Pursuit of Jade
Chapter 40
Snow drifted down beneath the eaves, settling in a thin layer across the steps.
Xie Zheng stood leaning against a corridor pillar, arms folded, his eyes half-lowered as he seemed lost in thought. The lantern overhead cast a pool of warm light across the ground, drawing a shadow beneath his long, well-shaped lashes.
He had seen many beauties before, including the barefoot dancers from the Western Regions who had performed at Wei Yan’s banquets.
He could no longer remember what those dancers’ feet had looked like. The only thing that remained in his memory was the golden anklet strung with tiny bells around one dancer’s ankle. They had chimed softly with every movement, like a wordless invitation.
Yet when he saw Fan Changyu’s bare feet, for some reason, he suddenly thought of those golden bells around the dancer’s ankle.
The thought struck him as absurd.
At the same time, a wave of self-loathing rose within him at the feeling that he had somehow offended her.
Xie Zheng irritably rubbed the space between his brows. He had lived under another family’s roof from a young age, and in order to carry on his father’s dying wishes, he had devoted himself to studying military strategy and training diligently in martial arts. On top of that, Wei Yan had been strict in disciplining both him and Wei Xuan. To prevent the two of them from becoming preoccupied with women, every servant attending them had been a male attendant—there had never been a maidservant at their sides.
After he went to war, his mind was wholly occupied with killing the enemy. He had thought of such things even less.
As for Wei Xuan, whether he deliberately went against the rules Wei Yan had laid down after seeing how strictly Xie Zheng observed them, or whether he simply developed a rebellious streak, he frequently visited brothels and kept women in private residences. Wei Yan had punished him for it more than once.
Back then, Wei Xuan had mocked him for being nothing more than a docile dog, asking whether he even knew what it was like to savor the pleasures of a woman’s embrace. Strangely enough, Xie Zheng had shared Wei Yan’s opinion at the time, thinking only that the boy would never amount to anything.
Though he was unwilling to admit it, Wei Yan had indeed influenced him deeply in the past. Wei Yan believed that anyone who wielded power had to learn to control their desires; the desire between men and women was merely the basest of all.
After returning from the army, Xie Zheng would occasionally find himself unable to refuse certain banquets for the sake of courtesy. Whenever he attended one and saw the supple, boneless dancers winning the entire hall’s applause, he felt nothing but contempt.
Like Wei Yan, he looked down on this sort of indulgence among the capital’s powerful families. He even felt that such lives of drunken revelry and luxury could only soften a person’s backbone.
When he eventually married, the woman he took as his wife would have to be a woman of noble lineage capable of carrying the weight of the Xie family name. He would never marry a fragile woman like his mother.
On the battlefield, blades had no eyes. Perhaps one day he would meet the same fate as his father and die in battle. He did not need anyone to die of grief of him; all he needed was a matriarch of the Xie clan who could uphold the family name after he was gone.
This was the standard by which the sons of the capital’s great houses chose their wives, selecting among the daughters of other distinguished families.
But these past few days… what had gotten into him?
Fan Changyu’s image surfaced in his mind again without conscious thought: butchering pigs, cutting down men, gritting her teeth and enduring…
She was a good woman. In fact, she was more resilient than many noble families’ daughters. It was only that she had grown up in too simple an environment, leaving her ill-equipped to deal with all manner of demons and monsters… In the end, she could never become the matriarch of the Xie clan.
Realizing what he had been thinking, Xie Zheng froze.
When the stewardess made her rounds of the courtyard with a lantern, she spotted him standing beneath the corridor and asked, “Young man, why aren’t you back in your room resting?”
Xie Zheng gathered his thoughts and said, “I was just about to come find you Would it be all right if I squeezed in with one of the attendants from Yixiang Restaurant for the night?”
The stewardess looked puzzled. “You’re Fan Niangzi’s husband. Why aren’t you sleeping in the same room as her?”
Xie Zheng found an excuse. “She has her younger sister with her. It wouldn’t be convenient.”
The stewardess thought to herself that Changning was hardly more than a child, but considering that even a young girl was still a girl, she nodded. “It was this old woman’s oversight. The attendants at the tower sleep two to a room, so there isn’t normally an extra room. But one of the attendants snores so loudly that no one else can sleep in the same room with him. If you don’t mind, you can go to his room and make do for the night.”
Xie Zheng simply said he didn’t mind, so the stewardess led him to the attendant’s room.
They could already hear the earth-shaking snoring from outside the door, roaring like rolling thunder. Xie Zheng fell silent for a moment.
The stewardess pushed open the door. Even the “creak” of the turning door hinges failed to wake the attendant in the slightest. After leading Xie Zheng inside, she lit the oil lamp and pointed to an empty single bed beside the other one. “You can sleep here tonight.”
Xie Zheng thanked her, and the stewardess picked up her lantern and left.
