As soon as Song Ning arrived at the Nanshan Study with Lan-ger, he found that Bai Xiaoyun and his son were in the middle of eating. Bai Xiaoyun greeted them warmly as soon as he saw them. “Have you eaten yet? Come on in and have some food, Ning-ger.”

“We’ve already eaten. We had a meal at home before coming over.”

Mr. Bai, the shopkeeper, was very fond of children. He looked at the boy sitting across from him, his mouth stuffed with food, and shook his head. Such a silly little thing—when would he ever get to hold a grandchild of his own?

As soon as Bai Xiaoyun saw his father like that, he rolled his eyes at him. “Old man, are you even going to eat?” 

The implication was clear: if you’re not going to eat, just get out of the way. Seeing him shake his head, he knew he must be thinking something unpleasant. Shopkeeper Bai waved at Lan-ger. “Young man, come here, come here.”

Lan-ger stood there motionless. Song Ning gave him a gentle nudge. “Go on, Grandpa Bai is calling you.”

Only then did Lan-ger go over. Shopkeeper Bai looked at him with a kindly expression. “How old are you? What’s your name?”

Lan-ger answered each question in turn. Mr. Bai, who was quite fond of children, took an egg and pressed it into his hand. “Eat this. Don’t give it to Auntie Yun.”

That morning, each of them had a boiled egg. Manager Bai took the one from Bai Xiaoyun’s bowl and gave it to Lan-ger, which made Bai Xiaoyun reach out and snatch the one from his own bowl. “Then I’ll eat yours!”

Bai Xiaoyun shoved the egg into his mouth in one gulp, afraid his father would try to take it from him, and choked until his eyes rolled back. Mr. Bai wagged his finger at him. “Look at you, look at you! You don’t act like a little gentleman at all!”

Lan-ger held an egg in his hand, unsure whether to take it or not, until Mr. Bai gave him a gentle nudge. “Hurry up and go, before this little rascal snatches your egg too.”

Only then did Lan-ger run over to Song Ning, holding out the egg for her to eat. “Auntie Ning, you eat this.” 

“You eat it—Grandpa Bai gave it to you.”

Bai Xiaoyun had snatched the egg from his father and nearly choked to death on it; he pounded his chest a couple of times to get it down, then slurped down a couple of mouthfuls of soup before running off to find Song Ning.

Bai Xiaoyun grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the table and started cracking them, not forgetting to hand a handful to Song Ning to crack as well. “It’s been so hot lately; I feel like I’m melting.”

“It’s almost harvest time in the countryside. It’s so hot that Brother Wei Hu isn’t going into the mountains anymore; he’s helping my mom sell pancakes for now.”

The moment he mentioned Wei Hu, Bai Xiaoyun seemed to remember something. He tossed the sunflower seeds aside and scampered up the stairs, startling Song Ning, who silently cracked a couple more seeds.

A little hand tugged at his sleeve from the side. “Auntie Ning, have an egg.”

Lan-ger held out the egg yolk to Song Ning—he thought the yolk was the best part—but Song Ning shook his head. “You eat it yourself.”

Lan-ger wouldn’t take no for an answer. He held out the cracked egg, insisting Song Ning eat it. Song Ning finally took half a piece of the egg white. “Alright, you can have the rest.” Only then did Lan-ger take the egg and begin eating it in small bites.

Before long, Bai Xiaoyun came rushing down the stairs again, shoving a book into Song Ning’s hands and winking at him. “New storybooks just arrived at the study. Take a look—they’re selling like hotcakes.”

“They’re selling so well they’ve already gone into a second printing, and there are still people who haven’t managed to get their hands on one. Lots of gers and women love them.” Bai Xiaoyun beamed at the thought of the silver lining in his pockets. He hadn’t expected these storybooks to sell this well—he was practically raking it in!

Song Ning glanced at it with some curiosity. The title read *The Handsome Husband of the Hunter’s Family*. Song Ning was intrigued. He’d read plenty of storybooks before, and their titles were usually full of romantic and poignant allusions—things like *The Tale of the West Window*, *Chronicles of Spring Blossoms*, or *The Banquet in the Plum Grove*. This was the first time he’d seen such a straightforward title.

