To Rule in a Turbulent World Chapter 10-12 56 Jan 01, 2020

Chapter 10

Since historical times, Liuzhou Prefecture has been bountiful with resources and, having

experienced none of the chaos of war for a century, it’s become the land of fish and rice in the

south. The over three hundred thousand hectares of hills in particular are the largest land in the

Yangtze river basin region for planting and picking tea.

Riverwave Estate isn’t close, but it’s not that far either, about four hundred miles from

Peixian County; an urgent horse can get there in a night and a day. However, You Miao is

carrying with him an entire carriage of luggage, and he isn’t in any hurry, so he goes at a

leisurely pace, making frequent stops. He rests in the Peixian County for a number of days,

thinking to pay Doctor Xing a visit to thank him, but Doctor Xing has gone out to visit patients, so

You Miao can only leave his thank you gift and continue on his way.

Roaming about and taking their time the whole way, after crossing through Jiang

Prefectural City, they head in the direction of the border of Yangzhou Prefecture. The Riverwave

Estate sits at the crossborder of Suzhou Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, and Liuzhou

Prefecture; seven parts in Jiangnan, three parts in Jiangbei.

The boundaries of this estate certainly are a headache. It used to be land both

Yangzhou Prefecture and Liuzhou Prefectures fought over; there’s Guozhuang Village in the

south and Anlu Village in the north, the villagers once disputed over a river port so hard, the

fight got so big that there were even a good number of casualties. The village reported to the

county chief, the county chief reported to the prefecture chief, and so the prefecture chiefs of the

two prefectures started fighting too. In the end they left the issue alone, ditched it aside.

From then on Riverwave Estate sits across both the south and the north unapologetically

with the harsh-winded, strong-waved Yangtze cutting through the middle.

You Miao didn’t know this at first, and originally he’d been really excited to try his hand at

achieving great things, but now that he’s observed the landscape, he finds this really isn’t a

good place. All other things aside, with this river sitting there, if he wants to inspect his own

estate once a day, he would have to run from Jiangbei to Jiangnan, take a ferry across in the

middle, before he can go home for dinner in Jiangnan?!

You Miao can’t help but droop, his hand propping his forehead up. Why did his old hag

pick such a useless land and get attached?

You Miao goes to flip through his chest of books, and from the outside, Li Zhifeng asks,

“Looking for food?”

“Looking for a book.” You Miao replies.

You Miao takes out “Liuzhou Prefecture Guide” and starts to compare it to the record his

father had put together. Then he notices Li Zhifeng driving, and calls out, “You tired? If you are

then come in and take a break.”

Li Zhifeng replies from the outside, “I rest, and let the horses run on their own?”

You Miao laughs, he didn’t think Li Zhifeng would ever joke around, and replies, “I’ll

drive.”

“No,” Li Zhifeng replies without sparing a looking back. “You’ll drive into the gutters.”

You Miao pulls open the carriage door, and the tepid rays of the winter sun outside come

shining in. After leaving the last stretch of road of Jiang Prefectural City, the skies are clear, the

warm sun is bright, gleaming across all of this earth, and You Miao’s mood instantly brightens

up too.

Bringing his book with him, You Miao gets out and sits on the driver’s seat plank too,

covering Li Zhifeng’s eyes with both his hands, laughing as he says, “Now you can’t see, haha!!”

Li Zhifeng’s lips curl up and he continues to drive like nothing’s the matter, and at first

You Miao thinks Li Zhifeng will say something along the lines of “Don’t play around”, yet who

knows, Li Zhifeng is perfectly fine. You Miao asks dubiously, “Hey, aren’t you scared of crashing

the carriage?”

“No.” A small smile hangs off of Li Zhifeng’s lips. “I can hear.”

You Miao drops his hands, and sticks his fingers into Li Zhifeng’s ears. “How’s this

then?”

Li Zhifeng grins. “Now my eyes can see again.”

“CHE——!”

Li Zhifeng bursts out laughing, and You Miao is stunned. For all that he’s known Li

Zhifeng for so long now, this is actually the very first time he’s seen him laugh so happily, and

You Miao stares in a daze. Li Zhifeng’s smile is candidly handsome, and under the sun it is

exceedingly attractive, so much so that You Miao can’t help but gulp.

Li Zhifeng turns his head to watch You Miao, his smile fading gradually, and shakes his

head with a grin. You Miao thinks inwardly, this guy is so handsome… no, actually, he’s not quite

handsome, since there’s a scar on his brow and a tattoo on his neck; his looks are definitely not

the clean elegance of those aristocrats, and the colour of his skin is also on the darker, rougher

side. Yet with his deep blue eyes, his lean narrow face and tall nose, there’s a certain different

flavour.

Even the blade scar that cuts through the straight, slanting upwards left brow is

inexplicably good looking.

“Did you get the scar on your eyebrow from Li Yan’s beatings?”

“No.” Li Zhifeng doesn’t look at the road, focusing only on staring into You Miao’s eyes

as he answers in a small voice. “It’s a scar left from back when I first went out to war. It was an

arrow wound.”

As he speaks, Li Zhifeng leans in and softly kisses You Miao’s lips.

You Miao’s heart instantly starts to thump in his chest, like something is being lit on fire.

This isn’t the first time him and Li Zhifeng have kissed; Li Zhifeng’s entire person belongs to

him, he can kiss him whenever he wants, tell him to do anything and he’ll have to obey. Usually

he’ll use Li Zhifeng like a cushion to lean on, order him around, and it doesn’t make him feel a

thing. But now, what he’s experiencing is something different.

After Li Zhifeng kisses him he goes back to focusing on the road ahead and You Miao

notices there’s a very faint smudge of red on his cheeks. You Miao starts to chuckle but doesn’t

say anything, and leans into Li Zhifeng’s arms. Li Zhifeng thus reaches out an arm to hold him

while the other hand drives the carriage. Although the year hasn’t ended, this winter sun

brightens their moods, and the winds aren’t strong either, so You Miao lets himself laze like this

under the sun, flipping through the books.

The original plan had been to reach Riverwave Estate by dusk, but their path turns left

and right, and after leaving the official road they actually get lost. You Miao stands at the fork of

the road, looking and comparing with his parchment map, mumbling, “That’s not right, we

definitely saw the boundary stone of Yangzhou Prefecture earlier.”

Li Zhifeng reads with his head down using the last light before the sun sets. “Head south

along the prefecture border…”

The skies darken, the flocks of crows caw. The night comes faster during winters, and

this is the middle of nowhere, not a single household in sight along the roads, only large fields of

straw bent forward on the grounds.

You Miao only had one meal in Jiang City when he got up this morning; it’s been nothing

but dried rations on the road, and now that everything’s eaten, his tummy is hungry. As the night

deepens it starts to get colder on the road, but as their carriage rolls on, it suddenly lurches to

the side. Li Zhifeng instantly calls out, “Watch out!”

All the stuff inside the carriage falls to the right, and outside, Li Zhifeng shouts to the

horse, “Go, go!”

The wheel twists and sinks into a mud puddle, and the entire carriage tilts on the side of

the road. You Miao staggers down the vehicle. Li Zhifeng appears very woeful, and is just about

to say something when You Miao calls out, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Feeling a bit scared, You Miao yells, “IS ANYBODY THERE?”

The wilderness is empty and deserted, but it feels as if there’s something watching them

with predatory eyes. Then, sharp howls of wolves comes from the far distance. The flocks of

crows start cawing in agitation, flapping their wings as they take off.

You Miao sees out on the vast fields are a few pairs of dotted green light drifting about,

and a cold shudder runs down his back. “W-w-w… What’s that? Wolves?”

You Miao asks as he goes to hide behind Li Zhifeng, and Li Zhifeng soothes, “Don’t be

scared.”

“H-h-h… Had I known, we would’ve packed your bow and arrows…” You Miao

stammers.

“They’re packed,” Li Zhifeng says. “They’re in the trunks.”

Li Zhifeng turns around and climbs into the carriage. It’s pitch black all around, not even

the moon is visible in the night sky, and You Miao feels out a flintstone while standing on the

dark road, ppa as he strikes it, trying to start a light.

Li Zhifeng re-emerges with the bow carried on his back and the quiver held in his hand.

“Come into the carriage.”

You Miao is both cold and famished as he sits in the carriage. Li Zhifeng is just about to

close the carriage door when You Miao calls out, “Don’t, don’t close it.”

You Miao places the furnace on the seat plank then shrinks into Li Zhifeng’s arms, letting

Li Zhifeng hold him. Li Zhifeng only casually scans the far distance before he shakes open a

throw blanket, covering it over You Miao.

“Don’t be scared.” Li Zhifeng’s voice is indifferent without emotion, but it’s incredibly

steady and dependable. “Even if there are wolves they won’t dare to come over.”

“You’ve seen wolves before?” You Miao asks.

“There are plenty beyond the border…” Li Zhifeng says. “The wolves in the Midlands are

only dens of mountain wolves, the wolves in the great desert beyond the border run in large

packs, much more aggressive than the ones here.”

In between their conversation, another “awoo” comes from the distance, and this time

You Miao hears it properly.

“How do you chase away desert wolves?” You Miao asks in a small voice. “Would

lighting fires help?”

Li Zhifeng replies, one of his hands petting You Miao’s head mindlessly, “When I ran into

them in the great desert, I didn’t have fire at the time, nor did I have my bow and arrows, only a

scimitar. About over twenty desert wolves came, and they formed a pack.”

You Miao is terrified as he listens, and in the darkness, there comes another

“AWOO——” Since the night is quiet, the sound of the howl is clear. Those few wolves appear

to be approaching closer and closer.

“What did you do then?” You Miao asks.

Li Zhifeng starts, “I…”

In between words You Miao can sense Li Zhifeng pause for a short moment, his chest

rising like he’s inhaling deeply, then soon after…

“WOO…” From deep in Li Zhifeng’s throat comes the vague howl of a beast, then

following right after is the bright and clear “awoo” of the howl of a wolf, so strong that You Miao’s

ears are buzzing. That sound is heavy with spirit, like a lone alpha wolf singing in full pride

under the moonlight.

