Although he had only been to town not long ago, this visit felt quite different to He Yi.
There were more vendors, and the streets were more crowded. Notices had been pasted onto wooden fences and walls here and there. They contained little writing and conveyed very little information, but whenever anyone stepped closer to look, someone would appear at just the right moment to explain that the hunt was over, the tiger had been defeated, and the Xing and Chang families deserved all the credit.
He Yi and Xue Ci stopped to listen for a while. Seeing that they had not left, the speaker launched into praise of the Chang family, abandoning all mention of the Xing family. He recounted one contribution after another that the Changs had supposedly made to Guluo Town over the years: aiding the poor, supporting merchants, conducting trade with other regions, and more.
What an exaggeration. Had He Yi not attended the hunt himself and known that part of it was staged, he might even have believed some of the praise that followed.
Xue Ci did not care that someone else had claimed his achievement. He simply stared at the notice for a long time, then caught the corner of He Yi’s clothes. “I know every character written there!”
He Yi turned to find Xue Ci’s eyes shining, as though tiny stars were glittering inside them. Unable to help himself, he gave Xue Ci’s cheek a squeeze and led him away.
“Let’s buy some paper. I’m afraid we need another ink stick too,” he said.
After buying paper and ink, they set off to find Carpenter Zhou’s place. He Yi did not know where it was, so he searched the busier street lined with shops, but he could not find it anywhere.
He was about to ask a passerby for directions when Xue Ci suddenly took his hand and pointed toward a stall.
Looking over, He Yi saw all sorts of balls hanging from the peddler’s carrying pole, with different patterns and materials. Some were leather, some woven from rattan, and others embroidered with thread. Every one was rather finely made.
Balls, of course. Now that he thought about it, Xue Ci had enjoyed the little ball He Yi had woven from straw. Evidently, even a great big cat could not resist chasing a ball.
He Yi accompanied Xue Ci over to the stall and asked the peddler, “How much are these balls?”
“Huh? What sort of ball? These aren’t ordinary balls, and where would I get inflatable ones? These are cuju balls, packed with animal hair inside and sewn from tanned hide outside. Two hundred and fifty copper coins each, if you please.” The vendor took one down and handed it to Xue Ci, who looked almost unable to wait.
Elio’s Notes: Cuju is an early Chinese ball game played by kicking a ball. Here the vendor is selling a leather cuju ball stuffed with animal hair.
Ouch. That was expensive. He Yi glanced at Xue Ci, who had already accepted the cuju ball and was feeling and pressing it with his hands.
Xue Ci even tried to bounce it against the ground, but He Yi stopped him.
“It’s expensive. When I have a little more money to spare, I’ll buy one for you, all right?” He Yi said in a helpless undertone.
He knew Xue Ci liked it, and he was not truly unable to afford it. He still had the money from selling the water deer and white honey. He simply thought the leather ball was poor value for the price, so he added, “Why don’t we look at those woven rattan ones beside it?” Surely they would cost less than the leather version.
Unexpectedly, Xue Ci handed the ball back to the vendor and pulled He Yi away. The disappointed peddler cast a couple of unhappy looks after them.
Thinking Xue Ci must be upset, He Yi coaxed him. “Don’t you want to look at the others? Those ones aren’t worth the price, but the other kinds ought to be cheaper…”
Xue Ci stopped to one side, but there was no displeasure on his face. He bumped He Yi’s arm with his shoulder and parted his faintly red lips. “I want a straw ball… the kind you made for me before. Could you make me another when we go home?”
He Yi fell silent, not because he could not answer, but because that unusually soft, alluring voice had left him momentarily bewitched. It was merely a request for a woven straw ball, yet he had almost mistaken it for an invitation to something unsuitable for children.
“…All right.” He Yi eventually recovered his senses and promptly marched ahead, lest anyone see the vexed expression on his face as he silently condemned himself for being a pervert.
He continued asking people where Carpenter Zhou lived. An old woman carrying a basket seemed hard of hearing. He Yi asked twice, but her answers had nothing to do with his questions. Just as he was about to approach someone else, she caught his arm and pointed off to the side. “Over there, behind… behind that Tongniao Street. You can’t miss it!”
Streets did not have signposts in those days, and ceremonial arches stood only at a few entrances to the town. Even with the street name, He Yi had no idea which road she meant. Too embarrassed to ask again, he and Xue Ci wandered in the direction she had indicated.
Before long, they came upon an imposing residence, with blue-gray bricks, glazed green tiles, vermilion pillars, and white walls. Golden-phoenix towers rose at its four corners, and a two-story pavilion stood before the main hall. Trailing orchids adorned the walls, with butterflies dancing around the fragrant flowers. The sound of running water came from the courtyard, and the tips of yellow bamboo and artificial rockwork were just visible over the walls. He Yi guessed that the grounds must contain an elaborate landscape of water and rock. It looked less like an ordinary home than an ancient building with a distinguished history. One glance was enough to tell that it must have cost a fortune.