“Let me tell you, this storybook is selling like hotcakes. They’re even selling it at the bookshops in the county seat.”

Bai Xiaoyun’s tail practically wagged at the mention of it. He’d sold the rights to this story for twenty taels of silver—allowing them to print it as they pleased. Twenty taels! Just think, his father’s bookstore barely made over thirty taels in half a year!

Bai Xiaoyun didn’t say how the storybook was written; he was just waiting for Song Ning to figure it out on his own. When that happened, Song Ning would definitely come back to him—it was sure to be entertaining.

He stood to make a tidy profit on this storybook; he’d already sold quite a few copies at his own study, and making thirty or forty taels was no problem. When the time came to split the profits with Song Ning, Song Ning would surely be delighted.

Song Ning flipped through the storybook casually before tucking it into his small cloth bag. Bai Xiaoyun had said it was the most popular storybook in town, so he’d read it once he got home.

Bai Xiaoyun sprawled back in the armchair, his face beaming with excitement. “You have to read it when you get home—there’s a surprise in store.” Song Ning nodded in agreement.

Shopkeeper Bai came out after washing the dishes in the back and saw Bai Xiaoyun sprawled out in the armchair again. He looked at Song Ning, who was sitting upright and proper right next to him, and the contrast made him even angrier. “Bai Xiaoyun, sit up straight!”

“Oh.”

Bai Xiaoyun gave a half-hearted reply, merely shifting her legs slightly before leaning back into the armchair once more.

Enraged, Shopkeeper Bai was about to scold him again, but when he saw a customer walk in, he let Bai Xiaoyun off the hook. “Sir, what can I get for you?”

Bai Xiaoyun popped a candied plum into his mouth and tilted her chin toward Song Ning. “Did you see that? That old man can’t wait to marry me off. He wants me to find a scholar. The autumn imperial exams are coming up in two or three months, and lately, quite a few people have been coming to the study to buy classical texts and essays. He’s planning to pick one out from among them.”

Song Ning laughed at this. “Your father’s only looking out for your best interests.”

“Don’t give me that official line. The old man’s just got too much time on his hands. Never mind whether Fengnian Town will produce a single candidate for the provincial exams this year—even if it’s just a Xiucai, so what? I couldn’t care less. Hey, my own father was just a Xiucai his whole life.”

Bai Xiaoyun dared only to whisper these words to Song Ning. If his father found out he was saying such things to others, he’d be fuming. After all, his father had spent most of his life studying and was still just a Xiucai; it was only in recent years that he’d given up on the idea of passing the Juren exam.

Song Ning had come over today on official business. He told Bai Xiaoyun about his plan to open a private school and asked him if he knew of any suitable courtyards, as well as whether it would be easy to recruit students.

Bai Xiaoyun’s eyes lit up as he listened. “Father, Father! Don’t you want to hold a grandchild? Then let’s rent our courtyard to Song Xiaoning! You can have as many as you want!”

Upstairs, Manager Bai was helping a customer pick out books when he heard his son shouting and making a scene downstairs. His face darkened with anger. With a temperament like that, when on earth would this boy ever find a scholar for a husband!

Business had been booming lately, and scholars frequently came by to buy books—rich and poor, young and old, all sorts of people. Mr. Bai hoped to find a husband for his son among them. Even if the man were a bit poor, it wouldn’t matter; he’d simply include a generous dowry to ensure his son never suffered any hardship.

Song Ning was startled by the outburst and hurriedly said, “Yun’er, Yun’er, that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, my backyard is huge. My father and I each have a room, so there are two empty rooms left. They’d be perfect to rent to you. Don’t worry, it won’t cost you much. Besides, if you set up the school in the study, it’ll be easier to attract students, won’t it?”

Bai Xiaoyun had his own little scheme in mind; he thought that if Song Ning wanted to open a school, doing so in his backyard would be perfect.

He grabbed Song Ning’s hand. “Ning-ger, seriously, why don’t you just open the school at my place? I’ll even be your teacher—I won’t take a single copper coin. That way, my dad won’t say I’m just loafing around at home.”

