“Fifth Brother, are you going to the clay field today?”
“No, I’m going to Jiahe Town with Father today.”
“Then, when will you be back, Fifth Brother?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Oh—”
Patting Chen Shiyuan’s drooping little head, Lin Wu chuckled, “Shiyuan, if you want to go to the clay field, just go ahead. You don’t have to wait for me.”
Little Shiyuan shook his head and said nothing more.
Feeling a pang of guilt, Lin Wu coaxed, “Shiyuan, how about I have someone bring you a piece of clay so you can play with it at home? When I return, I’ll take you to the clay field, alright?”
“No,” Shiyuan still shook his head. “Shiyuan can’t shape it well. I’ll ruin the clay.”
“Haha, if you ruin it, just start over. What’s the big deal?” Sensing that these words alone weren’t enough to persuade the stubborn little boy, Lin Wu bent down and whispered in Shiyuan’s ear, “Let me tell you a secret. Don’t be fooled by how well I shape clay figures now. When I was little, I ruined so many pieces of clay. Others don’t know, but I remember. Kids have to ruin a lot of clay before they learn how to shape it properly.”
Blinking his big eyes, Shiyuan asked doubtfully, “Really? Fifth Brother wouldn’t lie to Shiyuan, would you?”
Lin Wu replied firmly, “Why would I lie? If you don’t believe me, ask your Sixth Sister or your uncle and aunt.”
Rubbing the back of his already messy head, Shiyuan grinned. “Hehe, I believe you.”
Delighted by the rare display of varied expressions on Shiyuan’s face, Lin Wu couldn’t resist patting his head a few more times before instructing a servant to fetch a piece of clay from the field and deliver it to Xiyuan Courtyard. Then, he took Xiao Sheng and headed toward his parents’ Diecui Courtyard.
Since her heart condition flared up the winter before last, Lin Fang had been relying on the herbal prescriptions from Master Shen to maintain her health. Over the past year, her condition hadn’t recurred, but her body had grown increasingly frail. The once-chubby little girl had transformed into a slender young woman, almost unrecognizable.
The past year had also brought significant changes to Lin Village.
After Wang Hongbang and his wife returned to Liangping Town, the Wang family quickly arranged an auspicious date for Wang Hongwen and Lin Cui’e’s wedding. The engagement was formalized first with a small betrothal, followed by a grand one. The wedding took place in early spring.
On the wedding day, the eldest brother and his wife were the most heartbroken. Li Cuimei had raised Lin Cui’e as her own, and over the years, the bond between the eldest brother and his youngest sister had deepened. Now that she was leaving home to marry, the eldest brother couldn’t even escort her as her elder brother—he had been disowned by their father and was no longer considered part of the Lin family.
Lin Cui’e wept bitterly on her wedding day. The journey was long, and now she was leaving home to become someone else’s wife. In the future, she didn’t know how often she’d see the brother and sister-in-law who had been like parents to her. Wang Hongwen repeatedly promised to bring her back to visit every year, and the Lin family members consoled her until she reluctantly set off without delaying the auspicious hour.
Watching the wedding procession fade into the distance, Li Cuimei finally let loose the tears she had been holding back. How could she bear to let her go?
After the spring thaw, the Lin family began large-scale construction projects. As Lin Zhongsi had envisioned, inns, restaurants, shops, theaters—everything needed for daily life—were built.
Unexpectedly, word of Lin Village’s auspicious reputation spread, attracting wandering monks like Master Zixing. Initially, the plan was to add a few small courtyards beside the meditation hall, but it soon became clear that wouldn’t suffice. The Lin family expanded the meditation hall instead, and devotees of Master Zixing voluntarily contributed funds and labor, eager to see the temple completed. By the time it was finished, even the Lin family was astonished—a privately built temple now rivaled the scale of a mid-sized government-funded one.
The temple was named after the old monk’s Dharma name: Zixing Temple.
The Lin family school was also rebuilt. The original site became the boys’ school, while the old residence was repurposed as the girls’ school after the family moved into their new home. The eldest brother served as honorary principal of the boys’ school, while Lin Fang became principal of the girls’ school, also overseeing daily affairs for both. Both schools offered beginner and elementary levels. Granny Lan and Xian’er managed miscellaneous tasks for the boys’ and girls’ schools, respectively.
The teaching staff had expanded beyond Lin Fang, Chen Dong, and Master Shen. Several other scholars—both male and female—were invited to join. The curriculum largely mirrored that of government schools, with one key difference: Lin Fang and Chen Dong had developed their own course combining history, geography, and biology into a single subject called “Nature.”
As Lin Fang’s school gained fame, the “Nature” course caught the attention of the imperial court. After further refinement by experienced scholars, it was officially adopted as part of the standard curriculum in schools nationwide—though that’s a story for later.
In the hottest part of the following summer, Yuan Li gave birth to a boy. Madam Tong named him Lin Yan. At the time, the sixth brother was already twenty-nine—an age when most men in this world were already grandfathers, having married and had children in their mid-teens. For him, this was truly a late blessing.
