Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Trifles
“You wrote it wrong. Rewrite it.”

“That one is pronounced Tang. You can’t even remember your own surname?”

“You make a neat, square mouth here. A mouth is a mouth—what are you drawing a circle for?”

Outside the window, Qin Hui Yin craned her neck to listen, lips pressed together to keep from laughing.

Li Tao Hua’s face twisted with disgust. “How did a man with a brain like Tang Da Fu manage to produce a son like Tang Yi Chen?” She huffed. “Could it be the Tang family saved up generations of brains just to give them all to one person?”

Tang Lu Wu stared at the window anxiously. She had never heard her elder brother speak to their father and younger brother like that. Even with outsiders, Tang Yi Chen rarely lost his temper. This was nothing like his usual self.

As if he could feel their eyes, the window banged shut from the inside.

The women outside fell silent at once.

Inside, Tang Yi Chen drew a long breath, forcing it down until his voice smoothed. “If you don’t learn these three characters tonight,” he said, “and you can’t write them smoothly, then you won’t sleep.”

He paused, looking from one to the other.

“And neither will I.”

Tang Da Fu and Tang Yi Xiao’s faces went gray with despair.

They didn’t dare resist. Tang Yi Chen already looked frightening. If they talked back again, they worried he might actually faint from anger.

Tang Da Fu muttered under his breath, half complaining, half in awe, “No wonder those old licentiates study for decades and still can’t become provincial graduates. Studying really is this hard.”

“Dad,” Tang Yi Xiao whispered, “what we’re doing is just learning to recognize characters. That’s basic enlightenment. I heard rich families start their kids at three.”

“At three they have to learn these terrifying things?” Tang Da Fu shuddered. “Those rich kids are pitiful.”

“I think so too,” Tang Yi Xiao said quickly. “Good thing our family could only afford to raise one scholar, or else I’d have to—”

Tang Yi Chen’s cold laugh sliced through the room.

Father and son both jolted as if slapped. They hurried back to their seats, tracing strokes and reading aloud, voices suddenly very obedient.

The village settled into deep night. The dogs slept. The wind quieted. Only Tang Da Fu’s house still held a stubborn thread of lamplight.

At last, Tang Da Fu finished the final stroke and handed his paper over like a child awaiting judgment, head hanging.

Tang Yi Xiao finished too and stood beside him.

One old face, one young face—similar in outline, different in refinement. But the way they looked at Tang Yi Chen was identical: cautious, hopeful, a little afraid.

Tang Yi Chen held out his hand.

Tang Yi Xiao immediately offered his paper with both hands.

Tang Yi Chen reviewed Tang Da Fu’s, then Tang Yi Xiao’s, expression unreadable. The silence stretched long enough to make Tang Da Fu sweat.

“Chen Er,” Tang Da Fu said carefully, trying to laugh, “count it as passing for your dad, alright?”

“Brother,” Tang Yi Xiao pleaded, “you can’t eat a whole fat pig in one bite…”

Tang Yi Chen set the papers down. “You both improved today,” he said calmly. “Dad wrote the Tang character well. Younger brother wrote the Tian character well.”

The bitterness melted off their faces.

“Hehe,” Tang Da Fu chuckled, grin returning like sunlight after clouds.

A knock sounded at the door.

Qin Hui Yin’s voice came from outside. “Uncle Tang, elder brother, younger brother—I made a late-night snack. Do you want to try some?”

Tang Yi Xiao sprang up and opened the door.

Qin Hui Yin stood there with a bowl of wontons. Chopped scallions floated on the broth, steam curling up with a rich, inviting scent.

Tang Yi Chen’s gaze flicked to the bowl, then to her. “Why aren’t you asleep?” he asked. “Don’t wait up again. Go rest. Don’t spoil them.”

“They’re learning from elder brother,” Qin Hui Yin said. “How is that spoiling? I just thought you worked hard teaching them, so I made you a midnight snack. Uncle Tang and younger brother are only benefiting from your effort.”

Tang Yi Chen’s mouth curved. “Are you treating me like a guest you have to coax?”

