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Iron Hammer was playing with a bunch of kids, but there was still plenty to do around the house.
Before long, someone called him over to help move things.
So, he told the two gatekeepers standing nearby to keep an eye on things, then hurried off to work.
Meanwhile, Lu Qing kept playing with the children. Since no one was setting off firecrackers anymore, they started playing hide-and-seek.
A few kids darted around the large courtyard, hiding and seeking.
When it was Shuānzi’s turn to be “it,” Lu Qing, full of mischief, slipped a lit firecracker into Shuānzi’s pants while his eyes were shut.
BANG!
Shuānzi immediately burst into tears.
“Waaah—I’m telling Madam!”
Kids didn’t follow adult rules. Shuānzi knew Lu Qing was from the family, but didn’t exactly grasp what “Young Master” meant.
So when he got bullied, his first thought was still to go find an adult.
Lu Qing was mischievous, but also scared of adults—especially his mother.
One of the gatekeepers heard the commotion. He hadn’t expected he’d need to prevent the young master from sticking firecrackers in other kids’ pants.
“Oh my goodness! Look at you!” the gatekeeper rushed over and pulled down Shuānzi’s pants, revealing his pale little behind.
He checked for injuries—thankfully, there were none. The gatekeeper finally sighed in relief.
Nier, though young, was quite understanding. She reached out to cover the eyes of the girl beside her, while sneaking a peek herself with her big grape-like eyes.
“Waaa!” Shuānzi rubbed his little bird and cried, his face flushing red. He was cold, too, with no pants on.
“Don’t cry. Don’t cry!” Lu Qing, just three or four years old, didn’t really understand right from wrong. He was just flustered by Shuānzi’s crying and afraid he’d tell Madam. He reached up his little hand to cover Shuānzi’s mouth, but he wasn’t tall enough to reach properly.
He vaguely realized he’d done something wrong, but didn’t know how to apologize.
Shuānzi kept crying even with his mouth half-covered.
The gatekeeper was annoyed but had no choice but to help Shuānzi pull his pants back up.
“There, there. Your little treasure is fine. You’re not hurt. Don’t cry.”
When Iron Hammer returned from moving things, this was the scene he walked into.
“Uncle!” Shuānzi was a fairly big kid, meant to be the ringleader of the younger ones, but here he was crying his heart out over a prank by little Lu Qing. “Mom just made these new pants, and they’re ruined!”
Only then did everyone realize—Shuānzi wasn’t crying over himself, but over his ruined new pants.
At noon, Shuānzi ran home.
His mother grabbed him and asked, “What are you chewing? And what happened to your pants?”
She saw Shuānzi chewing a chunk of fatty pork. His lips were greasy, and the pants he wore weren’t the cotton ones she’d put him in that morning—they were nicer, new ones made from better fabric.
Shuānzi’s father was inside washing his hands. Hearing the commotion, he came out wiping his hands.
“Oh? What’s with the pants?”
His wife examined the trousers and said, “This is new material.”
Just then, Iron Hammer came in from outside, holding Nier.
Like Shuānzi, Nier had a piece of pork belly in her hand.
The couple was puzzled. Iron Hammer explained what had happened to Shuānzi earlier.
Turns out, the young master had accidentally ruined Shuānzi’s pants. Feeling guilty, he brought Shuānzi to Fang’er’s younger brother’s shop to buy a new pair in the same size.
To apologize—and keep him from tattling—they also brought him to the kitchen for two chunks of pork.
All the kids got a piece.
Shuānzi’s mom, half laughing and half annoyed, pulled down his pants to check again. Seeing there was no injury, she gave his butt a little smack.
“You little rascal! One piece of pork and you’re fine with being bullied? Remember the food, forget the beating!”
Since it was the New Year, they didn’t scold the child too much. The whole family laughed it off.
But poor Lu Qing still got found out by his mother. After the New Year, he was taught a serious lesson.
From then on, he never dared to put firecrackers in anyone’s pants again.
As for Zhao Shu, the intel she’d had someone gather came back—just as she expected, Lu Jinnian had gone to the temple to meet a lover.
Last time it wasn’t so bad; the man he’d visited was a low-level official, someone who sold his body. The old lady at most just sighed over the family’s declining morals.
But this time, Lu Jinnian was seducing someone from the temple, right under Buddha’s nose. If the old lady found out, she’d probably faint from fury.
Today was New Year’s Eve. Getting angry wasn’t a good omen at this time of year.
So Zhao Shu had someone summon Lu Jinnian, dismissed the servants, and kept only her maid, Pomegranate, in the room as she told him what she’d learned.
Lu Jinnian thought she was just going to nag him about drinking less over the holidays, so he smiled at first.
He stopped smiling when he realized his secret was out.
Seeing his dark expression, Zhao Shu figured he knew he’d done wrong and still had some sense.