Song Ning thought that holding classes in the study’s backyard would indeed be a good idea. Bai Xiaoyun was willing, but what about Shopkeeper Bai?

“What about your father?”

“Who cares about him? I’m the boss in my own house. We’ll just set it up here. As for when to start and finding students—that’s not hard either. I’ll help you post a notice at the entrance to the study.”

Before Song Ning could say a word, Bai Xiaoyun had already laid out the entire plan for him.

“But we’ll have to wait until after the wheat harvest. By then, my mother will need to rent a shop in town.”

“Alright, then we’ll need to find a carpenter to make some tables, chairs, and desks. We won’t need anything else—we already have plenty of books at my place.”

Song Ning agreed, “I’ll have the tables and chairs made back in the village—it’s cheaper out there.”

Bai Xiaoyun was always a whirlwind of activity; he immediately dragged Song Ning along to the backyard to check out the space. Song Ning also quite liked the study’s backyard—it was quiet and elegant, making it more suitable for a schoolhouse than an ordinary courtyard.

Song Ning had originally just intended to come over and ask Bai Xiaoyun about opening a school, but he hadn’t expected that in just a short while, they’d already found a suitable spot.

“Why don’t you talk to your father about it?”

“What’s there to say? I’m the boss in my own house—really. If the old man doesn’t agree, I’ll just kick him out.”

Bai Xiaoyun said this and burst into a giggle.

His father was always complaining that he wasn’t pursuing a proper livelihood, but how was he not? Writing those storybooks was his proper livelihood! Now that he was serving as the teacher for Song Ning’s school, let’s see what his father had to say about him.

The two discussed matters for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, Song Ning took Lan-ger home first. Still feeling a bit uneasy, he added a few more words:

“Talk to Manager Bai again.”

“Don’t worry, the old man listens to me.”

Only then did Song Ning leave with Lan-ger.

As soon as Song Ning left, Bai Xiaoyun immediately scampered up to the second floor to find her father. “Old Man, did you hear what I just said? We’re renting out our backyard to Brother Ning for his school, and I’m going to be his teacher too!”

“Rent, rent, rent—I heard you.”

Manager Bai was organizing books on the second floor. With the imperial examinations approaching, business at his family’s study hall had been booming lately.

“Have you found anyone you like lately? If you have, let your father know.”

“Oh, well, there’s that young master from the Lu family. I think he’s quite nice—he’s handsome, and I like him.”

This made Manager Bai glare in exasperation. “But Mr. Lu is well over thirty—he’s got two kids already!” 

“See? See? I’ve found someone I like, and you’re not happy about it.”

“You little brat, you’re going to drive your old man to his grave!” Manager Bai fanned himself. “Let’s forget about those wealthy families. A family of modest means would do just fine. I think Mr. Liu and Mr. Li are both good-looking and still young—they’d be the best match.”

Bai Xiaoyun rolled his eyes. “Dad, can’t you aim a little higher? Why settle for a scholar? Find me a candidate for the provincial examination—one who’s already qualified.” 

“A candidate for the provincial examination? You really do have some nerve. I might as well just find you a top scholar.”

Bai Xiaoyun giggled, “That sounds great! Then I want a top scholar!”

Shopkeeper Bai was so infuriated by his little son that his face turned red and his neck bulged. That little rascal was deliberately going against him—wanting a top scholar? Why not just go find the King of Heaven himself?

“Dad, you’ve forgotten about Ning’er’s case. You’d actually dare to do that?”

Shopkeeper Bai was momentarily stumped. “Surely not everyone has a heart of stone.”

“People’s hearts are hard to fathom. Since ancient times, it’s been the butchers and dog-slaughterers who’ve shown the most loyalty, while the scholars have been the most unfaithful. I don’t care for scholars at all. If you’re set on it, you’d be better off finding me a son-in-law—at least then we’d have someone to help us look after this family business.”

“What scholar would be willing to marry into our family?”

“Look, just the idea of moving in with us makes those scholars act as if they’ve suffered the greatest humiliation. How can you expect them to treat me well? Once they strike it rich, I’ll be the first one they’ll cast aside.”

Mr. Bai, the shopkeeper, shook his head as he watched his son grinning like an idiot. It was truly driving him to despair.