Three years later, at the transition from summer to autumn.

That afternoon, Zhao Jiazhen returned to the Jing Guogong Residence with the nine-year-old Xiao Jie’er and seven-year-old Chu Ge’er.

The three of them went to Jixiang House. After the two children paid their respects to Yin Furen, she said, “It’s the ten-day break today. Hui Ge’er is at home. Why don’t you go play with him?”

Xiao Jie’er pouted and said, “I don’t want to.”

“Why not?” Yin Furen asked.

“Every time we go to him, he’s either writing or fiddling with those strange things of his. He always ignores people. If you ask him a question, he just gets impatient,” Xiao Jie’er said with great displeasure.

“I think Biao Ge is fine. If you ask him seriously, he’ll still explain things to you,” Chu Ge’er weakly defended Hui Ge’er from the side. As soon as he finished speaking, he received a sharp glare from his sister.

Yin Furen smiled and said to Zhao Jiazhen, “Hui Ge’er’s temper is really strange, he’s neither warm nor cold to anyone. Huanxi and Nian’an aren’t like that. I don’t know who he takes after.”

Zhao Jiazhen chuckled and replied, “I’m afraid it’s because Huanxi and Nian’an went to Tonglu County without taking him along, so he’s holding a grudge.”

Yin Furen sighed, “There’s probably some truth to that. But it’s strange, when Chun Jie’er left home, she was just a little over one year old, not yet two, yet Hui Ge’er was always so good to her. For the past four years, without fail, he has written three letters to her every month. He even sent her new jewelry and toys from the capital, all bought by the maidservants he sent out.”

Zhao Jiazhen was both surprised and amused, saying, “Such a thing happened? How many characters does Chun Jie’er recognize by now? Can she understand the letters Hui Ge’er writes to her?”

Yin Furen said, “I secretly peeked at it. There are only a few characters, mostly drawings. When Chun Jie’er writes back to him, it’s also all drawings. Hui Ge’er’s drawings are quite decent, but Chun Jie’er’s… Aiyo, they’re really something you can only vaguely understand, but somehow, Hui Ge’er can make sense of them.”

Zhao Jiazhen and Yin Furen laughed for a moment, then Zhao Jiazhen sighed, “This time, Huanxi has been appointed as the head of the Department of Construction under the Ministry of Works. If nothing unexpected happens, he won’t be reassigned, so our family won’t have to be separated anymore.” She turned to face Xiao Jie’er, who was listening intently to their conversation, and said, “In a few days, your Chun’er Biao Mei will be back. Next time you come to Wai Zumu’s house, you’ll have someone to play with.”

Xiao Jie’er happily nodded.

Yin Furen said, “When your Jiujiu comes back, just see how Wai Zumu stands up for you.”

Xiao Jie’er asked curiously, “Stand up for me about what?”

Yin Furen replied, “Isn’t Hui Ge’er nice to Chun Jie’er but ignores you? On that day, we’ll gather Hui Ge’er and your Xiao Yi‘s son Tai Ge’er, your Er Yi’s son Wei Ge’er, and your Da Yi‘s son Hong Ge’er, along with Hao Ge’er and Chen Ge’er from other branch. Let them all stand in a line with Hui Ge’er and have Chun Jie’er pick which one is really her older brother. Chun Jie’er’s eyes will be dazzled, and she definitely won’t be able to tell. That’ll surely give Hui Ge’er a hard time!”

Xiao Jie’er clapped her hands and said, “That’s a great idea! I’ve never seen Biao Ge at a loss before.”

Zhao Jiazhen said helplessly, “It’s the first time I’ve seen a grandmother playing trick her own grandchild. But honestly, Mom, I think you are wasting effort. Hui Ge’er looks so much like Huanxi. Even if Chun Jie’er doesn’t remember what her older brother looks like, she still wouldn’t mistake him.”

Yin Furen laughed and said, “She’s just a six-year-old child; what does she know about whether a son looks like his father or not? Besides, from Huanxi’s letters, it seems that Chun Jie’er isn’t exactly the sharpest.”

