Pursuit of Jade
Chapter 41
Fan Changyu could practically feel her temples twitching as she pushed open the door and stepped inside. “Ningniang.”
“Ah… Ah Jie.” Just a moment ago, Changning had been full of herself, but she immediately put on an obedient, meek expression. Her grape-like eyes darted about, however, avoiding Fan Changyu’s gaze.
Xie Zheng followed her into the room, the faintest curve at the corners of his lips. But when he spotted the boy in the satin-padded jacket inside, his gaze paused. “Whose child is this?”
The boy had plump, baby-fat cheeks and looked no more than five or six. His eyes were large and round, with the outer corners drooping slightly like a puppy’s. His clothes were embroidered with gold thread, and even his little sash was set with gemstones.
Standing beside Changning, he looked so honest and guileless that he might as well have been the foolish son of some nouveau-riche landowner.
Only after Xie Zheng questioned him did the boy puff out his little chest and declare, “All these houses belong to my family.”
Fan Changyu remembered Chef Li telling her that Yu Qianqian had a child. Since this child claimed that all these houses belonged to his family, could he be Yu Qianqian’s son?
She had only just arrived at this guess when the stewardess’s voice came from outside the courtyard. “Xiao Gongzi, where have you hidden yourself?”
The boy called toward the courtyard, “Nanny Fang, I’m here.”
The stewardess soon came hurrying over. “How did Xiao Gongzi end up hiding here? You had Lao Pozi searching everywhere…”
Seeing Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng there as well, she said apologetically, “Xiao Gongzi is still young and accidentally wandered into your quarters. Lao Pozi begs your pardon.”
Fan Changyu merely said it was nothing, then asked, “Is he Yu Zhanggui’s child?”
The stewardess smiled and nodded.
From her, Fan Changyu learned that the boy was named Yu Bao’er, though everyone in the establishment called him “Bao Ge’er”.
In Fan Changyu’s experience, families with some wealth usually gave their children names that sounded cultured and scholarly. So she found it rather surprising that Yu Qianqian’s child had simply been named Bao’er.
Then again, thinking of Yu Qianqian’s personality, she suddenly felt that it made perfect sense.
The group headed together toward the main hall of Yixiang Restaurant. Along the way, Changning’s courage returned, and she occasionally bickered with Yu Bao’er.
Xie Zheng walked at the very back. His gaze remained fixed on Yu Bao’er’s retreating figure, his brows drawn together, his eyes dark and unreadable.
When they reached the main hall, Yu Qianqian learned that Yu Bao’er had been playing hide-and-seek and ended up hiding in Fan Changyu and the others’ room. She could only laugh helplessly.
As she quizzed Yu Bao’er on his lessons, she noticed Changning and casually asked Fan Changyu, “Has Ningniang begun her studies yet? If she hasn’t, you could send her here. I hired a private tutor for Bao’er. Teaching one child is teaching, and teaching several is much the same. The shop assistants here who have children at home all send them over to study together. I don’t expect them to grow up and pass the imperial examinations to become a Zhuangyuan or anything; being able to recognize a few characters is already a good thing.”
Fan Changyu’s admiration for Yu Qianqian grew a little more.
She was certainly tempted, but it was quite a distance from the town to the county seat. Changning was still young, and if she were to study here with Yu Qianqian, someone would have to bring her in and take her home every day. Besides, Fan Changyu was not one of Yixiang Restaurant’s shop assistants. Yu Qianqian had already done her many favors, and she could not simply take this kindness for granted as well.
She said, “Thanking Zhanggui for the offer. She’s learned a few characters from her brother-in-law, but it hardly counts as having begun her formal education. She’s still young, and she’s never been fond of studying. Perhaps when she’s a little older.”
Changning immediately piped up, “Ningniang can write my own name!”
As she spoke, she traced the characters in the air with her chopsticks. “Mu, Yao, Mu, Da—Fan!”