He took off his outer robe, lay down with his arm beneath his head, and closed his eyes. He had little inclination to sleep to begin with, and the attendant across from him was snoring like thunder. It was so loud that he couldn’t even bring himself to close his eyes.
After enduring it for a quarter of an hour, Xie Zheng got up and walked over to the attendant’s bed. With a single chop to the back of the man’s neck, he knocked him unconscious. The snoring stopped instantly.
He lay back down, but sleep still refused to come.
He had never thought about a future with Fan Changyu before. Yet tonight, after suddenly finding himself thinking about marriage, he was inexplicably restless.
He knew Fan Changyu was unsuitable to become the principal matriarch of the Xie clan. But when he imagined returning to the capital and marrying a daughter of a noble family—someone graceful and proper, well-versed in propriety and letters, who could help him manage the Xie family’s affairs—he found himself instinctively resistant to the idea.
It was as though he had discovered a wild grass on the open plains, a plant with extraordinary vitality. He rather liked it. But if he dug that wild grass up and brought it home, then set it beside all the other exotic and precious flowers, anyone who saw it would only laugh at the weed.
Wild grass could only be wild and tenacious when it grew freely upon its own plains. Once placed in an expensive porcelain pot and carefully tended, it would no longer be wild grass.
He raised one hand and held it before his eyes, resting the back of it against his brow. His lips were pressed into a tight line in the darkness.
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
The next morning, before dawn had even broken, Fan Changyu was already awake. Changning was still sleeping. After dressing, she quietly slipped out of the room and asked the stewardess in charge to keep an eye on Changning before heading to Yixiang Restaurant.
The Yixiang Restaurant in this county town was laid out much like the one in Lin’an Town, though it was built on a more imposing scale.
The errand runners in the main hall had yet to arrive, but everyone in the kitchen was already there.
The pig heads to be braised had already been prepared as well, so Fan Changyu did not even need to tend the fire herself. All she had to do was prepare the braising spices.
Yu Qianqian personally consulted with several of the head chefs over which dishes should be served first, which should come later, and what the grand finale dish would be.
Though Fan Changyu was an outsider when it came to such matters, even she could tell how much thought went into it. After all, some dishes would lose their flavor if they sat for too long. And if too many elaborate dishes were served one after another, the kitchen might not have enough time to prepare everything, causing dishes to be delayed and leaving the guests waiting. That would be embarrassing.
For an ordinary family, having dishes arrive late at a banquet was hardly a serious matter. But when the banquet had been commissioned by prominent officials and nobles, serving dishes late meant making the host lose face. The host might complain to Yixiang Restaurant, and word getting out could damage Yixiang Restaurant’s reputation as well.
After Yu Qianqian finished going over the details of every step with the cooks, she spotted Fan Changyu sitting behind the stove. She squeezed in beside her without the slightest airs and joined her in warming herself by the fire. “It’s only the second day of the New Year, and I’ve already dragged you here to help me at the restaurant. I really am making you work hard.”
Fan Changyu said, “Zhanggui is the one who has so many things to take care of, the one who’s actually working so hard.”
Yu Qianqian smiled. “There’s no such thing as easy money. Once we pull off this banquet, Yixiang Restaurant’s reputation in the county will be firmly established.”
When Yixiang Restaurant had first opened in the county town, Wang Shop had stabbed them in the back, and business had remained lukewarm ever since. When the county’s wealthy and influential families mentioned Yixiang Restaurant, they would even bring up the fact that the absence of auspicious omen on its opening day as a laughing matter.
To raise Yixiang Restaurant’s standing in the county, Yu Qianqian had sent quite a few novel and expensive gifts to the wealthy ladies, and only then managed to secure today’s banquet.
As though she had suddenly remembered something, she asked Fan Changyu, “Oh, right. Does your braised meat have a brand mark?”
Fan Changyu looked puzzled, “What’s that?”
Yu Qianqian slapped a hand over her face. “It’s my fault. I’ve been so busy these past few days that I forgot to tell you in advance. I mean something like Wang Braised Meat Shop—they have a sign of their own.”
Fan Changyu shook her head.
Yu Qianqian said, “Your braised meat is being positioned in my restaurant against Wang Braised Meat Shop from Zuixian Restaurant. If you don’t have a brand mark, then at least have someone write a few characters for you. It’ll look more presentable.”
Fan Changyu was puzzled. “Isn’t braised meat just sliced up, arranged on a plate, and brought to the table? Whether it has a brand mark shouldn’t matter.”
Yu Qianqian said, “You probably noticed when you came in that I have several shops downstairs available for rent. The Fang family’s tea and the Li family’s wine are both sold there. I’ve also reserved a spot for your braised meat. Once you have some ready, bring more over and put it on sale there. Whatever you sell is yours. The important thing is to get your name out there. Otherwise, if the braised meat used in my tower has no name or backing behind it, won’t people think Zuixian Restaurant has us beat?”
