9 This is celestial music.

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Xiao Zhang and Er Niu brought over their bows and crouched by the base of the wall, while Wei Jinyun retrieved the land deed. “This courtyard hasn’t been disturbed for at least forty years. I suppose Grandmother herself has no idea where the old wall originally stood. Be meticulous when you measure; I’ll verify everything alongside you.”

Though Xiao Zhang had been busy all day, he had glanced at Wei Jinyun while building the wall. Despite her shrewd bargaining and the many household items she had bought at the grass market, since returning from Changmen, she had not rested for a moment.

She had been running up and down, overseeing their work and handing them tiles. After finally dozing off briefly, she woke only to face this issue.

Xiao Zhang saw her yawning as she examined the deed, pressing the bow sturdier against the stone. “Don’t worry, Miss Wei. The stone pier connected to the foundation hasn’t budged through forty years of wind and rain. It’s accurate.”

He took the bamboo ruler and paced eastward, Er Niu watching the markings behind him. “One step, two steps... up to the neighboring wall base, just twenty-four and a half steps.”

Wei Jinyun pinched the deed, frowning slightly. The characters “twenty-five steps wide from north to south” were clear on the paper.

She paced again according to Xiao Zhang’s steps and confirmed the discrepancy. “Indeed, it’s off. This shop hasn’t been maintained for over forty years; who knows when they changed it... Fortunately, we have the deed, so it’s not a baseless claim. You two note these dimensions for now. I’ll find a reason to mention it to the neighbors—no need for a heated argument.”

Xiao Zhang straightened up. “With the deed in hand, no one can dispute it. Let’s mark the wall base according to the old measurements first, and start only after you’ve settled things. That way, there’ll be no mistakes.”

Wei Jinyun glanced at the darkening sky. “Thank you for your hard work today, Xiao Zhang and Er Niu. Let’s call it a day. Grandmother has cooked some dishes. We’ll eat and rest, then get busy again tomorrow.”

The two packed up their eating utensils, helped fetch two buckets of clean water outside, then sat down to eat together.

Wei Jinyun carefully folded the deed and slipped it back into Wang Qiulan’s bundle. Earlier, when Aunt Zhao from Li’s Cooked Food Shop chatted with Grandmother, she had mentioned the neighboring Zhang’s Stationery Shop. Zhang’s shop had been here for over twenty years, and Wei Jinyun’s family, new to the area, didn’t know the temperament of its owner.

If she approached well, all would be harmonious; but if the wall encroached on their territory, it might not be so easy to get along.

Should a dispute arise, they might need to hire a litigator or even take it to the authorities. Though the ruling would likely be in their favor, it would sour relations with Zhang’s family, making future encounters bitter.

She was here to earn money, not to quarrel.

She needed to find a reasonable and legitimate way to inquire further and plan carefully.

As dusk approached, the old locust tree by the well cast long shadows. Nearing July, most of its flowers had fallen, yet clusters still hung heavy on the branches.

The courtyard smelled less of damp mold, finally allowing appreciation of the decades-old locust’s delicate fragrance.

At this moment, the two sisters returned, hand in hand, their arms laden with honey-glazed fruits and two vividly crafted bamboo crickets and dragonflies.

Brother Meng styled his hair in a pigeon-tail, round and bright-eyed, always smiling at everyone. Though his family ran a cooked food shop, Zhao Xiangping kept him neat, and neighbors all liked him.

He had taken the sisters for a walk around Tianqing Temple’s front. The Wei sisters, lively and charming like two little children under Guanyin’s gaze, naturally attracted kindness and received many treats.

This explained why they returned well-fed, barely touching their rice. Even their favorite steamed white fish was left mostly untouched; Wang Qiulan picked the meat off the fish’s back for them, only for it to return to her bowl after some circling.

“Ling has already learned to spit out the bones.”

The sisters cleaned their own dishes and squatted in the courtyard to play with the bamboo crickets and dragonflies.

Er Niu truly lived up to Manager Zhou’s words, able to eat three bowls of rice in one sitting.

The perfectly pickled salty vegetables stir-fried with tender young soybeans, paired with gluten stuffed with meat—soft outside, firm inside—and a spoonful of soup poured over rice made a perfect meal.

Er Niu finished four bowls with “huff huff” sounds.

“I’m still not full, I tell you,” Xiao Zhang said as he hitched the donkey cart, pointing at Er Niu with a trembling finger, then turned to smile and bid Wei Jinyun farewell.

“You just kept laughing over there—how could you focus on eating?”

Er Niu rolled his eyes and patted the donkey’s head nearby.

The two brothers worked earnestly. In half a day, they had replaced most of the tiles on the roof and even fixed the gate lock for Wei Jinyun. Now it opened smoothly, sparing her the need to tiptoe and endure the screeching noise in the mornings.

The interior partitions were almost finished, and the small lattice windows stood wide open for ventilation. In a few days, Wei Jinyun planned to measure the gaps again and replace the broken windows.

Tonight was much more comfortable than the previous one.

With a new bed, the tired Wei Fuling was still mumbling about which clothes to wear tomorrow to visit their great-aunt before falling asleep clutching the winter melon.

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In the rainy season of June, the weather was both muggy and hot. Wang Qiulan always fanned her two granddaughters with a palm fan after they fell asleep; only then would she rest herself.

Now having some free time, she was persuaded by Wei Jinyun to sleep.

The two large winter melons, which Wei Jinyun had bought for seven wen, washed and held while sleeping, calmed the mind and spirit, regulated circulation, and lowered body heat.

