After the meal, Tang Huai took out his water pipe and began smoking. Seeing the smoke, He Yi took Qianli aside and asked Auntie Liu to send her home first.
It was growing dark. He Yi put the bowls and chopsticks into a wooden basin to soak in water, then prepared to return to the main hall and light an oil lamp.
Cen Pu glanced at Tang Huai, who was wreathed in smoke, and found a place upwind to sit.
Unable to stand the smell, Zheng Yuanfeng said bluntly, “Even if there isn’t a roof here yet and the place is well ventilated, shouldn’t you ask the host before smoking?”
Very few people in the village smoked, and smoking indoors was considered improper.
Zheng Yuanshi knew that He Yi and Tang Huai were close. Besides, they were all guests whom He Yi had invited. It would be inappropriate to make a scene in someone else’s home, so he pressed his younger brother back onto the bench and signaled for him to say less.
Cen Pu had seen the disagreement but had no intention of getting involved. He was acquainted with Tang Huai, but only as a fellow madiao player. They had not played together for some time and had grown rather distant. Cen Pu never liked confronting Tang Huai directly; the man’s wild streak frightened him a little. He wondered how He Yi had managed to become so close to him.
Tang Huai had heard Zheng Yuanfeng speaking but had been distracted and had not caught the words clearly. He ignored him and continued puffing on his pipe.
Seeing that Tang Huai had not taken in a word, Zheng Yuanfeng grew so annoyed that he was ready to stand up again.
Just then He Yi returned. At the sight of him, Tang Huai voluntarily set his water pipe aside, and much of the smoke dispersed in the breeze.
The elders had all gone home, leaving only five younger men in the building, though Tang Huai was a little older and might no longer qualify. Carpenter Zhou had bathed after dinner and had already retired to the woodshed.
“I got back too late and missed your banquet. My loss,” He Yi said to Cen Pu, unaware of the undercurrents between the others as he clapped him on the shoulder.
“Serves you right. What could be so important that you couldn’t get back in time? And where’s that Xue Ci boy? Isn’t he living with you anymore?” Cen Pu asked, puzzled.
He Yi had told few people about Xue Ci’s planned schooling because he had not been sure the arrangement would work out. Fortunately, he had not spread the news. The villagers would certainly have made a huge fuss about it. And not only had the schooling fallen through, but somehow it had turned into something as absurd as conscription. Nobody would believe it if he told them.
Tang Huai had heard He Yi mention the matter briefly the previous day, but he too was curious how it had developed this way.
The Zheng brothers were even more curious and waited for He Yi to explain.
He Yi summarized, “During the mountain hunt, Xue Ci saved people from the Xing family who had come from Jiangcheng. To thank him, they arranged for him to study at Rongzhang Academy in the county seat.”
But Cen Pu interrupted. “The hunt? The one people were talking about a while ago, when they said the Chang family drove off the tiger? Xue Ci had something to do with that?”
He Yi remembered the notices plastered around town and the man publicly reciting the Chang family’s glorious history. He chose his words carefully and answered vaguely, “It was either the Xing family or the Chang family who drove it away. I’m not sure. The point is, something like that happened.”
Tang Huai raised his eyes and studied He Yi for a moment, then smiled without exposing the evasion.
He Yi went on to explain how Xue Ci had been refused entry at the county gate and then taken away by the gate officials. After several days of frantic searching, He Yi finally learned that Xue Ci had been conscripted to serve at the Northwestern Main Camp.
Silence fell over the gathering.
“So it’ll be a whole year… before he can come back?” Zheng Yuanfeng asked in disbelief.
He Yi nodded.
Perhaps afraid that things would become too awkward, someone changed the subject after a while. They chatted about other matters until it was completely dark, then gradually took their leave.
Only Tang Huai stayed behind.
“There’s something you want to ask me,” Tang Huai said.
“Mm.” He Yi lowered his voice. “While I was running around the county seat and outskirts those past few days, I heard a few things by chance. Do you know anything about the Xing family’s faction in the capital?”
For once, Tang Huai was caught so off guard that he had no answer. He did not waste time asking whether He Yi suspected him. Clearly, he understood that the man He Yi was really testing him about was someone else.
“You really are perceptive. The man you met before, his surname is Xing. He’s from the capital.” After all, Tang Huai had arranged the residency papers, and He Yi, who had lived in his house for a while, could probably guess what connections he had relied upon.
Tang Huai had not originally considered Xing Zhaoyu. He Yi’s hint was a timely reminder. He would ordinarily have been delighted to watch that man encounter difficulties, but innocent Xue Ci was caught up in this. This was not the time to indulge his own satisfaction.
He Yi did not know exactly what Tang Huai was thinking, but he could guess most of it. The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fit together.
Tang Huai analyzed the situation for him. “For now, it may not be too bad. There hasn’t been any fighting recently, yet they’re recruiting to fill vacancies. That suggests they’re not preparing for an urgent battle. Soldiers have simply finished their service and left, so they need to train another batch of recruits.” If war really broke out, the army would hardly release capable soldiers only to send completely inexperienced men into battle instead.
By the time things reached that point, the entire world would already be in chaos. The two of them would never be able to remain untouched in their peaceful little corner, as though living in a paradise beyond the world.
He Yi considered the matter and more or less understood why Tang Huai could sound so certain.
