I served as Li Bai's page.

After returning from Wenshang County, Li Bai began preparing to learn swordsmanship at Shimen Mountain. He carefully dealt with Xu Ziyan, Pingyang, and Boqin every day, and even went to Helan's Restaurant for drinks less often.

"Yuehua, I really don't know how to talk to them. They've only been in Rencheng for a short time and haven't settled in yet. If I leave again, what will they do?" Li Bai said to me that day.

"Young Master, how about this? I won't go. You go alone. Shimen Mountain isn't far from Rencheng, and you can come back often," I said.

"But I still want to take you with me. You can learn swordsmanship too, so that we, master and servant, won't be afraid of anywhere we go in the future."

"But Pingyang and Boqin are still young. Can Madam take care of them?"

"I think this Sister Lin is quite good; she's a great help to Madam. I just don't know much about her background. Sixth Aunt only said she's from a rural area in Rencheng; we need to find out exactly where she is."

"Alright, young master, I'll take on this task. I'll think of a way."

"Then you'd better hurry."

The opportunity came quickly. One day, Sun Fan knocked on our door, carrying several fish and a large bag of grapes.

"Sun Fan, you've found our home." Pingyang took the grapes from Sun Fan's hand with one hand and led him into the courtyard with the other.

We all went out into the yard to welcome Sun Fan. Sister Lin took the fish and grapes, saying, "Our grapes should be ripe by now."

"Sister Lin, do you grow a lot of grapes?"

"Yes, we plant grapevines in front of and behind the house. When they ripen, we pick some to sell, which can help us earn some extra income," Sister Lin said.

After Sister Lin washed the grapes, she brought them to the pavilion. Pingyang and Boqin ate them with great relish, and even wanted more after they finished.

I said, "We'll go to Aunt Lin's house to buy some, so you can eat your fill."

"Okay, I'll go back and pick them tomorrow, so my family won't have to carry them to the market to sell."

"Sister Lin, I'll go with you and pick some more to give to Aunt Liu and Magistrate Lu," I said.

The next day, after breakfast, Sister Lin and I prepared to go to her house to pick grapes. Pingyang and Boqin pulled me along, insisting on coming with me. Sister Lin said:

"How about we all go, have lunch, and then come back?"

"I think that's a good idea. Let's take a day trip to the countryside, change our environment, and refresh our mood," Li Bai said.

I quickly asked, "Sister Lin, is there public transportation to your area?"

"The carriage can drive right to our doorstep, so transportation is quite convenient," Sister Lin said.

"Alright, I'll go borrow a carriage from Sixth Master's house, and our whole family will go."

After I finished speaking, I walked out of the courtyard and went to Sixth Master's house to borrow a carriage. When I drove the carriage back to the courtyard, Xu Ziyan and Sister Lin had already finished packing.

"The carriage is here, everyone get on!" I called out.

Li Bai led the two children out. I picked up Pingyang and Boqin and placed them in the carriage. Xu Ziyan and Sister Lin came to the carriage. Li Bai helped Xu Ziyan and Sister Lin into the carriage, then sat down himself and said to me:

"Yuehua, go to the street and buy some groceries and gifts. It's our first time visiting Sister Lin's house, so we can't go empty-handed, and we certainly don't want to cause any trouble for Sister Lin's family."

"Sir, no need to trouble yourself. We only have simple food in the village. We just hope you don't mind," Sister Lin said.

"Sister Lin, how could we look down on you? We also come from the countryside," Xu Ziyan said.

I drove the horse-drawn carriage to the main street, bought several gifts, and then went to the market to buy some meat and vegetables. Following Sister Lin's directions, I headed towards the countryside along the river inside the East Gate. The carriage traveled for about half an hour before stopping at a village along the river. The village was small, with about four or five households, each nestled against the mountains with fields in front of them.

Sister Lin led us to a house at the east end of the village and called out, "Dad, I'm back! I've brought guests."