Outside, there’s the sound of the wind blowing over the grass, shashaa as the stalks

sway, but the mountain wolves have ceased their howling, as if they’ve sensed the danger in Li

Zhifeng’s howl.

The green lights of those wolves’ eyes vanish, and the wind blows through the black

night, silence returning in an instant.

“What happened after you howled?” You Miao asks.

“The alpha of the pack came out to challenge me, and I killed it.” Li Zhifeng replies.

Li Zhifeng is hugging You Miao with his left arm while he mindlessly plays with a wooden

arrow in between the long and shapely fingers of his right hand. The arrow twirls in and out

between his fingers, the arrowhead shimmering with a singular glint in the dark.

“And then?” You Miao presses.

“Of course I killed it,” Li Zhifeng answers. “I also got bitten a few times, so I lied there in

the desert all by myself.”

You Miao pictures Li Zhifeng covered in blood, lying there with the corpse of the wolf

king, and says, “Did the wolf pack not come after you?”

“No.” Li Zhifeng replies faintly.

“What were you doing lying there?” You Miao asks.

“Moon watching.” Li Zhifeng answers in a low whisper.

The great desert, the bright moon, wolf packs… and Li Zhifeng who lies in the centre of

the desert beneath that silver light.

Chilly is the sea wind blowing over Tianshan after snow;

Of all tunes, Tough-Going on the Road is most common on the flutes.

Three hundred thousand warriors trudging laboriously across the desert

Turn their heads and stare longingly at the moon above.1

You Miao imagines that faraway scene, leaning in Li Zhifeng’s embrace as he falls into

slumber. In the silence of the deep night, there seems to be the barking of dogs and the voices

of people coming from the distant end of the road.

Li Zhifeng’s ears flick, and the twirling arrow between his fingers stops. The arm holding

You Miao loosens, and Li Zhifeng lets You Miao simply lean on himself while he picks up the

longbow that had been placed next to their bodies. He stacks the arrow over the bow and pulls

the string taut, pointing it into the pitch black night road.

“Could they have run into wolves…”

“They’ve been on the road all night and still haven’t arrived…”

1 Marching North with the Army by Li Yi, Tang Dynasty. This poem depicts the scene of a

marching army and the spirits of the soldiers, both grand and wistful, the sound of the flute expressing

their longing for home.

Li Zhifeng squints his eyes. By this time the clouds have dispersed, and a full moon

hangs above in the sky, illuminating their surroundings.

You Miao wakes, and when he blinks open his eyes he sees Li Zhifeng pulling on the

bow at the ready, and immediately he turns to the direction of the voices. A dog is barking

viciously but is quickly hushed by the villagers holding its leash.

“It’s the young master!”

“Young Master You!”

“We’ve finally found you…”

Li Zhifeng lowers his bow and You Miao comes fully awake, realizing that these men

have come to receive him.

The tenant farmers surround them, babbling and chattering as they ask questions. Turns

out, where they are isn’t more than five kilometers away from Riverwave Estate. Having been

tormented for half the night, You Miao is exhausted in both body and spirit. The tenant farmers

help push the horse carriage out of the gutter, and with one man in front leading the way, they

escort the two into the estate under the bright light of the moon.

You Miao passes out completely for the rest of the night. The next day when he wakes

up, he finds he’s lying on an old, ragged bed, with the blankets he’d brought over from home.

He’s itching all over, and after scratching, he yawns as he sits up.

A dishevelled and loose-haired Li Zhifeng sits up from the ground, the suddenness of his

movement scaring You Miao out of his wits.

“What’s this place?” You Miao asks.

“Riverwave Estate,” Li Zhifeng answers, then he ties up his hair, rising to his feet to go

draw water for You Miao to wash his face.

Huddling in his blankets while sitting in bed, You Miao looks the place over. He vaguely

remembers how they’d come in the night before——by the middle of the night though his head

had already been cloudy from drowsiness, and everything had blurred as he’d entered the

estate in the carriage. Li Zhifeng had been driving the vehicle up front while he’d slept inside in

the back. Once they’d arrived the tenant farmers didn’t say much either before they’d led them

in. Li Zhifeng had gotten into the carriage and said a few words but You Miao no longer

remembers anything.

“What did you say to me last night?” You Miao asks.

The sound of water pours in from the outside, and Li Zhifeng answers, “I said, I tidied up

the side chamber first and we’ll make do with it for the night. Then I’ll clean up the main house

today.”

You Miao nods, then sees from the lattice of the window Li Zhifeng pouring water from

the wooden bucket into the copper basin before he comes in to place the copper basin over the

coal furnace to heat the water.

“I can do it.” You Miao says. He knows right now is not the time to be attended to, there

are many things that he’ll have to do himself. First, this is a new environment where he knows

nothing and no one; second, he hasn’t hired anyone yet. There’s only Li Zhifeng who genuinely

treats him well, but good steel should be used on the blade; he can’t have him take care of

everything, otherwise it wouldn’t be good value if Li Zhifeng gets exhausted.

“Just rest.” Li Zhifeng says.

You Miao gets out of bed and dresses himself. “I figure since we’re here, everything will

have to be simple for now.” Then, he casually pushes the window open. Outside the sun is

beaming down, the winter day bright and charming. Beneath his gaze, the endless vast fields

shine with the sun’s rays.

“What do they plant out there?” You Miao has never laboured nor cared to differentiate

the grains, and now he leans over the window looking out, realizing that all of this land belongs

to him. This house is his, the chicken, duck, fish, the rivers, the hills, the woods… these are all

his.

“Don’t know,” Li Zhifeng replies.

He brings the towel to You Miao’s cheeks and starts to rub his ears and face. After

dressing, You Miao drops his feet down to the ground to put on his shoes. “Let’s go out and take

a look around today.”

“En,” Li Zhifeng answers.

You Miao then asks, “What are we doing for breakfast?”

Only when the question is asked does You Miao realizes a big problem. This place isn’t

anywhere like Sunshower Jade Estate; there’s no cook, no attendants, everything must be done

by his own hand. Thankfully when they departed a few days ago they’d bought some food at

Jiang City, so they dowse some water on the fried noodles, heat it up, then make do with what’s

there and eat it.

“The women of the tenant families have come to deliver breakfast,” Li Zhifeng

announces.

You Miao delightedly goes out, but the moment he steps foot out of the side chamber he

is dumbfounded.

The sun is still shining brightly, but the yard is completely run down, messy and desolate.

The foot of the wall is piled with moss over the chipped and moldy clay pots, long weeds grow

from the cracks of the stone tiles in abundance, the spirit wall has ivy crawling all over, and the

wheel of one of the wells has already rotten through and broken, fallen to the side.

When Li Zhifeng had carried him in the night before, You Miao hadn't bothered to look

carefully. Now that he’s seeing it in broad daylight, it’s completely different than the view at

night.

“Interesting,” You Miao says to Li Zhifeng.

You Miao crosses through the corridor and heads to the main courtyard with Li Zhifeng in

tow. More than half of the roof of the corridors overhead have fallen through, and in the far back

of the backyard, the entire enclosure's walls are collapsed in. Gazing over, the skies are bright

and clear.

This crappy place… When You Miao sees, he really doesn’t know whether to laugh or

cry. Yet for some reason, this scenery has a particular paradise-like peace and harmony.

Perhaps this is the very reason why his mother had fallen in love with Riverwave Estate and

purchased this land.

Without any mountain ranges to block the view, the field of vision is wide, and clouds roll

softly in the horizon. As long as he properly renovates and puts his heart into it, this place can

certainly become beautiful.

“This is actually my first time living in a house like this,” You Miao says with a smile.

Li Zhifeng nods. When You Miao reaches the front courtyard, he immediately can’t smile

any longer.

How is this an estate?! IT’S PRACTICALLY A BROKEN DOWN SHRINE!

The doors and windows, chairs and furniture, they’re all rotten through and broken,

there’s not a single piece still whole, and cobwebs are everywhere. There are a few women

conversing by the end of the corridor, and the moment they see You Miao and Li Zhifeng they

disperse.

“Hey! Where are you going?” You Miao calls out.

The women’s dresses are both dirty and poor, and they keep fleeing to hide in the back

of the house. You Miao figures it’s because they’re not used to seeing people and are scared of

strangers, so he doesn’t say any more, and steps foot into the main house. But there isn’t a

single spot he can place his foot down inside. In the gloomy back of the wall there’s a pot of

ready-cooked noodles, two chipped bowls and a plate of salted veggies.

You Miao: “...”

“Did we bring bowls?” You Miao asks.

“No.” Li Zhifeng picks up the chopsticks on the table and brings them outside. The inside

of the well is still covered in heavy layers of fallen leaves and moss, and the voice of a man

comes from the outside. “There’s water here.”

Li Zhifeng takes the half-filled bucket of water from the tenant farmer and carefully

washes the chopsticks clean. The tenant farmer outside then asks, “Has the young master

risen?”

“Go wait outside the second entrance. After he’s done with breakfast he’ll see you all.” Li

Zhifeng replies.

The tenant farmers all step down and leave, and You Miao grins as he listens; the way Li

Zhifeng speaks certainly has the air of a housekeeper. A moment later, You Miao casually eats

some. The food is simple: the noodles are simply mixed with salt, but after having starved an

entire night, You Miao easily wolfs down half a pot, only thinking the noodles are tender and

delightful, the pickled radishes crispy and delicious, simply heavenly.

Usually, at home, dishes like these wouldn’t even be looked at. This Riverwave Estate

also seems rather poor; not even an egg spared for a pot of noodles. Little does You Miao know

that for typical impoverished families, even using exquisite grain for a meal is pure dreams; a

coarse steamed bun with some pickles can take care of a meal; a pot of white flour noodles is

already a show of all of their hearts.

