Chapter 61

Chapter 61

When Pei Mu returned from Songyun County, the night was already deep.

Zhong Yizhu and Sun Yunniang only knew that Pei Mu had gone out to make a sale, and they were still waiting for him in the main room.

A lantern hung at the small courtyard gate, casting a dim yellow circle that lit the path in front of the door.

Pei Mu reached out and knocked on the gate. Followed by the sound of the main room door opening and closing, and soon footsteps belonging to Zhong Yizhu approached. Before Zhong Yizhu could ask, Pei Mu spoke: "It's me, Zhu Ge'er."

The courtyard gate opened. Pei Mu had already taken down the lantern. Seeing his face red from the cold, Zhong Yizhu quickly reached out with his stove-warmed hands to pull him inside.

Meanwhile, Sun Yunniang had already entered the kitchen, where hot water simmered on the stove. As soon as Pei Mu stepped into the main room, she brought over a basin of hot water, urging him to soak his hands and feet to warm up.

Zhong Yizhu urged Pei Mu to sit by the fire. He felt Pei Mu's hands—not frozen through—but his boots were wet, and his feet were surely numb. Just as Zhong Yizhu's hand reached for Pei Mu's boots, Pei Mu stopped him: "Let me do it myself."

Sun Yunniang closed the door to block the cold wind. Seeing Pei Mu covered in snow, she hurriedly asked if he had eaten dinner and whether he needed more food. The stove fire hadn't gone out; it was easy to whip something up.

Pei Mu had just snapped out of his daze when he found himself wrapped in a warm, cozy atmosphere despite the icy weather, and even a warmth spread through his chest. He shook his head: "I've eaten, Mother. You should rest."

Zhong Yizhu busied himself mixing a cup of warm water with honey for him. Pei Mu drank it while it was still warm, feeling gradually warmed through from the inside out.

Neither of them asked how his trip had gone; they just kept offering him warm things. Only after he had soaked his feet and changed into fresh socks and shoes did Pei Mu bring over the bamboo basket, which they had set aside. He lifted the covering cloth to show them.

Inside, a cloth bag half filled with gleaming silver ingots. Sun Yunniang let out a soft gasp, and Zhong Yizhu's eyes widened in surprise.

"I traded some medicinal herbs I gathered for silver. I didn't mention it before because I wasn't sure they would mature, and I didn't know how much they'd sell for."

Pei Mu took out the silver ingots one by one and placed them on the table—eighteen heavy ingots in total.

He looked at Zhong Yizhu and Sun Yunniang, a rare joy in his eyes: "Now we have capital."

"Oh my, this really is..." Sun Yunniang came out of her shock and grew excited. So much silver—truly a large sum for them now!

Since they were about to travel so far, having more silver on hand would give them more confidence.

Sun Yunniang, usually gentle and soft, was rarely this animated. She showered Pei Mu with praise until even the tips of his ears turned red. Only after she got up to return to her room did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhong Yizhu, standing nearby, pressed his lips together in a smile.

He was wearing the lilac-colored outfit today, the white fur collar making him look both adorable and pretty. Pei Mu leaned in and kissed him: "What are you smiling about?"

"Of course I'm smiling because I'm happy."

Zhong Yizhu leaned forward slightly, wrapping his arms around Pei Mu's neck, and whispered into his ear, still warm from earlier: "You're amazing."

At that, Pei Mu's ears weren't the only things burning—his whole body felt like it was burning.

He hastily gathered the silver, scooped up Zhong Yizhu, and carried him into the room.

Pei Mu pressed him onto the bed, pecking his light red lips: "Did you have fun in the snow today?"

Zhong Yizhu replied intermittently: "It wasn't fun in one way."

"Then I'll play with you tomorrow."

Zhong Yizhu thought for a moment: "Will it snow again tomorrow?"

"Yes..."

The unfinished words disappeared between their lips. Winter days are cold, but the temperature inside the bed curtains slowly rose.

Snow falls silently, but when mixed with raindrops, it adds a soft rustling sound.

Zhong Yizhu, his cheeks flushed, curled up in Pei Mu's arms, sleeping soundly.

...

When the twelfth lunar month arrived, the days passed faster and faster.

