Chapter 015
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
It was only after Zhao’er stepped out onto the street where the bookstore was located that she realised that she had not made plans for what would happen next.
Today, she only meant to visit the bookstore with her little man. As for everything else… her pouch-making work with the workshop had long been cut off. Also, she had not collected any vegetables to sell either. Going back to the village just to collect vegetables would be too troublesome and not worth the coin.
After calculating the dates in her mind, Zhao’er decided that she would go and visit her second sister.
Zhao’er’s second sister was called Wang Zhaodi who did not live in Huyang Town, but worked as a maid at a large house in Xia County called the Shen Estate. It was only an hour away by donkey cart from Huyang Town to Xia County, and the fare was quite expensive at 15 coins per trip.
When Zhao’er reached the county town, it was the third hour of the snake, [1] just before noon. The perfect time to visit someone who working as a maid. If she had been too early or too late, her sister may not even be able to meet with her or she would have to wait a long time for a meeting.
Zhao’er made her way to the south side of the city. Before crossing the archway leading towards the entrance of the Shen Clan Estate, she saw two large flags bracketing the Shen Estate gate, flying over five feet high.
These flags represented candidates who had passed the Imperial Exams and their ranking. Only families with scholars who had passed the Imperial Examinations could fly these flags.
The flags were divided into two sections: there was the stone base as well as the flagpole that held the flags. There were specific rules on ornamentations. Legitimate scholars who had passed the Imperial Examinations would have 2 finials [2] on top of the flags. A top scorer or a ‘Zhuang yan’ would have 3 finials on their flags. If the family produced a 3rd Rank official or higher, they were allowed to attach 4 finials on the flags.
The Shen Estate has two large flags with one flag decorated with 3 finials and the other with 4 finials. This meant that the Shen Clan had a top scorer as well as a high-ranking court official in the family.
Zhao’er, this country bumpkin girl, knew all of this because her second sister had told her all about those flags the last time she visited her.
Someone like Zhao’er was not qualified to enter the main gate, side gate, or even the corner entrance. She had to walk all the way around the entire estate to the back of the residence for the Shen Estate’s rear entrance.
The back door was actually ajar, but Zhao’er dared not barge in casually. She knocked on the door and respectfully waited to be acknowledged.
The door opened further with a creak and a chubby-looking maid stepped out. Although she was just the rear entrance gatekeeper, she wore a satin jacket and had jewellery on her ears and hands. It was an indication of the Shen Clan’s wealth.
The Shen Clan was quite rich indeed. They were considered quite the prominent family within Xia County. It is said that if they were to stomp their foot, the entire county would tremble. The majority of the Shen family live within the Shen ancestral home aside from Master Shen and Second Master Shen who worked as officials elsewhere.
“Good day, matron. I am here to see Su Lan. I am her younger brother and have come for s short visit.”
The maid did not have an overly friendly attitude, but she did not seem to look down on Zhao’er either. At least, as far as Zhao’er could tell. This alone showed that the Shen Clan had some pretty strict rules of conduct. The maid asked Zhao’er to wait before retreating back to the estate and closing the door behind her.
Zhao’er waited up to a full stick of incense [3] before the door opened again. This time, a very beautiful woman stepped out. She had very fair and smooth skin, lively phoenix eyes and vermilion lips. Her figure was further accentuated by a sweet pink blouse and a moon-white pleated skirt. Her long black, silky hair was pinned up in a simple hairdo with a gold hairpin.
Although her clothes were of decent quality, they were by no means luxurious. Even so, the simplicity of the clothes lends her a sense of beauty that is different from other women. Moreover, her plump chest and thin waist were considered the absolute pinnacle of feminine beauty at that time.
This was Zhao’er’s second sister, Wang Zhaodi. However, when she entered the Shen Estate, she changed her name to Su Lan.
Zhao’er could not help but frown when she saw her. This second sister of hers had changed a lot since the last time she had seen her. Not only was the material of her clothes much more valuable than before, but the jewellery on her person and even her complexion had changed a lot.
Panicking a little, she grabbed Su Lan by the hand and walked over to a corner where no one was watching.
“Sister, did you really do it?”
More annoyed by how carelessly her sister had grabbed her sleeves, Su Lan said with some impatience, “What did I do or not do now?”
“That’s, that thing…” Zhao’er hesitated for a while as her entire face turned red and she continued, “Surely you did not really enter a room with the Sixth Young Master?”
The corners of Su Lan’s eyes ticked up and her lips curled into a smile, “Why are you so curious about this?”
“Sister!” Zhao’er could not help but stomp her foot.
