Chapter 4

Han Yunkai saw the fire burning him and felt that his kindness was not rewarded. He sat back in his chair, crossed his legs and said with a playful smile: "The girl you found for me is either the daughter of this chieftain or the sister of some chieftain. I am such a talented person, how can I let those village girls get away with it?"

Yin Tai laughed in anger: "How can I find a village girl for you? If I had to find one, I'd find a Xiangkan (1) lady like Se Manli."

Han Yunkai felt a headache when he heard Se Manli's name. Without thinking, he said, "Impossible! I won't marry either Se Manli or that poor little girl from the Lan family."

Han Yunkai's poor little Lan family member, starving, tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Their first dinner in Yunxiang was prepared with meticulous care by the servants hired from Bonai Village, featuring authentic Yunxiang cuisine. But Yueming, exhausted from days of toil, simply wanted something light. She scooped up a bowl of chicken porridge, overflowing with chili peppers and pungent spices, and picked up a cold dish called "sapie" with chopsticks, which tasted more bitter than medicine. She drank a bowl of sour pickled vegetable soup and went to bed.

The extreme fatigue of her body made her think that she would fall asleep quickly, but she didn't know whether it was because she was afraid of the unfamiliar environment or because she felt uncomfortable with the teak four-poster bed that Lan Yingde brought from Myanmar. She tossed and turned in bed for a long time but couldn't fall asleep.

Lying in bed, gazing at the moon hanging from the golden osmanthus tree, the more she looked, the more it resembled the Xizhou baba she'd eaten in Dali. Just as large, just as golden, and with a bite that would ooze out scalding syrup. After enduring for a while, she finally couldn't help herself. She stood up, opened the mosquito net, and, slipping on her embroidered slippers, knocked on her senior brother's door.

Changsheng opened the door shirtless. The dim oil lamp behind him made his face appear dark and bright. He rubbed his eyes and asked, "Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night? Are you so particular about your bed?"

Yueming bit her lip and said, "Senior brother, I'm hungry." As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach rumbled accordingly.

Changsheng wanted to laugh, but he was afraid that Yueming would get angry and beat him.

"I just happened to buy some dried noodles from Shunning this morning. Come on, I'll make them for you."

Changsheng went back to the bedside cabinet to get the oil lamp. He was afraid the soybean-sized flame would be blown out by the wind, so he protected the lamp with his palm and led the hungry Yueming to the kitchen. After a busy time, they squatted on the steps of the spicy terrace outside the kitchen, holding a large bowl and eating noodles.

A man's cooking is all about cooking until it's done. The noodles were only cooked with lard and salt, leaving them with nothing but saltiness. They were nothing compared to the food the old woman at home in Kunming cooked. Yueming couldn't eat any more after just two bites. She put the bowl on the steps, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and said, "I'm full."

Changsheng was sleeping soundly, but she woke him up to cook. How could he possibly let her go? He raised his eyebrows and said, "What do you mean by full? Eat all the noodles."

Yueming was already feeling aggrieved at having to eat such terrible noodles, and she felt even more upset when she saw her senior brother, who always let her, get angry at her. She cried, "I was living well in Kunming, but you forced me to come here and eat such terrible noodles."

Changsheng panicked when he saw Yueming's tears about to fall. This girl cried so loudly that if she woke up the master, he would be in trouble.

Throwing the bowl aside, he said, "You woke me up in the middle of the night to serve you and you complained that my cooking was bad. I didn't even cry, but you started crying first."

Yueming didn't want to reason with him and just sobbed, "I don't want to stay here. I want to go back to Kunming."

"Why go back to Kunming? Isn't there good food and drink here?"

Delicious and delicious? Yueming glanced at the bowl of noodles next to her, which had already clumped into a ball, with tears in her eyes.

Her silent accusation made Changsheng both angry and amused: "Okay, okay, I'm sorry that my cooking is so bad that it's wronged our eldest lady. I'll take you out to eat delicious food tomorrow, okay?"

Yueming thought of the rice jelly shrimp she hadn't been able to eat that afternoon. She suppressed her tears and asked curiously, "What are rice jelly shrimp? Are they delicious?"

