Jin Shanyao drove the ox cart back to the village, causing quite a stir.
The fields had been struck by disaster this year, and grain couldn't be planted until the next. Instead of stocking up on food, she had spent her money on an ox. She was mad, truly mad. Young girls really didn't know how to run a household.
When Old Woman Li saw the ox cart piled high with goods, she was startled at first, then came forward to help. "You've been gone all day. I didn't even know whether I should cook."
Meng Anzhi laughed. "Grandma Li, none of us were home. Who would you have cooked for?"
Old Woman Li laughed heartily. "Our Anzhi is the clever one." She called her son over to help carry the goods into the kitchen. "You bought too much flour.
"The air's damp after the flood. If the flour isn't stored properly, it'll get bugs in it."
Jin Shanyao carried the coarse salt inside. "Don't worry, Auntie Li. I'll hang it up high."
Old Woman Li gave her a reproachful look. "Hanging it up isn't enough. Stuff some star anise into the flour sacks to keep the bugs out."
As she spoke, she caught sight of a stack of books out of the corner of her eye. She was about to say that they were no good for eating or drinking and a waste of money, but remembering that she and Jin Shanyao were only neighbors, she swallowed the words on her lips.
Once they had unloaded the cart, Old Woman Li asked, "Young Auntie of the Meng family, what would you like for supper?"
Jin Shanyao moved the ox cart to the corner by the wall and turned around. "Auntie, I brought back some steamed buns. There's rice in the house, so please make some porridge and heat up the buns."
"All right, I'll go do it now." Old Woman Li was a woman of her word. Since she had promised to cook for Jin Shanyao for a month, she took the task seriously.
While she busied herself in the kitchen, Jin Shanyao and the two children stood nearby and watched. All three paid close attention, especially Meng Anzhi. She was small and short, and sometimes had to stand on a chair to see.
After supper, Jin Shanyao handed Old Woman Li more than half a jin of venison. Startled, Old Woman Li waved her hands repeatedly. "What are you doing? Times are hard for every family right now. Put that meat away."
Jin Shanyao smiled. "Auntie, I wanted to ask you a favor."
Old Woman Li paused. "What is it?"
"Auntie, if raw meat sits too long, it gets maggots and starts to stink. I heard curing it with salt helps, but I don't know how. I wanted to ask you to help me."
She could have used spiritual power to keep it fresh, but while that would work for a short time, storing it for too long that way would easily arouse suspicion.
"Oh, I wondered what it was." Old Woman Li set the venison in her hand on the stove and picked up the coarse salt from the shelf. "Don't wash this meat. If uncooked water gets on it, it'll spoil easily."
She grabbed a handful of salt and rubbed it onto the meat. "See? Just rub it like this a couple of times." She turned the meat over and kept rubbing. "Once the salt's spread evenly, put it somewhere cool."
Jin Shanyao nodded repeatedly. "That's all?"
Old Woman Li couldn't help laughing. "How hard did you think it was? All right, we're neighbors. There's no need to give me meat for such a small favor." With that, she untied her apron and wiped her hands.
"It's getting late. I should go home. If my little grandson doesn't see me, he won't go to sleep at night."
Jin Shanyao saw her out of the courtyard, slid the door bolt into place, and went to the ox shed to feed the ox a ginkgo leaf before returning to her room to rest.
The next day, Jin Shanyao hitched up the ox cart and put the salt-covered venison leg into a back basket. "Anzhi, Anci, it's time to go."
"Coming..." Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci put on their new clothes and came pattering out, unable to hide their delight.
Jin Shanyao lifted the two children onto the cart. Seeing them standing stiffly, she asked, "Why aren't you sitting down?"
"Young Auntie, I'm afraid I'll get my new clothes dirty." Meng Anzhi had been eating and sleeping well lately and had put on quite a bit of weight. Dressed in red, she looked just like a lucky doll.
Especially those big eyes of hers, which fluttered so endearingly that anyone who saw her would like her.
Jin Shanyao took off her outer robe and spread it on the cart bed. Smiling, she said, "Please take your seat, young miss." Meng Anzhi giggled and gave the robe back to Jin Shanyao.
She bent over the cart bed, blowing and fanning at it, and only sat down after fussing over it for quite a while.
Once the two were seated, they put their little shoulder bags on their laps. Happy as little sparrows, they chattered nonstop. "Young Auntie, do you think the master will like us?"
"Of course. You're both so clever and pretty. Of course the master will like you."
Meng Anzhi grinned, then seemed to remember something and cried out, "Oh! Young Auntie, I forgot the roasted mushrooms I brought for my classmates."
Jin Shanyao smiled and pinched her bun of hair. It was so loose that she nearly pulled it apart. "I brought them all. I didn't leave a single thing behind."
