“This is already very good.” Hua Yizheng stroked his beard and nodded, adding weight to the words. “All of this is already very good. You have been thoughtful.”
“I can’t manage everything perfectly, so if there is something you need, please tell me. As long as I can get it, I will try my best to send it. Don’t feel that it would be a bother — I certainly don’t feel that way.” Hua Zhi smiled. “I have quite a talent for earning money. There’s no need to worry that I can’t afford it.”
Hua Pingyang suppressed the bitter feeling rising in his chest and smiled. “Who praises themselves so openly? Rest easy — would we really stand on ceremony with you?”
Hua Zhi opened the large bundle she had brought with her. Inside it were four smaller bundles of varying sizes. She took out the smallest one and began unwrapping it as she spoke. “This is a powder ground from dried mushrooms. Adding a little when cooking brings out a wonderful savory depth. The convoy is also bringing an entire cart of dried goods — including this kind of mushroom powder, as well as whole dried mushrooms. I’ve also gathered a selection of dried seafood. When it all arrives, I’ll write out the preparation methods so the servants can follow them.”
The second bundle she opened contained a box, which Hua Zhi slid directly to her grandfather. “Tea leaves. There’s more coming with the convoy — this is just a small portion I brought ahead to take the edge off your craving.”
Hua Yizheng was delighted. He opened the box, drew in a deep breath, and gently sifted through the leaves. “This doesn’t look like this year’s new harvest.”
“It’s from last year. Someone went into the old estate and smuggled out the things the searchers hadn’t bothered to take.”
She said it the way one might remark on pleasant weather — as if it were of no consequence at all — and reached for the large bundle. From the sound and shape of what was inside, the Hua Family members already knew what it was.
She stacked the gold bars neatly by length and size. “These are best saved for bribes and payments. If you do need to use them for yourselves, break them into smaller pieces before spending — otherwise it draws too much attention. I’ve also brought some banknotes, which should be more than enough for day-to-day use.”
She opened the last bundle to reveal rolled banknotes, and continued: “There are various denominations. In a place like this, banknotes can’t buy everything, but they should at least help make things a little easier.”
The five of them — father and sons — watched and listened, their hearts too full for words. They wanted to say something, but felt that anything they said would be superfluous.
Hua Pingyang gave a light cough. “You’ve added a new business at home?”
“Yes. I’ve been cultivating mushrooms on the estate on the eastern side of the city — the mushroom powder is one of the varieties from there. I’ve brought two people with me in the convoy this time who will be staying on here. They’ve brought spore cultures. I’d like to try growing them here and see if it can be made to work — if it can, there’d be at least one more vegetable to eat through winter.”
Yinshan Pass had only two seasons — winter and what passed for spring. The long winters were not only bitterly cold but also offered a fixed and limited diet. The Hua Family had been raised on fine fare, and last year’s winter had been a genuine trial. By the time the weather finally warmed, everyone had lost weight — it was only after a proper period of good eating in the warmer months that they had recovered.
Having one more vegetable would be a welcome thing, and from the way Zhi’er spoke, it seemed that was far from the only variety she had in mind. “The way you talk, this doesn’t feel like exile at all — it’s more like we’ve come somewhere to be pampered.”
“Well, your standards for being pampered are quite low.” Hua Zhi shot back immediately. “Though we mustn’t stand out too much. The mushroom powder goes a long way — you can share some with others. And when the mushrooms do grow, how you handle it from there is your decision. That variety spreads and fruits quickly.”
“……Understood.” Hua Yizheng agreed. Zhi’er had thought of everything so thoroughly that all he could do was say yes.
“Shao Yao will arrive in a few days. Once she does, have her check everyone’s health.” Hua Zhi looked at the men in front of her — the pillars of the family she had once known. “We in the capital worry about nothing else as much as this: that you might fall ill. Your health is what everything else rests upon. If nothing else, please — for the sake of all of us working this hard to see the Hua Family rise again — Grandfather, Father, and all the Uncles, please take care of yourselves.”
“Don’t worry. We all understand that.”
Hua Zhi’s smile never left her face, and everything she said carried the same calm, untroubled air — as though to her it was all perfectly simple and effortless. But in this room, even the most unassuming of the secondborn sons, Hua Pinyuan, had spent years navigating the sharp-edged world of the capital. Not a single one of them was unaware of how much hardship lay behind her words.
But since she did not wish to speak of it, they did not ask.
Hua Pingyu said abruptly, “Tell us about Master Lu.”
Having her own father ask about the man she was involved with was something Hua Zhi found more than a little uncomfortable — she no longer had the easy lightness from before, though she kept her composure.
She had known this would come before she’d even set out, and she had thought through what she would say.
“His identity is complicated, and I am not in a position to reveal it at present. But he holds no ill will toward the Hua Family — he has supported us in both visible and invisible ways, and toward me as well.”
She paused, then added: “I know what Father is really asking. But for now, neither of us is in a position to discuss marriage. If I am to wed, it will only be once the Hua Family has no more burdens to bear. It is too early to speak of it yet.”
But Hua Pingyu shook his head. “I’m not concerned about his identity. You’ve always had a clear head — if you know the full measure of him and believe he is worthy of your trust, that’s enough for me. What I am more concerned about is his intentions. Is he good to you?”
“I have no basis for comparison, so I’m not sure where the line of ‘good’ is. But as long as we’re in the capital, no matter how busy he is, he makes time to have dinner with me in the evenings. When something happens to me, he’s the first to come. When I came north, he arranged everything and accompanied me. Whether it concerns his own affairs or mine, he always discusses things with me — he doesn’t interfere with how I conduct myself under the banner of ‘acting for my own good.'”
As she spoke, Hua Zhi found herself realizing just how good Yanxi truly was — even better than she’d allowed herself to think. She lowered her eyes, a quiet smile on her lips.
“But the reason I gave him the opportunity to draw close to me is that he never treated me as an extension of a man. There is no hierarchy between us. To this point, I feel he has earned the word ‘good.’ As for what comes after…”
She smiled. “What happens in the next moment is already hard to say — who can speak with certainty about what comes after? All we can hold is what is right before us.”
This was almost too clear-eyed a view of things. Hua Pingyu opened and closed his mouth several times, and in the end said only: “So long as you won’t regret it, no one has any standing to say otherwise.”
Even her father took that position — the others naturally had nothing further to add. And knowing she would not go off and marry someone while the Hua Family still had needs unmet, they would say nothing against her for any of this.
Hua Yizheng nodded. “If the time is right and he is willing, there’s no reason not to let him come and meet us. We’d like to thank him in person, for everything he’s done for you and for our family.”
Hua Pingyang quickly added, “Yes — I actually invited him this morning already. He seemed not to want to intrude on our gathering, and said he would come at dinnertime.”
Hua Zhi gave her fourth uncle a little wink of gratitude, angling the good words toward Yanxi. Hua Pingyang shot her a stern look — but could not bring himself to actually make things difficult for her.
He knew his niece better than anyone. She would not have let that softness show in her smile if she hadn’t genuinely given someone a place in her heart. Remembering the scene from that morning, Hua Pingyang let out a quiet sigh inside.
He didn’t approve — but he was even less willing to go against Zhi’er’s wishes and stand in the way. Zhi’er was not the kind of woman who needed a man to decide her fate. She could bear whatever consequences came, and beyond that she still had all of them behind her. Worst that could happen, she’d spend her whole life as the Hua Family’s eldest unmarried daughter — and there were worse fates.