As she spoke, she was already getting up. “I’ll have someone find a scholar with good handwriting and get him to write you a cloth banner to hang up for now.”
Thinking of Xie Zheng, Fan Changyu hurriedly said, “My husband can write. I’ll just find my husband later.”
Yu Qianqian hesitated, “How good is your husband’s handwriting?”
Fan Changyu said, “His handwriting is beautiful!”
Reassured by her repeated assurances—and with plenty of work still waiting for her—Yu Qianqian said, “Then go fetch your husband now. If it won’t do, I’ll send someone to find a scholar instead.”
The braised meat was already in the pot, so all that remained was to keep an eye on the fire. Fan Changyu did not waste any time. She agreed at once and headed into the alley behind Yixiang Restaurant to find Xie Zheng.
Xie Zheng had been unable to sleep last night, his mind occupied with everything on his mind, and only managed to drift into a shallow sleep once dawn began to break.
He was soon awakened, however, by the stewardess in charge, who had come to wake the attendant.
As she called for him, the stewardess muttered to herself, “This fellow never seemed like the sort to shirk his duties. How come he’s still asleep at this hour today?”
The awakened attendant opened his eyes, looking utterly bewildered. Seeing that it was already broad daylight, he hurriedly got dressed and climbed out of bed. But the moment he moved, he let out a sharp cry of pain and rubbed the back of his neck. “I think I slept wrong. My neck really hurts.”
The stewardess scowled. “You slept in because you were shirking!”
The attendant had gotten up late and felt a little guilty after being scolded. Wearing a miserable expression, he hurriedly finished dressing, splashed some water on his face, and went to the front hall to get to work.
By now, the entire courtyard was filled with the sounds of Yixiang Restaurant’s attendants coming and going. Xie Zheng had no inclination to continue sleeping either.
After a sleepless night, the dark stubble along his jaw had already grown in. He had only just finished washing up when Fan Changyu came looking for him. Seeing the dark circles beneath his eyes, she asked in confusion, “You didn’t stay up all night, right?”
As luck would have it, the stewardess was passing through the courtyard. Hearing Fan Changyu’s question and taking in Xie Zheng’s exhausted, haggard appearance, she said, “I told you last night that the lad’s snoring was rather noisy. Young man, you must have been kept awake by it, right?”
Xie Zheng did not know how to answer Fan Changyu. With the stewardess putting it that way, he hesitated, then nodded.
Fan Changyu immediately looked at him with sympathy.
After the stewardess had left, she said, “When we get home tonight, make sure you get some proper sleep. But there’s something I need your help with right now.”
Perhaps because he had slept so poorly, Xie Zheng watched her red lips opening and closing as she spoke, but for a moment he could not make out what she was saying. Instead, he was reminded of the dream he had had during that brief stretch of sleep.
In the dream, they had divorced as agreed, and she had turned around and married someone else. She was still wearing the wedding robes from the day they had married. He could not make out the appearance of the man she had married, but the smile on her face was so bright and uninhibited that it was almost painful to look at, as though she had married a man who was truly to her liking.
He could not quite say what he felt about it. Whatever it was, he certainly had not enjoyed it.
Now, looking at Fan Changyu again, he unconsciously pressed the corners of his lips downward.
Fan Changyu finished speaking, only to realize that Xie Zheng had not answered at all. Instead, he was staring at her with a dark expression.
She waved a hand in front of his eyes. “Did you hear anything I just said?”
Xie Zheng came back to himself and quickly gathered his thoughts. “Go on.”
Fan Changyu eyed him suspiciously. “What were you thinking about just now?”
Xie Zhang answered, “Nothing. I just woke up, and I’m a little out of it.”
Fan Changyu had her own moments of being groggy after a poor night’s sleep, so she did not think he was lying. She got to the matter at hand. “Can you go write a few characters for me?”
Xie Zheng asked, “What do you need written?”
Fan Changyu said, “Yu Zhanggui said today’s business is going up against Zuixian Restaurant. We can’t let ourselves look inferior. Our braised meat needs to be like Wang Shop and have a brand mark of its own. Yu Zhanggui has set aside a spot for us outside the main hall downstairs to display our braised meat. There’s no time to have a proper signboard made, so we’ll just write it on a cloth banner and hang that up for now.”
Xie Zheng nodded. “Have the ink and cloth banner been prepared?”
Fan Changyu replied, “Yu Zhanggyu took care of it.”
“Then let’s go,” Xie Zheng said.
The quarters where Yixiang Restaurant’s attendants stayed were in the alley behind Yixiang Restaurant, making it convenient to come and go. The staff normally used this way when buying ingredients or carrying out the wastewater, since Yixiang Restaurant’s back entrance opened onto the alley.
When Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng stepped outside, they happened to run into the man who had come to collect the food waste.
