Yang Ming, while holding a book, kept getting distracted. He felt that if this continued, he wouldn’t be able to complete his studies, let alone support a wife.
Yet he couldn’t help but think of his wife, now truly understanding the sentiment his married classmates spoke of: a single day apart felt like an eternity.
"Yang Ming, someone is looking for you outside!"
"..." Who could it be? He had just left home, so it couldn’t be his family, could it?
Filled with curiosity, Yang Ming walked out to the academy’s entrance and saw the small figure.
He wondered if he was simply hallucinating from his intense longing; otherwise, how could he be seeing his wife?
"Yang Ming, over here!"
He heard that familiar voice and saw his wife waving at him with a sweet smile.
It really was his wife. He hadn’t been mistaken. Bursting with joy and unable to contain his happiness, he quickened his pace, almost breaking into a little run.
"Xiaoxiao, are you cold? How long have you been waiting?"
As soon as Yang Ming reached Xiaoxiao, he began to inquire, worried she might have been waiting too long or gotten cold.
The moment she saw Yang Ming, her heart leaped with joy. Although she hadn’t realized it herself, she said, "I just got here, I’m not cold."
Yang Ming had been thrilled to see his wife at first, but upon regaining his composure, he felt something wasn’t quite right.
He had left home just yesterday; why had his wife come to find him? Could there be some emergency at home? She had eagerly waited for him to leave, surely she wouldn’t have come to see him just like that!
"Isn’t that what you said, to come see you if I was in the county? I had business at the Cloth Shop today, so I thought I’d stop by."
"..." Although it was just a side trip, his wife had remembered his words and actually came to see him.
"Here’s some food I bought for you. You can take it back and share it with your classmates."
"These are papers and brushes I got for you; you’re bound to need them. I didn’t buy you any books because I wasn’t sure which ones you needed."
"Here are some washing items. Starting a new year at the Academy, you might as well have a new set, right?"
Listening to his wife list the things she prepared for him, Yang Ming felt an indescribable warmth in his heart. Having a wife was truly wonderful.
"Yang Ming, study hard and make daily progress."
Xiaoxiao felt that Yang Ming’s studies were not something she needed to worry about, but she still wanted to offer encouragement.
"If anything happens, either come home, or send word to the family."
"Here’s twenty taels of silver that I forgot to give you earlier. You might need it for school, and don’t skimp on meals."
Exactly how much school was going to cost, Xiaoxiao wasn’t sure, so she decided to give him twenty taels for now.
"..." His wife seemed to have no concept of money, handing over twenty taels just for meals.
"That won’t be necessary, I have silver on me. Take it back; keep it for yourself." Yang Ming pushed the silver back to her.
Xiaoxiao didn’t argue. Every time the subject of silver came up, her husband acted , seemingly reluctant to accept the money. Fine, she thought, next time she’d just put it straight in his bag.
"Yang Ming, I should be going," said Xiaoxiao, having delivered everything and with seemingly nothing left to say.
"..." So soon? He hadn’t gotten enough time with his wife and yearned to keep her with him, but how could he broach the subject?
"Oh, right, I’ll be at Xiangxiang Cloth Shop for the next few days..."
Before Xiaoxiao could finish, Yang Ming’s eyes lit up, finally finding an opportunity to see his wife more, "Then for the next few days, I’ll come to the Cloth Shop to meet you at noon; we’ll have lunch together!"