Since childhood, Youyu had been doing heavy manual labor, which gave her immense hand strength.
Due to her simple-mindedness, her reactions were often unpredictable.
If others saw a pair of gleaming eyes in a dark ditch, they would surely be terrified and might even run away.
But Youyu was different.
She neither screamed nor ran.
Instead, she suddenly reached in and grabbed it.
She seized something that felt like hair and yanked with all her might, dragging out a creature whether human or beast from the depths.
The commotion was too loud!
Sister Xiang and Li Gou’er were startled.
When they looked over, they were so frightened that they stood up against the wall, clinging to each other, their eyes wide with fear, unable to speak for a long time.
Youyu held a child as thin as a stick, with disheveled hair, a dirty face, and tattered clothes clinging to his wet body.
Once dragged from the darkness into the daylight, he struggled wildly, kicking and flailing, but Youyu’s iron grip held him firmly.
The drainage ditch connected to the underground sewers, which led to the moat outside the city.
These sewers were deep and winding, and there had been incidents of fugitives hiding in them.
The openings of the ditches along the imperial street were fitted with iron bars and rows of hooks to prevent anyone from crawling through the sewers into the palace.
Anyone daring to crawl through would likely be gutted by the hooks.
But other areas didn’t have such elaborate defenses.
Usually, a few stones blocked half the entrance, which were moved aside during rain, and that was considered sufficient.
The drainage hole in Willow East Alley was the same.
The stones moved aside during the last rain were still lying there, forgotten.
“Sister… Sister Youyu, what… what did you catch?”
Sister Xiang and Li Gou’er slowly calmed down and cautiously approached.
The child was so thin that Youyu could hold him down with one hand.
He lay on the ground, stubborn and unwilling, gasping for breath, his cracked hands gripping the dirt tightly.
Even though he was exhausted, he refused to let Youyu drag him any further.
He was not only half-naked but also had one leg unnaturally bent, as if it had been broken long ago and had healed crookedly.
His face was gaunt, his skin clinging to his cheekbones, deeply sunken, and covered in mud.
Sister Xiang gathered her courage to look at him but only saw a pair of large, chilling eyes, cold and fierce, like piercing snow.
Sister Xiang was frightened by his glare and stepped back.
Li Gou’er, even more timid, hid behind her, peeking out with a trembling head.
The boy couldn’t move, so Sister Xiang, driven by curiosity, crouched down again and stared at him.
Li Gou’er, more timid than Sister Xiang, hid behind her for a long time before whispering,
“Sister Xiang, he looks so scary. Don’t go near him.”
He tugged at her twice, but she didn’t budge.
Frustrated, he stomped his foot, left Sister Xiang and Youyu behind, climbed out of the ditch, and ran off to call for help.
“Mom! Aunt Gu! Youyu caught a thief!”
Youyu still held the child tightly, like a cat that had successfully caught a mouse, her naive face wearing a silly smile, seeking praise.
The ditch had no shade, and the wind carried the sunlight filtered through the eaves.
Sister Xiang, bathed in the flickering light, sat with her hands folded on her knees, frowning softly as she asked,
“Who are you? Why were you hiding here?”
There was no answer.
The dirty child looked up at the clean, fair Sister Xiang, who was bathed in light.
His eyes, accustomed to darkness, were stung by the light, and tears welled up.
He lowered his eyelids again.
He was even more silent than Youyu.
After a moment of thought, Sister Xiang narrowed her eyes and said excitedly,
“Come home with me! I’ll give you some bread and cut your hair!”
The family dog had a habit of picking up things, and Shen Miao never imagined this bad habit could be passed on to humans.
Unaware of what was happening at home, she was boldly shopping at Lanxin Bookstore.
She had quietly exchanged fifty taels of silver at the bank, adding it to her previous savings, which she had hidden deep in the vegetable cellar.
Now, excluding the funds for the shop’s operations and daily expenses, she had saved over a hundred taels.
The Shen family’s meals and living expenses had gradually become more comfortable.
Eating meat was no longer a luxury, and Jie Ge no longer had to practice writing on reusable wooden boards.
Xie Qi browsed the shelves at Lanxin Bookstore, casually picking up a book and saying to Shen Miao,
“During the Cao Wei period, there was a metaphysician named He Yan. His annotations on the ‘Analects’ are the best. If you buy the ‘Analects, you must also get his annotations. He compiled the interpretations of many scholars from the Han and Wei dynasties, making it easier to study.”
If someone else had said this, Shen Miao might have hesitated, but since Xie Qi, the top student, recommended it, she had only one word: “Buy!”
The same went for “Mencius.”
Zhao Qi from the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote “Mencius Chapter Notes,” the earliest surviving commentary.
He focused on explaining the meanings of words and phrases, making it essential for understanding “Mencius.”
“Buy, buy!”
“As for brushes, ink, and paper, what Ning Da chose earlier will do. But you’ll also need a ruler for marking paper and a paper cutter. Does Jie Ge have a seal? If not, you should take him to have one made when you have time.”
“The stone doesn’t need to be expensive; just a casual seal, a corner seal, and a name seal will suffice. Since the emperor enjoys calligraphy and ancient books, the academy has started painting classes, held once every seven days. Having a seal will be convenient in the future.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll remember that.”
“Manager Zhou also sells rain gear. You’ll need a raincoat, a bamboo hat, and wooden clogs…”
Shen Miao, blindly trusting, nodded repeatedly: “Buy, buy, buy!”
Soon, the counter was piled high with books and various items.
Manager Zhou was so pleased that his eyes disappeared into his smile.
