Chapter 16

Tian Wen had spotted Tian Yao pushing Yu Nian into the bookshop long ago. He saw that wheelchair Yu Nian was sitting in, and he was so furious his teeth nearly shattered. He had asked his fellow students about it and was told that wheelchair was worth at least ten taels of silver. Ten taels of silver! Buying what good thing wouldn’t be better than buying this useless, showy trinket for a cripple?

When he heard them haggling so stingily with the shopkeeper, Tian Wen felt that Tian Yao was utterly insulting their literati integrity.

Tian Yao frowned, looking at him. The man was only wearing an extra thick lined jacket underneath but still had on that long scholar’s robe symbolizing his literati status outside. How had this freezing weather not frozen him to death yet?

“When did you learn such vulgar language? Truly! Now that Uncle is gone, you’ve grown this unruly; I absolutely must—”

“Tian Wen, is there something wrong with your brain?” Tian Yao truly didn’t understand why this family had to cling on like lingering ghosts. They clearly didn’t even live in the same village anymore, yet they still kept coming around to be nuisances. “What I’ve become is my own business. My husband hasn’t said a word. Who do you think you are?”

Tian Yao pushed Yu Nian towards the exit, muttering as he walked, “Such rotten luck.”

Yu Nian pressed his hand down on Tian Yao’s, and Tian Yao stopped. Yu Nian turned the wheelchair around himself and looked calmly at Tian Wen. Without a trace of emotion, he said, “My apologies, but this ‘scholarly fragrance’ you speak of is nothing more than brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. These four items are all things that can be priced with the stench of copper. Even the most expensive plain-gold paper in Wangjing is no more than five hundred copper coins per sheet. In the end, all are priced by this copper stench in the marketplace. So where does this distinction of high and low, noble and base, come from?”

Tian Yao watched Tian Wen’s face changing color and added kindly, “You too have items tainted with copper stench on your person. Why not give them all to me? To perfect your scholarly fragrance?”

The shopkeeper, standing to the side, covered his mouth, his body bending over with laughter. When he stopped laughing, he put on a serious face and looked at Tian Wen. “My apologies, young sir. This shop absolutely does not extend credit.”

After leaving the shop, Tian Yao was laughing so hard he could barely straighten up. “Do you think reading books has rotted his brain?”

Yu Nian also smiled. From the looks of it, Tian Wen was indeed seriously ill.

After buying the paper and brushes, they made a detour to buy some pastries and finally went into a paper goods shop to purchase some sheets of red paper. The red paper was specifically for writing Spring Festival couplets. The quality of the paper wasn’t as good as the ream of white paper they’d bought; there were even some impurities in it. But the red dye was vivid, so they bought a few sheets. If no one came asking them to write couplets, Tian Yao planned to paste them all over their own house.

When they reached the spot where the ox cart was parked, the Village Chief was already there waiting. Once Tian Yao and the others got on, they headed back to the village.

Tian Dazhuang was driving the cart. The Village Chief saw the brushes and paper in Yu Nian’s lap and raised an eyebrow. “What are you buying brushes and paper for?”

Tian Yao certainly wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. “Yu Nian can write. We’ll have him write our Spring Festival couplets this year. He’s got nothing much to do at home usually anyway; practicing calligraphy is good too.”

The Village Chief hadn’t expected Tian Yao to be so attentive towards him. But seeing that wheelchair on the cart, even the brushes and paper seemed like minor things now.

“Then write a few sets for my house too. Every year, we’ve just bought the same old ones. Let’s switch it up this year.”

Tian Yao immediately nodded like a chick pecking at grain. “Of course, of course! We’ll write them as soon as we get back.”

Even as he spoke, he glanced at Yu Nian. Yu Nian merely nodded faintly.

Upon reaching the village, Tian Yao declined the Village Chief’s kind offer to drive them home on the ox cart. He pushed Yu Nian along the small path through the village.

All the land they passed was barren. The weather in Huailing Village was too cold; the ground was frozen solid. Nothing could grow in this season at all.

The trees in the distance were bare as well. Tian Yao sighed. Huailing Village had many locust trees. In spring, the fragrance of locust blossoms filled the air. Adults and children alike would go pick locust flowers to make cakes and steamed buns—delicious no matter how they were prepared.

Previously, he hadn’t really made them himself because Aunt Shun would always make an extra portion for him. This year, he supposed he should make them himself. He wondered if Yu Nian had ever eaten them.

“In Yuancang Prefecture, it practically never snows in winter,” Yu Nian said, looking at the frozen ground.

“Doesn’t snow? There are places where it doesn’t snow?” Tian Yao had been born in Huailing and grown up in Huailing. The farthest he’d ever gone was the town. He hadn’t even been to the prefectural capital of Xixin Prefecture, where Huailing was located.

“There are many places. Yunnan Prefecture, where it’s like spring all year round. Lingnan Prefecture, where you can still go shirtless in winter. Tian Yao, this world is very big.”

If Yu Nian’s leg hadn’t been injured, if his family hadn’t met with disaster, then he would surely have traveled through all the places he spoke of.

Tian Yao wasn’t usually a particularly attentive person. Now, holding the brush and paper, he was uncharacteristically reserved. Especially when he saw that pure white paper—he almost dared not use any strength at all, fearing his hands would soil the white paper. He gently set the paper down as though discarding a hot potato, then said to Yu Nian, “Write whenever you want. If the paper runs out, we can buy more.”

