When the colorful strings for weaving longevity braids and the fans for the coming heat began appearing at stalls throughout the streets, the Dragon Boat Festival was drawing near.

Without quite noticing, Shen Zhuxi had been living outside the palace for two full months.

On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival itself, the three brothers had gone out early in the morning to buy festival supplies, and Shen Zhuxi was not idle either — Li Wu had pulled her out of bed before dawn. She was so sleepy her eyes would barely open, and it was only Li Wu’s continuous stream of chatter beside her that drove the drowsiness away.

All four of them went into town together to buy what was needed, pairing off into two groups. By the time they returned, each of them was carrying quite a load.

When the midday meal came around, the Li family table was laid out in abundance.

Occupying the center of the square table was the largest and plumpest roast chicken from Sui’s Chicken Shop — selected by Li Wu with the exacting standards of a man inspecting a future daughter-in-law. The chicken was trussed into a plump ingot shape, its two fat drumsticks pulled in tight, its skin crisp and glistening, a vivid deep red, the marinade hidden beneath that gleaming crust — one bite, and fragrance and richness poured forth, lingering between the teeth and cheeks.

In front of Li Que sat a long platter with a pan-fried fish — a grass carp as thick as Li Kun’s forearm, fried over a low flame until golden, the skin crisp but unbroken. Beside it sat a dish of fresh, bright green stir-fried crown daisy.

In front of Li Kun sat stir-fried pig liver and eight-treasure pork. The pig liver was tender but not underdone, crisp and clean on the palate. The eight-treasure pork was made from a freshly slaughtered, top-quality pig — equal parts lean and fat — braised until it melted on the tongue, then combined with bamboo shoot slices, cured ham, jellyfish, and five other treasures. On the plate the varied colors intermingled beautifully.

In front of Shen Zhuxi sat a bowl of radish ball soup — steaming hot, delicately fragrant — and beside it, the table’s only porcelain dish: four green rice cake sweets that Li Wu had brought back from the prefectural seat of Jinzhou two days prior, arranged with care.

In front of Li Wu it was simple enough — just two dishes to accompany wine, with a wine jar sitting taller on the table than the soup bowl.

Li Kun and Li Que ate without pause, Li Wu kept his arms around the wine jar and could not put it down, and Shen Zhuxi was the only person at the table who hardly touched a thing.

As the weather grew warmer, her appetite grew worse and worse.

She was staring gloomily at the grains of rice in her bowl, silently willing them to vanish into thin air, when Li Wu’s impatient voice sounded beside her.

“Is that eating or are you counting your rice?”

Shen Zhuxi said: “I can’t eat any more.”

Li Kun immediately chimed in: “I can! Let me help!”

Li Wu looked at him. Li Kun promptly pulled back the hand he had already extended and returned to battling the eight-treasure pork in front of him with his head down.

“Shen Zhuxi, this is excessive.” Li Wu frowned. “You tell me what you want and I make it. You still can’t eat — what is the meaning of this?”

“I genuinely can’t eat anymore…” Shen Zhuxi said miserably.

She wanted to eat too, it was just that after a couple of bites she felt sick, and a couple more bites and she felt she would retch — what was she supposed to do about that?

Shen Zhuxi knew she was a picky eater. But it was only since leaving the palace that she realized just how picky she was. She also knew there was no room for pickiness in the common world, and she very much wanted to overcome this small failing of hers, but her body would not obey her reason — she simply could not eat!

“What’s the excuse today?” Li Wu said. “Eight dishes aren’t enough for you? Do we need a full imperial banquet before you’ll deign to open your mouth?”

“It’s enough, it’s enough…” Shen Zhuxi hesitated, then said quietly: “I just have no appetite…”

Li Wu raised an eyebrow, looking ready to deliver another round of plain and pointed commentary. Shen Zhuxi had already braced herself for his cold mockery — when Li Que, whose quick mind and pleasant nature surpassed Li Wu’s by no small measure, spoke:

“Is sister-in-law suffering from summer sickness?”

“What is summer sickness?” Li Wu asked.

“Loss of appetite in the hot season.”

“Yes, yes, that’s exactly it — summer sickness.” Shen Zhuxi nodded quickly. “When I was in the palace, the physician… one of the medical apprentices said the same thing.”