Even He Yi, who had seen plenty and specialized in architecture, found the residence fascinating. Xue Ci had never seen such an extravagant and magnificent building at all and could hardly tear his eyes from it.
Then He Yi thought a moment and sensed something was wrong. There could not be many people in town who could afford a house like this… No wonder the street name had sounded faintly familiar. Wasn’t Tongniao Street the road Wu Fu had said ran in front of the Chang residence?
He Yi called Xue Ci away. “Stop looking for now. This is Chang family territory. Let’s stay well away from it. We should be able to go around that way.”
Xue Ci responded quickly. Seeing how wary He Yi was, he lost all interest in playing and obediently followed him.
But the moment they rounded the corner, they stumbled upon someone being thrown out.
Two servants in blue cloth tunics held brooms crosswise to bar the Chang residence’s side entrance. They shouted at He Jie, who was sitting on the ground, “Get lost! Our future son-in-law is meeting with the eldest young lady, and the master himself gave permission. Since when is a scoundrel like you entitled to come here shouting and making a scene? Get out!”
He Jie wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, got up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, spat onto the ground, and glared viciously at them for a while.
The servants had beaten him earlier, but he had hit back hard enough to leave them aching too. A little afraid of the madman, they did not chase him down to shove or strike him again. They merely guarded the entrance with disdain in their eyes, privately complaining that he still had not gone.
The image of the adulterous pair inside acting so affectionate made He Jie boil with anger, but he had reasons to be afraid and did not dare cause too much trouble. He straightened his collar and left by another route.
A man seated in a second-story pavilion of the Chang residence also moved. He looked down arrogantly at He Jie’s unruly, aggressive retreating figure, ran his fingers along the rim of his cup, and soon disappeared from view.
Meanwhile, He Yi and Xue Ci had concealed themselves behind the wall at the corner, where none of those people could see them. They witnessed everything, including the middle-aged man in the pavilion.
Could that be the head of the Chang family…? He Yi had never met him, but his instincts said it was quite possible.
After a while, the two servants tidied up, closed the door, and went inside. He Yi lifted his chin to signal to Xue Ci, and the two slipped away without making a sound.
After another long search, they finally found Carpenter Zhou’s house. He did not run a shop, but he lived near a relatively prosperous part of town. They only had to turn into an alley bordered by stone walls to reach the place.
“Is Master Zhou here?” He Yi gently pushed open the half-closed wooden gate and stepped inside, with Xue Ci following and looking all around.
“Coming!” an old man’s voice called from somewhere inside.
But after quite a while, when He Yi was almost tired of standing, the man finally came strolling out at a leisurely pace.
“What do you want made? A table or stools? First time here, is it?” Zhou Qu brushed the wood shavings off two stools and offered them to He Yi and Xue Ci.
As Xue Ci accepted his stool, Zhou Qu gave him a casual glance, then froze. He was clearly startled by those unusually colored eyes and striking features. The young man was an exact match for the person his grandnephew had described to him a few days earlier.
Realization dawned on Zhou Qu. “So you’re the ones from Chongzi Village… the great benefactors who saved Fu’er!”
“You give us too much credit, sir.” He Yi sat down and came straight to the point. “We’ve just finished building the walls of our house, but we haven’t put the roof on yet. I was hoping to commission some larger furnishings in advance, so we can move in and use them as soon as the house is finished.”
Zhou Qu waved him off. “Why not finish the house first? If it rains, won’t the wooden furnishings be ruined? Leave them soaking long enough, and even tung oil won’t save them!”
“But it should take quite a while to make large pieces, shouldn’t it? Wouldn’t that give me just enough time to finish the overhanging gable roofs on the bedrooms?”
Zhou Qu nearly blew his beard and glared. Why could this fellow not understand plain speech? “And where am I supposed to live in the meantime? Am I to stand under a roofless house getting drenched? My bones are still fairly sturdy, but how could they stand the rain in the mountain woods around your village?”
At first, He Yi could not understand what that had to do with anything. He asked, genuinely puzzled, “Sir, you need to stay at our house?”
“…If I don’t stay there, how am I supposed to make large furniture for you? You expect me to build it here and deliver it all the way to Chongzi Village?” Zhou Qu finally lost his temper.
He Yi looked astonished. He did not argue, but Zhou Qu could tell from his expression that this was exactly what he had expected. The old man was on the verge of laughing in exasperation when He Yi finally grasped the problem.
He had overlooked the enormous cost of transporting goods in this era. Large furnishings were especially difficult to move, and if something was damaged by a bump along the road, it would have to be repaired. A carpenter therefore stayed at his employer’s home and turned the timber into furniture on-site, removing the need to haul finished pieces back and forth.
