Year 221 of the Ruen Dynasty, the 30th day of the 12th lunar month.
Today was New Year's Eve, the last day of the year, and also the most important holiday for the people of the Ruen Dynasty.
Inside the Fuzhao Courtyard, Chi Nanwei and Ye Beizhi had just finished a midday meal.
After cleaning up, Chi Nanwei told Ye Beizhi, "By the way, Granny Yu invited us to her house for New Year’s Eve dinner."
Ye Beizhi froze for a moment, feeling somewhat reluctant. Ever since Granny Yu had seen the two of them arguing that day, she had looked at him unpleasantly for days. Ye Beizhi felt extremely awkward since she would glare at him whenever they met.
"What’s wrong?" Chi Nanwei asked, noticing Ye Beizhi’s uncomfortable expression.
Ye Beizhi shook his head. "It's nothing."
Chi Nanwei didn’t think much of it and motioned toward a pair chickens, saying, "Here. Take these two chickens over to Granny Yu. We shouldn’t keep eating from her without giving something back."
Ye Beizhi turned his head and saw two chickens bound by straw ropes lying on the ground by the stove.
He nodded, scooped up the chickens, and headed to the neighboring house.
At the door, he ran into Granny Yu, who had just returned from grocery shopping.
Seeing Ye Beizhi, Granny Yu placed her grocery bag on the ground and pulled out a key to unlock the door before she asked, "What is it? Do you need something?"
Ye Beizhi nodded and lifted the two chickens in his hand.
"Miss Chi sent you, didn’t she?" Granny Yu knew that Ye Beizhi wasn’t much of a talker, so she didn’t find his silence strange.
Ye Beizhi nodded again.
"Alright, come on in." Granny Yu opened the door and let him in.
Ye Beizhi put the chickens by the stove and was about to leave when Granny Yu called out, "Hey! Where do you think you’re going?"
"Huh?" Ye Beizhi turned around, blinking in confusion.
"Here, take this." Granny Yu pressed a cleaver into his hand and pointed at the chickens. "Go butcher them. I’ll boil some water for you."
"Uh..." Ye Beizhi looked at the cleaver in his hand, then at Granny Yu, who had already turned back to her work.
Ye Beizhi stood there, cleaver in hand, staring at the two chickens on the ground, and felt a bit conflicted.
Killing a chicken... Was it the same as killing a person?
"What’s taking so long?" Granny Yu turned back when she noticed Ye Beizhi hadn’t moved. "What? Don’t you know how to kill a chicken? Aren’t you trained in martial arts?"
Ye Beizhi was a bit flustered by Granny Yu’s comment, because he was unable to figure out the connection between knowing martial arts and knowing how to kill a chicken.
Granny Yu glared at him and yelled, "Take the chickens outside! What, you’re going to do it in my house?"
"I-I’ll try..." Ye Beizhi hurriedly grabbed the chickens and rushed outside.
Outside, Ye Beizhi dropped the chickens on the ground. Cleaver in hand, he squatted down and locked eyes with the chickens in a moment of awkward confrontation.
Ye Beizhi slowly exhaled and closed his eyes, gripping the cleaver tightly. He thought to himself, Since it’s all killing... then it should be fine as long as I kill them?
The two chickens seemed to sense their impending doom and began flapping their wings anxiously and clucking.
A cold flash streaked by, and a chicken’s head dropped to the ground.
As soon as Ye Beizhi opened his eyes, he saw the headless chicken suddenly start thrashing around, flapping its wings wildly, spraying blood all over the courtyard. The living chicken was badly startled, and also began struggling, sending feathers flying everywhere.
When Ye Beizhi looked up, he saw Su Yi standing in the courtyard, staring at him in shock. The headless chicken finally stopped moving and collapsed at his feet. A few feathers landed on Su Yi’s head, and his previously pure white scholar’s robe was now sprinkled with blood.
Ye Beizhi stood there, his mouth slightly open, stunned.
"You..." Su Yi slowly pointed a trembling hand at Ye Beizhi. "What... what are you doing?!"
