Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 8 Tree Thief

The mountain path back almost broke Li Xian's legs.

When Li Xian left in the morning, he was sitting on the cart and didn't feel anything, but after walking it on his own, he realized that those four bullies were really strong. They had been tormented all night, yet they could still drag the two-person cart so far.

With that kind of energy, why not do anything else? Why do you have to become a hooligan?

When the two returned to Liujiazhuang, it was already getting dark. Liu Jianjun unloaded the bag of rice and then pulled the cart away alone, saying, "Wait for my news in the meantime... Oh, and don't try to kill yourself again!"

Li Xian gave an awkward laugh again: "How could that be..."

Watching Liu Jianjun disappear into the twilight, Li Xiancai realized it was getting late. He hurriedly stuffed a purse on the ground into his pocket; it contained dried plum preserves that he had bought on Liu Jianjun's advice. Then he grabbed the bag of rice and lifted it up with force.

So heavy!

Gritting his teeth, Li Xian picked it up, then hugged it to his chest and walked towards home.

The night was already getting dark, but fortunately Li Xian didn't have nymphalopia. He stared at the faint reflection on the ground and walked forward.

My arms are a little sore, my palms are stinging, and my fingers are trembling uncontrollably. I don't know if it's because the rice is too heavy or because I pulled the hemp rope while dragging the cart earlier.

Li Xian felt pain in his palms when he was halfway there, but he was too embarrassed to mention it to Liu Jianjun.

Li Xian now feels that being a commoner is simply too difficult.

Fortunately, he had already returned to the gate of the courtyard.

After putting down the rice bag, Li Xian knocked on the courtyard gate.

No one answered, so Li Xian knocked harder, wondering why his family wasn't asleep at this hour.

Just then, the embroiderer's wary voice came from the courtyard: "Who's there?!"

Li Xian was so exhausted that he didn't even notice the wariness in the embroiderer's tone, and subconsciously replied, "Me!"

The next moment, the courtyard gate was suddenly pulled open, and the embroiderer rushed towards him excitedly, her voice trembling slightly: "Your Highness...you, you're back!"

Li Xian felt weak all over and didn't even have the strength to push the embroiderer away. So he tried to tilt his waist and reach out to lift the rice bag on the ground, but he couldn't.

He is too tired.

She could only apologize, saying, "Embroiderer, please trouble you to carry this bag of rice inside. My husband is truly too weak."

Only then did the embroiderer realize what was happening. She pulled away from Li Xian and hastily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Li Xian didn't see the embroiderer's face clearly, but he was startled. In the hand she was wiping her eyes, she was holding a kitchen knife, the blade pointing directly at him, gleaming.

"Embroiderer, what's wrong with you...?"

The embroiderer was startled and quickly lowered her hand, explaining, "I...I thought it was those bullies again..."

But this action also made Li Xian notice the tear stains on her face. Combined with the kitchen knife in the embroiderer's hand, Li Xian quickly figured out the cause and effect.

Li Xian felt a pang of self-reproach and said apologetically, "My husband should have returned sooner."

"No! It's alright!" The embroiderer was very sensible. She quickly put on a happy smile, wiped away the remaining tears on her face, and changed the subject: "Did you go to buy rice, husband? The mountain road is not easy to walk on. By the way, where did you get the money, husband?"

A clumsy attempt to change the subject.

But Li Xian still went along with her words and said, "Yes, this is all fine rice, four dou of rice, which cost my husband nearly a hundred wen!"

At this point, Li Xian hurriedly reached into his robes, pulled out the purse from before, and opened it: "Embroiderer, here, have this!"

He did not intend to give the preserved plums to Changxin or his sons.

They were all past the age of eating preserved plums, but the embroiderer was just right.

The embroiderer took the preserved plum in surprise, took a small bite, and then, under Li Xian's eager gaze, nodded emphatically: "It's especially sweet!"

At that moment, Li Xian felt it was all worthwhile. What delicacies hadn't the embroiderer tasted in Chang'an?
Even the sesame seed cakes from Shengpingfang didn't receive her "special" approval, but today she said they were "especially sweet."

Li Xian reached out and pulled the embroiderer into his arms, his tone solemn: "Embroiderer, your husband will definitely live a good life from now on, and I will never let those bullies come to humiliate us again!"

……

The next day, early in the morning.

Li Xian kept Liu Jianjun's words in mind and waited for his news. He stayed in the courtyard, talking with the children and helping the embroiderer and Zhang to sew winter clothes. However, he was not good at needlework and after working hard for a long time, he seemed to be doing more harm than good. He was soon chased away by the two women in embarrassment and anger.

Li Xian laughed heartily, feeling that he had never been so comfortable.

Last night, he told his family about the local bully being brought to the authorities, and also said that no more bullies would come to their door in the short term—Bazhou and Diezhou are more than 800 li apart, and the mountain roads in Sichuan are treacherous. The post road requires detouring through Longnan and crossing the Micang Mountains, and a round trip would take more than 20 days.

In other words, even if Qiu Shenji were to send new lackeys, it would be at least twenty days from now.

They had at least twenty days of peace.

“Husband! Why don’t you go into the mountains and chop some wood? Our courtyard gate is bare. Let’s hang some peach wood charms on it to make it look nice!” the embroiderer said to Li Xian with a smile.

Li Xian thought to himself that it made sense; the New Year was just around the corner, and it was indeed unsightly to have such a shabby door.

So she smiled and replied, "Alright! Husband, I'll go right away and cut down a lot more. I'll also send a few pieces to Liu Jianjun so he can see how well you write calligraphy!"

The embroiderer smiled and shook her head. Last night, she had heard from Li Xian about Liu Jianjun, who had repeatedly been "disrespectful" to Li Xian, and she had also felt her husband's heartfelt gratitude towards Liu Jianjun.

"Yes! If he sees my husband's handwriting, he will surely admire him!"

After finishing the embroiderer's bowl of chicken soup, Li Xian shouldered his axe and headed out.

……

There's no way to cut down the peach trees. Although there are some peach trees in the village, they were all planted by the villagers themselves. The day before yesterday, the people from Liu Family Village helped me, and today I'm going to steal and cut down their peach trees. That's not fair.

So Li Xian decided to find some unwanted "wild trees".

Li Xian deliberately chose an easy-to-walk small hill to climb, and after wandering through the woods for a while, he spotted a very tall fir tree.

In fact, Li Xian did not recognize what kind of tree it was. He just thought that its leaves looked like fine needles and could not be eaten, so it could not have been planted by farmers.

"Click, click, click!"

The sound of an axe chopping down trees was abrupt in the quiet forest, startling some birds which darted about in the undergrowth. Li Xian found the scenery peaceful and beautiful, which made him feel even more that his suicide attempt was incredibly foolish.

He stared at the birds taking flight and thought of the words of Tao Yuanming from the Jin Dynasty: "Long confined in a cage, I have finally returned to nature." He sighed and thought that Tao Yuanming must have felt just as content back then.
But the next moment, Li Xian's gaze fell upon something strange... shed.

Those sheds were in a field at the foot of the mountain. They were definitely not for living in, because they were so low that even a small child would have to crawl inside.

And there were many such sheds, lined up in a row, covering the entire field.

Just as Li Xian was about to step forward to see what was going on, he suddenly heard an angry shout.

"Thief! Thief! Tree thief!"

Li Xian was stunned.

Tree thief?
He looked down at the axe in his hand.

Are you talking about me?
Then, I thought of how the people of Liujiazhuang treated those bullies. They beat them half to death for stealing manure, so what about stealing trees?
Cold sweat began to appear on Li Xian's forehead.

……

(End of this chapter)