Under Chen Dong’s expert guidance, Lin Fang’s mushroom farm had yielded several harvests of black fungus. The profits, after deducting Chen Dong’s share as technical investor and workers’ wages, all went into Lin Fang’s private coffers.
Now elevated to abbot, the old monk Zixing showed no signs of monastic solemnity, pestering Lin Fang and Chen Dong for recipes instead. This mischievous elder had even started earning money—while temple visitors ate vegetarian meals for free, none left without generous donations. Lin Zhongsi jokingly called him a “shady monk,” but the old monk defended himself, claiming this was the temple’s way of self-sufficiency.
The Lin family now treated Chen Dong as one of their own. When they moved into their new home, she was included. Lin Fang and Chen Dong each had their own small courtyard, adjacent to each other.
Lin Fang loved delicate, intricate things, so she named her courtyard “Colorful Stars” after her favorite tiny flowers. Though Chen Dong knew her stay with the Lin family was temporary, she still solemnly invited the old monk to name her courtyard. He called it “Cherish Fate,” urging her to treasure the bonds of this lifetime.
Except for still addressing the eldest brother and his wife as uncle and aunt, Chen Dong and her brother now used the same terms of address as Lin Fang for the rest of the family. Seven-year-old Chen Shiyuan’s hyperactivity had improved significantly. The Lin family’s new home had a courtyard for each child, with extras to spare. Even though Chen Dong and Shiyuan could have lived separately, the boy stubbornly refused to leave his sister’s side.
While the Lin family was busy with construction, those who had bought surrounding land weren’t idle either. They cleared wasteland and built homes, hoping to share in the auspicious energy of the land. The eldest brother helped cultivate the plot Chen Dong had purchased, which she then rented to new villagers. Thus, Chen Dong became a small-scale landowner.
When Lin Wu returned home for summer vacation and saw how much the area around Lin Village had changed, he was inspired by Lin Fang’s “auspicious land” plan and conceived an even bolder idea. He begged his father to buy thirty workers and spent the entire vacation training them to make clay figurines.
However, not everyone mastered the entire process. Following Lin Fang’s advice, Lin Wu implemented an assembly line: digging soil, sun-drying it, removing stones and roots, crushing it, mixing it with water to form slurry, filtering, drying the slurry, pounding it into blocks, and finally storing the blocks—each step assigned to specialized workers.
For shaping and coloring the figurines, Lin Wu insisted that the same artisan complete each piece to respect their creativity. Selecting these key craftsmen was a painstaking process. Starting last summer and continuing through this year’s vacation—aside from school—Lin Wu personally scouted talent at the labor market.
His goal was simple: mass-produce clay figurines, mostly Buddhist figures, to sell to visitors under the banner of Lin Village’s auspiciousness, turning it into an industry. Custom orders for other figurines were also accepted—anything from Lin Village would carry its blessing.
After Lin Boshi’s deathbed disownment, his two sons had to abandon their studies—a deep sorrow for the eldest brother and his wife. Now, their eldest son Lin Wen was in the military, writing home about his steady promotions due to diligence and valuable suggestions. Their younger son Lin Wu, though still young, showed remarkable dexterity and business acumen, destined for greatness. The couple found solace in their children’s prospects.
Their greatest worry was their daughter Lin Fang. Though precocious, her frail health haunted them, especially after her heart episode. Master Shen’s sudden appearance struck them as suspicious—whether he or their aunt claimed he came for the village’s auspicious energy to develop new medicines, they sensed a connection to their daughter’s illness.
Seven-year-old Shiyuan remained quiet, but oddly, he idolized Lin Wu, whose personality was his polar opposite.
During summer vacation, Shiyuan became Lin Wu’s shadow, following him everywhere within the village. His favorite activity was watching Lin Wu transform lumps of clay into figurines while narrating their stories vividly. Shiyuan listened intently.
Despite his youth, Shiyuan understood the laborious process of preparing clay and never touched drying figurines. Once, circling a freshly made shepherd boy statue, his hands twitching with desire to touch it, he resisted for fear of damage. Amused, Lin Wu gifted him the statue and asked if he wanted to learn. Shiyuan hesitated, “Your clay masters are all indentured. Shiyuan won’t sell himself. I must stay with Sister to protect her when I grow up. I won’t learn.”
His longing eyes betrayed him, but his loyalty to his sister overruled it. Touched by his maturity, Lin Wu began teaching him personally. Shiyuan proved adept, quickly mastering basics. Now, when not clinging to Chen Dong, he trailed Lin Wu, much to Lin Zhongsi’s chagrin—the boy showed little interest in his official teacher, likely due to the man’s teasing ways.
Early autumn arrived, and Lin Yan celebrated his first birthday. The sixth brother and Yuan Li missed home, while Madam Tong and Lin Zhongsi also wished to return to Liangping Town. Before they could depart, the second brother arrived at Lin Village with his family in disarray.
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