While Madam Luo fretted, Shen Yubai set out with a wooden stick for support.
September was not a busy time for farming, but farm families were never idle. Whenever the men had a spare moment, they went out to the fields to pull weeds, catch insects, or spread fertilizer.
The women who stayed home were busy tending to the family’s chickens and dogs.
Shen Yubai didn’t need to pass through the fields to reach the clan school, so he encountered only a few village women and girls along the way.
When he grew tired, he sat down by the roadside to rest for a while.
He refused when people from the village invited him inside to sit.
He couldn’t risk giving anyone else tuberculosis.
There were no outsiders in Shenjia Bay; everyone in the whole village was related somehow.
Quite a few people asked if he was feeling better when they saw him out, and Shen Yubai answered each of them.
With the clan school there, Shenjia Bay had a strong scholarly atmosphere and great respect for scholars.
A scholar ought to have a scholar’s manners and bearing. If you didn’t greet the villagers, that meant you had no manners and had forgotten your ties to the clan.
The villagers would say you’d read all those books for nothing.
Damaging his reputation would seriously hurt his chances in the imperial examinations.
It took Shen Yubai a full shichen[1]A traditional Chinese time unit: the day is divided into twelve shichen, each roughly two modern hours. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717535_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717535_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); to walk that one-li stretch.
Though he wasn’t sweating all over like before, he had still worked up a little heat.
The clan school consisted of four large buildings of gray brick and tile. Three were classrooms, while the one closest to the ancestral hall was the school’s library.
Aside from the third-rank official[2]In many imperial Chinese bureaucracies, ranks were numbered from first (highest) downward. The Dayue Dynasty’s exact ranking system is fictional and unspecified. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717535_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717535_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); among their ancestors, the Shen Clan had produced a few lesser officials as well. Once they entered office, they wanted to repay the clan for nurturing them, donating money and books, among other things. As a result, the clan school had a large collection, neatly sorted by subject.
The man who kept watch at the door was an old Tongsheng[3]A candidate preparing for the lower stages of the imperial examination system who had not yet earned the shengyuan (xiucai) qualification. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717535_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717535_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); of the Shen Clan. He sat at the desk by the entrance all day, guarding the library; even when no students came to borrow books during class, he remained there.
Shen Yubai approached him, gave a student’s bow, and greeted him respectfully. “Second Granduncle[4]A kinship honorific for an elder man of a grandfather’s generation in the extended family; “Second” marks his position in the family’s ordering. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717535_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717535_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
By their family’s seniority, Shen Yubai ought to call him Second Granduncle.
The old man lifted his drooping eyelids and looked at Shen Yubai with cloudy eyes. “Are you feeling any better, Second Granduncle?”
“I’m much better, thank you for your concern, Second Granduncle. I came today hoping to borrow a book to read at home.”
Shen Yubai showed the old man not the slightest disrespect.
The old man had guarded the library for years and could tell you offhand where every book was.
Back when Shen Yubai’s father studied at the clan school, he borrowed books from this old man.
Second Granduncle nodded. “You were bedridden for three years. It’s time to take up your studies again. With your talent, you can catch up on what you’ve missed, even if it takes a little longer. But you haven’t fully recovered from tuberculosis, so I absolutely can’t let you into the library. If the other students catch it from you, I’ll lose my job.”
Shen Yubai didn’t try to force his way in. He asked deferentially, “Since I shouldn’t go inside, could I trouble you to bring a book out for me, Second Granduncle?”
Second Granduncle looked at Shen Yubai in surprise, and a rare trace of a smile appeared on his face.
“Which book?”
“The Veritable Records of Yue[5]In imperial Chinese historiography, “veritable records” (shilu) were chronological records of an emperor’s reign. The status of this particular book within fictional Dayue is not established. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717535_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717535_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
Second Granduncle soon brought out the book and handed it to Shen Yubai. Then he opened a ledger and had him write down the book’s title and his name before waving him off.
Shen Yubai bowed again and slowly made his way back, holding the book in one hand and his walking stick in the other.
It was noon, and quite a few men were returning from the fields for their midday rest. They greeted Shen Yubai as well.
By the time he got home, the Shen family had finished lunch.
Madam Luo said awkwardly, “We still have some meat. I’ll heat it up for you.”
She meant the food Su Jin had given them earlier. She hadn’t had the heart to eat it, so she’d wrapped it all up and hidden it in the bedding.
