What Is It to You?

When Su Yuhe returned, the gates to her home stood wide open.

What was going on?

She jumped down from the cart. Second Sister Li and Lu Mingyi were both unloading vegetables. Before she even entered, she spotted a black pig lying in the courtyard. It looked small, like a young wild boar that had not yet matured.

Besides the little wild boar, there were quite a few people, including the village chief.

Second Sister Li carried a cabbage inside and stopped short at the sight. "Whoa, so many people."

Lu Mingxi came up to greet her. "Wife."

She nodded slightly. Lu Mingyi came in with a basket in each hand and set them in the courtyard. "The vegetables on the cart are all ours. Go unload them."

Lu Mingxi headed out, and Little He came up to her. "Lady Su, you're back."

Su Yuhe looked around. "What are you all doing here?"

"You haven't heard yet, my lady? Li Yun hunted a little wild boar and brought it back. They're weighing it here now."

She did not quite understand. Why was the little wild boar Li Yun had hunted here? Shouldn't he have taken it to the market to sell?

She walked farther in and caught sight of Li Yun, hidden behind the crowd. He sat at the kitchen entrance, leaning against the door, looking exhausted.

Before long, the village butcher emerged from the kitchen with his knives and began cutting up the little wild boar on the ground.

Only then did Su Yuhe learn from the people around her that they had all come to buy meat. The butcher cut the meat to their requests, while Meng Zhixian collected the money beside him.

The meat carved off the little wild boar was neither plentiful nor scant: ten jin of lean meat, twenty jin of pork belly, fifteen jin of foreleg and hind-leg meat, and ten jin of rump, selling for one tael and three mace of silver in total.

It all sold out in no time.

Only the bones, large intestines, ribs, innards, and roughly five jin of pork collar remained.

Once the customers had bought their meat, they left together. Li Yun paid the butcher some money, leaving just five people in the courtyard.

Su Yuhe closed the gates and sat beside Li Yun. "Why didn't you haul it to the market to sell?"

"It was more convenient here, and Second Brother could help me collect the money." His voice was weak. He glanced at the remaining meat and bones. "I saved the pork collar especially. It's good in sliced-pork congee or stir-fried. How would you like it?"

"I don't mind either way. I bought a few jin of meat myself. I wouldn't have if I'd known."

The corners of Li Yun's lips lifted, but he said nothing. He rose briskly and walked over to the cellar, where the brothers Lu Mingyi and Lu Mingxi were carrying cabbages inside.

His gaze fell on Lu Mingyi's hands. Before he had gone up the mountain, they had still been red and swollen. Now their joints were well defined and their fingertips rounded, as though carved from fine jade.

Li Yun lowered his head and looked at his own hands. They bore quite a few small cuts, and his palms were covered with calluses.

He suddenly recalled what the fellow villagers buying meat had just said. He was a rough fellow whose only way of earning a second glance from a woman was to hunt and supplement the household income. Between him and those jade-carved young men from the city lay the distance between heaven and earth.

Lu Mingxi stuffed the last cabbage into the cellar, took Li Yun's arm, and said ingratiatingly, "I've been hoping for your return every day, Brother Li. You're finally back. I missed you so much."

Su Yuhe burst out laughing. Li Yun turned to look at her. Her eyes and brows were alight with laughter, her gaze full of teasing and affection. "I think it's Brother Li's sweet potatoes you've been missing."

Lu Mingxi smiled sheepishly and shook Li Yun's arm. "Don't listen to Wife's nonsense, Brother Li. I missed you because you yourself are the very, very best person."

Li Yun lowered his eyes and thought, Those people were right. Young men from the city, sons of wealthy families at that, with handsome faces and sweet tongues-it seems only natural that Lady Su should like them.

"All right, stop bothering your Brother Li. Get lunch ready and let him rest for a while."

At her words, Lu Mingxi released Li Yun's arm. "Brother Li, I'm going to cook. You must try my cooking today."

Li Yun raised his eyes to glance at Su Yuhe. "Let me do it instead."

Su Yuhe patted her backside and stood up. "Don't busy yourself. If you have nothing to do, go take a bath. Look at those mud spots on your clothes. I almost thought they were part of the pattern."

He tugged awkwardly at the hem of his clothes, his face growing hot.

Lu Mingyi carried a basket toward the kitchen. Meng Zhixian, with no books to copy, followed to help, leaving only her and Li Yun in the courtyard.

Seeing him still standing foolishly beside the cellar, Su Yuhe could not help smiling. She stood in front of him and tilted her head to look at him. "How did one trip up the mountain make you so distant? Don't tell me someone switched you out?"

Li Yun met her eyes, brilliant as a river of stars, and froze for a moment before turning his face away. "I'm going home. Keep that money safe."

"Why leave so soon? At least have lunch before you go." Seeing that he was about to leave, Su Yuhe caught his wrist. "Keep the money yourself. I'm not short of any right now."

Li Yun stepped back twice, putting distance between them. "I'm dirty."

Understanding dawned on her. "Are you angry?"

"What would I be angry about? What right do I have to be angry?"

Amused, Su Yuhe moved closer and interlaced her fingers with his. "And you still say you're not angry."

Li Yun wanted to pull his hand free, but feared he might misjudge his strength and hurt her, so he let her hold it. His eyes turned toward the mustard greens piled beside the cellar. "What is it to you whether I'm angry or not? Who are you to me?"