After You Miao is done, he pushes the bowl towards Li Zhifeng. “Eat. Take your fill so

you can get to work.” And so Li Zhifeng eats up all the remaining noodles. You Miao adds, “The

only one left that I can depend on is you. Put your heart into your work.”

Li Zhifeng nods. Of course, You Miao knows Li Zhifeng very much puts all of his heart

into his work when it comes to him, so this bit of talk is nothing more than empty nagging. It’s

more so that he himself is feeling a little hollow and unsteady. After he’s come to take over this

“To answer Young Master,” one man speaks up. “This humble one is surnamed Li, the

name is Li Zhuang.”

You Miao nods, then looks over the four men calculatingly. He figures they’re all the

heads of the families of the tenant households; this man named Li Zhuang looks to be about fifty

years old, next to him is a hunchbacked old man, on the other side of him is a tallish young

man, and the last one is a skinny man.

Even the old man is a tenant farmer?

Li Zhuang introduces each of them to You Miao: the old man is Old Uncle Liang, the

young man is Zhang Er, and the skinny man is called Zhu Tang.

“Uncle Liang is still working the fields?” You Miao asks.

“It’s getting worse every year!” Old Uncle Liang says, his brows quivering. “Who knows

how many more years we can farm.”

The others trade looks but no one speaks up. You Miao is taken aback at first, but then

he understands immediately. In the past it’s always been Sunshower Jade Estate that would

send people over to collect rent; now that You Miao has come personally, taking over the

management of Riverwave Estate, this group of tenants more or less have their own little

agendas, hoping to beg for the promise of rent not increasing in order to have a good year next

year.

“Rent won’t hike.” You Miao has already thought about this while on the road. “But I have

a condition.”

Yet unexpectedly, Li Zhuang speaks up. “Young Master, this humble one has come with

the intention of bidding Young Master farewell.”

You Miao is taken aback again. Inside the house, Li Zhifeng finishes his breakfast and

comes out to stand behind You Miao.

You Miao steadies himself mentally and replies, “What? Farewell?”

Li Zhuang is obviously the leader of this group, and has long discussed this matter

through, so the moment he speaks he says, “Life here isn’t passable. Young Master, this humble

one wants to take my wife and son and head to Yangzhou Prefecture to look for some work.”

some benefits. That old man might not leave either; those who have farmed their whole life

might not be comfortable living in Liuzhou Prefecture. That young man however, both his

parents are gone, so it’s no surprise if he doesn’t want to farm if he has ambitions.”

“Li Zhuang is uncertain,” Li Zhifeng says. “Now that you’ve lowered rent, he might not

leave.”

You Miao nods, really feeling the headache now. “Is Riverwave Estate’s land really that

infertile?”

“I don’t know anything about farming,” Li Zhifeng replies.

It’s time to learn. Right now You Miao doesn’t even know what it is his lands produce; he

ran over on such an impulse, and now that he’s here and sees the situation, he imagines even if

he wants to sell the land for profit there will probably be no buyers.

The land his mother left for him can’t just be sold either.

You Miao focuses himself and thinks it through thoroughly. “Let’s go walk around.

There’s no hurry in tidying up the house.”

“This entire Riverwave Estate,” You Miao says as he and Li Zhifeng walk towards the

door. “More than half of it is a wasteland.”

Li Zhifeng en’s. “Need a way to reclaim land.”

“Indeed we’ll need to reclaim the land,” You Miao says. “But I don’t know what’s suitable

to be planted here, or if it’s suitable to grow anything at all.”

You Miao holds Li Zhifeng’s hand, the two of them walking side by side as they walk

around the spirit wall covered in ivy. You Miao hums for a moment and mumbles to himself, “It

might be tough for the first couple of years, and since no one is willing to farm the land, we’ll just

have to grow something ourselves. But the lack of water certainly is an issue, all the tenants’

time and energy are wasted on drawing water to irrigate land.”

“Want me to go find potential tenants in town?” Li Zhifeng suggests.

You Miao laughs. “It’s best if we can find people, if not that’s okay too. We can reclaim a

piece of land for ourselves, provide for ourselves, grow some vegetables, raise some chickens,

a pig, and as for food, we’ll just buy from the outside.”

“Planting tea is the most profitable, but with my dad suppressing the price of tea,

competing with him is seeking my own death.” You Miao pulls the ivy aside, and Li Zhifeng

comes up to help him with the work, the two of them cleaning out the spirit wall together. You

Miao then continues, “But it’s fine if we just grow tea for fun. I think if we section off a small bit of

land on the hill over there, buy some tea shoots and keep an eye on them every so often, it’ll be

fine.”

“Oh.” Li Zhifeng nods. “Makes sense.”

You Miao continues, “Then we pick a couple of the good fields around here, hire some

temporary labourers over and help plow a few days, throw some seeds down, and we’ll be able

to grow some vegetables for ourselves.”

“Doable.” Li Zhifeng replies.

Li Zhifeng doesn’t provide any ideas, he knows You Miao is saying all these things also

to help himself clear the thoughts in his head, going one step at a time. He needs to settle down

first and clean up this house before he can start to develop the estate. You Miao clears out

about half of the spirit wall and sees a column of sharp and weighted but steadfast words, and

he’s surprised in spite of himself. “There’s a poem written on here?”

“Therein I saw…” You Miao mumbles. “Perhaps the previous owner of this place was an

elegant figure, let me see…”

As the rest of the ivy is cleared away, verses of a poem appear before them

Therein I saw her graceful figure once reflected.

Li Zhifeng yanks off the vines from the left side of the spirit wall, and the whole spirit wall

is revealed.

Most heartbreaking are the green waters underneath the bridge;

Therein I saw her graceful figure once reflected.3

You Miao stands in front of the spirit wall, a little dazed for the moment. He can now

vaguely understand why mother bought this estate.

“To Tang Wan4.” Li Zhifeng notices the words at the bottom corner.

Those are words engraved by a chisel by someone, and You Miao says, “Let’s go out

and see.”

3 These are 2 lines from the poem Shen Garden, composed by Lu You mourning for his deceased

wife. Credit for the verse translations go to Ginafraser on Steemit.

4 Lu You’s wife.

The two exit the front doors. Over the entrance hangs a plaque and a swallow flies into

the hole behind the plaque as they are looking. You Miao is delighted. “That’s a good sign!”

“Take it down and wash it out?” Li Zhifeng asks.

“Don’t!” You Miao exclaims. “Don’t alarm the swallow.”

Having swallow nests under the roof is an extremely lucky sign, and while You Miao

doesn’t really believe in superstitions, he’s still familiar with folklore. He’s now very confident in

the future of Riverwave Estate, and if he’s guessed right, perhaps this place is even a historic

site.

Li Zhifeng runs up the wall in two steps and a leap, and lands on the guardian lion

statue. He knocks lightly on the plaque above the entrance, and a thick layer of dust falls off.

You Miao goes in and finds a ladder, and they prop it up together. Then he finds a rag and

clambers up with Li Zhifeng holding him from behind.

You Miao wipes the dust carefully off the plaque, and two large characters appear: Shen

Garden5.

You Miao: “...”

The gilded characters are dull and worn from age. You Miao shakes his head and sighs,

“So that’s what this place is…”

“What place?” Li Zhifeng helps You Miao back down to the ground, and the two of them

stand there, contemplating the overhead plaque.

The swallow peeks out from behind the plaque to stare curiously at them. You Miao

says, “This was once the residence of a renowned Han poet… no wonder my mom bought it.”

Li Zhifeng mn’s in acknowledgement and asks, “Can it be repaired?”

You Miao smiles as he replies, “Now that Shen Garden belongs to me, that’s a matter of

course.”

5 沈园 [Shen Garden], currently named 沈氏园 [Shenshi Garden], “garden of the Shen clan”,

named after the family name of its first, original owners. It was once the residence of Lu You, one of four

major poets of the Song Dynasty; he believed fervently in the reclamation of the north. The actual location

is by Hangzhou Bay by the sea, but in this text, it's probably much closer to the Yangtze and further inland

(GXR takes several geographical liberties).

They stand at the entrance to the estate for a while, just gazing up at the clear blue sky.

Finally, You Miao speaks. “Ride to Anlu Village and buy some rice and flour, and oil, salt, soy

sauce, vinegar, and such. Also, while you’re there, swing by the market and see if there’s

anyone looking for work, get a couple of workers, we’ll cover food and housing.”

You Miao goes inside and returns with ten silver, along with the letters he had written to

Zhao Chao and Li Yan in the capital, instructing, “Spend it sparingly, and bring these letters to

the post station, have the courier deliver them to the capital. Come home early.”

Li Zhifeng says, “I have more here,” as he takes out a small money pouch. Inside are the

twenty silver You Miao had given him before when he’d sent him away back then. He’s held

onto it this whole time.

You Miao is absolutely thrilled as he says, “Well done! Go on then.”

Li Zhifeng flips onto the horse and rides off.

---

Chapter 11

TW: underage sex, explicit (15 was of age back then, but by modern standards)

Money can’t be spent frivolously now. A tael of gold exchanges to thirty taels of silver,

and a tael of silver exchanges to one string of maces6. A string of maces can do many things: a

catty of rice only costs eight coins, and a chicken costs twenty-five. You Miao never kept

accounts in the past, he’s never known about living costs. Now that he adds it all up, the one

hundred silver father had given him is enough to feed him in Shen Garden for five to ten years.

But this little bit isn’t enough. He keeps contemplating how to make more off of this

starting capital. The first thing he needs to do is to properly renovate the house. Of course, the

house can’t be so easily reconstructed; the moment You Miao had seen the two words “Shen

Garden” he knew that every blade of grass and every tree, the rockery and stone benches, they

all have a history. Who knows, maybe there might even be many more antiques. If he

thoughtlessly throws them out then it’d be a real waste of genuine treasure.

