TTLJDFL chapter 39

July 6th was Baozi’s one month ceremony.

A few days earlier, Li Jin had bought several sheets of red paper from the town and carefully wrote down the name he had chosen for Baozi.

Although his handwriting had already become quite good, and Mr. Song had praised it when he saw it, saying that with his writing at this level, there would be little problem for him to take the Tongsheng examination,
Li Jin’s hand still trembled involuntarily when he wrote Baozi’s full name.

He shook his head and laughed to himself. Back in the day when he wielded a scalpel, he had never been this nervous.

But this time was really different. After he had written down Baozi’s full name and birth details, he needed to make one copy for the family genealogy and another for the village chief to keep track of the village population.

In other words, in the future, when Baozi was getting married, both families would flip to this page in the genealogy, carefully compare the two children’s details, and then pick an auspicious date for the wedding.

Li Jin had a feeling that he would be publicly executed in more than ten years, so naturally, he dared not relax at this moment.

Dr. Wu of Xinglin Hall had learned early that Li Jin’s child had reached its full month, and he specifically let him off from seeing patients that day, planning to make up for it on Mu Xiu Day.

On the fifth day, when Li Jin was seeing patients, Dr. Wu gave him a pair of little tiger-head socks commonly worn by children. The fabric was soft, and the tiger heads embroidered on them were very charming.

Dr. Wu said, “With this old arm and old leg of mine, I won’t be joining you young people in the fun tomorrow. This is a gift for your child.”

Li Jin took it with both hands, a smile never leaving his face.

“You’re too kind.”

Not only Dr. Wu, but the next day Mr. Song also gave Li Jin a peachwood plaque with some protective carvings on it.

Mr. Song said the journey back and forth was too far, so he wouldn’t trouble himself. He would wait until Li Jin moved to town to bring Baozi to see him.

Last time, Chen Xiran gave a red string to Baozi as a gift when they met. He still remembered that soft little creature lying in his arms, looking so pitiful. This time, for Baozi’s full month celebration, Chen Xiran insisted on going to see him in person.

Zhou Gui from Xinglin Hall also planned to visit, going to the village to attend the little Baozi’s full month ceremony. In recent days, Li Jin was considered half his master; whenever he had questions he didn’t understand, Li Jin would explain them to him in detail, without holding anything back.

Li Jin even encouraged him to ask more questions, saying that’s the only way to improve faster. Zhou Gui was naturally very grateful.

On the sixth day, after Mr. Song finished his lesson and let them go, Zhou Gui was already waiting in front of the main gate of the Song residence. He stood across the street, watching Li Jin still carrying his bamboo basket, wearing a long robe that clearly had been washed too many times.

He stood side by side with that young man in luxurious clothes beside him, yet he didn’t look inferior at all. Zhou Gui thought to himself that the saying ‘clothes make the man’ really isn’t entirely true.

A person with a noble temperament, even wearing ordinary cloth clothes, stands out remarkably in a crowd.

Of course, if Li Jin could change into a proper brocade outfit, paired with his tall, straight posture and starry handsome eyes, even if one said he was the son of a high-ranking family in the capital, people would believe it!

However, the town is just this small, and Zhou Gui hasn’t even been to the county.

Of course, he was even less likely to actually see what a real wealthy young master looked like. At most, he could only hear the storytellers in the teahouse say things like, ‘That young master from the capital rides a tall horse, and the crowd lines up to greet him.’

The reason Zhou Gui could go listen at the teahouse was that the storytellers often needed soup or medicine to moisten their throats, and this medicine was usually prepared by Zhou Gui.

The storytellers had also told the teahouse staff not to charge him or Doctor Wu.

By coincidence, at that moment Li Jin saw Zhou Gui and greeted him.

Zhou Gui quickly cupped his hands and said, “Doctor Li.”

As they got closer, Li Jin introduced them.

“This is my schoolmate, surname Chen. This is an apprentice at Xinglin Hall, Zhou Gui.”

Zhou Gui had already apprenticed under Doctor Wu, and in ancient times, filial piety was highly valued—one couldn’t have two masters at the same time—so he could only call Li Jin ‘Doctor Li.’

Chen Xiran’s home was right next door. He had his butler take the things back and then, all secretive, hung a cloth bundle on himself, not telling Li Jin what was inside.

“Let’s go to your place first, little Baozi must be getting impatient waiting.”

Li Jin laughed, “Little Baozi wouldn’t get impatient.”

Chen Xiran pressed again, asking just what name Li Jin had actually given Baozi.

Li Jin mimicked his manner: “The Master says, it cannot be told.”

“You, Li Jin!” Although Chen Xiran said this, there was a smile in his eyes, clearly pretending to be angry.

The three of them reached the entrance of the town, where Li Zhuzi was already waiting.

He loaded the ox cart with two jars of osmanthus wine and yellow wine, all of which Li Jin had ordered from the local tavern a few days ago.

The first thing to do when celebrating a baby’s full month ceremony was to serve wine—how could it happen without wine?

But Li Jin didn’t plan to let anyone get drunk, so he didn’t buy strong liquor, just yellow wine at most—nothing stronger.

Li Zhuzi helped a few people onto the ox cart, then cracked his whip to get on himself, and the old yellow ox started moving slowly.

Once they got out of the town entrance and the crowd thinned, Li Zhuzi cracked his whip again, and the old ox started moving a bit faster.

The busy farming season had just ended, and everyone in the village had some free time. It happened to be a happy occasion for the Li Jin family, and everyone was planning to come and share in the joy.

