Shaoye smiled. “It’s alright. I’m not sad. Master said that an ugly face is far better than an ugly heart. My companions have always treated me well. Master found me a teacher and had me study medicine — and as luck would have it, I have a talent for it. My teacher said that as long as I keep working hard, in another ten years I’m certain to be the finest physician in all the land. And now I’ve even made a friend. You have no idea how happy I am.”

I do know. Hua Zhi looked at her radiant eyes and the smile utterly unclouded by shadow. Her master and her companions had sheltered her well. It was because of them that she could be this open-hearted, this sincere.

“I’m your first friend, and you’re my first friend too. Doesn’t that mean the first friend should get some special privilege?”

The first friend! Shaoye nodded happily over and over again. “Whatever you want, I can get it for you — my master is incredibly capable.”

“It has nothing to do with that.” Hua Zhi met her eager, expectant gaze, her smile warm and gentle. “Let me give you a nickname — one just between us.”

Shaoye’s head nearly bobbed off her neck with how vigorously she nodded.

Hua Zhi smiled. “Do you know what, in all the world, is the most resilient, the toughest, and the most vigorously alive?”

Shaoye could rattle off many things that were resilient, tough, and vigorously alive — yet something that embodied all three at once left her momentarily stumped.

“It’s the little wildgrass — found everywhere, burned away by autumn fires yet growing back with the spring breeze. You’re just like it — resilient, tough, and teeming with life. From now on, I’ll call you Cao Cao. Put the two of us together, and we’ll be Hua Hua and Cao Cao.”

Overjoyed at receiving a one-of-a-kind name, Shaoye was beyond words. She ran outside and went around hugging each of the senior maidservants in turn, then sneaked a few bites from Fudong’s kitchen before bounding back into the room.

Hua Zhi let her be, and reached from the head of the bed for a thick booklet to flip through.

This was one of the three booklets she had brought out from the old Hua family residence. It recorded various things in simplified characters — with missing strokes and pieces — some of which she would never have use for in this lifetime. Whenever something came to mind, she would jot it down. Worried it might fall into the wrong hands, she had written it in her own scrawling, unruly hand. Between the two combined, even just reading the characters accurately would be no easy feat, and even if someone did manage to read them, Hua Zhi could deflect easily enough — everyone who had seen her handwriting said her characters were as well-behaved as she appeared to be.

She would occasionally flip through it, adding a line here, deleting a line there.

Hearing a sound, she saw Shaoye come back in with her cheeks puffed out, and closed the booklet. She poured a cup of tea and slid it toward her.

Shaoye swallowed the great mouthful of food and washed it down with the tea. Satisfied, she clicked her tongue contentedly. “Finally got to eat some. Hua Hua, you have no idea how miserable I was for a while. We were sent on a mission and everyone got lured into a trap and fell into the water — all the rations got soaked and were inedible. Thank goodness for the jerky you gave me, or we’d have gone hungry. Oh, and tomorrow someone will be sending over beef. You said beef jerky tastes better than pork jerky.”

…Quite the accomplished food enthusiast. But Hua Zhi had no desire to refuse — in the Great Qing Dynasty, cattle were generally not permitted to be slaughtered. One could only eat beef a few times a year, and she was quite craving it herself. Besides, if she refused, Shaoye would certainly be unhappy.

“Where did you have them send it?”

“I figured you’d be back by now, so I had them send it here. Remember to have someone receive it at the back gate.”

“Don’t make it too conspicuous.”

“I know. Master said he’ll have them keep it well concealed.”

Hua Zhi nodded. “My grandmother’s condition is very bad?”

At the mention of serious matters, Shaoye turned earnest as well. “Very bad. Her foundation was already weakened to begin with, and on top of that, she is weighed down by melancholy and constant brooding. Even ten years’ worth of my skills won’t be able to save her. I looked at the prescription — there’s no problem with it. That physician’s medical skill is exceptional. Even I couldn’t write a more suitable formula. Unless a better prescription exists, I wouldn’t recommend switching around continuously. Better to stay with this one for now. I’ll go back tomorrow and look through the medical texts my teacher left me to see if there are any other approaches.”

“Then I’m sorry to trouble you to make the trip. You know the situation in the Hua household — Grandmother cannot fall.”

“Hua Hua, I won’t deceive you. You need to prepare yourself. Unless she resolves the burdens in her own heart, things will only get worse and worse.”

“We have to try.” Hua Zhi felt nothing but bitterness in her mouth. Her original plan had been to hold the front line herself — whether it was earning money or building connections, she could manage all of it. The matters of the inner household she hadn’t planned to involve herself in. As long as Grandmother was there, as long as she could earn enough silver to stop people’s mouths, everything would hold. But now — what choice did she have left?

Grandmother clearly knew the state of her own condition, yet said nothing to pressure her. She must have understood that Hua Zhi was reluctant.

“Hua Hua, don’t be sad. Master says there is no river that cannot be crossed — it only depends on how resolute you are. You’re so capable. Nothing can defeat you.”

Hua Zhi tucked her emotions away and teased her, “Everything is ‘Master says.’ Does your master really talk that much?”

“Not at all — he barely speaks ordinarily. But he’s a very good person, and very good to me.”

Hua Zhi had already regretted the words the moment they left her mouth. Some people should not appear in jest. So she shifted the subject. “I’m planning to hire a martial arts teacher. The children in the household can’t remain this frail. I can’t say what I’ll manage to accomplish in other respects, but at the very least, not a single one of the children in this family should be lost.”

“That’s a good idea. Many households do the same thing. Has the Hua family never done this before? Were they always expected to focus solely on their books?”

“More or less. Families with a tradition of scholarship probably have a kind of pride in their bones — they look down on the rough and crude art of fighting.”

Shaoye cupped her face in her hands and asked, “Have you found someone yet?”

“I’m planning to send someone to my maternal grandfather’s household tomorrow to ask for his help.”

Shaoye blinked. A friend in need — it was her time to act. She said nothing, but stayed to cadge her way through both lunch and dinner. Then, on the pretext of going for a digestive stroll, she stepped out briefly and sent word back. She hadn’t used the favor the Shizi had given to Hua Hua — using such an important promise on something this small would truly be doing more harm than good.

After a wonderfully restful sleep, she stepped out of her room to find Hua Hua neatly dressed and ready, with Liu Xiang following behind her carrying a basket. “Hua Hua, are you going somewhere? Are we not eating breakfast together?”

“I have to go to the clan school to give the children their class. I already had breakfast earlier. Go quickly — Fudong made fish noodles.”

“You’re going to be a teacher?” Shaoye’s eyes lit up. “Can I come find you in a little while?”

“If you don’t mind it being dull.”

“Not at all, not at all.”

Shaoye really did go. Worried about frightening people, she wore her veiled hat and held the hanging veil gathered in her hand. The people living here were all Hua Hua’s family, and she didn’t want to be disliked by Hua Hua’s family.

She followed the sound and listened for a good long while from outside the wall — and only when the class ended and the children’s break time began did she finally hurry away. All the way back, she was thinking to herself: her friend really was something!