You Miao strolls once around the courtyard. This Shen Garden certainly is huge, his feet

are already sore but he’s still only along the enclosure walls. He walks a full ten minutes before

he makes it to the backyard, and from the stables he brings out another horse, hopping on

before he rushes towards the plains.

The four tenant households are located in all directions, and You Miao plans on finding a

few hands to help him tidy up. It’s around noon time now, and he sees in the distance there’s a

house that has faint smoke rising out of its chimney, so You Miao stops the horse outside this

household and calls out, “Who’s house is this?”

“Young Master!” Li Zhuang comes hurrying out.

“Are you free right now?” You Miao asks.

Li Zhuang’s family is just having their slack season, Li Zhuang had just gotten home and

drank a sip of water, then he was probably going to discuss the future with his wife. When he

hears You Miao has come to seek hands, he quickly comes out to heed, “What does Young

Master wish?”

You Miao notices there’s another household right across and asks, “Who’s the one living

across the road?”

Li Zhuang chuckles. “That boy Zhang Er.”

6 A string of maces (copper penny) is ~1000 coins, which weighs exactly 1 catty.

“ZHANG ER!” You Miao yells.

From the courtyard across the road comes a faint answer from Zhang Er. You Miao says,

“If the two of you aren’t busy, come up to the estate. I’ve got things to say.”

After tossing those words out You Miao immediately urges the horse to return. After all,

the horse carriage is still ditched in Shen Garden, and all the money is in there.

From the outside, Shen Garden looks even more run down, yet bathing in the sunlight,

his new home doesn’t appear sombre at all. Instead, it carries the will to survive, like that of

plants growing from the cracks of a cliff, like something that grows from under shattered tiles

and bricks, so lush it’s almost ready to break through the wreckage, standing tall and afraid of

nothing.

You Miao tethers the horse by the tree outside the entrance where weeds are growing in

abundance so it can graze. Then he peels off half of his outer robe, ties the sleeves around his

waist, and lets the robe hang loosely on his hips before he goes to lug the stuff out of the horse

carriage.

The most important thing at home is his money. There’s only a hundred silver left, he

must keep it safe. You Miao carries the money box into the bedroom of the main house. As he

enters, the screen crashes thunderously, collapsing to the ground. Even the bedding has rotten

into a pile of floc-like mush.

You Miao looks around. There’s unexpectedly a red-painted chest by the foot of the wall,

but when he pushes it with all of his might it’s to no avail. When he looks down, he discovers

that this thing seems to have been cast directly onto the ground.

There’s no lock, so You Miao opens it and pokes his head in. There are only several

scrolls of calligraphy and paintings inside, and there’s still more space within the chest, which

goes into the ground a meter deep. You Miao understands now. When this house was first

constructed, half of it was buried underground, secured with bricks.

This is perfect. First, it prevents theft. Second, he now has a safe for more valuable

goods.

You Miao takes the items inside the chest out with great difficulty, then places that

money pouch You Han’ge had given him inside the money box along with the one hundred

silver, and the little money box into the giant copper chest. Then he goes back to the carriage to

retrieve a lock to lock up the giant copper chest, and locks it up with a kchak.

Two keys, one for himself and the other for Li Zhifeng.

In the future they’ll need to keep a guard dog for the courtyard, You Miao thinks. He

should’ve told Li Zhifeng to buy a dog home too.

“Young Master——” From the outside comes Li Zhuang’s yell.

“Come in.” You Miao dusts himself off and goes out. “There are some trunks in the

carriage, help me haul those in.”

Li Zhuang and Zhang Er have both come, and Zhang Er looks around, appearing rather

surprised, “Young Master is settling in here just like that?”

You Miao knows they’re all feeling rather amazed, but it’s true. Based on how most

would think, a little young master raised in prestige and luxury like himself might not stay for

more than a night before he packs up and hurries back to Sunshower Jade Estate.

“No choice.” You Miao laughs as he takes them to unload the belongings in the carriage.

“Dad doesn’t care about me, mom doesn’t love me, a gege has come into the family, so

naturally I’ve no share in the family fortune.”

The other two exchange a look with each other and takes the trunk You Miao pulls to

them. You Miao however, doesn’t care to dodge the subject, and asks, “You’ve all heard about

this affair too, right?”

“We’ve heard some,” Zhang Er answers.

Li Zhuang sends Zhang Er a look, and the two help You Miao carry the trunk into the

house.

“Gotta depend on yourself for everything,” You Miao adds.

Li Zhuang chuckles, “That buddy following Young Master looks like an honest man.”

“Yea, thank goodness for him.” You Miao re-enters the main house, pushing each of the

windows open, and the sun beams in from both sides. Instantly the main house brightens

greatly, and the furniture layered with heavy dust doesn’t seem as gloomy and abandoned

anymore.

“No one’s actually stolen any of the furniture?” You Miao is amazed.

Li Zhuang grins. “Who’d come to Shen Garden to steal things?”

“Is this a place where people don’t lock up at night and leave lost items on the ground

where they were?” You Miao wonders. “Come, let’s throw out the rotten wood.”

You Miao has taken a great fancy to that bed in the master bedroom; a large bed by

itself is worth a lot of money, and while the paint on the frame’s engravings and sculptures has

chipped and faded, as long as they repaint it, it will be restored to its former glory. Light peeks

through the top of the canopy bed; the drapes and mosquito net hanging are tattered, but once

the drapes are changed and the bedding spread, it’ll become a little world of its own.

Li Zhuang tidies up the things and brings them outside to the courtyard. The furniture

inside the house is built with birch and another type of wood. You Miao knocks on each of them

and confirms that the furniture within the master bedroom is all made of rosewood. Rosewood is

quite valuable, heavy and enduring. Meanwhile, all the birch-made shelves and such have all

rotten through, and get piled into the corner of the yard, perfect to be used as firewood. The

doors are made of rosewood too, a nicely built, sturdy thing. At least the doors and windows

won’t need changing. Just hammer in new rivets, sand them down, and repaint them and they’ll

be good.

You Miao cleans out the rooms and puts those trunks in place. While Li Zhuang wipes

and washes the room, You Miao takes Zhang Er over to the study.

The bookshelves and desk here are also made of rosewood. An entire house on display

like this, it’s worth at least several hundreds of silver. That no one’s come to steal anything in

close to a century is a miracle. Is it because none of the thieves recognize the goods?

“It’s really so weird.” You Miao laughs, turning to Zhang Er. “Not a single thief in almost a

century.”

Zhang Er helps him open the trunks together; ten giant trunks, all with books

inside——piles and piles of books.

“Are these all yours?” Zhang Er asks, but he immediately realizes the lack of address

and quickly corrects himself. “Young Master sure has a large collection of books.”

You Miao en’s and dusts off the bookshelves, sneezing a couple times. “Some are my

mom’s, some are my little uncle’s.”

“All scholars.” Zhang Er places the books onto the shelves, and You Miao goes to push

the windows open. The back window of the study faces the garden; the rockery in it is covered

in weeds, and the ponds between the trees are topped with moss. If he gets a gardener to clean

this up, it’ll be a beautiful sight for sure. Zhang Er tucks in each bundle of books properly. “So

many books, hopefully the humidity won’t ruin them.”

You Miao sits in the desk’s large chair, pulling each of the drawers out to see. There’s

even a complete set of stationary inside: a mint-coloured porcelain brush holder, a crow-black

inkstone dotted with scarlet clouds, and even peony cinnabar ink paste7.

The ink paste is already dried. You Miao wipes the desk clean and places each item

upon the table. “I’m more scared of robbery than anything else, really.”

“No one will come steal anything here,” Zhang Er replies.

You Miao also finds a jade bracelet that’s broken in half in one of the desks, and

attempts to connect the pieces back together. “There’s not even a watchman at Riverwave

Estate, and no one’s taking care of Shen Garden, so how come…”

Zhang Er gets up. “Because this place is haunted.”

You Miao: “...”

“A woman died from illness here in Shen Garden,” Zhang Er elaborates.

You Miao’s face is now dark, and Zhang Er adds, “Then later I heard the one who bought

this garden also died…”

“That’s my mom,” You Miao says.

Zhang Er realizes he’s said the wrong thing and quickly says, “I’ve misspoken.”

“So the reason why there aren’t many tenant farmers at Riverwave Estate is because

you’re all afraid of ghosts?” You Miao asks.

“No, it’s not that,” Zhang Er replies. “Afterwards there were a few daring folks who came

and took stuff home from Shen Garden, but they all died one after the other…”

You Miao’s lips can’t stop twitching now. “Are you kidding me?”

Zhang Er lowers his voice and says, “Uncle Liang had three sons. The eldest one stole

stuff from the estate… but then both he and his wife passed away from illness, and Uncle Liang

personally came to return the stuff.”

You Miao only feels a chill run down his spine, the muscles of his face spasming. He

doesn’t know if what Zhang Er is telling him is real or not, but he doesn’t ask for more details.

7 A red inkpad for seals.

A pair of talented scholar and beauty, having parted in bygone years8, now the beauty

actually became a female ghost. If there really are ghosts in the world, You Miao would rather

believe it’s because of her longing and yearning for her lover that she’s stayed all this time.

Zhang Er goes out to draw water for washing, and You Miao sorts through the books as

he mumbles to himself, “I didn’t do anything to wrong her, if I don’t do anything guilty during the

day, I’m not afraid of ghosts coming to knock at night, hehe.”

“Young Master is a fortunate soul, you have lucky stars watching over you. Nothing to be

afraid of,” Zhang Er says.

You Miao flips through the books, and there are plenty of subjects he himself has never

touched before. Recalling that Zhang Er is going to go to the capital, he asks, “Are you thinking

of going to the capital for the exam or going to find work?”

“My ma and pa,” Zhang Er says. “Both wanted me to become a scholar. In a few years, I

can go for grace exams9 or attend the exams held every three years. The teacher at Anlu

Village told me to go for the Prefectural Exams first.”