They’d grab a cup of wine and maybe give the child a little toy.

When children standing at the village entrance could see Li Zhuzi’s ox cart from afar, they would dash back in a flash, shouting, “Uncle Jin is back!”

The children voices were clear and bright, accompanied by the buzzing of summer cicadas nearby—it was quite lively.

Even the village chief rarely sat on the stone stool at the door to smoke. He called out to the kids and asked, “Whose children are you all?”

“Hello, Grandpa Village Chief! I’m Grandpa Dahe’s grandson.”

“I’m Erlang from the Daniu family.”

“I’m…”

The children chattered away, and the village chief had his wife bring out some small steamed buns stir-fried with chopped green onions from the house to share with them.

“Go have fun.”

“Thank you, Grandpa Village Chief!”

By the time they finished chatting, Li Zhuzi’s ox cart had also arrived at Li Jin’s doorstep.

Qin Muwen, with the help of Xiao An and Li Zhuzi’s wife, had prepared some cold mixed wild vegetables and steamed a bunch of buns.

Li Jin stepped forward and ruffled his hair, saying, ” You’ve worked hard .”

Xiao An blushed and turned away, but then, as he turned back, he thought, ‘Li Jin didn’t really do anything inappropriate with Ah Wen anyway! When the couple said ‘You’ve worked hard ,’ why did he have to turn around? Now, if I turn back and look, is it still in time?’

Li Jin arranged the wine here and gave each child a pumpkin bun, saying, “Go to the village and call people.”

“Got it!”

A group of kids ran off in a crowd.

One of the older ones looked at the wine jar and bowls and said, “Uncle Jin, can I have a sip?”

Li Jin smiled and said, “When your father comes later, let him give you half a bowl.”

In Li Jin’s memory, boys in the village usually started drinking at around seven or eight, but for safety, he still made sure parents stayed with the kids.

Hearing the children shouting in the village, the village chief got up from the stone stool and hung his cigarette on his waist.

“Let’s go to Li Jin’s place to drink at the full month celebration.”

Once the village chief led the way, quite a few people soon gathered at Li Jin’s house. Most of them came just to share in the joy, have a bowl of wine, and say a few congratulatory words.

No matter if there were grudges with the previous owner, from now on, everyone we meet is just neighbors from the same village.

Recently, those who have been hanging out more with Li Jin’s family, like Li Daniu, even brought over a couple of hens.

“You always go out to buy eggs when you want to eat them, what a waste. I brought you a couple of hens—just put some straw under the persimmon tree, and they’ll go lay eggs there. Just remember to collect the eggs every morning.”

Li Dahe, the elderly man who helped Li Jin with the case last time, also showed up. He’s the village carpenter and made a little rattle for the kid, with patterns meant to ward off evil and disasters. You could tell he really put his heart into it.

Li Jin quickly welcomed him in and said, “Uncle Dahe, should we have yellow wine or osmanthus wine?”

Li Dahe wanted yellow wine, but considering his age, he just said, “I’ll have two bowls of osmanthus wine…”

Before he even finished speaking, Li Jin had already brought over the osmanthus wine. Judging by the look, he only planned to drink it himself.

Li Dahe said, “You youngster, clever as always, now you really have a bit of the cleverness you had when you were a child.”

The village chief finished his drink first and took the names and birth details written by Li Jin for Baozi. He let his wife stay behind to cut a lock of the baby’s hair for the ceremony, and then didn’t join in the festivities anymore.

But with him taking the lead, the whole village, whether they were surnamed Li or had other surnames, all said a few words of congratulations. After watching the village chief’s wife cut a lock of the baby’s hair, the villagers gradually dispersed.

There were still some latecomers, gradually coming in to have a bowl of wine and give a few more congratulations to the kid.

Chen Xiran, Zhou Gui, and Li Zhuzi stayed by Li Jin’s side, smiling and greeting everyone. Most of the villagers didn’t know Chen Xiran, but seeing that he was dressed head to toe in silk, they guessed he must be Li Jin’s schoolmate.

Now their attitude toward Li Jin had changed even more. If before they at most thought that Li Jin had turned over a new leaf, become sensible, and understood the importance of family, those were already impressive things for a man not yet twenty-one.

But now, seeing the village chief coming all the way to support Li Jin, and even a young master from a wealthy family helping him entertain the villagers, people in the village were looking at Li Jin in a completely different way.

It looks like Li Jin is definitely going to become very successful in the future.

By the way, when Li Jin was just born, wasn’t there a fortune-telling blind man who said that Li Jin was born with a wealthy fate and was the earthly incarnation of the Literary Star? Whether he really is the Literary Star, no one in the village is sure, but judging by now, Li Jin does seem to have a wealthy fate.

Haven’t you seen that just a month after his husband giving birth, his family added a study to their home? And Li Jin even cooks meat for his husband every day. That’s really wealthy.

They heard that Li Jin has recently been seeing patients at Xinglin Hall. That young face next to him belongs to Xinglin Hall’s apprentice, who will also become a doctor there in the future.

Once the excitement died down, Chen Xiran followed Li Jin to the study and said, “Come on, let me see the child’s name.”

Li Jin no longer hesitated this time and directly took out the name he had written.

This was also the first time he had to pick a name. He went through a lot of books, and even specially borrowed the dictionary from the bookstore.

But he always lacked confidence in himself. In the end, after discussing with the young man, he settled on a single character, called ‘Ruo’.

“Li Ruo.”
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