She advised, “Stay quiet for now. Break it off with that person after New Year. Even Song Lin next door made mistakes once, and now he’s getting married. You’re not a kid anymore. In a year or two, the old lady will want to arrange a marriage for you. Don’t keep messing around with inappropriate affairs—it only makes her worry day and night.”
Though uncomfortable, Lu Jinnian took her words to heart.
“Don’t worry, sister-in-law. When spring comes, I’ll break it off.”
He knew his relationship with Miao Zhen could only exist in the shadows.
If exposed, it would have to end.
But that didn’t make it any easier. Ending a romance is always painful.
Thinking about telling Miao Zhen goodbye added to his sorrow.
When he left Zhao Shu’s room, he was completely out of it.
Even back in his own room, he ignored the maids calling him. Lately, he was acting more like Lu Bainian.
As for Lu Songnian, as he’d said earlier, he didn’t study on New Year’s Eve. Instead, he went to Lu Bainian’s room to borrow books.
He found Lu Bainian’s usual novels covered in dust, but a few Buddhist scriptures nearby were clean.
Though he hadn’t gone vegetarian yet, it was clear Lu Bainian had changed. The once fun-loving second brother was now interested in Buddhism.
“You really…” Lu Songnian held a book and looked at his brother, who was drinking tea and eating snacks.
“You that eager to become a nun with those two girls?”
Lu Bainian sighed. “Too bad they won’t take in a stinky man like me. If only I were born female—I’d have joined a monastery already.”
Lu Songnian laughed. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
But Lu Bainian was serious. He sat cross-legged and asked, “What if I became a monk?”
Despite the difference in status, the brothers often shared deep conversations.
Lu Songnian was curious. “Why the sudden urge to retreat from the world?”
“This world is boring,” Lu Bainian said, as if he were some kind of sage.
Lu Songnian smiled. “Just do as I say—after dinner tonight, take a walk to the front gate. You’ll see whether this world is boring or not.”
“You’ve got your youth. Don’t waste it on vague spiritualism. Sure, vegetarianism might reduce the world’s suffering by one meal, but if you haven’t lived among people, how can you talk about leaving it all behind?”
As they spoke, it was nearly lunchtime. Lu Songnian, thinking of his pregnant wife, took a few books and left.
That evening, the whole family gathered for the New Year’s Eve feast.
The meal was held in the waterside pavilion. Across from them, musicians played flutes and zithers.
The house was lit up—lamps burned as if the oil cost nothing.
The light from the lanterns shimmered across the pond. The Lu family estate was vibrant and full of life.
After dinner came the vigil to stay up for the new year.
They snacked again. Wen Ruyu liked cloud cakes with a sweet soup of white fungus and lotus seeds to soothe the lungs.
There were all kinds of sweets—fried, candied, countless varieties.
Lu Bainian didn’t know what he was feeling. After dinner, while everyone was laughing and playing, he quietly slipped out.
Remembering what his big brother had said, he walked all the way to the front gate.
There, he saw servants dumping two buckets of leftover slop outside.
The leftover meat scraps and bones hit the ground—and immediately, a group of kids in ragged clothes swarmed in. Skinny from hunger, they fought over bones with bits of meat still on them.
Lu Bainian knew: these were the bones the servants didn’t finish, discarded from the kitchen.
He used to think only pigs would eat such things.
He hadn’t expected people would fight over them.
In a daze, he felt like the world had changed.
When the time came, fireworks lit up all over Osmanthus Alley.
Lu Bainian saw heaven with one eye and hell with the other.
From that day on, he never mentioned becoming a monk again. He helped around the house when needed, and read quietly when not—so calm that even Wen Ruyu was surprised.
After New Year’s Day, the visits to friends and family began.
Lu Songnian and Lu Keyin had to travel to the capital for the imperial exam, so they had many social obligations.
Lu Keyin also had to visit his wife’s family.
Zhao Shu, whose maiden home was far away, only exchanged letters. Over time, she’d grown distant from them.
The Lu family valued their ties with the Lin family, so Wen Ruyu had long prepared fine pastries and two bolts of high-quality fabric for Lu Keyin and Lin Xiaoyin to take on their visit.
The Lin magistrate and Madam Cao didn’t care much for the gifts—they were just happy their daughter was visiting.
When they saw her, Madam Cao immediately pulled her inside, leaving Lu Keyin to chat with his father-in-law.
Inside, she asked about her daughter’s recent life. Upon hearing the Lu matriarch treated both daughters-in-law equally and gave her house management duties, she was happy—thinking she’d chosen the right family for her daughter.
At lunch, Madam Cao looked at Lu Keyin—just like any proud mother-in-law seeing her son-in-law, the more she looked, the more she liked him.
Though the families didn’t live far apart, Madam Cao didn’t want people gossiping about her daughter visiting too often, so she hadn’t let her return home until now—this was only the second time since the wedding.
The first had been the traditional return visit.