You Miao nods. “Well don’t rush off so quickly then, feel free to come study here in Shen

Garden any time.”

Instantly Zhang Er’s eyes are filled with surprise, and You Miao adds, “I don’t think you

can head off to the capital any time soon anyway. When you do go, remember to come give me

a shout, and take a letter for me. I have many friends in the capital, it’ll be good if there’s

someone who can look after you too, yea?”

Zhang Er knows this means You Miao is willing to lend him a hand, and he quickly bows

and kneels. “Thank you very much, Young Master!”

You Miao quickly pulls him up, gesturing to say he’s welcome. Zhang Er then goes to

continue cleaning the study, and You Miao goes back to flipping through the books. As he flips,

he comes to the last little chest.

On the inside cover of the chest is written a line of delicate and beautiful words: “Within

books there is its own house of gold; within books there is its own beauty like jade.”

8 Tang Wan is said to be beautiful and intelligent, a writer in her own right, but her marriage of

love to Lu You was forcibly ended by Lu You’s mother. Anguish diminished her health and she passed

away due to depression.

9 Imperial State Exams are held every three years, but sometimes under special circumstances

the Emperor would call for exams outside the regular scheduled ones, and given the extra opportunity,

those are thus called Grace Exams.

after studying the two, he goes to find a charcoal stick, sitting himself on the ground simply, and

starts to draw and notate.

The sun sinks in the west, and in the main courtyard, Li Zhuang calls, “Young Master, the

main house and the master bedroom are all tidied up. If Young Master has any other

commands?”

Zhang Er has also finished wiping the study down, and stands in front of the bookshelf

reading You Miao’s books.

You Miao en’s without looking up, “Go get the money pouch on top of the shelf.”

Li Zhuang quickly humbly declines that he can’t take Young Master’s money, and You

Miao responds, “It’s fine, just go get it. I’ve got more errands for you to do.”

It’s less than ten days to new years, the tenant farmers are right in their slack season, so

rather than sit around at home they might as well come out and help You Miao do work. You

Miao gives him a string of maces, taking twenty coins off it, and gives them to Zhang Er. “Take

this.”

“I can’t take Young Master’s money,” Zhang Er says. “I’m already immensely grateful

Young Master permits me to come read books.”

You Miao reconsiders; since he’s so adamant, there’s some air of a scholar to it, so You

Miao doesn’t force him. He turns around and gives the twenty coins to Li Zhuang, “Twenty

maces for today’s labour. I’ll give you another string, go into town for me tomorrow, and buy all

the little things I’ve listed here. Keep count of everything you spend, I’ll be asking.”

You Miao hands Li Zhuang a slip of brown packing paper with words written in charcoal.

“For timber you just need to ask for the price. Li Zhifeng isn’t familiar with the town, so I don’t

want him tricked.”

Li Zhuang quickly repeats yessir yessir yessir, and You Miao says, “Both of you go home

for dinner now.”

“I’ll have my wife come up later and cook for Young Master,” Li Zhuang says.

“It’s fine, Li Zhifeng should be back soon too, we’ll just eat whatever’s here. I’ll hire a

granny cook in a few days,” You Miao replies.

You Miao sends Li Zhuang and Zhang Er home, and he himself sits in the front corridor,

his head buried in the books as he continues to read. It must be known that Li Zhuang has

completely changed attitude compared to this morning because You Miao is rich.

Money makes the world go ‘round; going out to do temp labour, the pay for each day is

only ten coins. Working for him, Young Master You? Twenty coins, easy.

With the sun sinking on the western horizon, there comes the sound of a horse carriage

outside. You Miao is about to look up and yell, shout for Li Zhifeng’s name, but then feels rather

awkward. He suddenly realizes that even after having bought this Quanrong slave for so long,

he actually hasn’t given him another name, just going along with Li Yan’s surname.

Usually when You Miao calls for him, it’s either “Oi” or “Hey”, like calling for a dog, and Li

Zhifeng would come.

“You back?” You Miao calls out.

“I’m back.” The horse is neighing, and Li Zhifeng’s indifferent voice comes from the

outside.

You Miao doesn’t budge from where he is, however, just sits flipping through his books,

feeling a bit hungry. A moment later Li Zhifeng comes, his massive form blocking the sunlight.

“Go away, you’re blocking me,” You Miao chides.

Li Zhifeng doesn’t move, kneeling with one knee bent to the ground by You Miao’s side,

and something stirs in his mind. He looks up, and sees Li Zhifeng smiling.

That smile is warm and handsome, but this isn’t what catches You Miao’s attention.

What makes him incredibly surprised is, Li Zhifeng is holding in his arms a very, very small

puppy!

You Miao instantly tosses his books away. “Where’d you get it?”

Li Zhifeng gives a small smile, then raises the two paws of that puppy, crisscrossing

them and making pawing gestures with them to tempt You Miao.

That dog is a spotted dog too, its body white with large black spots littered here and

there all over, its eyes black and keen, staring at You Miao. A spot covers one of its eye, looking

silly and dumb, very cute.

“Let me hold it!” You Miao takes the dog and holds it, playing with it, then he asks, “How

much did you spend to buy it?”

With the smoke dispersed, fire is finally started in the stove. You Miao uses a blower to

blow into the stove, and accidentally takes in a breath of smoke, so he coughs heavily for

another moment.

Li Zhifeng bursts out laughing, unable to stop himself, and urges, “Here, let me.”

With the smile still hanging on his face, Li Zhifeng stirs the fire for a moment then starts

to cut the vegetables. Next to him, You Miao orders, “Cut them into slices.”

“Understood,” Li Zhifeng replies without looking up.

As the skies turn darker, the temperature starts to drop outside. You Miao sees that

there’s nothing he can do to help so he goes out to stroll about Shen Garden leisurely. As he

leaves, Li Zhifeng calls out, “Go put on another layer.”

What a nag, You Miao thinks, and he abruptly realizes that it doesn’t seem like Li Zhifeng

calls him by name a lot either. At the beginning he’d still say Young Master, but now the Young

Master form of address seems to have been dismissed too. Ever since the day they left the

estate, Li Zhifeng has become much more proactive, almost as if he’s taking care of You Miao

like his own didi.

You Miao has never been a stickler for etiquette like Li Yan and his group, in fact, even if

Li Zhifeng is to call him ‘bro’ You Miao would probably not think anything of it. It’d actually make

them feel more intimate that way.

Standing on a high point in the yard and gazing out, You Miao can see streams of smoke

from chimneys of households in the distance. The skies darken, the winter draft is wistful, and

as it rolls through Shen Garden the bamboos bristle, creating its own particular atmosphere.

To have fallen so low as to survive with only one family servant is a fairly sad business,

but what’s special about it is that this family servant is Li Zhifeng. He’s nothing like your typical

servant; if this had been anyone else, for example Shiqi-er, Muqi-er… You Miao is sure he

would be grumbling and whining to himself for a good while, getting irritated just by seeing the

attendant’s face.

But with Li Zhifeng it’s different. Even You Miao himself finds this amusing. With Li

Zhifeng around to accompany his days, no matter how he looks at it, it’s like they’re playing

house, inexplicably fun.

Maybe when Li Zhifeng was beyond the border, he also had the fate of a young master.

Judging by the way he speaks, the way he behaves, You Miao deeply feels that this man is no

one ordinary.

Li Zhifeng nods, and You Miao continues, “We should section off a plot of land nearby

and plow it, so we can plant something there. Starting tomorrow, you take care of things outside,

I’ll take care of things inside.”

Li Zhifeng mn’s.

After dinner, Li Zhifeng washes and puts away the dishes, then heats up water for You

Miao’s bath. You Miao is exhausted from busying about the whole day, but as he lies collapsed

on the bed after bathing, he feels tired yet accomplished.

The bedroom is more or less cleaned up now, but Shen Garden is so damn big, four

sections and eighteen rooms, it’ll take at least half a month to sort out. You Miao didn’t actually

do much, but he just can’t stop feeling exhausted; this is a far cry from back when he used to

just eat his fill then goof off, after all.

But he finds that his appetite is bigger now—he’d eaten two whole bowls of rice, and

even some pickled radish.

Li Zhifeng bustles about busily all the way until nearly midnight before finally calling it a

day, and the sound of water comes from the yard. You Miao, already drifting off, suddenly sits

bolt upright at the sound. He vaguely sees that outside in the freezing cold of winter, Li Zhifeng

has stripped completely naked, his body toned and handsome like a stallion where he stands

under the moonlight as he pours a bucket of ice-cold water over himself.

“Oi!” You Miao calls out in a hurry. “Don’t catch a cold.”

“I won’t,” Li Zhifeng replies nonchalantly. “Go back to sleep.”

You Miao says, “Come sleep in my room.”

Li Zhifeng mn’s in reply. Now that You Miao’s woken up once, he finds it a little hard to

go back to sleep, tossing and turning until he hears Li Zhifeng come in as usual, close the doors

behind him, and spread out his bedding on the floor.

You Miao sticks his head out to look. On the ground by the bed, the quilt Li Zhifeng is

using is still the same one You Miao had given him months ago, back in the capital.

The wind picks up outside, sounding just like the cries of a female ghost. Remembering

what Zhang Er had said during the day, that this house is haunted, all of You Miao’s hair

immediately stands on end.

“Come up here and sleep with me,” You Miao says.

Li Zhifeng doesn’t move, lying there and breathing evenly, clearly worn out from the day.

You Miao tries again, “Li Zhifeng?”

Li Zhifeng moves this time. You Miao continues, “Are you already asleep? Come to bed

and sleep with me.”

So Li Zhifeng gets in bed and lies down; his skin feels warm despite the cold shower just

now. You Miao tugs at his arm, and Li Zhifeng stretches out the powerful limb for him to lie on,

drawing him close and holding him snug.