Seeing her sister again, Su Lan thought back to the time when she was sold off by her family. It was only this third sister, Zhao’er, who found out where she was sold to through the matchmaker and travelled on her own for an entire day and night just to see her. Back then, she had been so anxious and worried, but her third sister’s unexpected appearance put her at ease. She knew that so long as Zhao’er was around, she would not be completely alone and would not die in this estate unmissed.
Her heart softened and she sighed and said, “Did I not tell you before? I will never leave this estate to live that miserable life ever again. I may be a bedroom maid now, but Sixth Young Master had agreed to set me up as a concubine once he married an official wife.”
Zhao’er’s expression held nothing but shock and disbelief. Although she had already known about her sister’s plan, she was still dismayed to find that her second sister actually went through with it.
For the first time in her life, she was lost for words. She hesitated for a long time before saying, “That’s it? Won’t you be bullied by the official wife if you accept such a lesser position?”
Zhao’er knew enough about concubines to understand that her sister would not lead to an easy life.
Su Lan felt uncomfortable by her sister’s remark, but she quickly waved her hand dismissively. On her slender, snow-white fingers was a gold ring adorned with a cat’s eye stone that dazzled in the sun.
“You won’t understand. There’s no need for you to worry about me being bullied by others. So long as Sixth Young Master is on my side, even if a Sixth Young Madam enters the house, she would not dare to bully me.”
“But…”
“Now, enough about me. What of your little husband’s illness? Not to criticise you, but surely coming with me as a servant into this estate is still better than toiling away for that ungrateful family? What sort of woman doesn’t want a man who can protect her? But here you are, grubbing about in the countryside trying to earn money to support your family.”
“He’s still young. Also, you should also know, if not for mother and father-in-law, who knows where I would have been sold to? You are lucky to end up in the Shen Estate. There are those filthy places.”
Su Lan pressed her vermilion lips together and said nothing.
The reason she was sold into the Shen Estate could not be explained away by mere luck.
As the dazzling sparkle in her phoenix eyes dimmed, she sighed gustily before cursing, “This is why I cannot stand you the most. Each time you come, you only cause trouble and make me angry.”
Zhao’er kicked a small stone and said, “I just wanted to see you since it’s been so long.”
“How have you been? Have those people from the Xue clan troubled you? Just you wait. Once I become Sixth Young Master’s concubine, I shall deal with anyone who dares to bully you.”
Zhao’er felt warmed by her sister’s words. Unable to help herself, she quickly leaned over to hug Su Lan’s slender waist, “Sis, don’t worry. Who could bully such a fierce person like me? You don’t know the kind of tricks those petty Xue people tried on me…”
She recounted the most recent happenings at the Xue Clan.
Su Lan’s mouth curved in a sneer, “In short, they are just being human. It never pays to test people’s hearts. They will usually disappoint you. Don’t rely on others. What you have in your own hands is the real thing.”
Su Lan’s advice sounded a little extreme, but Zhao’er understood why her second sister was like this. In fact, she would also entertain such thoughts occasionally, but would rarely voice them out.
“What will you do now? If your little man lost the bet, would he give up on his studies? Think about it, now that you have caused such a fuss, it’s fine if he wins, but what if he loses? Your position at the Xue family would be even more precarious.”
Of course, Zhao’er had thought about it. She stood straight and grinned at Su Lan, “Sis, I know. Don’t worry. I will find other ways to do business. At worst, we can set out on our own. If Gou’er likes to study, let him do it. I shall support him until I can’t any more.”
Su Lan angrily jabbed her with one of her smooth jade-like fingers. “Until you can’t any more? How old do you think you are? You haven’t enjoyed the good life yet but already you’re planning to burn yourself out supporting others? Fine, fine, fine, don’t say your sis never cared for you. I know someone who works as the 3rd Shop Manager at ‘He Rong Sheng’. You go look for him. He could at least help you find some way to make a little money.”
‘He Rong Sheng’ was the name of a pawnshop with many branches within Pinyang Prefecture. There was one in Huyang Town too, which was how Zhao’er knew about it.
“Is the He Rong Sheng one of the Shen Clan business? How does sis know the 3rd Shop Manager?”
A flicker of complex emotions flashed in Su Lan’s eyes, and she impatiently said, “Don’t you worry about it. Just go to the store and look for someone named Shen Ping. Alright, I won’t talk to you any more. Sixth Young Master is about to have lunch, and I have to serve him before those little wenches go fawning all over him again.”
A pause later, she took something from her sleeves and handed it to Zhao’er. “Take this, it’s fine even if he loses the bet. We must take care of ourselves first. The Shen Clan’s scholars are also quite famous. Once I become a concubine, I can probably persuade Sixth Young Master to let your little man come and be a study companion or something. I must have really owed you in my past life, to make me worry over you like this.”
