Right now, Ye Yan’s favorability toward Yun Cheng was at its highest. When the topic turned to writing novels, although he looked awkward, he still spoke freely.
“He did try once,” Ye Yan said,
“There was a period when he kept reading miscellaneous books. The academy teacher scolded him several times. If it weren’t for his essays being good enough to pass the exams, you can bet I would’ve heard about it and scolded him too”
“He knows he hasn’t set a good example for the village, and because of that, few families are willing to send their children to school now. Studying is hard, and most kids don’t have the patience for it. It’s rare for any child to really enjoy reading. With both sides unwilling, it’s hard even to get them to learn a few characters”
“But Cunshan’s different. He’s determined, willing to work hard, and much more talented than I am. He passed the county exam in just over two years, while I, truly a man who studied ten long years in the cold window, still haven’t managed to earn the title of xiucai. He’s much smarter than me.”
After that little loop of thought, Ye Yan took out two books, wrapped them neatly in a cloth pouch, and handed them to Yun Cheng.
“I think he did write before,” he said, “He bought paper but didn’t copy books with me. Later, maybe it didn’t sell well, so he stopped writing.”
Yun Cheng lowered his gaze, estimating inwardly that the payment for such writing, what they called runbi, or the fee for literary work, shouldn’t have been small. Otherwise, Ye Yan wouldn’t have secretly locked himself in his room to write after Ye Cunshan’s failed attempt.
Ye Yan sighed, saying, “It really does take talent. Just knowing a few words and reading a few books isn’t enough. One of my old classmates once earned a hundred taels for a piece. He’s moved to the prefecture city now.”
Yun Cheng was stunned. “That much?!”
Ye Yan chuckled. “Normally, it’s twenty or thirty taels, plus a set of writing tools and the finished printed book. That classmate was a special case.”
Yun Cheng understood immediately, it must’ve been a bestseller.
As it was nearly mealtime, he didn’t want to overstay. Thinking that earning money wasn’t shameful, he asked directly, “What kind of book did your classmate write?”
If he had the chance, he wanted to read it too, maybe learn something.
Ye Yan rubbed his nose, embarrassed to tell his younger sister-in-law the title.
Just then, Liu Yun called them for lunch outside. Ye Yan lowered his voice and muttered, “The Goddess Subdues Demons.”
Yun Cheng blinked. “…Ah.”
Alright. He understood.
Declining Madam Zhao’s warm invitation to stay for a meal, Yun Cheng left with both hands full, one bag of sheep’s wool and one of duck feathers.
The staggering amount of the runbi fee had lit a fire under him.
He decided to speed up his learning of traditional Chinese characters. When necessary, he’d have to act like a “genius”, that way, even if he learned too fast, Ye Cunshan wouldn’t find it suspicious.
And besides, it’d give him a good excuse to visit Ye Yan’s house more often, to “study.
Two birds with one stone.
When Yun Cheng got lost in thought, he tended to forget the world around him.
On the way back, he ran into Zhang Xiaohei and the other two again. This time, without Liu Yun around to shield him, their eyes turned openly hostile.
They didn’t actually do anything, just wanted to scare him a little.
But Yun Cheng didn’t even glance their way, let alone show fear.
Ye Hu happened to come out of his house just then. Seeing Yun Cheng walking out of his good brother’s home, carrying and wearing things, he snorted coldly through his nose, “Eating and taking things, shameless!”
Yun Cheng didn’t hear him.
He didn’t feel any of the malice thrown his way, and all the teasing and mockery from the onlookers rolled right past him.
Some villagers muttered as they watched him leave.
“Well, well, look at him now. Married a scholar, pockets full of silver, no wonder he walks with his back straight.”
“Exactly! Sold the land, too. Between the two of them, they’ve got at least thirty taels of silver!”
When he got home, Ye Cunshan had already prepared lunch. That morning, he’d sealed pork ribs in a clay pot and simmered them in the stove. At noon, he stir-fried some meat and cooked brown rice.
