Chapter Text
Tenth month, fifth day
I saw a seal today. It was very fat. I watched it from far away because it’s bad luck to hurt them.
Yin Yu had been gone a very long time, but if anyone asked, Quan YiZhen would confirm, without a doubt, that they were best friends. Best friends. So when he saw Yin Yu sitting on the pier finishing off some sugared haws with one leg dangling in the water, he couldn’t help but shout.
“Yin Yu!”
“YiZhen,” his friend tossed the empty skewer into the sea and waved lazily from his spot. “Wait, don’t—!”
Quan YiZhen launched himself off his boat, and into the chilly water. When he surfaced, he was much closer to the dock, and could see Yin Yu’s face much clearer. His mouth was twisted in disappointment, but he still offered his hand to Quan YiZhen and hauled him out of the water.
“Ridiculous. How will your boat get here now, huh? And you’ll catch a cold. It’s not like I was running away,” said Yin Yu as he brushed a piece of water grass off Quan YiZhen’s cheek. Quan YiZhen leaned into the touch.
“My boat will land soon enough. And if not, I can swim back to it. I’m a strong swimmer.” Yin Yu didn’t look too pleased about that. Quan YiZhen pressed on. “How long are you back for?”
“A while.”
“How long is that?”
Yin Yu shrugged. “A while.”
“Longer than last time?”
“Your boat’s coming in,” Yin Yu lifted his chin at the space over Quan YiZhen’s shoulder. “A good catch today?”
“Mm-hm. There’s been a seal hanging around here that’s been chasing fish into my nets.”
Yin Yu laughed. “Are you pulling my leg? A seal is more likely to snatch fish off your boat than chase them into your net.”
“I’m not!” As the boat glided towards the dock, used his foot to push it to the side so it would slide up parallel and he could tie it to its post. It tugged at the rope as he tied, but he pulled it back into place easily. Yin Yu was staring at the dock when Quan YiZhen stood again. “It really was chasing them into my net. I didn’t see it today. I can’t prove it. Just a normal sized catch today.” The sun must be getting to Yin Yu, since he was flushed. “I have to sort and package. Then we’ll head into town. Gotta drop something off.”
Quan YiZhen sorted out his catch into several different netted bags and two baskets, and he was going to haul them all in on his own, like he usually did, but Yin Yu insisted on helping, so Quan YiZhen gave him the two baskets, since they were smaller. Yin Yu hoisted them onto the shoulder closest to Quan YiZhen, effectively hiding his face from his friend. They exchanged small talk on the way, Yin Yu asking about the weather and the festivals from the last seven months, Quan YiZhen catching Yin Yu up on all the most recent small-town drama he’d missed. Quan YiZhen dropped his biggest nets off at his market stall, confident that no one would steal them. Then he took one of the baskets from Yin Yu, even though Yin Yu insisted he could carry it just fine. He dropped that delivery off at the village granny’s place, and then another at the temple as an offering. The Daoist who lived there greeted them kindly, but sighed when Quan YiZhen handed him the basket. When they had nothing left to deliver, he ducked into Hua ChengZhu’s store. Yin Yu made a confused, disgruntled noise.
Quan YiZhen wasn’t sure why everyone called the place a “store” when it was actually just a very large house. The front room functioned as the “place of business” and the back had a not-so-secret dice hall. The “store” part didn’t even have shelves or products, either, just wood-paneled walls with portraits of priests in festival robes tacked up all over the place. Quan YiZhen thought Hua ChengZhu’s taste in business and decoration was strange, but he didn’t care enough to question it. All he knew was that Hua ChengZhu told him to bring anything interesting he found to the store and he’d see how much he could take off Quan YiZhen’s debt. As Quan YiZhen lifted the flaps in the door, Yin Yu hissed, “YiZhen, why are we going in here? I thought I told you—” He bit his lip when they walked in on Hua ChengZhu and a pissed-looking lady in black arguing softly with one another.
“I told you I don’t care if it’s real, I can’t do anything with this,” Hua ChengZhu said, waving a fan around. “See? Useless.”
The lady in black made some angry-looking hand gestures.
“Oh, yes, I’m sure it was a lot of trouble.” Hua ChengZhu rolled his eye, the one not hidden under his eye patch, and in the process he caught sight of them. His lips thinned into a very fake smile, but his voice turned pleasant nonetheless. “Ah, if it isn’t the little fisherman and his pet. You have something for me?”
The lady in black made some more very angry hand gestures. Hua ChengZhu sighed.
“He Xuan, when you have something worthwhile, you know where to find me. This wouldn’t be such a problem if you didn’t spend so much money taking that lady cultivator out to eat so often.”
He Xuan turned bright pink, made a very rude hand gesture, and limped out of the shop in as offended a manner as she could manage. Yin Yu swallowed so loudly Quan YiZhen could hear it, but neither of them moved.
Finally, Quan YiZhen thrust his hand forward, a small white pouch dangling from his fist like an unripe peach. Hua ChengZhu took the pouch and opened it.
“Pearls. This is good, but it only takes your debt down by a fourth.”
“Add this,” Yin Yu said, handing over his own pouch. Hua ChengZhu cocked a brow, but took that pouch as well. When he looked inside, his smile turned genuine. “Gill plates! Ah, Yin Yu, you truly are the best. Two thirds,” he said to Quan YiZhen. “Wait here while I get my books.”
They watched Hua ChengZhu mark down their payment against Quan YiZhen’s debt, and Yin Yu made a strangled sound when he saw the remaining balance. “YiZhen!” he hissed.
“I didn’t have any money for a new boat,” Quan YiZhen said before his friend could give him an earful. “He was the only one willing to loan me the money.”
“What happened to all the money your parents left you?”
“Spent it on the last boat.”
“How many boats have you gone through since I left!”
“As much as I love hosting lovers’ spats, I have other things to attend to today. And you’re dripping on my floor.” Sure enough, Quan YiZhen’s robes still hadn’t dried from his earlier swim, and salt water had collected in puddles underneath him. Hua ChengZhu ignored them as he poked around the pouch Quan YiZhen had given him. “If that’s all you have for me, kindly get out of my house.”
Quan YiZhen and Yin Yu bowed quickly and scampered out into the street. “Where did you get so many pearls?” Yin Yu finally asked.
“The seal. I’m serious!” Quan YiZhen said when Yin Yu scoffed. “It brings me an oyster every day. And each one has a pearl in it.”
Yin Yu’s cheeks reddened again, and he rolled his eyes. “This seal sounds like it’s smarter than you,” he joked.
“It is. It’s very smart. It’s very cute too.”
Yin Yu choked on his tongue. “All seals are cute,” he managed.
“Hm. Yeah, but this one’s the cutest. Probably because it’s so smart.” He nodded sagely, as if this was great wisdom he was imparting. “Hey, will you stay at my place this time? You haven’t stayed with me in a while.”
“I haven’t been here in a while.”
“Yeah, and it’s been even longer since you stayed with me.”
Yin Yu scratched the back of his neck. “I already have a place at the inn. And I don’t think Pei Su will give me my deposit back.”
Quan YiZhen groaned and dropped his head onto his friend’s shoulder.
“YiZhen,” Yin Yu mumbled, but it came out muffled. “YiZhen, your hair’s in my mouth.”
Yin Yu had to pry Quan YiZhen off of him and then began scolding him about not taking proper care of himself, hair included. Quan YiZhen nodded along, not really listening, but rather, watching his friend’s lips form each word and wondering if he tasted like the candy he had eaten earlier.