After debating for half a day, they still hadn't settled on when to sneak into the Yan family residence again.
Yan Erlang gave her one last look, then glanced up at the sign hanging above on a long pole - the butcher shop name written neatly by Ying Xiaoman herself. He seemed to think of something, and said while suppressing his temper: "If you're not in a hurry, I'm even less so. We'll discuss it another day." Then he left.
With her mind preoccupied, Ying Xiaoman didn't haggle much with customers over small transactions, so business at the butcher shop moved quickly.
She managed to sell out of fresh meat before noon and closed up shop. Then, with two prescriptions in hand, she headed straight for the pharmacy.
At sixteen years old, although she had never encountered someone like Yan Seventh Young Master who was sincere in deceiving people (?), this concerned her adoptive mother's health. Since the doctor was a rare medical expert, she immediately started using the prescriptions and tonic recipes he provided.
The cough medicine prescription was quickly prepared, but the tonic recipe took visits to three large pharmacies. It contained seven or eight rare and expensive herbs, taking two hours to fully gather.
Assembling five packages of the tonic cost over three strings of cash - the price of an entire sheep went into it.
Halfway home with the five packages of medicine, Ying Xiaoman ran into a large group of officials blocking off Seven Scholars Lane.
"The Ministry of Justice is investigating a case," said an officer wearing a black robe with red trim, blocking both ends of the alley and driving away passersby. "Civilians must stay back."
Ying Xiaoman, carrying her medicine packages, squeezed through to ask, "I live in this alley. Can I not enter?"
After some questioning, the officer told her to wait off to the side.
Seven or eight other residents of Seven Scholars Lane were also stopped like her. Most of those coming and going at this time after noon were housewives returning from buying meat and vegetables.
The women gathered and whispered amongst themselves, "The Zhou family of the Ministry of Justice must have committed no small crime this time! Last time they were arrested, their home was already searched once. Now the Ministry of Justice has come to search a second time. Could it be they embezzled some important contraband?"
Ying Xiaoman thought to herself, would the grappling hook be considered important contraband? Probably not...
In any case, ever since Chubby Zhou was arrested last time, she had become cautious and moved the grappling hook to the butcher shop for safekeeping. It was no longer in her home in Seven Scholars Lane, so she felt more at ease.
After waiting at the alley entrance for a while, many chests and trunks were indeed carried out of the wide open doors of the Zhou residence, all loaded onto carts and taken away.
An official in a blue robe walked out carrying several volumes of books. He went straight to a tall figure in vermilion robes standing in the courtyard and said something in a low voice.
Ying Xiaoman's eyelid twitched. The more she looked at the side profile of the official in vermilion robes standing in the courtyard, the more familiar he seemed. It was clearly Seventh Young Master!
Yan Seventh Young Master took the books in the courtyard, flipped through them briefly, shook his head, and handed them back. The blue-robed official looked disappointed and turned to go back inside to search some more.
The sun moved slowly across the sky. Even with cloud cover, it was still unbearably hot. The neighbors waiting at the alley entrance all sought shade to escape the heat.
Ying Xiaoman pulled her conical hat down low and hid especially far away. She only occasionally peeked out to glance at the familiar figure in the Zhou family courtyard.
Yan Seventh Young Master waited for a while. The Ministry of Justice officials were still busy inside, unable to find new evidence for the time being. His thoughtful gaze drifted outside the courtyard gate.
A moment later, Yan Seventh Young Master stepped out of the Zhou family courtyard and walked east along the quiet alley towards the Ying family's door. He raised his hand to knock.
Ying Xiaoman couldn't help but take a few steps back towards the alley entrance, glaring from afar at the tall figure standing outside her door.
She knew her mother's temperament - always favoring family members. She had just angrily returned home last night, so her mother definitely wouldn't open the door for Seventh Young Master.
Sure enough, her adoptive mother didn't answer the door.
With a creak, Zhi opened the door for Seventh Young Master.
The little head with braided hair peeked out from behind the door. Seeing who it was, she smiled brightly and greeted Yan Seventh Young Master warmly.
Yan Seventh Young Master smiled too, patting Zhi's head. He didn't enter, but lifted his robe and crouched by the doorstep, chatting with Zhi.
