The first thing, the villagers remembered, when thinking about the Zhongs, was of course the rumor concerning Zhong Jing Yi, that was only three years old. In a village such as theirs, that wasn't all that long.
"Ah, such a cute and obedient child. Why does he have to be afraid of girls?", lamented Madam Pan.
Her neighbor, Madam Hou, who had a daughter herself, nodded. "Indeed! Madam Zhong, when you're in the capital, you should let him interact with other children more. Especially girls. How will he ever marry like this?"
Madam Zhong smiled, but said nothing. Her son was only seven. Why should she think about his marriage already? If she had a say in it, she'd rather he married a little later.
Of course, she wasn't the only one thinking like that. Qiu Ling eyed the women of the village warily. Thankfully, his family is moving away, or else these gossip mongers would make him marry one of those girls, as soon as he comes of age. His gaze wandered to the boy, sitting quietly beside his mother.
Jing Yi was still only seven. He'd probably need to wait at least ten years, before he even started to think about love. Even more so, after he had made sure, he'd stay away from girls. The only reason, Jing Yi would consider otherwise, was if his mother said something. Qiu Ling glanced at her, too, but she didn't seem to think about it.
Mn, even though she's only human, she's a good woman. She'd certainly help me, when it's necessary. He thought of his future mother-in-law in the nine heavens and couldn't help but smile. Without her, he'd probably not have been able to woo Jing He back then. He should make sure as soon as possible, that this future mother-in-law of his in the human realm, would like him just as much.
Meanwhile, the women continued to discuss Jing Yi's future: "If the situation of your family is really bad there, Jing Yi will have to help. Will he be alright with that?", Madam Pan couldn't help but ask.
Madam Zhong shook her head. "He won't have to help."
Madam Shen just brought over something from her house and sat beside Madam Zhong. "What will he do then? You wouldn't leave him alone all day, would you? He's so dependent on you!"
"Of course not." Though, she didn't really know, what awaited them in the capital. If she had to help her husband with taking care of the stall, what would Jing Yi do then?
Mister Pi used the slight pause after her answer and inserted himself into the conversation. "In the capital city, there are some old masters, who teach children. Maybe you should look for someone. A quiet and obedient child like Jing Yi shouldn't have any problem to appeal to one of them. I mean, he even managed to make an impression on a daoist master."
"Yes! Wouldn't it be great, if he could read and write? Your Jing Yi might even become a scholar!"
Madam Zhong only smiled at Madam Pan's excitement. Nobody in their family was a scholar. She didn't know the first thing about it. Being able to live in the capital and do business, instead of the hard work on the fields, seemed already quite good to her. Could she really ask for more?
Mister Pi stroked his beard. "You know, if you set off a little later, I could probably teach him how to write a word or two. Those masters in the capital would surely be impressed, that he knows so much, without having a teacher at his age."
"Mn! That's a splendid idea! Madam Zhong, how about setting off in a week? If he learns a word a day, he'd be able to write seven words by then!"
Seven words? Qiu Ling snorted. That wasn't anything to be impressed about. Especially if it was Jing He, they were talking about. If he was taught, he would most likely excel as a scholar. But he'd rather teach him himself, than letting this Mister Pi do so.
"In fact, that's a pretty good idea … We could spend a lot of time together." He leaned back against the wall and contemplated. It was tempting, but proposing it himself, might not be a good idea. The Zhongs probably wouldn't decline, but disregarding Jing Yi's birth and the rumors after that, he had never initiated help and waited, if Jing Yi would come to him. He hadn't, but who knew, what the future would bring?
"Disregarding this … He's so young now. If I spend a lot of time with him, being a teacher nonetheless, wouldn't he get the wrong impression?" This child … he even called him 'grandfather'. If he became a teacher, too, even if he let his appearance regress in age, Jing Yi would probably never consider him. The only possibility would be to teach him and then let the old man vanish someday. After that, he could come back as a different person. After all, he had never told Jing Yi his name.
"Let's just see, what happens in the capital. If he wants, I can teach him and take care of everything else when the time comes."
Regarding the proposal of Mister Pi, Mister Zhong shook his head. "I sincerely thank you, but …" He scrunched up his face. "We'll need six weeks to the capital already. If we wait another one, my cousin might get problems. It's simply not feasible."
"Ha … What a pity." Mister Pi sighed. He really would have loved using this opportunity, to befriend one of the great masters from the capital. Now, he had missed his chance once again.
His dampened mood didn't last long, because one of the villagers brought up the other rumor concerning Jing Yi's life: The heretic practitioner, that was said to have helped the Zhongs to conceive their child.
"I always wondered, what was up with that", Madam Hou said, who hadn't been there, when Qiu Ling came to salvage the situation.
"What could have been up with that?" Mister Pi furrowed his brow, clearly not pleased. "Madam Shen saw wrong that night."
"I didn't see wrong!"
"You described him like a heretic practitioner."
"I said he was handsome!"
"Madam Shen." Mister Pi threw her a disapproving gaze. "We've all seen him. He absolutely didn't look like a heretic practitioner."
"I said, I was only describing him as handsome! Wasn't he handsome?" She turned around to Madam Pan, who put some meat into her husband's bowl as a reaction.
"What handsome man? I hadn't seen anything back then."
Madam Shen pressed her lips together. Her husband next to her just took his cup with wine, clearly asking himself, if she would have married him, when that daoist master hadn't left at once.
"Everything was just a misunderstanding", Mister Pi summed up and devoted himself to his food again. He obviously didn't want to speak about that incident.
Luckily for him, there was much more to talk about: The villagers remembered all kinds of stories, from how Madam Zhong had been so close with her son from the beginning, to how the Zhongs had to wait for five years after their marriage to conceive a child, to how Mister and Madam Zhong had met as children. The sky above grew darker and darker. Only late at night, when the moon was already high over their heads, did the people start to retire.
Mister Pi sat there as one of the last, his brow scrunched up, while he was in deep thought. "In the end, who did the Zhongs ask to read the letter for them?", Mister Pi wondered aloud.
His neighbor, Mister Mao, who sat next to him, snorted. "Not a heretic practitioner, that's for sure." With that, he stood up, turned around and walked back home. Not bothering with Mister Pi and his gossip any longer.