“I’m not coaxing you.” Qin Hui Yin stepped aside to let them take the bowl in. “I mean it. You’ve been tired for so long—eat something to build yourself up.”

Tang Da Fu and Tang Yi Xiao had been hungry for an hour already. They ate with the focus of starving men, the warmth of the broth loosening even Tang Da Fu’s stiff shoulders.

“Elder brother,” Tang Yi Xiao said around a mouthful, “I used to think you were the happiest in our family because you didn’t have to work, only study. Now I know I was wrong. You’re the one who has it the hardest.”

“It’s not that hard,” Tang Yi Chen said, taking his own wonton more slowly. “Studying should be done while you’re young. The older you get, the harder it is to remember.” He glanced at them, voice softening. “I’m grateful for what you’ve all done. Otherwise I couldn’t have studied in peace these past few years.”

“Elder brother,” Qin Hui Yin asked, “how is your injury?”

“The external wound has scabbed over,” Tang Yi Chen said. “As long as I don’t get hurt again, it should be fine.”

“That’s good.” Qin Hui Yin nodded. “Eat slowly. I’m going back to rest.”

After the bowl was emptied, Tang Da Fu shuffled off to his own room.

Not long after, he slunk back in.

Tang Yi Chen looked up from his book. Tang Yi Xiao followed his gaze, chewing the last bit of scallion stuck in his teeth.

Tang Da Fu scratched his head. “The three of us…” He hesitated, then blurted, “…we’ve never slept together before, have we?”

Tang Yi Chen’s eyes slid to the narrow wooden plank bed. “Dad thinks this bed can fit three grown men?”

Tang Da Fu made a show of not hearing him. He climbed onto the bed, wriggled into the innermost spot, and declared shamelessly, “It’s late anyway. We won’t sleep long. Just make do for one night!”

Tang Yi Chen’s brow rose. “Auntie Li won’t let you go back?” he asked, tone mild. “Does she think you learn too slowly and doesn’t want to share a bed with you?”

Tang Da Fu froze with his back to them.

A beat.

Tang Yi Chen sighed, helplessness flashing through his eyes. “Starting tomorrow,” he said, “we’ll learn two characters a day.”

Tang Da Fu let out a quiet breath like he’d been saved from execution.

Tang Yi Xiao looked just as relieved.

Tang Yi Chen pressed a hand to his forehead and picked up his book. “You two sleep first. I’ll read a little longer.”

He needed silence. He needed space.

—

When Qin Hui Yin woke the next morning, a delicious smell drifted from the kitchen.

She went in to find Li Tao Hua cooking flatbreads while Tang Lu Wu tended the fire. Breakfast was already nearly done.

“Why are you up so early?” Li Tao Hua said without turning. “From now on, Lu Wu and I will handle breakfast. Sleep a little more.”

“Okay,” Qin Hui Yin said cheerfully. “Then I’ll slack off.”

In the yard, Tang Da Fu scattered feed for the chickens. When he saw Qin Hui Yin, he called out, “Auntie Zhang has an old hen. Later I’ll go buy it to help care for our chicks.”

“I’ll go,” Tang Yi Chen said, coming out with a calm face that didn’t match the dark shadow under his eyes. “And I’ll catch two fish while I’m at it.”

“You didn’t sleep last night,” Tang Da Fu said, frowning. “Why don’t you rest?”

“I slept,” Tang Yi Chen said.

On the desk.

What else could he do? Someone had stolen his place on the bed. He couldn’t exactly drag Tang Da Fu off in the middle of the night.

Li Tao Hua smiled as she flipped a flatbread. “The grilled fish our daughter made last time was delicious. Today I’ll make it, and you can guide me. I should learn more dishes, or everything at home will fall on daughter. My delicate, tender-skinned daughter will end up worn out and rough.”

“Then I’ll keep slacking off today,” Qin Hui Yin said, biting into a scallion oil flatbread. “I have other things I want to do.”

Yesterday she’d decided to make her own skincare and washing products. That meant ingredients—some bought, some gathered. Since she wasn’t going into town today, she’d go into the mountains instead.

After breakfast and a bowl of corn porridge, Qin Hui Yin shouldered her basket and headed up the mountain.