The cool bamboo house cut the fierce heat of summer in half, and before long, the scorching season had quietly drawn to a close.

Shen Zhuxi and Li Wu moved back to the small courtyard outside town, resuming their days as if nothing had ever changed.

Sui Rui now smelled wonderfully fragrant at all times, and every time she saw Shen Zhuxi passing by the doorway, she greeted her warmly. Li Qingman had also obtained the secret formula for the scented body remedy she had been after, and rumors began to spread through town that the eldest daughter of the Li Family had been born with an extraordinary natural fragrance.

Li Wu still went out frequently — sometimes at dusk, sometimes at dawn — and Shen Zhuxi’s words, “Stop being a male consort and let me support you instead,” still died on her lips every time they rose to be spoken. Li Wu put on an air of perfect normalcy in front of her, so how could she bear to pierce through his fragile pride and self-satisfaction?

Li Wu still bathed in the courtyard from time to time. Shen Zhuxi no longer turned away to avoid the sight; instead, she quietly searched his body for suspicious marks — and she truly did find several cuts and bruises on more than one occasion.

Every time she saw them, her heart ached with grief.

Those patrons truly were not human!

It was a heavy burden Li Wu carried, yet he never forgot to seek her guidance on matters of learning. He had little taste for the Four Books and Five Classics, but he was quite fond of historical texts, and had already persuaded Shen Zhuxi to recount more than half of the Records of the Grand Historian.

“…Let us stop here for today,” said Shen Zhuxi, rising from beneath the osmanthus tree and wedging the branch she had been using as a writing instrument into a fork in the boughs. “We can continue with the Biography of Xiang Yu tomorrow.”

“Why? It is still early — let us go through one more.” Li Wu crouched on the ground, reluctant to move.

The sandy ground was covered in names from the Records of the Grand Historian. The one that occupied the most space, naturally, was the name of the First Emperor of Qin, the eternal sovereign of the ages.

“I have an errand to run — I need to go into town to find Sui Rui,” Shen Zhuxi said. “Otherwise, once the sun comes out after midday, it will be terribly hot to travel.”

“Whatever you want to ask her, you can ask me instead,” said Li Wu, raising an eyebrow.

“You will find out when I get back!” Shen Zhuxi said, with an air of mystery.

She had not abandoned her plans to increase their income.

Upon arriving in town, she first delivered the flower-patterned stationery, then made her way to the front door of Sui’s Chicken Shop.

Sui Rui had been waiting inside. The moment she saw Shen Zhuxi arrive, she dropped her crossed legs and stood up. “Follow me.”

Shen Zhuxi followed Sui Rui to the back courtyard of the chicken shop, where she found a small hen confined inside a bamboo cage.

“Here — I picked her out personally. Guaranteed lively, healthy, and a prolific layer,” said Sui Rui. “Are you really only taking one? Since you are raising one anyway, why not raise a whole flock?”

Shen Zhuxi shook her head in immediate decline. “This is my first time raising a chicken. One is enough. If I do not care for her well, would it not be unkind to put a whole flock through that?”

Sui Rui muttered, “Only you would think this much on behalf of a chicken.”

“This one looks just right to me — I will take her.” Shen Zhuxi untied her coin pouch. “How much?”

“Are you seriously talking money with me?” Sui Rui’s eyebrows shot up.

“Even with a dear friend, accounts should be settled clearly. I cannot let you take a loss,” Shen Zhuxi said, deliberately putting on a stern face. “If you will not let me pay, I will not dare show my face at your door again.”

Sui Rui helplessly named a figure. Only after Shen Zhuxi confirmed three times that it was the actual cost price, and that Sui Rui was not selling at a loss, did she count out the copper coins.

Shen Zhuxi gazed at the small hen — neat and clean, her feathers soft and full — and found herself more charmed with every look. She was just about to pick up the cage and take her leave when Sui Rui suddenly wore an expression of hesitation.

“I… have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” Shen Zhuxi asked without any particular apprehension.

“Sui’s Chicken Shop is about to open a branch in Xiangyang. My father says there are more business opportunities and a broader market in Xiangzhou, so before long, I will be going to Xiangyang with him. If you ever come to Xiangzhou, you must come to Xiangyang to find me,” said Sui Rui.

The news that Sui Rui was leaving Yutou County struck Shen Zhuxi like a sudden blow. She stood there for quite a while, her heart filled with a quiet sadness.

Sui Rui was still waiting for her reply. Not wanting to make her sad, Shen Zhuxi forced a smile. “Of course! Xiangyang is not so far away — if I ever have the chance to visit Xiangzhou, I will certainly come to see you!”

But would that chance ever truly come? Shen Zhuxi dared not think on it.

“The Sui’s Chicken Shop here in Yutou County will stay open. I have already spoken with the new manager I hired — whenever you come to buy a chicken, it will be half price,” said Sui Rui.

Shen Zhuxi had not made this friend for personal gain, and she quickly tried to decline, but Sui Rui’s insistence was impossible to resist. In the end, the two settled on a compromise — not half price, but a twenty-percent discount.

