On the day winter arrived, heavy snow fell, wrapping the world in a mantle of silver. Looking out across the landscape, a thick layer of snow accumulated on the thatched eaves of the entire village.
As the lunar year was coming to a close, everyone had plenty to keep them busy. They were busy pickling vegetables, brewing winter wine, and taking the opportunity to go to the market to lay in winter provisions and New Year goods for the whole family.
With winter here, many households needed to add cotton quilts. Shen Mingyu was skilled at embroidery, so she and He Qiuxian took on work from the village that morning. The two of them busied themselves for the better part of the day and earned one hundred and seventy wen.
Toward evening, He Qiuxian heard that the earth wall of Shen Mingyu’s house had cracked and needed to be patched with mud, and that mouse holes also needed to be blocked up, so she warmly offered to help.
The thatched cottage belonging to the Pei family was much smaller than Tiezheng’s house, and even the land had been rented back when the aunt was still around. It was a tiny, simple, and dilapidated house, yet it was kept very clean.
There weren’t many things inside the rooms; just a simple wooden bed, a square cabinet standing against the wall holding the young couple’s clothes, and a square wooden table placed to one side of the lattice window. On the table sat candles, an inkstone, and a thick stack of worn-out books.
“Mingyu, I went back to my maiden home a few days ago. The younger brother of my sister-in-law is just like your husband—he also passed the imperial district examination to become a xiucai. He told me that there will be imperial subject examinations next March, held in Jinling, and these few days people can go register their names with the village bailiff. If your husband wants to go, he better hurry so he doesn’t miss it.”
Pei Shumin was the only xiucai in all of Baiyun Village, having passed the examination three years ago. At that time, he was only fourteen, the youngest among all the xiucais in the county town, and the villagers praised him as brilliant and promising.
With the title of a xiucai came an extra path to making a living. Back then, the young man was at the height of his fame; he traveled everywhere and earned a sizable amount of writer’s fees by helping people write letters and epitaphs.
The social climate always shifts back and forth. Over the subsequent two years, Pei Shumin did not continue taking further examinations; instead, he used the money he earned to marry a wife and dove headfirst into commercial ventures.
Shen Mingyu had once asked him why he stopped taking the exams, and he had replied that the higher one went in the examinations, the more money it cost. People as poor as them would have to clear out their family savings just to test.
The poorer one was, the harder it was to get ahead, and the official path was the hardest road for a poor person to walk. Since that was the case, why not switch to an easier path? There were plenty of ways to make a living in this world; why break one’s head trying to squeeze in with a massive crowd of impoverished scholars reading by their window?
“He doesn’t want to go,” Shen Mingyu said as she brushed the mud. “I asked him about it before. He thinks it wastes silver.”
“What a pity. Your Pei Lang is obviously so talented. What on earth is he thinking? Even the financial support offered by Village Bailiff Zhou, he didn’t want it.”
He Qiuxian sighed. What Shen Mingyu said made practical sense too. She recalled the younger brother of her sister-in-law saying that passing the xiucai exam was just the start. Across the many provinces and prefectures of the Central Plains, there were so many xiucais; after the subject examinations came the provincial examinations, and after the provincial examinations came the metropolitan examinations—and the metropolitan examinations required going to the capital for the grand exams, which took two or three months just by horseback. Between travel expenses, lodging, and greasing palms along the way, it wouldn’t cost any less than a hundred taels of silver.
Fortunately, though, Pei Shumin’s business was thriving, and he even shared profits with the villagers who gathered herbs. What did people live for if not for that mouthful of food? As long as they could make money, any way was a good way.
Thinking along these lines, He Qiuxian felt a wave of emotion. A clever person was clever wherever they went, with endless ways to make a living—unlike her Tiezheng, who only possessed an inexhaustible brute strength like an ox.
“Mom! Auntie! Time to eat dumplings!”
Just as He Qiuxian was muttering to herself, young Huige’er’s call pulled her thoughts back.
She looked down and saw her five-year-old son carrying a small basket out of nowhere, containing a bowl of thick soup that puffed out billows of steam in the freezing weather.
“Why did you come?” He Qiuxian grabbed her son’s hand and frowned, “It’s so cold, and your dad didn’t even put enough layers on you.”
“Mom, eat dumplings! Today is the Laba Festival, Dad made them!”
It was easy to see that the hot flour parcels had thin skins and were filled with her favorite crushed peanuts. He Qiuxian pressed her lips into a smile and patted her son’s shoulder, telling him to hurry back.
