Chapter Eight: Livelihood

Lu Ying hurried along, while a commotion erupted at the main gate. She glanced over to see seven or eight finely dressed merchants surrounding her third uncle as they walked toward the house. After a brief look, Lu Ying paid them no further heed, lowering her head and continuing on her way. Just then, she overheard a portly man in his forties sigh, "His Majesty has newly acquired the land of Shu and issued several decrees, reducing the agricultural tax to thirty to one. Truly, a wise ruler." Another middle-aged man nodded, "Indeed. Encouraging study and lowering taxes—an era of revival is upon us." Their conversation floated past her ears as she left the Ping Residence without listening closely.

Outside the Ping Residence, Lu Ying turned back to gaze at its tall and deep walls, silently thinking: I must borrow the influence of the Ping family, but not become too entangled... Then she wondered, Why am I concerned about this now? My immediate priority is to make money.

The thought of earning money troubled her. Frowning, she walked through the streets, where youths dressed as scholars were everywhere. Watching them, Lu Ying shook her head with a smile, thinking: The emperor's preferences become the preferences of the whole realm. These boys can't read a single character, yet they all wear scholar's caps.

Lost in thought, Lu Ying suddenly paused. She stood still for a moment, then abruptly turned and hurried back the way she came.

When she returned home, her younger brother was still at the academy and not yet due back. Lu Ying entered his room and looked up at the rows upon rows of books stacked up to the rafters, dazed. These books had never been abandoned, no matter how her father was driven away or how chaotic the times became. So, even though many doubted their noble lineage, the very existence of these books gave others reason to gossip about their origins.

At that moment, Lu Ying still greatly underestimated the value of their family's collection. In this era, Cai Lun had not yet invented cheap paper; most books were still inscribed on bamboo slips as in the Qin dynasty, though some were made of rough hemp fiber paper, which was scarce, expensive, and not widely used. Under such circumstances, this room full of books was priceless; if exchanged for money, it could provide her and her brother with a lifetime of comfort.

Sitting in the room, Lu Ying pondered ceaselessly. On the road earlier, she kept thinking that if she wanted to make money, it would have to involve these books.

But how exactly could she do that?

She didn’t know how much time had passed before inspiration struck. She left the room, and a quarter of an hour later returned, followed by a man pulling a donkey cart.

Seeing Lu Ying coming and going, a short woman from next door called out with a smile, "Ying, what are you busy with?" She greeted Lu Ying while taking a moment to glare fiercely at her son, who stared at Lu Ying without blinking.

Lu Ying turned back with a gentle smile. "Aunt Yang, enjoying the sunshine? My brother needs to practice his calligraphy, so I went and bought a cartful of bamboo slips."

Aunt Yang sighed, "Your family is lucky; whenever you want to read, a book is at hand. Not like us—our children may wear scholar's caps from a young age, but barely know a handful of characters."

Embarrassed by his mother’s remarks, the lanky boy beside Aunt Yang flushed and muttered, "Mother!" His voice was low, fearing Lu Ying might overhear.

Although Lu Ying's family was much the same as their neighbors, perhaps because she could read, or perhaps due to her distinguished heritage, the local youths always thought she was especially pretty—different from other girls her age.

As they spoke, the donkey cart arrived at the door. Lu Ying hurried to open the gate.

When Lu Yun returned at dusk, he was greeted by a pile of blank bamboo slips. Staring at them, he looked over to where Lu Ying was busy at the stove and called, "Sister, what are you doing?"

"Yun, you’re home!" Lu Ying’s smile warmed as she saw her brother. Noticing his gaze on the bamboo slips, she grinned, "They’re for your calligraphy practice, of course."

"But you don’t need so many just for that," Lu Yun protested.

"We do," Lu Ying replied, setting the bone soup on the table with a smile. "Because I need to write as well."

Lu Yun frowned, annoyed. "Sister, just tell me everything at once."

"Don’t be impatient. What I mean is, from now on, you won’t have to use a wet brush to write on the table. We’ll write directly on the bamboo slips. Here’s my idea: for each slip, you write a single character, and then underneath, note its general meaning and usage."

Lu Ying looked at her brother, her eyes shining. "Yun, I’ve decided—starting tomorrow, we’ll sell characters!"

"Sell characters?" Lu Yun had never heard of such a thing and was momentarily stunned.

"Exactly. We’ll write out all the common characters on the slips, and underneath, add a brief explanation. When you go to school, I’ll take them to the marketplace and sell them." As she explained her day’s inspiration, Lu Ying’s spirits soared and her words quickened. "Think about it, Yun: the emperor is encouraging the establishment of academies, wanting everyone to become learned. Today on the street, I saw so many youths wearing scholar’s caps. But at the academy, you merely recite after the teacher, and at home, you lack books to review—most of what you’ve learned is soon forgotten. If they had these bamboo slips at home, reviewing would be much easier."

Hearing his sister’s reasoning, Lu Yun pondered for a while. He’d always been used to her making decisions for the family, so after a bit of thought, he simply replied, "Alright," to show his agreement.

With his assent, the siblings got to work. Each took a Confucian classic and began with the simplest characters. Writing the character was easy; providing an explanation was much harder. Often, it required consulting several books.

Still, neither sibling was a great scholar, and perfection wasn’t necessary. A rough explanation would suffice.

After an hour of effort, they had each written four slips. Eight characters wasn’t much, but during the process—even Lu Yun, not just Lu Ying—felt they had gained a great deal.