You Miao had been a little scared at first, but now that he’s cuddling with Li Zhifeng, he’s

thinking about something else altogether.

Li Zhifeng’s breathing catches, that soft thing between his legs hardening in You Miao’s

hands after a few caresses.

You Miao looks up at him to find Li Zhifeng gazing at him as well.

“Do you want it?” Li Zhifeng asks in a low voice.

You Miao mn’s, so Li Zhifeng unties his waistband and pulls You Miao close, moving to

lie on top of him. He wraps one hand around You Miao’s waist and reaches into his

underclothes with the other, stroking and groping as he leans down to capture You Miao’s lips

with his own.

“Mm…” You Miao closes his eyes, feeling only hot and good. Doing it with him this time

is a little different from the last time; there seems to be something more between the two of

them now.

Li Zhifeng strips You Miao out of his clothes, one-handedly rummaging through a bag at

the head of the bed for the mutton tallow used for warding off the cold, applies some to himself

and then slowly pushes in. You Miao gasps out a soft “ah” at first, pained as that cock opens

him up, but then Li Zhifeng begins to fuck into him, and he really doesn’t want him to let go

either. So they hold onto one another, the quilt shifting in time with their rhythmic movements.

You Miao murmurs helplessly, “Come in a little, a little more…”

So Li Zhifeng drives in deep, and You Miao’s abdomen tenses up with how good it feels

as he brushes against that spot inside of him. He clutches at Li Zhifeng and bites down on his

shoulder, but is pushed back down and his head forcibly turned, and Li Zhifeng’s tongue pushes

past his lips to rub heatedly against his own, kissing the breath right out of him.

Chapter 12

When he opens his eyes the next day, the winds outside have already stopped, the sky

is clear and blue, and the chirping of birds can be heard. You Miao stretches, feeling rested and

refreshed. He dresses himself and gets up, then hears Li Zhifeng outside talking to someone.

After washing up, You Miao crosses the corridor to see two laborers standing in front of

the main hall, both around twenty years old, give or take, and someone following behind them.

Li Zhifeng sees him coming over and goes inside to get the breakfast.

Breakfast is still just a bowl of noodles, but with three eggs this time. You Miao slurps the

noodles down while the two laborers look around the place. One of them says with a grin,

“Young Master, this sure is an old house eh, even older than my great aunt’s place. It’s gonna

be a lotta work to fix it all up.”

“Don’t have the money to fix it all up.” You Miao wipes his mouth and sets the empty

bowl aside. “Seven parts new will do.”

“Renovating all this to seven parts new is too much for just the two of us,” the older

craftsman that was the first to speak says. “Young Master might have to hire another person.

Besides, there isn’t enough lumber. Look at this window, and the door, they’re barely even

holding together…”

You Miao’s dealt with so many merchants, how can he not know what these guys are

getting at? Of course it all comes down to wanting more money. You Miao says tartly, “As if I’d

let you change the door even if you wanted to. This is from the Tang dynasty, look at the

craftsmanship on the carvings, this is rosewood. Don’t try to pull a fast one on me, this is the

same wood used in my own house.”

You Miao taps on the wood in front of them and says, “The wood’s perfectly fine, it’s the

rivets that rusted and broke, all it needs is a couple of new ones. Or what, you wanna tear my

door off and use it as firewood? DLiang, the beams are fine too, be careful and don’t mess up

the door, you can’t afford to pay for it if you break it.”

The craftsman only grins unabashedly. “No can do, Young Master, really, we can’t do this

job.”

You Miao knows that Li Zhifeng had found these guys at Anlu Village. Anlu Village is

situated to the south, Guo Village is at the north, and Riverwave Estate is stuck right in the

middle. There’s bad blood between Anlu Village and Guo Village, and they’re always at each

other’s throats year after year, so he casually comments, “Didn’t think you could either, head on

enough for a pot of tea at the bigger teahouses there. It’s just better with fewer people, easier to

keep an eye on them that way, so that no one gets any funny ideas or sticky fingers, and there

won’t be any infighting between them, and so they won’t feel inclined to slack off, hoping the

others will do the job.

Li Zhifeng eats breakfast where he’s crouched in the corridor and You Miao sips leisurely

at his tea while the pair of craftsmen figure things out between themselves. Paying them no

mind, You Miao grabs the pre-packed bag and leaves with Li Zhifeng to go section off land.

He didn’t really look around too closely before, but now that he’s walking around the

place, You Miao is actually getting a bit scared of just how big Riverwave Estate is, just large

plots of vacant land stretching into the distance as far as the eye can see. He laments internally,

what a waste, what a waste, if only there were people to farm them.

Six whole hundred hectares of land, but only thirteen are being farmed, barely even

enough for small change, and still gotta pay six hundred hectares worth of taxes year after year.

Although the tax comes out of Sunshower Jade Estate’s coffers, and father probably doesn’t

care about this measly amount anyway, but since he’s taken over the place now, starting next

year, he might have to figure out how to squeeze out those couple hundred silvers for those

bloodsucking vampires at the government.

You Miao’s feet are getting tired from all the walking, so Li Zhifeng carries him on his

back. They walk past a canal that’s long since dried up; the canal follows a winding course,

originating from Anlu at the south and heading curiously toward the north.

“The water here’s all dried up?” You Miao asks.

Li Zhifeng answers, “I asked about it, it used to draw water from Anlu Village, but it

doesn’t flow anymore.”

You Miao climbs off and bends over to pick up some of the soil, spreading it out between

his fingers to check the color, then says, “Gimme some water.”

Li Zhifeng pours water from the leather pouch into the prepared wooden cup in his bag.

You Miao melts some mud into the water, and finds that the soil quality actually isn’t bad.

He flips open “Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People” and skims through

the section on agriculture, then says, “This land isn’t suited for planting tea, the soil’s a bit too

sticky.”

Li Zhifeng doesn’t understand what he’s saying, so he simply stands there and listens.

You Miao continues, “Let’s go check that mountain over there.”

They arrive at the bank of a river, its waters streaming past in a powerful torrent. There’s

no crossing ferry to be seen, but the banks are a couple dozen feet above the water line and a

thick rope hangs between them for crossing purposes. You Miao can’t help muttering, “Fucking

hell, that’s way too dangerous, who the hell does that.”

Li Zhifeng says, “I’ll carry you across, don’t look down.”

You Miao clings to Li Zhifeng’s back, and Li Zhifeng repeats, “Don’t be afraid, and don’t

look down.” He then uses his belt to tie the two of them together and starts climbing across

using the rope just like that. Halfway across, You Miao can’t help himself from looking down, and

immediately feels dizzy from it.

The soil north of the river is different from that south of the river; the land here is good,

perfect for planting trees.

You Miao walks to the end, where a boundary stone of the Riverwave Estate marks the

border. Past here, the road headed into Guo Village is all but buried under weeds. But just

across the boundary, someone’s farm plot is encroaching into the estate’s territory. Said

someone is currently burning hay, and when he notices them, he immediately hollers, “What’re

you doing here! Where’d you come from?”

You Miao thinks to himself, you tired of living or something, planting your land into my

turf? But then again, there hasn’t been anyone to manage this estate for a hundred years, so he

can only let it go for now, and deal with him later. Looking at the guy, he’s probably from Guo

Village.

Guo Village and Anlu Village have straight up gotten their people together to duke it out

on the downlow before, even killed a couple people in the process. They literally can’t stand the

sight of one another.

You Miao waves his hands. “I’m from Riverwave Estate!”

The farmer straightens up and says, “Riverwave Estate? Someone’s finally taking

charge of that haunted place?”

Li Zhifeng’s face darkens, but You Miao gestures not to mind it, then says with a laugh,

“My name is You Miao, You Dechuan’s son. I’m planning to tidy this place up and live here. If it’s

not too much trouble, I’d appreciate it if dge can let your Guo Village folks know I’m gonna be

the new neighbor.”

The person looks You Miao up and down before saying, “So you’re Young Master You?

No wonder…”

Suddenly getting an idea, You Miao asks Li Zhifeng, “How far away is Guo Village from

here?”

But it’s the farmer who answers, “Right over there, two and a half kilometers straight

ahead.”

You Miao nods and says to Li Zhifeng in a low voice, “Go back and bring me some tea

from the second drawer in the study, measure out half a catty from the box inside.”

Li Zhifeng heads back while You Miao grins, sits down on a big rock, and—paying no

mind to the fact that the plot the farmer is currently opening up infringes on his land—strikes up

a casual conversation with him, asking what crops he usually plants. The farmer seems

somewhat incredulous and only treats him as a pampered little young master. He’s not wrong,

You Miao is a young master, has barely ever lifted a finger all his life and is hardly even able to

tell the difference between the various crops, but since he’s here now, who he used to be before

doesn’t much matter anymore.

You Miao is clever by nature, and knows exactly what to say and who to say it to. Li

Zhifeng returns before long, and the two of them follow the farmer back to Guo Village.

This place is already within the Liuzhou Prefecture. Liuzhou and Yangzhou are divided

by the Yangtze River, which was that ropeway they just used to cross18. Liuzhou people have an

unyielding temper and are loud and fierce in arguments, while Yangzhou people are coolly

scathing. There’s only a river between them, but the people and customs are quite different.

You Miao meets with Guo Village’s old village chief and gifts him a small case of tea.

The village chief is quite surprised as he says, “How can your dad bear to toss you out here?”

You Miao replies with a smile, “No I chose to come here, Sunshower Jade Estate is

boring.”

The old village chief is already sixty-something and easily grasps the meaning behind

his words. He smiles and says, “I met your mom once, back then.”

You Miao wasn’t expecting that. “Really?”

The old village chief continues smilingly, “You’re clever just like your mom.” Then he

turns toward the couple of people sitting in the hall and says, “Young Master You is here to

manage the estate now, so we’ll be neighbors from now on, make sure to visit often.”

