Chapter 013
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
Since Xue Tingxiang had made up his mind to copy books, Zhao’er saw no reason to stop him.
Privately, however, she became even more determined to earn as much money as she could. She wanted to earn enough money to the point that her little man did not have to think twice when purchasing books.
After helping him lay out the paper, Zhao’er looked through her sewing basket for suitable needles and thread to bind the sheets of paper into a book once he was done writing.
Xue Tingxiang smiled slightly, but said nothing as he picked up his brush and continued writing.
For now, he planned to copy down all the books he had once memorised. Mostly because he had recently discovered a problem. Ever since that long dream about ‘Xue Tingxiang’, he found himself being pulled deeper and deeper under its influence. It was even starting to influence his existing memories.
It was most obvious when he looked over books he had studied ever since he started to embark on the path of becoming a scholar as a child. When he tried to access memories of that dream, he discovered that he had an impression of books ranging from elementary education all the way to higher-level books. Unfortunately, memories from that time were very vague. Many details had been completely forgotten.
He thought about this for some time and decided that it was likely that the future ‘him’ disliked memories from his past self as a desperate, poverty-stricken student. As a result, he had avoided thinking about those years. Not to mention, the Xue Tingxiang from the dream had been alive for over 70 years. After passing the Imperial Examination, he had immersed himself in the cutthroat life of imperial politics, becoming obsessed over schemes and courtly political battles, with very little care for scholarly pursuits.
Years passed quickly and memories of political strife, factions, in-fightings and speculation over other people’s true intentions and struggles to get ahead of the political game replaced his original identity as a scholar.
In fact, one could say that dream ‘Xue Tingxiang’ was not a true scholar; he was just a politician.
He had no need for this knowledge now. Like a child gifted with a treasure sword, it was useless to him as he was in no position to wield it. This knowledge would be of great help to him in the future, but for now, what he truly needed was food, writing tools and decent clothes to fit in with his scholarly peers.
However, since the knowledge had already seeped into his head and affecting his memories, he did not wish to forget what ‘he’ had learned. The best thing to do now was to integrate the memories with his own and to keep from forgetting the advanced understanding from that dream.
The best way to achieve this would be to copy books.
Although the yellow bamboo paper was of inferior quality, so coarse if the brushstrokes were too light, the ink would not be evenly distributed; too heavy and the ink would smudge. Still, this was nothing to Xue Tingxiang. His writing flowed like clouds and water, leaving clear, rounded calligraphy that appeared strong and extraordinarily majestic.
Zhao’er held her breath, not daring to breathe as her eyes fixed upon Xue Tingxiang who was focused on his calligraphy. Suddenly, she had an image of her little man being all grown up.
It did not take Xue Tingxiang long to fill in a whole sheet of paper. He was about to spread it out on the side to dry when Zhao’er quickly took it from him and carefully spread the paper out on the kang bed for him. She stared at the words. She had no understanding of whether the writing was good or bad, but to her, it felt like she was looking at a piece of art. Like a beautiful painting.
While Zhao’er was staring at the first sheet of paper, Xue Tingxiang filled up a second sheet of paper.
They continued this way with Xue Tingxiang writing and Zhao’er carefully laying down the sheets of paper to dry. Soon, the kang bed was covered with paper.
A single volume of <<Three Character Classic>> has less than one thousand characters, and Xue Tingxiang quickly finished copying out one book.
He set down his brush, took a deep breath, and flexed his wrist a few times. It had been a long time since he had written so much in one sitting, and it placed a lot of stress on his wrist.
“You know, I can copy books and supplement our income,” he suddenly said.
It was something that he had been thinking about for a while. In his dream, all ‘he’ did was study, the very embodiment of ‘Deaf to worldly matters, whole-heartedly studying the works of sages’, while Zhao’er continued to struggle alone to support the family.
The former ‘him’ had felt helpless and regretful about the situation, but was unable to do anything about it. Moreover, Zhao’er was incredibly gifted when it came to finding creative ways to make money. Not to mention, she was always quick to reassure him about everything and did her best so that he never had to worry about money. In the end, he just… stopped thinking about it any more.
As he lowered his brush, he looked through the memories again and realised that ‘he’ must have cared more about money than ‘he’ had let on. Now that he had the ability to earn a few coins to support the family, why not give it a try?
How could a man like himself just let a woman support him? As a man, he should be the one to protect her from wind and rain. He had no idea why the ‘him’ from the memories could not understand this fundamental thing, but it was fortunate that he realised this now and could do something about it.
“Copy books for money?” Zhao’er shook her head repeatedly. “How can I let you do that? It’s hard and tiring work that could hurt your eyes.”
“It’s not as bad as you make it. Didn’t I copy one book in front of you?” he gathered the sheets of paper into a neat stack and handed them to Zhao’er to bind.
“Copying books not only earns money, but it also helps me understand the essays better, so why not give it a try? I remember there’s a bookstore in town that hires poor scholars to copy books for them. Tomorrow, let’s go to town with this book. If the store owner feels that my calligraphy is good enough, I could give it a try and see how it goes.”
