Ye Yaodong slept comfortably until noon before waking, then lay there with the quilt between his legs for quite a while longer. Only when the smell of cooking drifted in and his stomach started rumbling did he have to get up.
He sat up, making the bedboards creak, and stretched enormously, grunting and groaning before finally lowering his arms.
"That felt good!"
He rolled his neck before getting out of bed, putting on his clothes, and going outside.
Having finished cooking, Lin Xiuqing had been about to go into the bedroom to see whether he was awake. Seeing him come out without being called, she quickly said, "I was just going to check whether you were awake. Come and eat if you are. You didn't have breakfast."
"Mm. Has the opera troupe arrived?"
"Yes, they got here first thing this morning. It's been bustling over at Tianhou Palace all morning, and there's still a huge crowd there now. None of them wanted to leave. The crowd only thinned out a little when it was time to eat."
"Oh, that's normal. Our village has never put on a big opera performance before. Everyone's excited."
"Exactly! Men and women, young and old, everyone went for a look this morning. The crowd only thinned out a little after people were shooed away. School let out almost an hour ago, and the children still aren't home. They've probably gone to Tianhou Palace too."
Lin Xiuqing spoke half in conversation, half in complaint. "They don't even know to come home. It's mealtime, and there's nowhere to find them..."
"They'll come back on their own in a bit."
"I doubt it. They never come straight home after school. They dawdle and play everywhere. A walk of twenty-odd minutes usually takes them over an hour. With the