The week after Li Yuan recovered from his "fever," Chen Wei knocked on his door with hands covered in sawdust.
"Qingshan xiong, are you busy? I have a small project you might be interested in helping with."
Li Yuan opened the door, wiping ink from his fingers—he was practicing calligraphy in his free time. "What project, Chen xiong?"
"I want to make a small cabinet for Mrs. Zhou. Her old one is rotting, but she doesn't want to buy a new one because it's expensive." Chen Wei smiled with sparkling eyes. "I was going to do it myself, but yesterday when you were sick, I thought... maybe it would be nice to have a friend to chat with while working."
There was a warmth in the way Chen Wei said it—not just a request for help, but an invitation to share time. Li Yuan felt a subtle vibration in his chest, like a string that trembles when gently touched.
"With pleasure, Chen xiong."
Chen Wei's backyard was a different place from the Word House—if Mr. Shen's library was filled with meaningful silence, then Chen Wei's small workshop was filled with lively sounds: the rhythmic buzz of a saw, the steady tap of a hammer, and the hiss of wood being sanded.
"Here's the wood," Chen Wei said, pointing to a pile of neatly cut boards. "Old teak wood from a house that was taken down. It would be a shame to throw it away, it's still very good."
Li Yuan touched one of the boards, feeling the smooth texture and the beautiful grain. His Understanding of Body captured the small details: the perfect weight of the wood, its warm aroma, even the subtle vibrations still stored from the tree that had lived for decades.
"Very good wood. Mrs. Zhou will be happy."
"Yeah, I hope so." Chen Wei took a saw and started measuring. "Can you hold the other end, Qingshan xiong? It'll be easier to cut."
And so began a ritual that later became a habit almost every afternoon. Li Yuan helped Chen Wei with his small projects—a cabinet for Mrs. Zhou, a bench for the park, even wooden toys for the children in the alley. It wasn't because he was an expert in carpentry—although his Understanding of Body made his hands stable and his movements precise—but because there was something soothing about working with his hands while having a light conversation.
"Did you used to learn woodworking?" Chen Wei asked one afternoon, observing the way Li Yuan sanded with regular movements.
"Not formally. But... I used to help my father fix the house." Li Yuan answered, remembering Li Haoming who taught him how to hold a hammer correctly. A memory that was almost three hundred years old, but still felt warm in his heart.
"That makes sense. Your hands seem used to wood." Chen Wei smiled. "Your father must be proud to see his son can work with his hands."
Li Yuan stopped sanding for a moment, feeling a strange warmth from those simple words. "Chen xiong, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Why do you like making things for others so much? I mean... you could find a more profitable job."
Chen Wei laughed, blowing sawdust from the board he was working on. "You know, Qingshan xiong, I used to be a professional carpenter. I made custom furniture and got paid quite well. But something was missing from that job."
"What was it?"
"Joy." Chen Wei put down his tools and looked at his work. "When I make things to sell, all I think about is how much profit I'll make, how fast I can finish. But when I make something for Mrs. Zhou... I think about how to make her happy every time she opens the cabinet. It feels different."
Li Yuan nodded with a deep understanding. "Like the difference between writing for the masses and writing a letter for a friend."
"Exactly! That's it." Chen Wei patted Li Yuan's shoulder. "That's why I'm glad you come here often. It's better to work with a friend."
While his friendship with Chen Wei grew in productive silence, his relationship with Lin Sao developed in a very different direction—through endless conversation.
"Qingshan xiong! Qingshan xiong!" Lin Sao waved from her kitchen window when Li Yuan passed by on his way home from the market. "Come here for a minute!"
Li Yuan approached the window, already used to Lin Sao's contagious enthusiasm. "What is it, Lin Sao?"
"Did you know, this morning Mrs. Wang told me that her son in the big city just got a new job!" Lin Sao whispered with sparkling eyes, as if this was a state secret. "She said his salary doubled!"
"Wow, that's great news for the Wang family."
"Right? But Mrs. Wang said, her son still doesn't want to get married. He's already twenty-five, but he says he wants to focus on work first." Lin Sao shook her head. "Even though there are a lot of good girls in the village."
Li Yuan smiled, already knowing where this conversation was heading. Lin Sao had a special talent for connecting every piece of news with someone's love life.
"Maybe he's not ready, Lin Sao."
"Not ready? At that age in the village, he'd already have two children." Lin Sao poured tea into a glass and handed it to Li Yuan. "Speaking of which, when are you going to find a wife? Don't tell me you want to focus on work like Mrs. Wang's son."