Then, Su Lan’s figure disappeared back into the estate.
Zhao’er stood in place. She looked down at the silver ingot in her hand. A long time later, she clenched her hand around the silver and left.
Zhao’er did not know where the local branch of ‘He Rong Sheng’ was and asked around town for it.
When she finally arrived at the location, she just happened to encounter the 3rd Shop Manager, Shen Ping.
Shen Ping was a young handsome man with a mature air about him. He was dressed in dark blue straight robes and looked to be about twenty years old. Looking at him, no one would think that he was actually a Shop Manager of a pawnshop.
When he heard why Zhao’er was here, his eyes flashed and he said, “So, you are Zhao’er. I heard about you from your sister.”
Zhao’er had not expected to find out that Second Sister would speak to this Shen Ping person about her. She sensed that things were not as it seemed. Even though they had hardly exchanged any words, Shen Ping was already leading her into the shop.
“When your sister first told me about you, I spent some time thinking about what sort of business would be most suitable for someone in your position. After thinking about it, I thought the best thing way for a girl to make money is to sell used clothing.”
Zhao’er was even more surprised to find out that Second Sister had even revealed her gender to this man. The surprise was only temporary though, as her attention immediately latched on to the most important information.
“Sell used clothing?”
“You should understand what a pawnshop does, right? A pawnshop accepts all kinds of valuables, and these valuables could be separated into dead pawns and live pawns. A live pawn meant that the owner had pawned a valuable with the intention of redeeming it in the future. A dead pawn is something that has been essentially abandoned or sold to the shop. Naturally, live pawns that had not been redeemed after a certain period of time will naturally become dead pawns. These used clothing were pawned to us for money. Naturally, our shop will resale these dead pawn items later to embroidery workshops or ready-to-wear stores. If you’re willing to do this work, you may take some of these used clothing and sell them as you will.”
As Shen Ping spoke, Zhao’er’s eyes flickered with interest. She asked, “What are the prices like? Are they calculated per piece of clothing? Since these are used clothing, surely they cannot be as expensive as new clothing, right?”
Shen Ping flashed her a glance and said, “You are very astute.” He stood up and made his way outside, “Come with me, I shall show you.”
Zhao’er trotted after him. They walked around the shop to the yard behind the pawnshop. The yard itself was very large with many identical-looking shacks that likely served as storehouses.
They met quite a few people on the road and all of them were very respectful towards Shen Ping. Zhao’er followed him to one of the warehouses, but the two of them did not enter. Eventually, a man who looked like a clerk came out of the warehouse dragging a large bag with him. Then, the clerk-like man opened the bag in front of them.
The large bag contained clothes. All sorts of clothes. Some looked shabbier than others, some looked fairly new, and there were even some brand new-ish ones that looked like they had only been worn once or twice. The clothes were made from all kinds of materials. There were cotton, satin and silk cloths all mixed together. Even so, they were all good quality items that were much better than the coarse cloth Zhao’er was wearing.
“You will generally find the clothing all mixed together like this because they were all pawned off at very low prices. Therefore, the asking price for this bag is not high either. You may take this bag for two silver taels.”
Zhao’er nearly could not believe her ears. To make sure that this was truly a viable business deal, she took the time to browse through the clothing to check their condition.
By her estimate, this one bag contained at least 100 pieces of clothing.
Even if she were to resale the clothes at 20 coins each, it was enough to cover her capital. Moreover, there were a few items of clothing that were worth more than 20 coins. What could a person do with 20 coins? To make an entire outfit for an adult would take at least 6 or 7 feet worth of cloth and even the lowest quality cotton would cost about 7 or 8 coins per foot.
Not to mention, these were made from good fabrics. There were even a few cotton-padded clothes. Even if she could not sell them all, wearing them herself would not be a loss.
[Gumihou: The original term ‘Shopkeeper’ here is closer to ‘Shop Manager’ in meaning, so used that instead]
[1] Hour of the snake – between 9-11 am, added details so that the explanation is not interrupted in the text [2] Flags of Imperial Scholars
https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20210804A04T2D00
[2a] The 斗 was translated as ‘finial’s but it is not entirely accurate. Finials are usually seen as a flagpole ‘topper’, but here, the flags are could be topped with 2 to 4 ‘finials’ representing the scholar’s achievements. [3] a ‘full stick of incense’ is a time-telling method. It is about 15 minutes long. Naturally, this could be a little longer or shorter depending on wind conditions and what the incense is made from
Kitchennovel.com has a Membership System!!
Please click on the table below to check it out~
Naturally, you can also choose to support us through Patreon or tip us via Kofi~!
Don’t forget to leave a comment at novelupdates too!