In truth, he was not especially worried about Xue Ci’s physical safety. If someone with Xue Ci’s abilities could not protect himself, nothing else would help. There were advantages to serving with a main camp too: at least he would not be assigned to some obscure, primitive outpost that was difficult to find.
If Xue Ci were truly driven into a corner, he could always change back into a snow leopard and escape. Then they could hide together in the mountains and live as wild men… Giving up everything He Yi had built in the human world would be difficult, of course, but none of it mattered more than Xue Ci.
Naturally, it was far too early to consider such an extreme possibility. For now, He Yi only wanted Xue Ci safe and sound, and able to find his way home…
Tang Huai offered no promises and did not boast that he would take the whole matter upon himself. He merely picked up his water pipe, stood, and said, “I’ll head back now.”
“Take care. I won’t see you out,” He Yi replied.
Tang Huai glanced sideways at him, then gradually vanished into the darkness.
He Yi looked around the main hall, which still lacked beams and a roof. He resolved to make the house as beautiful as possible so that it would be ready to welcome Xue Ci home.
*
The next day, Zhou Qu began making the bed. At first, He Yi could help as an assistant, but before long the carpenter had no use for him, so he decided to build the pigpen.
It was unfair to keep asking the Li family to look after the two piglets. They had not complained, but feeding and cleaning up after the animals consumed time, labor, and grain, and He Yi could not impose on them forever.
There were only two pigs, so he could have built a very basic pen. But if he was going to raise pigs, it would be a waste to gain experience and never do so again. Better to plan thoroughly from the beginning.
In his previous life, He Yi had seen construction plans for pig housing. Not because his work had involved it, but because a company next to one of his construction sites was building a pigsty. He heard the work every day and, during an idle spell, even slipped inside to look around. As a result, he knew the general details of the design.
Pig manure was the most important problem to address. The weather here was hot, and if the waste piled up without being cleared promptly, the smell would become unbearable. If he could install slatted flooring like that used in modern pigsties to separate the pigs from the ground, then dig a drainage channel underneath to collect the manure and urine that fell through, it would be convenient both for making compost and for washing and disinfecting. The pigs would also be less likely to contract disease.
It sounded complicated, but it was not difficult for He Yi. Once he had decided on the plan, he began work immediately.
Digging the channel and leveling the ground alone took half a day, but once the hardest part was done, everything that followed came much more easily.
The next day, He Yi brought earth over on a handcart and began ramming it. First he built walls on three sides to enclose the pen, positioning it directly over the drainage channel.
He had drunk yao dew that morning. With Xue Ci away, the dew would not keep for long, so he could use it all himself. His body was brimming with strength, and a little pigpen took him less than one double-hour to build.
He planned to make the door from bamboo. Bringing over leftover bamboo stalks, he shaped bamboo pegs and assembled a crisscrossed lattice door. He also left a projecting piece at one edge where a rope loop could be fastened for a lock.
Once the door was finished, he had to build the roof. This would also require bamboo, but this time he needed long, intact stalks. He split them lengthwise into halves, cut them to matching lengths, scalded them in boiling water, and left them to dry before laying them in alternating directions to form a corrugated bamboo roof.
By the time the roof was finished, another day had nearly passed. He Yi spent what was left on other small chores and did not begin making the slatted flooring until the third day.
With Zhou Qu available, He Yi described what the slatted flooring needed to do. The carpenter made him a small sample, showing the correct spacing and dimensions of the slots. He Yi then used a chisel to cut gaps in a whole wooden board. The slots could be neither too broad nor too narrow. If they were too wide, the pigs’ hooves might slip through and become injured; if too narrow, the manure would not fall through.
Modern pig facilities generally used plastic or newer materials, easy to wash and resistant to corrosion. Wood was rarely used because it deteriorated so readily, but under ancient conditions he had no alternative.
After finishing and laying the slatted flooring, he installed a water trough and a feeding trough. And with that, after three days of work, the pigpen was finally finished!
The Li family led the two spotted piglets over to He Yi, but insisted on accompanying him rather than letting him take them back alone. They wanted to see what sort of pigpen he had built.
A little later.
“You’ve even put a grating over the floor? Is the space beneath for making compost?” Li Chi asked, pointing at the slatted flooring.
“The waste falls through it. I could make compost there, but I don’t intend to. It would smell too strong.” The channel was narrow and funnel-shaped above and below, so the odor would not spread very far. He Yi estimated that he would collect the waste every two or three days and take it somewhere farther away to compost.
He Yi described the structure beneath the boards and what it was for. To his surprise, Li Chi liked the idea enough to ask He Yi to build one for his family’s pigpen too.
“Of course, but it will have to wait a few days. I want to finish all the roofs on my house first. Then I’ll have time to work on yours. We’d need to dig a drainage channel and find a suitable outlet for the waste. It’s a fairly large job, and we might have to break open part of the floor or walls. I’d need to inspect it first.”
Li Chi frowned. “That much trouble? Then where would I keep my pigs while it’s being done? Never mind, let’s put it off. I’ll come back after a while and see whether yours really works as well as you say.”
“Of course. Come visit whenever you have time, Uncle.”
“I’m leaving these two little fellows in your care, then! Look after them properly.” Li Chi stroked his beard and, seeing He Yi nod, turned away cheerfully. On his way out he met Zhou Qu, nodded in greeting, and continued on.
Zhou Qu had never seen such an orderly pig enclosure either. It was only one compartment, yet He Yi had built it himself with such care and competence that the carpenter could not help looking at him with new respect and admiration.