Chapter Seven: The Whimsical Ma Wencai

“Shut up!” Ma Wencai suddenly shouted loudly. I was startled outside the door, just about to continue enjoying the drama when I heard Acheng calling me.

“Young Master Liu, what’s going on here?” He saw me standing at the door with a tray of food.

“I…” I looked down at the food in my hands. “Oh, Brother Wencai hasn’t had dinner, so I brought some for him. What did you want?”

“Well, the sugar you left last time is all gone, so I was thinking of asking you for some more.”

“Oh, sure, come inside with me.” I was about to push the door open when it swung open from the inside. Ma Wencai was standing there, and Zhu Yingtai was sitting on a stool. I smiled sheepishly at him. “Brother Wencai, I brought some food for you. Yingtai, you’re here too!”

Ma Wencai nodded at me but his eyes were full of suspicion.

Zhu Yingtai immediately left when she saw me come in. Could I be considered her savior?

To avoid being interrogated by Ma Wencai, I took the remaining malt sugar from the cabinet and went with Acheng to Wang Lantian’s room.

Wang Lantian was sitting at his desk, seemingly studying something seriously. “Brother Lantian, what are you working on?”

“Brother Yiqing, you’re here!”

I walked over and noticed Wang Lantian was actually carving wood. I picked up the piece he was working on. “Wow, Brother Lantian, you have this skill too? I never would have guessed!”

“You flatter me, Brother Yiqing.”

“Our young master is skilled in many things,” Acheng said from the side. “Master, this is the malt sugar I just asked Young Master Liu for.”

Hearing this, Wang Lantian immediately put on a stern face. “Acheng, who gave you the right to act on your own?”

“Sigh~~ Brother Lantian, don’t be so petty over such a small matter. I’ll bring you some more when I go down the mountain in a few days.” People in ancient times were always so particular about status.

“You’re going down the mountain? The academy forbids students from going down at will.”

I knew I wasn’t supposed to go down casually either, but this August heat was unbearable. Wearing multiple layers all day, I was practically molding. If I didn’t find a place to bathe soon, I might start growing bugs.

“I need to go down to buy some things. I’ll ask Madam Master for permission. Do you want me to bring anything for you?”

“Oh! Yes,” Wang Lantian turned to Acheng. “Acheng, bring some silver. I want to ask Young Master Liu to bring me some malt sugar!”

“No need. We’re all classmates—oh, fellow students. I, Liu Yiqing, don’t lack silver.” I toyed with the unfinished carving, feeling it was a human figure. “Brother Lantian, what are you carving?”

“It’s my mother. It’s not finished yet.” Wang Lantian took the carving from my hand and gently touched the not-yet-formed face. He must really love his mother. Sadly, he only has three years left to live; even seeing her one last time seems unlikely.

My sympathy for Wang Lantian grew boundlessly.

“Brother Lantian must be missing his family. Then rest early, take care of your health; the body is the foundation of revolution!” I patted his shoulder but he looked at me strangely. “May I ask, Brother Yiqing, what is ‘revolution’?”

I realized I had made another mistake. Luckily, Wang Lantian wasn’t the kind to press for answers. “Nothing, just a saying. Brother Lantian, rest well. I’ll go back to my room now.”

Back in my room, Ma Wencai was nowhere to be seen. Whatever; ancient life was boring anyway. Early to bed meant peace of mind, and early death meant early transcendence. I took off my outer clothes and lay down. The quilt was too thick—I preferred using it as a pillow.

Just as I was drifting off, there was a loud bang. I jolted awake. Ma Wencai had returned, but why was he so furious? He kicked a stool over and sat heavily on another, panting hard.

Tentatively, I asked, “Brother Wencai, what’s wrong?”

Ma Wencai remained silent, but his expression showed deep anger. “Brother Wencai?”

“Get out!” The word came out heavy and flat, his face still expressionless.

That one word enraged me. I asked kindly what was wrong, and he gave me an order to get lost, shattering the image I had of him. “Get out? You want me to get out? Why? Who do you think you are?”

Ma Wencai stood up quickly and faced me. “I am Ma Wencai. If I tell you to get out, you get out.”

“Hahaha…” I sneered. “Young Master Ma, you’re really arrogant. After all, you’re only the son of a fifth-rank prefect. Is it necessary to be so haughty?”

Though I couldn’t recall the exact rank of the Central Secretariat in the Eastern Jin, I was certain it was higher than a prefect’s position. A prefect was just a local official, while the Secretariat was part of the central government.

“You—don’t think that just because you’re the younger brother of Liu, the Central Secretary, I’ll respect you. I, Ma Wencai, never fall for that.” He rushed to the bed, grabbed me by the collar, and hoisted me up. I feared he might recognize my true identity. “Let go of me! Let go!”

To my shock, he mercilessly threw me outside the door. Bang—the door slammed shut. My waist ached terribly. Was Ma Wencai possessed? Why was he so different from day to night?

Angrily, I furiously kicked the wooden door. “Ma Wencai, you bastard! Open the door! Ma Wencai!”

The crashing sounds inside were even louder than my kicks. Damn it! Throwing things around doesn’t make you impressive.

“Ma Wencai, are you crazy? Open the door!” I shouted loudly, determined to blow this up so it might reach Madam Master’s ears.

I was now certain that sharing a room with Ma Wencai was a curse, not a blessing. He was nothing like the gentle and considerate man people said he was to Zhu Yingtai.

As expected, my shouting drew a crowd of students. Liang Zhu also came over. Zhu Yingtai anxiously asked, “Brother Yiqing, what happened? What did Ma Wencai do?”

“Yes, young master, where’s your outer robe? Why are you standing outside like this?” Yezi was equally worried.

Standing outside in just my inner clothes was cooler, but my temper was blazing. I directed my anger at the culprit, Zhu Yingtai. “Yingtai, shouldn’t I be the one asking you? Ma Wencai is your old friend. You should know him better than anyone here. What’s gotten into him? Were you with him just now?”

“I… I was with him, but I didn’t know…” Zhu Yingtai stammered.

I wasn’t in the mood to listen to her hesitations. “Boss, if you want to argue, save it for your alone time, okay? Don’t drag innocent people into this.”

“Yiqing, don’t be anxious. I’ll go knock on the door.” Liang Shanbo tried to play peacemaker again. I sighed, “Brother Liang, can you please weigh your own worth first?”

“Wait,” I stopped Liang Shanbo. It would be pointless. “Zhu Yingtai, you go! You caused this mess; now you clean it up.”

“I…” Zhu Yingtai hesitated, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll go.”