Li Yuan almost choked on his tea. "Uh... I'm still... enjoying my current life, Lin Sao."
"Enjoying it alone gets boring after a while. Life is better when you have someone to share it with." Lin Sao rested her chin on her hand. "I have a neighbor in the next alley, her daughter is pretty and can cook. Want me to introduce you?"
"No need to trouble yourself, Lin Sao..."
"Trouble? It's just an introduction. Who knows, you might be a good match." Lin Sao laughed at Li Yuan's slightly panicked face. "Alright, alright, I'm just kidding. But seriously, Qingshan xiong, don't be alone for too long. Humans are social creatures."
Even though it sometimes overwhelmed Li Yuan, there was something warming about Lin Sao's concern. Not because he actually wanted to be set up—the idea of marriage still felt very foreign to a three hundred and ten-year-old soul—but because Lin Sao treated him truly like family. With all the kindness and mischievousness that came with it.
"Lin Sao," Li Yuan said one afternoon while helping Lin Sao hang up clothes, "why do you like to get involved in other people's business so much?"
Lin Sao laughed, hanging a shirt on the clothesline. "Because I care. And when you care about people, you naturally want the best for them."
"But sometimes people don't want to be fussed over."
"Yes, that's true. But at least they know someone cares." Lin Sao looked at Li Yuan with serious eyes for a moment. "You know, Qingshan xiong, before you came, this alley was a bit quiet. Not quiet in terms of people, but quiet in terms of... how should I say it... quiet in warmth. Ever since you've been here, for some reason, everyone has become closer."
"Really?"
"Yes, seriously. Maybe it's because you're so calm, so you make others calm too. Or maybe it's because you really listen when people talk, not just pretend to listen."
Li Yuan felt a subtle vibration in his Zhenjing. Not from the fourteen understandings that were wrapped—they remained silent in the ball of light in his stomach—but from the three understandings that were still active: Body, Existence, and Wrapping. They vibrated with a warm frequency, as if they were also happy that Li Yuan's presence truly meant something to the people around him.
"Thank you, Lin Sao. That... means a lot to me."
"You're welcome. That's why, don't be alone for too long. Find a good wife, have some cute kids. So this alley gets even livelier."
Li Yuan laughed. "Yes, Lin Sao. I'll think about it."
That afternoon, Li Yuan sat on the bench that Chen Wei had made in the small park, reflecting on the last three months of his life as Li Qingshan. There was something surprising about how... natural everything felt. His friendship with Chen Wei that grew in productive silence with few words. The warmth of Lin Sao that was sometimes meddlesome but always sincere. The small community that had accepted him as part of their family.
There was no spiritual agenda in it. No deep search for meaning or cosmic understanding. Just... simple and real human connections.
"Maybe," he thought, watching the children playing in the park, "this is a form of cultivation I never knew. Cultivation through friendship. Through caring and being cared for. Through being a part of something bigger without losing myself."
"Qingshan xiong!"
Li Yuan turned and saw Chen Wei walking towards him with two glasses of tea.
"What are you doing sitting here alone?"
"Nothing. Just enjoying a quiet afternoon." Li Yuan accepted the glass of tea with a smile. "Chen xiong, thank you."
"Thank you for what?"
"For... being my friend. For letting me help with your projects. For treating me like... family."
Chen Wei sat down next to Li Yuan, laughing. "You're so strange. Thank you just for being friends? That's just a normal thing."
"It's not normal for me," Li Yuan said softly. "I... haven't had a friend like this in a long time."
Chen Wei looked at him with understanding eyes. "Yeah, I know. You're a wanderer. You must be used to being alone." He patted Li Yuan's back gently. "But now you're not alone anymore. You have all of us."
Li Yuan felt something tremble in his chest—not from a deep spiritual understanding, but from something simpler and perhaps more valuable: the feeling of belonging and being belonged to.
"Yes," he said, smiling. "Now I have all of you."
They sat in comfortable silence, sipping tea while observing the afternoon life in the park. There was nothing to talk about, nothing to achieve. Just two friends enjoying each other's company in perfect simplicity.
And in that silence, Li Yuan realized that maybe this was one of the highest forms of happiness: sitting with someone who cares about you, without having to be anyone other than yourself.
The evening wind blew gently, carrying the scent of flowers and children's laughter, like a blessing from the world for a friendship that grew in simplicity and sincerity.