“I… cannot read, so I may not be able to write you letters. Do not forget me,” said Sui Rui, her voice growing quiet. “If I ever pass through Yutou County, I will come back to see you and Jiu Niang.”

Shen Zhuxi took her hand and said in comfort, “Rest easy. Neither Jiu Niang nor I will ever forget you. We are good friends.”

Sui Rui broke into a wide grin at those words — satisfied and happy.

“Then it is settled. Even though I am leaving Yutou County, we will still be good friends.”

Shen Zhuxi nodded with all her might.

“Rui’er…” A middle-aged man suddenly lifted the curtain of a room in the back courtyard and stepped out. Catching sight of Shen Zhuxi standing in the yard, his expression shifted slightly, and he said no more.

“Father, you have woken from your nap?” Sui Rui introduced Shen Zhuxi at his side with easy confidence. “This is my friend, Shen Zhuxi.”

“I know. Li Wu’s newly wedded wife,” said Sui Rui’s father, face impassive. He gave a brief nod and then simply stood in place, silent and unmoving.

Shen Zhuxi read the situation, smiled a farewell, and made to leave. Sui Rui, still oblivious to her father’s displeasure, enthusiastically stepped ahead of her to carry the chicken cage and personally saw her all the way out the shop door.

“Thank you so much — go back inside now,” said Shen Zhuxi, taking the cage.

“When the day comes that I leave for Xiangyang, you absolutely must come to see me off!” Sui Rui said, catching her hand.

“Of course! Even if you told me not to come, I would still come!” Shen Zhuxi laughed.

Sui Rui saw Shen Zhuxi off, then turned back to the chicken shop in high spirits. Her father stood in the main hall, his expression displeased. “How did you end up making friends with her?”

“I am friends with her, not with Li Wu — what does it matter?” Sui Rui replied carelessly.

“Li Wu is nothing but a good-for-nothing lowlife. The woman he married is of unknown origins. What good can come of befriending her?”

“Father!” Sui Rui said in anger. “How can you say such things? We are people who sell chickens — it is not as though we are above anyone else!”

“You should spend more time with young ladies of good family, like Li Qingman…”

“Never mind that I have no desire whatsoever to socialize with Li Qingman — does Li Qingman even want to socialize with me? She looks down on us merchant folk who deal in chickens!”

“But you spend all your time with people like that wine hostess and that Li woman — your reputation—”

“As an heiress daughter, my reputation was already questionable to begin with. What further damage could it do?” Sui Rui cut him off, her voice sharp with fury. “I am taking a husband to move into my household regardless — what use is a reputation to me?”

“Even if you take in a live-in husband, you would still want one of decent character and passable looks, would you not? If your name is ruined, who will dare come forward as a husband?”

“And what does it matter? If the man who comes to my door displeases me, I shall do as men do in this world — dismiss him and take another!”

Sui Rui’s words, in her father’s eyes, were nothing short of outrageous, yet what could he do with his only child? He had built up some modest wealth through trade, taken a few concubines, and spent his whole life hoping — only to have just the one daughter, and one exactly like Sui Rui at that.

“What sin did I commit in a past life, to produce only daughters, and one like you at that…” He shook his head and sighed.

“What is wrong with me? I am perfectly happy being a daughter!” Sui Rui gave not an inch, meeting him point for point. “If you had a son, who knows whether or not his children would carry the Sui Family’s blood — but any child I bear, be they son or daughter, will most certainly be of my Sui Family’s bloodline.”

“You — you — enough! I am done talking! Do as you please, you ungrateful girl — one of these days you will be the death of me!” Her father shook his sleeve at her and stormed off.

Sui Rui was long past being surprised by this and let him stew in his anger alone, while she herself settled into the rocking chair by the doorway for a little rest.

……

“Little hen, little hen, from this day forth you are a member of our household. You must work hard and lay me one egg every single day…”

Shen Zhuxi crouched before the small hen, murmuring to her while scattering a handful of millet. The little hen showed no fear of people at all, pecking intently at the grains on the ground.

“You are talking to it — do you think it understands you?” Li Wu stood to one side with arms folded, looking thoroughly skeptical.

“She may not understand my words, but she understands my tone,” said Shen Zhuxi with complete conviction. “She can feel my goodwill, so she will lay eggs diligently for me. Feelings are always reciprocated…”

“Feelings are always reciprocated…” Li Wu tugged at the corner of his mouth with a sardonic air. “So the feelings between a person and a chicken are also reciprocated, are they?”

“Naturally. All living things have spirit — they have feelings too.”

The little hen looked left and right, then left off eating the millet and hopped away to one side.

“Why is she walking like that?” Shen Zhuxi watched in surprise as the hen hopped about.

“The ground is too hot,” said Li Wu. “Try walking on it barefoot yourself.”

Shen Zhuxi pressed her fingertips to the ground and found that the sandy earth scattered with small stones had indeed been scorched by the sun overhead until it was burning to the touch.