Ying Xiaoman thought to herself, "..." She would spank the little girl's bottom when she got back.
Fortunately, her adoptive mother soon heard the commotion and came to push Zhi's little head back inside. She politely exchanged pleasantries with Seventh Young Master for a few moments, then closed the door.
Today's search of the Zhou residence turned up quite a bit of evidence, but it seemed they hadn't found the most important item.
Several officials rode horses in front and behind, surrounding Yan Seventh Young Master as they left from the west end of the alley. Some officers moved aside the wooden barricades, and the neighbors who had been waiting at the alley entrance for so long all returned home.
The hot wind blowing down the long street carried fragments of the officials' conversation.
Ying Xiaoman crouched in the corner by a vine-covered wall of the long alley. She couldn't make out the full conversation, but Yan Seventh Young Master's clear, melodious voice was easy to distinguish. A few broken words drifted on the wind:
"A little girl I used to know..." "Say hello..." "Unrelated to the case..."
Her palm gripping the medicine packages was damp with sweat.
From this distance, it was good that she could only hear his voice, not make out the full content of what was said.
Hearing Seventh Young Master's voice carried on the wind from so far away still brought a few moments of joy to her heart.
*
"Seventh Young Master just came by!"
As soon as she entered the house, Zhi came out to announce proudly, with an air of seeking praise. "Sister, I called him 'Seventh Young Master', not 'Seventh Brother'!"
In the end, Ying Xiaoman couldn't bring herself to spank the little girl's bottom. She just flicked her forehead once, saying, "Whether it's Seventh Brother or Seventh Young Master, you're not allowed to open the door for him anymore."
Zhi looked confused as she covered her forehead. "But Seventh Young Master was asking about you."
"What did he ask about me?" Ying Xiaoman walked towards her own room. "I'm usually not home anyway. Just tell him I'm not here."
"Seventh Young Master asked if you were sad when you came home yesterday, if you cried. I said you didn't cry, you were just angry. Seventh Young Master said being angry is better than crying."
"...Oh."
Even after sitting on her own bed, Ying Xiaoman kept replaying that phrase in her mind: "Being angry is better than crying."
That evening, as the sky darkened, the medicinal tonic was prepared. After helping her mother take the medicine and lie down, there came another knock at the door.
Zhi went running out.
Standing behind the courtyard gate, she suddenly rubbed her forehead. Having learned her lesson, this time the little girl didn't open up. She shouted through the door, "Sister says she's not here!"
Her adoptive mother, who had just lain down, choked and coughed intermittently, saying, "Even my youngest is silly, how worrying..."
Ying Xiaoman angrily threw open the window, shouting, "Zhi, come back!"
Someone outside chuckled softly.
The sound wasn't loud, mixed in with the rising and falling cicada calls of midsummer. It could easily have been overlooked. But for some reason, Ying Xiaoman's ears seemed to automatically filter out the noisy cicadas in the trees, yet acutely picked up on the sound from outside the door.
It was Seventh Young Master standing outside.
In that instant, what came to her mind was again that phrase "Being angry is better than crying."
"Why is being angry better than crying?"
After chasing Zhi back to her room to sleep, it was Ying Xiaoman's turn to stand behind the courtyard gate. She asked crisply through the closed door.
The anger in her heart hadn't subsided, and her voice still carried a sulky tone. "When I cry, I only cry in my room. But when I get angry, I go out seeking revenge."
Sure enough, it was Yan Seventh Young Master standing outside in the night.
"When you get angry and go out seeking revenge, others suffer. When you hide in your room crying, you yourself are sad."
Seventh Young Master gazed at the tightly closed door before him, his voice less composed than usual as he sighed softly.
"When I left the alley this afternoon, I saw you from far away. You were hiding by the wall at the alley entrance, wearing a dark blue collarless thin shirt, right?"
There was no response from behind the closed door.
The cicadas chirped noisily all around.
Her adoptive mother, lying in bed trying to lull Zhi to sleep, grew concerned when she hadn't heard any movement for a while. When she finally looked out the window, she saw Ying Xiaoman open the courtyard gate and walk out into the moonlight.
"Huh?" Zhi also poked her little head out the window, asking in confusion, "Sister wouldn't let me open the door, so why is she opening it herself—"
"Shh, little ones should sleep. Don't worry about your sister's business."