When she was little, her grandfather would buy one every summer for her to hug—it was even more comforting than a fan.

Each room had a few old bricks with mosquito coils lit atop them. This kept away snakes, insects, rats, and ants during the rainy season, letting them sleep better.

Just after midnight, Wei Jinyun woke to drink water and saw Wei Fuqu crouched in the courtyard. The small figure sitting by the bucket startled her.

The lotus flower, picked from Gaochun Town, lay aside. The girl was carefully scooping water from the bucket, pouring it little by little onto the lotus.

After several days by the waterways and nearly two days in Pingjiang Prefecture, the lotus was drooping, no longer as vibrant as before.

“Fuqu, aren’t you sleeping yet? You have to visit great-aunt tomorrow.”

Wei Jinyun sipped water, stepping beside her.

“The lotus I picked has withered.”

Wei Fuqu carefully lifted the lotus, murmuring, “I do like Gaochun Town quite a bit.”

Her younger sister’s thoughts were sensitive; surely seeing the drooping lotus before bed made her homesick.

“Fuqu, go to sleep.”

Wei Jinyun reached out to stroke her head. “Maybe the lotus will bloom again tomorrow.”

“How could it?”

Wei Fuqu looked up in surprise.

In the darkness, her sister’s eyes shone brightly.

Reluctantly, she handed the lotus to Wei Jinyun but obeyed and returned to bed.

Holding the lotus, Wei Jinyun pondered for a moment, then fetched some red beans from the kitchen to soak.

Suddenly, an idea came to her—not only to soothe her sister...

Wei Jinyun had risen early today, with the sun just up and the rainy season seemingly easing.

A few sparrows landed in the courtyard, chirping as they pecked at leftover rice from the previous night’s meal. When they saw her, they fluttered to the nearby wall.

The newly built stove wasn’t yet ready, so Wei Jinyun, after washing up, lit a clay brazier and placed the iron pot on it.

Another brazier already had a fire, with a clay pot steaming atop. Lifting the lid, the courtyard filled with the scent of red beans.

She had cooked the bean paste an hour earlier, then napped again. Now the paste in the pot was sticky and smooth; pressing with a spoon it turned soft like sand.

She stirred it in one direction for a while, scooped it into bowls, and poured a layer of clear water over to cool.

The clay brazier fire hadn’t died down, so she cooked some porridge simultaneously.

Yesterday, she had bought two bags of flour at the grass market and scooped about four jin into a wooden basin.

She mixed the flour with oil and water into a dough both elastic and soft, then blended in melted pork lard without adding a drop of water, forming a glossy, oily dough.

Naturally, she added some safflower powder for coloring.

The dough was pinched into small portions wrapped around the lard dough, rolled into long strips, and rested for a bit. Then she filled each piece with the cooled red bean paste and cut six petals on top.

The oil had to be at the right temperature for slow frying.

Bubbles rose gently in the pan as the flower-shaped pastries bloomed like radiant lotuses in a pond.

Wei Jinyun took a large piece of oil paper and placed the freshly fried lotus pastries on it to drain.

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After frying all the lotus pastries, the porridge in the other clay brazier was nearly ready.

“Up so early, Fuqu?”

Wei Jinyun ladled the porridge into bowls to cool outside, seeing Wei Fuqu yawn and walk into the courtyard.

“The courtyard smells so good, I’ve grown a nose.”

Wei Fuqu skillfully rinsed her mouth with poria water, toothbrush in mouth. “Only Ling sleeps until the sun’s high.”

“Who says that!”

Wei Fuling leaned from the second floor, spotting Wei Fuqu teasing her so early, then hurried down the stairs with quick, light steps like a mouse, arriving before them.

Before she could start bickering with Wei Fuqu, she saw the arranged lotus pastries. “What did sister make? They smell so good and look so pretty!”

“Sister made them for me to eat.”

Wei Fuqu stood before the lotus pastries, gazing at them steadily.

Layer upon layer, they were as beautiful as the lotus lanterns she and her grandmother and sister had floated on the river in Gaochun Town during summer.

The lotus had truly bloomed again; her sister hadn’t lied.

“I want to hear Fuqu call me sister again.”

Wei Jinyun grinned broadly, bending slightly to lean close to Wei Fuqu.

She finally called her “sister.”

It was as if hearing celestial music briefly illuminating the ear.

“Sister...”

Wei Fuqu whispered softly.

“Good girl,” Wei Jinyun almost laughed aloud.

“Chirp chirp.”

Wei Fuling stretched her mouth, imitating Wei Fuqu’s tone. “Just say it! It’s even worse than the little sparrows on the wall. You should say... sister, sister, sister!”

“Shut up, you’re even noisier than the sparrows.”

With such beautiful treats, the cooled porridge seemed dull by comparison. The sisters each ate a piece, then half a bowl of porridge with stir-fried eggs before Wei Jinyun instructed them to deliver the lotus pastries.

“Brother Meng, want some lotus pastries? They’re sweet.”

Wei Fuling held the oil paper package out to Brother Meng. “Sister said to give one to every neighbor and shop around here.”

Brother Meng set his bowl down, said thanks over ten times, called for his mother, then ran into the shop clutching the package to find Zhao Xiangping.

“Here are some lotus pastries for you.”

Wei Fuqu handed the oil paper package to Zhang Renbai.

Zhang’s hands trembled as he opened the paper. The pastries inside were exquisite and tempting, even more beautiful than flowers painted on scrolls.

He carefully cupped one, lowering his head to look again and again. “Y-you-you... your sister made these for me?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Wei Fuqu nodded firmly.