Wei Tu did not trouble the Shan Family with this letter home. Instead, he asked a cart driver who had traveled between the county town and Sanyuan Township for years to deliver it to the Li Residence.
The cart driver's asking price was not high either—just over a dozen copper coins, about the cost of a meal.
After the letter was sent out.
About seven or eight days passed.
Xinghua also entrusted that cart driver with a reply.
In the letter, Xinghua first expressed her delight at Wei Tu being accepted as Martial Graduate Dan's disciple, and told Wei Tu to serve Martial Graduate Dan, the master who appreciated him, well...
There was no need to worry about going home for the New Year.
Then, Xinghua explained the details of this year's wheat harvest from the three mu of land the family rented.
—First mistress Madam Li had been considerate and arranged for several tenant farmers to harvest it, without charging a single coin.
At the end of the letter, Xinghua said she had sewn him a winter garment from cotton cloth and asked whether it fit him properly, and whether its measurements needed altering.
She also wrote that she could not judge his waistline accurately and told Wei Tu to decide for himself.
After reading the letter from home.
Wei Tu pondered for a short while, then opened the package the cart driver had delivered.
Besides a purple wool-lined jacket, the package contained two pairs of newly sewn soft satin cloth shoes.
Next.
Following Xinghua's instructions, Wei Tu rose and tried on the winter garment and shoes.
But as soon as he put on the winter garment, Wei Tu discovered that the purple wool-lined jacket truly did not fit very well. It was rather tight around the waist.
Wei Tu found a pair of scissors and cut open the stitching. Yet the moment he started, he discovered a paper slip with writing on it hidden inside the jacket, along with several silver beans.
There were not many words on the paper slip Xinghua had written. She only said that she had tucked four silver beans into the winter garment, totaling a little over one tael of silver, and told Wei Tu to use the money locally to buy a disciple's gift for Martial Graduate Dan.
Wei Tu found the four silver beans one by one amid the cotton padding of the purple wool-lined jacket. Clutching the little over one tael of silver, he felt it slightly hot in his hand.
"A woman three years older brings an armful of gold bricks."
"Madam Li was indeed right when she said that."
Wei Tu sighed. In that instant, he felt that he owed Xinghua even more.
Xinghua was three years older than him and had entered the Li Family two years before he had. Women matured early as well, so she had always taken great care of him.
After they married, though Xinghua deferred to him as her husband in major matters, she had not entirely changed her habit of teaching him how to do things.
"A bride is a mother too..."
Wei Tu shook his head with a smile. Once he had composed himself, he decided to follow Xinghua's instructions and use the little over one tael of silver to buy Martial Graduate Dan a disciple's gift.
Since becoming his disciple.
Martial Graduate Dan had indeed treated him like a son and disciple, rather than merely giving him the title.
Stance Training.
Archery.
Horse Riding Skills.
Military strategy.
For these subjects that would be tested in the martial graduate examination, Martial Graduate Dan had taught Wei Tu almost everything he knew. When guiding him in writing military strategy essays, he had even told Wei Tu about the county examiners' preferences and dislikes.
These past few days, Wei Tu had also wanted to make up for the missing disciple's gift to Martial Graduate Dan.
But he had only recently redeemed himself, and money was tight. The family's remaining funds were all with Xinghua, and he had been unable to bring them along from afar...
He had never expected Xinghua to have considered this as well, nor that she would make the decision far more decisively than he had.
—After all, the apprenticeship had already been completed and the bond between master and disciple established. In the eyes of those with shallow understanding, not giving a gift truly did not seem important.
Leaving the second courtyard.
Wei Tu gave a brief instruction to Deng An, the hired hand who was mixing feed for the horses, then led a horse out of the stable and left the Dan Residence.
Over the past few days, while teaching him mounted archery, Martial Graduate Dan had already told him that aside from the Yellow Dappled Horse he personally favored, Wei Tu could ride the other horses in the stable to practice his Horse Riding Skills.
Seeing this, Deng An's face showed envy. He stared blankly at Wei Tu's departing figure for a long while.
