Chapter Eight: Hu Yan Leifeng

Regarding his current body, Ning Yi didn’t have much confidence. Still, after several months of exercise, feeling a bit dizzy upon waking was normal; stepping out to catch the morning breeze soon cleared his head.

The sky was still dark, the entire city of Jiangning shrouded beneath the night’s veil. Yet dawn was near, and from the second floor, he could see scattered lights flickering across the city, including the Su family residence, both near and far. Early-rising servants moved between neighboring courtyards, their voices indistinct. Beyond the walls, the streets lay immersed in shadowy contours, with dim lights glowing from homes.

Across the way, warm yellow lamplight spilled through lattice windows, casting a comforting hue over the courtyard. The three young maids were always up early; Su Tan’er sometimes rose sooner, sometimes later, but it seemed she was already awake today. The silhouette of a woman dressing before a mirror appeared in the second-floor window, the little maids bustling about her. As Ning Yi stepped downstairs, Juan’er was just passing along the corridor toward the other building, bending her knees slightly in greeting and whispering, “Young master, you’re up.”

“Good morning, Juan’er.”

Then, the window of a downstairs room opened, revealing Chan’er, busy inside. “Young master, you don’t need to come down—I’ll bring up water.”

“No need, I’ll handle it myself.” The Su family had a large kitchen, so these two small buildings lacked separate cooking areas, but downstairs there was a place for heating water and washing. In winter, bathing required kindling under the tub, so the bathhouse couldn’t be upstairs. Chan’er had grown accustomed to Ning Yi’s early morning exercise, intending to bring hot water up, but he was already downstairs. As a modern man, he didn’t fuss over such minor things, and he’d even added wood to the stove on some mornings, leaving Chan’er flustered. At breakfast, Su Tan’er had gently said, “Husband shouldn’t do such chores.” Chan’er hung her head as if at fault, but Ning Yi merely smiled and said it was all right.

There was no need to deliberately flaunt his individuality; he wouldn’t do anything truly taboo, but neither would he suppress himself to become a complete “ancient man.” What would be the point of living here otherwise?

If they were truly to spend many years together—and if there was a chance they might become husband and wife—then rather than restraining himself over trivialities, it was better to let others slowly adapt and understand. So, he let himself show in such inconsequential matters, not minding if he occasionally entered the kitchen to stoke the fire. He would tell stories and share anecdotes with his students in class; that wouldn’t change. He occasionally used modern terms in conversation, and didn’t worry if others didn’t fully understand.

With old Mr. Qin from the Qin family, he could sometimes discuss more progressive ideas; even if they bordered on heresy, it didn’t matter. The old man had been an official, was knowledgeable, and thought deeply, not fussing over small things. They were simply chess friends, with no entanglement of interests. As the old man said, since Ning Yi had married into a merchant’s household, it would be hard to climb the ladder of officialdom; a gentleman’s friendship was like water—perhaps that was their state. The old man wouldn’t harm him. In all their chess games, Qin had been sizing him up, and Ning Yi had done the same in return.

Since friendship was possible, there was nothing to worry about. Occasionally, saying something ahead of its time and seeing the old man fall into deep thought satisfied Ning Yi’s vanity. It was just idle talk; the ideas weren’t absent in this era, only expressed differently. He knew better than to touch on truly sensitive matters.

Downstairs, as he brushed his teeth and washed his face—there were toothbrushes and powder now, though the taste was poor—he left the courtyard and took the path toward the side gate. Roosters were already crowing, the east faintly glowing, and occasionally he encountered maids or stewards from other courtyards, greeting him as “young master.”

Leaving the Su family compound, he continued jogging along familiar roads, pondering what to say in today’s lesson, and recalling a few Chinese-style songs he knew. Some songs he couldn’t fully remember, and their style didn’t quite fit the era, but entertainment was so scarce these days that he thought he’d better write down the lyrics before he forgot them entirely. After a while, he mused about poetry. He hadn’t been a diligent student, so deliberately memorized verses were few, but decades of wide reading had given him many famous lines—a useful resource, regrettable if forgotten.

After jogging a short distance, he realized his body was indeed troubled; yesterday’s fall into the water had left lingering effects. Still, some activity and sweating might help, so he pressed on.

Mist drifted through the city, much as the day before. Near the spot where he’d climbed out of the river yesterday, he heard movement from the water—not far from where he’d fallen in. Looking out, he saw a shadow moving about, seemingly steering a small boat.

He slowed his pace, approaching curiously. The boat rocked violently; a woman stood on it, struggling to steady herself with a long bamboo pole. She wobbled for a long time under Ning Yi’s gaze, then fell back into the boat with a thud. Whether she was the woman from yesterday morning, he couldn’t tell, but today she wore a pale pink cloak, tall and graceful, quite pretty—though her fall and the clumsy way she climbed up diminished her elegance.

The boat rocked fiercely. She carefully rose, one hand on the rail, her hair slightly disheveled. When she caught sight of Ning Yi watching from the riverbank, her eyes widened in panic. Ning Yi now saw the long bamboo pole had a net tied to one end, muddy and sandy, and the woman held a kitchen knife.

