Chapter 2

The sky was just beginning to brighten, before the roosters had even crowed, when Chen Ping'an had already gotten up. The thin blanket could not retain any warmth, and during his apprenticeship in porcelain making, he had developed the habit of waking up early and going to bed late. Chen Ping'an opened the door and stepped into the small yard with soft, loose soil. After taking a deep breath, he stretched and walked out of the yard. He turned his head and saw a frail figure bending over, carrying a wooden bucket of water with both hands, using her shoulder to push open the gate of her own yard. It was Song Jixin's maid, who must have just returned from the iron-locked well in Apricot Flower Alley.

Chen Ping'an retracted his gaze and ran through the streets and alleys toward the eastern part of the small town. Mud Bottle Alley was in the western part of the town, and the easternmost gate was manned by someone responsible for the entry and exit of merchants and the night patrol. This person also handled the collection and delivery of letters sent from outside. Chen Ping'an's next task was to deliver these letters to the townspeople, for which he would be paid one copper coin per letter. This was a hard-earned opportunity for him to make money, and he had already agreed to take over the job after the Dragon Head Raising Festival on the second day of the second month.

According to Song Jixin, Chen Ping'an was born to a life of poverty. Even if he had the good fortune to enter a household, he could not retain it. Song Jixin often spoke in obscure and difficult terms, which Chen Ping'an could hardly understand. For example, a few days ago, he mentioned something about the biting cold of early spring freezing young men, which Chen Ping'an completely failed to grasp. However, he did experience firsthand that after enduring the winter, the early spring could be even colder. Song Jixin called this "late spring cold," comparing it to a cavalry's counterattack, which could be deadly, and many people would die at such critical moments.

The small town had no surrounding walls, as there were hardly any bandits or even thieves. The so-called gate was just a row of old, wobbly fences, barely providing a passage for pedestrians and vehicles, which was considered the face of the town.

As Chen Ping'an ran past Apricot Flower Alley, he saw many women and children gathered around the iron-locked well, the well pulley creaking continuously.

After turning another street, Chen Ping'an heard a familiar reading voice from a distance. There was a village school in the town, funded by several wealthy families. The teacher was from another place, and when Chen Ping'an was young, he often hid outside the window, squatting and listening intently. Although the teacher was very strict during class, he did not scold or stop the children who "sneaked in to learn." Later, Chen Ping'an went to work as an apprentice in a dragon kiln outside the town and never returned to the school.

Further ahead, Chen Ping'an passed a stone archway. Because the archway was built with twelve stone pillars, the locals affectionately called it the Crab Archway. The real name of the archway, according to Song Jixin and Liu Yangxian, was quite different. Song Jixin confidently claimed that in an old book called the County Gazette, it was called the Grand Scholar Archway, a royal grant from the emperor to commemorate the achievements of a high-ranking official. Liu Yangxian, who was as much a country bumpkin as Chen Ping'an, insisted it was the Crab Archway, which had been called that for hundreds of years, and there was no reason to call it the Grand Scholar Archway. Liu Yangxian even asked Song Jixin, "How big is the hat of a grand scholar? Is it bigger than the well opening of the iron-locked well?" This question made Song Jixin's face turn red.

Chen Ping'an ran around the twelve-pillared archway, and on each side, there were four large characters, with peculiar and distinct fonts: "Righteousness Before Yielding," "Silence Is Natural," "Do Not Seek Outward," and "Qi Surges to the Bull." According to Song Jixin, except for a certain set of four characters, the other three stone inscriptions had been defaced and altered. Chen Ping'an was clueless about these matters and had never given them much thought. Of course, even if he wanted to delve deeper, it would be futile, as he did not even know what the County Gazette was.

Not far from the archway, he soon saw a large, old locust tree with lush branches. Under the tree, a log had been moved there, chopped at both ends, and placed on two stone slabs, serving as a simple bench. Every summer, the townspeople liked to gather here to cool off. Wealthier families would bring baskets of chilled fruits from the well, and the children, after eating their fill, would form groups and play under the shade.

Chen Ping'an, accustomed to climbing mountains and crossing rivers, ran to the fence gate and stopped at the entrance of a solitary yellow mud house, without his heart racing or his breath being short.

The small town did not see many visitors, and with the official kilns now closed, it was even less likely to see new faces. When Old Yao was alive, he once, after drinking, told Chen Ping'an and Liu Yangxian and the other apprentices that they were involved in a unique official kiln business, producing imperial porcelain for the emperor and empress. Even if other people had money or high positions, touching these items would result in beheading. On that day, Old Yao seemed particularly spirited.

Today, Chen Ping'an looked beyond the fence and saw several people waiting for the gate to open, at least seven or eight, including men, women, and children.

