Chapter Twenty-Two: The Children Are Well-Behaved

"Xinliu, I'll come visit you another day," An Yi called after her deliberately.

"Alright," Xinliu replied without turning her head, her steps hurried.

An Yi curled her lips into a smile—was this a strategy of retreat to advance?

Madam Luo poked her head out of the kitchen. "Xier, Xinliu has gone back."

"She said her family has things to do," An Yi replied.

"That child is destined for toil. So young, and already helping with farm work at home. She's not even as tall as the hoe yet," Madam Luo sighed as she returned to the kitchen.

An Yi followed her in. "Mother, why are you frying yellow bean meat again?"

"It's for your second brother to take to the academy for lunch."

"Mother, let's not have Second Brother bring cold rice cakes to the academy. I'll deliver his meal instead," An Yi worried that An Jian's stomach would suffer from eating cold food every day.

"No, to get to the academy you must pass two large ponds. The water is deep, and the road is difficult," Madam Luo stirred the yellow bean meat in the pot with a spoon.

"I’ll go with them, and I’ll be careful crossing the ponds," An Yi pleaded.

"No. If you deliver the meal and something happens—if you fall into the pond—your second brother won't eat in peace," Madam Luo picked up a small piece of yellow bean meat, blew on it, and placed it into An Yi’s mouth. She bent down to look at her. "Mother knows you care for your second brother, but he said you're not allowed to deliver his meal. It's just one more year of hardship—next year, when your second brother gets into the academy, things will be better."

An Yi chewed and swallowed the yellow bean meat. "Next year, Second Brother will go to the academy, too. Then it'll be just you and me at home, Mother. Why don't we move to the town? It would be easier for Big Brother and Second Brother to come home."

"It would be nice, but we don't have money to buy a house in town. Without a house, where will our little Xier live?" Madam Luo laughed, scraping her nose with a bent finger.

"I’ll earn money and buy a house in town," An Yi declared.

Madam Luo laughed heartily. "Alright, then Mother will wait for Xier to earn a fortune and buy a big house for Mother in town."

"Just wait, Mother. I will earn lots and lots of money, so you can live in comfort," An Yi said solemnly.

Madam Luo didn’t take An Yi’s words to heart; she continued to scoop yellow bean meat from the pot, laughing, "Alright, Mother will wait to enjoy Xier’s blessings."

An Yi stepped back and watched Madam Luo busily circling the stove. If fate hadn’t given her the chance to inhabit this body and live in place of the original, Madam Luo would have lost the child she cherished, and An Kang and An Jian would have lost their beloved sister—they would have been devastated. Xinliu’s mistake could not be forgiven.

The next day was the first of February. With the New Year over, there were no more taboos. Madam Luo moved the embroidery frame, idle for over a month, into the inner room and placed it beneath the window. She took out patterns, fabric, and threads from the chest, stretching the cloth onto the frame.

An Yi lay on the bed, watching as Madam Luo selected threads, threaded the needle, and began embroidering directly onto the fabric. She asked in surprise, "Mother, don’t you need to trace the pattern onto the fabric?"

"No need," Madam Luo smiled. "Those skilled in the craft don’t use patterns—they can embroider with just the fabric, the design is all in their mind. This time, the client specified the pattern, so I follow it."

"You’re amazing, Mother," An Yi praised, then stopped disturbing her and took up a piece of coarse cloth to embroider beside her.

After half an hour, Madam Luo put down her needle, covered the embroidery with a cloth, and said, "Alright, Xier, stop embroidering for now and have a rest."

An Yi stood up, stretched, crossed her hands behind her neck, leaned back, then rubbed her hands and pressed her palms over her eyes.

"Xier, what are you doing?" Madam Luo asked, puzzled by the series of actions.

An Yi lowered her hands and replied earnestly, "Mother, the book says this can protect your eyes. Embroidery is delicate work—if your eyes are damaged, you can’t embroider anymore. You should try it, Mother."

Unable to resist An Yi, Madam Luo followed her instructions. Afterward, she felt quite comfortable and laughed, "Xier cares for Mother best. Your two brothers have studied so much and never told me this."

"Big Brother and Second Brother read only serious books. This is miscellaneous knowledge—they haven’t read it, so they don’t know. It’s not that they don’t care." An Yi hugged Madam Luo’s arm, laughing sweetly. "Big Brother must study hard for exams; Xier doesn't need to take exams, so it’s fine for me to read miscellaneous books."

"Mother knows you are all good children," Madam Luo smiled, patting her head. "You went to the room where the books are kept and rummaged through the chest to read them."

An Yi lowered her head. "Mother, should Xier not have gone through the books?"

"There’s nothing wrong with it. Books are meant to be read—should we just let them gather dust in the chest? Those books were left by your grandfather and maternal grandfather," Madam Luo sighed gently. "Just treat them with care."

"I’ll take good care of the books," An Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

In the afternoon, An Jian returned from school. He didn’t write, but took off his outer garment and fetched a hoe from the woodshed, heading to the backyard.

An Yi followed behind. "Second Brother, what are you doing?"

"Turning the soil." An Jian spat into his palm and raised the hoe. "Once the ground is ready, Big Brother will bring back vegetable seeds tomorrow, and we can plant them."

An Yi exclaimed joyfully, "Is Big Brother coming back tomorrow?"

"Little Sister, you’ve muddled through the days. Big Brother has been at the academy for fifteen days—it’s about time he returned."

"Second Brother, you’re annoying. You’re the one muddling through the days," An Yi pouted.

An Jian chuckled, then bent over to work with the hoe.

The next day was the second day of February, Dragon Raising Its Head. Madam Luo put aside her needlework again, saying that the dragon ascends to the heavens on this day, and sewing would harm the dragon’s eyes.

An Yi found this amusing—was the dragon really so frail that an ordinary embroidery needle could harm its eyes?

An Jian didn’t have to go to school that day and stayed home to finish his assignments. An Yi sat in the courtyard, practicing her characters on a slate, writing each stroke carefully.

"Xier, Xier!" Liu Xiaoyi called to her again from atop the wall.

An Yi put down her slate and walked over. "What is it?"

"I can read now. Lend me your book so I can read," Liu Xiaoyi said.

"Wait a moment," An Yi said without fuss, went to the inner room, and found the book.

Liu Xiaoyi sat on the wall, and An Yi stood below. The distance was too great to pass the book up. An Yi stacked two stools together, climbed up, and stretched on tiptoe, trying hard to hand the book to Liu Xiaoyi.

"Little Sister, what are you doing?" An Yi hadn’t expected An Jian to suddenly call out. Her body wobbled, and she turned to him, "Second Brother, why are you shouting so loudly? You startled me."

Seeing her precariously high, wobbling, An Jian’s face turned pale with fright. He ignored her complaint and rushed over, holding the legs of the top stool. "Little Sister, come down, I’ll hold you."

An Yi ignored him, first handing the book to Liu Xiaoyi, then carefully crouched down, placed one foot on the lower stool, stabilized herself, and then brought down the other foot.

An Jian scooped her up in his arms, set her on the ground, and once she was steady, shouted loudly, "Why did you climb so high? If you broke your arm or leg, what then? If you hit your head, you could die! Do you understand?"

Liu Xiaoyi, clutching the book, slipped off the wall and ran away, utterly unhelpful.