“Yuniang, I’m taking you to school.”
Pei Shumin learned the truth of what had happened from Shen Mingyu.
It turned out that over the past half-month, Pei Shumin was lucky enough during the daytime to stay busy making a living, while at night, he would come home, light a lamp, and pore over his books. Every time she saw his battered, torn volumes, Shen Mingyu felt a heavy ache in her heart, and the red blood jade bracelet on her wrist felt extraordinarily heavy.
She hesitated through every deep, dark night, tossing and turning, unable to sleep… Until finally, she gritted her teeth and decided to take a portion of her personal savings to buy him a brand-new book.
Shen Mingyu had never attended school and was illiterate; she could only copy the stylized title characters from the book cover onto paper, stroke by stroke.
Carrying that slip of paper, she had stood by the shelves of the bookstore to compare the characters when a round-headed, large-eared man trotted over with a beaming smile. Claiming to be the shopkeeper’s cousin covering the store, he asked her what book she was looking for.
Shen Mingyu showed him the paper. The man let out an understanding “Oh,” and went to search. He brought back a pristine book, pointing at the four characters on the cover: “This is the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art you’re looking for!”
Shen Mingyu took the book and looked at it, comparing it with the writing on her slip of paper, but felt that something seemed off.
However, the fat man smiled heartily and said, “My book is indeed the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, but it uses an archaic calligraphy style. Most copies on the market are common editions, but this one in my shop is different—it’s a rare, sole-surviving manuscript copy by Wang Xun. Looking at you, young lady, you haven’t been educated, so you wouldn’t know, right? Characters have archaic styles too.”
“Oh, Wang Xun! He’s the Juren scholar who came out of our Pingyang County three years ago and later became a Hanlin academician. Every household knows him.”
“You only want the common edition?” The man glanced at the young woman before him. She looked a bit nervous, clutching her small pouch and biting her lip. He stroked his goat-beard and continued, “I do have common editions here, but they’re just cheap, mass-market goods for ordinary students, identical to what you’d find anywhere else.”
“They probably all sell it to you for six hundred wen, right? If you want it, let’s not haggle. I’ll make it cheap and give it to you directly for five hundred wen, just to do you a favor.”
The young woman pondered for a long time. Just as she was about to pull out her money, the fat man’s eyes suddenly darted around. “However, since you’re already buying, I think you might as well add a bit more and take this one instead.”
“The cover is newly bound, but look, inside are the red annotations written by Master Hanlin himself. If you buy a copy like this to take home, not only will it be of immense benefit to your husband, but even just sharing in his good fortune makes it worth it!”
Master Pei was a scholar. For a scholar spending ten years by a cold window, their greatest hope was nothing more than passing the provincial examinations to become a Juren scholar, gaining a good reputation to become an official. And Wang Hanlin was originally a Xiucai scholar who came out of a remote, impoverished backwater, stepping up step-by-step to become an exemplar for countless impoverished students today.
At this moment, Shen Mingyu truly hesitated.
She glanced at her meager pouch—if only she had a little more money.
In the past, she definitely would have bought only the cheapest option, no matter how extravagantly the seller praised the product.
But she thought of Master Pei—Pei Shumin couldn’t bear to buy books for himself, yet he had bought her a very expensive bracelet. Since she was already here and spending money anyway, shouldn’t she buy something good for Master Pei?
In the end, after much calculation, Shen Mingyu spent eight hundred wen to buy it.
However, when she stepped out of the shop and visited several other stores, she found out that this was no rare, sole-surviving manuscript of Wang Hanlin at all, but merely an old handwritten transcript! Because it was hand-copied, it was riddled with errors and omissions. Ever since block-printed books came out, such handwritten transcripts were almost impossible to sell, and no one wanted them.
Only an outsider like her, who had never studied or heard about these things, could be duped into buying it.