The person responsible for hauling away the food waste had gone home to celebrate the New Year on New Year’s Eve and the first day of the year, so the waste Yixiang Restaurant had accumulated had been left uncollected. That was why someone had come to haul it away first thing in the morning.
Fortunately, it was the dead of winter, so even after sitting for two days, the food waste had not developed much of a smell.
However, the alley was narrow, so when the waste cart passed by, they had to stand as far to the side as possible. Otherwise, it was easy to get splashed by the filth from the waste buckets.
Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng stepped aside. Just as the waste cart was about to pass them, one of its wheels happened to roll over a stone. The entire cart jolted, and the lid of one of the buckets at the side bounced open, splashing its contents out.
Xie Zheng frowned and, quick as a flash, pulled Fan Changyu toward him.
She was yanked straight into his solid chest, while the food waste splashed onto the spot where she had been standing moments before.
The old man driving the cart turned around and hurriedly apologized. “Sorry, terribly sorry! I ran over a stone just now. None of it got on you, rightt?”
Xie Zheng glanced at the hem of Fan Changyu’s skirt. “It didn’t. Uncle, you can go.”
Only then did the old man urge his horse onward again.
Xie Zheng noticed that Fan Changyu had not said a word, and only then realized that he was still gripping her wrist. His heart gave a sudden jolt. He immediately released her, tucked his hand behind his back, and felt as though his palm were burning. “You…”
He got only one word out before falling silent.
Fan Changyu lowered her head. Two drops of blood fell from her nose onto the thinly iced bluestone paving, and she wore an expression of utter despair.
She had hit his chest too hard and given herself a nosebleed.
Xie Zheng was silent for two breaths before saying, “I’m sorry.”
Fan Changyu answered nasally, “It’s fine.” But her nose hurt so badly from the impact that tears of pain welled up in her eyes, making her look utterly pitiful.
She pulled out her handkerchief and wiped haphazardly at the blood, but the moment she finished, her nose started bleeding again. She tipped her head back, trying to stop it, only for a large hand to press down on the back of her head and push it back down.
“Don’t tilt your head back when you have a nosebleed,” Xie Zheng said.
Fan Changyu could only press the handkerchief to her nostrils and mutter glumly, “I saw blood first thing in the morning. Looks like I’m in for a day of bad luck.”
Xie Zheng apologized again. Fan Changyu said, rather helplessly, “I’m only joking. How could I possibly have bad luck? I’m destined to have good fortune shining on me and earn a dou of gold every day!”
The nosebleed seemed to have stopped, but the tip of her nose was still terribly uncomfortable. She took away the handkerchief and sniffed, “I suppose every blessing has a curse to go with it. I escaped getting drenched in food waste, only to turn around and get a nosebleed from bumping into you. A nosebleed is still better than getting drenched in food waste, so really, I came out ahead!”
Worried that Xie Zheng might blame himself, she even flared her nostrils deliberately, “See? The bleeding’s stopped already—”
The last word caught in her throat.
Xie Zheng took the handkerchief from her and gently wiped twice beside her nostril. “There’s still a little blood here. It only just stopped, so don’t breathe too hard.”
Even through the handkerchief, she could clearly feel the pressure of his fingertips.
The man before her had evidently been favored by Heaven from the moment he was born. His brows were as sharp as drawn swords, his eyes bright as stars, and his features exquisitely fine without the slightest trace of femininity. A light breeze stirred behind him, lifting the sleeves of his robe and the loose strands of hair at his temples. From the top of the wall, a withered branch swayed precariously, sending a brown, dried leaf fluttering down.
Fan Changyu felt like a lobster that had been brandishing its massive claws in a show of strength, only to suddenly stand there dumbfounded, unsure of how to wield them anymore.
Xie Zheng withdrew his hand. Seeing her lost in thought, he asked, “Does it still hurt?”
Fan Changyu shook her head. Half-jokingly, she said, “If you keep being this good-tempered, you certainly won’t have any trouble finding a girl who likes you in the future.”
For an instant, the light in Xie Zheng’s eyes turned cold. His dark eyes narrowed at her, while his thumb and forefinger still toyed with her handkerchief. With a smile that did not reach his eyes, he replied, “Then I’ll take your kind word for it.”
Fan Changyu looked utterly baffled. She had been complimenting him, so why had he suddenly started talking with thorns again?
The two entered Yixiang Restaurant through the back door. While Xie Zheng wrote on the triangular cloth banners Yu Qianqian had prepared, Fan Changyu remembered that he had not eaten breakfast yet. She went to the kitchen and brought him some of the steamed buns and congee served to the workers.
By the time she came back out, quite a few of the workers had gathered around the table where Xie Zheng was writing. Even the accountant from the tower was praising his calligraphy.
Once the ink on the banners had dried, some of the restaurant’s workers helped hang them up.
