Chapter 13: Enlightenment

Chapter 13: Enlightenment

"Cough, cough, cough!" Wu Shen choked on the water, coughing violently.

Who was this? Was this something Du Yunse could say? How did this fake Taoist suddenly have such insight!

Du Yunse felt impulsive and misspoke, not daring to look at Qiu Huanian's reaction, but he didn't regret saying it.

Qiu Huanian was stunned for a moment, not expecting to hear a historical take on "I'll take care of you."

The person saying this was a cold and handsome man whose looks and temperament were exactly his type, which made him feel quite elated.

After a moment of elation, he smiled and said, "Don't worry too much, I'll support you as well."

Qiu Huanian just wanted to express the idea of working together, but to others, it sounded different.

Du Yunse's eyes showed a flicker of emotion, while Wu Shen rubbed his arms and stood up, looking around.

"Cough, cough, tomorrow is Qingming. Yunse, take out the fruits and offerings I bought, don't let them spoil."

Du Yunse opened the book box beside him and took out the items Wu Shen had bought earlier at a stall in Zhang County. Qiu Huanian glanced at them and let out a surprised sound.

These offering papers—weren't they the ones he had drawn!

"Is there something wrong?" Du Yunse looked at Qiu Huanian.

Qiu Huanian shook his head, "No, I just didn't expect to see my own drawings on the offering papers."

Many people knew he had been drawing at the stationery shop these past few days, and it wasn't something to hide, so Qiu Huanian saw no need to conceal it.

"I was commissioned by Wang Cheng, the owner of the stationery shop in town, to draw a batch of offering papers for Qingming. He paid me eight wen per sheet."

Wu Shen felt a mix of emotions upon hearing this, "But he sold them to me for fifteen wen each!"

Qiu Huanian realized that this young military officer wasn't very familiar with business matters, "It's typical for merchants to mark up prices significantly. Getting eight wen from him is already good."

Du Yunse looked at the unique window paper he had noticed upon entering, "Did you draw this too?"

Upon closer inspection, the window paper and the offering papers had almost identical drawings, only differing in color.

"Exactly. The window papers sold outside are expensive and of poor quality, so I bought the paper and drew them myself."

Qiu Huanian knew that both Du Yunse and Wu Shen had seen real masterpieces, so he modestly said, "I just drew them for fun without any formal training, so they're only decent."

"It seems I've been supporting my own family without realizing it. I thought you were... I didn't expect you to be such a talent," Wu Shen teased.

Qiu Huanian responded generously, "My mother was literate. She taught me to read when I was young and also a bit of drawing. If this makes me a talent, then the Yu Dynasty is full of talents."

Qiu Huanian attributed his literacy and drawing skills to his birth mother, Mei Xueer. In his memories, she was indeed literate, but she had always been in poor health, melancholic, and died early, so she hadn't taught him much.

Du Yunse looked at the ink plum blossoms on the window, tinted golden-red by the setting sun, "Your drawings are quite good; there's no need to downplay your talent."

"..." Qiu Huanian was well aware of his own limitations, but it was still nice to be praised.

After some conversation, Cun Lan, the village chief's granddaughter, came to summon them, saying the food was almost ready. Jiu Jiu and Chun Sheng had already been taken to the clan leader's house.

Qiu Huanian got up and went to the storeroom, taking out a large handful of sorghum candy and a handful of tofu jerky seasoned with salt and chili powder, wrapping them in straw paper and handing them to Wu Shen.

"These are all homemade. Take them for your journey."

Although Wu Shen held the official rank of seventh grade, he was still a teenager of seventeen or eighteen. Qiu Huanian noticed that he had never traveled far and was strapped for cash, so he packed more food for him.

Wu Shen went to fetch a cloth bag from his horse and, seeing a bit of the food peeking out, asked, "What are these? I've never seen them before."

"This bag is dried tofu—thinly sliced brine tofu, dried and mixed with a bit of salt and powdered dried chili."

Every day when Qiu Huanian sold candy, the Meng family would give him tofu. Sometimes he couldn't finish it all in one day and, fearing it would spoil, he came up with this new way of eating it. The dried tofu was thin and crispy, mixed with the aroma of chili and salt, and it was very popular with the two children.

Wu Shen popped a piece into his mouth, nodding enthusiastically, "This is great!"

Since the incident at his home, he had lost his appetite and didn't enjoy the rough food on the road. He never expected a piece of dried tofu to rekindle his appetite.

Qiu Huanian smiled and pointed to another package, "This is candy I made myself, called Gao Liang Yi (Sorghum Candy). Try a piece."

Wu Shen didn’t realize how precious and hard to come by candy was in the countryside. Hearing this, he eagerly ate a piece, "This is also delicious. I think the taste is no different from the candies sold in the capital."

Qiu Huanian accepted the praise, and the three locked the gate and headed to the clan leader’s house for dinner.

As they walked, Wu Shen leading the horse and Du Yunse, whom he hadn’t seen in years, drew curious stares from the villagers. Qiu Huanian, walking with them, was also scrutinized.

As they approached the clan leader's house, Qiu Huanian saw Jiu Jiu and Chun Sheng lingering outside the gate from afar.

Seeing them, the two children immediately rushed to Qiu Huanian's side. He crouched down and patted each of their heads, smiling as he asked, "Waiting for Brother Hua outside?"

Jiu Jiu was too shy to speak, lowering her head, while Chun Sheng, though young, spoke boldly, "We wait for Hua-gege like this every day!"

Qiu Huanian tapped his head and pointed to Du Yunse beside him, "Do you know who this is?"

When the two children were taken to the clan leader's house, they had already been told that their eldest brother had returned. They gazed up at this unfamiliar young man, his presence striking, but they hesitated to approach.

