The two of them had a simple lunch, and the blazing sun soon dried the straw mat, bedding, and mosquito net.
Huang Shi helped hang up the mosquito net while Liu Muli spread out the straw mat and took a long afternoon nap.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Wei Linye had already arrived at the prefectural city and was bidding farewell to the prefect.
The first time Ergou saw the prefectural magistrate, he was so overwhelmed with admiration that he hurriedly performed a deep bow, nearly dropping to his knees to kowtow.
The prefect, Zhang Huai, was an upright and honest official. Seeing the young man so excited, he couldn’t help smiling. Naturally, he didn’t let Ergou kneel and kowtow to him. Instead, he invited Ergou into the residence and had one of the maids bring him a cup of tea.
Ergou accepted the tea and hurriedly thanked her.
The maid was named Xianghe. She smiled and said gently, “You’re welcome. It’s what I’m supposed to do. If you’d like more tea, I can pour you another cup.”
Xianghe had a sweet, delicate appearance and was quite charming. Her smile was especially lovely.
At least, that was what Ergou thought.
He gulped down the tea in his cup, handed it back to Xianghe, and smiled. “No, thank you!”
Xianghe nodded, took the cup, and turned to leave.
Ergou didn’t dare stay inside the prefect’s residence any longer, so he went outside and sat by the entrance, waiting.
About fifteen minutes later, Wei Linye and the prefect came out of the residence together.
Seeing that Ergou was still there, the prefect smiled kindly. “Young man, are you still waiting for Linye?”
Ergou felt a little embarrassed and nodded. “Mm-hmm. I have to watch Linye-ge get into the carriage before I go home. Otherwise, I won’t be able to explain myself to Auntie and Sister Muli.”
The prefect raised an eyebrow. “You’re quite an honest young fellow. Not bad, not bad!”
After being praised by the prefect, Ergou was so excited that his heart practically floated. His face flushed red with happiness.
The prefect turned to Wei Linye. “Linye, is this your younger brother?”
Wei Linye raised the corners of his lips slightly. “No. He’s the youngest son of our Yunwan Village chief. His name is Ergou. He often drives the ox cart and gives the villagers rides wherever they need to go. He spent quite a bit of time taking me here today, yet he didn’t complain even once.”
This was one of the rare occasions when the usually aloof and indifferent Wei Linye praised someone who wasn’t particularly close to him, and he had even said so much.
Ergou was flattered and stood there somewhat dumbfounded.
“Then he’s quite a good young man.” The prefect understood the situation. He then looked at Ergou and asked, “Besides driving the ox cart to transport people, what else do you usually do?”
Ergou immediately replied, “I help my parents take care of the chickens and ducks at home and collect the eggs.”
The prefect raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Your family raises a lot of chickens and ducks? Enough to collect a lot of eggs?”
Ergou nodded. “Yes, sir. We have quite a few hens at home. Every month, I bring one or two baskets of eggs to the county town to sell. Sometimes I also sell some chickens and ducks.”
The prefect, Zhang, gave him an approving look. After thinking for a moment, he said, “If possible, how about bringing the eggs, chickens, and ducks your family has for sale to my residence every month from now on?”
Ergou was instantly stunned.
For a moment, he was too shocked to respond.
Wei Linye reminded him, “Ergou, what do you think?”
Ergou finally came back to his senses and hurriedly replied, so excited that he stammered over his words. “Y-yes! I can do that! Sir, I can! Thank you, sir!”
The prefect nodded. “Good.”
Then he suddenly turned to Wei Linye and said, “Linye, it’s getting late. You should get on the carriage and set off.”
“Yes. Thank you, Your Excellency, for your generous hospitality and all your help. I will certainly remember your kindness.”
The prefect burst into hearty laughter and patted Wei Linye on the shoulder. “You’re too polite, Linye. Go on.”
Wei Linye bid farewell to Prefect Zhang. The servants of the prefect’s residence carried all his luggage to the carriage, and Ergou helped as well.
“Go home. Please take good care of my mother and Muli.” Although Wei Linye’s tone remained somewhat cold and restrained, Ergou still felt as though his relationship with Wei Linye had grown closer.
He happily grinned. “Don’t worry, Linye-ge. I will!”
Wei Linye acknowledged him, lowered the carriage curtain, and the coachman cracked the whip against the horse. The carriage headed toward the city gate.
Because the streets were crowded with people, the carriage traveled slowly, with Ergou driving his ox cart behind it.
Once they left the city gate and the carriage headed toward the official road, Ergou stopped following.
Yet he didn’t leave immediately.
Watching the carriage grow farther and farther away, he suddenly felt empty inside.
He couldn’t help sighing. “Ah, I finally got to call him Linye-ge, and now he’s leaving. By the time Linye-ge comes back next year, we’ll probably be strangers again.”
In truth, Ergou deeply admired Wei Linye. He thought Linye was not only handsome but also exceptionally talented at his studies—someone rare throughout the entire Yongning County.
And he was fortunate enough to be able to call him “ge.” Linye had even taken him to the prefect’s residence, allowed him to meet the prefect, and spoken so highly of him that the prefect had taken a liking to him and offered him a monthly business supplying eggs, chickens, and ducks.
Ergou was both grateful and excited, and his little sense of pride was practically overflowing.
After the carriage completely disappeared from sight, Ergou happily turned toward the direction it had gone and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Linye-ge, don’t worry! I’ll do my very best to look after Auntie and Sister Muli! If anyone dares bully them, I’ll beat them into a pig’s head!”
With that, Ergou whistled cheerfully and drove his ox cart home.
Inside the carriage, Wei Linye could vaguely hear Ergou’s shout. His expression remained calm.
That had been precisely the reason he had said so much to the prefect earlier.
Now that Ergou had obtained such a business opportunity, the village chief would certainly remember this favor. If his mother or A-Li encountered any trouble, the village chief would stand on their side.
The image of that bright and lovely face surfaced in his mind. His fingertip brushed over the bite mark near the base of his thumb.
Just as the apothecary’s shopkeeper had said, the wound had indeed left a scar.
Yet he liked it very much.
But when he thought about how she was always so resistant toward him, refusing to do that with him, refusing to grow close to him, and even hoping that he would hurry off to the capital, his eyes narrowed slightly, turning cold and ominous.
He lowered his head and stared at the bite mark on the back of his hand before giving a soft scoff.
“So what if you resist? I insist.”
…
Liu Muli slept deeply at home, completely unaware of what had happened between Wei Linye and Ergou in the prefectural city, much less that her bite mark had left a scar on the back of Wei Linye’s hand.
When she woke up, she was the only one at home. Huang Shi had probably gone to the fields again.
Liu Muli chopped up the sweet potato vines Huang Shi had brought home at noon and put them into a large pot. She boiled them until they were soft and mushy, then mixed in some rice bran before taking the mixture to the chicken coop to feed the chickens.
The roosters and hens were fed separately in two long troughs, and they eagerly fought over the food, gobbling it down quickly.
After the chickens finished eating, Liu Muli herded them back into their coop.
Then she picked up a shovel and cleaned up the chicken manure.
There wasn’t much of it. Mixed with some dirt, it amounted to only about half a bucket.
She placed it in a corner and planned to use it later as fertilizer for the vegetable garden.