In this region, there was a custom, on the seventh night after death, the family would cook a meal and prepare an incense altar for offering.
Paper money was only common in large cities; small mountain villages simply burned incense and offered food instead.
Those with better means would include fish and meat, while poorer families would at least pick some fruits from their trees.
The offering was made at night, and the living were expected to avoid the room while it was done.
After the ritual ended, the younger members of the family could eat the food that had been offered.
Yun Cheng nodded. “Then I’ll help pick the vegetables and start the fire.”
They had gone shopping just yesterday, there was still plenty of meat and eggs at home.
Ye Cunshan had already thought through what to prepare. When everything was ready, the sky had not yet turned completely dark.
He packed the food neatly into a bamboo lunch box with multiple layers, then told Yun Cheng to see if there was anything else they should bring.
Yun Cheng shook his head at first, but then suddenly remembered the old wooden box.
He had always been particular about that box, but he hadn’t opened it for years. His memories about it were faint and blurry, almost as if they belonged to someone else.
“Wait a moment. I need to fetch something.”
He kept the box at the bottom of a bamboo chest. It wasn’t heavy, and even when he shook it, nothing moved inside.
When he opened it, a musty odor wafted out, making him step back. He fanned the air with his hand before carefully taking out what was inside.
Wrapped in an old handkerchief were a few broken pieces of jade, judging from their shapes, they once belonged to a pendant, a bracelet, and there was even a single gold earring.
There were faint markings on the handkerchief, drawn in charcoal and a reddish color that had darkened with time. The writing was no longer legible; the letters had been eroded by black moisture seeping from decayed straw, leaving only blotchy stains behind.
These things couldn’t be used for the offering.
He sighed softly, cleaned them as best as he could, then put the jade and handkerchief back in place, deciding to deal with them more carefully later.
Outside, Ye Cunshan was still waiting. The lunch box sat beside him, and in his hand he held a short bamboo stick, stirring something thick and white in a basin.
Yun Cheng froze for a second before realizing what it was. “You’ve been soaking that for so long?”
He had completely forgotten about it earlier, distracted by the irritation of dealing with the manuscript fee.
Ye Cunshan set the bamboo stick aside and stood up. “Fresh paper still has bits of pulp left in it. I thought I’d soak it longer to see if it makes a difference.”
The idea came from something Yun Cheng had once mentioned, that the bark of a paper mulberry tree should be soaked in water for about ten days before use. Since there was no rush, Ye Cunshan figured there was no harm in experimenting.
Yun Cheng didn’t ask further.
Ye Cunshan took his hand, leading him out as he said, “I asked Ye Liang to buy the incense stand and other things. It should be delivered to your house this afternoon. Check if it’s there, if not, I’ll go fetch it myself.”
Ye Liang was Ye Cunshan’s cousin. The first time Yun Cheng went to Weixian County, he had ridden in Ye Liang’s ox cart.
At that thought, quite out of place, he remembered the meat buns they had eaten on their way back that day.
Ye Cunshan had been with him the whole time, he hadn’t seen him buy anything else.
Yun Cheng said nothing, only lowered his head and looked at the path as if concentrating on his steps, though his eyes stung and blurred with heat.
The last time they’d gone to town, neither of them had much money. Ye Cunshan hadn’t chosen anything fancy, just plain, inexpensive items. Even the incense burner was made of rough pottery, simple and crude.
Thankfully, when they married, they had received a fair amount of silver from home. The offerings for tonight, meat, soup, and even a jar of wine, looked far from meager.
Yun Cheng didn’t know much about setting up offerings, so he held the kerosene lamp while Ye Cunshan arranged everything.
The main hall of his home was narrow and small. Ye Cunshan was tall, so he had to bend his back to work at the low table.
When everything was finally prepared, he turned to Yun Cheng and asked, “Are you afraid? Do you want me to stay with you?”
