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墨書 Inktalez
Li Yishu made a brilliant move, not only advancing his pieces into the territory of the mountain but also blocking Wen Ziyu's path. He felt quite pleased with himself and looked up to see Wen Ziyu's troubled face, only to find him staring blankly into the distance.
"What’s wrong?"
"I think I heard the sound of hooves," Wen Ziyu replied uncertainly.
"Are you sure you didn't mishear?" Li Yishu asked, his smug smile fading as he grew anxious.
"I should be right," Wen Ziyu answered.
The leopard did not believe Wen Ziyu's response. "But you've never seen a horse; how do you know what hoofbeats sound like?"
Wen Ziyu retorted, "Of course I've seen a horse! When I went to the county town before, Sun Shopkeeper from Wei An Pawnshop even invited us to ride in a carriage!"
The voice of the mountain interjected, "Stop arguing; someone is really coming."
The four boys quickly stood up and ran toward the path outside the village. After a moment, a group of people on horseback came into view. Upon seeing the lead rider, Li Yishu jumped up in excitement and shouted, "Big Brother! Big Brother!"
Elder Brother Li also spotted several boys at the village entrance. One of them looked somewhat familiar, but having been away from home for five years, he didn’t immediately recognize his younger brother, especially since he had grown into a young man. It wasn’t until he heard the boy calling out “Brother” and waving that he realized it was indeed his brother. Elder Brother Li hurriedly urged his horse forward and leaped down to stand in front of the boy.
"Li Yishu?"
Li Yishu's eyes sparkled as he nodded vigorously. "Big Brother, it's me! I'm Li Yishu. You... you finally came back!"
He then threw himself into Elder Brother Li's arms, tears streaming down his face. Elder Brother Li embraced his younger brother tightly, patting his back soothingly. "Don't cry; I'm back now."
Li Yishu choked out a question, "Will you leave again?"
"You're going to leave, but this time I will take you and Zhou Le with me. Our family will not be separated again," Elder Brother Li said softly.
Li Yishu sniffled, "Really?"
"Really. After we pay our respects to our parents, I will take you both to the capital."
"The capital?" Li Yishu's tears stopped at the mention. The capital, the center of the nation, where the emperor resides—it must be bustling with activity! Li Yishu's face lit up with longing, forgetting all about crying.
"Yes, to the capital. The emperor has granted me a residence, quite large, with servants and maids. You will become a young master," Elder Brother Li smiled.
Hearing this, Li Yishu grinned widely, "Does that mean I can eat meat?"
"Of course. You can have meat at every meal," Elder Brother Li said as he lifted Li Yishu onto the horse's back.
Li Yishu gasped in surprise but soon felt the gentle nature of the tall horse and became happy, stroking its mane. "Haha, I'm riding a horse! I'm riding a horse!"
Elder Brother Li mounted the horse behind him. "Let's ride home."
At that moment, Leopard and Dashan were also lifted onto their horses by their brothers, leaving only Wen Ziyu standing alone, looking at them with envy in his eyes.
Noticing his companion's expression, Li Yishu immediately tugged at his brother's sleeve. "Brother, what about Ziyu?"
"Ziyu?" Elder Brother Li looked down at the boy filled with loneliness and envy. After a careful examination, he smiled and said, "Ziyu has grown up too."
He reached out and grabbed Wen Ziyu's shoulder. With a surprised shout from Ziyu, he pulled him onto the horse behind Li Yishu. "Come on, let's go home together."
Wen Ziyu sat high on the horse's back, feeling that the scenery around him was vastly different from what he usually saw. His face flushed with excitement as he exclaimed, "Brother Li, you are amazing!"
Li Yishu beamed with pride, "Of course, that's my elder brother."
Wen Ziyu nodded vigorously, "Brother Li is a general! I've heard that generals are incredible and have many people under their command."
Li Yishu suggested, "How about I ask my brother to take us to the military camp in the future? We can see just how impressive he is."
Wen Ziyu thought this idea was fantastic.
Elder Brother Li chuckled, "Sure, once we reach the capital, I'll take you both to the military camp for a visit."
"Wait, the capital?" Wen Ziyu's expression turned somewhat dejected. "I don't know my way around the capital."
Elder Brother Li reassured him, "Your brother is quite knowledgeable. He will definitely go to the capital for the imperial examination in the future. When that time comes, you three brothers will all be in the capital together."
Wen Ziyu's eyes sparkled with excitement. "That's right! I want to take the Scholar examination and become a Jinshi!"
Elder Brother Li patted his head and praised him, "You have ambition."
Li Yishu quickly added, "Elder Brother, I also want to take the Scholar examination and become a Jinshi to bring glory to our Li Family."
"Good," Elder Brother Li said generously. "In the future, you focus on literature while I focus on martial arts. We will support each other and make the Li Family stronger, so that in a hundred years or so, we will become a prominent family."
Li Yishu didn't know what a prominent family meant, but hearing his elder brother praise him made him very happy. He grinned widely like a fool.
