Borrowing a Pearl

When they returned home, the first thing Father Chen did was shut the door and brace it with a wooden stick before he dared take out the pearls.

The moment Wang saw the pearls, she dropped the spatula in her hand with a clang. The gloom that had hung over her for days was swept away, and her eyes lit up.

"Heaven has eyes, Heaven has eyes!" Wiping away her tears, she hurried to add firewood to the stove, wanting to cook that half a wheat cake for Chen Yue.

"It was all Ah Yue's skill," Father Chen said proudly, then did not forget to add, "Of course, it was also thanks to the good spot I picked."

The oil lamp in the room cast a dim yellow glow over the smiling faces of the family of three.

As night fell, Chen Yue went to Father Chen's bedside and asked softly, "Father, Mother, do you want to learn the Wave-Turning Breathing Technique?"

Wang was mending Chen Yue's tattered clothes. Hearing this, she smiled and waved her hand. "These old bones of mine can barely hold a needle steady anymore. How could I learn something so rare?"

But Father Chen was tempted. He rubbed his right leg. If he learned this breathing technique, not only could he help gather pearls, perhaps his leg injury might heal faster as well.

"This method... can really strengthen the body?"

"Of course," Chen Yue said quickly. "Just give it a try. There's nothing to lose if you can't learn it. Mother, you have rheumatism; practicing this can drive out the cold. Father, your leg is injured; practicing it can also get the blood flowing."

Seeing how insistent he was, Wang nodded, and Father Chen agreed as well.

Chen Yue began with the most basic breathing rhythm. "When you inhale, sink your belly, like it's swelling after a full meal. When you exhale, do it slowly, like blowing out a candle, letting the breath out evenly."

He took Father Chen's hand and placed it on his own abdomen, letting his father feel the rise and fall of his breathing. Then he helped his mother adjust her sitting posture and corrected the scattered turbulence of her breath.

At first, Father Chen and Mother Chen could not get the hang of it. Mother Chen huffed and puffed until her face turned red from holding her breath.

Father Chen's breathing was unsteady, and after practicing for a while, he began to cough.

But Chen Yue was not in a hurry. He demonstrated again and again, breaking down his own insights and explaining them piece by piece. An hour passed. Though neither had entered the path, they had at least grasped a little of the knack.

"No rush. We have plenty of days ahead of us," Chen Yue said with a smile as he extinguished the oil lamp.

Moonlight streamed through the window into the broken house, falling over the faces of the family of three. He knew this was only the beginning. As long as they persisted, one day he would lead his parents completely out of the mire of Pearl Village.

At dawn the next day, Chen Yue was still cultivating the Wave-Turning Breathing Technique when he heard rustling from the inner room.

He hurried over and saw Father Chen bracing himself against the wall, laboriously wrapping strips of cloth around his leg, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He had steered the boat out at sea yesterday, and the injury in his not-yet-healed leg had worsened again, swelling even more than before.

"Father, what are you doing?" Chen Yue rushed over and pressed down his father's hand.

Father Chen panted, but there was stubbornness in his eyes. "The waves are small today. I'll take you to East Reef Beach. Pearl Mother Shells are thick there. We can gather a few more pearls and save them up, so life will be steadier afterward."

"No!" Chen Yue's tone was firm as he helped Father Chen toward the bed. "If you keep tormenting that leg, it'll be ruined! The pearls we gathered yesterday are already enough for the Pearl Tax, and the rest can be traded for some rice. We don't need to go today."

As he spoke, he rolled up his father's trouser leg. The bruise-purple wound was already seeping threads of blood, making one's heart tighten at the sight. Mother Chen hurried over to persuade him too. Father Chen looked at his leg, then at his son's determined gaze. In the end, he let out a heavy sigh and lay back down.

That day, Chen Yue did not go out again. He simply sat in the corner of the house and cultivated.