Her adoptive mother muttered softly, "What's going on between her and Seventh Young Master? The more I see, the more confused I am. How worrying."
The crescent moon passed over the courtyard wall.
Ying Xiaoman stood by the half-open door. Yan Seventh Young Master was somewhat surprised, yet overjoyed. He gently explained their unhappy parting at the teahouse:
"Xiaoman, I didn't lie to you with a single word last night."
"Think carefully, of course I have a formal name besides being called 'Seventh Young Master'—"
Ying Xiaoman immediately cut him off.
Still with that tone carrying three parts sulky anger, she said crisply, "Don't speak."
So Yan Seventh Young Master closed his mouth, his gaze following her.
Ying Xiaoman forbade him from speaking, yet she remained standing by the door without leaving. Her clear eyes stared unblinkingly, with seven parts wariness and three parts unease, face to face with the young man outside the door.
After pondering for a moment, Yan Seventh Young Master tried a safer topic, "Tonight I brought—"
"I told you not to speak!"
Yan Seventh Young Master immediately closed his mouth again.
Under the moonlight, the two gazed at each other, Ying Xiaoman still lingering by the door, her clear eyes now showing seven parts irritation instead of wariness. She refused to let the young man outside speak, yet stubbornly remained silent herself.
After a wordless exchange of looks, as the moonlight crept up the treetops, Yan Seventh Young Master seemed to suddenly understand something. He walked over and took her hand.
Her slender fingers curled slightly but didn't pull away.
Silently, the pair walked hand in hand along the edge of the alley under the moonlight.
Ying Xiaoman turned her head to the side, suppressing a smile.
When Yan Seventh Young Master opened his mouth, he was a liar. But when silent, he was still the Seventh Young Master she loved.
She loved everything about him - the warm, strong hand clasping hers, his tall figure like pine and bamboo in the moonlight, the soft breathing beside her, the faint fragrance of incense on his clothes.
The distant cicada chirps emphasized the quiet around them. As they walked, she began to worry again. A living person couldn't be mute forever, a silent Seventh Young Master. As soon as he spoke... her Seventh Young Master would turn back into the deceiver Yan Seventh!
She couldn't hold it in, the more she thought about it, the more she struggled.
Just as her thoughts were tangled in knots, the Yan Seventh Young Master beside her suddenly spoke!
"The prescription I sent yesterday—"
Ying Xiaoman's gaze snapped to him, still seven parts wary and three parts uneasy, as she listened to him finish, "—did your mother use it?"
After a pause, Yan Seventh Young Master asked, "Was there anything improper in what I said?"
The unease in Ying Xiaoman's eyes faded slightly, though wariness remained.
"We've been using it today. The tonic hasn't shown much effect yet. But the cough medicine made her much more comfortable this afternoon."
"The tonic needs to be taken long-term," Seventh Young Master continued on the topic. "I came over tonight because I had prepared half a month's worth of medicinal food packages. I was going to leave them by your door and just wanted to let you know, but you opened the door and glared at me angrily, telling me not to speak." He lifted their clasped hands. "—You just pulled me out directly."
What does he mean by 'pulled out'...
Ying Xiaoman couldn't help it, turning her head to the side and smiling with curved eyes.
The hand holding hers tightened slightly. Seventh Young Master spoke as they walked slowly:
"Though anger is better than tears, it's best not to be angry when one can be well. We came out early today, shall I treat you to some late-night snacks?"
They had indeed come out early. The crescent moon had just passed the treetops, and the summer night streets of the Capital City were busy everywhere.
Exiting the quiet alley to the west, they walked a few hundred paces along the main street. Bright shops lined both sides, with wine houses raising festive red and green banners, teahouses buzzing with chatter, and street food stalls billowing with steam.
Hand in hand, they strolled quietly down the street. Ying Xiaoman would occasionally cast a wary glance, while Yan Seventh Young Master remained silent along the way.
Until they approached a crowded late-night food stall, he suddenly tugged Ying Xiaoman's hand, gesturing to squeeze in.
The stall owner clearly recognized Yan Seventh Young Master, pushing through to exchange greetings and jokes, then hollering to find them seats among the packed diners.
Moments later, a plate of iced sugar tangyuan[1] was served in front of each of them.