Fan Changyu glanced over. They were nothing more than the four ordinary characters “Fan Braised Meat Shop,” yet in his hand, they truly looked exceptionally fine. The strokes were vigorous, the brushwork graceful, and once the four triangular cloth banners were hung up, they looked even more impressive than a gilt signboard.
In an excellent mood, Fan Changyu brought the congee and steamed buns over to Xie Zheng, “Eat something first and line your stomach.”
Yu Qianqian happened to be passing through the main hall when she spotted the characters Fan Changyu had had the workers write on the strips of red silk cloth she had hastily cut for the occasion. She could not help but exclaim in admiration, praising Fan Changyu for having found herself such a fine husband.
She then gave Fan Changyu another suggestion, “Changyu Meizi, later on, have someone make up a batch of paper bags for you. Print these same characters your husband wrote onto the paper wrappers, too. Whenever someone comes to buy your braised meat, pack it in one of those bags. Then there’s no way your reputation won’t outgrow Wang Shop’s.”
In the market, ready-to-eat foods were generally wrapped in oil paper, and the braised meat from Fan Changyu’s shop was no exception.
Oil paper was impervious to grease and moisture, with the smooth side used to wrap food and the rough side facing outward.
Fan Changyu had also noticed that the hotpot soup bases sold by Yixiang Restaurant came in paper boxes. The boxes were printed with designs of flowers and birds, and the thin hemp twine used to tie them was knotted into an unfamiliar but beautiful knot.
Yu Qianqian had specifically asked her to braise another pot of meat, saying she would keep it in the shop to sell.
An idea suddenly flashed through Fan Changyu’s mind. While Xie Zheng was drinking his congee, she slipped out for a while. When she returned, she had bought a stack of oil paper and a roll of thin hemp twine.
She cut half a jin of pig’s head meat and tried wrapping it in oil paper, then tied it securely with the hemp twine. It looked quite presentable, except that the oil paper did not bear the words “Fan Shop”.
Xie Zheng had just finished his steamed bun and plain congee with some pickled vegetables when he noticed Fan Changyu staring at him with an intense, expectant look. “Yan Zheng, how about you help me write a few more characters?”
Xie Zheng: “……”
Before Yixiang Restaurant opened for lunch, he had written on the rough side of more than a hundred sheets of wax paper.
When Yu Qianqian passed by again and saw Fan Changyu’s makeshift solution, she smiled. “Sure enough, husband and wife are of one mind; united, they can cut through metal.”
Seeing that the knots Fan Changyu had tied were a little crooked, she even took the initiative to teach her how to tie them more neatly. “Loop the cord around from this side, then tie it off. It’ll look prettier that way.”
Fan Changyu thanked her, and Yu Qianqian gave her a hearty pat on the shoulder. “What are you thanking me for? We’re fighting for the same thing today. If your braised meat gets beaten by Wang Shop’s, that would be a blow to my own reputation.”
As noon approached, the entire Yixiang Restaurant grew busy. Guests began arriving one after another, and there were more than a dozen staff members responsible for receiving them. Male guests were attended to by the waiters, while female guests were received by uniformly dressed maidservants.
Whether waiters or maidservants, their manner and bearing were poised and polished. They wore smiles without seeming obsequious, making the place feel distinctly different from other restaurants.
For female guests who were sensitive to the cold, the restaurant had even prepared tangpozi, clay or metal warming vessels filled with hot water to keep them warm. It was remarkably considerate.
Fan Changyu could not help telling Xie Zheng, “Yixiang Restaurnat is the most impressive restaurant I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s passable,” Xie Zheng replied.
The finest restaurants in the capital were no worse than this, and some surpassed it by far. Still, for someone to open a restaurant like this in such a small place, that female proprietor certainly had some ability.
Fan Changyu shot him a sidelong glance. “Why is it so hard for you to say one word of praise?”
“Once you’ve seen better, you won’t praise everything you see either.”
Fan Changyu: “……”
She had just been insulted, hadn’t she? She had. Right?
She decided not to say anything more. But the two of them did not remain idle for long before someone came over and asked, “How much are you selling this braised meat for?”
It was only today, while selling braised meat at Yixiang Restaurant, that Fan Changyu learned that Yu Qianqian was selling it to customers for one hundred wen per jin—almost twice the price braised meat normally fetched.
After nervously quoting the price, Fan Changyu watched in astonishment as the young servant ordered three jin without even haggling.
Fan Changyu froze for a moment, then quickly and neatly cut up the meat and wrapped it for him.
Yet she was still somewhat dazed. Was doing business really this easy when you had Yixiang Restaurant’s reputation backing you?
After the young servant left, she quietly said to Xie Zheng, “This is the first time I’ve ever sold braised meat for this much. I feel a little guilty.”
“Look at the person selling wine beside you,” Xie Zheng said.
The wine seller was a famous old brewery in the county, and business was even better than theirs.
Fan Changyu watched for a while but could not make sense of anything. She asked Xie Zheng, “What about the wine seller?”
