Jin Shanyao was kneading dough. When there was too much water, she added flour; when there was too much flour, she added water. Seeing the dough pile up higher and higher, Meng Anzhi stamped her foot and ran next door to ask Old Woman Li for help.
By the time Old Woman Li came in, Jin Shanyao was still adding flour.
"Oh, my little ancestor, you can't go wasting food like this!" She hurriedly snatched the gourd ladle from Jin Shanyao and gave her hands a quick wash.
"Why didn't you call me when you were cooking?" The month was not up yet, and Old Woman Li felt guilty for not coming over sooner.
Jin Shanyao's hands and face were covered in flour. "Auntie, I saw the people selling buns in the county town kneading dough just like this."
Old Woman Li chided her with a smile. "They know how to cook. Do you?" She took the basin from her, her face twisting at the sight of the wasted food. "You have to add the water a little at a time when you knead dough. You can't pour it all in at once."
Jin Shanyao stood beside her and listened carefully. As she watched Old Woman Li turn the sloppy mixture into a ball of dough, she marveled again and again.
Old Woman Li burst out laughing at her. She set the kneaded dough aside and began chopping the dumpling filling, but when she saw the lion's mane mushrooms and venison, her chest tightened and she was short of breath all over again.
This spendthrift child... She really doesn't know how to run a household. She stuffs every good thing she has into her mouth.
Old Woman Li chopped the meat and seasoned the filling. By the time the dumplings were wrapped, it was already a quarter past five. She set the table and wiped her hands. "You all eat. I'll head home first."
Jin Shanyao hurried to her feet, filled a bowl with dumplings, and handed it to her. "Auntie, thank you for teaching me to knead dough and make dumplings."
"Oh, what are you doing?" Old Woman Li put her hands behind her back. "Miss, you're raising two children on your own. Auntie can't take advantage of you."
"You're joking, Auntie. When I asked you for help, I actually wanted to learn how to cook from you. Now that I've learned most of it, how could I not give my teacher a gift of thanks?"
Old Woman Li had never imagined that cooking was something she could teach. She rubbed her hands and stared at the steaming dumplings, remembering that her grandson had not had a bite of white flour in half a year.
She accepted the bowl with a blush. "Then thank you, Miss."
She felt guilty accepting the dumplings, as though she had taken advantage of Jin Shanyao, and thought she would have her son bring over some more firewood tomorrow.
As soon as she left, Meng Anzhi's and Meng Anci's little faces fell.
Jin Shanyao saw what they were thinking and smiled. "Can't bear to part with them?"
Meng Anzhi said, "Mm. Dumplings are so precious. Most families in the village only eat them once a year."
Jin Shanyao picked up some steaming dumplings and put them in their bowls. "Have you noticed the tree outside our courtyard?"
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci nodded together. "It's a poplar. As soon as spring comes, white fluff flies everywhere."
Jin Shanyao bit into a dumpling. It was so delicious and juicy that she couldn't stop after one bite. The two children were still waiting expectantly for her to continue. "Auntie, go on!"
Jin Shanyao swallowed her food and said vaguely, "The cleverest trees share a little of their nutrients with the vines and moss at their feet.
"Eat up. Old Woman Li said dumplings taste best while they're hot."
Meng Anci lowered his head and bit into a dumpling. "Hiss... It's a little hot. Auntie, isn't the tree stupid? If it gives its nutrients to others, how can it grow into a towering tree?"
"No matter how high the vines climb, they can't grow higher than the tree. Instead, they cover the ground, retaining moisture in the soil and keeping other weeds from growing. Moss is small, but it can protect the tree's roots and make the soil fertile."
Between bites, Jin Shanyao did not forget to pour each of them a bowl of dumpling soup. "We're the big tree, and our neighbors on either side are the vines and moss. When we go out, they can keep an eye on our home."
Meng Anci nodded thoughtfully. In other words, he should be generous to people who were useful to him. Once they benefited, they would be utterly devoted to working for him.
I understand...
"Auntie is right."