“Are you trying to fool me?” Li Wu said. “By that logic, if I can’t eat because I have no money in my pocket, should that be called money sickness? And would anyone bring me money if I had it?”

“Elder Brother, summer sickness is something that afflicts delicate people — rough-and-ready men like us could never get it. As for your trouble, it isn’t caused by having no money — it’s pure greed, and a sip of something would cure it… ow!”

Li Que received a kick under the table and rubbed his shin, grimacing.

“What does one eat to get better?” Li Wu said.

“No medicine needed — it goes away once summer is over.” Li Que said.

“So you’re saying you won’t eat for an entire summer?” Li Wu looked at Shen Zhuxi.

Shen Zhuxi smiled awkwardly. “It’s not that I won’t eat at all… I’ll still eat some. You don’t need to worry about me — once summer is over, I’ll be fine.”

Don’t worry about her?

If she didn’t want him to worry about her, who was she expecting to? Grown as she was, she still ate like a fussier child than any child. He knew it too — life outside the palace left no room for such pickiness. She wanted to do better. But her body wouldn’t listen to her head. She truly couldn’t eat.

Li Wu looked at her with cold eyes. She at least had the grace to look embarrassed, her gaze sliding away from his.

One meal later — though Shen Zhuxi had eaten almost nothing — with Li Kun’s bottomless appetite, the table was stripped clean, even the remaining broth sopped up with mantou until not a drop remained.

After the midday meal, Li Kun spread a bamboo mat on the floor of the main hall, and in the time it took to blink several times, the room was filled with the sound of thunderous snoring.

Shen Zhuxi tossed and turned in the inner room, unable to sleep at all, with Li Kun’s snoring like rolling thunder filling her ears. After a long time of restless turning, she gave up on the nap entirely, got up out of bed, and walked to the courtyard.

Li Wu had never come indoors. She had assumed he was in the kitchen with Li Que, who was doing the washing up, but when she stepped out of the inner room, she found him crouched beneath the osmanthus tree, holding a tree branch, at times writing and drawing in the sand, at other times stopping to think deeply.

Shen Zhuxi crept up behind him on quiet feet and peered over his shoulder — half a sheet’s worth of characters already covered the ground.

He was copying the Thousand Character Classic from memory.

Li Wu turned his head suddenly, saw Shen Zhuxi behind him, and shot upright.

His face bore the guilt of someone caught red-handed, and he said with an outward bluster that his expression did not support: “Are you trying to scare me into the next world so you can marry again?!”

Before Shen Zhuxi could speak, she watched him quickly drag his foot across the ground, wiping out the half-written Thousand Character Classic. She rushed to stop him and said: “Why are you erasing it? You only had half a page left to finish!”

“Finish what? I didn’t write anything!” Li Wu said, with righteousness that outpaced his logic.

“I saw it with my own eyes!” Shen Zhuxi said urgently.

“You were still half asleep!”

“I didn’t sleep at all!”

“Impressive skill, sleeping with your eyes open.”

Shen Zhuxi could not out-argue him, and could only stand there, fuming.

This person and his nonsense!

“What is there to hide about reviewing the Thousand Character Classic?” Shen Zhuxi could not make any sense of it.

“I wasn’t reviewing anything.” Li Wu straightened his back and said: “I’m a natural genius — I remember everything I read.”

Shen Zhuxi: “…”

How could any person be so utterly shameless?

This utterly shameless person suddenly glanced at Shen Zhuxi’s middle. Shen Zhuxi stepped back warily, one sleeve raised in front of her.

“What are you looking at?”

“Seeing if you’re hungry.” Li Wu said.

“What does it matter whether I’m hungry or not?”

“If you’re hungry, I’ll take you up the mountain to pick fruit. If you’re not hungry, I’ll take you up the mountain to work off your lunch.”

Shen Zhuxi stared at him: “What’s the difference?”

“A very big difference.” Li Wu caught hold of her arm as naturally as could be, and before she had time to react, was already pulling her toward the courtyard gate: “Come along, you’ll see when we get there.”

