Once the Little New Year had passed, every household in Huailing Village busied themselves preparing for the New Year.
On this day, Tian Yao went to Aunt Shun’s house. He didn’t raise chickens himself. But every year, when he went up the mountain to pay respects at his father and Little Dad’s graves, he needed offerings. So each year, he bought a chicken from Aunt Shun’s house.
Aunt Shun had long since prepared one for him. Tian Yao handed over the copper coins and exchanged greetings with Tian Yusheng, who had a few days off. He still needed to properly thank him for the matter with the wild geese last time.
“How many days does Brother Yusheng get to rest at home?”
Tian Yusheng’s temperament was very straightforward and honest. Aunt Shun had lost her husband early and had painstakingly raised her son alone, even managing to get him a wife. Now, the couple both worked at Squire Liu’s household, and their life was passable.
“Got to go back tomorrow. The employer’s household is even busier during the New Year. Should let the wife come back to rest for a couple of days too.”
Tian Yao replied, “Yes, indeed. Haven’t seen Sister-in-law in a long time either.”
They chatted a bit more. Aunt Shun mentioned she needed to go buy some incense, candles, and joss paper. With the New Year just around the corner, Tian Yao suddenly remembered this matter. He usually kept it in mind, but this year, because of Yu Nian’s arrival, he had nearly forgotten. He hoped Father and Little Dad wouldn’t blame him.
Aunt Shun looked at Tian Yao and asked him, “Does your husband’s family also have no one left?”
The smile on Tian Yao’s face faded a little. “That’s right.”
“Then you must also offer incense to his parents this year,” Aunt Shun said. “I heard the Village Chief mention it briefly—that his parents died a violent death. As his fulang, you have to be mindful of these things too.”
“What should I do then?” Tian Yao held his head in worry. “Build a cenotaph for his parents?”
Aunt Shun, however, said, “There are many rules for building a tomb. With such short notice, there isn’t time for all that. It’s better to make two spirit tablets first. You can pay your respects facing the tablets.”
Tian Yao thought this made sense. But with the heavy snowfall these past few days and all the household matters to attend to, he simply had no time to go carve spirit tablets for Yu Nian’s parents.
Tian Yusheng, however, said, “What’s so difficult about that? I’m heading back to town tomorrow anyway. I’ll help you buy a pair. Have the wife bring them back; you won’t have to make a trip yourself.”
Tian Yao hurriedly thanked Tian Yusheng and reached for his money pouch to give him the money.
Tian Yusheng waved his hand. “Talk about it when your sister-in-law brings them back.”
Only then did Tian Yao let it be, going with Aunt Shun to buy the incense and candles.
Almost every year during the New Year’s period, Huailing Village had snowy days. This year’s snow was especially heavy, heavier than in previous years. From the twenty-third to the thirtieth of the twelfth month, snow drifted down almost every day.
Persistent heavy snow still had an impact on the village. Tian Yao went out almost daily to help the villagers clear the accumulated snow off their roofs and eaves. Some poorer households, with thatched roofs, were nearly crushed under the weight of the heavy snow.
“Thank goodness our house isn’t like that,” Tian Yao said, having just returned from outside once again, stretching his hands near the charcoal brazier to warm them.
Yu Nian was helping him organize the Little Dad’s handwritten notes they’d found earlier. He truly couldn’t read those symbols that resembled writing, but he could copy their shapes onto paper. Because the notes had been lying there, they were yellowing. If left much longer, the writing might disappear altogether.
Tian Yao, his hands now warm, came over to Yu Nian’s side. “You’ve almost finished copying an entire book?”
“Without understanding the meaning, the writing is too slow.”
Tian Yao leaned in, wracking his brain—something he hadn’t used in a long time—and pointed at one symbol. “Yu Nian, is this the character for ‘Tian’?”
Yu Nian nodded. “I can make out that some of these drawings are characters, but I still can’t really decipher the rest.”