He hurried off to the kitchen to cook. Facing the brush and ink, Yu Nian was lost in thought.

In the past, his study was bright and immaculately clean. Sandalwood incense always burned, its fragrance mingling with the scent of books printed by ancient methods and the aroma of the tribute-grade ink he used. These scents intermingled, as if only this could calm the mind.

But now, even at noon, the room wasn’t bright. There was no dampness, only the faint fragrance of rice drifting from the not-so-distant kitchen—Tian Yao must be cooking congee.

He once believed one could only write in a quiet, undisturbed environment. Yet now, around him were Gray’s pants, the sounds of Tian Yao ladling water in the kitchen, and Tian Yao’s helpless sighs when Gray pestered him.

He picked up the inkstick, slowly grinding out the ink. He dipped the brush to moisten it, but his hand hesitated, unable to set brush to paper. Writing while seated… it felt like something from a very, very long time ago.

Tian Yao put the congee on to cook and wanted to come see how Yu Nian’s writing was going. But when he entered, he found the paper he’d prepared for Yu Nian was still blank. Yu Nian was spacing out, not a single word written.

Tian Yao walked over to him, thinking the room was too dark and he couldn’t see clearly. “Is the room too dark? Do you need me to light a lamp?”

“No need.”

Tian Yao understood almost instantly. After Little Dad passed away, there was a period when he himself dared not sleep in his own home either. The house was too dark, too quiet. So during that time, he stayed at Aunt Shun’s house.

Yu Nian was probably feeling the same way now. He didn’t know what word scholars would use to describe it, but he understood.

He simply patted Yu Nian’s shoulder gently, then left the space to him alone.

Once more, Yu Nian dipped the brush in the ink. A black dot appeared on the white paper. He lifted his brush tip again, the suspended wrist trembling slightly—tiny specks of ink scattered around the black dot he’d just made.

In the yard, Tian Yao was playing with Gray again. He called to Gray, telling him to come with him to the cellar to fetch vegetables. Gray turned and ran back inside the house, circled Yu Nian once, licked his hand, and then ran out after Tian Yao.

Only then did Yu Nian set brush to paper. On the white paper, he wrote a single character: Destiny.

Flowing and smooth, the strokes powerful and vigorous.

After writing the first character, the following ones came much easier. Through the window, Tian Yao took a look. Seeing that he had finally lifted his brush, Tian Yao tugged at the corner of his mouth and vigorously rubbed Gray’s dog head.

Tian Yao didn’t rush him to start writing the Spring Festival couplets. Yu Nian had to first untie the knot in his heart and practice more.

By mealtime, Tian Yao carefully folded up his drafts and stored them inside Little Dad’s chest.

The twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month—Little New Year.

Yu Nian had already finished writing their own family’s Spring Festival couplets and had found time to write the set for the Village Chief’s family as well. Unlike their own, on the set for the Village Chief’s family, he had also painted bamboo on both sides of the red paper—symbolizing rising higher and higher, step by step. Tian Yao was so envious that he almost wanted to swap with the Village Chief.

After delivering to the Village Chief, Tian Yao naturally couldn’t forget Liu Zhi. Yu Nian also indulged him and helped write Spring Festival couplets for Liu Zhi’s family. Unlike the bamboo for the Village Chief, on Liu Zhi’s family’s couplets, Yu Nian painted a chubby baby, because their family would have the joy of a new addition this year.

Once he finished writing, Tian Yao was responsible for delivering them. He was exceptionally enthusiastic about this task, running like the wind even in the snow.

Back in town, Tian Wen and Tian Liu’s mother, Wang Cuihua, looked at Tian Wen, still loafing around at home, and her anger flared up. “Why haven’t you gone back to the village to write Spring Festival couplets yet! We’re about to not even have enough to eat!”

Holding a scroll of a book, Tian Wen was reading aloud, wagging his head. “Mother, the exam is in early spring. When I become a Scholar in the future, will I still need to earn those few measly coins writing Spring Festival couplets?”

“You think those few measly coins are nothing?” Wang Cuihua was fit to burst with rage. To support his studies, even in the bitter cold of midwinter, she was out washing clothes for those nobles, her hands covered in chilblains. He only had to move his fingers and write a few characters to earn money—what more could he be unsatisfied with?

“Let those people wait then. Those who aren’t short on cash can go to town and buy the pre-written ones themselves.” So he said, but in the end, he still packed his four scholarly treasures and hired an ox cart. Returning to the village, he set up his stall and waited in the biting cold wind for the villagers to come.

However, he remained at the village entrance, buffeted by the icy wind, for the entire morning without a single person coming. Usually, by this hour, someone would have long since invited him into a home to warm up.

Had these people all gone to town to buy their couplets? Wasn’t that idiotic?

He walked to the Ge family’s place, nearest to the village entrance, only to find the Ge family members all sitting in their courtyard, chatting. He couldn’t bring himself to lower his literati dignity and hawk his wares, so he remained as haughty as ever. “Don’t you all need Spring Festival couplets this year? The ones in town are selling for five copper coins a set now. We’re all neighbors; I’ll only charge you four.”

Upon seeing him, Aunt Ge was not at all courteous. In the past, they had to humble themselves before Tian Wen just to save a couple of coins. Now that there was a better option, they were absolutely not going to be suckers anymore.

Aunt Ge rolled her eyes almost to the back of her head. “Oh dear, no need. We already bought couplets this year for three copper coins a set. Won’t trouble you, Child Scholar Tian.”