It wasn’t possible for Assistant Yu to escort Ye Cunshan all the way back to the village.
He hailed an ox cart headed for a neighboring village and asked the driver to give Ye Cunshan a ride along the way, charging him three wen, a sum barely enough to buy a plain stuffed bun.
The cold wind on the road quickly sobered Ye Cunshan. Otherwise, his behavior was fine, except for the book he carried, which looked completely out of place.
He first stuffed it into his satchel, but near the village entrance, he took it out again and slipped it into the cotton coat he had bought for Yun Cheng.
After all, Yun Cheng couldn’t read; as long as his elder cousin didn’t see it, it would be fine.
Winter days were short. Ye Cunshan hurried, and by the time he returned, the sky had already taken on a dusky hue. He quickened his pace, heading to Ye Yan’s house to fetch Yun Cheng.
Yun Cheng was slow to warm up to people and timid around strangers, while Ye Yan’s family was busy with their chores.
Initially, leaving him here alone seemed reasonable, they assumed he would feel freer without anyone watching.
They didn’t expect him to return so late and wondered how Yun Cheng was faring.
When Ye Cunshan arrived, laughter and chatter greeted him from inside Ye Yan’s house. Curious neighbors peeked over with bowls in hand. “Uncle Ye, is there something to celebrate at your house?”
Ye Ershu had been worn down by the years of toil, his spirits heavy from life, and now he smiled so faintly that his teeth were barely visible, “The paper’s dried, the paper’s baked…” he said, a statement so abrupt it left listeners confused.
Ye Cunshan’s heart skipped a beat, he had a vague idea of what was happening. Aunt Wang pointed to Ye Yan, who was collecting paper in the yard,
“Didn’t he accidentally wet the paper? This is a precious thing, worth hundreds of wen at least! Now it’s dried and still usable! they must be thrilled!”
The Ye family had long supported a studious boy, living frugally. Though the villagers might have looked down on the family for indulging a scholar, they wouldn’t mock them openly.
After a few polite words of congratulations, the neighbors went back to their homes.
A few sharp-eyed onlookers noticed Ye Cunshan carrying a full backpack and two large bags, quietly clicking their tongues, “Cunshan, is it true your stepmother gave you twenty-five taels of silver?”
“Do you really think you’ll make it to the New Year with that spending?”
Ye Cunshan ignored their chatter, nodded absently, and hurried into the Ye family yard.
Ye Yan was already there. His cousin, usually so serious with a permanently downturned expression from constant reading, now had astonishingly bright eyes and spoke with unusual vigor, “Why are you so late? We’ve been waiting forever!”
He shut the gate without hesitation, blocking neighbors who wanted to chat further.
Ye Cunshan gave a brief explanation, “I had to go back to school and do some shopping today. Got held up.”
Not seeing Yun Cheng, he asked, “Where’s Yun Cheng? Did he go back?”
Ye Yan led him inside. Yun Cheng was in the middle of cutting paper, Zhao and Liu Yun attending him, one helping with the sheets, the other fussing over whether he was cold or hungry.
Ye Cunshan rubbed his eyes, hardly recognizing him. Yun Cheng was sitting by the main door, already aware of Ye Cunshan’s arrival. After an entire afternoon of pampering, he no longer had a shy demeanor.
He tapped the paper on the table, straightened his back, and proudly said, “See? I told you I could make paper!”
Ye Cunshan’s suspicions were confirmed, and he was pleasantly surprised. Ye Yan helped him unload everything, putting it in the corner. Liu Yun, seeing everyone settled, invited them to sit and eat, “Let’s talk while eating. Sit, sit.”
Yun Cheng stopped cutting paper, sheathing the small knife and putting it in the bamboo basket. The papers were neatly stacked for Zhao to carry to the house.
Ye Ershu brought over the afternoon’s prepared rice wine. Tonight, they insisted on a drink. Seeing the wine, Ye Cunshan sobered up immediately, recalling his earlier drunken antics.
Yun Cheng squeezed next to him as Ye Cunshan briefly explained the day’s events. Seeing the discarded drafts, he had an idea, why not turn the waste paper into new sheets? The experiment worked perfectly.