He paused before continuing, “In fact, let’s go together. I’ll go to town with you tomorrow.”
“Is that fine?” Zhao’er had always second-guessed herself whenever it came to her little man.
“What is there to not be fine about?”
Now that the matter was settled, the two of them got up early the next morning and left the house without even having breakfast.
Yuqing Village was just one of the little villages under Huyang Town. In fact, although Huyang was called a ‘town’, it was more of a township with a dozen other little villages under it. Yuqing Village was one of the larger villages among these little villages.
It would take close to two hours to walk from Yuqing Village to town, therefore most people would take a bullock or mule cart. Bullock carts were generally slower and cheaper, costing about 2 coins per ride. A mule cart was faster, but it would cost 4 coins per ride.
After leaving the borders of the village, Zhao’er and Xue Tingxiang continued on until they reached a fork in the road and turned westward for a little while before stopping under a tree to rest as they waited for a cart to pass by.
Although their clothes were simple, both were very neat and clean. Zhao’er looked especially sharp when dressed as a man.
“So, the reason you always take the path behind the vegetable field whenever you go to town is to change into these clothes?”
Zhao’er nodded. She felt a little guilty but was prepared to defend herself against his criticism. Fortunately, although Xue Tingxiang was a little surprised, he did not look particularly angry or disgusted by this revelation.
“It’s more convenient to dress like this when moving about outside. That way, no one could tell I’m a girl, right?”
Xue Tingxiang pursed his lips a little as he studied her.
The handsome youth before him was certainly thinner than most men from his point of view. There was really no visible sign that ‘he’ was not a man. After carefully studying her appearance, he realised that Zhao’er had thickened her eyebrows and did something to flatten her chest.
Noticing her little man’s gaze on her chest, Zhao’er explained, “These are the most inconvenient parts, so I tied them down with a cloth.”
She spoke very casually, as though they were merely discussing what they should have for lunch. However, Xue Tingxiang felt oddly uneasy.
From what he knew from the dream, Zhao’er was particularly endowed in that area. Feeling a little anxious, he asked, “Won’t they be flattened?”
Zhao’er looked surprised by the question. She had not given it much thought and her reply was pragmatic, “If they are flattened, then they are flattened. It’s not like they are used to me in any way.”
As she was speaking, a mule cart happened to rattle up the road and she became occupied with waving it over. Which meant she did not notice Xue Tingxiang’s odd expression.
Xue Tingxiang was a little surprised to see that Zhao’er had waved over a mule cart and not a bullock cart because even he knew that mule carts are more expensive. He watched as Zhao’er handed the coins for the ride, before pulling him into the cart.
“Mule carts are faster,” she said as she settled him in. “We will arrive sooner in this.”
In fact, she was afraid that her little man could not bear the bumping and rocking of a bullock cart, especially not when he was still recovering from a serious illness.
The middle-aged man driving the cart smiled at them and said, “Little brother has great insight, this cart is only faster but it is also more comfortable than a bullock cart. Is this your little brother?”
Xue Tingxiang, now known as the ‘little brother’, frowned darkly at the driver.
Well, it was no surprise that others would assume he was the younger brother of Zhao’er who had dressed herself up as a youth. As the thinner, shorter boy beside the youth, what else could he be but a ‘younger brother’?
Zhao’er visibly froze for a moment before nodding with a large smile, “Yes, ah. My younger brother.”
While they were chatting, the middle-aged man was already driving the mule cart forward.
The cart was indeed faster and less bumpy than a bullock cart. After a while, the cart would stop to pick up one or two passengers waiting by the roadside. The specially made cart could be extended to seat a total of 12 people and carry a limited amount of luggage.
That’s right, the best advantage of this mule cart was its covered cart, which protects its passengers from the dust. Meaning there which meant there was no need to find a place to tidy themselves up before going into town.
“When I have money, I will buy a cart like this too,” Zhao’er suddenly blurted out to Xue Tingxiang, finally showing a hint of childish glee.
“Can you drive one?”
That stumped her for a moment, but she quickly said, “No, but I can learn.”
Xue Tingxiang thought: You are too capable. If you can even drive a cart, what do you need a man for?
However, when he thought back to that dream, he realised that he was… really useless as a man. He secretly vowed to least learn how to drive a cart in the future.
Once the mule cart was full, it stopped picking up passengers and moved at a steady clip towards town.
A little more than a quarter of an hour later, the walls of Huyang Town could be seen from afar. The cart stopped not far from the city gate and the people in the cart got out. Zhao’er led Xue Tingxiang into the town.
The township itself was not very large, however, it could not be described as small either. Zhao’er frequented the Eastside of the city more often since that was where she would go to sell her vegetables. This time their purpose was to visit the bookstore, so she led Xue Tingxiang towards the Southside.
