hung.
Life in the city was not as open as in the mountain stronghold.
When he looked at Li Feng, most of what lay behind him was houses and alleyways. There was less of nature’s scenery and more of the warmth of human life.
Lu Liu said, “Actually, I miss my elder brother and the others too, but I do not dare say it. I feel I have truly changed a lot this year. In the past, I wanted someone to support me. This year, I can support others. I can be the backbone of this family.”
Li Feng wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth and asked whether he wanted to visit the provincial capital.
“If I get the chance, of course I want to go,” Lu Liu said. “If not, that is fine. These past few days, I have been running back and forth to the shop. I am too attached to home. I cannot go far.”
After drinking, his words became rambling. Leaning against Li Feng, he could hardly see his face clearly, so he shifted his stool and sat facing him. There was no table between them. They were very close. Lu Liu’s head felt heavy, and Li Feng lifted his hands to support him.
In his tipsiness, Lu Liu ignored the detail, thinking he was leaning on a solid “small table,” not noticing that Li Feng’s arms were suspended in the air. He rested his chin there, rubbed his cheek against it, and let all his weight press down.
“There was a time,” he said, “when I did not dare tell you too much of what was in my heart. I was not steady myself, always changing. Like before, when I went to the big market and broadened my horizons, I even neglected home and went to help at the dock shop for several days. Later I told you I would not go anymore. I would stay home. You told me that even staying home, I could manage a great family enterprise. Then I heard many things from Brother Chu and understood more clearly what suited me. I became firmer and could finally speak my heart to you.”
He continued, “I like how things are now. I can do some work and also take good care of the family. Da Feng, do you feel it too? Every time we hand the children to Mother, Father, and Aunt Zhao, we feel completely at ease. We are not worried. Many times, they think they are being cared for by us and feel indebted, always wanting to do more. But that is not true. This family prospers because of everyone.
“What you told me last year—I only truly understood it this year. When family is together, everyone gives what they can. No one is extra, no one is a burden. Now I influence them in the same way, always praising them. Of course, those words are true. Without them, I could not even step outside the door. We support one another.”
With a slight curl of his palm, Li Feng could touch his face.
Lu Liu had begun to cry. He buried his face in Li Feng’s palm. After a while, he lifted his head and smiled. “I drank too much. The wine is flowing out through my eyes.”
Li Feng wiped his tears and asked if he wanted to return to the room to sleep.
Lu Liu still wanted to admire the moon.
He did not know what was so wonderful about it and asked Li Feng whether he understood its beauty.
Li Feng did not particularly appreciate the moon either.
Lu Liu sighed with emotion. “When we bury our heads in work, we cannot see the moon in the sky. The fact that we can sit and admire it means we are living good days.”
Li Feng had heard similar words before. Back then, Lu Liu had spoken about the light leaking through a broken roof.
He liked listening to Lu Liu speak slowly like this. The words were not exactly everyday talk; they carried a hint of sentimentality, yet they drew their hearts close.
Li Feng thought he wanted to admire the moon with him every year. This year they were inexperienced. Next year they would know what to do—besides mooncakes, they would prepare two plates of crab and a jar of yellow wine. The family would sit around one table, eating, drinking, and chatting. That would truly be good days.
Lu Liu’s face sank into Li Feng’s palm again. This time, he slipped into a sweet dream.
He had drunk himself to sleep. The Mid-Autumn promise was broken. No chicken that night.
Li Feng carried him back to the room, wiped him down, and tucked him into the quilt.
Not long after, Chen Guizhi and Shun Ge’er returned, their faces glowing with joy.
Business had been excellent that evening. The tiny room could not hold everyone. Several waves of customers came and went. Scholars returning to the academy spread the word, and students left alone in the dormitories during the festival came upon hearing of it. They took a mooncake, drank a bowl of homestyle soup, and warmth filled both their stomachs and their hearts.
They had expected to give away sixty mooncakes. By the end of the day, forty-two had been given out. That was enough.
They spoke cheerfully. Shun Ge’er collected all the lantern riddles and took them back to the room as toys. When he had nothing to do, he would grab one and try to solve it, building up his learning. Next year, he would be able to go out onto the streets and guess riddles himself.
