Li Rong sat on the carpet, using her hands to hold onto her younger brother to prevent him from disturbing Father as he assembled the ship model. Yun Ye carefully installed the fine strings on the sail. Gently turning the handle underneath, the sail slowly rose. When he released his hand, the sail dropped down with a whoosh. The wooden ratchet was really too small—it took great effort to install it. The entire room was filled with a strong smell of tung oil. Xinyue and Li Anlan had long since fled. The two children stubbornly refused to go out despite being pulled and dragged, and sat fixedly on the carpet watching Father work.
The Gongshu family’s craftsmanship was truly excellent. The carved little wooden figures and small parts looked authentic. Yun Baobao pointed at a horse on the deck and called out “Wang Cai” in a sweet, childish voice. He even wanted to grab Wang Cai with his hands. Li Rong quickly pulled her brother’s head back.
“Alright, don’t drag your brother like that. Let’s go—Father will take you to sail the boat.” Yun Ye walked in front holding a magnificent ship model. The two children clutched their father’s robe tightly, following closely, afraid Father would run off without taking them to play.
There was a pond in the garden. Placing the two children by the railing, he went barefoot into the pond himself. Di Renjie, who was curious about everything, had come over early, clutching a scroll in his hand to show he wasn’t slacking off. Xiao Wu, Shishi, Xiao Ya, and even Daya, who rarely came out, were there today. The Heavenly Demon Concubine was too embarrassed to mingle with the children and stood on tiptoe looking this way.
The boat went into the water. Not good—it was somewhat off-balance. Yun Ye took out several lead cakes from his pocket and fitted them onto the counterweight posts. Slowly releasing his hand, there was still a slight deviation. He beckoned to Di Renjie. The delighted Di Renjie kicked off his shoes and came into the water to help his master. After several trials, master and disciple finally adjusted the counterweight properly. With one release of the hand, the wooden boat slowly moved forward. The sail had a wooden universal joint that could automatically adjust the direction of travel according to the wind direction. Today’s wind wasn’t strong. Yun Ye waved a palm-leaf fan, and the boat surged forward a bit. Then Di Renjie continued fanning. When the pond was surrounded by people, each with a palm-leaf fan, the boat continuously circled the pond—sometimes eastward, sometimes westward. Those squeezed to the front were beaming with joy. Those who couldn’t squeeze to the front wailed and cried, such as the two young masters of the Yun Family.
Hearing the children cry, Xinyue and Li Anlan rushed over. Seeing the boat in the pond, they immediately forgot their original purpose for coming. They snatched Di Renjie’s palm-leaf fan and played very selflessly.
This had become a woman’s domain. Yun Ye held the crying Yun Baobao, who was covered in tears and snot. Di Renjie led Li Rong, who kept wiping away tears, following Master toward the kitchen. At this time, only good food could heal wounds.
One bowl each of colorful fruit ice, and they immediately forgot the grief from moments ago. After eating a mouthful of fruit ice, Yun Ye felt it was missing watermelon juice and pineapple—it didn’t seem like fruit ice anymore. Watermelons were planted at home, only they ripened rather late. Now it was already July—they should be about ready. Xinyue had initially forgotten to plant watermelons. By the time she remembered, it was already April. The Yun Family never cared about seasons when planting things. They found a plot of land, casually buried the seeds in the ground, and considered it planted.
Packing the fruit ice in glass bowls into a basket, the four of them went to the sandy land at the northernmost part of the garden. Since the watermelons were planted, apart from watering and weeding, no one had cared for them. Xinyue never knew that watermelons required pruning flowers and thinning fruit as procedures. She always thought the more watermelons on a vine, the better. Now, Yun Ye stood on the sandy ground looking at watermelons only as big as rice bowls, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Yun Baobao, Li Rong, and Di Renjie liked them. Seeing such large fruits, they sat on the sandy ground, each hugging a watermelon and playing happily. Yun Ye held onto a lucky hope, tapping here and there, selecting one he thought was already ripe. Taking a small knife to cut it open, he discovered the flesh was white with a hint of red—not yet ripe. Taking a bite, the flesh was mealy with only a hint of sweetness. Helplessly tossing it aside, he suddenly saw an exceptionally large watermelon under Yun Baobao’s bottom. After moving his son aside and tapping it, it was indeed good. Using the knife to cut off the vine, he carried the watermelon to the stone table under the tree. The blade had just touched the melon skin when the watermelon split open by itself. A good watermelon should be like this—black seeds and red flesh. Taking over the children’s fruit ice bowls, he scooped out chunks of watermelon flesh with a spoon and buried them in the half-melted shaved ice. It indeed looked much better than before.
One spoonful fed to Li Rong, one spoonful fed to Yun Baobao. Seeing Di Renjie with his mouth open in hopeful expectation, he dug out a large piece and fed it to Di Renjie. The three children ate very quickly. Yun Ye needed to pick out the seeds. Dealing with three mouths at once kept him very busy. Only after half the watermelon was completely eliminated did the three children begin eating the fruit ice in their own bowls.
After inspecting the melon rinds in a circle, Yun Ye still couldn’t bear to eat the remaining half. Grandmother had been suffering from internal heat these past few days—eating this was best for her. After the children finished their fruit ice, Yun Ye put the remaining half watermelon in the basket to take to Grandmother.
