Tian Wen’s teeth were nearly grinding to dust, his expression vicious. “Where did you buy them?”
Aunt Ge didn’t answer him. She simply flung the water she’d used to wash her hands out towards the yard, nearly splashing Tian Wen’s face. Tian Wen swore loudly, then saw Aunt Ge’s husband step out, carrying a cleaver. He immediately shut his mouth and walked away, cursing under his breath. Even as he walked, he could hear Aunt Ge going on: “Just a Child Scholar, and he thinks he’s a lord already. What a joke. A person like him—he’ll never pass the Scholar exam in this lifetime.”
Enraged, Tian Wen kicked over his own couplet stall. In the entire Huailing Village, he was the only literate person! Who else could write Spring Festival couplets for them?
He suddenly thought of Tian Yao, who had bought brushes and paper in town a few days ago. That cripple looked like he could read and write. So they had impatiently snatched away his business?!
Fuming, he headed for Tian Yao’s home. Walking into the village, he saw villagers, in groups, also heading towards Tian Yao’s home. The usually deserted path to Tian Yao’s house was quite lively now.
Some also saw him. Since they didn’t need to ask him for anything, they gave him no pleasant looks. Ever since Tian Wen had become a Child Scholar, he had thrown his weight around the village. At every turn, he used his Child Scholar status to talk down to people, openly or secretly taking who knew how many benefits from the village households.
Now things were good. Their Huailing Village had another cultured person besides him, Tian Wen. And this one was no worse than him.
Tian Yao also hadn’t known why people suddenly started coming to their home for Yu Nian to write couplets. Only after asking around did he learn it was because the couplets he’d delivered to Liu Zhi’s house had been seen.
Word of Liu Zhi’s pregnancy had long since spread through the village. Villagers usually only announced it after the pregnancy was stable. Tian Yao knew earlier only because he and Liu Zhi were close. These past few days, many people had been visiting Liu Zhi’s home. Liu Zhi had a bit of an intention in mind, so when people came, he had Chen Xu bring out the Spring Festival couplets Tian Yao sent.
“Now, that Yao Ge’er—knowing I’ve been resting to nurture the pregnancy and haven’t had time to go to town—said his husband can write, so he took care of my family’s couplets. I took a look, and I truly like them.”
Others saw the adorably endearing painted child on the couplets, and they too were extremely fond. They quickly asked, “Then… is he still writing?”
Only then did Liu Zhi say, “I’m not sure about that either. Why not go and ask?”
Aunt Shun had happened to be visiting Tian Yao at the time and naturally had also been given couplets by him. The people coming over saw the couplets in Aunt Shun’s hands, and their pace quickened even more.
So now, Tian Yao’s yard was extraordinarily lively.
Yu Nian was writing more and more smoothly. Almost every couplet he wrote was different. He just didn’t have enough time anymore to add a couple of painted strokes, but no one minded.
Anyone with eyes could see that Yu Nian’s calligraphy was on a completely different level compared to Tian Wen’s. Hanging such couplets up might even make the gods more pleased to look upon them.
Tian Wen stormed furiously to Tian Yao’s house. The force he used to push open the gate was rather strong—a loud bang. Everyone in the yard turned to look at him.
Tian Yao reacted first, frowning as he walked to the gate. “What are you doing here?”
Tian Wen pointed at Tian Yao’s nose. “I didn’t expect that in just two years, you’ve not only grown in years but also discarded all sense of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and honor.”
Tian Yao nearly laughed out loud. “What, us just writing a few couplets at home is discarding propriety, righteousness, integrity, and honor now?”
“This was clearly my business, snatched away by you!” Tian Wen pointed at Yu Nian, who was busy writing. “Letting a cripple write your couplets—aren’t you afraid of the bad luck?”
Tian Yao bristled like a cat with its fur standing on end. He raised his fist at Tian Wen, but the punch ultimately didn’t land on his face. “I didn’t overturn your stall. Who snatched your business? And also—say ‘bad luck’ one more time, and I’ll make sure you truly become bad luck.”
Tian Wen was still somewhat wary of Tian Yao’s fists. He took a step back. “Tian Yao, with so many people watching, you dare lay a hand on me!”
