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“What are you doing?”
Lan Yuan looked up to see another child, another inner sect disciple judging by the forehead ribbon. He was leaning over the top the fence. He might have seen him before, but he hadn’t had much of a chance to speak with him yet. Or at least, not that he could remember.
“I’m helping the rabbits go inside,” Lan Yuan answered simply, picking up another fluffy snowball out from the tall grass and holding it tight to his chest.
“Inside to where?” The other boy squinted, leaning left and right as though to look behind Lan Yuan.
“Inside the shelter. Before the storm hits,” Lan Yuan smiled, as a roll of thunder proved his point, “Wanna see?”
With a grin, the boy nodded and clambered between the fence posts.
His eyes widened when he got up close to the bunnies, “There’s so many!”
Lan Yuan giggled, “There’s even more inside. Hanguang-jun says they like how safe it is here, so we keep getting more and more,” a brief pause as Lan Yuan blinked up to the other boy, “I’m Lan Yuan by the way. What’s your name?”
The other boy clapped a hand proudly to his chest, “I’m Lan Jingyi and I’m six years old.”
Lan Yuan’s eyes widened, “I’m also six years old!”
“Oh wow! We’ll get to train together! My parents said that I would have to train only with kids older or younger than me. They said I was the only one my age here,” he crossed his arms, huffing smugly, “Guess I know more than them now.”
Lan Yuan chuckled.
One drop, and then another drop of rain hit the boys, distracting them, “Oh, the rabbits!” Lan Yuan exclaimed, “Quick! Let’s get the rest of them into the shelter before the storm!”
Jingyi understood instantly, nodding and scrambling to collect the little creatures, “Where is–?”
“There! By the waterfall!”
And sure enough, nestled right by the waterfall was a little cave, mostly concealed by the bamboo. Inside, there were already what looked like dozens of rabbits, some a bit wet, others having been quick enough to avoid the rain. The two boys ran back and forth between the clearing and the cave until finally, they seemed to have moved all the remaining rabbits.
“Wait…” Jingyi panted, finally able to pause, to look around, making a weak attempt to wipe the rain off of his soaking wet robes, “Why couldn’t the bunnies just… go here by themselves? They seem to know to come here.”
“Hanguang-jun says that even if someone looks like they can help themselves, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help them if we can,” Lan Yuan recited.
“But then…” Jingyi still seemed confused, “Why just the rabbits? Why not all the other animals too?”
“Hanguang-jun says these rabbits are like family. And that we always help the people we care about, animal or human.”
Jingyi looked skeptical, “I thought we couldn’t have pets?”
Lan Yuan shook his head, “Hanguang-jun says that sometimes there are exceptions to the rules. Which is… um,” Lan Yuan tried to remember the words his guardian had used, “Times when the rules don’t work right.”
“Oh,” the boy seemed to consider this a moment, picking up a rabbit and stroking it gently in his arms, “How do you know if the rule isn’t working?”
“Um…” Lan Yuan shrugged, “Maybe we can ask Hanguang-jun?”
The other boy’s grin widened, “We should! I think that there are a lot of rules that aren’t working!”
“Really?” Lan Yuan’s eyebrows raised, his mouth opened with alarm, “Which ones?”
“Um…” Jingyi thought, “Yeah! The rules say don’t run. But if I walk, I get in trouble because I get to places late!”
Lan Yuan nodded, even though, under the care of Hanguang-jun and Zewu-jun, he had never once been late for anything, “You’re right!”
“And… and I think I should be allowed more than three bowls!” Jingyi said, “Mama and Diedie told me that eating my whole meal will help me grow. So we should eat more and grow faster!”
Lan Yuan nodded vigorously, fists clenched to his sides as Jingyi spoke.
Gaining encouragement and momentum from Lan Yuan, Jingyi went on with passion, “I think we should be able to wake up after 5 AM! And go to sleep after 9 PM and… and…”
“And go outside the walls at night?” Lan Yuan ventured, eyes shining, “Sleep under the stars like in all those stories?”
“Right!” Jingyi said in wholehearted agreement, before slumping, catching his breath, “Wow. There are so many times when the rules don’t work right. There are so many exceptions.”
“But Hanguang-jun says I should always ask him if I think there should be an exception,” Lan Yuan said, face growing more sombre, “To make sure.”
“Right! We will ask Hanguang-jun. And then all these broken rules won’t stop us anymore!”
The boys smiled, happy with their new discoveries. They spent the rest of the rainy afternoon huddled up with the rabbits in the cave, emerging as soon as the rain let up, and going directly to Hanguang-jun.
Unfortunately, many of the rules – regardless of little sense Jingyi or Lan Yuan could make of them – turned out not to actually have exceptions. But still, Hanguang-jun was happy to secretly make sure a-Yuan’s new friend got a just slightly larger bowl of rice that night.
Because sometimes he couldn’t offer exceptions, but flexibility? That, he thought, watching a giggling Lan Yuan try to shush an equally, if more loudly, giggling Lan Jingyi at the dinner table, was the least he could do for this next generation.