He looked at Tian Yao. “Little Dad never taught you?”
Tian Yao felt a bit of heat on his face. When he was little, Little Dad had taught him, but back then, his whole heart was set on following Father up the mountain and running wild. Everything Little Dad taught went in one ear and out the other.
Seeing that his heart wasn’t in it, and with Father defending him, Little Dad gradually stopped teaching him. In truth, Tian Yao was also afraid—afraid of seeing disappointment in Little Dad’s eyes. But Little Dad just stroked his head and told him that there were many choices in life, that it was fine if he didn’t love studying. After all, with them around, Tian Yao’s life would be smooth and happy.
It was a pity that man’s plans couldn’t compare to heaven’s. Father and Little Dad left too soon. By the time Little Dad wanted to teach him again, it was already too late.
“He did teach me, but I didn’t study well. Now I’ve forgotten everything.”
Seeing the look on his face, Yu Nian knew Tian Yao was thinking of his departed parents.
“He wouldn’t blame you.”
~
The twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month. Tian Yao had bought the chicken for the ancestral offerings the day before. He had already blanched it last night and then loaded it into his bamboo basket early this morning, along with many incense sticks and candles for the rites.
Yu Nian saw him and caught hold of his sleeve. “Where are you going?”
Only then did Tian Yao react, tapping his own head. “Forgot to tell you. Today I have to go up the mountain to pay respects to the ancestors. I’m going to offer incense to Father and Little Dad.”
A few days ago, Tian Yao had thought about asking Yu Nian if he wanted to come along but then reconsidered. If he asked, Yu Nian would definitely agree to go with him. This seemed to be what Little Dad used to call… moral coercion?
Yu Nian straightened his expression. “Today?”
Tian Yao nodded. “Mm.”
Yu Nian adjusted his own clothes. “Not taking me?”
Tian Yao paused for a moment. “The mountain path is difficult, and it just snowed.”
“Fine.”
Yu Nian didn’t insist further. Tian Yao then hoisted his basket. Gray followed at his feet, wanting to go with him. Tian Yao thought, since Gray originally came from the mountain anyway, bringing him back for a visit was fine too.
“I’ll take Gray with me. We’ll be back quickly.”
Yu Nian watched his retreating figure. Two trails of footprints were imprinted on the snow that hadn’t been fully swept away. He spoke up. “Tian Yao!”
Thinking something was wrong, Tian Yao immediately broke into a run back towards the house, Gray following behind him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Is it appropriate for me not to go today?”
Tian Yao lifted his eyes, but he only saw Yu Nian’s calm expression. His clothes were already tidied.
A sudden warmth rushed through his heart. Tian Yao smiled. “The mountain road is slippery; I’m carrying a lot of things. Wait until I’m back, and you can bow to their spirit tablets then, alright?”
Yu Nian looked at the basket on his back. Taking him up the mountain would indeed be inconvenient. “Alright.”
Tian Yao left the house this time with a completely different feeling from earlier, his steps much lighter. When he’d gone to the village yesterday, Aunt Shun said a message had come that Sister-in-law was returning today and that the items had been purchased for him; he could go pick them up later.
Finding his father and Little Dad’s graves wasn’t difficult at all. Tian Yao arrived very quickly. Father and Little Dad were buried together; this was Little Dad’s last wish before he passed. Days of snow had blanketed the entire mountain in white. Their grave, too, was the same.
Tian Yao set down his basket. He had brought a hatchet, just in case—after not visiting for a while, there might be dead branches and weeds on their grave. First, he cleared the weeds, then swept the surrounding snow clean. Only then did Tian Yao kneel before their grave.
“Father, Little Dad, I’ve come to see you.”
As he spoke, he arranged the offerings before their grave. “I’ve done well this year too. I even got married. You both saw, right?”
“It’s a pity my husband’s leg isn’t well; he couldn’t make it up the mountain. But later, I’ll have him pay respects to your spirit tablets.”