Tian Yao truly did want to hit him, but he absolutely couldn’t let an incident requiring compensation happen again. Especially since he wanted to get Yu Nian’s leg treated come spring; he couldn’t spend the money on something like this. However, if he couldn’t hit him in public, he could always throw a sack over him and do it somewhere with no witnesses.
“Get out of my house. If you want to write couplets, go write at your own stall. No one’s chopped your hands off to stop you from writing.” Tian Yao didn’t want to argue with him. He was more worried that Yu Nian’s wrist would get sore from writing too much and wanted to massage it for him when there was a free moment.
But Tian Wen stood rooted at the gate, craning his neck to watch Yu Nian write.
Yu Nian’s writing style was very casual and fluid. Once the brush touched the paper, there was almost no pause before an entire couplet was finished. Tian Wen had thought such a style would make Yu Nian’s couplets sloppy and messy, completely incomparable to his meticulously written ones.
But when he saw the couplets Yu Nian had produced, his expression turned extremely ugly.
“Let’s just say we’re not stupid. We can spend less money for something better. What your own writing looks like—don’t you have any clue in your heart?”
The speaker was a husband from the village. Huailing Village had two people who were very formidable: one was Tian Yao, whose fists were very formidable; the other was Ame Li, whose mouth was very formidable.
Ame Li had long since found Tian Wen insufferable. Thinking that passing the Child Scholar exam made him someone important, when in reality, he was nothing. Take his calligraphy, for starters—it couldn’t compare to Yao Ge’er’s husband here.
Aunt Shun was also present at this moment. Looking at Yu Nian, she couldn’t stop praising him. “Yao Ge’er has married a good husband. Not only can he write, but he can also diagnose illnesses. Last time, when I wasn’t feeling well, he grabbed a few herbs for me, and after taking them, I felt much better!”
This prompted several villagers to ask Aunt Shun if it was really that effective. If so, wouldn’t it be much more convenient to come to Tian Yao’s house for medical consultations in the future?
Yu Nian hurriedly said he didn’t actually know how to diagnose or treat illnesses. But the topic was quickly overtaken by other chatter, all full of praise.
Tian Wen now felt neither leaving nor staying was an option. He had bought a lot of red paper from town specifically to come back and write couplets today. He had asked Wang Cuihua for five hundred copper coins. If he couldn’t sell a single couplet, Wang Cuihua would skin him alive.
He stood where he was and let out a scoff. “You all just want to be cheap, don’t you? I’ll write them for you—two copper coins per set. Buy three, get one free.”
These villagers… weren’t they just fond of taking advantage? With an even cheaper option, he didn’t believe they would still buy from Tian Yao.
“We do want to save money, but that doesn’t mean we’ll take garbage.” Ame Li spoke up again.
Tian Wen glared fiercely at him. Abandoning all face now, he decided he was going to see for himself—could this Yu Nian’s writing really remain this good the whole time?
Just as he approached Yu Nian, he heard Yu Nian say, “Young Master Tian, weren’t you the one who disdained silver and copper as filthy, stinking things? Such copper-stenched items must surely be unworthy, polluting to the young master’s scholarly fragrance. Since such matters cause you difficulty, it’s better simply not to do them. Isn’t this exactly in line with your wishes?”
Tian Wen now truly understood the meaning of shooting himself in the foot. Struck speechless by Yu Nian’s words, he could only stamp his foot and leave Tian Yao’s yard in the end.
He stood guard by his own stall for a very long time. Not a single person came to him to write couplets. Hungry, he recalled that in previous years when writing couplets here, the villagers would always send over food and such. Today, until now, he hadn’t had a single bite to eat. He simply packed up his stall. But he didn’t dare go home. He went first to the shop where he bought the red paper and, after talking until his mouth was dry, managed to return it. Holding the remaining money, he went to the wine shop to drink.
By noon, Yu Nian finally took a short rest. Tian Yao crouched beside him, massaging his arm and kneading his fingers, asking anxiously, “Does your hand hurt? Should we just not write the rest?”
“In the past, I wrote much more than this. I’m not tired.” Yu Nian let him continue his ministrations. His hand was a bit sore, but not to the point of being unable to write.