Shen Mingyu was furious. When she took the book back to the shop, she was driven out. The round-headed, large-eared man pointed at the large store sign and turned the tables on her: Once sold, no returns or exchanges. “Who knows if you soiled the book and want to take advantage of my shop to swap for a new one?”
This ordeal dragged on for a whole afternoon. By the time it grew dark, she had no money left either.
When she passed by that wonton stall in low spirits, her sorrow reached its peak, bursting through like a flood breaking a dam.
Who wouldn’t want to eat a bowl of hot, steaming wontons?
At that time, Pei Shumin must have wanted to eat them too. It was just that he had no money, so he bought only one bowl for her. Shen Mingyu touched her thin, flat pouch and couldn’t hold it in any longer, hiding in a corner with her knees hugged to her chest and her head buried.
Shen Mingyu thought he would be angry, blame her, and ask why she was so stupid. But Pei Shumin unexpectedly wiped away her tears and said softly, “Yuniang, let’s go home first.”
Having been cheated out of eight hundred wen made her heart ache severely. At first, Shen Mingyu tossed and turned, but later she gradually closed her eyes in his warm embrace and fell asleep soundly.
When she woke up, it was already noon the next day.
Today, Pei Shumin had not gone out; he was calmly wiping down a bright, polished low wooden cabinet in the courtyard.
“Mingyu, come, eat the porridge first.”
Shen Mingyu picked up the bowl and gulped down the last drop. Pei Shumin suddenly said, “Let’s go to the county town again. I’ll get the money back for you.”
Shen Mingyu was startled and quickly took hold of his hand as he was about to rise. “Master Pei, there’s no need! How could we ever get it back!”
Yesterday she had gone to demand a refund, only to be chased out and scorned as a vulgar, illiterate woman. In truth, they hadn’t mocked her wrongly. She didn’t want to go back and bring shame upon herself again at all.
“Even so, we must try.”
Pei Shumin spoke with an unyielding determination.
In the past, he had always been gentle; this was the first time Shen Mingyu saw a stubbornness in those clear eyes that insisted on seeking justice.
Pei Shumin frowned. “Shen Mingyu, aren’t you the one who cares most about money? Why are you afraid now, willing to suffer this loss in silence?”
The young woman slowly hung her head.
In the end, Pei Shumin pulled her back to that bookstore.
Shen Mingyu had always thought he was a gentle person, but until this moment, she suddenly realized how unyielding he was, as if she had never truly known him.
Pei Shumin slapped the book onto the counter first and demanded a full refund.
The shopkeeper was still the same round-headed, large-eared man from yesterday. Startled by this stranger of unknown origin, he turned his head, saw the young woman behind him, rolled his eyes, and seemed to realize who he was.
The fat man arrogantly folded his arms. “Customer, our shop has a large sign displayed right here: Once sold, no returns or exchanges. Please look carefully.”
“No returns?”
Pei Shumin sneered and stepped closer. “Since ancient times, though merchants have ten thousand rules, above them all lies the word trust. ‘If a person cannot be trusted, I do not know what he is good for.’ For you merchants, it is even more a matter of cutting yourselves off from the market. Today you use inferior goods to cheat people and force sales; tomorrow this rotten reputation of untrustworthiness and unrighteousness will follow traveling merchants north and south, spreading to all four cities and eight townships.”
Pei Shumin paused, his gaze cutting sharply across the store sign. His voice was not loud, but every word struck the ground heavily: “I am merely a poor scholar with a worthless life and a few pieces of silver. You may very well bully the weak using your strength. But since I can come here, I can also write your shop’s address, your sign, and your face into notices to post far and wide, spreading it day after day, month after month. Do you think you’ll profit more from this one-time deal, or that I can’t afford to risk everything to make your shop suffer a heavy loss in reputation?”
Without waiting for the man to react, Pei Shumin turned around to face the scholars passing by the entrance.
He acted like a tough nut to crack, completely fearless with nothing to lose. It was the first time the fat man had encountered such a troublesome person; he could only admit bad luck and hurriedly called him back.