A while later, Chu Ge’er wanted to go find Hui Ge’er to play, so his wet nurse took him to Shenxiu Courtyard.

Currently, Zhao Huanxi and Xu Nian’an have two sons and a daughter, and Shenhui Courtyard was no longer spacious enough for them. Yin Furen had Shenxiu Courtyard renovated early on, so they could move in directly upon their return.

Hui Ge’er lived in the east wing of Shenxiu Courtyard. The east wing included two side rooms—one was his study, and the other was where he stored and tinkered with his small treasures.

He disliked maids entering the room where he kept his trinkets, fearing they might damage his beloved playthings. So, Chu Ge’er went in by himself.

“Hui Gege, can’t you just please give me that horse?” he said as soon as he entered the side room, his eyes fixed on the wooden horse in the corner, perched atop a flat wooden box. When the mechanism on the box was wound, the horse’s four legs would move as if galloping. Chu Ge’er had been eyeing it enviously for a long time, but Hui Ge’er had refused to part with it.

Hui Ge’er sat alone behind his desk, flipping through a book while drawing lines on paper. The nine-year-old boy, with his handsome features and calm demeanor, carried himself like a little adult. Without even glancing up at Chu Ge’er, he replied indifferently, “I’ve told you many times, that’s not for giving away.”

“Wai Zumu plans to play a trick on you when Jiujiu comes back. If you give me the wooden horse, I can help you out,” Chu Ge’er said.

Hui Ge’er’s brush paused slightly before he resumed drawing. Without looking up, he replied, “Stop making things up. Zumu likes me the most. Why would she play a trick on me?”

Seeing that Hui Ge’er didn’t believe him, Chu Ge’er grew anxious and came over to his desk. “It’s true! My sister said you’ve been ignoring her, and she’s really upset. Wai Zumu then said that when Chun Jie’er comes back, she’ll gather all the boys from Da Yi, Er Yi, and Xiao Yi families, as well as the boys from the other branch, and line them up with you. She’ll make Chun Jie’er pick you out, and she might not even recognize you! If you give me the wooden horse, I’ll secretly point you out then.”

Hui Ge’er’s face remained impassive. “That won’t be necessary.”

Feeling dejected, Chu Ge’er thought about leaving. But as he looked around at all the fascinating toys in the room, he couldn’t bear to go. While he hesitated between staying and leaving, Hui Ge’er said, “Do you see the sandalwood box on the bottom right of the display cabinet?”

Puzzled, Chu Ge’er walked over to the display cabinet and saw a locked box at the bottom right corner. “I see it.”

“Bring it over.”

Chu Ge’er struggled to lift the box and carried it to Hui Ge’er’s desk. Hui Ge’er set down his brush, took a key from the pouch he always carried, and unlocked the box. From the stack of blueprints inside, he pulled out one and handed it to Chu Ge’er.

“This is the design for that wooden horse. Take it to San Yifu and ask him to find a craftsman to make one for you.”

Chu Ge’er was overjoyed, grinning widely despite his missing front teeth. “Thank you, Biao Ge!”

Hui Ge’er glanced at him disdainfully, then locked the sandalwood box again and instructed, “Put it back.”

After Chu Ge’er left with the blueprint, Hui Ge’er hurried to his study. From another locked sandalwood box, he took out the drawings Chun Jie’er had made for him over the past four years. He selected one of a little girl sitting in a melon field holding a large watermelon, then left the study and called for his personal maid, Yuexi.

“Hui Shaoyé, do you have instructions?” Yuexi asked as she approached.

Hui Ge’er handed her the drawing. “Make me a new pouch. One side should have an ordinary pattern, and the other side should use this design. Can it be done within three days?”

Yuexi carefully examined the drawing. It was merely a child’s doodle, not difficult to replicate. She nodded and said, “It can be done.”

“Do it quietly and don’t let anyone know,” Hui Ge’er instructed.

Yuexi didn’t know what plan her young master had up his sleeve this time, but she knew he was always full of ideas. Without asking further, she nodded and went to work.