They didn’t know if wealthy families would rejoice over a few new sheets, but for Ye Ershu’s household, the minimum monthly cost of paper was measured by taels, this was enormous good news.
Liu Yun’s repeated efforts in the afternoon had given her a steady hand, ensuring the new sheets were uniform. Because they were eager, they initially used the stove to dry the paper, later adding a fire pan, even using a torch to speed up drying on the back of the bamboo screens.
Ye Yan poured wine, first toasting Yun Cheng, “I’ll remember this favor. If anything happens, just tell us. And if Cunshan bullies you, come find us.” Yun Cheng gracefully finished the entire cup.
He was a light drinker; a single cup of rice wine was enough to make him tipsy. Ye Cunshan stopped him, switching to tea, and they enjoyed the meal.
Though the family hadn’t prepared much, mainly eggs and fish, the fish soup was rich and sweet, the tofu cubes soaked with flavor, tender and smooth.
The steamed egg custard and fried egg pancakes were fragrant, with bowls of solid white rice for each person.
This meal cleared out the family’s last ten days of surplus food, yet they were delighted. Afterward, Ye Cunshan insisted Yun Cheng take a few sheets of paper home as keepsakes. He didn’t refuse.
There was too much to carry, so the two bags of wool intended for Yun Cheng were left temporarily, to be collected the next day. On the way home, Ye Cunshan held Yun Cheng’s hand.
It was darker than usual, and Yun Cheng kept his head down, silent. Ye Cunshan held his hand tightly, frequently glancing at him, emotions tangled.
Back home, they remembered the three lazy ruffians left behind to help. Liu Yaozu threw a tree bark at them, “Don’t bully people like this! We haven’t eaten all day! You come home so late, what do you want us to do?”
Zhang Xiaohei and Wu Dali echoed the sentiment. They had gone hungry all afternoon, and now the rice jar was empty.
Yun Cheng ducked behind Ye Cunshan, guilty. Ye Cunshan didn’t care, “What’s all the shouting for? I told you to pile the firewood in the backyard, dry the bark on the bamboo poles. Done? won’t you go home on your own?”
The three fell silent. They had to wait for inspection, what if Ye Cunshan was cunning, hiding things? But he returned without checking, waving them off. They regretted working so hard.
Yun Cheng watched their retreating backs, silently satisfied, and even wished that every time they bullied someone weaker, they’d hit an immovable wall and suffer the consequences.
By lamplight, Yun Cheng’s eyes finally relaxed. He decided to first gain freedom over animal organs and cure his night blindness. Then he followed Ye Cunshan like a little shadow, chattering about papermaking and their future plans.
He hadn’t gone into too much detail at Ye Yan’s house; they only learned how to turn waste paper into new sheets.
But for Ye Cunshan, he explained it thoroughly. He also brought up a practical concern, “By then, we’ll both be too busy. You’ll study, I can’t handle all this work.”
Ye Cunshan replied, “It’s fine. I’ll handle it.”
He boiled water, ground ink, and tried writing a couple of characters on the new paper. Yun Cheng leaned over, recognizing his own name, and blushed at the excitement.
Ye Cunshan didn’t notice and focused on the paper quality. Slight ink smudges appeared, but nothing major. He put down the brush and asked Yun Cheng if he wanted to practice writing. Yun Cheng shook his head decisively, why study on such a joyful day?
Ye Cunshan didn’t force him. He added a stick of hard firewood to the stove and organized the items in the backpack. On top was a large bundle wrapped in oiled cloth.
Yun Cheng opened it to find a long red cotton coat adorned with floral patterns, with pure white rabbit fur around the collar, a bright splash of color in their drab, dusty house.
Inside were black short boots, leather outside and fur-lined inside. Yun Cheng immediately wanted to return them, “You didn’t spend all the silver, did you?”
He was shocked, Ye Cunshan had spent eighty two taels, nearly half their family’s savings. At the time, drunk and irrational, Ye Cunshan had remembered he hadn’t bought Yun Cheng a coat, so he returned to the tailor.
The colors were bright, perfect for Yun Cheng’s fair skin. He naturally picked matching shoes.