Even the pancakes were brushed with a thin layer of lard, stuffed with minced pork, mushrooms, and wild vegetables. They came out golden and crisp, the filling steaming hot and fresh, every bite bursting with different flavors.
Yun Cheng set down his bundles and went to wash his hands. He couldn’t help thinking the meal looked far too rich.
And the rib soup, there was only one bowl. His bowl.
He froze. “What’s this for?”
“To nourish you,” Ye Cunshan said.
The first thing that popped into Yun Cheng’s head was “to nourish me for having children,” and he instantly stiffened.
Ye Cunshan went on, “And there’s something I need to tell you.”
He was used to making his own decisions; ever since he was little, no one at home could really influence him. Outside, he was bold, confident, and never afraid to speak his mind.
But now, even after arranging everything carefully, he still found it hard to bring up what he had to say.
Yun Cheng grew nervous under his gaze. His foot moved restlessly under the table, itching to give him a little kick just to make him hurry up.
Ye Cunshan had caught those kicks twice before. This time, he simply trapped Yun Cheng’s leg with his own, keeping him still.
Then, after a brief pause, he said, “What do you think of my cousin’s household?”
Yun Cheng blinked, puzzled. “They’re… fine.”
Poor, perhaps, but honest, no scheming, no underhanded tricks.
Ye Cunshan asked again, “Would you feel uncomfortable staying there for a few days?”
Yun Cheng felt his appetite vanish. Wait, what?
Was Cunshan trying to leave him behind now? Maybe he thought that now Yun Cheng’s name was on the family register, the Ye family owed them a little favor. With someone like Ye Yan around, Yun Cheng wouldn’t be bullied, so it was safe to leave him there?
He stared stubbornly at Ye Cunshan, saying nothing.
Ye Cunshan felt guilty under that look and finally explained, “I went to see Master Du yesterday. We discussed my return to study, and I’ve decided to go to the prefecture city at the start of next month. The papermaking work won’t show results anytime soon, so I’ll use that time to travel.”
At last, Yun Cheng understood. It wasn’t that Cunshan wanted to send him away, it was that he couldn’t rest easy leaving him alone at the foot of the mountain.
“There won’t be long,” Cunshan added. “Maybe seven or eight days, at most until the end of the month.”
Earning money came before romance.
Not that there was any romance between them yet, Yun Cheng thought to himself, feeling his face heat up.
He tugged at his earlobe and asked, “How are you getting there? Are you traveling with someone?”
Traveling far in ancient times wasn’t easy, too many dangers along the way.
He remembered the gossip from before about the man named Yun Guangyi, used to be Yun Zhaocai before changing his name after finding work at the county dock. The new name sounded fiercer, better for scaring off river bandits.
That alone told Yun Cheng how unsafe the waterways were.
Ye Cunshan, chewing on a pancake, found it dry and reached for water. Before he could get up, Yun Cheng pushed the rib soup toward him.
“You drink it,” he said. “And tell me everything properly.”
Having someone at home, it felt… different.
Ye Cunshan’s chest felt warm and itchy. Under Yun Cheng’s steady gaze, he obediently drank the soup, then said, “There’s more in the pot.”
And after that, he began explaining his plans in detail.
In the past, he had traveled with merchant ships, doing work similar to Yun Guangyi’s, mostly guarding goods.
Because he could read, he was treated better than ordinary laborers and often helped tally cargo.
After a few trips, he learned which goods sold well in the prefecture city, where to buy them, how to bargain, how to hire guards, and how to grease the right palms along the way. The last time he’d done a trade run himself, it had gone so well that it funded a full year of study.
This time, he’d planned to do the same, to earn some silver before the next provincial exam but then he’d met Yun Cheng and stayed longer than he’d intended.
With another mouth to feed, expenses had risen, but so had his sense of responsibility.
Money was one thing; safety was another. He couldn’t bear the thought of Yun Cheng being left alone again if something happened.