This night was called the “Returning Soul Night.” It was said that the departed would come home. The living stepped aside not out of fear, but to avoid being remembered and followed by the dead. Some families even stayed for a while, to speak, to share their longing.
Yun Cheng wasn’t afraid. So Ye Cunshan stepped outside to wait.
He left the kerosene lamp burning.
The table was low, and Yun Cheng knelt on the straw mat that Ye Cunshan had laid down. The thin flame of the candle cast light on the curling trail of white smoke rising slowly upward. He sat silently for a long while.
His heart was heavy, mourning the young Yun Cheng who had died, and thinking of his own family far away.
Counting the days, he realized this was also the seventh night for him.
He closed his eyes and whispered a wish: If there is another life, may you three be reunited, and live together in peace and happiness.
When the offering was done, he could finally go home with Ye Cunshan.
He had just stood up when he heard someone’s voice outside.
It was Li Qiuju. “What, I can’t pay my respects to my elder brother now? Are you going to stop me?”
Even through the closed door, Yun Cheng felt his blood boil.
That woman, she had driven his father to death, even tried to sell his child, and now she had the audacity to come here and pay respects?
Outside, Ye Cunshan blocked her way. Li Qiuju tried to force her way in, relying on the fact that she was a woman, he couldn’t exactly shove her aside, so she pushed forward, chest out, ready to barge in.
Ye Cunshan frowned, already considering whether a kick would be too much, when the door behind him suddenly opened.
Yun Cheng stood there with a fire stick in his hand, swinging it fiercely.
Not only Li Qiuju, even Ye Cunshan flinched in surprise, instinctively dodging to the side.
Yun Cheng rarely lost his temper, but her intrusion that night disgusted him.
His first swing missed, but he took two steps forward, clearly ready to go again. If Ye Cunshan hadn’t grabbed him, he might have actually brought the stick down on her head.
“How dare you come here? What right do you have? Aren’t you afraid my father will come back tonight and take you with him?”
Li Qiuju hadn’t come alone; she had dragged her young daughter, Yun Xiang, along.
In her panic, she pushed the little girl forward to shield herself.
The child, barely seven years old, burst into terrified sobs.
Li Qiuju didn’t care. To cover her guilt, she shouted louder, “You’re being unreasonable! You came begging us for money, couldn’t you see we have four mouths to feed? Isn’t it normal we couldn’t spare any? We even gave you an idea, didn’t we? If you had agreed to marry into Old Master Wang’s household, your father wouldn’t have died! And now you act like some saintly son of filial piety!”
Her words were barely out when a cold gust swept through the yard.
Li Qiuju shivered violently. Without another word, she grabbed her crying daughter and ran off.
Yun Cheng was still fuming. If she just cursed him and left like that, he knew he’d be too angry to sleep for days!
He tried to chase after her, but Ye Cunshan caught him by the collar.
Without saying a word, Ye Cunshan bent down, picked up a small stone, and with a quick flick of his wrist, threw it.
Almost at once, Li Qiujü’s knees buckled, and she went sprawling face-first into the dirt.
Yun Xiang’s short legs couldn’t keep up, she was half pulled along, half tripped, and ended up falling on top of her mother. Still dazed, she hadn’t even processed what had happened before Li Qiuju snapped, “Stupid girl! Trying to crush me to death?”
The child’s brief pause only gave way to louder, more hysterical sobs.
Yun Cheng winced. The shrill crying made his temples throb, but at least it helped him calm down a little.
He stared into the darkness. Because of his night blindness, all he could see were two shadowy figures fumbling in the dark, it strained his eyes and made his head ache.
Only Li Qiuju’s voice came through clearly: she was cursing about how the food box had fallen, the dishes shattered, and the offerings were all ruined.
Ye Cunshan took Yun Cheng’s hand. “Let’s go. She won’t come back.”
People around here were all superstitious. If anyone knew the customs of the seventh night, Li Qiuju did. She already had a guilty conscience, being frightened by Yun Cheng and then tripping like that would only convince her it was the ghost’s doing.