He didn’t know why there were sounds of battle cries from the garden. One could tell it was Xiao Ya’s voice. At this moment, the show-off Xiao Ya had already leaped into the water, wearing only a belly band. An eleven-year-old young lady now—Yun Ye wasn’t appropriate to go over. Taking the three males, he went directly into Grandmother’s room.
Grandmother, who had been cooling off on a bamboo bed, had long since heard her great-grandsons’ voices. She sat up cheerfully and saw two little meatballs trying hard to climb onto the bamboo bed. Yun Ye lifted the children up. Di Renjie had already moved up the small kang table.
Placing half a watermelon on the kang table, Grandmother smiled so much her eyes disappeared. She poked at the colorful melon rind with her hand and asked Yun Ye, “Ye’er, is this the cold melon from the north side of the courtyard? It’s grown this large already.”
“Yes, we finally had one that ripened. The three children were greedy, so they ate half of it. You’ve been suffering from internal heat recently. Eating cold melon to reduce the heat is best.”
Cutting it at an angle into small pieces, he passed them to Grandmother. The old lady didn’t eat them but turned and gave them to her great-grandson who was leaning on her shoulder waiting. Children never had enough of this thing, but it didn’t matter—just urinate a couple more times before bed.
“Ye’er, I heard recently there’s something called the Heavenly Demon Dance that’s very popular. Many noble families have invited them to come dance at their homes and cleared out many guests. Should our family also invite them over to perform once to thank relatives and friends?” After eating several pieces of melon, Old Grandmother suddenly remembered the Heavenly Demon Dance that had been very popular among noble families recently and inquired with Yun Ye.
“Grandmother, let’s forget about our family. It’s all women and children. This dance isn’t suitable for viewing. Those dancers don’t wear upper garments—they dance bare-backed. Men watch more. All the men of our family are here with you—how could we watch?”
“Ptui! So it’s not anything good after all. I thought it was a wonderful Buddhist dance that could lead people toward goodness. So it’s this kind of thing. The Wa princess doesn’t want any dignity? Those nobles are shameless too.”
“Grandmother, you can’t blame the nobles for this. The Wa princess intends to use this dance to challenge the character of the nobles. Elder Yan, Master Li Gang, Yuanzhang, Yushan, Gongshu—they all went to watch. They said the Wa barbarians completely ruined a good thing. The Heavenly Demon Dance was originally called ‘Hexi Buddhist Praise Song.’ After the Wa people modified it, it became a dance without clothing.”
“Auntie isn’t wearing clothes either.” Li Rong pointed outside, tattling to Old Ancestor. Just now it was Little Auntie who pushed him aside. Old Grandmother’s expression immediately changed. Hearing Xiao Ya playing in the water outside, she grabbed the feather duster and charged out. The maids couldn’t even support her in time.
Yun Ye immediately covered Yun Baobao’s ears. Di Renjie also covered Li Rong’s ears. The sound of the feather duster striking buttocks could be heard inside the room, mixed with Xinyue’s cries of pain. Needless to say, not one person present could escape her clutches. Yun Ye tapped Li Rong’s laughing head, very worried about Xiao Ya. At least wear underwear! How could she go into the water with a bare bottom? She was eleven years old!
Soon, Xiao Ya with her hairpins askew was dragged into the room by Grandmother holding her ear. Seeing Yun Ye there, she made faces wanting her brother to plead for her. Grandmother was in a fury—whoever spoke wouldn’t be effective. Yun Ye could only raise his head to look at the ceiling, pretending not to see. Xiao Ya pouted and continued crying.
“I’m old, I can’t manage anymore. This is your sister. If she can’t get married in the future, I’ll see what you do.” Old Grandmother, supported by maids, went into the inner room to calm down, leaving the mess to Yun Ye. Just as he was about to turn back and scold Xiao Ya a few words, he discovered she was already hugging the remaining two pieces of watermelon, eating ravenously.
“Xiao Ya, you’re a big girl now. You can’t expose your bottom in front of people anymore. Next time you want to swim, wear underclothes to swim. Being naked really isn’t good. If you can’t find a husband’s family in the future, what will you do?”
“Not marrying is best. I’ll just stay in our family. Aren’t Auntie and Aunt staying at home? The Heavenly Demon Concubine said that the human body, born and raised by parents, is the most beautiful. Especially a woman’s body is even more so. Men rely on weapons to conquer the world. Women must rely on their bodies to conquer men and ultimately obtain the world. Although the methods are different, the purpose is the same. To conquer the world, one cannot hide the body. This kind of beauty needs to be released.”
Yun Ye felt his heart crack with a snap into several pieces. No wonder—Xiao Ya had been outrageous before, but never to this degree. So it was his own mistake. Coveting the Heavenly Demon Dance, he ended up with such a consequence. It was truly self-inflicted. Yun Ye didn’t mind the Heavenly Demon Concubine training other women to become like her, demonic women. Even if Chenxin was trained by her into a monster, he wouldn’t care. But she absolutely could not train Xiao Ya into a demon woman! Fortunately, it was discovered early. If it had been later, this would definitely be a family misfortune. It was time to have a good talk with the Heavenly Demon Concubine.
Xinyue rubbed her arm and secretly looked into the room. Seeing Old Grandmother wasn’t there, she came in. Discovering Xiao Ya eating watermelon, she angrily tapped Xiao Ya’s head hard twice, then said to Yun Ye with a charming smile, “Husband, I wonder if there are any more ripe cold melons?”