Chapter 014
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
The store was called East Gate House. It was not a large store with only two storefronts. One displayed the Four Treasures of Study while the other was filled with bookcases that lined the walls.
There were all kinds of books on display, some old, some new, there were even valuable hardcover books alongside simpler paper and thread-bound books. Various hand-copy books take up the majority of the shelf space. Since it would be difficult to determine which books would sell well, store owners usually kept a minimum number of each book and got people to copy them if more were needed. That’s because it costs a lot of money to order printed books, not to mention, a single printed order would amount to a few thousand copies at once. Therefore, it was just more economical and space-saving to hire poor scholars copy the books for them.
Zhao’er greeted the store owner with a smile the moment she stepped through the door, she appeared to be familiar with him. What was even more curious was that the owner recognised her and returned her smile, even asking if she was there to purchase more paper for her little brother.
There was, of course, a story behind this.
Back when Zhao’er first found herself distressed over Xue Tingxiang’s education, one of her first headaches was getting hold of paper for his calligraphy practice. She did her best to save money to buy paper, but, she never imagined that paper would be so expensive!
Even the lowest quality yellow bamboo paper costs 40 coins per cut. The first day Zhao’er arrived at East Gate House, she only had 30 coins with her.
However, since she had already made an effort to come, Zhao’er was determined not to leave without her paper and proceeded to cajole and haggle with the store owner for a long time, to the point of selling a sob story about her hard-working younger brother and how their parents had died in poverty etc etc. Finally, the store owner agreed to sell her the paper at a discount. From then on, she continues to purchase paper from Boss Chen, paying the same discounted rate each time.
Boss Chen praised her for her noble character, and for spending what must be hard-earned money to support her younger brother’s education. Therefore, whenever she came in to purchase paper, he would let her have the paper for practically half the price most of the time.
Under normal circumstances, Zhao’er would have milked this compliment cheekily and maybe even begged for more free things. However, with Xue Tingxiang beside her, she felt oddly embarrassed. Fearing that Boss Chen would let something slip and cause her little man to look down at her for her bald-faced lie.
Zhao’er was someone who had endured hardships in life and had developed survival skills to thrive to the best of her abilities. However, her little man had not. Moreover, he was a scholar and scholars all have that conservative mindset of [1] not coveting money or lowering themselves for the sake of something as crude as money. Whenever a topic would raise conflict due to these two different sets of ideals, she would instinctively avoid it.
In just a single day, two people had addressed him as the ‘younger brother’, which displeased Xue Tingxiang very much. Since he was preoccupied with his own thoughts, he did not noticed Zhao’er’s little actions. By the time he had recovered, Zhao’er was done speaking with Boss Chen and had even brought out the hand copy of <<Book of Hundred Family Names>> for him to inspect.
“So, this is your little brother? Quite a handsome one, just a little on the thin side,” Boss Chen was a middle-aged man in his forties with a goatee and an air of well-educated elegance. He looked more like a scholar in his literati robe with its long sleeves and hat than an ordinary merchant.
“He was sick for a while, but he’s better now.”
“Is that why I haven’t seen you around for a while?” said Boss Chen as he took the hand-copy book from Zhao’er. The paper and thread were of poor quality and the binding was badly done.
There was no way that a rural youth like this could write well. However, he admired young lad Zhao’er and was already composing a tactful rejection for the work as well as some useful criticism for the youth. However, when his eyes fell upon the words written on the yellow bamboo paper, he was shocked.
“Did he write this?” Boss Chen looked at Xue Tingxiang with astonishment before continuing to flip through the manuscript in hand.
His expression and behaviour were so strange that Zhao’er had a sinking feeling in her heart. She could not help but wonder whether her little man had written the words so badly that [1] even the nice Boss Chen had nothing good to say about it. After all, no one had ever praised his writing before. Xue Qingshan had even said that her little man’s writing was like ‘spring earthworms and autumn snakes’.
Although Zhao’er had no idea what spring earthworms and autumn snakes had to do with calligraphy, she could understand the sad expression on her little man’s face when this comment was made. It could only mean that his handwriting was not good.
However, she did not believe it was her little man’s fault. Even the paper for calligraphy practice had to be used sparingly, so how could his writing improve? It was at that time that she fully realised just how much the people from the Family looked down on her little man. It was also the day she stomped out to angrily collect vegetables and sell them in town just to buy Xue Tingxiang his first proper cut of paper [1].
A full cut of 25 sheets of paper, not the few scraps handed out like charity by Xue Qingshan or Xue Juncai.
