Chapter 017
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
Jiang Wu looked helpless. However, there was a twinkle of a smile in his eyes as he said, “Very well, I shall listen to you. Still, there’s no need to split the profits in half. Since this is your business, as someone who provided a little manual labour and running errands, how about an 80-20 split? You get 80, I get 20.”
“80-20 won’t work. We definitely have to make use of your mule cart in the future. Do you consider your Daqing’s work as free labour? Daqing, your owner doesn’t value your contribution at all. Looks like your rations will be cut down in the future.”
The mule called Daqing snorted and shook its head, as though saying ‘If he dares to cut my rations I shall go on strike and refuse to work. He can pull this cart by himself.
Zhao’er burst out laughing and pointed at Daqing, “Look, even your Daqing is protesting.”
Jiang Wu turned to look at the girl who was laughing freely by his side with a strange light in his eyes. Fortunately, Daqing was quite familiar with the road, otherwise, they would have all ended up in the ditch by the side of the road.
Behind them, Xue Tingxiang’s expression turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. Regret and anger roiled in his heart. He had actually forgotten about this Jiang Wu.
In that dream, Jiang Wu had always coveted Zhao’er.
Jiang Wu was two years older than Zhao’er but had never married. If Zhao’er had not been his child bride, the Jiang family would have long since send a marriage proposal for her.
Even so, Jiang Wu never gave up. Once, he even secretly met up with Xue Tingxiang and told him that he wished to marry Zhao’er, had told him not to be so selfish and to set Zhao’er free. He even said that he and Zhao’er would support him in his studies and treat him like a true younger brother. That was when he realised [2] Jiang Wu’s intentions towards Zhao’er.
The shock and anger he felt then was [2] compounded by the memory of how Zhao’er had always been unwilling to marry him. He mistakenly believed that Zhao’er had a relationship with Jiang Wu, which was why he had forced the marriage citing his dead parents’ promise. Later on, he found out by chance that he had wrongly accused her.
However, by then the incident had forever tainted their relationship. Even though it was never mentioned later, a barrier remained between them. After that, he threw himself into his career while Zhao’er focussed on her various businesses. They rarely saw each other and even when they do meet up, they rarely exchange words even up to the point he passed the Imperial Examination at the Capital.
When he knew about Zhao’er’s death in his dream, he thought that if that dream self had not been so despicable to force the marriage using his dead parents’ promise, Zhao’er may not have died.
However, that thought was as fleeting as a dragonfly skimming water. At this moment, he realised that deep down, he was actually a despicable person at heart. Even though he knew he was not the Xue Tingxiang in that dream, he never entertained the thought of letting Zhao’er go.
She belonged to him in the first place. Back when he was still a child and could barely form a coherent thought, people had been pointing at her and telling him that ‘This is your future wife, right?’
“Brother Jiang Wu, you had better keep an eye on the road. The path is very uneven. Don’t lead us all into a ditch.”
Xue Tingxiang’s voice interrupted the lively chatter between Jiang Wu and Zhao’er like an unwelcome guest, turning the previously cheerful atmosphere cold.
Zhao’er forced a little laugh before saying, “Oh my, just look at me. Talking to you about business when you’re driving. Luckily Daqing is a smart one, otherwise, we would have crashed into something.”
Daqing let out a noise that sounded like a horsey laugh, looking quite satisfied with himself.
Jiang Wu subconsciously turned around and met the gaze of a young boy with dark, intense eyes. For some reason, he felt a little guilty. However, the feeling soon disappeared and he became confident again.
He knew that the Xue family Gouzi did not like Zhao’er. He also knew that the second branch family had originally meant to take Zhao’er in as their foster daughter and not a child bride. The idea of her being a child bride started out as a rumour and only became true as a dying request just before the second branch couple passed away.
Not to mention, he also knew that Zhao’er only saw the other party as a younger brother, with no real intention of marrying him.
There was no doubt that the boy in the back was [1] merely a thin and weak child. Although he was good-looking enough, there was still a hint of immaturity on his face. Compared to this weakling, the strong and muscular Jiang Wu felt a sense of superiority, not seeing this boy as a proper rival even. He laughed heartily and said, “Don’t worry, Gouzi, I drive this cart on this path every day. I can find my way back even with my eyes closed.
Xue Tingxiang said nothing, merely pressing his lips and lowering his head.
At this, Zhao’er immediately realised that he was uncomfortable with the common name ‘Gouzi’. However, she could not bring herself to be cold towards Jiang Wu. Instead, she could only laugh again and playfully scold, “Jiang Wu, didn’t I already tell you that Gouzi has a proper name now? It’s Tingxiang, Xue Tingxiang.”
“What an elegant name.”
“Yes, so don’t call him ‘Gouzi’ any more, it’s not nice.”