Now sober, Yun Cheng was silent for a moment but accepted the coat. “Here, just keep it.”
Yun Cheng hugged the coat, torn between happiness at Ye Cunshan’s kindness and guilt over their poor circumstances. He shook it, glanced again, and a book fell out, a title in five large characters, Shen Nu Fu Yao Lu.
Yun Cheng went blank. Seeing Ye Yan secretly writing novels had already frustrated him; now his own male cousin was hiding novels too? What about the imperial exams?
Ye Cunshan, expression unchanged, placed the book on the table, cleverly flipping it to hide the title. Yun Cheng now didn’t care about the expensive coat, he just wanted to ask if Ye Cunshan also intended to write novels for money, and what the payment would be.
But Ye Cunshan, embarrassed by the book, didn’t linger. He quickly sorted the rice and flour into large jars, set aside the ribs, meat, and pork offal separately. He had selected only pig liver, intending to cook it for Yun Cheng starting tomorrow to help cure night blindness.
Yun Cheng’s mind churned with complex emotions.
After washing up, Ye Cunshan sent him to his room and placed the new coat on the bed. Under the lamplight, Yun Cheng shed his outer garments and crawled under the covers.
As Ye Cunshan prepared to leave, Yun Cheng called out, “Cousin, you said you tried writing novels before. What did you write? Can you tell me?”
Ye Cunshan twitched at the corner of his mouth, unwilling to recall the embarrassing matter. Yun Cheng, sensing something, pressed on with playful insistence: “Can’t I hear a bedtime story?”
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Emergency! Someone feed the translator. 🚨☕
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · I Shall Go With YouChapter 2 · You Are ResponsibleChapter 3 · Just make A DoChapter 4 · You Have To Hold MeChapter 5 · Live A Good LifeChapter 6 · Meet The ParentsChapter 7 · Lucky for My husbandChapter 8 · ThreatenChapter 9 · Turning Waste paper into NewChapter 10 · New Paper!Chapter 11 · He will look good in thisChapter 12 · Too HonestChapter 13 · Make Him HappyChapter 14 · WorshipChapter 15 · Feeling Sorry for moneyChapter 16 · I’m so reluctant to leave you.Chapter 17 · My feelings for him are no longer pure.Chapter 18 · Thinking about helping him in some wayChapter 19 · Buy one for my husbandChapter 20 · Cause troubleChapter 21 · Aftermath of the incidentChapter 22 · He led him home obediently.Chapter 23 · Why are you hugging me?Chapter 24 Part 1 · Sweet TalkingChapter 24 Part 2 · Sweet TalkingChapter 25 · You are my drean ManChapter 26 · I don’t fall for flirtingChapter 27 Part 1 · Teaching You How to Like MeChapter 27 Part 2 · Teaching You How to Like MeChapter 28 Part 1 · Picking up kid from schoolChapter 28 Part 2 · Picking up kid from schoolChapter 29 Part 1 · I Have a FriendChapter 29 Part 2 · I Have a FriendChapter 30 Part 1 · Pampering My HusbandChapter 30 Part 2 · Pampering My HusbandChapter 31 Part 1 · Don’t compare yourself with othersChapter 31 Part 2 · Don’t compare yourself with othersChapter 32 Part 1 · Come here and kiss me yourselfChapter 32 Part 2 · Come here and kiss me yourselfChapter 33 Part 1 · Let me explainChapter 33 Part 2 · Let me explainChapter 34 Part 1 · Little SecretChapter 34 Part 2 · Little SecretChapter 35 Part 1 · Going to the New Year MarketChapter 35 Part 2 · Going to the New Year MarketChapter 36 Part 1 · Please coax his little husbandChapter 36 Part 2 · Please coax his little husbandChapter 37 Part 1 · I want you to pamper meChapter 37 Part 2 · I want you to pamper meChapter 38 Part 1 · He wants to marry into the family!Chapter 38 Part 2 · He wants to marry into