Yu Qianqian burst out laughing. “Ningniang is so clever.”
Her gaze shifted to Fan Changyu, carrying a hint of teasing amusement. “Ah, that’s right. I forgot—you have a talented husband at home, with learning enough to fill eight bushels. Why would Ningniang need anyone else to teach her?”
Fan Changyu had only said those things to politely decline Yu Qianqian’s kindness. Now that Yu Qianqian was teasing her about it, she merely smiled and said nothing.
Xie Zheng glanced at her as well, but said nothing.
Yu Qianqian then turned to other matters with Fan Changyu. “I can lease you the shop outside my restaurant on a long-term basis. If you find yourself stretched too thin, I can also have the restaurant’s staff help you sell your braised meats. My other tenants either pay their rent for the whole year upfront or give me a twenty-percent share of their business. If you’re interested, I can even lower the rent for you.”
Fan Changyu had seen for herself today just how brisk business was at the shops outside Yuxiang Restaurant.
“Zhanggui has been far too kind to me,” she said.
The remark made all the staff at Yixiang Restaurant laugh.
The accountant said, “Our Zhanggui is simply kind-hearted to a fault. She treats everyone who works here well. Fan Niangzi, don’t stand on ceremony.”
Yu Qianqian added, “When I make friends, I go by first impressions. From the very first moment I saw you, I liked your temperament. So don’t be coy with me. If you’re willing to set up shop here at Yixiang Restaurant, just say the word.”
Fan Changyu said, “I am. There’s no need to reduce the rent. It’s just that I truly won’t have the time to keep an eye on the shop myself. If I’m going to borrow your staff, I’ll pay an additional wage for their work.”
Yu Qianqian smiled and turned to the staff in the hall. “You all heard her. Anyone willing to earn an extra wage can step forward now and let Fan Laoban get to know your face.”
Hearing herself called Fan Laoban, Fan Changyu felt both embarrassed and strangely delighted.
Unlike the people back in town, who simply called her Changyu, it was as though she had acquired another identity. And that identity felt like a small skiff—tiny for now, yet capable of carrying her somewhere much farther.
The staff began whispering among themselves. Before long, a rather capable-looking young woman spoke up, “I’m willing to work at the shop out front and sell the braised meats.”
Fan Changyu remembered her. She seemed to have been one of the women specifically assigned to receive female customers before. She was orderly in everything she did, and also had a sweet tongue.
Yu Qianqian said to her, “This girl is called Fuling. She was sold into service as a child. After saving up enough money to buy her freedom, she happened to hear that my establishment was hiring and came to work here. She’s quite capable. What do you think?”
Fan Changyu nodded. “Her, then.”
Fuling was quick on the uptake. She immediately put on a sweet, ingratiating smile. “Thank you, Zhanggui. I’ll be counting on Fan Laoban to look after me from now on.”
Yu Qianqian pointed at her and laughed at Fan Changyu. “See? What a smart mouth she has.”
Fan Changyu couldn’t help laughing as well.
After the meal, Fan Changyu bid farewell to Yu Qianqian. Now that she had rented the best-located shop in the county seat, she would need to supply braised meats there on a long-term basis. She had to go home and think over whether to hire a cart or simply buy an ox cart outright. There was also the cured meat for the county school; once she got back that afternoon, she still had to deliver it to that fat shopkeeper.
Yu Bao’er followed his mother to see Fan Changyu and the others off at the restaurant entrance. The adults had their own things to talk about, and the children had their own little conversation too.
Yu Bao’er said to Changning, “Next time you come, I’ll take you to see my study. There are so many books inside, and clay figurines, wood carvings, coral ornaments—everything is so pretty!”
Changning clutched tightly at the hem of Fan Changyu’s clothes and pursed her lips. Her little mind worked furiously for a while before she finally thought of something she could brag about.