She would run all the faster.
Yun Cheng’s heart was still racing, a sharp ache spreading through his chest.
He slowed his breathing, inhaling deeply and exhaling in a steady rhythm. By the time they reached the riverbank, he finally felt composed again.
“Why do you think she came tonight?” he asked.
Ye Cunshan could guess, but he didn’t want to tell him the truth. It was the first time he had ever seen Yun Cheng lose his temper like that, he didn’t want to upset him further.
“Maybe she felt guilty,” he said mildly. “Afraid that… our father might come to settle accounts with her.”
He changed the form of address halfway through, “our father” instead of “your father.” Yun Cheng’s lips curved faintly.
He didn’t say whether he believed it or not. “Did I scare you just now?” he asked instead.
“No.”
Ye Cunshan’s answer was firm, as if the memory of that fire stick swinging inches from him didn’t exist.
The kerosene lamp, without a cover like a lantern, was quickly blown out by the river wind.
Half-blind in the darkness, Yun Cheng instinctively tightened his grip on Ye Cunshan’s hand and lowered his head, squinting to make out the path.
Ye Cunshan suddenly stopped and said, “I’ll carry you.”
Before Yun Cheng could respond, he had already crouched down in front of him, waiting.
Yun Cheng hesitated, embarrassed, he was a grown man, after all, being carried like a child…
But emotions could shift like the wind, anger faded, giving way to a quiet warmth that spread through him, wrapping up all the remnants of frustration in something soft and sweet.
He took a small step back. “I’m heavy.”
Ye Cunshan chuckled. “There’s nothing on you but bones. How heavy could you be?”
Yun Cheng put his hands behind his back, measuring his thin wrists with his fingers, and fell silent.
He stepped forward at last. “I’m getting on, then.”
“Mm.”
Whether on purpose or not, as soon as Yun Cheng settled onto his back, Ye Cunshan stood up in one smooth motion, giving a playful bounce. He carried him easily, not strained in the least.
His hands rested securely under Yun Cheng’s knees, holding him steady.
“I’ll take you to see where the paper mulberry bark is soaking,” he said.
Yun Cheng couldn’t see much now, so he closed his eyes and rested, his face pressed lightly against the warm curve of Ye Cunshan’s neck. He caught a faint scent on him, something clean and pleasant, though he couldn’t name it.
When he asked about it, Ye Cunshan only patted his leg, clearly displeased by the question.
Yun Cheng wondered privately, does he wear a fragrance pouch too?
They had soaked the bark twice: once by Ye Cunshan himself, once by Zhang Xiahei and the others.
Ye Cunshan had tied his batch with hemp rope and sunk it in the river, marking the spot with a short wooden stick.
“The barked ones are from the second batch,” he said.
It was easy to find, just follow the bend in the river where the villagers washed clothes, then walk about two hundred meters downstream.
After showing him, Ye Cunshan carried him back along the same path.
Yun Cheng’s house sat apart from the village, and at night, no one came by to talk or gossip.
Even Li Qiujü’s shouting earlier hadn’t drawn anyone out.
When they returned, the place was quiet except for the mess at the doorway, food scattered from the fallen lunch box, shards of broken dishes glinting faintly in the dark. The fire stick Yun Cheng had thrown still lay where it had fallen.
In the corner, the box of food Ye Cunshan had brought remained neatly in place.
Inside, the incense on the altar had burned out completely, as if someone had come and finished the meal already.
Yun Cheng began tidying up. As he worked, the anger he thought he’d buried flared again. “That woman ruined everything. Father probably couldn’t even eat in peace.”
Ye Cunshan closed the box, then reached out to pat his shoulder. “She came here and saw you standing strong, enough to scare her. Maybe that’s all your father needed to see to rest easy.”
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
A little coffee for the person who made these words happen? (｡•́‿•̀｡)
☕ 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