“It’s been so long. It must have gone bad,” Shen Yubai said.
Madam Luo took it out and smelled it. Sure enough, it was unbearably sour and foul.
Her hand trembled with grief.
It was meat, after all.
She had let all the meat she’d been too reluctant to eat spoil.
Shen Yubai had expected this. The September weather wasn’t scorching, but food still couldn’t be kept for more than ten days.
His mother had been too reluctant to eat it, and now all that meat had gone to waste.
But Shen Yubai hadn’t stopped her that day. He wanted her to feel the pain of it herself today, so she might change.
Shen Yubai sat on the kang and rested for a while, then got up again, leaning on his walking stick.
Madam Luo thought he was going to ask for something to eat. She wanted to stop him, but remembered that he was weak and couldn’t go hungry, so she said nothing.
This time, before mother and son had even reached the main room, Madam Zheng stopped them.
“Don’t come in. If you have something to say, say it outside!”
Shen Yubai stopped and remained in the courtyard.
He greeted her respectfully. “Grandmother.”
Madam Zheng didn’t bother to soften her expression. “You know when our family eats lunch. You weren’t home, so of course we didn’t save you any. And there’s no reason to cook at this hour.”
Farmers usually ate only two meals a day. Though the Shen family were farmers, they were fairly well-off and ate three meals a day.
After lunch, the Shen family would nap at home to avoid the fiercest sun, then get back to their various tasks once the weather cooled.
Old Master Shen was home too.
But he hadn’t said a word from inside.
Shen Yubai’s eyes darkened, but his manner remained mild and respectful. “It’s no matter if your grandson misses a meal.”
Madam Zheng was rather pleased.
She had finally managed to keep this grandson in line.
The anger she’d felt over the inkstone last time had eased considerably.
“What do you want from me?”
“I’ve recovered quite a bit and can take up my studies again. I just went to the clan school and borrowed a book. Now I’d like to ask Grandfather and Grandmother for brushes, ink, and paper, so I can practice writing again.”
Shen Yubai spoke unhurriedly, but Madam Zheng exploded. “The brushes, ink, and paper in this house are all Hongye’s! What makes you think any of them are yours?”
“Hasn’t the clan school been giving me my monthly allowance? Mother, help me go back to the clan school and ask.”
Every hair on Madam Zheng’s body stood on end. “Go back to the clan school for what?”
Shen Yubai turned to look at her. “I haven’t been expelled from the clan school. It’s supposed to give me a hundred copper coins each month as an allowance. The family hasn’t received it, so I should go ask what happened, in case there’s been a mistake.”
At last, Old Man Shen spoke from inside. “The clan has given you your allowance. It’s all gone toward the medicine you’ve taken over the years. You were too sick to study or write, so we didn’t buy brushes, ink, and paper for you.”
Shen Yubai lowered his eyes, hiding the chill in them.
He hadn’t taken much medicine over the years, and his mother had paid for it with her own dowry.
The Shen family’s money had to be spent where it mattered.
Hongye was where it mattered.
In the Shen family’s eyes, Shen Yubai was bound to die. How could they waste even a single copper coin on him?
Even the allowance the clan had set aside for its students—money meant for brushes, ink, and paper—would be used by the eldest branch to secure Hongye’s future.
But Grandfather was an elder. No matter what Shen Yubai thought, he couldn’t argue with him, or he’d be branded unfilial[6]Failing in duties of filial piety toward one’s parents or elders; in traditional Confucian family ethics, this was a serious moral accusation. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3717535_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3717535_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); and ruin his chances in the imperial examinations.
Shen Yubai answered obediently, “In that case, I’ll borrow some brushes, ink, and paper from another family for now. I can pay them back when the clan school gives me my allowance next month.”
Though he said this, Shen Yubai didn’t move an inch.
Inside the room came the sound of a tobacco pipe being slammed hard against the table. Old Master Shen was clearly furious.
The commotion was so loud that Madam Luo turned deathly pale with fright.
Shen Yubai’s expression remained calm. He stood straight and proud as a pine.
It was as though Old Man Shen’s anger inside the house had nothing to do with him.
Madam Zheng cried out, “Give Hongye’s things to him? Then what will Hongye use? Old man, have you lost your mind? Hongye is the eldest grandson! Hongye is the one with a future!”
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