“You come to my house, and I’ll show you my Ah Jie’s pig-killing knives! There are more than a dozen of them, big and small! If you’re lucky, you might even get to watch my Ah Jie butcher a pig! Have you ever seen a pig being slaughtered?”
Yu Bao’er shook his head, his eyes unmistakably filled with envy.
Changning gestured with both hands. “My sister can knock a pig out with just one slap!”
Fan Changyu: “……”
Faced with the mother and son staring at her in equal shock, Fan Changyu quickly cleared her throat. “Ningniang, time to go.”
Only then did Changning take her little steps after Fan Changyu toward the door. Yet she held her head high and puffed out her chest like a rooster that had just won a battle.
Though Fan Changyu did her best to keep a straight face, the tips of her ears had turned red, as though she wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
Xie Zheng caught sight of the sisters from the corner of his eye, and the faintest hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
As the three of them rode the ox cart back to town, Fan Changyu still couldn’t stop marveling at what a good person Yu Qianqian was.
Xie Zheng merely gave a soft scoff.
Fan Changyu frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”
Xie Zheng lifted his eyes, his expression indifferent. “Someone could sell you off, and you’d still happily help them count the money.”
Fan Changyu bristled, “Yu Zhanggui is a genuinely good person. Why do you have to slander her?”
Xie Zheng did not spare her feelings. “Then don’t forget that she’s a merchant. You do business with her, and you haven’t exactly taken that much from her. Yet now you’re acting as though you owe her a debt of gratitude for the rest of your life.”
His gaze turned a little colder. “Her talent for winning people over—you probably could never learn it in a lifetime.”
Fan Changyu liked Yu Qianqian very much, so hearing Xie Zheng speak of her this way immediately put her in a foul mood. “Why do you always assume the worst of people? Yu Zhanggui really has helped me a great deal…”
Xie Zheng cut her off, “What has she helped you with?”
Fan Changyu met his sharp gaze and was momentarily at a loss for words. Then she said, “I only just started selling braised meat. If Yu Zhanggui hadn’t given me the opportunity, I wouldn’t have been able to do business with Yixiang Restaurant so quickly.”
Xie Zheng asked, “You’re not the only person in Qingping County who sells braised meat. So why did she choose you?”
Fan Changyu replied, “Li Shifu introduced me…”
Xie Zheng looked at her without saying a word, and her voice gradually trailed off.
After a moment of silence, Xie Zheng finally said, “That chef really did introduce you. But if what you made had been no good, she wouldn’t have chosen you. Merchants don’t choose inferior goods out of personal favor. When two things are of comparable quality, they simply give someone a favor that costs them little.”
Fan Changyu tightened her clasped hands and continued, “And the money from selling the braised meat today, Yu Zhanggui originally didn’t even want to take it. She only accepted the cost price after I insisted again and again.”
Xie Zheng asked, “How much did you make? For all you know, it wasn’t even as much as what she makes from a single table of customers.”
Fan Changyu pressed her lips together. “It isn’t about how much money it was. It was a gesture of goodwill.”
Xie Zheng frowned. “I’m not telling you to take her kindness for granted. I’m telling you that the profit she gave up for your sake is not equal to the gratitude you’re showing her in return. You can remember the favor she’s done you, but there’s no need to lower yourself at every turn simply because you’ve benefited from it. Besides, today, the two of you were simply each getting what you needed. She’s supporting you because she also wants to suppress Wang Shop.”
Fan Changyu fell silent.
Xie Zheng knew that she was pure-hearted by nature. Whenever someone showed her even a little kindness, she always wanted to repay them tenfold.
After a few moments, he said, “I’m not telling you all this to disparage that shopkeeper. Once you learn to see things clearly, perhaps you’ll be able to become true friends with her in the future. If all you ever remember is her kindness and what you owe her, then you’re no different from the honest shophands working under her.”
Fan Changyu had indeed never been taught any of this in all her years.