18 Li Zhifeng just monkeybars it across the fucking Yangtze River like its nbd

You Miao smiles. “That’s a matter of course. How much tax is collected on Guo Village’s

lands?”

The old village chief sighs. “Four parts, both last year and this. The county hasn’t sent a

guarantor yet, so who knows what it’ll be next year.”

“Oh.” You Miao nods thoughtfully. Four parts, so in other words, four-tenths of the

harvest has to be handed over as tax every year, and the tenant farmer gets the remaining

six-tenths.

“My dad’s estate,” You Miao says with a smile. “Is taxed at seven parts.”

“That’s different,” the village chief says. “A tea plantation can make do however much it

gets taxed, but the lands here can’t grow tea, and no one’d want it even if we did grow tea here,

aye, it’s really not easy here.”

Struck by a sudden idea, You Miao says, “Actually, I was thinking about putting down

some tea trees in the estate, but I don’t have anyone to do the work, didn’t have any luck

recruiting tenant farmers either. If it’s alright, would you mind keeping an eye out for me, and if

anyone comes looking for long term work, send them my way?”

The village chief doesn’t say anything either way, so You Miao continues with a smile,

“Sunshower Jade Estate is gonna give me twenty thousand tea saplings per year, the top of the

top Beauty Brow variety. Once the leaves are sun-dried into Springsun Guapian, it’s sure to sell.

The Empress Dowager was rather fond of it a couple years back, but it hasn’t been sent to the

imperial court as tribute these recent years, going to Banan, Shuzhong, and Hanzhong instead,

so my dad hasn’t bothered to plant it lately, and all the saplings are just sitting in the estate

collecting dust…”

The village chief asks, “Young Master You wants to plant tea on this mountain?”

“That’s the plan.” You Miao grins. “But I don’t really have any people, and tea trees take

a couple years to grow anyway, so I’m not in any rush.”

The village chief says, “Yeah, we’re all just making do year by year these days, there

isn’t even enough grain left over to feed people, so we can’t afford to wait the couple years it

takes for the tea trees to grow, and besides, tea trees are hard to care for…”

You Miao laughs. “My mom and dad spent their whole lives growing tea, surely the chief

doesn’t think me incapable of taking care of a couple of tea trees?”

The village chief replies, “You’re Lady Qiao’s son, of course you’re more than capable of

growing tea trees. I’m just afraid that tenant farmers won’t be willing to go, since it’ll take at least

two years for the tea trees to grow, but their families still gotta eat in the meantime, that’s not

something you can wait on!”

You Miao nods an ‘mn’ and says, “I was looking to hire some long term workers, but had

no luck since everyone’s gone home to celebrate the New Year. Chief, if you have any idle

hands sitting around in between harvests, let me hire a couple to open up some land for me. I’ll

make it worth their time, ten coins for every seven ares of land.”

“Alrighty,” the village chief says. “Sure, I’ll keep an eye out for you, send people your way

if anyone wants to earn some extra money.”

You Miao is quite satisfied with that; he knows that, toward the end of the year, there are

always people looking to make some extra money to pay back debts or buy new clothes for their

wives. With old man Guo helping, people will definitely come knocking within three days. With

that settled, You Miao gets up, bids his farewells, and heads out together with Li Zhifeng.

Li Zhifeng asks, “Wanna go to the market?”

You Miao, feeling all lazy, says, “I don’t wanna walk anymore.”

Li Zhifeng smiles, “I’ll carry you.”

You Miao grins and pushes him as he says, “Get out first, don’t be embarrassing in here.

Is the market far?”

Li Zhifeng replies, “It’s not far, just at the riverside pier.”

They leave Guo Village via the eastern road, then Li Zhifeng carries You Miao on his

back, the two looking just like a married couple strolling along the river bank—You Miao realizes

with a start, they really are just like a married couple!

You Miao tugs on Li Zhifeng’s ear and says, “Hey.”

“Hm?” Li Zhifeng answers.

You Miao was thinking to tease him a bit, but then can’t think of what to say, so he flops

onto his back with his arms hanging lazily over his shoulders, dangling to and fro as he whispers

against his ear, “Oi, I said, is the market far?”

He’s already asked that earlier, and is clearly just messing with him now. Just like how

he used to pull the same thing on Li Yan back at the capital, even though it never ended well for

him—every time he teased, Li Yan would shoot him a glare, smack him around, and then grab

and smooch him.

But Li Zhifeng’s response is only to turn bright red.

“I said…” You Miao is practically pressed up right against his ear now.

Li Zhifeng turns his head to look at You Miao, then abruptly presses their lips together.

You Miao closes his eyes; being carried on his back and kissed like this, something that’s been

accumulating in his heart seems to be melting away.

“It’s not far.” Their lips part, but Li Zhifeng’s face is still red as he keeps walking.

You Miao sticks his finger in Li Zhifeng’s ear and wiggles it. Li Zhifeng’s breathing

speeds up, and even his steps are faltering a little as he walks toward the river bank carrying

You Miao. His voice is a little unsteady as he says, “Was last night not enough to fill you up?”

You Miao laughs ‘hehe’ as they arrive at the river bank east of Guo Village. The corner of

Li Zhifeng’s lips tug upward slightly as he says, “We’re here.”

Past the high cliffs near the Riverwave Estate, the flow of the Yangtze River in this area

becomes calm and waveless. There’s a pier here for ships from Shudong, Badong, and

Jiangcheng to load and unload goods for transport past Guo Village, located at the lower

reaches of the river toward the northern regions of Yangzhou Prefecture.

There’s a lively market right in front of the pier, stretching out for at least half a kilometer

and lined with stalls on either side, half of which are selling fish while the other half are peddling

cosmetics, Suzhou embroideries, sea salt, and other food and every day items, and there’s also

a street performer with three monkeys.

You Miao strolls around and doesn’t see anything he wants to buy, but does feel like

eating fish, so he picks out two large carps and says, “Let’s have this for dinner.”

Li Zhifeng carries the fish while they stroll around some more. There’s a ferry moored at

the river bank with its sails open, hollering, “River——crossing——”

The two of them board the ferry and toss two copper coins into the bamboo canister, and

the boatman steers the ferry leisurely across the river.

“We should mark the borders of the estate,” You Miao says.

“Mn,” Li Zhifeng agrees. “We can fence it off, I’ll do it.”

You Miao says, “Actually, if we get some people to farm the lands near Guo Village, we

can just have those families watch over the land there, and then set up a couple of lookouts,

that should suffice.”

Li Zhifeng nods. You Miao watches the river streaming past; the waters here in the

Jiangnan area never freeze over, which is a good thing. There’s really too much to do, clearing

land for farming, planting the actual crops, building the waterwheel, recruiting farmers… and the

house still has to be fixed up too.

You Miao licks his lips and, looking toward the eye-rolling carps that Li Zhifeng is

holding, asks, “This fish is tasty, do you know how to cook it?”

Li Zhifeng answers, “I know how to grill fish.”

You Miao says, “Then I’ll leave it to you when we get back.”

The ferry reaches the other shore, and You Miao asks how many rounds the ferry makes

per day before following the crowd off. The pier that the ferry is docked at is two and a half

kilometers outside of Riverwave Estate, and they still have to walk back the rest of the way.

When they get to the entrance to the estate, You Miao notices a big pit that’s at least a hectare

large and overgrown with grass.

“This is a pond?” You Miao is suprised.

“Young Master You.” A skinny man is just squatting by a large pit smoking tobacco with a

long-stemmed pipe, and when he sees You Miao’s come, he greets with a smile on his face,

“Young Master went out? Didn’t see you around.”

“Mn,” You Miao replies, taking a few steps around the pit, “Where’s your house? What’s

your name again?”

The skinny man points casually to the west with the long-stemmed pipe, smiling

apologetically. “This humble one is called Zhu Tang. I was just scolded by the wife at home, so I

came out for a stroll.”

You Miao nods. With only the first look yesterday he knew this guy didn’t want to leave,

and when he said he was scolded by the wife, it isn’t hard to guess that it must be because he

came up to ask for a lower rent but didn’t succeed, and when he got home the wife gave him a

good talking to. But You Miao doesn’t point this out and only grins, “If I was to decrease your

rent by ten percent, would you still leave?”

Zhu Tang is dumbstruck on the spot. Just as he is about to nod, he seems to have

thought of something and stops halfway, “This humble one… will go back and ask the wife.”

“That’s fine,” You Miao replies. “I’ve already planned on lowering your rent, it’s just

everyone said you all don’t want to farm anymore, so I didn’t get a chance to say anything. Why

don’t you go home and discuss it with your wife. It’s not easy to find a good land to farm

nowadays. I’m not tricking you, and it’s better to farm for me than my dad.”

Zhu Tang laughs brightly. “Young Master is right, even north over by Guo Village the rent

for the fields is forty percent, I say.”

You Miao mn’s, then spaces out looking at that giant pit. This here should’ve been a big

lake, so how did the water dry out? The three of them walk along the lake and reach the

western-most side, and You Miao sees a creek. He then points to Anlu in the south. “This pond

doesn’t have water anymore?”

“It’s been dry for ten years,” Zhu Tang replies. “There was water in the past, and Uncle

Liang used to fish here too. When there’s rain in the spring and summer, the water sometimes

even overflows a bit.”

“Where does that creek lead to?”

“To Anlu Village,” Zhu Tang replies. “Our estate is good in everything, it’s just water that’s

inconvenient.”

You Miao nods slowly, but ideas have already settled in his mind, and he pats Zhu

Tang’s shoulder, looking all mature, before he and Li Zhifeng head back to the estate the way

they came.

You Miao only thinks time is moving too fast. He’s done practically nothing and it’s

already past noon. The two craftsmen are a pair of brothers, called DLiang and Xiao-Liang19

respectively, and when they see You Miao’s come back, they hand him a piece of paper.

“Everything that needs to be repaired in the front courtyard is listed on here, will the Young

Master take a look.”