While they chatted, the cart had already reached the edges of Yuqing Village.
Jiang Wu naturally directed the cart to the end of the village before stopping to drop Zhao’er and Xue Tingxiang close to their house.
“When do you intend to start this business? Just tell me when and I shall come and pick you up.”
“Won’t you be busy in town with something else tomorrow? I also need time to sort out those clothes. Let me prepare everything first. Once it is all ready, I shall send word to your house.”
Zhao’er was also thinking about the competition between Xue Tingxiang and Xue Juncai which will be happening in two days. Whatever new business it was, it would have to wait until the competition was over.
“Of course.”
Now that everything had been settled, they said their farewells.
Jiang Wu drove his cart home while Zhao’er walked home with Xue Tingxiang.
Xue Tingxiang maintained a pensive silence along the way.
Zhao’er glanced at him and said, “What is it? Are you unhappy because Jiang Wu called you ‘Gouzi’? I already told him to call you by your name, he won’t call you that any more.”
He suppressed the stabbing jealousy in his heart and muttered, “Why are you so familiar with him?”
“You’re talking about Brother Jiang Wu? We have known each other since young, ah. Don’t you remember that Heizi is one of his family’s puppies? Brother Jiang Wu is a good person who has helped me out a lot.”
Xue Tingyan remained silent and stopped walking.
Zhao’er walked ahead for a while before realizing that he was no longer beside her. She walked the few steps back in confusion and asked, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you being so weird?”
He held his breath and said, “Don’t forget, you already have a man in your life.”
Zhao’er looked stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. For a moment, she just laughed and laughed, which made Xue Tingxiang angrier and even more annoyed.
There’s no need to even think, she must not even consider his declaration serious in any way.
Seeing his fair face flushed with anger, Zhao’er was quick to coax him by saying, “Yes, yes, alright, don’t be angry. I know I have a man in my life.”
There was still a measure of teasing in her voice, meaning she was merely coaxing him by saying whatever she thought he wanted to hear. Even so, his heart thumped a few times at this statement.
With the experience derived from the dream, Xue Tingxiang realised that this was not the time to start a quarrel. Not to mention, there was also a Jiang Wu standing on the sidelines, watching everything, just waiting for the right opportunity. He had no wish to experience all those things from that dream again.
Even so, he could not help but press on, saying, “This is for your own good. It would not do for the villagers to gossip about you.”
He dared not look at her, keeping his eyes fixed on the ground even as he tried to maintain a righteous and confident demeanour, even as guilt bit at his heels.
Seeing him speaking and acting like an adult while sporting a childish face, Zhao’er felt the urge to pat him on the head.
She did exactly that, saying, “Yes, yes, alright, you are very right. I shall listen to you.”
This only made him angrier. An anger that was shot through with helplessness and frustration.
Why must she always treat him like a child?!
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Early the next morning, Zhao’er and Xue Tingyan left the house.
They arrived at East Gate House just as it opened its doors. Xue Tingxiang made his way to the bright and breezy room in the back to continue with his transcribing work while Zhao’er made her way to the back of the shop.
She had already spoken to Boss Chen about borrowing the place to sort out the clothes. Since the clothes were all used clothing, the appearance of the product would be crucial when it comes to money making. Therefore, her task for the day would be focused on that.
She borrowed a bamboo mat used by the shop for drying books, dumped out the large bag of clothes on it and began sorting them. First, she sorted them out according to men’s clothes and women’s clothes. Then, she further categorised them according to fabric and thickness of clothing before checking each piece for any tears.
Any holes were patched with the needles and threads she had brought with her. Zhao’er was skilled enough to make simple clothes and do some mending but was not good enough to do something like elaborate embroidery.
It took her a great effort to clear up a whole pile of clothes. Seeing the bright weather outside, she returned to the yard to fetch water from the well. There was a pulley system for the bucket, which made it very easy for her to fetch a basin of water. She soaked the mended clothes in a large wooden basin and rubbed some soap in to wash them. [2] [2a] While the clothes were soaking, she fetched a little more water, mixed some rice powder in and set it on the stove to be boiled. Although Boss Chen and the rest of the employees don’t actually do any cooking at the shop, they still need a stove to boil water for tea. Therefore, there was always a fire going and Zhao’er borrowed this stove to cook a large pot of rice soup.
[2a] By the time she was done washing and rinsing the clothes, the rice soup was also ready.She brought the cooked rice soup out and poured it into a clean wooden basin. Then, she added some water so that the rice soup was still hot but not scaldingly so. Then, she stirred the clothes in and let them sit in the tub for half the time it takes to make a cup of tea before removing the clothes and dunking them quickly into another wooden basin of clean water.