Du Yunse froze, seeing the fear in his siblings’ eyes, his heart aching as he hesitated, unsure what to do.

When he left home, Jiu Jiu was just a baby, and when he returned for his father’s funeral, Chun Sheng hadn’t even been born yet. He knew too little about these two children, only seeing snippets about them in the few letters he received each year.

Though bound by blood, years of separation weren’t easily overcome.

The two children had always dreamed of their legendary eldest brother, but when they finally met him, they didn't dare to get too close. Du Yunse had never faced such a situation and didn't know how to bridge the gap.

Just then, Du Yunse suddenly felt someone tugging at his sleeve, a soft, warm hand touching him and placing something in his palm.

Du Yunse opened his hand to find two sugar-preserved fruits.

He turned to look at Qiu Huanian, who winked at him.

Du Yunse handed the two preserved fruits to his younger siblings. The two children exchanged glances and then carefully took them from his hand.

"Big brother, what is this?" Chun Sheng turned them over in his hands.

"They’re mi jian, fruits preserved in sugar," Du Yunse explained, having eaten them at small banquets before.

"Are they sweet?" Jiu Jiu mustered the courage to ask.

Du Yunse patiently replied, "They're both sour and sweet, with a fruity aroma."

The two children took a bite of the preserved fruits, their eyes lighting up. Du Yunse hesitantly crouched down, imitating Qiu Huanian's earlier gesture, and patted his sister and brother's heads. Jiu Jiu and Chun Sheng were a bit stiff but didn't pull away.

Seeing that he had successfully resolved the estrangement between the three family members, Qiu Huanian nodded in satisfaction. It was worth the heavy expense of buying a few preserved fruits on a whim when he returned today.

Wu Shen, who’d been watching, chuckled, "Sis, you’re something else..."

"Huh?" Qiu Huanian didn’t catch what was said.

"Never mind, I’m starving. Let’s hurry in and eat."

Wu Shen rubbed his arms again, marveling at Du Yunse’s luck in finding such a good husband in the countryside!

If he kept watching, he’d really start to feel jealous!

When the clan leader heard that Du Yunse had returned to the village with a friend—a seventh-rank military officer personally appointed by the emperor—he immediately instructed his family to prepare a meal as best as they could.

Meng Fuyue, the eldest sister-in-law, told the second sister-in-law to whip up some dumplings with leek and egg filling, while the third sister-in-law went to Bao Shan's house to buy fish. She picked out a fat rooster, slaughtered it, and got the meat ready.

The clan leader’s household was big, with more than a dozen hands ready to pitch in. Together, they quickly prepared a meal with fish and meat, almost as grand as their New Year's feast.

Meng Fuyue grabbed a dumpling and handed it to Cun Lan from the second brother's family, "Lan, be good, we've already eaten. Go play outside, your grandfather and the others have things to discuss."

Cun Lan grabbed the dumpling and skipped off. Seeing this, the second sister-in-law smiled, cleaned up the kitchen, and went out to chat with others.

The clan leader’s spacious, tidy main room had a round table set up, with oil lamps glowing to welcome the guests.

The meal revolved around Du Yunse and Wu Shen. The clan leader only brought his eldest son, Bao Ren, to accompany them, while Qiu Huanian, Jiu Jiu, and Chun Sheng focused on eating.

The clan leader, wise and experienced, knew exactly what to ask and what to avoid. He inquired about many things in the capital, and Du Yunse carefully answered what he could, with Wu Shen occasionally adding details.

When the clan leader heard that Wu Shen was General Wu Dingshan’s son, he sighed, "When I was young, the Tatars frequently invaded our borders, causing great fear among the people. Fortunately, the emperor led a campaign and defeated the enemy, giving us a better life."

Although Zhang County was not on the border, it was only a few days' ride away. If the border defenses were breached, this place would be like a piece of meat for the Tatars.

"When the army marched through Zhang County, I was in the crowd cheering for the imperial troops and caught a glimpse of General Wu from a distance. Seeing you today, young general, you look just like your father did back then. Truly, a tiger father does not have a dog for a son!"

Wu Shen loved hearing people praise him for being as brave as his father. Upon hearing this, he ate over a dozen more dumplings and spoke a lot more.

Qiu Huanian kept his head down, quietly eating, but his ears were glued to their conversation.

Although the clan leader hadn't read many books, his experience showed. With just a few words, he had grasped Wu Shen's character, making Qiu Huanian feel like he had learned something too.

When the topic turned to General Wu's family being raided and stripped of their positions, and Mr. Wen Huiyang being placed under house arrest in the capital, the clan leader wasn't afraid. Instead, he comforted them, saying there was still hope and they should work hard and seize opportunities.

As the conversation continued, more topics arose, eventually leading to how they had coincidentally caught traffickers in the county town.

"As soon as Yun Se heard Sister Hua's name, he borrowed a horse from the county magistrate to return to the village. I was worried, so I decided to accompany him," Wu Shen said after swallowing his food. "I've known him for years, but this is the first time I've seen him so anxious."

The clan leader frowned upon hearing this, "The Qiu family actually came up with such a plan. They're really no good."

Fortunately, he had been cautious and had the eldest son and his wife escort Brother Hua these past few days, or something might have happened already!

Qiu Huanian was also hearing for the first time that people could be directly kidnapped and sold. He felt a bit of fear, and his chopsticks paused for a moment. Suddenly, a piece of deboned fish was placed in his bowl.

He looked up at Du Yunse, who whispered, "I noticed you like this."

Qiu Huanian smiled at him. The clan leader, remembering that Brother Hua was still at the table, coughed and said, "Brother Hua, I'm not talking about you. You've long since cut ties with that family. Don't be sad over something not worth it."