Tian Yao opened his fire striker, lit the incense and candles, and reverently placed them before the grave. “Are you both well? You never come back to visit me.”
“Sorry, Father. I sold one of the hides you prepared this year.”
“But I hunted a wild boar. I’m pretty amazing, aren’t I? I also got a dog, named Gray. Yu Nian says he’s a wolf-dog and can accompany me hunting up the mountain in the future.”
Hearing his name, Gray, who had been rolling around in a nearby patch of snow, gave a bark and bounded to Tian Yao’s side, wagging his tail and spinning in circles.
He rambled on and on, recounting everything from the beginning of the year to the end. The unhappy things, he didn’t mention. He spoke only of the happy matters.
The happiest of all was meeting Yu Nian.
“My husband—I chose him myself. He’s exceptionally handsome. Still a little less so than Father, of course.”
Watching the joss paper slowly burn down, Tian Yao kowtowed three times before the grave. “Father, Little Dad, bless us all with peace, safety, and good health.”
“You two must also be well.”
Once the last spark of the fire died, Tian Yao also stood up, gathering the things he had brought. Because he had been kneeling on the ground the entire time, there were two damp circles on his knees.
“I’ll head home now. Whenever I have time, I’ll come visit you.”
Tian Yao turned around. A gust of wind blew past, making him shrink his neck. That gust of wind stirred the ashes of the joss paper he had left on the ground, sending them floating and swirling very high into the air.
He had heard his father say that the higher the ashes of the joss paper flew, the happier the ones being honored were. So now, Father and Little Dad must be very happy indeed.
Coming down the mountain, Tian Yao didn’t head straight home. Instead, he went to Aunt Shun’s house. Aunt Shun and her family had also just returned from the mountain. Tian Yusheng’s wife was surnamed Zhang. Sister-in-law Zhang saw Tian Yao and waved him over.
“I was just saying if you hadn’t come, I would have delivered them to you.” Sister-in-law Zhang brought out two spirit tablets wrapped in red cloth from the house. “The honorific titles on them haven’t been written. My mother said your husband is literate, so you can let him write them.”
“How much were they?” Tian Yao cupped the two tablets in both hands, feeling they weighed a thousand pounds.
“Our employer agreed to replace the spirit tablets in the family ancestral hall this year, so we bought ours along with theirs. Two were seven hundred copper coins.”
Tian Yao quickly reached for his pouch and counted out eight hundred twenty copper coins for Sister-in-law Zhang. She tried to push it away, saying it wasn’t necessary, but Tian Yao insisted. “These hundred twenty coins are the auspicious money.”
After all, these were items used for sacrificial rites. They inevitably carried certain connotations, so it was necessary to give the auspicious money.
Seeing she couldn’t refuse, Sister-in-law Zhang went back inside and grabbed some pastries and fruit for him, then finally let him head home.
Tian Yao carefully hugged the spirit tablets and returned home. Opening the door, he saw Yu Nian in the main room, picking vegetables. Seeing him carrying the red cloth bundles, Yu Nian asked, “What did you buy? So carefully held.”
Tian Yao gently placed the red-wrapped bundles on the table, set down his bamboo basket, and walked over to Yu Nian. “I had Brother Yusheng help me commission two spirit tablets in town.”
He took the red cloth and crouched down before Yu Nian, slowly opening it. Wrapped inside were two spirit tablets made of pine wood, traced with gold patterns and inscribed with several large characters: “Offered in Reverence to the Spirit of ______.”
Tian Yao said softly, “I didn’t know the names of Father and Mother, so this space was left blank for you to fill in.”
He looked at Yu Nian’s slightly reddening eyes. “The New Year is almost here. As the younger generation, we should fulfill our filial duties.”
Yu Nian’s hands were trembling. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he grasped Tian Yao’s hand.
Tian Yao lifted his eyes to meet his and smiled. Just as he was about to speak, Yu Nian grabbed his arm and pulled him into an embrace.