He even gave Shen Miao a large piece of coarse cloth to wrap everything up and helped her load it onto the cart, saying,
“If you’re missing anything, it’s easy to come back from the academy. Look, from here, you can even see the side gate of the academy. It’s just a short walk along this path.”
Shen Miao nodded, holding Jie Ge’s hand as she prepared to return to the city.
She still needed to buy rice and have two smaller quilts made for Jie Ge.
Ninth Brother had said that the academy dormitories varied in size, usually housing four to eight people, each with a single, narrow bed.
The family’s rattan mats and quilts were too large, so it was best to have them custom-made to the right size, rolled up, and tied to the book box for easy washing and drying.
Xie Qi followed them to the door.
Just as Shen Miao was about to tell him not to bother, she noticed something moving inside his clothes.
The thing wriggled from his waist to his collar, and suddenly, the neatly folded collar bulged out.
She was surprised to see a furry, round cat head pop out, meowing loudly.
“Qilin?” Shen Miao reached out to pick it up, holding it in both hands and meeting the kitten’s wet eyes.
When it was brought back by Gale at night, it was soaked in his saliva, its fur clumped together like a mop come to life, almost unbearable to look at.
In the darkness, she hadn’t seen it clearly, but now she noticed how beautiful the cat was, with long fur, an orange left face, a black right face, a yellow patch on its head, and mostly yellow fur with some black spots, except for its white belly and snow-white front legs.
Its tiny paws were all pink.
Xie Qi had taken good care of it.
The kitten smelled of slightly sour milk, its fur dry and fluffy, and its meows much louder.
“Why are you carrying it around?” Shen Miao asked, amused by the sudden appearance of a cat from Xie Qi’s clothes.
Xie Qi tapped the kitten’s head with a mix of helplessness and affection.
“I fed it all night, and it’s attached to me now. Whether it’s Yanshu or Qiuhao, they try to feed it, but it won’t eat and just keeps meowing. But when I come, it quiets down, only meowing when it’s hungry… It must be hungry again now.”
Besides, it needs to eat every couple of hours, so it’s easier to carry it around.
Today, Qiuhao accompanied Xie Qi.
Seeing this, he skillfully took out a piece of goat milk cake from the book box, cut a small piece, and borrowed warm water from Manager Zhou to dissolve it.
Then he took out a small silver spoon, prepared everything, and handed the bowl and spoon to Xie Qi.
Shen Miao watched with interest as Xie Qi fed the kitten his broad palm holding the cat, the other hand holding the spoon, patiently feeding it one spoonful at a time.
Qilin licked with its pink tongue, meowing impatiently, its tiny ears twitching with each bite.
After eating, the kitten’s belly was visibly swollen, and its mouth was smeared with milk.
Xie Qi even took out his handkerchief to gently wipe its mouth.
Such a small kitten, after eating, quickly grew sleepy.
It stumbled a few steps on Xie Qi’s body before wriggling back into his clothes.
Xie Qi’s clothes were loose today, with a belt around his waist, creating a natural cat nest between his abdomen and the belt.
Shen Miao glanced over and saw the faint bulge in his clothes where the kitten was nestled.
It must have been sleeping like that earlier, but she hadn’t noticed.
“Thank you for taking care of Qilin… I didn’t expect you to do it personally,” Shen Miao said, feeling a bit guilty, knowing how much work it took to care for a kitten.
“If it’s so attached to you, won’t you have to take it to the academy? Won’t that interfere with your studies? Maybe I should take it home?”
Xie Qi placed his hand on his abdomen, his fingers gently stroking Qilin’s back through the fabric.
He shook his head. “It’s fine. Qilin is very well- behaved. After eating, it doesn’t make noise. Besides… Teacher Feng is busy writing a book and hasn’t been paying much attention to me lately.”
Shen Miao noticed his hand and looked up to see him lowering his eyes, his long lashes casting a soft shadow, making her heart flutter with a gentle warmth.
Still feeling guilty, she repeatedly reminded him to let her know if it became inconvenient.
Seeing Xie Qi feed the kitten goat milk reminded her that she could have asked Wan Wu Niang or other pet shops if they had a nursing mother cat.
She had been so panicked that day that she hadn’t thought of it.
But Xie Qi gently refused and even accompanied Shen Miao and her brother to the street corner.
Only after they had pushed the cart away did he remember that he had come to buy something but had completely forgotten about it.
Now, empty-handed, he had spent the afternoon without buying anything.
He hurried back to the bookstore, where he was met with the eager eyes of Shang An and Ning Yi.
Both looked at him with teasing expressions.
Shang An didn’t say anything, but Ning Yi raised his eyebrows and joked,
“Xie Jiu, Xie Jiu, the way you and Shen Miao were looking at that kitten earlier, it should be painted as a family portrait, titled ‘A Family Reunion. What do you think?”
Xie Qi’s ears turned red, and he grabbed a book to throw at Ning Yi.
“Shut up! Don’t ruin her reputation!”
Shen Miao and Jie Ge returned to the inner city and first visited Taifeng Grain Shop.
Seeing that the grain prices were the same as a few days ago, she quickly ordered a hundred catties of wheat flour, along with some red beans, green beans, rice, and millet, totaling several hundred catties.
The cart could only carry a small portion, and it was too heavy to push.
Fortunately, she was familiar with the Taifeng manager, who promised to send a few workers to deliver the rest the next day.
Passing by a meat shop, she saw some good-looking cured meat, pink and tender, so she bought some.
Then she encountered a vendor selling dried bamboo shoots and bought some as well.
Walking and shopping, Shen Miao chatted with Jie Ge, completely unaware of what was happening at home, leisurely browsing.