Xie Zheng looked up at her. “Didn’t you notice that little jar of wine sold for nearly one tael of silver?”
Fan Changyu nodded like a pecking chick. “I did, but wine is expensive to begin with.”
Xie Zheng gave a soft scoff. “What makes it expensive? Wine is only brewed from grain and distiller’s yeast. Its cost may not even be as high as the meat you’re selling.”
Fan Changyu thought about the price of pork compared with grain, and found herself thinking he had a point.
Xie Zheng said, “Whether something is cheap or expensive depends on whether people are willing to buy it. If a whole crowd is willing to pay a high price, the thing becomes expensive. Conversely, if everyone is only willing to offer a low price, then the thing isn’t worth much.”
Fan Changyu nodded, understanding only vaguely.
After selling a few more orders, she gradually began to figure some of it out on her own.
Everyone who came to Yixiang Restaurant to dine came from households that were well-off. Most of these wealthy families tended to believe that “expensive means good,” so the idea of getting good value for money did not really apply to them.
If something they ate suddenly cost far less than what they were accustomed to paying, their first reaction would not be to think they had found a bargain. Instead, they would worry that there was something wrong with the food.
Thinking about it this way, Fan Changyu finally understood why the things sold at Yixiang Restaurant were priced somewhat higher than those at ordinary restaurants.
The quality of the dishes was one reason. Another was people’s tendency to compare themselves with others. Yu Qianqian had turned Yixiang Restaurant into a place where only high officials and wealthy nobles would come to dine. Spending a large sum of silver to eat here bought them more than delicious food—it also gave them the sense of being among the privileged.
Before the meal began, business at Fan Changyu’s stall was only so-so. The occasional customer was usually someone passing by on the street who bought some to take home as a New Year dish.
After the first round of diners finished their meal, however, they had presumably tasted the braised meat during the feast. Business at her stall suddenly took off. Quite a few maidservants and young male servants lined up to buy some.
Fan Changyu could no longer manage cutting and wrapping the meat by herself, so she handed the wrapping over to Xie Zheng.
His appearance was simply too striking. With a long line forming outside their stall, most passersby would take a glance as they went by, drawing quite a few unmarried young women and young married women alike into the queue to buy braised meat.
When late-arriving guests entered the main hall and saw the scene, they inevitably asked, “Why are there so many people buying braised meat?”
The attending waiter would smile and reply, “The guests from the previous seating tried some of Fan Shop braised meat during the meal and thought it tasted excellent, so they want to buy some to take home for their families to try as well.”
Upon hearing that, the guest would immediately instruct the household servant accompanying them, “With so many people buying it, this Fan Shop’s braised meat must be more than just famous in name. Buy some to take home for Lao Taitai.”
There were also guests particularly fond of calligraphy and paintings who would enter and immediately catch sight of the large characters reading “Fan’s Braised Meat”. They would sigh, “Such fine calligraphy, wasted on a signboard like this!”
Taking a closer look, they would discover that the outer side of the oil-paper packages carried away by the servants in line was also marked with the characters “Fan’s Braised Meat.” The brushwork was even more vigorous and forceful, making them sigh with even greater regret.
Rather than buying any braised meat, some would instead send their young servants to purchase a single sheet of the oil paper used to wrap it.
Fan Changyu was rather dumbfounded when she heard this request, but as long as they paid, that was all that mattered.
She supposed she finally understood: the pursuits of the wealthy were rather different from those of ordinary people. After taking the silver, she generously handed the young servant several sheets of oil paper.
The Song family had produced a Juren, and Song Yan was now considered a person of some standing in Qingping County. Mother Song was also enthusiastic about ingratiating herself with the wives of officials and wealthy families, as though she wanted to reclaim all the prestige she had missed out on over the past decade.
Naturally, she had come along to a banquet like this today.
Seeing servants lining up in droves to buy braised meat, and noticing that quite a few wealthy ladies at the tables had also sent their servants to buy some, she had originally wanted to join in the fun. But the moment she saw the four characters “Fan’s Braised Meat” (樊记卤肉) written on the shop banner, her expression changed.
Looking more closely and realizing that the person bustling about the stall was Fan Changyu, her whole face fell. “How could she be here…?”
A woman seated beside her, who knew her fairly well, asked, “Song Furen, do you know that young woman?”
Mother Song let out a long sigh and said, with a rather sanctimonious air of pity, “That is a poor, unfortunate child. She was born under a Lone Star fate and not long ago brought about the deaths of her own parents. Then she went and brought about the death of her uncle. She was probably shunned by the people in town, so she came to the county seat to make a living.”
People in business and government were particularly wary of such things. The moment Song Yan’s mother finished speaking, all the women at the table changed expressions.
“It’s the New Year, and the proprietor of Yixiang Restaurant lets just anyone into the restaurant?” one of the women said, so deeply superstitious about such matters that she rose and left the table immediately.