"It's papaya water with cold shrimp! If you want to eat it, I'll buy it for you tomorrow. During Songkran Festival, people here also make a kind of rice cracker called Haobeng to eat with it, and they also have Songkran baba, which are all delicious. I'll buy them all for you, okay?"

Regardless of whether Changsheng would really take her out to eat or just promise her something, she felt better now and was in the mood to chat.

Remembering that she couldn't go back to school, she quickly asked, "Is there a school here? Will I have to go to school here in the future?"

"I'm afraid not. There are no girls' schools. Children here go to temples to study, and they still learn the Dai language. The only modern schools are in Mianning City. The private schools in the chieftain's mansions teach the Four Books and Five Classics. Do you want to go?"

After a few words, Yueming became depressed. She cried out again: "So why did you bring me here?"

Changsheng was silent for a moment, thinking that Yueming was already a grown woman at thirteen, and there were things he should let her know. After the Water Splashing Festival, he and his master would go to Lashio, and he was worried about leaving her alone in Yunxiang, so ignorant and unaware of the dangers of her situation.

"Master, you know that this is where the rare chieftains are selling their goods?"

Yueming nodded. She didn't know at first; they'd only told her they were in Yunxiang to buy some herbs, and they'd been gone for ages. Lan Yingde would still come back to Kunming to see her from time to time, but her senior brother hadn't seen her in over a year. After they left, a group of Ma Guotou, claiming to be members of the Zhaotong Gang, would come to inquire about Lan Yingde's whereabouts, saying they wanted to join him in shipping goods. That's when she knew what her father and senior brother had been up to.

"Master followed the British in Burma. Previously, Han Tusi sold his goods to the military. After Master arrived, he changed his sales channels, fearing they might cause trouble. How could we be assured of you being alone in Kunming? So Master pretended to go back to Kunming to discuss business and bring you here. He didn't dare make a big fuss, simply saying he was bringing you to Yunxiang to celebrate the Water Splashing Festival."

Yueming looked at him in confusion. "If we hide here, they won't cause trouble? Are there no troops here?"

"Here are the Fifth Master of the Zhaotong Gang and the Third Young Master of Commander Long's family! But you have to stay here until the matter is resolved."

Can she go back to Kunming after solving this problem? Yueming wanted to ask, but after thinking about it, she decided not to ask, fearing that she would not be able to sleep tonight if the answer was not satisfactory.

Yueming didn't know if it was the heavy topic of conversation that had ruined her appetite, or if it was the unpalatable bowl of noodles that had taken its toll, but she wasn't feeling particularly hungry anymore. The moon in the sky no longer looked like Xizhou Baba anymore, so she sighed deeply and said, "So, why should we help the Han family? Wouldn't it be better for us to open our own pharmacy in Kunming? We wouldn't have to leave our hometown to avoid disaster."

Looking at his junior sister's disappointed face, Changsheng didn't dare to tell her the other bad news. Wen Yan said to her, "Have you eaten enough? If you are, go to sleep! Just leave the bowl there. Aunt Yuxiang will come to clean it up tomorrow."

Yueming got up, returned to her room, and lay back on the bed. She carefully rolled up the mosquito net and pulled the tripe quilt her senior brother had bought her from the Bulang weavers over her. After a while, she felt the heat and stretched her legs out. The oil lamp on the low cabinet beside the bed cast a dim glow. Without electricity, Yueming felt that the lamp wasn't even as bright as the moon outside.

Before leaving, Aunt Yuxiang placed a vase of tuberose in her room. The senior brother said it repelled mosquitoes. A branch of a tree was covered in tiny, beige flowers, and the rich fragrance filled the room. The more Yueming sniffed, the more invigorated she felt. She wanted to throw the flowers away, but she was too lazy to get up.

She felt that Yun Xiang's world was really at odds with her in every way. Why put flowers in it when there was already a mosquito net! Couldn't he just light a mosquito coil for her?

