Chapter 32

When Grandmother Zhou arrived and heard they wanted silver, her brows knitted tightly in distress. Only at the end of last month, she had given her eldest daughter-in-law five taels of silver to treat her eldest son's illness, and not a single copper had come back. Now they wanted another tael for some literary banquet.

Ah, he was her eldest grandson, after all. She just had to endure a little longer. Once he passed the examination next year, the hard days would be over.

Grandmother Zhou said, "Do be sparing with it. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, tuition will be due again. So much has happened at home lately, and the fields haven't yielded anything..."

"Oh, Mother, aren't I working on that right now? Besides, after the Mid-Autumn Festival comes the autumn harvest. Once we sell the grain, won't we have the tuition money? Wenshu is going to broaden his learning. He'll be taking the licentiate examination next year. How can you pinch pennies at such a crucial moment?"

Grandmother Zhou mumbled and dared not say another word. She was angry inside, but dared not show it. It would be bad if she offended her grandson, a future licentiate.

"Don't worry, Grandmother. I know to be frugal. This Mid-Autumn banquet was organized by Licentiate Xu in town. I'm not going there to amuse myself, only to learn from my seniors' experience." Zhou Wenshu spoke in his usual gentle tones. His refined, scholarly manner pleased Grandmother Zhou most of all.

"Once I become a licentiate next year, our family's fields will be exempt from tax, and I'll be able to show you proper filial devotion."

Only then did Grandmother Zhou respond. "Yes, my good grandson. I'll fetch the silver for you."

Once Grandmother Zhou had left, Zhou's Eldest Daughter-in-Law complained to her son, "People really do lose their wits when they get old. Can't tell what matters anymore..."

"Weren't you going to shell peanuts, Mother? Go on, then. Don't disturb me." Zhou Wenshu interrupted his mother and picked up his book to continue reading the story. The scholar had spent a passionate night with the fox woman last night, and he was eager to see whether she would appear again tonight. Would the scholar be able to renew their romance?

Zhou's Eldest Daughter-in-Law fell silent. Ever since her husband had taken to his sickbed, she had not even had anyone to talk to in this house. She could not read, either. All she knew was that her son worked very hard, holding a book and reading every day. She dared not disturb him.

Xie Ning came out of his father-in-law's room and ran to the basin to look at his face.

He had just heated some coarse sea salt in a wok to warm his father-in-law's lower back. His father-in-law had said his face looked much clearer. He touched it every day himself, so he could not feel the difference. Everyone at home was a man, and they had no bronze mirror.

Zhou Jinian sat straight-backed, copying a book by the window. He merely raised his eyes to look at his little husband admiring himself with a wooden basin in the courtyard, then returned his gaze to the poetry book and asked, "What is it?"

Father said my face looks clearer." Xie Ning muttered, looking this way and that, but even bobbing his head around did not help him make anything out.

"Come here." Zhou Jinian put down his brush and beckoned to the person in the courtyard.

Xie Ning pattered over to the window, held the sill, and rose onto his toes, tilting his head up and bringing his face close.

Zhou Jinian's eyes softened. He cupped Ninglang's face and examined it himself. It had indeed cleared up. A close look revealed some fine lines, but the feather-thin flakes of skin from when they had first married were already gone.

"How is it?" Xie Ning asked eagerly.

Zhou Jinian did not answer. Instead, he took his wrist and lifted his sleeve to examine his arm. Beneath the delicate, fair skin, tiny red, bloodlike lines still crisscrossed.

Zhou Jinian suspected that Ninglang's healing, unlike the fish scales and blood markings of their previous life, might very well have something to do with the Pool Cave, and might also have something to do with the fish and shrimp in the pool.

Whether that was so could be verified with time. Zhou Jinian released his hand and smoothed the stray hair at Ninglang's temple. "It really has cleared up. We'll go up the mountain again tomorrow and visit the Pool Cave."

Xie Ning instantly forgot about his face. Bracing himself on the windowsill, he lifted both feet off the ground and leaned close to whisper, "Catch fish and sell them for money."

"We're not selling them." Zhou Jinian stopped smiling and helplessly flicked the little money grubber on the forehead. "I'm going back to copying."

Xie Ning set his feet back on the ground, covered his forehead with his right hand, and pouted as he glared at him. Zhou Jinian faced the light, which lit one side of his features and left the other in shadow. His tightly pressed thin lips seemed to give off the warmth from when they had kissed his forehead earlier.

Xie Ning covered his mouth and giggled. In all of Qingshui Town, he had never seen anyone more handsome than his husband.

He wandered back to his father-in-law's room and touched the coarse sea salt. It was still hot enough to burn his hand. Although a quilt separated it from his father-in-law's lower back, he still asked, "Father, is it too hot?"

"No, it feels comfortable." Lin Jin lay on his stomach, hugging a square pillow. "Are you bored with no one to play with?"

The courtyard was small, with only a narrow path between the rooms, so he had heard the husbands' conversation just now. His son was a man of few words and was busy studying hard, so that was all he could manage in response to Ninglang. Fortunately, Ninglang was a little silly and did not mind.

Xie Ning sat down and propped his chin on his hands. "I am bored. I want to make steamed dried eggplant and wrap it in oiled paper to sell for silver, like the Fragrant Crisp Shop does."

"How do you plan to sell it? Have you thought about the price?" Lin Jin turned his head to look at his son's husband.

"Six pieces of dried eggplant in each packet would take about two eggplants, plus chili and glutinous rice sauce, and the oiled paper..." Xie Ning murmured to himself, "A packet of dragon's beard candy costs sixteen copper coins..."

"I want to sell mine for sixteen copper coins, too," Xie Ning concluded.

Lin Jin smiled, then thought for a moment and said, "You could charge a little more. It tastes like dried meat, but even better. A catty of pork costs twenty copper coins, so sell it for twenty-five. It suits the season and has novelty on its side."

Xie Ning was counting the money on his fingers when he heard his father-in-law ask, "Then you'll need to think of a name. If you call it steamed dried eggplant, aren't you just telling everyone it's only eggplant?"

At that, Xie Ning stopped calculating the money and counting on his fingers. He cupped his face in his hands and thought about a name.

He was still thinking when dinner came. Seeing that his little husband was once again not concentrating on his meal, Zhou Jinian placed a chopstickful of greens in his bowl and gently scolded, "Eat properly."

Only then did Xie Ning shovel in two mouthfuls of rice, chewing with his cheeks puffed out. The greens had been stir-fried with pork cracklings, so some meaty little morsels tasted delicious as he chewed, filling his mouth with rich fat.

"Vegetarian jerky!" Xie Ning suddenly said.

Zhou Jinian thought he wanted to eat this strangely named food and readily agreed. "All right. Eat up. I'll buy you some next time we go to town."

After taking medicine for half a month and warming his lower back for several days, Lin Jin could already walk around and was sitting with them for dinner. He understood at once. "Ninglang, do you mean you'll call the steamed dried eggplant 'crispy jerky' when you sell it?"

Xie Ning nodded and explained, "Yes, vegetarian jerky. It means vegetables prepared to eat like meat."