Changmei Daoren watched the man shut the door in his face. He reached out a hand as if to stop him, but the hand froze halfway there, because in that instant he suddenly understood—some kindnesses cannot be begged for.

Pity that has to be begged for is a shabby thing indeed.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Changmei Daoren murmured to himself and turned to walk away. Naturally there was some sadness and regret in his heart, but the moment he thought of little Li Diudiu already inside Siye Academy, his spirits lifted again. So what if he had nowhere to stay for now—it wasn’t going to be like this forever.

Not long after he left, Zhou Huaili arrived by carriage outside Wuwei Temple. He could more or less guess what sort of treatment Changmei Daoren must have received, but by the time he got there, he found nothing at all.

Zhou Huaili had his driver go ask around. The middle-aged Daoist who had chased Changmei off, hearing that a Mr. Zhou from the former government office had sent someone to inquire, put on a smile and answered that… no one had come by at all, that he’d never seen any shabby, disheveled old Daoist, and that if such a person did come, he would certainly treat him well.

After Zhou Huaili’s carriage left, the middle-aged Daoist spat. “Pah! Some retired little official—what’s there to be so pleased with himself about.”

The door slammed shut once more.

Changmei Daoren, without a copper coin left to his name and his stomach growling, watched the sky darken bit by bit, and couldn’t help feeling a twinge of regret. If only he’d known, he wouldn’t have relieved himself against that woodpile the night before—now he needed to find a new one.

Jizhou city was under curfew; after dark, no one was permitted to wander the streets freely, and anyone caught by a patrolling official would be thrown straight into prison and treated as a thief. That was exactly why Changmei and Li Diudiu had had no choice but to crawl into a woodpile to sleep.

Changmei Daoren walked along, thinking that even without money for food or lodging, at least there was no shortage of woodpiles.

He found a corner to hide in, and once the streets were completely empty, he picked out another woodpile and burrowed in, pulling the dry branches and straw over himself, covering himself completely—he was used to it by now, after all.

Little Diudiu must already be sleeping soundly in a clean, tidy room by now, with a thick warm blanket and a comfortable pillow. How wonderful.

Truly wonderful.

Thinking of this, Changmei Daoren fell asleep.

Another morning came, and Changmei Daoren had to get up early—what if someone came out to gather firewood and found him, and hauled him off to the authorities? He got up, stretched, and stood by the roadside, muttering to himself and waving his hands about in the empty air.

Like a madman.

He was only straightening Li Diudiu’s clothes, pulling stray bits of grass from his hair.

“How foolish.”

Changmei Daoren mocked himself, but he still felt as if little Diudiu were standing right in front of him, looking up and saying… Master, I’m hungry.

His stomach growled. Changmei wandered the streets for a while, then found a fairly open spot and sat down, planting his fortune-telling banner in the ground, trying to stay as still as possible—moving only made the hunger worse.

What was little Diudiu eating right now?

At Siye Academy, Li Diudiu stood frozen before a long table laden with a lavish breakfast, utterly out of his depth. In all the years he’d traveled with his master, he’d never known breakfast could look like this. Until now, the height of his culinary imagination had been another bowl of stewed offal.

Rows of iron pots lined the dining hall, filled with all kinds of porridge—white rice porridge, millet porridge, pumpkin porridge, eight-treasure porridge—and various soups, no fewer than five or six kinds. Li Diudiu had never seen so many kinds of staple foods and side dishes laid out, an overwhelming, dazzling array.

Standing there like a fool, staring at all of it, Li Diudiu thought—what was Master eating right now?

Though he knew the food at Wuwei Temple probably wasn’t bad either, when no one was looking he still slipped two eggs into his robe. Thinking carefully, he and his master hadn’t eaten eggs in years.

Jizhou had grown more chaotic with each passing year, and the common people’s lives had grown harder and harder. Life outside the city walls and life inside them were two completely different worlds—it had been years since they’d even seen a chicken.

The academy’s students lived in luxury and comfort, while outside the walls the common people, unable to feed themselves, had turned to banditry.

The plump auntie working the dining hall had never seen little Li Diudiu before. He wasn’t very tall, and had delicate, refined features—the way he stood there dazed in front of all that food was something she’d never seen from any student.

Which of the academy’s students would come to eat this early? Which of them would look at the food here with eyes shining like that?

“Young master.”

Auntie Wu asked cautiously, “Is something wrong with the food?”

She couldn’t believe that any student at the academy would find breakfast this fascinating—it wasn’t that she didn’t believe it, more that she didn’t even dare imagine it.

“No, no.”

Li Diudiu bowed hastily. “It’s just that I’ve never eaten so much food before… no, I mean, I’ve never seen so much food that could be eaten before.”

Auntie Wu looked flustered. “Young master, if there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, just say so.”

Li Diudiu shook his head. “Auntie, I’m not a young master. My family has no money or power, no parents either—Master says my parents were farmers, so I really can’t be called ‘young master.’ I’m just a poor student.”

He thought for a moment, then added, “You’ve probably never met a poor student before.”

Auntie Wu looked even more flustered. “Young master, please don’t joke like that…”

Li Diudiu didn’t bother explaining further. He pointed at something he’d never seen before and asked, “What’s this?”

“That’s eight-treasure rice.”

Auntie Wu said quickly, “Does it not look appetizing?”

Li Diudiu asked, “Could I take some to go?”

Auntie Wu said, “This eight-treasure rice is a sticky dish—it’s good hot. If you take it with you, young master, it’ll go hard and dry once it cools.”