A cold ache tightened around Zhao’er’s head and she could not help but wonder if she had been too blindly supportive of her little man, or talked him up too much. She was afraid that Boss Chen might say something really nasty and her little man would not be able to bear the blow.
Thinking quickly, she hurried over to Boss Chen and led him aside to whisper, “Uncle Chen, even if my little brother’s writing is really bad, could you…”
“Could I what?” Boss Chen immediately understood her intention. He smiled and [2] said in a deliberately loud voice, “You little rascal, even if you have the heart to love and protect him, you should never deceive him. As his elder, you should point out his shortcomings so that he could improve and better himself in the future.”
There was no way that Xue Tingxiang could have missed that. Zhao’er blushed but she had no idea what to say to comfort him.
Boss Chen continued, “However, I must say that your brother’s writing is really not bad. He must have been taught by a famous teacher.”
He walked a few steps towards Xue Tingxiang and saluted him with cupped hands, “May I know who this young friend studied under?” Even as he said this, there was a trace of uncertainty in his eyes, because the impoverished-looking young man in coarse brown clothes did not look like someone who could have learned from a famous teacher.
However, his calligraphy…
Although Boss Chen runs a bookstore, it was done as a hobby and a way to support himself. Both reasons could be counted as correct since this store was, in fact, a family-owned business. In his youth, he also took part in the examinations. He stopped at the Xiu Cai level, having no interest in becoming an official or climbing the status ladder further. Instead, he returned home to take care of this family business. In his free time, he would meet up with a few literati friends to play chess, drink tea, enjoy art and practice calligraphy together. He considered this a beautiful way to enjoy life.
To his eyes, although the handwriting was still immature, it possessed its own character.
One should know that while form is easy to imitate, the spirit is difficult to acquire. The master calligraphers Yan Zhenqing [3] and Liu Gongquan [4] were often referred to together as Yan’s Muscles-Liu’s Bones, which gave indications to the characteristics of their calligraphy styles. Xue Tingxiang’s writing already showed some promising characteristics of its own and given enough time and so long as he does not deviate from the right path, he would surely become a master calligrapher of his generation.
What he did not know was that Xue Tingxiang had deliberately obscured his original calligraphy style. To do this, he had spent half the night copying out a book that should have taken him barely an hour to do so. Otherwise, if he had shown a fully mature style of writing, Boss Chen would think that the book was copied by someone else.
While Boss Chen was thinking about various things, Xue Tingxiang said, “This youngster has no teacher.”
“Did you just copy this style from somewhere?”
“I copied the <<Yan Qinli Stele [3a]>>.”
This was not a lie. He had indeed copied the <<Yan Qinli Stele>>. Xue Qingshan’s most cherished possession was a set of the <<Yan Qinli Stele>> that was never touched by anyone. The only reason he had seen it was because Xue Juncai, who was still young at that time, showed it off to him.
Even then, the <<Yan Qinli Stele>> left a great impression on him, to the point that he became obsessed with it. Later, after they had some money at home, Zhao’er bought a set for him. Thus, the first calligraphic script he had ever learned was the Yan style.
“Just by copying the <<Yan Qinli Stele>>?”
Xue Tingxiang nodded.
The light in Boss Chen’s eyes grew even brighter. After a long time, he sighed and said, “Perhaps you have some talent in this field that others may find difficult to surpass. I hope you will continue to practice diligently and not slack off. Enough about that, let us talk business for now. Your calligraphy is good, so I shall consider this a pass.”
He went to the counter, picked out a book and handed it to Xue Tingxiang.
“This is a copy of the <<The Analects of Confucius>>. You may take this back and try copying it. I shall provide the stationery. After you are done copying, and if the finished product is not inferior to the original, I will pay you 1 silver tael.”
“A whole silver tael? Uncle Chen, isn’t this a bit too much?” Zhao’er was surprised.
Uncle Chen smiled and said, “Do you know how many words this book contain? Or how much money I make selling this book?”
He turned to Xue Tingxiang and said, “Since this book is from my store, the general rule is for the copier to do their work here. Those who wish to take the book back to be copied would have to leave some silver or other items as collateral. However, since I am acquainted with your elder brother, there is no need for that. How long do you think it will take you to finish copying?”
Xue Tingxiang hesitated for a moment before saying, “Since it is the rule for copiers to work here, surely it is better for this youngster to adhere to the rule? This youngster hopes that Boss Chen will be lenient and allow this youngster to read a few books in my spare time.”
