I served as Li Bai's page.

After Li Bai and Li Youcheng left, I had dinner with Pingyang and Boqin, and then tidied up the room. Pingyang and Boqin played in the living room the whole time, refusing to go to sleep no matter how I coaxed them.

"We'll wait for Father and Uncle to come back before we go to sleep," Boqin said.

I had no choice but to play with them in the living room.

When someone knocked on the door, Pingyang and Boqin, both happy and frightened, hid behind me and walked towards the courtyard gate. I asked:

"Who is it?"

"Open the door quickly, Yuehua, they're all drunk. I borrowed a carriage from the restaurant to bring the three of them back," Li Youcheng said from outside the door.

I opened the courtyard gate, and Li Youcheng drove the carriage into the yard. After the carriage stopped, Li Youcheng jumped down, and I helped him assist the three Li brothers to their rooms and make them lie down. I said to Li Youcheng:

"Fifteenth Young Master, how much did they drink to get this drunk? Aren't you going to stop them?"

"We brothers haven't seen each other for many years, and Twelfth Brother hasn't been this happy in a long time either. They got more and more carried away with the drinking, and that's how they ended up like this. I'm not leaving tonight; I'll stay at Twelfth Brother's place for the night. You can let Pingyang and the others go to sleep."

After I told Pingyang and Boqin to wash up and go to bed, I woke up early the next day and spent the whole morning in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Li Bai got up early as usual to practice his sword and read, showing no signs of being drunk. However, Li Ning and Li Lie got up after being urged by Li Youcheng, and they reeked of alcohol.

"Twelfth Brother, you're up so early!" Li Ning greeted Li Bai.

"You're up early? Why didn't you sleep a little longer?" Li Bai asked.

"I really want to sleep, and my head is still spinning, but Fifteenth Brother won't let me. He's urging us to get up and have breakfast," Li Lie said.

"Then eat breakfast. If you want to sleep, go back to sleep."

Li Bai arrived at the restaurant with his three brothers. I took Pingyang and Boqin to the table, and we all started eating breakfast.

I took meticulous care of Pingyang and Boqin; the two children were very attached to me. Li Lie, seeing this, said:

"Twelfth Brother, Pingyang is growing up year by year. It won't do for her to keep relying on Yuehua. After all, Yuehua is a boy, and it's not easy for a girl to tell him anything. You need to find her another mother."

"Brother Lie, stop. I'll take care of my own child. I won't look for anyone else," Li Bai said.

"Brother, if you don't think about the Li family or yourself, please think about Pingyang. She's a girl, she can't be taken care of by two grown men, can she? She's too embarrassed to tell you anything." Li Ning said.

Li Bai was momentarily at a loss for words, so he simply buried his head in his food. Li Youcheng said:

"This matter will have to be handled by my two younger brothers. You know many people and have broad experience. Please find a gentle and virtuous woman for your twelfth brother to take good care of Pingyang and Boqin."

"Let's eat. Let's not talk about this anymore. We can talk about it later. I'm full. You can eat slowly." After Li Bai finished speaking, he put down his bowl and walked towards the courtyard. Pingyang seemed to understand their conversation, put down her bowl, and walked towards the living room unhappily.

After everyone finished breakfast, I cleaned up the table and kitchen and went to the yard to say to Li Bai:

"Young Master, I'm going to the market to buy groceries. What would you like to eat?"

Li Ning said, "Li Lie and I are going back to Shanxian County. Don't bother preparing our meal; we'll just sit with Twelfth Brother for a while and then leave."

"What's the rush? Can't we have lunch before we leave?" Li Bai said.

"My official business in Yanzhou is over, and I need to rush back to the county office. There are many things waiting for me," Li Ning said.

Since Li Ning and his brother were leaving, I couldn't leave immediately to buy groceries, so I had to wait at home. After about an hour, the brothers finally stopped discussing, and Li Ning and his brother stood up to leave.

I went to the stable to lead the horses out for them. Li Lie took the reins and said to Li Bai:

"Brother, I'll let you know when I find the right person. Let's find someone else for the sake of the child."

Li Bai smiled noncommittally and followed the Li brothers out of the courtyard. Li Bai turned back to me and said:

"Yuehua, I'll go see them off."