She scooped out a small bowl and shared it with Shen Mingyu so she could have a taste as well.
This was the kind of down-to-earth and lively family she had. Shen Mingyu put down her mud brush, sipped the piping-hot soup, and listened to Qiuniang complain a bit about household matters: “Aish, that household simply cannot spin a single turn without me. How long has it been since I stepped out, and the children’s father is already calling me back to wrap dumplings. The wretched way he wraps them, even he can’t bear to eat them. Mingyu, I’ll bring some over for you to see tomorrow. You’ve never seen such ugly dumplings…”
Though He Qiuxian complained, the corners of her mouth turned upward, bearing an inconspicuous smile.
Shen Mingyu sometimes envied Qiuniang. Qiuniang’s family was very large, with a mother who adored her, siblings from her maiden home, as well as her husband, children, and mother-in-law. Although they argued back and forth, it was ultimately a lively household.
Shen Mingyu plugged up the very last mouse hole, declaring her mission accomplished. She glanced at the darkening sky outside and urged Qiuniang to hurry back.
After everyone left, she fetched water to wash her hands, started up the fire to cook, and waited for a certain someone to return.
Creeak—screeech—
Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, Shen Mingyu knew he was back.
Today was the Laba Festival, and she had prepared fine-ground stuffed dumplings. She swiftly dished out two bowls of hot soup and placed them on the small wooden table in the kitchen where the two of them ate their meals.
“Brother Pei, time to eat!”
The moon cast a long shadow. Pei Shumin was standing by the cabinet, packing up the luggage he had brought back.
The young girl arranged the bowls and chopsticks for the two of them as usual. Today she was quite cheerful, because the household that hired her for embroidery had given her a whole pouch of copper coins.
Shen Mingyu hummed a brisk little tune. Right at that moment, Pei Shumin sat down.
He remained quiet, his face devoid of expression. Just as Shen Mingyu was about to pick up her chopsticks, his gaze swept across her and he said, “I went to Chen Township’s private school today to pay your tuition, only to find out you actually dropped out of school of your own accord and stopped attending?”
“Shen Mingyu, what is wrong with you?”
Pei Shumin’s complexion looked poor. It was the first time she had seen him display such severe anger. He slammed his hand down onto the table with a loud thud, the back of his hand raising rugged, reddish-green veins that looked terrifyingly like bulging roots of an earth tree. Shen Mingyu was startled and didn’t even dare to look.
Pei Shumin radiated an aggressive aura and was truly furious. He hadn’t touched a single bite of the porridge and dishes on the table, his stern gaze locked entirely on her face.
She buried her head very low, silently chewing on her food without uttering a word, when suddenly she heard that cold, icy command: “Speak. Why did you drop out on your own?”
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to get into the private school at Chen Township?”
Shen Mingyu shivered and bit her lip. She only wanted to bury her head and eat, but being terrified made her unable to eat either. As she picked up a piece of food, she couldn’t help muttering, letting tiny pearls of tears drop: “I don’t want to go. Knowing how to read is already enough for me.”
“Why don’t you want to go?”
Shen Mingyu lowered her head and stayed silent.
His scrutinizing, piercing gaze hovered fiercely above her head, and the atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point. Shen Mingyu couldn’t even eat her meal; she bit her lip over and over again, and suddenly raised her head, her tear-filled, resilient eyes looking right back at him: “Then why didn’t you go take the imperial subject examinations, Brother Pei? Wasn’t it also because you didn’t have money?”
All of a sudden, the tone froze completely, and the young man’s pupils trembled.
Her reddened eyes melted into his heart like a burned-out candle wick. Feeling a dull ache in his fingers, he gripped them tightly, paused for a good long while—a very long while—before softening his tone to say: “I will pay the tuition for you. Now we have money; I’m making money.”
Now that they had money, she could go. He knew she had always been a smart child, never falling short of anyone else.
Her dropping out on her own angered him more than anything else could have.
Yet seeing those red eyes, he was stunned, and in an instant felt a pang of regret. He shouldn’t have been so fierce with her. That was his Mingyu; how could he be harsh to her?
In the tiny thatched cottage, only the dim, yellowish light of a candle illuminated the room. The food on the shabby small wooden table was still steaming, and Shen Mingyu rubbed her hands along the rim of the bowl, her swirling tears fixed on the white soup—the family couldn’t rely solely on Pei Lang to make money; she also wanted to earn a few small coins to subsidize the household expenses. But they were still both too poor. Even though Pei Lang’s business was picking up, he would still be halted by the massive travel expenses required for the examinations.
