Free time and leisure in Apothecary Diaries

Been thinking about the Gaoshun/Taomei pool moment from Apothecary Diaries LN Vol. 10 lately

She’d had a bit of a fright when she spotted Gaoshun and Taomei walking arm in arm in the courtyard. She’d let her gaze linger a moment too long, surprised and wondering if they got along better than she had realized, when the predator’s eyes flashed. Gaoshun was abruptly shoved away by his wife, who continued to walk along as if nothing had happened. Being shy was one thing, but the younger husband ended up propelled into a pool. A tragedy.

Not only is it a funny Gaomei moment, it's also one of the few glimpses we get into what the characters get up to in their free time in the Return to Western Capital arc. Remember, they spent almost a year in the Western Capital! While they were definitely all hard at work and had multiple quests to different places, I'm sure during the more "peaceful" periods, they didn't really have many places to go beyond that annex (Jinshi sure didn't).

Just some questions among many: What were their nights and dinners like? Did the Ma clan have any time for family stuff? What kind of silly games did Chue foist upon Maomao and (probably) Lahan's Brother ('cuz she totally would play around with them)? What did Lihaku do to chill? What about Maomao? Nothing too consequential for the story at large but it would've been some cute minor character and relationship building.

One thing I like about LN Vol. 11 in particular is the journal-like marking of days since the locust swarm (some samples below):

Day 14:
Not enough doctors. Dr. You appropriated Tianyu and he hasn’t come back. A very pleasant day indeed.

Day 15:
Food problems. People are hoarding provisions everywhere. Fights are breaking out among the commoners, and there are more and more attacks on rich people’s houses.

Day 21:
Lahan’s Brother is renovating one of the storage rooms. Apparently building something.

Day 27:
Some stores are beginning to open. However, stock is still minimal, and low-quality items are rampant.

Day 32:
The cooks in the kitchen tried their hand at grasshopper dishes, but it didn’t go well. We’re grateful for the occasional side of duck egg—it’s a rare and precious source of nutrients.

Day 37:
Lahan’s Brother was playing with the duck in front of his storage room. The duck wanted to get in, and he was trying to keep it out. Strangely, despite the species difference, they seemed to be having a successful conversation.

Day 50:
Tasked with disinfecting bandages. These things are tattered rags now; we can’t use them. We’ll have to collect any cloth people don’t need.

So many days we didn't get to hear anything about, but it's not like they could've been completely uneventful. I, for one, would've been vaguely interested in seeing how the cooks improved just as a quick aside.

Oh, and of course, I'd be remiss to not mention LN13 Ch. 8 when we actually get a glimpse into Lahan's Brother's farmer diaries throughout the whole arc. I loved that chapter both for spotlighting the GOAT Lahan's Brother and for partially fulfilling that desire of mine to know what they were up to in-between all the important narrative events (even if it isn't quite "free time"-centric). Here's an excerpt from it:

Fresh cool, clear skies

It really doesn’t rain in the western capital. Trying to water things has been a huge headache. The rich folk around here have ponds as a sign of their ridiculous wealth, but they’re probably made using underground water. At least that makes it easier to grow bean sprouts.

We’ve started fields near the western capital, but irrigation is proving to be the biggest challenge. Bringing up water from underground isn’t realistic. It would be great if we could get water from a river, but the scale of the project would be untenable. Maybe you just can’t have farm fields if there isn’t a body of water nearby.

As one learns if one is going in and out of the estate, the mood in town is getting worse and worse. Stomachs are empty and tempers are high, while all-out struggles for food are hardly unusual.

I could read him going on about his adventures all day, seriously. Also a big fan of this part that really tells you what Lahan's Brother is all about:

Falling leaves, clear skies

There was some kind of commotion at the main house, but I’m busy. Harvesting my soybeans takes priority.

And you know, this post isn't really just about the Return to Western Capital arc, getting to see the characters' free time in other places is also a dream of mine. We've already gotten a fair share of it. Back in the days of Xiaolan & Shisui, we got to see their free time with the bug hunting and ghost stories and ice cream shenanigans. In LN5, Maomao first encountered the White Lady when she saw a magic show with Lahan. There was an entire light novel (LN8) centered around Lakan's "I'm bored and need something to do"-inspired Go tournament (which followed his bestselling book). The Verdigris courtesans (IIRC) are confirmed to be into cheesy romance novels! There's plenty of avenues for leisure in this world.

In the current canon, I'd love to see more Yao & En'en & Maomao hangouts (not just the one we got) + medical gang bonding in general, or stuff like Chue & Maomao eating out together (that one moment at the end of LN15 where Jinshi lamented not being able to eat out with his friends due to his status was so sad, hints at his inability to truly have "free time" in a social way, as if his tendency to overwork himself wasn't bad enough). And from time to time, I'm curious about depictions of various other leisure activities like physical sporting events (Basen would be banned immediately), street performances, etc.

Normally, people would call this "filler," but I think it's more fun to call it "free time" (or leisure), it's certainly how the characters would look at it and I am specifically thinking about leisure activities. And it is possible for leisure activities to not be filler (like the aforementioned magic show introducing them to the White Lady). I did mention some moments like the LN10-11 stuff, the bug hunting, the magic show, the Go tournament, and so on, but I'm sure I missed some canon stuff. Also, it's a good sign of great character writing that I want to see filler because I like the characters so much I'd like to read them doing more mundane things.

(Original Tumblr version of this post)