Five days later, Zhao Huanxi and Xu Nian’an returned to the capital with six-year-old Chun Jie’er, and three-year-old Tong Ge’er, along with their servants and maids.

The entire household gathered in the front courtyard to welcome the family back.

The six-year-old Chun Jie’er was fair-skinned, chubby, and round-faced, with two little buns tied on her head. She had arched eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a delicate nose, and peach-like cheeks. As soon as she appeared, she was warmly welcomed by all the aunts and relatives, who took turns introducing themselves to her. She was led around to greet dozens of relatives, calling out to each of them, and soon her head began to spin.

At this moment, her dear Zumu stepped forward, holding her tiny hand and asking, “Chun Jie’er, you write letters to your older brother every month, right? Do you want to see him?”

Chun Jie’er’s dazed eyes immediately lit up, and she joyfully exclaimed, “Yes! Where’s Gege? I want to see him!”

“Gege is right here,” Yin Furen said, motioning for the crowd to part, revealing seven or eight boys of similar ages standing behind them.

Yin Furen smiled and said, “Chun Jie’er, why don’t you try and figure out which one is your real brother?”

Chun Jie’er: “…….”

The adults couldn’t help but laugh.

Xu Nian’an, upon seeing Hui Ge’er, who had grown much taller and more mature, felt a sudden rush of emotion and her eyes welled up.

“Chun Jie’er, I’m your brother, your real brother. The others are all Biao and Tang cousins,” Tai Ge’er said with a teasing grin.

Chun *Jie’er& scrutinized him carefully but found him unfamiliar.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just tricking you. Chun Jie’er, I’m your brother. Look closely, don’t we look so alike?” Zhao Jiayi’s youngest son, Hong Ge’er, said with a cheerful smile.

Chun Jie’er was in a dilemma. Because she frequently exchanged letters with her oldet brother, she had always felt a deep closeness to him. But now, she realized she didn’t know what he looked like, nor what his voice sounded like. All the affection she thought existed between them had been built in her imagination.

She didn’t even recognize the older brother who had been so kind to her!

As her gaze swept over the unfamiliar faces, the more she thought about it, the sadder she became. Her rosy little mouth began to quiver, and she was on the verge of tears.

Seeing the situation taking a turn for the worse, Yin Furen was just about to take her by the hand to formally introduce her to Hui Ge’er when Chun Jie’er’s eyes suddenly landed on one of the boys.

There, on this person, was a pouch. The design on the pouch seemed so familiar, so very familiar. The scene embroidered on it struck a chord in her memory.

Last summer, she had sat in a melon field holding a big watermelon. Her father had painted a picture of her like that, and later, she had made a copy of the painting to send to her brother.

Her gaze shifted upward, locking onto the owner of the pouch. Oh, so her older brother was the one who looked the most handsome among them.

“Gege!” She happily ran over and threw her arms around Hui Ge’er’s waist, looking up at him with a beaming face.

Hui Ge’er tried to maintain a serious expression but failed, chuckling as he gently patted his younger sister’s head, where her cute little buns were tied. He noticed the butterfly-shaped bead flower made from rice pearls that he had sent her last month still adorning her hair.

The adults were all astonished, murmuring, “Could it be that there is truly some sort of spiritual connection between siblings? She really did recognize him after all.”

“Could it be that Hui Ge’er painted a portrait of himself for Chun Jie’er?”

Zhao Huanxi quickly interjected, “I can vouch for that, he definitely did not.”

“Then how did she recognize him?”

As the adults marveled and speculated, Hui Ge’er couldn’t hide a flash of pride in his eyes. His gaze casually drifted over to where his mother stood nearby, and met her knowing eyes. He froze.

His mother gave him a subtle, approving nod, as though praising his cleverness. A wave of embarrassment swept over him, as if he had been caught in the act of something mischievous. He quickly averted his gaze.