Through her sleeve, the warmth of his palm came through to where he held her. Shen Zhuxi felt vaguely strange about it, but she looked at Li Wu and he seemed completely unaware — which made her feel she was making much out of nothing.

If she were to make a fuss about it, this man would certainly mock her. Shen Zhuxi puffed up her cheeks behind his back and resolved not to let him see any sign of her discomfort.

Going right out of the Li family gate led to the market in town. This time Li Wu pulled her straight to the left. Shen Zhuxi remembered that left was the direction of the well, but Li Wu led her onto a mountain path she had never taken before.

Mountain path was generous — it was really just a deer trail, worn bare by the footsteps of those who had gone before. The narrow path wound through dense forest, the ground uneven and scattered with rock and overgrown weeds.

Unexpectedly, there were quite a few people on the path — mostly young women walking together, baskets on their arms, chatting and laughing cheerfully. There were also lone men with hoes over their shoulders. Those heading up carried empty baskets or empty backpacks; those heading down carried the same, though their baskets and packs now held a variety of mountain goods — mostly medicinal herbs, with mushrooms a distant second.

“Are there usually this many people here?” Shen Zhuxi asked, puzzled.

“Only like this for the Dragon Boat Festival.” Li Wu said. “The Dragon Boat Festival is when the vital energy of the year is at its strongest — all kinds of medicinal herbs are at the peak of their potency on this day, and accordingly the prices for medicine are also at their highest. On this day, it’s not only herb gatherers who come up the mountain — ordinary people who have the time also come up to pick some to take home. Have you ever picked medicinal herbs on a mountain?”

Shen Zhuxi shook her head.

“Ever dug up mountain produce?”

She shook her head again.

Li Wu said: “Come along then — I’ll teach you what can be eaten and what can’t. Some fruits look unattractive on the outside but are full of juice and very sweet. And there’s a kind of red flower whose stems hold a juice sweeter than honey…”

Shen Zhuxi grew interested in these new discoveries and instinctively ignored the two words he’d led with, saying happily: “Alright.”

She agreed lightly, already imagining herself up on the mountain learning about wild produce and digging up bamboo shoots with her own hands. But before long, reality came crashing down.

By the time they reached the halfway point up the mountain, Shen Zhuxi was moving slower and slower, breathing harder and harder, wiping away beads of sweat only for them to reappear. The sweet fruits and flower juice sweeter than honey had long since been pushed entirely out of her mind. All she wanted now was to lie down on the ground, use the sky as her blanket and the earth as her bed, and never move again.

“I… I can’t anymore… I can’t go any further…” Shen Zhuxi panted.

Li Wu was walking ahead and glancing back at her every so often.

One person compared to another — what a difference. She was exhausted near to death, and Li Wu looked exactly as he had at the base of the mountain: shoulders relaxed, breathing steady, covering vast distances with each stride, full of energy.

“You can do it — believe in yourself.” Li Wu said. “Believe that you’re a palace maidservant, not a pampered princess. When has a palace maidservant ever walked two steps and started panting like this?”

“You’re the palace maidservant!” Shen Zhuxi said.

“I most certainly am.” Li Wu said. “My great misfortune — I rescued a maidservant who’s more delicate than any princess and now have to wait on her hand and foot.”

Shen Zhuxi very much wanted to aim a kick at his backside the way he did with his brothers. But watching him climb and talk at the same time without the slightest effort, Shen Zhuxi strongly suspected that if she swung the kick, she would miss him entirely and fall over herself first.

Just what kind of creature was Li Wu? Did he ever tire?

“I can’t go on… I really cannot go on…”

Shen Zhuxi waved her hand and stopped to catch her breath.

Li Wu turned around, came back to her, and grabbed her by the arm to pull her onward.

“We’re almost there — just two more steps and we’ll have arrived.”

One incense stick later, Shen Zhuxi said:

“Two steps… two steps… how many more sets of two steps is that?”

“Almost there, almost there — stop talking and you’ll get there faster.”

Two incense sticks later, Shen Zhuxi said:

“I can’t go on… how much further is there…”

“Can’t you see? The summit is right there ahead of you!”

Three incense sticks later, tears had reached the rims of Shen Zhuxi’s eyes.

Li Wu suddenly stopped walking and said: “We’re here!”