They were too poor, far too poor. If only they had a little more money.
If she, and Pei Lang too, could just have a bit more money.
Thinking of this, Shen Mingyu felt a touch of self-disgust.
Bah, bah, bah! How could she think like that! Even though their days were poor, things would definitely get better and better. Pei Lang was already wonderful; she couldn’t always fixate on money and needed to see more of his genuine heart.
Through her teary vision, she seemed to see Pei Shumin’s fingers slowly crawling closer, curling up in anxiety. Just as they were about to reach the edge of her bowl, they stopped. She heard him take a calm, deep breath: “Yuniang, I don’t need you to do anything, nor do you need to earn money to subsidize us. You.”
“Tomorrow, you will come with me to Chen Township to explain things clearly to the teacher.”
Shen Mingyu refused, and Pei Shumin’s expression changed instantly, looking even more grim than before.
She didn’t dare look at him anymore, lowering her head to pinch her fingertips: “If you go take the imperial exams after the New Year, then I’ll go to school.”
With that said, not a sound was heard from across the table for a long while. The grass cottage was even quieter than the snowy night outside—so quiet that Shen Mingyu could hear her own breathing.
That night, neither she nor Pei Shumin had much to say as they silently lay together on the same bed.
This tiny wooden bed used to creak endlessly, filled with romance, but tonight it was eerily still. Listening to the sound of falling snow outside the house, she felt as if she had frozen herself as well. Previously, Pei Shumin would always hold her in his arms to sleep, but tonight he didn’t. He lay there with his eyes open in silence, staring up at the pitch-black roof beams overhead.
The bizarre atmosphere made Shen Mingyu uneasy, and she felt he was still angry. Pei Shumin had said before that he wouldn’t take the examinations, yet tonight she had forced him to go. She knew he hated being threatened the most.
Shen Mingyu felt somewhat insecure, yet covered by the thin quilt, she was truly freezing.
Finally, gritting her teeth, she couldn’t help shrinking into his embrace, awaiting the judgment of fate.
…
…
Suddenly, that sturdy, warm arm responded by holding her close.
Shen Mingyu was taken aback, her lips curving upward in joy as she firmly buried her face into his warm chest.
The young girl drifted off into a sweet dream, but he could not sleep.
Holding his wife, his gaze remained silent and contemplative as he stared at the pitch-black ceiling beams overhead—just like the pitch-black, difficult road of his own life.
Originally, he had laid out this path in advance, planning to follow it step by step.
He thought of that threshold at the magistrate’s residence that he had almost crossed time and again, which was nearly enough to change his entire life, yet he had given it up after weighing his options.
He then thought of Shen Mingyu’s narrow escape, and the treacherous winds blowing from the distant capital. Most people in this world lacked power, drifting like millet grains in the vast sea; even if one schemed as he had planned, eventually earning enough wealth from overseas trade to fill their coffers, there were no shortage of wealthy merchants whose fortunes were snatched away by greedy officials.
The young man’s gaze was distracted and heavy. After mulling over it all through the night, he knocked on Village Bailiff Zhou’s door the very next day.
Three days later, when Pei Shumin casually mentioned that he had registered for the imperial subject examinations coming up in the spring, Shen Mingyu cheered with joy and readily agreed to accompany him to Chen Township once again.
Pei Shumin packed up her small pink bundle and watched with a slight, amused smile: “Among all living beings, one might not even pass. Are you this happy just because I put my name down?”
Shen Mingyu hugged his arm softly: “I believe in Pei Lang; Pei Lang is better at it than all of them! If I don’t believe in my own husband, who else can I believe in?”
“Pei Lang, you know my embroidery skills are good. Since winter has arrived, everyone needs lots of cotton clothes and quilts. I’ll work hard to take on more orders and make your travel expenses!”
Pei Shumin glanced at her: “There’s no need for that.”
“You pass the exam properly and win me an official’s wife title to hold, and then I can enjoy the blessings too.” Shen Mingyu hugged his arm tightly without letting go, pressing against him softly as she raised her sparkling, bright eyes.
She watched as Pei Shumin’s gaze gradually grew murky and dark.
Suddenly, her head was cupped in his hands. Then, in an instant, the world went dark and she could see nothing at all, feeling only her soft lips being fiercely and deeply kissed by him—kissed until they were swollen and red, kissed until she ran out of breath and pushed him away hard, touching her lips with a flushed face.