Ah, it was indeed yesterday’s knife…

The cloak was beautiful but somewhat worn. The woman’s swimming skills were poor, though she could manage the boat a little. She’d waited for early morning, when no one was around, to retrieve her knife. Was she shy? She must have come from a comfortable background, but her current circumstances seemed less favorable. Ning Yi observed her for a moment and drew his conclusions; he was not particularly concerned for others, but the woman was clearly flustered, trying to steer the boat toward the shore. Her nerves made her unsteady, nearly falling several times.

Then—

“Achoo—”

Just as Ning Yi was about to leave, he sneezed. The woman aboard sneezed as well, tumbling into the boat again. She rose, embarrassed, and glared at him. Ning Yi felt mildly awkward and muttered, “The chicken has already drowned—why bother retrieving that knife…”

A brief silence.

“The chicken came back…”

“Huh?”

Ning Yi had spoken casually—honestly, it was a very poor joke—but he hadn’t expected her reply. Her words from the river surprised him.

“…The chicken didn’t die; Aunt Chen from the Chen family found it.”

“…Oh.”

Yesterday, the woman had chased the chicken into the river, dragging Ning Yi in after her. He hadn’t seen the aftermath, but evidently the chicken had survived, flapped its way out, and was returned by the honest locals. Ning Yi silently admired their simple kindness and after a moment said, “Could you hand me that pole?”

The boat was some distance from the shore. The long pole could reach, but the woman’s strength wasn’t enough to hold it horizontal; the leverage made the boat unstable. After several attempts, the pole touched the shore but remained submerged, out of Ning Yi’s reach. He walked along the river, found another bamboo pole, and used it to pull the woman and her boat in.

“Thank you, young master…and for yesterday. I’d just woken up and did…”

The woman was not unreasonable; upon reaching shore, she apologized for yesterday, when she’d slapped him after being rescued. She seemed mortified. Ning Yi waved it off. “It’s nothing, really. I need to keep running, so I’ll be off.”

He turned away, sneezing again, ignoring her odd question—“Are you being pursued, young master?”—and ran off. Repaying kindness was as troublesome as revenge; beyond the practicalities, exchanging polite words of gratitude meant endless modesty, and etiquette between men and women was even more complicated. Why bother? He had a cold; sweating it out seemed more useful.

He’d run this route many times. At his usual turnaround point, he finally noticed the woman’s residence: a two-story house beside the river, quite charming, with a small terrace extending over the water—elegant, but likely impractical and cold in winter. The woman now stood by a small fenced vegetable patch outside the house; yesterday’s hen was inside the fence. She hesitated for a long time with her knife before entering to catch the hen. The hen fought back furiously, and she retreated, closing the gate quickly.

It was now clear she hadn’t done such chores before, and her circumstances weren’t good. Living in this kind of house, she was probably connected to the famous entertainment industry along the Qinhuai River—a woman of the courtesan class. Some renowned courtesans, once they redeemed themselves, would set up their own establishments, claiming to reform, though favored patrons still visited. They remained popular socialites, sometimes even more prestigious after gaining autonomy. She was beautiful—how had she come to the point of slaughtering her own chicken?

Ning Yi watched as he jogged past. The woman went inside again, this time catching the hen. But as she turned, the hen broke free, feathers flying. In the chaos, the hen escaped the fence. Ning Yi, unable to bear it, caught the hen with a firm grip on its wings, making escape impossible. The woman stared at him, stunned, perhaps about to thank or apologize again. Ning Yi reached out, “Give me the knife.”

“Uh…”

Ning Yi didn’t bother with her hesitation. He took the knife; a bowl was already prepared outside the fence. He squatted, holding the wings and gripping the hen’s struggling head to expose its neck, then lightly sliced with the knife.

“Young master…um…sir…”

“Sir, my foot. Is the hot water ready?”

“…It’s heating.”

“Good.”

Ning Yi, wasting no words, slit the hen’s throat and drained its blood into the bowl. When the blood was gone, the hen stopped struggling. He tossed it on the ground, placed the knife across the bowl, and stood up.

“Take it to the kitchen, scald the feathers off, then clean the innards. By the way, how are you planning to cook it? Do you know?”

The woman hesitated.

“Forget it—find someone who can cook, like the aunt who found your chicken. Don’t waste it; slaughtering a chicken isn’t easy. Also, see a doctor—you probably have a cold…so do I. I’m off, don’t thank me—I’m a living Lei Feng…ah-choo—”

He turned and jogged away, disappearing down the road. The woman watched him go, then finally frowned and murmured, “Living…Lei Feng? Living? Or Hu? Hu Lei Feng…how strange…” There was no such surname as Living, but Hu was possible. She mused aloud, considering he might be a minority, or perhaps his surname was Hu Yan—Hu Yan Lei Feng, which sounded rather imposing. Maybe that was it.

She had been quite adept at socializing in the past and knew many people, but this man had only seen her at her worst, and his behavior and speech were odd. Her usual responses didn’t seem to fit. After pondering for a while, Ning Yi had already disappeared, so she could only carry the old hen and the bowl of blood and head toward the kitchen…

That morning, Ning Yi taught at Yu Mountain Academy. His discomfort had worsened; after class, he vomited once on the way home, confirming his condition was deteriorating. Chan’er accompanied him, and upon returning home, he was treated like an invalid, ushered upstairs and tucked into bed.

He’d have to endure another couple of days as a patient, much like when he’d first arrived…

************

During this new book phase, clicks, favorites, and votes are indispensable. If you find this story worth reading, please give it your enthusiastic support. Thank you ^_^