Only a few days ago.
He and Wei Tu had both been hired hands in the West Room.
Wei Tu had still needed to follow his orders.
Yet in only these few short days, Wei Tu had turned over and become someone who rode a horse, while he still had to toil away cleaning latrines and sweeping courtyards, chopping fodder and mixing feed. For decades, nothing had changed.
Heading south all the way.
Wei Tu arrived at the town of Sanyuan Township. Leading his horse along the bustling streets, he looked over the shops lining the road and considered what disciple's gift would be suitable for Martial Graduate Dan.
Tailor shops.
Blacksmith shops.
Herbal medicine shops.
Wei Tu was dazzled by the sight.
The one tael of silver in his hand was indeed no small sum for the poor. If spent frugally, it could last several months. But when choosing a disciple's gift, it seemed somewhat stretched thin.
He could not afford anything expensive.
As for cheap things, he feared Martial Graduate Dan would look down on them and think he was being perfunctory.
"That's right. Master once said that he had sons and daughters to see him through old age and bury him after death. I only need to keep this filial heart..."
Tired from looking, Wei Tu stopped. Martial Graduate Dan's words surfaced in his mind.
Having thought of that, Wei Tu no longer hesitated. He stepped into a pastry shop and bought three boxes of popular fresh pastries, then went to a general store and purchased some seasonal fruits and melons.
Finally, Wei Tu arrived at a butcher shop and bought two jin of pork with a thick layer of fat.
"Young Master Wei, why did you go out and buy so many things today?"
"Is there some happy occasion?"
Upon entering the Dan Residence, the maidservants who had grown familiar with Wei Tu over the past few days greeted him and asked curiously.
At that, Wei Tu explained Xinghua's letter and the silver beans she had sewn into his jacket.
He had not given a disciple's gift before.
Now he was making up for it...
There had to be an explanation.
Besides, Wei Tu did not think Xinghua was someone to be ashamed of. He could not possibly look down on his former wife who had shared hardship with him simply because his status had risen.
Wei Tu had not forgotten that half of his Redemption Silver had been paid by Xinghua.
"Young Master Wei has a good wife."
"She really knows how to handle things..."
Everyone in the Dan Residence praised her in turn.
At that moment, Martial Graduate Dan, who was sitting in the main hall drinking tea and enjoying the cool air, first froze for a moment when he heard the commotion outside. Then a smile appeared on his face.
However, when Martial Graduate Dan came before Wei Tu, he kept a straight face and only said that there was no need for the large and small gifts in Wei Tu's hands. The thought alone was enough.
"Master, this was my wife's idea. She asked me to make up for the disciple's gift..." Wei Tu said, bowing to Martial Graduate Dan.
Upon hearing this, Martial Graduate Dan no longer insisted. He nodded and had Madam Shan accept the disciple's gift Wei Tu was carrying.
"Marry a virtuous wife, and she can influence a lineage for three generations. Your wife is quite good." Scholar Dan also offered words of praise for Xinghua's "virtuous deed."
"If your mistress returns and hears what you have said, she will certainly take a liking to you."
Martial Graduate Dan smiled.
Hearing this.
Wei Tu's heart stirred.
The mistress Martial Graduate Dan spoke of was naturally not Madam Shan of the third branch, but Martial Graduate Dan's true formally married wife—Madam Shan Min.
Having stayed with the Shan Family for so long, he had learned some things about Madam Shan Min, Martial Graduate Dan's principal wife, from the servants' and maidservants' conversations.
Before Martial Graduate Dan had made his fortune, he had married Madam Shan Min. Madam Shan Min was Martial Graduate Dan's first wife, the wife who had shared hardship with him.
Martial Graduate Dan himself had also treated his first wife with great respect, rarely scolding or quarreling with her.
It was only because Madam Shan Min's health had declined as she grew older, and because she could not bear to watch Martial Graduate Dan and Madam Shan frequently share a bed, that she had moved out of the Dan Residence several years ago to live with her son in the Prefectural City.
Before you continue