Chapter 5: A Great Jade Seal in the Dream

Originally, the summer heat made one prone to losing appetite, and since Li Fu was not someone driven by strong cravings, he usually ate little. But now, watching his two children munch away with such enjoyment, for some reason, his own appetite was stirred. Unconsciously, he ate two bowls of millet rice and half a steamed cake before finally feeling full.

After the meal, Li Fu drank a bowl of tea and smiled, “Seeing the two boys eat together is truly a delight.”

Bu then finished feeding the children and said, “As long as they want to eat, that’s good. The worst thing for young children is a dislike of food.”

In this era, child mortality was alarmingly high; those who grew up normally were essentially born with a stroke of luck. Although Xin Niang and Bu were both new to raising children, they had grown up with many siblings and were familiar with the tragedies of children passing away easily.

Li Fu played with the two children for a while longer, but seeing that Yi was about to cry from his teasing, he gently placed him into Bu’s arms and turned to say he had to go to work.

Yun looked on, puckering his lips—sometimes his father could be quite mischievous.

Bu helplessly comforted Yi, but found that Yi did not want to return with her; instead, he clung to Yun, wanting to play with him.

The brothers were still quite close. To be precise, Yi had initially sought revenge but, after failing repeatedly, had somehow grown accustomed to playing and frolicking with Yun every day.

Children recognize those familiar to them; Yi accepted Bu, and now he also accepted Yun.

If he didn’t play with Yun for a while, he would become like a dog locked indoors, restless and howling in frustration.

Bu truly loved her children but was genuinely afraid of their cries.

Yi’s crying was particularly vexing—he could wail nonstop until his face turned red, gasping for breath until his voice was completely hoarse.

Now that the weather was hot, instead of retreating to their rooms, they spread a large piece of ramie cloth in the courtyard’s pavilion. Though rough in texture, the cloth was cool to the touch and often used for summer clothing, hence called “summer cloth.”

With the ramie cloth laid out, Xin Niang and Bu placed the two children on it to crawl and play, while they sipped tea and chatted in the pavilion.

Perhaps because Xin Niang had helped Bu care for the children a few days before, their relationship had softened. Moreover, since Yi sought Yun’s company every day, despite being the elder brother and often losing out, Bu found herself naturally interacting more with Xin Niang.

Over time, although not especially close, Xin Niang and Bu could exchange a few casual words, discussing how to sew clothes for the children and which patterns to use.

Yun and Yi had not only grown their baby teeth but could now sit up and even crawl. At this moment, they sat holding small toys like scented sachets and little pendants, even a wooden horse.

Yi adored the wooden horse, constantly stuffing it into his mouth, drooling all over it.

Yun was utterly disgusted and finally smacked Yi’s head.

At first, Yi held a grudge, but after repeated incidents, he had developed a conditioned reflex. When struck, he neither cried nor fussed but instead took the wooden horse out of his mouth, placed it on the ramie cloth, and pushed it toward Yun with a big smile, revealing two gleaming baby teeth.

“No,” Yun said, pulling the other toys toward himself and pushing the wooden horse back to Yi.

Yi considered for a moment, then leaned down to retrieve the horse and reached out to Bu.

Seeing the wooden horse in Yi’s hands, Bu smiled, “Is Yi giving this to his mother?”

Yi didn’t quite understand, but when Bu reached out, he truly handed over the horse. Bu was about to praise him when Yi immediately crawled back to Yun, clapping his hands excitedly, waiting for praise.

Yun, surrounded by toys, shyly pushed a small scented sachet to Yi, who immediately clutched it with satisfaction as if it were a great treasure.

Bu watched this scene in puzzlement; somehow, Yun seemed like the elder brother, and Yi like the younger, always being led around by Yun.

But the children were too young, and Yun likely meant no harm.

Moreover, Yun hadn’t actually hit Yi; Yi himself sought Yun’s company, so Bu could only let them continue playing together.

Yun glanced at Yi, who was engrossed in playing with the sachet, and smacked him again.

Yi promptly sat up obediently.

Yun then bent down, raised his bottom, and began crawling energetically. Since he could sit up, he had been practicing crawling and walking.