Because she fell asleep with deep resentment, Yueming looked listless when she woke up the next day. Seeing her get up, Aunt Yuxiang brought her hot water for washing and placed it on the shelf before going to the kitchen to make breakfast.

For breakfast, they had rice noodles and the soup made from pork bones was milky white, which reminded Yueming of the milk she drank every day in Kunming.

She asked Aunt Yuxiang, who was adding meat sauce to rice noodles, "Is there no milk?"

Aunt Yuxiang only knew two sentences of Chinese. "It's time for dinner! I'm leaving!" She looked at Yueming in confusion, blinking to show she didn't understand.

Lan Yingde's heart skipped a beat. Her mother had passed away shortly after she gave birth, and she had been fed powdered milk and cow's milk since she was little. She was so addicted to these things that she couldn't give them up even at thirteen. Her family had plenty of money, so they let her eat them. But this time, she had to rush out and forget about it.

Looking at the adults' faces, she knew that the milk must be gone. She wanted to drink more, but she pretended not to care and said, "Forget it if there's no milk."

Changsheng suddenly had an idea and said to his master, "I'll go to the foreign goods store tomorrow and see if I can buy some milk powder."

Lan Yingde nodded and said, "Okay, then go check it out tomorrow. If you find any, buy a few more cans." Then he said to Yueming, "Eat quickly. After you finish eating, we are going to the Buddhist temple to attend the celebration."

The Buddhist temple was not far from home. After breakfast, Lan Yingde walked there with Yueming and Changsheng. Passersby greeted Lan Yingde when they saw him, "Sir, are you going to the Zangfang too?"

Whether it was an official or a commoner, Lan Yingde would return the greeting with a bow.

When they arrived at the large square next to the Buddhist temple, the Tusi family and the Buddha from the Guanmian Temple sat in the center of the stage, surrounded by a crowd of people. Yueming squinted her eyes to see what the Tusi family looked like, but they were too far away. No matter how hard she tried, she could only make out their rough outlines.

The second housekeeper pushed through the crowd and came over to Lan Yingde, clasping his hands. He said, "Mr. Lan, the master and Mrs. Yin asked me to welcome you here. Please follow me."

Lan Yingde winked at Changsheng, and Changsheng understood and took out a red envelope and handed it to Feng Er, the second housekeeper.

Feng Er quickly declined, saying, "This is my duty. Mr. Lan, you are too polite."

Lan Yingde said, "Don't be polite, housekeeper. It's a big festival and everyone should share in the joy."

Look! Look at how articulate and thoughtful Mr. Lan is. Feng Er decided it was better to obey than to be respectful. He took the red envelope and led the group to the seats of the leaders of the inner circle. As he walked, he pushed those who were craning their necks to look at the stage and said, "You are blind! You don't realize you are blocking Mr. Lang's way."

When the leaders of various Meng circles saw Lan Yingde, they all stood up and greeted him, but the leader Tao of Lisheng Meng sat upright and did not look at him directly.

After returning the gifts to each of the leaders one by one, he took Yueming to the old man and said to Yueming, "Call me Grandpa."

Yueming called the old man "Grandpa" obediently.

The old man looked at Yueming a few times, turned his head away without saying anything, and ignored the father and daughter.

Yueming frowned at her father and said: This old man is so rude.

Faced with the old man's coldness, Lan Yingde could only smile bitterly. After bowing to the old man, he retreated with Yueming and Changsheng.

Feng Er quickly grabbed him and said, "Hey, my sir, where are you going? Your seat is right here!"

When Lan Yingde saw that Feng Er wanted to arrange for him to sit with the leaders of various Meng circles, he quickly declined and said, "I appreciate the second steward's kindness, but I am just a commoner, and this is against the rules." After that, he was about to take Yueming and Changsheng to stand with the common people behind.

Feng Er quickly stopped him: "How dare I make my own decision on this matter? This is the master's special instruction. Besides, the master values ​​you very much! Nowadays, who in Yunxiang's territory doesn't call you Langye? There's nothing inappropriate about it."

Hearing that it was the order of Han Tusi, Lan Yingde no longer refused. He pulled Yueming to sit down, and Changsheng stood behind him.