The things drawn on the paper are also marked with plenty of notes, and normal folks

wouldn’t have understood, but to You Miao it’s nothing. “Tidy things up a bit first and go wait in

front of the main house. I’ll come momentarily.”

You Miao enters the study and spreads open that “Exploitations of the Works of Nature”,

then using it to match against what DLiang has measured, he changed a few places before

taking the paper back out, “Renovate based on this and we’re good.”

19 Big Liang and Small Liang

DLiang sees that You Miao is one who understands the trade and asks, “Young Master

also learned these crafts?”

“My mom studied under the great master once upon a time.”

Now the two craftsmen no longer dare to underestimate him, and go to busy themselves

measuring things out with rulers and marking places to repair with chalk and ink strings. You

Miao returns to the study and gestures at Li Zhifeng to push the desk close to the long couch,

then reclines on the couch and starts reading.

“Why don’t I go and watch over them?” Li Zhifeng suggests.

You Miao waves his hand dismissively, “No need, they won’t try anything funny. You just

need to go grill the fish a bit later.”

The puppy has come, curling in front of the bed and wags its tail. You Miao leans against

Li Zhifeng, his manly body warm, and he holds him. Being held like this, You Miao is distracted

and only feels his mind wandering, thinking about simply ripping Li Zhifeng’s clothes off and

committing debauchery inside the study in plain daylight.

But the craftsmen are just outside; if they are seen by accident, they’ll become a

laughing stock, so he can only hold it in.

You Miao digs out a “Treatise of Gongshu”20, and starts to immerse himself fully, enjoying

his reading, and moments later, all his little agendas become absorbed by all the mechanical

drawings within the book.

Gongshu Ban and Mozi are both equal in talents, and in this book, a very interesting

mechanism is mentioned——A cliff wheel. You Miao’s eyes light up instantly, and he spreads all

three books out.

“These three can actually be combined together.” You Miao mumbles to himself. Then he

speaks up, “Bring over the charcoal stick… let me see.”

You Miao spreads the map of Riverwave Estate over the table. “If this water wheel can

be fabricated, then this’ll be an investment of a million gains.”

The waterwheel designs from both Mozi and Gongshu are very good, but they’re not

quite suitable for use at Riverwave Estate. In this moment, a daring plan comes to You

20 Lu Ban, also known as Gongshu Ban, is a structural engineer, carpenter and inventor from

Zhou Dynasty. He is revered as the god of builders and contractors. “Treatise of Gongshu” is a

compilation of his work.

Miao——He will combine the two waterwheels, and create an apparatus upon the cliff that will

last forever.

If a cliffside waterwheel like this can be built and a canal is dug, then it can irrigate the

three hundred hectares of land in the southern part of the estate, then enter the lake from the

canal, before flowing to Anlu village via the creek.

Once the waterwheel and the canal are done, Riverwave Estate will truly become a

paradise on earth. Digging a canal is the easy part; the hard part is building a waterwheel with a

chain belt on that cliff hundreds of feet tall. They’ll have to set up scaffolding on the cliff and hire

at least ten craftsmen. And if the Yangtze floods, there’s no guarantee the waterwheel will hold

against the rising water levels.

But it’s the lunar month in the midst of winter, the water level of the river is low, so it’s the

perfect time to develop any water-related mechanisms. If they miss this chance, then when the

ice sealing the Yangtze is melted, building anything then would require swimming.

There’s no time to lose, they must act now.

You Miao says to Li Zhifeng, “Go dig the canal, starting at the cliff facing the river and

following the line I drew here.”

Li Zhifeng doesn’t ask any questions, he simply nods and leaves. As for You Miao, he

stays in the study for the rest of the afternoon, drawing and notating, calculating dimensions and

water capacities, determining where to fix the hinge, referencing both “Mohist Classics” and

“Treatise of Gongshu” while he marks everything down.

This will undoubtedly be a massive undertaking—getting the materials, the actual

construction, and then the scaffolding to put it all up, who knows if there will even be craftsmen

out there willing to take on such a dangerous project, climbing up the cliff to install the hinged

waterwheel, or if anyone will even have the skills for it.

While You Miao is scribbling away, Li Zhuang comes by with ink strings, line markers,

cutters, hammers, saws, hatchets and such, as well as nails and asphalt. You Miao goes out to

the courtyard to ask, “Did you get a cost estimate for the lumber?”

“To answer the Young Master,” Li Zhuang smiles. “It’s all written on here. I can’t read, but

I was afraid I might forget something, so I had a scholar write it down for me.”

It’s a list of lumber prices from Anlu Village, clearly written, from the more expensive

black sandalwood, white poplar, and maple lumber, to the cheaper birchwood and willow planks.

You Miao sits while contemplating it, mentally calculating how much it’s going to cost to build

this waterwheel.

Li Zhuang keeps glancing at the craftsmen renovating Shen Garden, and sends them a

greeting.

“Young Master wants to build more houses?” Li Zhuang asks.

“I want to build a waterwheel.” You Miao answers absently. “Have water flow from the

higher plains down. When spring comes the reclaimed lands will need watering, no?”

Li Zhuang nods and You Miao waves. “Why don’t you all come and rest a while, don’t

overwork yourselves.”

With a long-stemmed pipe dangling in his mouth, DLiang comes over to take a break,

puffing smoke. Even on this cold winter day, his back is covered in sweat as he heh-hehs. You

Miao shows him his drawings. “What do you think of this?”

DLiang doesn’t waste time on small talk either, and takes the drawing to give it a

glance. “Whoa! Young Master, you’re trying to build a big stack here.”

“D’you think this can be done?” You Miao asks.

The drawing is of a hinged waterwheel fixed to the cliffside, a humongous wooden wheel

with a hinge in the middle, pinned to the face of the cliff to be driven to rotate by the flow of the

river, the wheel in turn rotating a winch to lift water scoops full of water up the hundreds-feet-tall

cliff to dump into the canal.

DLiang can’t speak for a long moment.

“Young Master,” DLiang starts. “What are you…”

“What?” You Miao looks at him with a big smile.

You Miao knows DLiang thinks he’s out of his mind, so he explains, “Look here, there’s

also a sliding groove.”

You Miao points at the vertical sliding groove on the cliffside and says, “If the bearing of

the waterwheel is fitted inside, then if the water level rises during a flood, the wheel will rise with

it and not get submerged by the flooding, and if the water level drops during the dry season, the

waterwheel will likewise lower with it, this way, it’ll spin year-round. As for the water scoops,

these are just a plank, and a big water tank…”

“Gotchu, gotchu,” DLiang nods along. “I get what you’re doing here, it’s just that I’ve

never seen this kinda…”

DLiang looks at it over and over again. You Miao says, “Let me know if you see any

issues with it. What say you to staying here through New Years to make the parts for me? I’ll

pay you well for it.”

“This I can’t say,” DLiang says. “I’ll have to go back and ask the master.”

“Then when you’re free, go ask him for me,” You Miao says.

Xiao-Liang pipes up, “Our master loves these kinds of weird…”

“Watch your tongue!” DLiang is instantly angered and scolds, “What the Young Master

is studying is divine craft! You’re the one who doesn’t have the eye for it!”

Xiao-Liang can only hold his tongue. DLiang can see that this waterwheel isn’t

anything ordinary, and speaks up, “I will run back to Anping County for a bit.”

DLiang makes a copy of You Miao’s drawings and leaves. By evening, Li Zhifeng

returns. “Everything’s marked.”

You Miao is still notating and calculating, his head down. Li Zhifeng asks, “I’ll start

digging tomorrow?”

You Miao laughs. “By yourself?”

“I can try,” Li Zhifeng replies. “It’s just manual labour.”

“Alright,” You Miao says cheerfully. “Let’s do it together. Let’s dig a canal.”

Li Zhifeng en’s and goes to make dinner. You Miao stretches. With the coming of night,

Shen Garden is even more quiet, only a small puppy running back and forth outside, knowing

it’s meal time and circling about Li Zhifeng.

“Are we having fish?” You Miao is as excited as that dog.

“Un.” The corners of Li Zhifeng’s lips hang a smile as he slits the stomach of the fish,

taking out the gills. That big carp is still flopping, making the puppy bark madly at it.

Li Zhifeng washes both carps clean, and applies a heavy layer of salt and black bean

sauce, stuffing the stomach full of ginger slices, star anise, and dill. On the scales a layer of lard

is smeared, then four silver forks pierce, crisscrossing through them. A campfire is started in the

yard, and the fish are thus stacked over the fire to grill.

Once the aroma starts drifting You Miao’s drool immediately begins to roll, and he

exclaims, “I’ll go steam the rice!”

“Is it ready yet?” You Miao asks after he’s covered the steamer pot and comes back out.

Li Zhifeng gives You Miao a look. “No.”

“Is it ready yet?” You Miao asks.

“No,” Li Zhifeng replies expressionlessly.

“Is it ready yet?” You Miao asks.

“No,” Li Zhifeng replies.

“Is it ready yet…”

“No…”

The two continue their boring question and answer, until the scales have been grilled to

a beautiful golden colour, sizzling as the grease drips down. You Miao’s eyes finally see stars

and he falls immobile into Li Zhifeng’s arms, unmoving.

Li Zhifeng starts to laugh, and with one hand holding You Miao and the other holding the

two fish, he takes them into the main house. The moment You Miao is seated he starts to eat

up. This time it tastes just right; the skin of the carp is crispy and delicious, the fish meat tender

and fresh, but it’s the fish maw that’s the tastiest, using green onions, ginger, and other such

seasoning to stuff the stomach and with lard fused within, it’s truly the number one delicacy of

the world.

You Miao wolfs down two bowls of rice, and is so stuffed he lazes over the bed, unable

to move. Only then does Li Zhifeng use the remaining fish juices to mix some rice to feed the

dog, then he himself squats in the corridor and stuffs down his rice.

---