During dinner, following the recipe brought back by Xu Nian’an, the kitchen prepared braised pork with preserved vegetables and steamed buns. Chun Jie’er personally took charge at the table, skillfully splitting the fluffy buns in half and sandwiching two slices of braised pork inside. She handed it to Hui Ge’er, saying, “Gege, try this quickly. These buns are delicious, they were my favorite thing to eat back in Tonglu. Daddy originally planned to bring you there before coming home just to taste these buns, but with too much going on, we ended up getting the recipe from Uncle Cai and Auntie Cai to make it for you here.”

“Delicious, delicious,” Tong Ge’er echoed beside his sister.

Hui Ge’er glanced at his parents sitting across from him, then took the bun from Chun Jie’er’s hand, took a bite, and nodded, “It’s delicious.”

Yin Furen watched his expression, sensing a gap between him and his parents. But considering he was only nine years old and had been separated from his parents for four years, some distance was normal. They would take it slow.

After dinner, the family returned to Shenxiu Courtyard.

“Dad, Mom, I still have homework to do, so I’ll take my leave first,” Hui Ge’er bowed to Zhao Huanxi and Xu Nian’an.

“Gege, Dad and Mom brought gifts for you, come see the gifts first! What’s the point of doing homework? I hate when Daddy assigns me homework,” Chun Jie’er said as she tugged at his hand, pulling him toward the main room.

Hui Ge’er didn’t want to disappoint his sister, so he let her pull him along.

Tong Ge’er ran after his older brother and sister.

Xu Nian’an and Zhao Huanxi exchanged a glance. Zhao Huanxi said, “It was my decision to have him stay, so I’ll take responsibility for comforting him.” With that, he steeled himself and followed the children toward the main room.

When Hui Ge’er was dragged into the main room by Chun Jie’er, his gaze immediately fixed on a large object placed on the floor. It was a model of a county town, complete with houses, streets, and even the stalls, shops, and pedestrians, all made in meticulous detail.

“Gege, look, this is the yamen where Daddy works,” Chun Jie’er pointed to a large building in the center of the model with a plaque reading “Tonglu County Yamen” and said to Hui Ge’er.

“Gege, let me show you something cool,” she said, crouching down. She gently twisted a stone tablet standing in front of the yamen, and suddenly, the large gate of the yamen sprang open.

Chun Jie’er laughed with delight and said, “Gege, lie down and look, Daddy is about to enter the court!”

Hui Ge’er lay on the ground and peered into the small county yamen model. Sure enough, he saw two rows of miniature people in the hall, with a small figure seated behind a desk.

He was a bit surprised and said, “This has mechanisms.”

“En, Daddy saw in Zumu’s letter that you like these kinds of things. He drew the plans himself, hired craftsmen, and spent three years to complete it. I helped too!” Chun Jie’er pointed to the various trees along the street, saying, “I colored the trunks, leaves, and flowers of these trees. *Gege,, look, if you twist this big tree, the people on the street will keep walking!”

Hui Ge’er watched as Chun Jie’er proudly showed off her creation, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Since he was young, he had loved things with mechanisms and had studied them extensively, so he could be said to be somewhat of an expert. It was because he understood how these things worked that he knew just how much effort and skill were required to make such a detailed, mechanism-driven model of a county town.

Four years ago, when his parents took his sister to take post in another region, Hui Ge’er had been the one left behind. He felt that his parents didn’t like him. But that didn’t matter to him. After all, his grandmother and great-grandfather loved him.

However, seeing the model now…

“Tong Ge’er, don’t touch that, it’s a gift for Gege!” Chun Jie’er had caught Tong Ge’er by the hand and pulled him into her arms just as he had reached for a small horse tied outside a guesthouse in the model.

Tong Ge’er, feeling guilty, glanced at Hui Ge’er and stopped moving.

Xu Nian’an squatted down and, speaking to Hui Ge’er who was kneeling on the ground, said, “Your Zumu mentioned that you don’t like others entering your side room without permission, so we didn’t place this directly in your room. If you like it, we can have someone carry it over for you.”

Hui Ge’er lowered his head, staring at the county town he had never visited, where his parents and younger siblings had lived for several years. After a long pause, he nodded and said, “I like it.”