The previous dynasty valued scholarly pursuits over military excellence and this cultural trend did not disappear even after the chaos of war that marked the end of that dynasty. On the contrary, scholarly pursuits became even more entrenched because the founding emperor of the Great Xi Dynasty was supported by a large group of civil officials from the previous dynasty.
‘Studying is superior’ was a phrase that was quoted even by the largely illiterate masses.
In fact, studying became so important that even in small townships like Huyang, any family with a little extra money would send their children to private schools for at least two years. It would be best if their offspring could pass the imperial examination and gain official positions, but even those who could recognise just a few characters had a better chance of finding work.
This cultural trend meant that even a small township had quite a few bookstores and stationery shops around. Within the Southside, there exists an entire street of shops selling brushes, ink, paper and inkstone along with other businesses that cater towards scholarly pursuits.
Although Zhao’er was no scholar, she had bought the bamboo paper for Xue Tingxiang quite a few times now and was therefore fairly familiar with the area. However, instead of leading Xue Tingxiang to the street immediately, she took him to a place where several food stalls had been set up. The plan was to have breakfast first before visiting the store.
“The morning meal is the most important. We even missed breakfast to come here quickly, but ‘the sharpened axe cuts the most wood’, so it’s best to proceed on a full belly.”
Zhao’er hurried over to the stall owner and ordered two bowls of ‘Jiupian’ [1] noodles.
This particular stall’s Jiupian noodles were unique to Pinyang Prefecture. [1] It was made with buckwheat and sorghum flour which gave the little uneven squares a mottled black and red colour. The bowls of steaming hot noodles were topped with tofu, wood ear fungus, and mushrooms. The aroma was enticing enough to make one’s mouth water.
“This stall’s Jiupian noodles are especially good. Try it.”
Xue Tingxiang obligingly tried it and found that it was indeed delicious.
Craftsmanship aside, the generous portion and plentiful topping already won him over. It was unlike the bland, tasteless meals at the Xue family home where both salt and oil were often skimped.
However, this bowl of noodles was not cheap either. Once Xue Tingxiang was done with his bowl of Jiupian, Zhao’er handed 8 coins over to the stall owner. That meant that these noodles cost 4 coins per bowl. 8 coins was enough to by a good half catty of meat.
[1 catty – about 600g]“Is it delicious?” Zhao’er prodded him as they headed over to the south side of the town.
“It’s a little expensive.”
Indeed, it felt outrageously expensive to Xue Tingxiang who never had much pocket money ever since he was little. What little money he had was the lucky money amounting to a few coins given by Old Man Xue each New Year.
To him in the dream, these few coins were nothing. Having these two conflicting thoughts inside of him made Xue Tingxiang feel very strange.
“What expensive or not expensive? It’s rare for you to come to town. Now that you’re finally here, of course, I should take you out for a good meal.”
It was a very good meal indeed. Don’t take Zhao’er’s nonchalant expression for granted either. In the past, whenever she came to town on her own, she would only buy herself a plain steamed bun at most.
She had never been stingy about treating herself, but had always spent money with an eye towards increasing her savings. Even so, she was more than willing to spend money on Xue Tingxiang and give him the best of what she had. Therefore, whenever Xue Tingxiang thought back to that dream, he could not believe that he would eventually turn into that despicable wife-and-son killer.
“When I make some money from copying books, I will take you out to eat here every day,” he blurted out.
The sun had risen and the pale golden light shone over the young man’s slightly baby-ish face. His skin was as fair as the finest jade, but looked warm with just the faintest covering of fuzz. His lips were tightly pressed together, indicating anxiousness. His eyes looked to the side instead of directly at her.
Zhao’er’s smile spread wider and wider until she could not help but stretch out a hand to rub his head, “Silly Gou’er, how much money can you make copying books? To want to come to eat here every day?” the look on her face could only be described as indulgent.
Her words fell into an abyss of silence. When the pause went on too long, only then did Zhao’er reflect on what she had said and felt a little guilty. She had never been afraid of her little man before. However, after he had recovered from this illness, there were times when she felt a little uneasy around him.
It must be her imagination!
She withdrew her hand, looked left, looked right and suddenly, her eyes lit up as she said, “Look we’re here.” With that, she took the lead and entered the bookstore.
[Gumihou: I like that she felt uneasy around him. Because he’s a dangerous guy who had probably sent quite a lot of rivals and enemies to their deaths. Her wild instincts must have tingled at that dream person’s presence]
[1] Jiupian noodles – Jiu Pian basically means ‘pinched flat pieces’, which is basically what the noodles look like. Unlike ‘cat ear’ noodles, which tends to curl up, these ‘pinched flat pieces’ noodles are, well, basically flat uneven squares that are blanched. Some people cut the dough into broad flat strips first, others would directly pinch the pieces from the dough.
For a noodle stall that may not have enough work space, selling these kinds of ‘pinched noodle’ makes sense.
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%8F%AA%E7%89%87/7832650
Adjusted the description so that readers who have no idea what Jiupian noodles are and idea of what they looked like
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