14 Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Mu Yunsheng slid his fingers under the parchment, and picked it up by an ear. The thick clouds of doubt swam in his keen eyes, as he eyeballed the contents in it; every character was neat and distinct in a beautiful way. "It's not your writing." His brain flashed images of her calligraphy that he had known.

Tang Yu's enthusiasm was shot into disarray at that one sentence from him. His hawk-like gaze was plunging hard into her composure like a sharp ax. As he hired himself out as a tutor in the Tang Manor, and the host, for a little segments of time, was under his tutelage, he just knew her calligraphy well. She sneakily dragged a long intake of cool air, disposing of her nervousness. She had tackled many such tricky situations before, yet it was his gaze that had been challenging her equanimity time and again. She ran her fingers on the tableside made out of wood with a black finish. It was coated with varnish well enough to produce a smooth surface.

Slowly but steadily, Tang Yu legit felt the nervosity slithering down her head; calmness sped her brewing thoughts. She smiled gently. "Well, I practiced hard in the last two years to bring a change."

The freshly-cooked excuse had Mu Yunsheng raise his eyebrows; he screwed his eyes at her. "Why did your face grow pallid then?"

"Oh that?" Tang Yu faked a loud sigh. "Being a backbencher I'm, strict teachers are like a nightmare for me. Your austere demeanor just now refreshed my old memories." She said, a plaster of confidence nicely applied on her face. "But, I'll change this side of mine! From now on, I will study hard. My father said your reputation should remain just as sparkling as my wedding crown. You will allow me to continue my school, won't you?"

This question dipped Mu Yunsheng's face into another shade of darkness. "Tang Yu, is it your new trick? You just want to use education as a pretext to escape from my village? If you think, I shall allow you to live in your father's house, then you are very wrong! You, my wife, will stay wherever I do. And, I can't give you city life until a year later."

Tang Yu pouted her pink lips. "When did I say I want to live in the city? I can study from here as well."

Mu Yunsheng's gaze softened. "Do you want me to transfer you from the state school to our local one in the middle of the year?"

Tang Yu chewed on the question, staring at the lamp. The flame was smoking, soot blackened the upper half of the chimney. Majority of the smoke emitted by the flame was trapped in the lampshade, despite it featuring many tiny holes to let oxygen in. The hitler mother-in-law would definitely raise objections, if she were to attend classes daily. There was a full set of duties for every married girl which was demanded to be discharged towards her in-laws by the society.

Now, she wasn't the emperor who could issue a series of decrees to initiate sweeping reforms in the society, marking the end of the trademark of the traditional thought process. Education hadn't reached its height in this era yet, much less female education which was as rare as hen's teeth. It would be a big deal, if nobels' daughters and wives could read and write properly. The county magistrate had bowed down before the host's stubbornness, or else, her going to school was pretty much out of the picture. There were only six other girls in the entire state school beside her.

Tang Yu reached a conclusion. "No, transfer isn't needed. As you might know, I'm not fond of going to school regularly. I want to seek knowledge under your tutelage from evening to midnight. I will do the household chores during the day, meaning I'll only go to the city, when it's exam time."

"Okay, that will do. Now, go to sleep. Night has already begun lightening its dark shade. You have to wake up at the crack of dawn." Mu Yunsheng turned the lamp's knob anti-clockwise lowering the wick, pulling it down into the base. The flame flickered out. He unfurled a mat and spread it on the floor.

"Ah, you can sleep on the bed, you know..." Tang Yu scooted over to the right side, patting the empty space beside her. "This bed is big enough to house four fully grown men; sleep here."

Mu Yunsheng's eyes glowed. He rolled the mat back, quickly shoving it in the crack between the cupboard and wall. Before she changed her mind, he got on the bed, and laid supine beside her. Subtle crackling of the burning firewood accompanied them into the depth of night. The moonless night kept darkening shade by shade, flames dwelling inside the fireplace watching over them.

Mu Yunsheng turned his head sideways. Tang Yu's spotless pale skin, as white as the fresh snow drifting down from the sky, smoother than the lotus emerging from the deep water, gleamed orange in the glow radiating off the flames swaying by the air.

His beautiful wife and he were alone on a rainy night. It was drizzling unceasingly, setting forth a cool temperature. Did she not desire his body warmth the way he wanted? How would those plump lips taste like in his mouth? Blood rushed into a certain dragon; it started swelling fat and raising its head, erecting a tent in his pants. He snapped his eyes shut, and turned to the other side, to protect his fading sanity from the clutch of the innocent seductress. His girl.

Meanwhile, Tang Yu had been busy counting sheeps desperately. While her body tossed and turned on the bed trying to enter a dreamland, her brain kept plotting against it, ringing bells after bells of money making ideas.

….

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

"Tang Yu… Tang Yu, it's time to wake up." Mu Yunsheng gently shook Tang Yu's shoulders, pulling her out of the slumberland. She groggily cracked open her eyes, slowly sat up, and wiped the remainder of sleep from her eyes. He waited patiently for her to fix her crumbled dress before opening the window. A gust of wind intruded inside. It pushed the smell of Jasmine into her nostrils, bringing a smile on her lips.

Birds criped their beautiful melodies, flying out of the perches, in order to search for some food.

"I collected transparent clean water from the waterfall for you. First, wash your face then go to the kitchen." He said, as he folded the quilt, before going out of the room.

Tang Yu got up, and made the bed. She combed her hair, neatly drawing them back from her face into a simple chignon, which contained the entire length of her hair. Then, she went to the fireplace. According to her remembrance, the tiny basket atop the mantle contained her toothbrushes.

'Oh, the ancient brushes...' She stared at a twig with frayed ends. This was her wedding brush, given to her by her husband. Apparently, every person in the Mu House used this type of brush for healthy gum and good breath. Her gaze fell on another brush. This one was pretty similar in appearance with the modern ones — with soft horsehair bristles tied in tufts and inserted in a piece of animal bone. It was a dowry from her father. Tang Yu's fingers brushed over it and plucked out the neem twig. Although the dowry one was way more expensive, it possessed bacteria hazard.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

"Clack! Clack!"

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

"Piak! Piak!"

Tang Yu craned her neck, and espied a flock of hens and roosters released from the coop. She stepped outside in the backyard, and smilingly clapped her eyes on the chickens pecking each other's feathers off for the yellow paddy grains sprinkled on the ground.

Well, hierarchy was present everywhere, even amongst a chicken flock.

"Grrr! Oink!"

Pigs' loud roar and squeal overtook the air. Tang Yu turned to the left, and caught Mu Jiayi, Mu Yunsheng's youngest sister, coming out of the pigsty. "Good Morning!" She greeted, flashing a brilliant smile.

The girl appeared taken aback for a full second, then she twisted her oval face in a grimace, and went back to the kitchen.

Well, it could be expected. No one would act cordial after being told to dwell with the pigs.

Tang Yu quickly twisted off a metal cork from a big bronze bottle, poured out a dime sized amount of coal ash on her palm. She dampened her toothbrush and dabbed it in the coal ash. Then, she rubbed her teeth, swishing for a while, and tolerating the little stinging sensation.

'Once you get used to it, the frayed end won't abrade your gum anymore.' She consoled per se, upending the earthen urn, rinsing her mouth thoroughly with water, and washing her face.

It was breakfast time, and everyone ate the first and last meal of the day together. Lunch would be usually sent to the fields for males at noon.