“I’m going with Master Du’s merchant boat,” he said finally. “We’ve already agreed. We leave the day after tomorrow.”
That meant he couldn’t participate in the boiling process of the papermaking experiment later on.
Among the people he trusted, only Ye Yan’s family could handle the task properly.
“I’ll make all the arrangements,” he promised.
The only question was whether Yun Cheng could accept staying at Ye Yan’s for a few days.
Since Yun Cheng didn’t know the villagers well, he didn’t argue about the arrangements. He only asked, “When you come back, will you still travel with the same merchant? And aren’t you going as a trader yourself? Why would his boat take you to buy goods?”
His questions came too fast, almost like an interrogation.
But instead of annoyance, warmth flickered in Cunshan’s eyes. The corners of his mouth lifted faintly, and that sharpness that always lingered in his dark gaze softened.
Flustered, Yun Cheng shrank back a little, murmuring, “I just… worry about you.”
That one line delighted Cunshan.
Smiling, he got up to refill Yun Cheng’s soup bowl, and this time, his voice was lighter when he continued explaining.
On the way to the prefecture, they would pass through two county towns. He planned to get off the ship there to buy goods.
Afterward, he might join another merchant’s boat or travel part of the way overland, it would take longer, but he’d be able to trade more freely.
On the way back, he could either sell his goods at the dock for quick profit or make extra stops along the route to earn more.
That was why he’d said the timing was uncertain. Since he was already making the trip, he might as well make the most of it.
By then, Yun Cheng could only swallow his worries. Making money mattered too.
That afternoon, while Cunshan was sorting through the wool and feathers, Yun Cheng made him teach him new characters. Cunshan read a line aloud, and Yun Cheng would copy it carefully in the sand tray.
Watching him go back and forth so diligently, Cunshan began to recite the lines himself, one, then another, waiting patiently between each for Yun Cheng to write them down.
In between, Yun Cheng chatted idly, worrying about the chickens, rabbits, and pigs at home. “The rabbits are pregnant, and the hens are still laying eggs every day.”
Cunshan chuckled. “Then take them with you.”
He thought that would be the end of the day, just study and quiet talk.
But that evening, something else came up.
He had been putting it off, afraid Yun Cheng would be upset. But now, it couldn’t be delayed any longer.
It was the seventh day after Yun Father’s death.
In modern times, Yun Cheng would’ve just attended the funeral for a day or two. He hadn’t thought about this at all, but the memories of the body’s original owner were too strong to ignore.
Back then, Yun Father’s passing had shaken the village. Many who’d watched Yun Cheng kneel and beg for help were from the Ye clan. Some doubted his father had truly been ill, thinking the pair just wanted money, after all, most of them had never even seen a doctor.
Only when Ye Gen grew angry and stepped in did the villagers become uneasy. Under his and the clan elder’s direction, the funeral was handled properly.
In their village, only well-off families could afford a full mourning vigil.
The Yun family was small; Yun Cheng refused to let his uncle’s family interfere. Their house was cramped, but he still managed to hold the vigil and kept watch by his father’s coffin through the night.
Being a ger, he wasn’t even allowed to perform the traditional funeral rites like breaking the clay pot for the deceased.
But as an only child who’d relied on his father all his life, Ye Gen had allowed it, and no one in the village dared to object.
Barely after the burial, Yun Renyi’s family had come again, reminding him of the debts his father had owed to the villagers, “Your father’s dead, but he still needed a fine coffin and tombstone,” they’d said. “You can’t afford that. Better sell yourself to bury him.”
The original Yun Cheng, timid all his life, had finally shown backbone.
He sold their land and buried his father properly.
Recalling all that, Yun Cheng felt a prickling sorrow creep through his chest.
He turned to Ye Cunshan and asked softly, “Should we go to the grave tonight, or to my old house?”
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
Thank you for reading — and thank you if you choose to support the translator. ♡
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
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