“I know best that if a hand’s been overused, the next day you can’t even lift it.” Tian Yao frowned. “Maybe we should just stop writing?”
Yu Nian, however, shook his head. “One cannot be untrustworthy in dealings with others. A promise made must be kept.”
Tian Yao pouted. “Fine. Then tonight, I’ll give you a really good massage.”
“In a couple of days, I’ll teach you how to write.”
Tian Yao’s eyes widened—not with pleasant surprise, but something more between laughter and tears. “Do I really have to learn?”
“At the very least, you should know some basic characters. You should be able to write your own name.”
Dejectedly, Tian Yao looked at Yu Nian’s amused face. “But you also said before you’d teach me archery. You can’t favor one and neglect the other.”
Yu Nian’s smile at this moment held a bit more genuine warmth. “That idiom isn’t used that way.”
“Anyway, that’s what I meant.”
Yu Nian consoled him. “When spring comes and we can go up the mountain, I’ll teach you archery then. Tomorrow won’t work anyway; my hand’s sore.”
At the mention of his hand, Tian Yao became nervous again. “Then rest for a while now, okay? We’ll continue writing this afternoon.”
Yu Nian didn’t push himself and nodded.
For lunch, Tian Yao steamed buns and made an egg drop soup. His cooking skills were getting better and better. At first, Yu Nian could only barely stomach his food; now, he could eat it with great relish. Tian Yao actually wasn’t sure if it was his cooking that had improved or if Yu Nian had simply become much more easygoing.
Still, it was a good thing, wasn’t it? He accepted the food he made; he accepted life now in Huailing Village.
He just hadn’t accepted Tian Yao yet.
Even though they slept together every day, and occasionally Tian Yao would sleep in Yu Nian’s arms, he knew they weren’t like his two fathers. They weren’t in love.
After lunch, Tian Yao insisted Yu Nian nap for a while. He himself tidied up the house a bit and then went out to buy tofu. Today was Little New Year; they had to make a dish with tofu in the evening to honor the Kitchen God.
Today, many people were buying tofu. The tofu-making Qi family was so busy they were practically smoking. Seeing Tian Yao come, Uncle Qi said, “Today’s been too busy. Is your family still writing couplets? We haven’t bought ours yet.”
Tian Yao felt for Yu Nian’s tiredness, but since Uncle Qi had spoken, Tian Yao could only say Yu Nian was still writing.
Uncle Qi cut a block of tofu for him. When Tian Yao tried to pay, he adamantly refused to take the money. “Just have your husband write the Spring Festival couplets for our family.”
Tian Yao carried the tofu home. Yu Nian had already started writing. Seeing Tian Yao return, he beckoned him over. “Come here and help.”
Tian Yao put down the tofu and walked over to their low table. “What can I help you with?”
“Grinding ink.” In the morning, he had to both write and grind ink himself, which indeed slowed things down.
Tian Yao wiped his hands clean on his clothes and picked up the inkstick. “How do I do it?”
“Very simple. Add a little water and grind slowly.”
In ancient times, there were beauties adding incense to the burner. Now, there was Tian Yao, using such brute force he nearly snapped the inkstick in two.
Yu Nian had to grab his hand. “You don’t need to use so much strength.”
Tian Yao was already tense. Hearing Yu Nian speak, he immediately let go in alarm. Uncontrolled, the inkstick dropped straight down. Tian Yao hurriedly reached to grab it, ending up with a hand covered in ink.
As expected, he truly wasn’t suited for such refined things. In just this short time, in such cold weather, he had broken out in a sweat on his forehead.
He handed the inkstick back to Yu Nian. “You’d better do it yourself.” After speaking, he breathed a sigh of relief and reached up to wipe the sweat from his brow. “I’m going to chop firewood.”
“You…”
Before Yu Nian could finish speaking, Tian Yao had bolted away in a flash.
So, Tian Yao, bearing a forehead smeared with ink, chopped firewood all afternoon. It wasn’t until he drew water in the evening that Tian Yao finally noticed. He pouted at Yu Nian, pulling at the front of his clothes. “Why didn’t you tell me!”
The smile on Yu Nian’s face now was much more genuine than many Tian Yao had seen before. “I called out to you this afternoon, but you ran off very quickly.”
Tian Yao: …