Pingyang quickly said to Li Bai, "Father, you must come back soon, we still need to go buy groceries."

"I'll walk my uncle to the alley entrance and then come back."

After Li Bai and the others left, Pingyang asked me:

"Uncle, are they asking Daddy to find us a bride?"

"Do Pingyang and Boqin want a bride-to-be?"

After the two children pondered for a while, Boqin asked:

"Uncle, will the bride treat us well?"

"Of course, she will treat you like her own children, liking and loving you."

"Uncle, you can't lie to people like that. If that's the case, then let's do as Father does," Pingyang said.

You can't see into someone's heart, and I wasn't sure what was going on, so I didn't dare continue discussing this issue with the two children.

Not long after, Li Bai returned home.

Pingyang pulled me along and said, "Uncle, let's go buy groceries."

As I led my two children out of the alley, we ran into Sun Fan carrying two crucian carp as he walked into the alley.

"Brother Sun!" Boqin called out from afar.

When Sun Fan saw us, he ran a few steps to us and said:

"Uncle, Pingyang, Boqin, I was just looking for you. Grandpa caught some fish in the river today and was going to bring you two."

"Take it and sell it for money. It's not easy for Grandpa to catch fish," Pingyang said.

"We don't lack money right now. I earn money every day by rowing my boat. These two fish are a gift for you."

I took the fish from Sun Fan and said, "Thank you, Grandpa. I also want to give your grandpa something. Come on, follow me."

We went to a brewery on the main street and bought two jugs of wine. I picked up one jug and handed it to Sun Fan, saying:

"Take this to Grandpa. Let him have a couple of sips when he's tired from work; it'll help him relax."

"Thank you, Uncle. Grandpa loves drinking, but he's always reluctant to buy it for himself."

"Brother Sun, come to our house for dinner, and then play with me," Boqin said.

"I'm not going. I still need to row the boat there; Grandpa's waiting for me in the boat."

"Then you should go back. Don't keep Grandpa waiting too long," Pingyang said.

"Then I'm off." After saying that, Sun Fan turned around and ran towards the dock inside the East Gate. He had only run a few steps when a carriage suddenly came rushing towards him. On instinct, I stepped forward and grabbed the horse's reins, forcing the carriage to stop. Sun Fan dropped his wine jug and stood frozen in the middle of the road, terrified.

At this moment, a beautiful woman with a hairpin and light makeup poked her face out of the carriage. She angrily shouted at Sun Fan:

"Are you blind? You deserve to be run over, you poor wretch."

I gripped the horse's reins tightly and said:

"Madam, your carriage has eyes; you should take a detour. Don't be so vehement; he's just a child."

"What's wrong with the child? Should he be running around in the street? He's delaying my business, and he can't afford to pay for it," the woman in the carriage said.

"Pay him back the money you spent on the wine, and I'll let you pass." I suddenly felt this woman was being unreasonable and didn't want to let her leave so easily.

"He scared me. I didn't even ask him to pay me back, and now he wants me to pay for his drinks? Dream on."

I pulled the carriage to the side of the road by the reins. The driver jumped off and tried to snatch the reins from me, but I used the kung fu taught to me by Master Baiyun to quickly knock him to the ground. The woman inside the carriage, seeing the situation was getting out of hand, took out a few copper coins and said:

"Here you go, let us go."

"Not enough, I need two silver dollars," I said.

"Are you trying to rob me? Two silver dollars can buy five jugs of wine," the woman in the carriage said.

"Besides the cost of the drinks, there's a lot more to it than just the money for the child's emotional distress; you scared him," I said.

"No."

"If you don't give it to me, you're not leaving."

As more and more people gathered, I shielded my three children behind me and stood in front of the carriage.

"This woman is the great-granddaughter of Liu Jinma, an official from the previous dynasty. She's very formidable, and it seems her husband died last year. Young man, don't mess with her," said a bystander.

"Thank you, I know my limits," I replied.

After a long standoff, the woman in the carriage couldn't take it anymore and handed over two silver dollars. I pulled the children aside, and the carriage sped away amidst the woman's curses.