After her parents died, aside from Auntie Zhao’s family lending her a hand, she had shouldered everything else on her own. When Yu Qianqian suddenly showed her so much goodwill, it was like someone freezing to death in the dead of winter suddenly finding warmth. Instinctively, she had drawn toward that source of heat.
Only after a long while did she say, “Thank you.”
Her voice was somewhat muffled, but there was no trace of dejection in it.
She knew she still had a long road ahead of her, and there was still much she needed to learn. It wasn’t too late to finally understand some of the things she had never known before.
When she looked toward Xie Zheng again, her eyes were filled with a thirst for knowledge. “Yan Zheng, teach me more. I want to become someone as capable as Yu Zhanggui someday, too.”
Xie Zheng gave a faint scoff. “You can forget about becoming a businesswoman. I told you before, the thing most worthy of praise about her is the way she uses people.”
Fan Changyu assumed an attentive posture, ready to listen.
Xie Zheng had not intended to say any more, but he continued, “Take the female shophands she lent you today. You’ll naturally feel indebted to her for it. But all she did was happen to give you what you needed when you needed it. Strip away all personal obligations, and you don’t owe her anything. You paid rent for the shop, and you paid wages for the shophands you borrowed. On the contrary, having her own people manage the shop you rented from her benefits her in every possible way.”
His gaze darkened slightly, “Even if she wanted to know your accounts, all it would take is a single question.”
Fan Changyu said, “I believe Yu Zhanggui isn’t that kind of person.”
Yet the shock in her heart left her fingertips tingling slightly. Before, she had only thought Yu Qianqian was a genuinely kind person. Now, she realized that beneath that kindness, Yu Qianqian was also remarkably clever.
She actually admired this side of Yu Qianqian even more. She suddenly understood how a seemingly vulnerable woman like Yu Qianqian, in just a few short years, had managed to independently establish two such large restaurants.
Xie Zheng’s tongue remained merciless, “And this is only how she manages those under her. The way she deals with merchants and the wives and families of officials—you could spend your whole life learning from her and still not necessarily master it.”
Fan Changyu had been put down again, but considering how much he had taught her, she let it go. Instead, she said, “Yan Zheng, teach me to read.”
Xie Zheng looked at the person before him, who was resting both hands beneath her chin with a sigh. She was like a young lion cub, barely out of the den before already meeting with a setback—looking rather pitiful, yet stubborn to the bone.
Just as he had promised her before, he simply said, “All right.”
When the ox cart reached town, they passed a bookshop, and besides buying paper and ink, Xie Zheng also bought five books.
Fan Changyu stared at the stack, somewhat dumbfounded. “Buying so many?”
Xie Zheng placed the four thicker books in her hands and gave the thinner one to Changning. “The Three Character Classic is for your sister. The Four Books are yours.”
Fan Changyu flipped through them and discovered that although he had previously said he would not teach her the Analects or the Great Learning, he had gone and bought both books anyway. She couldn’t help grinning. As expected, most of the time, this man was all sharp words and little else.
Clutching the books happily, she declared, “I’ll start studying hard tonight!”
Changning, who was hugging the Three Character Classic with a crumpled face and had been about to protest that she didn’t want to study, saw this and swallowed her complaint with a deeply aggrieved expression.
When they reached home, Fan Changyu unlocked the door. Changning insisted on being the first one inside, and the moment she pushed open the courtyard gate, she began cheering, “Sunsun! Sunsun’s back!”
The Gyrfalcon had flown all day and only returned to the little courtyard after nightfall. Instead of finding a bowl of minced meat waiting as a reward, it found a cold, hard lock hanging on the gate.
When it spotted the three people finally coming home, it poked its head out of the battered bamboo basket, a few soft feathers sticking up from its head.
Changning threw herself at it, wrapping both arms around its neck. Her face was flushed with excitement. “Jiefu didn’t lie to Ningniang! Sunsun really came back!”
Fan Changyu was quite surprised too. She had originally thought Yan Zheng had only been placating a child that day.