The reason this stall's iced tangyuan was so popular was its generous ingredients. Besides the plump, floury tangyuan balls in the white porcelain dish, there were also colorful diced fresh fruits. Shaved ice was piled into a peak and drizzled with syrup. On such a hot day, just one glance brought a sweet and cool feeling to the heart.
"It's been years since I've had iced tangyuan," Yan Seventh Young Master reminisced, scooping up a few of the floury balls. "As a youth, I would often sneak out on my way to and from school to eat them. Once, halfway through eating, I unexpectedly ran into Eighth Young Master Yan sitting across from me. It turned out he had also snuck out after school to eat iced tangyuan. We stared at each other awkwardly, pretending not to see each other, silently finishing our food at the same long table before heading home by separate routes."
Imagining the awkward scene, Ying Xiaoman couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"So your relationship with Eighth Young Master Yan wasn't good originally? He's listened to your advice several times, I thought you brothers got along well."
"Legitimate and illegitimate brothers in large families rarely get along if they happen to be born in the same year. As we grew up, well, Eighth Young Master became more obedient and often listens to my advice now."
Seventh Young Master brushed past the topic lightly. "What about you? What did you eat and play during summers in your hometown as a child?"
Oh, there was so much. Ying Xiaoman counted on her fingers:
"We'd go to the river early in the morning before it got too hot to play, dive, pick lotus seeds, pluck lotus leaves, catch fish and shrimp. We'd use lotus leaves as sun hats, eating lotus seeds as we walked - crispy and fragrant, finishing them all by the time we got home. Mother would catch young roosters that had just grown up in the summer from the chicken coop, pluck and clean them, then wrap whole chickens in the lotus leaves we picked and simmer them in a pot for a whole hour. We'd eat lotus leaf chicken that evening. When we opened the lotus leaf package while it was still steaming hot, the fragrance of lotus leaves mingled with the aroma of meat would linger all night."
Yan Seventh Young Master savored the image for a moment. "A taste of heaven."
"Indeed," Ying Xiaoman said proudly. "The chickens and lotus leaves in the Capital City are slightly different from those in my hometown, so the lotus leaf chicken never tastes quite as good as back home. But it's still about 80% as good, and sells very well at the butcher shop."
"I must try it sometime."
"There's half a chicken on the stove at home. If you don't mind it being just half, I can bring it back for you to eat later."
As they ate and chatted, finishing about half a bowl of iced tangyuan and exchanging a dozen or so casual remarks, Yan Seventh Young Master looked at her thoughtfully and asked, "Not angry anymore?"
Ying Xiaoman chewed on the sweet, chewy iced tangyuan in her mouth.
Yan Seventh Young Master, this local expert, really knew how to pick late-night snacks. A bowl of iced sugar tangyuan was truly delicious on such a hot day. She had already stopped being angry when she offered to bring him lotus leaf chicken earlier.
But she deliberately put on a fierce tone and said, "That's not certain. I have quite a temper."
Yan Seventh Young Master continued to ask slowly.
"This young lady with the big temper, who pulled me all the way out to the street to eat iced tangyuan - may I speak now?"
Ying Xiaoman tried to hold back her laughter with a mouthful of iced tangyuan. It was difficult to suppress with food in her mouth, but her bright eyes had already curved into the shape of the crescent moon above.
"Your mouth is on your own body, who can stop you if you want to speak?"
Thinking it wasn't quite right, she quickly added, "No, you have to swear an oath first, to tell the truth in every word, and not deceive me."
Seventh Young Master then swore to the crescent moon above.
"Every word will be true. If I speak even one word of lie to this young lady with the big temper who is eating iced tangyuan tonight, may I never have the chance to treat her to iced tangyuan again."
Ying Xiaoman reached out to swat him, "What kind of punishment is that?"
Yan Seventh Young Master turned his gaze to her, his expression relaxed with a smile, but his tone very solemn: "An extremely severe punishment."
Ying Xiaoman scooped some more iced tangyuan from her bowl, lowering her head to put one in her mouth, pondering this "extremely severe punishment" in her heart.
The two sat across from each other, continuing to eat iced tangyuan as Yan Seventh Young Master brought up a key matter he had been focusing on investigating these past few days.
"I've traced an old case that might be related to your adoptive father."