Seeing this, Yi followed suit, practicing together.

After crawling several circles, Yun felt warmed up and tried to prop himself on his hands, attempting to stand with his feet slowly on the ground.

It was difficult; he was still too young. Born in early spring, only five months had passed, while most children could walk at about one year old, or at least by nine or ten months.

He tried several times without success but remained enthusiastic, determined to stand sooner through diligent practice.

Yi squatted down repeatedly and fell, nearly crying, but seeing Yun’s persistent efforts, he sniffled and held back tears.

Xin Niang and the others didn’t realize Yun was trying to walk; they thought the children were simply playing and didn’t intervene.

After much exertion, the children were drenched in sweat on this hot day.

Though the weather was hot, a breeze through the pavilion evaporated the sweat and cooled the children’s skin, making it feel somewhat chilly.

Fearing they might catch cold, Xin Niang and Bu had the maids pack up the ramie cloth and took the children inside to wash.

Tired from practicing walking, Yun began to doze off in Xin Niang’s arms on the way back.

Xin Niang walked softly, listening to occasional birdsong and cicadas, and glanced down at the peacefully sleeping Yun, feeling that fate had indeed been kind to her.

Yun slept soundly, likely soothed by being cleaned and gently fanned by Xin Niang, lying sprawled and even dreaming after a long time.

In his dream, a young man waved his hand, carrying many things as he boarded a carriage. He looked happy, saying he had been admitted to Peking University and was going to study.

His classroom was empty except for him; he heard someone say that the archaeology department had admitted only him that year. Though he had no classmates, the teachers were very kind.

He had studied for only a year when the tomb of a Xia king was discovered in Yu Prefecture. The teacher took him to see it firsthand. The teacher also introduced him to a friend, simply called Mr. Xia.

Mr. Xia… Yun could no longer recall his appearance in the dream, only that he was an affable, almost hermit-like man.

He seemed to have visited Mr. Xia’s home, which was filled with many antiques. However, Mr. Xia said they were replicas, and Yun believed him.

If those antiques had been genuine, it would have been unbelievable.

The museum’s collection paled in comparison to Mr. Xia’s.

Later, while examining one of the replicas, Yun noticed a jade seal casually placed on Mr. Xia’s desk. Mr. Xia said it was a modern high-quality imitation jade seal, a substitute for his calligraphy paperweight which was missing.

Perhaps because Yun lingered over the jade seal, he heard Mr. Xia remark, “The aging looks very realistic, doesn’t it?”

Then Yun couldn’t recall what was said next.

The dream seemed to abruptly end.

Yun opened his eyes, the scenes from the dream vivid in his mind. But he was still sleepy, and after a while, with Xin Niang’s soothing, he fell asleep again.

When he woke, it was dark. Yun stared at the ceiling, remembering that he had a strange dream, but oddly, he could not recall the details.

University… professor… who else was there?

What did university mean? Was a professor someone important?

Yun frowned in thought, just as a pair of hands gently massaged his forehead.

He turned to see his mother.

“Oh, such a young age, why the frown? Do you have any troubles?” Xin Niang’s tone was a little helpless.

Yun puckered his lips. Distracted by his mother’s interruption, he stopped thinking and his stomach rumbled.

That night, he was given an extra bowl of egg custard, part of his baby meal.

Having slept most of the day, Yun was now wide awake. Not one to cause a fuss, he simply sat on the empty couch, his eyes darting about.

Yi had not napped after returning earlier and, now full, was sleepy. Bu took him away to rest.

Seeing Yun still awake, Li Fu smiled and lifted him up. “Since you’re not sleepy, Yun, would you like to keep Father company while he handles some paperwork?”

Though he asked, he didn’t expect his barely verbal child to answer; it was mostly for Xin’s benefit.

Xin Niang, knowing he had slept all day, didn’t want to force him back to bed, so she agreed to let Li Fu keep him company for a while.

Li Fu, on a whim, thought that if Yun became restless, the maid could take him away. Carrying the child into his study, he set him beside him and began attending to his paperwork.

Had Xin Niang been there, she would surely have frowned.

The child was still small and, though obedient, could unpredictably crawl about. The couch was not low, and a fall could be serious.