Boss Chen was momentarily stunned, however, he soon realised the significance of this request. He took a closer look at this young man determined young man and said.
“Alright!”
“In that case, please accept this youngster’s thanks in advance. Boss Chen, please be rest assured that this youngster will not damage any of the books here.”
Zhao’er, who had been holding her tongue throughout the talk finally pulled Xue Tingxiang aside and said, “Are you really going to copy books here? Isn’t it better to take it home? If you’re worried about Boss Chen not allowing it, I have enough money for the collateral.”
“Don’t you think this is a nice place?”
Xue Tingxiang looked at the room full of books. The number of books he had read was limited in this life, and although the ‘Xue Tingxiang’ from his memory had read many books, the memories from that time were becoming blurry as time went by.
This was his life. It was his to live and he should move forward step by step just like everyone else. Just because he had that dream did not mean that he would definitely become the prime minister again in the future. After all, even dream Xue Tingxiang had put in a lot of effort, and made a lot of sacrifices before he managed to climb up to the position of a high-ranking official.
Of course, Zhao’er knew what he meant, but she suddenly felt anxious about leaving her little man alone. She was just thinking about whether she ought to make up an excuse to stay with him in the shop when Boss Chen said, “Right, there’s no need to worry about your little brother here. Do you think he would get lost in my little shop? Don’t you have vegetables to sell? Go on now.”
To Boss Chen, Zhao’er was a hard-working older brother who worked to support his younger brother by selling vegetables and doing various odd jobs in town.
“Then, I’ll get going now, Uncle Chen.”
She hurriedly took out some coins from her breast pocket and handed them to Xue Tingxiang, “I should be back to take you out for lunch. If I’m not back yet, you can buy something for yourself. Let’s see, you can go to…”
“Those who copy books here will be provided with a light lunch,” said Boss Chen.
Zhao’er switched her rambling to, “You hold on to that money and buy whatever you want. I will come and take you home in the afternoon.”
“You should finish your work first. Don’t worry about your brother, I won’t lose him.”
This Uncle Chen!
Zhao’er finally had nothing else to say and practically fled from the bookstore.
Once she had left, Boss Chen smiled teasingly and said, “Your brother is very good to you.”
Xue Tingxiang smirked. Indeed, it was very nice to see his wife fussing around like an anxious little hen with one chick. For some reason, this image suddenly dropped into his head.
Later, he was led by the store assistant to a room at the back of the shop.
The room was simply, but elegantly furnished, reflecting Boss Chen’s refined taste. The nicest part of the room was the large window facing the courtyard outside. The light from the window fell perfectly upon a set of table and chairs, [2] creating a lovely, scholarly atmosphere. It was completely different from Xue Tingxiang’s image of a hidden little room devoid of light.
The assistant even brought a basin of water for him to wash his hands. The assistant also laid out a set of brush, inkstone, paper and other related writing materials before letting Xue Tingxiang know to call him should he need anything else.
Xue Tingxiang approached the basin, immersed his hands in the water, and gently rubbed his fingers a few times before drying them with a nearby cloth before sitting at the desk.
First, he ground the ink. The act of grinding ink could help adjust one’s emotions and achieve a state of tranquillity.
Once the ink was ready, his mind felt clear and devoid of clutter. Then, he automatically reached down to pull up his sleeves [2] when he felt his hands touching… nothing. It was then that he realised that he was wearing a short brown garment with barely any sleeves. There was no need to worry about getting ink onto the [2] voluminous sleeves of a standard scholar’s garment.
It was a mere flicker of thought. A moment later, he discarded the notion and calmly began to write.
Just outside the room, Boss Chen still has some scepticism about this child’s identity. He could not help but wonder whether this child was the son of some fallen noble rather than a true poor commoner child. His every word and deed, even the very way he carried himself was nothing like someone from a humble background.
After pondering for a while, Boss Chen still could not arrive at a satisfying answer. Finally, he just shook his head and returned to the front of the shop
[Gumihou: Oho~]
[1] Add detail [2] Adjusted detail [3] Yan Zhenqing – http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/calligraphy-yan-zhenqing.php [3a] Yan Qinli Stele – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Zhenqing
In the ten years before his death, Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy accomplishment peaked. His style was now established and he continuously improved on each of his works, and completed his magnum opus, the Yan Qinli Stele (顏勤禮碑).
[4] Liu Gongquang – http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/calligraphy-liu-gongquan.php
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I am loving this new translation. Thank you for sharing it.