In the end, Pei Shumin recovered the money, and the shopkeeper spoke pleasant words while compensating them with two extra books before the matter was settled.
On the way home, Shen Mingyu looked at the man beside her in awe and surprise. “Master Pei, you’re so eloquent! The words you spoke came out in perfect order, scaring people so much. I really thought you were going to fight him to the death.”
As her voice fell, Pei Shumin suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He turned around, his handsome face solemn and calm, staring right at her.
Shen Mingyu’s heart thudded. Knowing that she had done something wrong this time, she felt uncertain. Sure enough, Pei Shumin held her shoulders and spoke: “Mingyu, don’t buy books for me anymore in the future.”
She drooped her eyes and murmured uneasily, “W-why…”
Pei Shumin gazed at her intently, but at this moment, accompanied by a soft sigh, his eyes lowered further. “Mingyu, I am currently planning to earn money and no longer need to read so many books. Buying them is too expensive. Save your money to buy what you want… Books are still too costly.”
The string inside Shen Mingyu that had been pulled taut quietly loosened.
So he wasn’t scolding her after all.
She poked her head forward, her warm eyes looking straight at him—the man who clearly had a bright mind and a yearning for the sea of knowledge, yet was destitute and forced to struggle in the dirt.
Shen Mingyu looked at his hands beneath his gray sleeves; his long fingers were covered in veins and calluses from hard labor. She took his hand and whispered, “Master Pei, don’t think like that. I did all this because you are worth it. I still want you to study in the future. If you really manage to pass the exams and become a Juren scholar, then I’ll have the title of a Juren’s wife.”
She spoke lightheartedly, her eyes filled with nothing but admiration for him. That hopeful, warm light illuminated Pei Shumin’s darkness; he felt as though no matter what happened, someone would always stand behind him, believing in him.
“Mingyu, do you really think so?”
Pei Shumin raised his moist eyes and embraced her. At this moment, an even stronger thought took hold of his heart.
The dry heat of August quietly passed in the aftermath of this small incident.
The weather turned cool, and the muddy dogs at the entrance of the village no longer stuck out their tongues to catch their breath. In the blink of an eye, the harvest season of September arrived. Pei Shumin continued his business as usual, running to the county town every few days to transport medicinal herbs. As for Shen Mingyu, during her leisure time under the clear skies and light clouds, she helped the neighboring farmwomen harvest rice.
The ninth day of the ninth lunar month was a crisp and refreshing day.
Shen Mingyu helped A’qiu carry a basket of rice back. Just as she arrived home, she saw Pei Shumin packing a light pink bundle.
It was the bundle she usually carried only when going to the market.
Shen Mingyu walked over curiously. Pei Shumin was packing dry flatbread, eggs, and a new set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone into it. Finally, he slipped two pieces of broken silver inside before tying the bundle tightly and securely.
Pei Shumin looked at her large, round eyes, a smile curving at the corner of his lips.
He slung the bundle over her shoulder, tested it, and asked if it was heavy.
Shen Mingyu shook her head. “Master Pei, what is this for? Did you not go to Pingyang County today?”
“Not going.” Pei Shumin smiled and weighed the item in his hand, which jingled loudly. Only then did Shen Mingyu notice that it was a bulging money pouch.
Pei Shumin took her hand and walked out the door happily. Facing the bright morning sun, his clear voice echoed through the humble thatched courtyard: “Today, I’m taking you to report to Chen Village’s private school. Yuniang, when we see the Master later, we must first kowtow sincerely. Don’t be afraid, and don’t be nervous. I will always be by your side. Master Chen is a gentle elder…”
The morning sun warmed the young woman’s tender face, and mottled shadows fell layer upon layer, making her unable to open her eyes.
Shen Mingyu felt as if she were in a dream, unable to believe it. She felt that the hand held by Pei Shumin was truly so hot, so hot… Hot enough to pull her firmly through the quiet yet boundless rest of her life.