After reaching the fifth level of the Wave-Turning Breathing Technique, his control over his breath had become ever more precise. With every inhale, he could feel a cool current traveling through his meridians. His dantian felt warm, and even his Martial Apprentice cultivation was growing rapidly.

Wang mended fishing nets nearby, glancing at her son from time to time, her eyes full of comfort.

Near noon, a light knock suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate, carrying a note of hesitation.

"Who is it?" Wang wiped her hands and went to open the door. Standing outside was Auntie Li.

She wore a coarse cloth jacket washed white with wear, her hair in disarray and her eyes red and swollen. Behind her hid a little girl of seven or eight, Li the Third's daughter, Yaya. Her small hand clutched tightly at her mother's hem as she lowered her head timidly.

"Auntie Li, why have you come?" Wang quickly stepped aside to let them in. Seeing the state the two were in, she already understood, and her own eyes reddened first.

The moment Auntie Li entered, she dropped to her knees with a thud, pulling Yaya down with her. Her voice choked with sobs. "Auntie Chen, Brother Chen, please, show us some mercy..."

Wang was so startled that she hurried to help her up, and Chen Yue quickly rose as well.

But Auntie Li refused to get up. Tears streamed down her wrinkled face. "The Pearl Tax is due the day after tomorrow, and I'm still short one low-grade pearl... The Sea Shark Gang said that if I can't hand it over again, they'll drag Yaya away to pay the debt..."

As she spoke, she pushed Yaya forward. "She's only eight years old. Please, save her..."

Yaya burst into tears in fright, hugging her mother's leg and crying, "Mother, I don't want to go! I want to stay with you!"

Seeing the mother and daughter, Wang's tears fell too. She turned toward the inner room. Father Chen had already supported himself against the wall and stood at the doorway, his face pale as he watched it all, his withered hand clenched tightly around his clothes.

The pearls at home were only barely enough to keep them afloat. Where could they find any surplus to lend? Yet seeing the mother and daughter crying in a heap on the floor, he simply could not harden his heart.

"Father," Chen Yue suddenly said, "Uncle Li lost his life because of the Pearl Tax. If Yaya is taken away, this family will truly be torn apart. Let's lend them one."

Father Chen looked at his son, his eyes full of hesitation. "But we..."

"Father." Chen Yue stepped forward and held his father's arm. "One low-grade pearl is a life-saving pearl to Auntie Li and Yaya. I'll make a few more trips into the sea later. I'll soon earn it back."

Seeing the determination in his son's eyes, then catching sight of Yaya's tear-reddened eyes and Auntie Li's pleading gaze, Father Chen's hand clenched and loosened at his side. In the end, he let out a heavy sigh and dragged his injured leg to the table, lifting the cloth bundle pinned beneath a bowl.

The pearls in the bundle were lustrous, white, and round—the hope father and son had traded their lives for. His fingers lingered over them for a moment before he gritted his teeth, picked up a low-grade pearl, and handed it over. "Take it. Use it for the emergency."

Auntie Li looked at the gleaming white pearl, and her tears flowed even harder. She kowtowed again and again. "Thank you, Brother Chen. Thank you, Auntie Chen. Thank you, Ah Yue. I'll remember your kindness for the rest of my life..."

Chen Yue quickly helped her up. Looking at Yaya's tear-reddened eyes, his chest felt clogged. This low-grade pearl might not have been worth mentioning in the Sea Shark Gang's eyes, but it was the life-saving money of this mother and daughter.

After seeing Auntie Li and Yaya off, the atmosphere in the house sank once more.

Wang wiped her tears and sighed. "Li the Third is gone, and life is even harder for those two. Once this pearl is lent out, how could we ever ask for it back?"

Father Chen sat by the bed, rubbing his injured leg. Only after a long while did he say, "We're all people burdened by bitter fates. If we can lend a hand, then we lend one."

Chen Yue said nothing. He knew his father was right, but when he thought of their nearly exhausted food stores and his father's injured leg, it felt as though a stone were pressing on his chest.