Hearing that, Meng Anzhi smiled again. It was wonderful-she was going to school.
Meng Anci listened quietly to his sister and young auntie chatting, doing his utmost to keep the corners of his mouth down. He was no longer a child of two or three. He absolutely couldn't throw himself on the ground and make a scene as he had before, or his classmates would laugh at him.
He opened his shoulder bag and peeked inside. There was a new inkstone, a new writing brush, and the Three Character Classic and Hundred Family Surnames. Young Auntie had bought two sets of every primer for children.
Meng Anci closed his bag and thought about how he should answer if the master asked him a question.
Little River Village and the surrounding villages shared two schools. Jin Shanyao had made inquiries in many places and weighed her options carefully before finally choosing Master Han's.
Master Han's household was much wealthier than the other farming families, with a rammed-earth wall and a courtyard paved in bluestone. The sound of voices reading aloud drifted out from inside.
Nervous and curious, Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci kept looking into the courtyard. When they saw someone come out, they hurriedly stood up straight and put on big smiles.
"Greetings, Master."
Master Han smiled and nodded, then looked at Jin Shanyao. "Where are you from, young lady?"
"Little River Village. I heard you teach well, Master Han, so I brought the children here especially for you to give them their first lessons."
Master Han nodded with a smile and stroked his beard as he looked at Meng Anci. The boy's eyes were clear, his posture straight, and he met his gaze without the slightest fear. He was a promising seedling.
"What's your name?"
Meng Anci answered in a clear voice, "Meng Anci."
Meng Anzhi clutched her shoulder-bag strap with her little hand and watched the master nervously, ready to give her own name at any moment. Unfortunately, he didn't ask her.
The beaming smile on her face was instantly tinged with disappointment.
Master Han's smile faltered. "What relation are Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi of Little River Village to you?"
Meng Anci had a bad feeling, but he still answered obediently, "They're my eldest and second paternal uncles." As soon as he finished speaking, Master Han's face turned completely cold.
The Meng family's affairs in Little River Village had caused an uproar in the surrounding villages. The children's paternal uncles and their young auntie had fought over custody, taking the matter all the way to court.
Most shocking of all, the children had been awarded to their young auntie to raise. What sense was there in letting their mother's family raise them when their own clan was still around? It truly turned the Heavenly Gang upside down and defied the bonds of human decency.
And those two children Meng Sanlang had left behind were beyond teaching. They had poisoned their elders and would rather follow an outsider with a different surname than return to their own family.
He would not take in children who refused to acknowledge their own clan.
Disdain showed on Master Han's face. "Our school is full. Please leave." With that, he moved to close the door, but Jin Shanyao reached out and braced her hand against it. Half closed, the door would go no farther.
She looked past Master Han's shoulder and saw seven or eight little heads crowded at the window. The corners of her lips curled up.
"Full? That room looks spacious to me, and there are still five or six unused sets of desks and stools. How can you say it's full, Master?"
Meng Anci reacted faster than Jin Shanyao. Quick-witted as he was, he sensed the master's rejection and hostility. His little face tense and his lips pressed together, he tugged at Jin Shanyao's robe.
Thinking he wanted to stay, Jin Shanyao took out the venison leg she had prepared. "Didn't you open a school to make money? Is this leg of venison enough? If not, I have silver too."
Master Han's face flushed red in an instant. Feeling deeply insulted, he said, "You... you're insulting all that is refined! We scholars have principles of our own! How dare you defile this place with the stink of money?"
Jin Shanyao was baffled by his words. "Then don't you charge money for your school?"
Master Han was left speechless, the resentment in his chest refusing to fade. Women in this world really were unreasonably troublesome. He gave up trying to close the door and took half a step back.
"Must I spell it out for you? What difference is there between someone who can strike at their own flesh and blood and a beast? I've spent my life reading the books of the sages, but I've yet to learn how to tame animals."
Meng Anci's little face went deathly pale at the scolding. He mustered his courage and said, "They were the ones who stole my family's property, bullied my mother, and wanted to sell my sister. Why don't you call them beasts?"
Master Han's hand trembled with anger. Pointing at Meng Anci, he said to Jin Shanyao, "Do you see? Beyond teaching..."
Her face cold, Jin Shanyao pulled out the Record of Admonishing Evil and rapidly flipped through a couple of pages. She pointed at the tenth entry in the collection of insults, sank her Qi into her Dantian, and let out a roar.
"I see jack shit! You old bastard, all your teeth have fallen out, so why haven't you gone to see the King of Hell yet..." Before she finished speaking, she quickly flipped through another couple of pages and found the appropriate words.
"I curse you to have sons with no assholes and daughters with no buttholes..."
Jin Shanyao cursed her way through a full half of the book, leaving Master Han so angry that he kept calling her vulgar.