While Lin Fang was sound asleep, Li Yinwei was at her aunt’s house, carefully turning over the cotton that had been drying for half a day. She flipped the already sunned side to the bottom and the bottom side to the top. As she turned the cotton, she gently shook it with her hands to loosen it, ensuring it dried faster and became softer.
“Yinwei, your father has come to pick you up several times. You should go back so your parents won’t worry,” Li Cuilan, who was flipping cotton on the other side of the reed mat, urged Li Yinwei once again. When her niece had first followed her home, saying she wanted to learn farming, Li Cuilan had thought it was just a child’s whim and that she’d forget about it in a few days. To her surprise, the little niece had taken it seriously, working in the fields with her and her husband every day. Her once fair and delicate skin had turned dark and rough from the sun. No matter how much they urged her to go home or how often her father came to fetch her, she refused to leave.
Li Yinwei shook her head again and asked, “Auntie, do you dislike me? If that’s the case, I’ll go back today.”
Li Cuilan sighed helplessly. “Silly child, how could I ever dislike you? With your elder cousin and his wife not at home, having you here to keep your uncle and me company makes us very happy. I just don’t want you to suffer through farm work.”
“Auntie, if you don’t dislike me, then don’t ask me to leave again. When winter comes and the farming slows down, I’ll go back on my own. Instead of worrying about me, you should think more about the baby in my cousin’s wife’s belly. I’m still young and don’t know what to do for her, so just tell me what you need, and I’ll do it.”
At the mention of her future grandchild, Li Cuilan’s eyes crinkled with joy. Her son had been married for ten years, and now her daughter-in-law was finally expecting. These days, whenever she and her husband talked about it, they couldn’t stop smiling.
But then her expression darkened. Her daughter-in-law was in the military, and she couldn’t be there to take care of her. What if something went wrong? Her son had written to reassure them, saying there were military doctors to monitor her health, but Li Cuilan couldn’t shake her worry. Though her son had been recommended for a military position and hadn’t started as a common soldier, he’d only been in the army for three years and held a low rank. How could he possibly receive such special treatment? He must have written those words just to ease their minds. The thought made her anxious again.
Seeing her aunt’s smile fade into a frown, Li Yinwei knew she was worrying about her cousin’s wife again. Over the past few days, her aunt and uncle had discussed it several times but found no solution. Though she couldn’t help directly, she could at least cheer them up. “Auntie, my little cousin is truly clever. In the cotton field where we pruned the branches and tops these past few days, the cotton bloomed earlier and bore more bolls. I bet the yield will be higher than in the other fields.”
Li Cuilan chuckled. “Yes, no wonder they call her ‘Little Genius.’ She’s full of ideas. With a higher cotton yield this year, we can sell more and save up for the baby. Maybe next year, if we prune all the cotton plants early, the yield will be even better.”
“Auntie, if you want to earn more money, why not listen to Third Aunt and run a greenhouse in town? You wouldn’t have to travel back and forth delivering vegetables every day, and you’d make more money.” Li Yinwei couldn’t understand why everyone else wanted to move to bustling places while her aunt insisted on staying tied to the land.
“Ever since your cousin’s wife got pregnant, I’ve been hesitating,” Li Cuilan admitted after a pause. “I don’t like the noise of the town. I just want to live quietly in this village with your uncle. But now that we’ll have a grandchild, and your cousin enjoys military life, if he wants to rise in rank, he’ll need both merit and money. He’s a bit simple-minded, so he might not manage it on his own.”
“If that’s what you think, Auntie, then agree to Third Aunt’s suggestion and run the greenhouse in town this winter.”
“I’ll have to discuss it with your uncle first.”
The competition was scheduled to last three days, though the duration could be adjusted depending on the number of participants or special circumstances.
For the past two years, the embroidery contests had been held at the Lin Family Hall, so Dalang had the advantage of obtaining the schedule in advance. Lin Fang was astonished by the sheer variety of events—beyond the expected categories like music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and needlework, there were also competitions for shuttlecock kicking, jump rope, medicine, farming techniques, cooking, swimming, carpentry, and blacksmithing. It seemed like every conceivable skill was included.
After sleeping through the afternoon, Lin Fang woke up and studied the schedule. She felt something major was missing but couldn’t quite place it. Instead, she remembered a question from earlier and asked Dalang, “Father, do you know qinggong (lightness skill)?”
Dalang had already heard about the day’s events from Nanny Liu and was inwardly even more displeased with the Shi family. But first, he had to satisfy his daughter’s curiosity. “Haha, I’m just a bit faster than most people. Qinggong isn’t something everyone can learn. What you saw today was possible because that person had the right innate talent.”
“Oh, I see.” Lin Fang pondered for a moment before asking, “Father, since you studied under Second Grandmother, does she know qinggong?”
“Second Grandmother doesn’t know it either. None of the martial arts enthusiasts in our family are suited for qinggong, and neither are your maternal grandfather’s relatives.” Dalang listed all the martial artists Lin Fang knew, figuring she’d ask about them one by one anyway.
“Does that mean there are non-martial artists in our family who could learn qinggong?”
“Wen’er could, but no matter how much Second Grandmother tried to persuade him, he refused.”
“What about me? Could I learn it?”
Dalang fell silent, gazing at Lin Fang with mixed emotions. Though she hadn’t brought up martial arts in a long time, her question showed she hadn’t let go of her longing. But given her innate constitution, she truly wasn’t suited for it. Telling her the truth would disappoint her, and he couldn’t bear to do that, so he hesitated.
Sensing her father’s dilemma, Lin Fang quickly lightened the mood. “Haha, Father, I was just teasing you! I’m not serious about learning. Don’t take it to heart.”
Dalang picked her up. “Are you really over it, or are you just saying that to make me happy?”
Lin Fang nodded. “I’ve really let it go. If it’s not meant to be, there’s no point dwelling on it. I’m smart enough to understand that.” She put on a playful front, but inside, she sighed—there really was no hope at all.
Then it suddenly hit her. “Oh! I remember what I wanted to ask earlier!” She turned to her father. “Why isn’t there a martial arts competition?”
Glad for the change of subject, Dalang replied, “Our town’s talent contest is a civilian event meant to showcase skills. Martial arts competitions are only held when the court is selecting military talents. If civilians organized such events privately, it would be against the law.”
Huh. The emperor’s pretty clever, keeping military power under his control.
“Then why isn’t there a general knowledge quiz either?” In Lin Fang’s past life, quizzes were everywhere—at cultural events, outings, even word games to liven things up. With so many participants, there’d surely be plenty of knowledgeable people. A quiz would’ve been fun.
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