As May ended, the weather got even hotter, pushing the city steadily toward the dog days of summer¹. In past years, Su Tan'er would've moved upstairs a month earlier—the days were hot, but opening the windows at night made the second floor much cooler. This year she hadn't ordered the move, and since Ning Yi left such things to her, he didn't really care. Without orders, naturally no servants came to move furniture upstairs.

They ate dinner in the living room in the evenings, sometimes moving to the small courtyard pavilion. With only five people in their household, once everyone got comfortable with each other, there was no need for stiff formality. Ning Yi was naturally easygoing, and though Su Tan'er cared more about propriety in many ways, at home she enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere too. The three maids had adapted to Ning Yi's style and would sometimes complain that today's academy stories weren't interesting—mostly hearing them secondhand through Xiao Chan.

The hot weather drove them outside after dinner for walks. The Su mansion had its own gardens, and they'd stroll there for the cool air while Su Tan'er chatted with women from other branches. Before, she'd been all business, coming and going with her maids—the branch family men found her hard to talk to casually, and the women found her even more intimidating. Now as a married woman who actually stopped to chat, people said she'd gotten gentler since the wedding, which earned Ning Yi some credit.

Nobody in the Su mansion gave Ning Yi attitude anymore. He had literary fame, the Old Master liked him, and everyone had heard how he'd scared off poets at the Literary Ink Building during the courtesan competition just by being there. He seemed happy enough, sticking to the academy and staying out of business matters. People had expected Su Tan'er to become even tougher after getting a live-in son-in-law, but instead the couple got along well—they actually looked like a real married couple. Everyone exchanged greetings when they met him. Wending and Wenfang were especially respectful, though real friendship was hard—they moved in different circles and could only be politely friendly.

In short, by summer he'd become nodding acquaintances with everyone in the Su mansion.

Su Tan'er stayed busy as always. Ning Yi didn't worry about it—she didn't need his concern anyway. Every few days they'd eat together on the second floor where she could blow off steam. She was in good spirits, just busy. Sometimes Ning Yi went for evening walks, occasionally with Xiao Chan tagging along to the Qinhuai River. When she didn't come, he'd visit Lu Hongti at the small courtyard near the academy.

When he got home at night, Su Tan'er would have servants bring iced mung bean soup or other cold desserts. The Su mansion stored ice blocks yearly for summer, though only the masters got to use them. Su Tan'er's courtyard got the best supply since she'd inherit the main branch. The maids often shared these treats, eating iced desserts together in the evenings—probably the best part of everyone's day. In other households, even the masters had to think twice before ordering a bowl.

After eating, the temperature had actually dropped. Sometimes they'd chat idly, sometimes play chess, sometimes each had their own tasks. Eventually the lights would dim, and after Su Tan'er's room went dark, Ning Yi would go to bed, letting the courtyard fall quiet.

He kept up his pre-dawn runs and exercises, though few people probably noticed. At the river bend with the small building, Nie Yunzhu would be waiting on the steps. Zhu's was doing well—the main shop had steady regulars and repeat customers. The four carts handing out wooden tokens had turned into a game—some people searched the whole city to collect all four, making it fun.

Of course, currently the main income didn't come from the shop and four carts, but from Zhu's century eggs rapidly spreading through Jiangning's restaurants. Nie Yunzhu no longer needed to handle these business negotiations personally—she'd hired many employees, and Ning Yi had established mature operational procedures that greatly reduced management burden. Building on the courtesan competition publicity, century eggs were now on consignment in numerous restaurants and tea houses throughout Jiangning, and they were also opening markets in the high-end brothels. Everything developed rapidly yet remarkably smoothly.

Nie Yunzhu rarely talked business with Ning Yi. She preferred sharing fresh little stories—with the shop open, something new happened every day. Things she'd never seen or heard before, told with excitement. Sometimes she'd mention Hutao and Er Niu's wedding plans, wanting to get that settled soon.

They kept to their habit of sitting on the steps to talk, dim lamplight spilling from the room behind. Nie Yunzhu would bring out a tea tray and set it on the steps. Ning Yi would have a cup, chat a while, then leave as dawn broke faintly—she'd watch as the city slowly took shape and his figure disappeared into it.

With Lu Hongti around, Ning Yi rarely played chess by the river this month, though he managed a few games. Old Qin worried about flooding these days—it was that season, and reports said several places had declared emergencies, with levees breached in some areas. Nobody knew how bad it would get.

"This isn't a good year..." the old man sighed. When Kang Xian came, he'd often say the same.

"If this continues, by July we'll likely see refugee waves again..."

Droughts, floods, winter freezes, and some places had bandit troubles. The current social structure couldn't withstand these hardships. Every few years disasters would appear, and when refugees became homeless beyond control, they'd naturally head east toward the prosperous areas of Bianliang, Jiangning, and Yangzhou. Old Qin would often think about it and put down his chess piece: "Perhaps there'll be military disasters too..."