Another official’s wife directly summoned the maidservant attending them and said sternly, “Go get your proprietor.”
The maid dared not dally and immediately went to call Yu Qianqian.
Though Yu Qianqian looked young, she was extremely seasoned when it came to handling such situations. She approached with a smile. “Qian Furen, what happened? If there’s anything our restaurant has done to be less than hospitable, please allow me to apologize.”
Yu Qianqian knew all the prominent figures in Qingping County, and she knew exactly what sort of business each of their families was in.
The reason Qian Furen dared to be so forceful at this table was that her family owned a money house.
Qian Furen coldly jerked her chin toward the Fan’s Braised Meat stall below. “We came here today to celebrate a wedding. And you’ve let that ill-omened woman do business in your restaurant. Aren’t you bringing bad luck upon all of us?”
The area in front of the Fan Shop stall was packed with people waiting to buy braised meat. Yu Qianqian could more or less guess that Qian Furen meant Fan Changyu, but she deliberately played dumb. “What ill-omened woman? It’s the New Year. Qian Furen shouldn’t say such inauspicious things.”
Seeing her reaction, Qian Furen’s expression softened somewhat. “You really don’t know? I heard that the Fan family’s daughter was born with a Lone Star fate. She brought about the deaths of her parents and then her uncle’s death as well. You’d better not keep her working here in your restaurant. Be careful she brings misfortune upon you too.”
Yu Qianqian covered her mouth and let out an “Oh!” as though thoroughly frightened. “Who did you hear that from?”
Qian Furen immediately threw Mother Song under the carriage. “Song Furen used to be from Lin’an Town as well. She knows everything there is to know about that ill-omened woman.”
Yu Qianqian said, “Oh, so it was Song Furen who said that. I heard Song Gongzi and the Fan family had been betrothed for several years. After Song Gongzi passed the provincial examination, he had someone compare their birth charts, and only then did they discover that the Fan family’s eldest daughter was born under a Lone Star fate. They hurriedly broke off the engagement. Good thing they did it early, or that Song Juren would have missed the chance to become the county magistrate’s honored son-in-law.”
Everyone seated at the table was a sharp-eyed sort. After hearing Yu Qianqian say this, the looks they cast at Mother Song instantly became rather pointed.
Mother Song glared at her. “You!”
Yu Qianqian blinked innocently. “I don’t really know anything about fortune-telling myself. But that half-immortal fortune-teller south of the city did say that Fan family’s daughter was born with a husband-prospering fate. Her husband has beautiful handwriting too. I heard that at the lantern festival last night, Song Juren was rendered speechless by a single line from her husband: ‘The wild geese fly south, but even phoenixes are left with nowhere to set their feet’. His scholarly talent must be quite something. Who knows? If he sits the examinations next year, perhaps he’ll even earn her a Gaoming title!”
Someone who heard the couplet failed to suppress a quiet laugh.
Mother Song had yet to hear about the embarrassment her son had suffered the previous night. But remembering how he had returned home, said nothing, and gone straight into his study to bury himself in his books, she now found the scrutinizing looks of the merchant wives and officials’ wives around the table unbearably hot against her face. Without even offering a farewell, she hastily left the banquet with her maidservant.
One official’s wife was the first to snicker, and soon all the wealthy ladies at the table were laughing along with her. Every one of them spoke with disdain and mockery. “She really is hopelessly vulgar.”
“She broke off the girl’s engagement, and she still has the nerve to spread rumors about her like this.”
“Did you see that jade bracelet on her wrist? It’s obviously fake. I’d rather go bare-handed than wear something that isn’t genuine. That Juren’s mother certainly has no shame!”
Seeing that the wealthy ladies had already moved on to other topics, Yu Qianqian smiled and said, “Please, ladies, enjoy the rest of the meal. Things are rather busy in the restaurant today, so if there’s anything we’ve overlooked, please be understanding.”
The wealthy ladies became agreeable once more. Some had even tried the braised meat and found it quite tasty, so they sent their maidservants downstairs to buy some to take home.
Fan Changyu had no idea that Yu Qianqian had come to her defense. Once the braised meat was sold out, she told Xie Zheng, who had not slept all night, to go back and get some sleep. She herself went to help out in Yixianglou’s back kitchen.
It was not until the Wei hour (between 1-3 p.m.). that the day’s private banquet at Yixiang Restaurant finally came to an end.
Fan Changyu cleared out the loose silver and coins from the drawer of the counter and counted them. There were a little over fifteen taels of silver in total.
It was the first time she had truly understood what people meant by “profiteering.”
Although Yu Qianqian had told her from the beginning that whatever she sold here would be hers to keep, the stall belonged to Yixiang Restaurant, and so did the customers. Fan Changyu had no intention of treating all the money as her own, so she went to Yu Qianqian to offer her a share of the profits.
After hearing why she had come, Yu Qianqian was amused instead. “How much did you make today?”