And they were all strangers. The local townspeople rarely used the eastern gate, whether for kiln work or farming, as the road leading out of the eastern gate did not lead to any kilns or fields.

Chen Ping'an and the outsiders were separated by the wooden fence, looking at each other.

At that moment, the boy in homemade straw shoes was somewhat envious of the thick clothing the outsiders wore, which must be very warm and able to withstand the cold.

The people outside were clearly divided into several groups, not a single group, but they all looked at the slender boy inside the gate, most with indifferent expressions. A few had already looked past the boy to the distance.

Chen Ping'an noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that some of the people behind the young man seemed disappointed, some found it amusing, some frowned, and some sneered, with various subtle emotions.

At this moment, a young man with a peculiar high hat, tall and slender, with a green jade pendant at his waist, seemed impatient and stepped out of the crowd, intending to push open the fence gate, which had no lock. Just as his fingers were about to touch the wooden door, he suddenly stopped, slowly withdrew his hand, placed it behind his back, and smiled at the boy in straw shoes, without saying a word.

Chen Ping'an noticed that the people behind the young man seemed disappointed, amused, frowning, or sneering, with various subtle emotions.

Just then, a middle-aged man with messy hair suddenly opened the gate and scolded Chen Ping'an, "Little brat, are you blind to money? Coming to nag so early, are you in a hurry to reincarnate and see your dead parents?"

Chen Ping'an rolled his eyes. He did not take the man's harsh words to heart. First, living in a place with hardly any books, if a few insults could upset him, he might as well jump into a well to save himself the trouble. Second, this gatekeeper, a middle-aged bachelor, was often the subject of ridicule and teasing by the townspeople, especially by the bold and outspoken women, who not only insulted him verbally but even hit him. This man also liked to brag to children in open-crotch pants, claiming that he had once fought and defeated several men, leaving the ground covered in blood and mud.

The man, in a bad mood, said to Chen Ping'an, "We'll talk about your business later."

No one in the town took this man seriously.

However, he had the power to decide whether the outsiders could enter the town.

As he walked toward the wooden fence gate, he reached into his pants.

This man, with his back to Chen Ping'an, opened the gate and occasionally collected a small embroidered bag, placing it in his sleeve, then let the people pass one by one.

Chen Ping'an had long stepped aside to let the eight people pass, roughly in five groups. Besides the young man with the high hat and the green jade pendant, two children, a boy and a girl, passed by. The boy, wearing a festive red robe, was shorter than Chen Ping'an by half a head. As he passed by, he opened his mouth, though no sound came out, but the clear lip movement suggested he was saying two provocative words.

The middle-aged woman holding the boy's hand coughed lightly, and the boy slightly restrained himself.

The girl, held by a tall, elderly man with white hair, turned to Chen Ping'an and said a long string of words, pointing at the boy in front of her.

Chen Ping'an could not understand what the girl was saying, but he guessed she was tattling.

The elderly man glanced at the boy in straw shoes.

Just from that glance, Chen Ping'an instinctively took a step back.

Like a mouse seeing a cat.

The little girl, who had been chattering like a sparrow, suddenly lost her enthusiasm for stirring up trouble, turned her head, and no longer looked at Chen Ping'an, as if looking at him any longer would dirty her eyes.

Chen Ping'an indeed had not seen much of the world, but he was not blind to the expressions on people's faces.

After the group had left, the man at the gate asked with a smile, "Do you want to know what they said?"

Chen Ping'an nodded, "Yes."

The middle-aged bachelor laughed, "They were praising you, saying you look good, all good things."

Chen Ping'an pulled the corners of his mouth, thinking, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

The man saw through the boy's thoughts and laughed even harder, "If you weren't stupid, would I let you deliver letters?"

Chen Ping'an did not dare to argue, fearing that the man would get angry and take away the copper coins he was about to earn.

The man turned his head, looked at the people, rubbed his scruffy chin, and muttered, "That woman, her legs could crush a man."

Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment and asked curiously, "Does that lady practice martial arts?"

The man was taken aback, looked down at the boy, and said seriously, "You kid, you're really stupid."

The boy was confused.

The man told Chen Ping'an to wait, walked into the house, and came back with a stack of letters, not too thick or thin, about ten in total. He handed them to Chen Ping'an and asked, "Fools have good luck, and good people have good rewards. Do you believe it?"

Chen Ping'an held the letters in one hand and opened his palm, blinking, "We agreed on one copper coin per letter."

The man, embarrassed and angry, slapped five copper coins into the boy's hand and waved his hand, saying grandly, "The remaining five copper coins, I'll owe you!"