Ye Beizhi lifted the cleaver in his hand and gestured around him. "Killing a chicken."
Upon hearing the commotion, Granny Yu and Chi Nanwei came out and defused the situation, so the matter finally came to an end.
Grumbling, Su Yi stomped off to change his clothes while Ye Beizhi fetched hot water to pluck the chickens.
Ye Beizhi brought a stool and sat outside Granny Yu’s door. With his keen hearing, he could faintly hear the conversation inside.
"Mother, after the New Year, I’ll take you to live in a big house," Su Yi said.
"You bought a house?" Granny Yu sounded slightly irritated. "Aren’t we living just fine here? Why buy a house? Do you think money just falls from the sky?"
Afraid of his mother’s nagging, Su Yi quickly said, "I didn't buy it! The court gave it to me after my promotion!"
"They give you a house for getting a promotion?" Granny Yu sounded skeptical. "Back in our village, no one ever gave the village head a house after he got promoted."
Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh feebly.
"I’m the Crown Prince’s tutor now, and I am a first-rank junior official! The village head doesn’t even have a rank. How could you compare us? Even when I was just a Hanlin scholar at the seventh rank, I was already way above him!"[ref]The ranking system in imperial China was highly hierarchical and included nine primary ranks, each subdivided into "正" (senior) and "从" (junior) levels. The first rank (一品) was the highest, with "正一品" being the topmost level for officials, nobles, or other esteemed positions.[ref/]
Granny Yu pouted. "I don’t understand all your talk of ranks. I’m living just fine here, so why should I move? I’m not going."
"Mother! Why... why are you so stubborn?!" Su Yi stomped his foot in frustration. "What’s wrong with moving to a big house? You’ll even have servants to take care of you—"
"I’m still capable of moving around. I don’t need anyone to take care of me," Granny Yu said as she sidestepped Su Yi and went back to cutting vegetables at the stove.
Su Yi grabbed her hand, keeping her from working. "Mother! Just listen to me. I can’t be at ease with you living here!"
"Why can’t you be at ease?!" Granny Yu glared at him. "We’ve got good neighbors all around us. What’s there to worry about?"
"Neighbors?!" Su Yi widened his eyes and lowered his voice. "That guy next door, Ye Beizhi... Does he look like a good person to you?!"
As soon as Su Yi said this, Granny Yu got truly angry. She grabbed his ear and scolded him furiously, "You little rascal! You've become an official, and instead of learning something good, you’ve learned to talk behind people’s backs?!"
"Ouch! Stop! Stop it!" Su Yi cried in pain, covering his ear and pulling his mother's hand away. "Mother! Why won’t you listen?!"
"I’m not moving!" Granny Yu snorted, turning her back on Su Yi, refusing to talk to him anymore.
"Mother!" Su Yi’s face flushed, not knowing whether it was from anger or pain, but Granny Yu paid him no mind.
"Ah!" Su Yi stomped his foot in frustration, but he didn't know what to do.
Seeing that Su Yi finally stopped insisting on moving houses, Granny Yu gently said, "Don’t overthink it. I’m comfortable living here... By the way, you won’t be too busy during the New Year, right? Just stay at home for a few days and don’t run around."
Hearing this, Su Yi immediately started stammering, "Uh, well..."
"Hmm? What is it?" Granny Yu turned to look at him.
Su Yi lowered his head, finding it difficult to immediately go against his mother's wishes. "Tomorrow, I have to visit a senior official. There are some matters I need to discuss with him..." He knew that he hadn’t spent much time with his mother ever since becoming an official, and he felt a bit guilty about it.
This time, Granny Yu didn’t scold him. She simply nodded. "Mm... So you'll be busy on the first day of the New Year?"
Granny Yu sighed. "It’s alright then... Since it’s official business, you should be busy... But you can’t visit someone empty-handed on New Year’s, can you? When you go tomorrow, take the basket of eggs from the house with you."
Su Yi stayed silent and nodded. He knew that, in his mother’s eyes, a basket of eggs was already a very precious gift.