The Liao-Jin situation seemed ready to explode, though if it truly erupted into complete chaos, it would take months or years—hard to say. When the time came, the Wu Dynasty would have to take a stance. If fighting broke out this time, it would affect the dynasty's fate. Before armies moved, supplies came first. Supporting such a large-scale total war would be another test for the current state.

"No matter what, once the fighting's done, things should get better." Both old men stayed optimistic about that. Actually, the whole Wu Dynasty was optimistic. They still had their economic and agricultural base. Sure, the government was bloated, but most of the burden came from the north. Settle the north, and the entire court could breathe easy. Then there'd be room to reorganize and reform.

Every afternoon, he'd do experiments in that small courtyard and chat with Lu Hongti. When martial arts came up, he'd occasionally take notes, which made Lu Hongti laugh at him. Actually, Lu Hongti had recently been asking him to help with various tasks, watching him design odd containers and devices. What she could help with wasn't chemical reactions but equipment for distilling high-proof alcohol. Since Zhu's was already on track, he needed to produce the liquor and perfect it before setting up a small workshop to launch as Zhu's signature product.

Distilling alcohol wasn't complicated for him. He'd started with a small setup in March and was now scaling up and tweaking it. Basic technology—let others figure out what to do with the liquor afterward. Lu Hongti could hold her drink, and though she didn't look it, she drank steadily. Still, after the first cup of drinkable baijiu²went down, she winced: "This wine... is strong..."

Interested in the alcohol, she helped quite eagerly, occasionally asking questions. Ning Yi would explain about distillation, vaporization, condensation and such. She still considered these things unorthodox practices, though her attitude had changed considerably: "These things of yours... do have some use after all..."

"Still not perfect enough, barely usable. When you leave, feel free to copy the process, though..."

"The mountains don't have much grain to spare for making wine... Sometimes when we rob merchants, we run out of wine quickly. Drinking from big bowls looks like a lot, but after you distill it, there's not much left..." Lu Hongti felt somewhat wistful.

"You could still make a batch. It disinfects wounds—regular wine's useless for that." Talking about disinfection, Ning Yi couldn't resist showing off about germs and bacteria, describing thousands of invisible bugs crawling into wounds, some with eight legs, some hairy. Lu Hongti frowned through the whole explanation. Then he asked: "Your wound medicine's amazing, doesn't even leave scars. What's in it?"

"Part of it is due to martial arts cultivation. Of course, if you want it, I'll copy the formula when I leave, though some ingredients are hard to find." Lu Hongti glanced at him. "But are you planning to ask for martial arts manuals or the formula?"

"You're not planning to teach me martial arts anyway... cough, I need to think about it."

"Still not planning to teach." Lu Hongti said, then laughed. "You'd have no use for it. As a teacher, those students aren't even afraid of you."

"But they love and respect me."

"You... are a good person. Though somewhat odd, truly a good person."

"Cough, you don't need to emphasize that."

Time passed and her injuries healed. The secret guards in Jiangning should be relaxing their watch by now—hard to say when she'd leave. "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils must be almost done?" She'd been asking about it lately. "I want to hear the ending before I go." Ning Yi knew her type—she obviously loved the stories now, drinking baijiu and snacking while she listened, but when it was time to leave, she'd go without hesitation. Too much waiting for her back at Lüliang Mountains.

Ning Yi had been a businessman before but wasn't heartless. He'd come to see her as an interesting friend—someone he could brag to about atoms and molecules, bringing snacks over in the evenings to chat. Life rolled along leisurely, nothing urgent, no real pressure. It went on like this until the evening of the fourth day of the sixth month.

Xiao Chan had matters tonight, so he'd told Lu Hongti he'd bring wine and food over. After dinner he left the Su mansion, planning to buy some food on the way. Passing through a rather deserted street, a wood-hauling cart followed him. The burly man on it called out: "Hey, Ning Yi, Ning Liheng?"

The guy was huge—Ning Yi had to look up at him on the cart. Something felt wrong—the man's eyes held nothing good. Alarm bells were just starting to ring, no time to process that look, when he heard the whoosh of air behind his head.

"Gentle scholar..."

Night fell. Lu Hongti waited in the courtyard, wind chimes tinkling softly in the breeze.

She'd been recovering here almost a month now. Looking back brought a touch of nostalgia—something she never would've imagined before. This past month had been interesting, but in a few days she'd have to go back to Lüliang. After that... probably no chance to return.

Time passed. Maybe something came up, she thought. Not that strange—he'd never missed before, but now that she knew who he really was, it made sense if something kept him away. Too bad about tonight's story though. Hopefully she'd hear the ending in the next few days.

She waited a bit longer, then went inside with mild disappointment and started eating cold mantou³with the vegetables that had been soaking in the water basin since noon. For her, this was no hardship—compared to what she was used to, it was a feast...