In short, she was starching the clothes. Starched clothes looked neat and straight, making them look as good as new, especially if their colours were still bright. Some people would even iron the clothes to make them extra straight. However, since Zhao’er did not have an iron or an ironing board, she had no plans to go that far.
While she was in the middle of her work, Boss Chen came by to observe Zhao’er’s busy work before pointing at the colourful clothes fluttering in his courtyard and laughing, “Very good, you have really treated this place like your own. What was once an elegant place of contemplation is now a laundry garden.”
In fact, there were many places that did laundry nowadays. Some households who do not wish to do their own laundry may send their clothes off to one of these places to have their clothes washed. After all, it was not very expensive and saved a lot of time and effort.
Knowing that Boss Chen was joking with her, Zhao’er replied with a laugh, “Uncle Chen just gave me a new business idea! If one day I ran out of ways to make money, I’ll set up a laundry business here. Uncle Chen can send me all your clothes to be washed and I won’t charge you for it.”
“You bratty little girl, you are really good at doing business,” Boss Chen shook his head and laughed before returning to the front of the shop.
The room Xue Tingxiang used to transcribe books happened to overlook the courtyard, therefore, he could see everything that Zhao’er did there that day.
Usually, when he was working on something, he could keep going without being distracted. However, today, he could not help but keep looking up now and then.
As he watched her bustle about in the yard, her face glowing in the sunlight and dazzling beads of sweat sparkled on her forehead… all thoughts about transcribing books appeared to have flown out of his mind. In the end, he only managed to transcribe less than two pages that entire morning.
When Boss Chen came by to check on his progress, he saw that Xue Tingxiang’s gaze kept returning to Zhao’er, smiled and said, “You’re lucky to have such a woman by your side.”
Xue Tingxiang said nothing.
Boss Chen continued, “Speaking of which, how far have you progressed in your studies?”
“I have studied the Four Books. However, I can only read them, but not fully understand them.”
“It is not enough to just read without understanding. Since you are planning to enter an academy, you should start studying the Classics. Even so, those rural school teachers only have a partial understanding of the Classics and could not teach much. During your free time, you should read books like <<Annotations on the Four Books>> and <<Collections of Zhu Zi’s Commentaries>>. Although these books will not help you gain complete understanding, you can at least gain some insight from them. The most important thing is to find a good school and have the guidance of good teachers,” Boss Chen advised.
After a pause, he added, “I heard that Zhao’er wants to send you to Qinghe Academy. Instead of wasting money there, why not enter Qingyuan Academy instead?”
“Qingyuan Academy?” Xue Tingyan was taken aback.
Perhaps worried that this young man was deceived by the bad rumours like the rest of the common people, Boss Chen said earnestly, “Qingyuan Academy is one the oldest academies in Huyang Township. It was considered one of the most renowned schools in the whole of Xia County. In the past, half of the students who passed the county exams each year came from Qingyuan Academy. Many of them eventually became successful scholars and officials. However, its fame had declined somewhat Qinghe Academy became more renowned.”
Boss Chen’s voice grew quieter the more he spoke. As though filled with endless sighs and regrets. Suddenly, he huffed and said indignantly, “However, people who value fame and fortune over scholarly pursuits are easily deceived by empty promises. Little do they know that Qinghe Academy used underhanded methods to bolster their image. The Qinghe Academy Head, Gao Youzhi, made use of his close connection with County Magistrate Hu to funnel money allocated by the Imperial Court to his own school. The two of them worked together to enrich themselves with funds meant for the school.
“The head of Qingyuan Academy, on the other hand, is an upright person who refuses to associate with them. Moreover, Qingyuan Academy has always provided assistance to students from poor families. Without the funds from the Imperial coffers, the school could only do its best to sustain itself. With the county magistrates’ special interest in Qinghe Academy, aspiring students have started flocking there. This was partly why Qingyuan Academy’s reputation saw a gradual decline in the recent years.”
[Gumihou: In short, it’s all money politics. Haahh…]
[1] Adjust details [2] Rice soup as liquid starch for clothes
https://sewguide.com/homemade-laundry-starch-fabric-stiffener/
In the article, ‘rice soup’ was made with ‘water leftover after the rice is boiled’
However, considering how rare and expensive rice is in this novel’s era… it’s unclear whether Zhao’er was using the ‘rice water only’ or made the ‘rice soup’ using ‘rice powder’ which was actually the dust left by rice after processing. Poor people may eat this ‘rice powder’ as porridge mixed with sweet potatoes and corn to make a paste. Since Zhao’er seems to have some money, she may have bought the ‘rice powder’ from a nearby shop or even have some around in the house (because the ‘scholars’ of the Xue clan can’t be seen in unstarch clothes if they have to go somewhere important, right?)
[2a] The original text did not show Zhao’er ‘making the rice soup’, only ‘the rice soup was ready’. So, added it where it seemed reasonable.
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