Zhao Huanxi hurriedly went outside to call for people to carry the model.

Chun Jie’er stood at the door of the main room, holding Tong Ge’er by the hand, watching Hui Ge’er lead the servants toward the east wing’s side room.

Halfway there, Hui Ge’er turned around and saw Chun Jie’er and Tong Ge’er standing there. He called out to them, “Aren’t you two coming to play?”

Chun Jie’er beamed with joy and ran over with Tong Ge’er.

Hui Ge’er had the servants carefully place the county town model in the designated spot. Turning back to his younger siblings, he said, “You can each pick a toy from here to take and play with.”

Tong Ge’er chose the horse that Chu Ge’er had eyed on.

Chun Jie’er didn’t pick anything. Compared to these toys, she preferred beautiful jeweled flowers and cloth-made dolls.

After playing for a while, the two siblings were each called back by their wet nurses to wash up and go to bed.

Hui Ge’er sat on the ground, studying the county town model. At that moment, Zhao Huanxi arrived and stood outside the door, asking, “Hui Ge’er, can I come in?”

Hui Ge’er raised his head to look at him and nodded. “Of course.”

Zhao Huanxi entered the ear room and sat down on the other side of the county model, cross-legged like his son. He watched as the boy furrowed his brows, studying the model with his head lowered, seemingly puzzled by the movement trajectory caused by one of the mechanisms.

Zhao Huanxi asked, “Do you need the blueprints?”

Hui Ge’er looked up and asked, You have them?”

“Naturally, I personally participated in the design.”

“You understand it?”

“Of course.”

Hui Ge’er lowered his eyelids and said, “It’s fine if you don’t understand. There’s no need to lie just to talk to me.”

Zhao Huanxi felt the deep disdain coming from his son and nearly jumped up. He pulled out the county design blueprints and two books on mechanisms from his chest, handing them to him. “Who’s lying? When I was playing with mechanisms, you weren’t even born yet. Have you seen the flower lantern in your mother’s room? That’s a mechanism!”

Hui Ge’er took the blueprints and books, lowering his head to flip through them, and the corners of his lips quietly curled up.

Zhao Huanxi noticed and realized, unable to hold back a laugh. “Oh, so you’re trying to provoke me ah, kid?”

Hui Ge’er didn’t respond.

Looking at his eldest son, who seemed like a little adult, Zhao Huanxi understood that his son must have gone through some inner turmoil to grow so quickly.

Feeling a pang of guilt in his heart, Zhao Huanxi tried to sound casual. “What have you learned so far? In the future, when Dad take up a position in the capital, we father and son can study these things together during my free time.”

Hui Ge’er didn’t lift his eyes. “Zumu said you are going to work in the Ministry of Works as a head of department. With new official duties, how much time will you really have to study these things with me?”

Zhao Huanxi was unconcerned. “I’m just the head of the Construction and Maintenance Department. I’ll mainly be responsible for weeding the Three Great Halls of the Imperial Palace, very leisurely.”

三大殿 (Sān Dà Diàn): The Three Great Halls. In the Forbidden City, these are the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Dian), the Hall of Central Harmony (Zhonghe Dian), and the Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohe Dian). They are the most prestigious buildings in the empire.

Hui Ge’er was stunned. He looked up and asked in surprise: “Weeding?”

Zhao Huanxi: “…Of course, I’m also responsible for the civil engineering and construction projects of palaces, altars, temples, residences, and government offices, but sometimes… when there is too much grass, we definitely have to pull it up first.”

Hui Ge’er pressed his lips together, his expression slightly twisted, with waves of light dancing in his eyes, as if his smile was about to burst out.

Zhao Huanxi couldn’t help but laugh when he saw that little expression.

When he laughed, Hui Ge’er couldn’t hold back any longer: “Hahahahaha!”

On the night when the autumn breeze gradually rose, the bright lights of the side room echoed with the laughter of father and son, reverberating gently above the quiet courtyard. The two corners of the autumn moon on the eaves curved, as if it were smiling too.