Chapter 15

Chapter 15: A Door to a New World

They had only walked half a street when Little Nan tugged Li Jin Zhu’s sleeve.

“Eldest Sister,” she asked, “Brother passed as a licentiate, so he has to attend classes at the county school. Is he going alone?”

Li Jin Zhu turned her head. “What are you thinking?”

“Brother can’t manage alone,” Little Nan said, smiling as if she’d been waiting to spring this on her. “If it’s just me and Brother, that won’t work either, and Brother can’t stop studying. Eldest Sister… how about we move to the county town?”

“You little kid,” Li Jin Zhu said, giving her a light pat. “Ever since you were small, you’ve had one thought—run to the county town.”

“But you have to think,” Li Jin Zhu went on, practical as ever. “If we all go, what about our paddies? From Little Li Village to the county town, it’s a full day’s walk there and back. And if we move, where do we live? What do we eat? Your Brother’s stipend rice—can it feed this whole family?”

“We can rent the land out,” Little Nan said without hesitation. “Rent it to Third Uncle. I think Third Uncle is good enough. We collect rent every year. Brother is a licentiate now—surely the clan can cover the cash for renting a house. And once we’re in the county town, we won’t be idle. We can weave cloth to sell. We can do a little business. Earning cash in the county town has to be easier than farming.”

Li Jin Zhu worked through it in her head, step by step, eyes narrowing the way they did when she was measuring cloth or counting stitch lengths. At last, she nodded with a smile.

“Business isn’t easy,” she said, “and we’ve never done it. But weaving…” She paused, calculating. “If we had three looms, I and your Second Sister and Third Sister wouldn’t have to go to the fields. In one day we could weave two bolts of cloth. Add Brother’s stipend rice and the rent… and if the clan truly pays the house rent…” She nodded again. “It’s not impossible. When we get home, we’ll talk it over properly with your Second Sister and Third Sister.”

She, too, wanted to leave Little Li Village. There was nothing there worth missing.

“Okay!” Little Nan’s voice lifted on the last word, bright as a bell.

They wandered until the sky darkened, then returned to the inn.

Li Wen Hua came back even later than they did—late enough for another cup of tea.

“Were you waiting long?” he asked, breathless and pleased with himself. “These Hang Zhou secondhand shops are everywhere. I looked around these streets first, then someone said the south city was cheaper, so I went all the way there. And it really was cheaper!”

He pulled out a mulberry-bark paper bundle from his chest and unwrapped it with exaggerated care, revealing a corner of deep indigo cloth.

“Look,” he said, thrusting it proudly toward Li Jin Zhu. “A long robe. Real Yangsi cloth. Only washed once. Look how fine the weave is. Look at the stitching. Only seven hundred cash!”

“Third Uncle ran around all day just to buy a robe?” Little Nan leaned in to look at the indigo corner.

Li Wen Hua shot her a look and ignored her completely.

To him, Little Nan did nothing but eat and sleep. He disliked that kind of person most of all.

“This is for Xue Dong?” Li Jin Zhu asked, and carefully touched the cloth.