Jin Shanyao said proudly, "Of course. I don't understand 'people,' but I know all the little thoughts of plants like the back of my hand."
After the meal, Jin Shanyao took the two little tots out to bask their bellies in the courtyard. They did not go to bed until night fell.
The next day, on the way to the academy.
Jin Shanyao lay on the ox cart with her head on Meng Anzhi's lower legs and a stalk of foxtail grass between her teeth, giving Meng Anci occasional instructions.
"Be sharp at the academy. Don't let anyone bully you. If the teacher hits you, come back and tell me, all right?"
Meng Anci's face was solemn, and his little hand tightened around his shoulder bag. "Auntie, if someone bullies you, you have to tell me too. I'll go hang myself at his house."
"Hey, you child, you're not allowed to joke about your life again." She nuzzled her head farther into Meng Anzhi's lap, pulled Meng Anzhi's hand over, and placed it against her neck.
The sounds from the street gradually grew louder. The ox cart had stopped at the academy gates at some point. Carriages of all kinds were dropping off children, and the sudden appearance of an ox-drawn flatbed cart made everyone turn to stare.
Jin Shanyao couldn't be bothered with the people around her. She lifted Meng Anci down from the cart, smoothed his clothes, and tucked ten copper coins into his shoulder bag. "Don't worry while you're at the academy. Auntie will come pick you up when classes are over."
Meng Anci nodded. Just then, Master Zhao came over. "Miss Jin, leave the child to me."
Jin Shanyao smiled. "Sorry for the trouble, Master."
Meng Anci looked back at Jin Shanyao, then said to Meng Anzhi on the cart, "Sis, when I've learned everything, I'll come back and teach you."
Meng Anzhi had felt a pang in her heart ever since she got up that morning. Hearing her brother say that, she forced a smile. "Then study hard. Don't forget everything by the time you come back."
Meng Anci's little face was solemn. He nodded firmly, then followed Master Zhao into the academy on his short little legs.
The academy was large, and the children beginning their studies were taught at the very back. After passing through a corridor and stepping into the courtyard, they heard a constant clamor of chatter inside.
"You didn't see it. That ox cart didn't even have a canopy, and all three of them were sitting on straw!" The child's words had barely fallen before the room burst into laughter.
Master Zhao led Meng Anci to the front of the classroom, his face turning cold. "Shiyan, get down from that desk."
The little boy called Shiyan froze for a moment. Then he saw Meng Anci and clutched his belly, laughing. "He's the one I was talking about, the one who came in an ox cart."
He climbed down from the desk and ran over to Meng Anci, circling him over and over. "Let me see if there's any straw stuck to your bottom."
Shiyan's actions... drew everyone's attention to Meng Anci. Curious, appraising, and scrutinizing gazes... all intertwined, making Meng Anci uncomfortable all over.
He was like a coarse corn grits kernel dropped into a bowl of rice. All around him were polished, pampered young masters; he alone was rough and out of place.
Meng Anci's face burned with embarrassment, and his little hands clenched into fists. As he pondered how to beat up the boy who had led the mockery,
a crisp, aloof child's voice came from behind him. "The Standards for Students says, 'All people, without exception, deserve our love.
"Heaven covers us all alike, and earth bears us all alike.' The sages taught us to love all people. This new classmate has only just arrived. Even if we cannot befriend him, why should we bully him?"
The retort turned Shiyan's face bright red. The newcomer was called Zhao Zhiyuan.
He was the best student in the beginners' class, as well as Master Zhao's own nephew and the young master of the Zhao Residence. He had been kidnapped some days ago, but unfortunately he had not stayed missing.
Hmph... Shiyan glared at Zhao Zhiyuan. "Mind your own business." With that, he returned to his seat in a huff.
Master Zhao gave his nephew an approving look. "It just so happens the seat beside you is empty. I'll leave this new classmate to you."
Zhao Zhiyuan said nothing. He glanced at Meng Anci, then took his seat.
Meng Anci's face was red with shame. He had not understood a single sentence that the young master and Shiyan had just exchanged. So arguments at the academy were different from those between the village aunties.