Wuxia: Drinking with Spring Breeze

"Woof woof woof..."

"Coming, coming!"

Yang Ge wiped his hands and hurried from the back courtyard into the front, and seeing Huang wag its tail into a circle at the gate, he knew who the visitor was.

Sure enough, as he opened the gate, there stood Shopkeeper Liu with his hands clasped behind him.

"What are you up to now?"

Shopkeeper Liu, observing the dirt on him, asked with a smile.

Yang Ge quickly stepped aside, warmly inviting the old man in, "You've come at just the right time, I've rented the courtyard in the back as well, planning to turn it into a small vegetable patch and raise some chickens and ducks. Come and take a look!"

"Hmm?"

Shopkeeper Liu glanced at him with a hint of surprise that quickly faded; he gripped Yang Ge's arm and said, "Don't trouble yourself now, we are busy today. I'll come over another time to look ... Here, it's Mid-Autumn Festival today, let's celebrate the season!"

The old man cheerfully pulled out a tightly wrapped oil-paper package with 'mooncake' written in big, red characters, and stuffed it into Yang Ge's embrace.

The oil-paper package retained only a faint warmth, but as Yang Ge held it, he felt as if he was holding a blazing furnace.

He tried to muster a smile, forcing a laugh, "Look at my memory, I completely forgot today was Mid-Autumn Festival, and now you've had to deliver mooncakes to me. I'm truly sorry."

Seeing his awkward smile, Shopkeeper Liu didn't call him out but simply waved his hands, saying, "We men don't fuss over these things, but you should get out more. Tonight there's a temple fair at the City God Temple, and all the girls from the city will be there. You should take a stroll, enjoy your prime years rather than cooping yourself up at home and wrestling with this little courtyard!"

Yang Ge nodded in agreement and then once again asked the old man to sit down for a cup of tea.

"I won't sit down, I've got plenty to do today!"

The old man, shaking his head, all his wrinkles smoothing out with joy and even his forehead creases hiding delight, said, "I've come today on behalf of your brother Fuyu to invite you to join his side of the family tomorrow to go to the bride's home to propose!"

Yang Ge's eyes widened in surprise, and he happily exclaimed, "It's settled?"

The old man nodded, beaming with joy, "The second daughter from Butcher Deng's family in the East Market, a feisty and frugal homemaker, is a perfect match for your brother Fuyu!"

Yang Ge promptly cupped his hands in salute, "Congratulations to the shop owner and the young master! Now our inn won't have to worry about getting good pork anymore!"

The old man's face, visibly delighted as though it might bloom into a chrysanthemum, still feigned displeasure as he waved his hand, "Hey, we're family, don't talk such nonsense. Come over early tomorrow, dress smartly, and accompany your brother Fuyu to the bride's family to propose. My future in-laws aren't in want, they just care about face, and we can't lose our manners..."

Yang Ge opened his mouth, ready to accept the task, but having quickly considered it, he hesitated.

Seeing his hesitancy, Shopkeeper Liu asked in confusion, "What's the matter, do you have other plans tomorrow? Can you reschedule? Nothing is more important than our family's significant event!"

After a moment's thought, Yang Ge took Shopkeeper Liu's arm and led him to sit under the grapevine, "Please, don't hurry. Let's sit down and talk slowly!"

Shopkeeper Liu was slightly annoyed but still followed Yang Ge's suggestion and sat down under the grapevine.

Yang Ge went inside to pour a bowl of water, handed it to the old man with both hands, then fetched a small stool, sat beside him, and said earnestly, "Shopkeeper, I'm not ungrateful. That you and brother Fuyu thought of me means you consider me part of the Liu family. By all means, I ought to take on this honor; it's the least I should do!"

Hearing his words, Shopkeeper Liu's expression finally softened, and he said warmly, "You take that too seriously. Your brother Fuyu and I both hope you can come tomorrow. The Liu family has had only one son for three generations, and your brother Fuyu doesn't have any cousins to rely on. You haven't treated us like outsiders, and we haven't treated you like one either. In the future, we'll rely on you brothers to support and help each other. Don't they always say, 'A fence needs three stakes, a good man needs three helpers'?"

Yang Ge smiled and nodded: "I understand your and Fuyu's concerns, but it's precisely for that reason that I can't go!"

Shopkeeper Liu: "What do you mean?"

After thinking for a moment, Yang Ge replied, "Shopkeeper, running a martial arts school is not like running an inn, where you greet guests from all directions with a smile and make money through friendliness. No matter how times change, running a martial arts school inevitably involves physical confrontations with others. I strongly advised Fuyu to settle down and start a family first so that he would be more grounded and stable, but we can't guarantee that if we don't provoke others, they won't come to provoke us, right?"

"We shouldn't worry about the one in ten thousand, but what about the just in case? If trouble comes knocking, we surely can't let Fuyu, who has a family to look after, get into fights, can we?"

"I don't have that worry. Whatever trouble there is can only come at me, and even if I can't handle it, it stops with me!"

"So, no matter what our relationship is behind closed doors, publicly, we still need to act proper, with the host as the host and the guest as the guest. Only then, if I run into any trouble, it won't affect Fuyu, and I can handle things without worrying about the consequences."

"What do you think about that?"

He was talking about the martial arts school, but his mind was on the mess with the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

The martial arts school involved physical confrontations, but the Embroidered Uniform Guards were a matter of life and death!

Maintaining a certain distance from the Liu family would ensure that if there were any repercussions, they wouldn't affect the Lius, right?

After listening to Yang Ge's words, Shopkeeper Liu's gaze swirled with emotion, and for a moment, he couldn't speak.

Finally, after a while, he grasped Yang Ge's arm and sighed deeply, "You... your thoughts are too heavy..."

Yang Ge gently patted the old man's back, consoling him: "As long as you and Fuyu don't hold my wrongdoing against me, it's fine!"

The old man, with a heavy heart, returned home, and he seemed to enjoy the festive joy much less than usual.

People with a heart and conscience always live a more exhausting life...

Yang Ge closed the courtyard door, washed his hands, and then opened the mooncakes that the old man had brought.

Inside the layers of oiled paper, what he found were soft cakes more resembling buns than the hard, baked mooncakes he remembered.

He tore off a small piece and tasted it—sweet, with a hint of the aroma of grains... better than the May benevolence mooncakes.

Huang, wagging his big tail, came up to his knees with pleading black eyes: "Mmm, mmm..."

"Alright, alright!"

Yang Ge divided the mooncake in half, stuffed one half into his mouth, and the other half into Huang's, mumbling, "Now that we've had the mooncakes, the festival is all finished up!"

Huang gulped down the piece in his mouth and stared with drooling anticipation at the remaining two mooncakes inside the oiled paper.

As Huang was distracted, Yang Ge grabbed the oiled paper package and ran: "You thieving dog, don't even think about eating my mooncakes!"

With his tongue lolling, Huang chased after him, 'You scoundrel, don't even think about eating all by yourself...'