Watching the little hen hop continuously on the hot ground, Shen Zhuxi said with sympathy:

“Li Wu, help me build a chicken coop in the courtyard.”

Li Wu frowned. “You have all your own high standards — and now your chicken has to have high standards too?”

“She needs somewhere to sleep, and just look — the ground is so hot right now she has nowhere to put her feet!”

“Do you think she is stupid? Look — she has already run over to the shade under the eaves herself. Besides, this courtyard is so spacious she can sleep wherever she likes. How could she possibly have nowhere to sleep?”

“That will not do. You at least have to build her a coop,” said Shen Zhuxi, pouting. “I am not asking you to build an entire chicken shed.”

“We are keeping one chicken, and you want a chicken shed?” Li Wu said in an exaggerated tone. “You really do flatter yourself — why not find a princess to wait on her while you are at it?”

Shen Zhuxi thought privately: Is a princess not already waiting on her right now?

Li Wu’s words were firm, but he still failed to hold out against her repeated pleading, and grumbling and cursing under his breath, he went out to find materials to build the little hen a coop.

Having gotten her wish, Shen Zhuxi reached out to stroke the little hen’s smooth and silky back.

“Little hen, little hen, do not hold it against him — he is under a great deal of pressure, so his temper is not the best. But you still need to lay your eggs…”

Shen Zhuxi talked to herself contentedly, growing more cheerful as she went:

“It is not quite right to keep calling you ‘little hen’ — let me give you a proper name! In this household, there is already a duck, a Kun, and a Que…” Shen Zhuxi thought hard, and a flash of inspiration struck her. “Why not call you Li Juan!”

Li Juan seemed to understand her new name, for she lifted her head, looked at Shen Zhuxi, and let out a string of bright, clucking calls.

Shen Zhuxi could not help but laugh.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Li Wu came back carrying an armful of dry, sun-yellowed straw.

Still muttering curses, he set about weaving a chicken coop with an air of resigned acceptance. Shen Zhuxi watched from the side, whispering quietly to the nearby Li Juan as she wandered about:

“Do not be cross with him — he is under a lot of pressure…”

The coop was finished before long. Shen Zhuxi placed the little hen inside it and said gently, “This is your new home — make sure you remember it…”

Li Juan gave her not an ounce of respect. The moment Shen Zhuxi released her, she stepped right back out of the coop.

Li Wu stood to one side with his arms folded and said nothing, but expressed more than words ever could when a loud, eloquent snort came from his nose.

Shen Zhuxi laughed awkwardly. “She is just not tired yet — once night falls, she will know to go back to the coop to sleep.”

With Li Juan added to the household, Li Wu was no longer her only company when he went out. Thinking that from now on she would have Li Juan wandering and patrolling around the courtyard, Shen Zhuxi felt considerably more cheerful.

She went to sleep that night full of anticipation, and the very next morning she rushed eagerly out of the main room to see whether Li Juan had laid an egg in her coop.

The coop was entirely empty. Neither Li Juan nor any egg was to be found.

Shen Zhuxi searched the entire courtyard without finding Li Juan. Growing flustered and directionless, she suspected that Li Juan had hopped over the fence to seek her freedom.

In a flurry of panic, she dragged the still-sleeping Li Wu out of bed to help her search for the little hen.

Li Wu rubbed his eyes, walked out of the main room, and immediately stopped.

“What are you searching for? Is that not her right there?” he said, unamused.

“Where?” Shen Zhuxi urgently asked.

Li Wu pointed, and Shen Zhuxi looked in the direction he indicated —

Up in the lush, leafy osmanthus tree, a plump little hen sat perched on a branch, meeting her gaze with an expression of perfect calm and innocence.

“How… how did she get up there?” Shen Zhuxi was stunned.

“Do chickens not all go up into trees? I told you — leave her alone, leave her alone — but you absolutely had to make me build a coop…”

Still cursing, Li Wu walked toward the osmanthus tree. When he reached the base, he drew back his leg and gave the trunk a solid kick.

“I made you a coop and you will not sleep in it — do you think you are too good for my work?!”

Startled, Li Juan flapped her wings and fluttered down with a loud clucking.

“Go lay your eggs! If you cannot produce one, I am making soup out of you!” Li Wu said, his voice fierce and rough.

Li Juan seemed to sense the danger and bolted in a flash to the back courtyard.

Shen Zhuxi felt guilty for having dragged him out of bed so early only to end in such farce, and rather than face him directly, she turned and ran into the inner room, leaning out of the window to call softly to Li Juan in the back courtyard: “He is under a lot of pressure…”

“Shen Zhuxi! What are you doing in there — come out, it is time to wash up and eat!”

Li Wu’s loud, clamoring voice rang out from just outside the door.

Shen Zhuxi called back a reply and, having finished consoling the chicken in the back courtyard, hurried to go and console the duck in the front.

Who among them, really, was not under pressure?