She looked at Xie Zheng, “You’re really that good at training birds?”
Xie Zheng calmly shifted the blame. “Could it be that you’ve simply been feeding it too well?”
Fan Changyu’s almond-shaped eyes widened, “…That works too?”
She turned to look at the Gyrfalcon. Changning was still cuddling and fussing over it, but its beady little eyes remained fixed on Fan Changyu, as though asking when dinner was going to be served.
Fan Changyu refused to believe it and headed toward the main house. The Gyrfalcon pecked at the ground with its beak, then leisurely followed after her as though out for a stroll, and then…
It stationed itself in front of the large bowl inside the house where its minced meat was kept.
Fan Changyu: “……”
Watching this, Xie Zheng turned aside, the corners of his lips curling almost imperceptibly.
Resigned to her fate, Fan Changyu went to the kitchen, found a piece of meat, chopped it up, and put it in a bowl for the Gyrfalcon. Only then did she go to the carriage yard in town to rent a cart and deliver the cured meat ordered by the fat shopkeeper.
The fat shopkeeper was a man with excellent connections and a keen ear for news. Upon learning that Fan Changyu had rented a shop at Yixiang Restaurant to sell braised meat, he asked with a genial chuckle, “This cured meat is from your household too, isn’t it, Fan Niangzi? This old man was thinking of selling it under Fan Shop name as well. What does Fan Niangzi think?”
After hearing Xie Zheng explain so many twists and turns of the business world, Fan Changyu had become considerably sharper herself. She said, “That’s fine. But since you’re selling it for more than the original price, you can’t show me false accounts.”
The fat shopkeeper hurriedly assured her that he wouldn’t.
Fan Changyu and the fat shopkeeper split the profits, so as long as he didn’t sell it too cheaply, she couldn’t lose money. She therefore said no more.
On her way back, she ran into a squad of soldiers. Fan Changyu recognized the man leading them as the very officer who had helped her family survive the assassination attempt before.
He rode atop a tall, powerful horse, while the soldiers below escorted more than a dozen men bound hand and foot. From their clothing, the prisoners were soldiers as well, but their uniforms were clearly different from those worn by the men escorting them.
Fan Changyu took a closer look and realized they were the soldiers who had gone to collect grain—the same ones she had seen with Yan Zheng at noon.
Along both sides of the official road, many common folk in the fields had witnessed the scene and were cheering and applauding, “We’ve got a true incorruptible magistrate in Jizhou!”
“He Daren is the real good official who sees the suffering of people like us!”
Fan Changyu remembered what Yan Zheng had said at noon. Looking again at the grain-collecting soldiers being led away in bonds, she couldn’t help feeling secretly pleased as well.
After returning home, she told Xie Zheng about what she had seen on the road. His eyes paused for a moment, then his long fingers turned the next page of the book, “Back to your studies. At this time tomorrow night, I’ll test you on the ‘Xue Er’ chapter of the Analects.”
Fan Changyu drew her neck in and, just like Changning, scrunched up her face as she went back to reading.
She genuinely intended to study hard, but the moment she looked at all those endless passages of “thus” and “therefore”, her head began to ache. All she could do was force herself to keep reading.
The window had been left open, and cold drafts blew in from time to time, making them hunch their shoulders against the chill. At least that kept the Fan sisters from nodding off and dreaming of Duke Zhou while they read.
Xie Zheng seemed entirely unaffected by the cold. He paced over to the window, the hand holding his book tucked behind his back, and gazed into the distant night. His long hair and robes fluttered in the wind, his eyes dark and unreadable.
He understood what it meant for He Jingyuan to openly bind Wei Xuan’s men and parade them away: He had no intention of showing Wei Xuan any face.
Given Wei Xuan’s vengeful nature, before Wei Yan’s transfer order arrived, he would inevitably go mad and make another attempt to tear into He Jingyuan.
It was time for his people to make their move too.
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