Zhong Yizhu was busy preparing goods for the street stalls before and after the New Year. He gave up on incense pellets, which wouldn't keep until after the New Year, and focused solely on making incense balms, incense sticks, and incense beads. He also tried out new scents to make up for the lack of incense pellets.

Sun Yunniang, meanwhile, was busy preparing New Year supplies.

After the snow fell and the weather turned cold, she had moved into the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain. She had been reluctant at first, afraid of gossip, but Pei Mu was the last person to care about such talk. And since things were different now, Zhong Yizhu also urged her to stay. In the end, Sun Yunniang agreed.

The room she lived in was newly built, separated from the original courtyard by a wall. This arrangement was quite good. Sun Yunniang had suffered enough from her mother-in-law's meddling, and although she herself was not a mother-in-law, she didn't want to disturb the young couple too much.

Pei Mu, on the other hand, spent a lot of time outside. He needed to find a suitable caravan and prepare supplies for the trade trip. This was his first time doing such things, so he wasn't very skilled and had to figure things out step by step.

They wouldn't be carrying goods themselves. In fact, they could travel without a caravan, but Pei Mu had never traveled this route before. He didn't know if there would be places to stay overnight or if they'd have to camp out in the wild. Taking Zhong Yizhu with him, caution was the better part of discretion.

Pei Mu chose a large caravan. Large caravans either had their own guards or hired escorts, so they were much safer. They would also help carry goods or people for a fee. The journey from Songyun County to Quzhou's capital would take over ten days. Even if they handled their own meals and lodging, they would still have to pay two taels of silver as a travel fee.

Pei Mu discussed the details with the caravan's manager, agreed on a departure date, paid the silver, and signed a contract. Seeing Pei Mu carefully reading the contract, the manager realized he was literate and became slightly more respectful. He asked an extra question: "You mentioned bringing along a young man. Are you going to visit relatives?"

Pei Mu nodded, pressed his fingerprint on the contract, kept one copy, and handed the other back to the manager: "Then I'll see you at the city gate on the eighth. Manager Wang, farewell."

They clasped their hands. Pei Mu folded the contract and tucked it into his bosom, then turned and headed toward the city's livestock market.

Located at the foot of the city wall, far from the residential area, the market sold cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, and other livestock. Even in the cold weather, the smell wasn't pleasant.

As Pei Mu approached, a group of vendors shouted for him to come see their wares. Pei Mu had a clear goal. He picked a well-trained bull that could pull a cart. Bulls were cheaper than oxen, so he bargained and bought it for six taels and two qian of silver.

The vendor had cleaned the bull thoroughly, and since Pei Mu paid promptly, the vendor even threw in some hay for feeding.

Not far from the livestock market was a woodworking shop. They had ready-made carts for sale. A basic one cost one tael of silver, while a covered cart cost twice as much. He tested one of the finished carts—the clasps were flexible, and it was easy to disassemble. The body was painted with tung oil and dried, making it durable and waterproof even in rain.

On the main road back to the village, the bull's hooves clattered rhythmically. Without Pei Mu having to flick the whip, the bull trotted forward on its own.

Pei Mu raised an eyebrow slightly, leaned back against the cart's door, and squinted at the distant glow of the sunset.

...

This New Year was probably the quietest one Zhong Yizhu and his mother had ever spent, yet it was the liveliest one Pei Mu had ever experienced.

Starting from the Minor New Year, the house was filled with festive atmosphere. Even though there were only three of them, Sun Yunniang made sure to follow every tradition with the two of them.

They performed the Kitchen God sacrifice, did the spring cleaning, and cut window paper-cuts.

Pei Mu stared at his own misshapen creation, thinking about crumbling it into a ball and throwing it away to destroy the evidence. But Zhong Yizhu intercepted him, took the thing, and examined it from all sides.

Pei Mu leaned over, intending to threaten him not to laugh, but Zhong Yizhu whispered to him: "We can stick this in our room."

Pei Mu was stunned for a moment, then his brow softened, and he let out a low "Mm."

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month, they put up the Spring Festival couplets. The ones at Pei Mu's house were written by Zhong Yizhu on red paper cut to size. Zhong Yizhu said his calligraphy was only average, but Pei Mu insisted that the sentiment was better this way.