the family!Chapter 39 Part 1 · This is a separate priceChapter 39 Part 2 · This is a separate priceChapter 40 Part 1 · Husband, children, and a warm bedChapter 40 Part 2 · Husband, children, and a warm bedChapter 41 Part 1 · Biting SpringChapter 41 Part 2 · Biting SpringChapter 42 Part 1 · Isn’t managing you the important thing?Chapter 42 Part 2 · Isn’t managing you the important thing?Chapter 43 · Shameless!Chapter 44 Part 1 · Head of the HouseholdChapter 44 Part 2 · Head of the HouseholdChapter 45 · DatingChapter 45 Part 2 · DatingChapter 46 · You Were the One Who Got HookedChapter 47 · I Like Being Looked AfterChapter 48 · A Weighty AffectionChapter 49 · Go On, Say It AgainChapter 50 · There’s plenty of time in the futureChapter 51 · Karma and RetributionChapter 52 · Playing the “Villain”Chapter 53 · I’ll Be Very Gentle!Chapter 54 · Rural RomanceChapter 55 · Don’t CryChapter 56 · Unable to Afford TuitionChapter 57 · Coax MeChapter 58 · Do You Want Me to Keep You Company?Chapter 59 · You’re Not Good EnoughChapter 60 · WoofChapter 61 Part 1 · Are the Words “I Love You” Too Hot for Your Mouth?Chapter 61 Part 2 · Are the Words “I Love You” Too Hot for Your Mouth?Chapter 62 · My skin gets itchy if I don’t take care of it for a day.Chapter 63 · ClingyChapter 64 · Night TalkChapter 65 · Top Scholar TransmigrationChapter 66 · Imperial examinationsChapter 67 · Exams Over!Chapter 68 · You’re making fun of me as soon as you get back?Chapter 69 · Shameless!Chapter 70 · Truly unbelievableChapter 71 · One taelChapter 72 · Did you draw one for my brother?Chapter 73 · Bad LuckChapter 74 · Look like youChapter 75 · You’re so clingyChapter 76 · Careful your elder brother doesn’t beat you upChapter 77 · If you’re going to hit me, then just hit meChapter 78 · Cheng GegeChapter 79 · Thank you, DidiChapter 80 · Poor scholars from humble backgrounds usually have strong prideChapter 81 · Twenty two?Chapter 82 · Have you started preparing a new book yet?Chapter 83 · We’re PoorChapter 84 · I Still can’t believeChapter 85 Part 1 · But What happened in the end?Chapter 85 Part 2 · But What happened in the End?Chapter 86 · I’m a little kidChapter 87 · The person in this painting is my younger brotherChapter 88 · Yun Xiaocheng Even Has This SkillChapter 89 Part 1 · Preparations Before DepartureChapter 89 Part 2 · Preparations Before DepartureChapter 90 Part 1 · On the Road, a Transitional ChapterChapter 90 Part 2 · On the Road, a Transitional ChapterChapter 91 Part 1 · NarrativeChapter 91 Part 2 · NarrativeChapter 92 · Narrative, transitional chapterChapter 93 · Make you happyChapter 94 Part 1 · Burial and AdmonitionChapter 94 Part 2 · Burial and AdmonitionChapter 95 · Song Jin said she was very good to Cheng HuilanChapter 96 · She has a good older brother.Chapter 97 · Simplicity is the bestChapter 98 · HomecomingChapter 99 Part 1 · Going homeChapter 99 Part 2 · Going HomeChapter 100 Part 1 · AugustChapter 100 Part 2 · AugustChapter 101 Part 1 · How come you’re pregnant but still have such a slim waist?Chapter 101 Part 2 · How come you’re pregnant but still have such a slim waist?Chapter 102 · This is the love you have for me.Chapter 103 Part 1 · SeptemberChapter 103 Part 2 · SeptemberChapter 103 Part 3 · SeptemberChapter 104 Part 1 · Ye Xiaoshan, you’re so shamelessChapter 104 Part 2 · Ye Xiaoshan, you’re so shamelessChapter 105 · Ye Xiaoshan, what are you doing?Chapter 106 Part 1 · Daily lifeChapter 106 Part 2 · Daily lifeChapter 107 · The novel has many plotsChapter 108 Part 1 · Daily life + novel plotChapter 108 Part 2 · Daily life + novel plotChapter 109 · Monthly Exams and Daily RoutineChapter 110 · Mainly exams