An elderly man came out of the house and hurriedly invited us in to sit down. We politely greeted him, saying, "Sir, we've come uninvited and we're sorry to bother you."

"You are honored guests, we will not disturb you," the old man said.

Sister Lin asked, "Dad, where is the rest of the family?"

"They've all gone to pick grapes in the soil by the river," the old man replied.

Pingyang said, "Aunt Lin, we want to go pick grapes too."

"Okay, I'll take you there now." After saying that, Sister Lin took two bamboo baskets from home, one for Pingyang and one for me, and said to her father, "Dad, I'm taking them to the field to pick grapes, and we'll come back to cook in a bit."

"Go ahead," the old man said. "The grapes ripened early this year, the sunshine was good, and they're very sweet. You can pick and eat them as you go."

Sister Lin led us along a path to the right of the house towards the fields by the river bend. There were several plots of land in this river bend, all planted with grapes.

We arrived at Sister Lin's field, where a middle-aged man and two boys, around sixteen or seventeen years old, were busy picking grapes. Upon seeing Sister Lin, the two boys called out, "Mom, you're back!"

The middle-aged man saw us and said, "We have guests. Why aren't you sitting at home?"

Sister Lin introduced us to her husband and children one by one.

The two boys immediately took Pingyang and Boli to pick grapes. They picked and ate as they went, making Pingyang and Boli so happy that they kept shouting and laughing.

Li Bai and I joined the grape picking. Xu Ziyan stood on the ridge watching us, directing Li Bai to pick a bunch here and a bunch there, and she thought every bunch looked good.

After picking grapes for a while, Sister Lin's husband carried the harvested grapes to the market to sell. As he left, he told us, "You pick the ripest ones. Go back when the sun gets too strong. I'll sell them and bring them back. Grapes ripen too quickly and spoil easily."

"Okay, big brother, don't worry, we'll pick for a bit and then come back," I replied.

We picked two full bamboo baskets, and when we returned to Sister Lin's house, Pingyang and Boqin no longer wanted to eat.

"Aunt Lin, I'm too full, I'm not going to eat lunch," Pingyang said to Sister Lin.

"Go play for a while, I'll call you when lunch is ready. How can you skip lunch?" Sister Lin said.

Sister Lin's two sons, along with Pingyang and Boqin, were climbing around the village and the hill behind the house. Xu Ziyan said to me:

"Yuehua, you go with Boqin. He's too young; I'm worried about him."

Li Bai said, "The whole village only has so much land, what's there to worry about? It's children's nature to play; let them play. If you have an adult watching them, they'll feel uncomfortable. Didn't you see Pingyang and Boqin eat so many grapes they were stuffed? Let them run and jump around; it'll help with digestion."

Xu Ziyan looked at me with some worry, but dared not refute Li Bai.

"Don't worry, Madam, I'll follow you from a distance," I said.

After hearing my words, Xu Ziyan finally felt relieved and took a chair to sit in front of Sister Lin's house.

Sister Lin had just finished preparing lunch when her husband returned from selling grapes. Standing in her courtyard, Sister Lin called out loudly, "Da Wa, come back for lunch!"

At the time, we were on the mountain behind us when Sister Lin's eldest son heard the shouts and said, "My mom is calling us back for dinner."

The three older children led Boqin down the mountain.

After lunch, Li Bai said, "Sister Lin, it's grape harvesting season now. Why don't you stay home and work for a few more days before coming back? My family and I are heading back now."

"That's wonderful, thank you, sir and madam," Sister Lin said happily.

I carried the two children onto the carriage, then placed the two bamboo baskets of grapes inside. Li Bai helped Xu Ziyan into the carriage, and I went to Lin Jie's father, took out a silver note, and placed it in the old man's hand, saying, "Old man, this is the money for the grapes. Please keep it."

"You've bought so many things, we can't accept this money," the old man said.

Sister Lin and her husband also said no. I forced it into the old man's hand, jumped onto the carriage, cracked the whip, and galloped off.