When Chen Xiaorong came by for a visit, he saw the couplets and asked Zhong Yizhu if he could write a set for his family too. Before long, Chen Xiaorong was happily heading home with his freshly written couplets.

Later, Pei Mu was pasting spring couplets on the gate of the main hall and the moon gate of the side courtyard under the direction of Zhong Yizhu and Sun Yunniang when they heard someone knocking at the courtyard gate. A village aunt's loud voice easily carried over: "Zhu Ge'er, are you there? It's your Aunt Li."

Zhong Yizhu went over and opened the courtyard gate, only to see several people outside holding red paper. He couldn't help but be startled.

He first asked Aunt Li, who had called him, what she wanted, and upon learning that they had all come to ask him to write spring couplets, he was momentarily stunned, his eyes wide with surprise.

He was just a young man who couldn't even go to school, once looked down upon by everyone. Even if the villagers wanted to find someone, they should have gone to the village head or a respected clan elder—how could they have come to him?

What Zhong Yizhu didn't know was that Pei Mu's purchase of the ox cart had sparked another round of heated discussions in the village. Everyone was saying that Pei Mu no longer went deep into the mountains to hunt, so where did he get so much money to buy both an ox and a cart? What kind of windfall had he come into?

Even the village head's ox cart was just a flatbed cart, but Pei Mu's even came with a covered cart—something only well-off families in town would afford.

After much speculation, someone asked Sun Yunniang and learned that the young couple were going to visit relatives on her side after the New Year. Since the relatives lived far away, Pei Mu was worried about Zhong Yizhu catching a cold and so bought a covered cart.

Then everyone started talking about how lucky Zhong Yizhu was. Although they still couldn't help guessing where Pei Mu got the money for the ox and cart, since he used to go into the mountains often, maybe he really did find some precious treasure and struck it rich? Some were envious, while others thought that since he almost lost his life that time, this money wasn't something just anyone could earn.

Later, the rumor spread and somehow turned into the story that Pei Mu had been affected by the Pei family before, but after cutting ties, things improved. Zhong Yizhu also had a good fate and a noble destiny—he could even pull Pei Mu back from the brink of death and live a happy life with Pei Mu, something others could only envy.

Anyway, after hearing that Zhong Yizhu could write spring couplets, many families brought prepared red paper to the courtyard at the foot of the mountain. Since they couldn't read, and they saw the couplets hanging at Wang Pingan's house looking nice, they figured they might as well come to soak up some of Zhong Yizhu's good fortune.

And so, the village head's burden of writing couplets for everyone was greatly reduced, while Zhong Yizhu found himself spending the whole afternoon writing for others, in a daze. By the time he rested, his arms were trembling.

Pei Mu helped massage his arms, and Sun Yunniang's face was filled with a gratified smile.

After all, it was New Year—everyone should be happy.

On New Year's Eve, Sun Yunniang got up early to start preparing the evening's New Year's Eve dinner. Wang Pingan and his husband brought wine, meat, and snacks, and Chen Xiaorong also rolled up his sleeves and went into the kitchen.

The tasks of washing vegetables and killing chickens were taken over by the two men. Zhong Yizhu sat by the stove tending the fire, constantly fed all sorts of goodies by his mother and Xiao Rong Ge—he never got a moment's rest.

The five of them bustled about and managed to prepare a lively New Year's Eve dinner.

Before dark, the dining table in the main hall was fully set. In front of the two young men and Sun Yunniang were cups of sweet green plum brew, while the two men had their cups filled with wine.

With wine and dishes, the five of them ate until very late.

From the village came sporadic firecracker sounds, faint and distant.

Pei Mu had drunk some wine, but his eyes were still bright. He took out the firecrackers he had bought and walked into the yard, motioning for Zhong Yizhu to light them.

Zhong Yizhu was a little scared, but he bravely used an incense stick to light the fuse. In his haste to run back, he even threw the incense stick away, and Pei Mu caught his hand, pulling him into his arms and covering his ears.

"Boom—"

Everyone was laughing. Zhong Yizhu looked up into Pei Mu's smiling eyes.

Out with the old, in with the new!

New year, may everything be safe and smooth.