The villagers were all eagerly awaiting their return. As soon as they heard the commotion, everyone rushed out to see a group of people on horseback, momentarily unsure of how to greet them. It was Genmiao and the others who broke the ice, cheerfully greeting their companions. Only then did they recognize that these armored figures, exuding an air of menace, were actually the children they had seen off. Thus, a reunion unfolded once more. Elder Brother Li, however, acted quickly; taking advantage of the others' surprise, he spurred his horse back to his family's doorstep.
Outside the door, Li Zhoule, hearing the noise, had already stepped out and was peering around. When she saw Elder Brother Li halt in front of her, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Elder Brother Li hurriedly dismounted and embraced his sister. "Don't cry, don't cry."
With a loud wail, Li Zhoule cried even harder, releasing all the pent-up grievances from years past. "Big Brother, Big Brother, you finally came back!"
Sighing, Elder Brother Li allowed his sister to weep in his arms. He could imagine how difficult it had been for Zhou Le, a girl left to care for her younger brother without any elders at home.
Meanwhile, Li Yishu and Wen Ziyu slid off their horses and stood aside. They couldn't help but feel their eyes welling up as memories of the days without Porcelain Jar, when they nearly froze or starved to death, flooded back.
“Brother Li!” Wen Zixia arrived with Wen Zixue, interrupting the three's tears. Elder Brother Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief. There were few things that frightened him, but he dreaded seeing women cry the most. Thankfully, his previous girlfriend was tough and rarely shed tears. Still... his departure would surely make her cry, wouldn’t it? Regrettably, he couldn’t comfort her like he did with Zhou Le. Elder Brother Li thought wistfully.
“Zi Xia,” he called to Wen Zixia. He felt closer to her than to his own siblings; he had spent more time playing and studying with this girl than with his brothers and sisters.
“Brother Li, you’re finally back!” Wen Zixia exclaimed excitedly as she stepped forward. However, she managed to hold back her tears at least.
Elder Brother Li patted Wen Zixia on the shoulder. “Good girl, you’ve grown quite a bit. The emperor has reinstated the Scientific Expedition. You’ll definitely participate this time, right? Study hard; I’ll be waiting for you in the capital so we can serve together in court.”
Wen Zixia nodded vigorously. “I won’t let you down.”
A crisp voice rang out from below: “Brother Li!”
Looking down, Elder Brother Li saw his Child, wide-eyed and staring at him. “So this is Zi Jue, huh? When I left, he was just a baby, and now he’s grown so much.”
Wen Zixue picked up Wen Zixia and said, "You've worked hard all these years."
Their parents had died young, leaving her to support two younger brothers, one of whom was particularly challenging. Wen Zixia must have had a very tough time over the years.
Wen Zixia smiled lightly, "It's all in the past."
Suddenly, Wen Zixue interjected, "Brother Li, can you tell me a story?"
"A story?" Elder Brother Li was puzzled.
"Like the stories from 'Journey to the West,'" Wen Zixue said, placing her hands on her ears to mimic pig ears. "I don't like Zhu Bajie, but Sun Wukong belongs to Second Brother and Brother Li Yishu. Can you tell me a story that's even better than Sun Wukong?"
Elder Brother Li chuckled; it turned out that Li Yishu and Wen Ziyu had already started using his stories to entertain the other children. The tales from 'Journey to the West' were indeed popular among kids. When he was young, he didn't enjoy fairy tales or fables; he only listened quietly whenever the orphanage aunt told stories from 'Journey to the West.' Besides that, Elder Brother Li also liked the stories from 'Fengshen Yanyi,' which he could share with the children.
"Alright, when I have some free time, Brother Li will tell you a story."
As they entered the courtyard and looked at the chickens and ducks being raised there while listening to the sounds of cows mooing, Elder Brother Li was amazed.
"You all are living quite well." Once they settled in the Hall, Elder Brother Li complimented his younger siblings with admiration.
Li Yishu and Li Zhoule beamed at their brother's praise. Li Zhoule stood up and said, "You all sit and chat; I'll go prepare a couple more dishes."
It was already dinner time, and Li Zhoule had long finished cooking. However, there were only two dishes prepared for welcoming Elder Brother Li, which felt too sparse. She decided to make a few more. Originally, she had planned rice porridge, smashed cucumbers, and stir-fried loofah—none of which would be enough for six people. Fortunately, she still had flour left over for making pancakes in the morning, so she decided to make some tonight instead. There wasn't any fresh pork available, but there was plenty of cured meat at home. Li Zhoule took down two pieces: one for steaming and the other to stir-fry with dried radish. That made two meat dishes. There were also three sausages sent over by Hanno; she removed the casings and cooked them with lettuce for a third meat dish. Then she killed a chicken, stuffing it with various seasonings and wrapping it in lotus leaves before covering it with mud and placing it in the stove. This method of making Beggar's Chicken was taught by Elder Brother Li. Additionally, there were seven or eight frogs that Li Yishu had caught in the fields yesterday; she could stir-fry those as well. With nimble hands, Li Zhoule prepared five dishes along with a basket of scallion pancakes in just half an hour.
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