Fan Changyu answered honestly, “Fifteen taels and three hundred wen.”
The amount surprised Yu Qianqian somewhat. She smiled. “I heard about it. Some of the distinguished guests even gave your husband silver as tips because they admired his calligraphy. All of that was earned through your own hard work. Just keep it.”
Fan Changyu said, “I only managed to sell so much braised meat because I borrowed Yu Zhanggui’s place. Besides, the money for the meat and the seasonings used to make the braised meat were all yours. Even the way I packaged it was something you taught me. If Zhanggui don’t take a share, I’ll feel uneasy.”
Yu Qianqian tapped Fan Changyu lightly on the forehead. “You, are far too honest. You’d never make a good businesswoman like this. The reason your braised meat sold so well today, when all is said and done, is that your family’s braised meat really is excellent. Otherwise, why was there no business at first, only for those guests to send their servants down to buy some after they finished eating? I may have come up with a good idea, but the ones who actually put it into practice were you and your husband. Do you know how many sheets of wrapping paper your husband wrote on today? If you really want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for him.”
She spoke earnestly. “Your braised-meat business taking off is good for me too. You don’t need to treat me like an outsider like this. Let’s let this favor run a little further into the future. Who knows? There may come a day when I need your help.”
Only then did Fan Changyu let the matter rest. Even so, she insisted on paying Yu Qianqian back for the cost of the meat and ingredients.
Yu Qianqian also realized that Fan Changyu was simply too straightforward to be swayed, and could only agree.
After deducting the three taels of silver in costs, Fan Changyu took the twelve taels she had earned to the accountant and exchanged all the copper coins for silver. She planned to split it evenly with Xie Zheng.
The cooks and other staff at the restaurant were only sitting down to eat at this hour. Yu Qianqian said, “Sit down and eat first. I’ll send someone to fetch your husband and Granny Fang.”
Fan Changyu guessed that the Granny Fang she meant was the stewardess in the back alley. Remembering that Changning was still there, she said, “I’ll go get my sister. I’ll bring them along on the way.”
The moment Fan Changyu stepped out through the back door of Yixiang Restaurant, she saw that Xie Zheng had not returned to their room. Instead, he stood at the mouth of the alley with his hands behind his back, watching something.
Fan Changyu walked over and followed his gaze, only to see a group of soldiers jogging away in the distance. From their uniforms, they appeared to be from the military camp rather than local constables from Qingping County.
She frowned, “Are they soldiers going out to requisition grain?”
Xie Zheng nodded, his expression cold.
Most merchants living in towns bought grain rather than growing it themselves. Since the government could not requisition much grain directly from merchants, it could only find ways to make them pay more money.
Grain requisitions still had to be carried out in the countryside, where the authorities would collect grain from farmers. Fan Changyu had already heard about farmers being beaten to death during grain requisitions in Taizhou Prefecture, and her heart tightened at the thought.
She said, “Everyone says the high official of Jizhou Prefectural Office is a just and upright magistrate. Let’s hope he doesn’t drive the people to desperation over grain requisitions like they did in Taizhou.”
“We’ll see what the Jizhou Prefectural Office does,” Xie Zheng said.
As long as Zhao Xun and the people behind him were not fools, they should have already reported Wei Xuan’s grain requisition in Jizhou to He Jingyuan yesterday.
When Xie Zheng turned around, he saw that Fan Changyu’s pocket was bulging. His brows drew together slightly. “What’s that?”
Fan Changyu pulled out the twelve taels of silver and several hundred wen strung together, separated half of it, and held it out to Xie Zheng. “Yours.”
One tael of silver was hardly noticeable, but twelve taels together took up quite a bit of space.
Xie Zheng watched her pull out all that money like some nouveau-riche landowner, and his eyelid twitched faintly. “You keep it.”
“No,” Fan Changyu said. “We’re splitting it half and half. You wrote hundreds of sheets of wrapping paper, after all.”
He paused for a moment before saying, “It’s easy for me to lose things if I carry it. Keep it for me for now.”
Having the precedent of him losing his money at the small restaurant yesterday, Fan Changyu really could not argue with that. She could only put it all back into her own pocket for the time being, making it bulge all over again.
The two of them went back to their room to find Changning. They had not even reached the door when they heard two children talking inside.
“My Ah Jie is amazing! She can eat three bowls of rice in one meal!” Changning’s voice rang out.
“My mom is even more amazing! She can eat two braised pork knuckles all by herself, plus a bowl of spicy pepper soup!” The little boy sounded quite unwilling to lose.
“My Ah Jie’s rice bowl is as big as a tangbo!” Judging from her tone, she even seemed to gesture with her hands.
“Th-then… your Ah Jie is still a little more amazing.” The little boy appeared to concede.
Fan Changyu, standing outside the room: “……”
A rice bowl as big as a tangbo was obviously their father’s!
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