Li Diudiu thought about it—today was his first day of class, and he’d have to wait ten days before he could go to Wuwei Temple to see his master—so he nodded. “Then I’ll eat it here.”

Auntie Wu said, “Young master, you should drink some porridge first and eat a bit of the leavened bread—if you go straight for the eight-treasure rice, your stomach will be upset.”

“There’s that much to it?”

Li Diudiu felt more out of place in this dining hall by the second.

“That… auntie, I took two eggs just now.”

“What?”

Auntie Wu was taken aback, then said quickly, “Young master, there’s no need to be so polite—everything here is prepared for all of you, take whatever you like.”

Li Diudiu looked around—there were fewer than five or six people eating in the whole hall, yet enough food had been prepared for over a hundred. He couldn’t help feeling a flash of irritation. “With this much food, won’t it just go to waste if no one finishes it?”

“That’s nothing to worry about.”

Auntie Wu smiled. “This is Siye Academy, after all. How could the food here be anything less than excellent? If it were lacking, it wouldn’t match the academy’s reputation.”

Li Diudiu nodded, murmuring to himself, “Reputation, huh?”

Auntie Wu jumped, worried she’d said something wrong again.

Following Auntie Wu’s instructions, Li Diudiu took a bowl of porridge, some leavened bread, some side dishes, and a portion of the eight-treasure rice. Just as he sat down to eat, Zhang Xiaolin and Sun Rugong walked in side by side. Seeing Li Diudiu sitting there, Zhang Xiaolin couldn’t help laughing.

“I knew it—that poor kid would be here.”

He walked over and sat down across from Li Diudiu, rapping his knuckles on the table.

“Poor kid, is this the first time you’ve seen this much food?”

Li Diudiu glanced at him and nodded. “Yes.”

Zhang Xiaolin laughed. “Can’t blame you—you’re just a poor kid. Blame your parents for not giving you a decent birth.”

After saying this, he looked over Li Diudiu’s uniform and laughed again.

“Ever worn cloth like this before? Probably not. Look how carefully you’ve even tucked a cloth under it—afraid of getting your uniform dirty while eating? You’ve never worn clothes like this before either—pathetic, really.”

Li Diudiu ignored him, keeping his head down and eating.

Zhang Xiaolin had meant to humiliate him, but Li Diudiu’s silent, focused eating, treating him like empty air, made him feel as if he were the one being insulted instead, and he grew angry.

“I’m here to issue a challenge.”

Zhang Xiaolin said, “That day in front of the instructor, you won by ambushing me, and I don’t accept it. After class this afternoon, let’s meet in the woods behind the academy and settle it properly. If I lose again, I’ll steer clear of you for good from now on. If you lose, you kneel and kowtow to admit your fault.”

Li Diudiu looked up and gave Zhang Xiaolin’s face one indifferent glance, and for some reason Zhang Xiaolin felt as if he’d been slapped across the face again, his cheek burning.

Li Diudiu only thought, how dull. Kneeling and kowtowing to admit fault—how childish.

“Don’t you dare not show up.”

Zhang Xiaolin slammed both hands down on the table.

The sound startled the other students eating nearby; some turned to look over with annoyed expressions. Zhang Xiaolin hastily apologized to them. Every student at this academy came from a distinguished family… well, except Li Diudiu—which was exactly why he only dared bully Li Diudiu.

“Fine.”

Li Diudiu nodded, giving a single-word reply.

Zhang Xiaolin snorted and pulled Sun Rugong away with him. Sun Rugong hadn’t said a single word the whole time, but Li Diudiu kept feeling that this one was unnervingly quiet for a child.

He and his master had traveled across seven counties—he’d seen all kinds of people. Master always said, watch a person’s eyes; that’s where their thoughts and character hide.

Zhang Xiaolin was nothing more than a loud, blustering type. Sun Rugong, tagging along without a word, had let a flicker of contempt for Li Diudiu flash through his eyes for only an instant—but that instant was enough to make Li Diudiu take him seriously.

Auntie Wu stood watching the three boys talk, bewildered all over again, wondering if this “young master” really was a poor kid after all.

Li Diudiu finished his bowl of porridge, ate his bread and side dishes, then pulled the eight-treasure rice toward him. The sweet-and-sour dish, studded with candied fruit, made his eyes light up—he’d never had rice this delicious before.

After finishing, he carried all his dishes back himself, then turned to Auntie Wu with a bright, sunny smile. “Thank you, it really was delicious.”

Auntie Wu returned the courtesy hastily. “Young master, there’s no need to be so polite, really, no need at all.”

After Li Diudiu left, Auntie Wu looked at the dishes he’d used—only a bit of broth left in the bowl, not a single grain of rice remaining, so clean it made her wonder if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

How could there be a “young master” like this at the academy?

She glanced instinctively around at the other tables. The empty seats left behind by students who’d already finished and gone were piled with leftover food—some things barely tasted before being tossed aside, some untouched entirely. The contrast couldn’t have been starker.

And yet, honestly, Auntie Wu didn’t think much of Li Diudiu at all.

She much preferred the students who left plenty of leftovers, since then she could take the extra food home—her children loved it, and her husband could use the leftovers to go with his drink.

As Li Diudiu walked out of the dining hall, he glanced back just in time to see Auntie Wu slipping eggs into her own pocket. She looked up and caught him watching, growing flustered.

Li Diudiu just smiled and headed off toward the classroom.

Master said, don’t embarrass yourself.

Such a hassle…

…

…