But couldn’t the parts be transported separately and assembled afterward? He Yi knew Zhou Qu was impatient, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he asked.
“Hah! Of course the pieces fit together. That’s what mortise-and-tenon joints are for. Hardly anyone makes everything out of one continuous piece of wood nowadays. But look around. Where would I have the space to plane whole logs and leave the timber to dry?”
Xue Ci looked around too, then nodded in agreement.
Zhou Qu abruptly choked on his words. Clearing his throat, he continued, “In any case, I’ve worked at my customers’ homes for years. Even if I had room to make everything here beforehand, there’s no waterway into your village. Hiring an ox cart to haul goods from town isn’t cheap, and the farther you go, the more it costs, while each cart can carry very little. Raw logs can simply be rolled along, but finished furniture can’t.”
He Yi considered Zhou Qu’s explanation carefully and nodded slowly. “I see. Master Zhou truly has years of experience. This young fellow has never commissioned household furniture before and knows absolutely nothing about the trade. Please forgive my ignorance.”
With He Yi being so polite, even Zhou Qu, who easily grew irritable when dealing with people, could only calm himself and begin discussing what he needed.
“How many beds? How many people live in your household?”
He Yi glanced at Xue Ci and answered with studied composure, “Just the two of us.”
Sure enough, Zhou Qu’s expression cycled through a remarkable range of emotions, from shock to suspicion and finally a sort of blank bewilderment.
He Yi hurriedly changed the subject. “What styles of bed are there? Do you have anything reasonably affordable?”
Returning to business distracted Zhou Qu from the matter he could not understand, and he earnestly listed several kinds of bed.
He Yi chose a canopy-style bed with an overhead frame, posts at all four corners, and railings enclosing three sides. As for the price, Wu Fu had already spoken to Zhou Qu, so He Yi would not have to buy timber in Wujia Village; he could purchase it from Cen Pu instead. He would have to negotiate the timber price himself.
“With cheaper timber, making a bed like that costs around one tael. Use expensive nanmu or huangtan wood, and even ten or twenty taels might not cover it.”
“…” Even the cheap option was that expensive? He Yi had expected something of the sort, but the price still exceeded his imagination. The expensive kinds were even more outrageous. No wonder the Wu family had stopped making furniture and tried to monopolize the local timber trade instead. Fine timber must bring enormous profits; otherwise, they would have had no reason to get entangled with the Chang family.
He Yi was about to say they would order only one bed. His money was almost gone, and he still needed to reserve some to ask a blacksmith for parts to improve a vertical oil press and generate a new source of income.
Just as he opened his mouth, he remembered that he had not asked Xue Ci’s opinion. He drew Xue Ci aside for a quiet discussion and said frankly, “We don’t really have enough money for two beds right now. Why don’t we have one made first and make do with sleeping together? Once I earn some more, I’ll have a new one made for you. What do you think?”
As He Yi spoke, Xue Ci kept staring at the hand resting on his shoulder. Slowly, Xue Ci reached an arm around behind He Yi. By the time He Yi finished speaking, Xue Ci had successfully wrapped that arm around his waist. Preoccupied with his little game, Xue Ci had plainly not listened very carefully. He only knew he had been asked a question, so he blinked innocently and answered, “Either way is fine.”
The moment He Yi felt that soft arm settle against the small of his back, his lower abdomen tightened. He immediately withdrew the hand from Xue Ci’s shoulder, gently moved Xue Ci’s arm away, and returned to his round stool.
Xue Ci paused, then went back and sat down too.
“Well? What did you decide?” Zhou Qu asked casually.
“…” He Yi hardly knew what they had discussed himself. Still dazed, he managed, “Let’s have one bed made for now.”
“All right. As for the table and stools you wanted, you can pay for the timber, and I won’t charge you anything extra for making them.”
“How could we possibly accept that…?”
Zhou Qu only smiled and said nothing. Even if it meant working at a loss, he had to do it. The dealings between his family and his grandnephew’s were too closely intertwined for him not to lend the younger man a hand.
He Yi also ordered two cabinets afterward, one for bowls, chopsticks, and seasonings, and another for valuables and clothing.
Zhou Qu followed the same approach and offered them two wooden chests fitted with locks, each with its own key. The chests were already finished, so he had He Yi and Xue Ci each carry one home in his arms.
Zhou Qu wrote down the types of timber required, along with their dimensions and weights, for He Yi to give to Cen Pu. They agreed that he would come to He Yi’s house in six days, when He Yi would pick him up and take him to Chongzi Village.
“Understood. Here’s a deposit of one hundred copper coins. Please count it.” The final cost would still have to be settled with Cen Pu, but He Yi now had a rough idea of the budget. He estimated that he would spend around two taels of silver.
“All right. I’ve counted it. That’s correct.”
There were so many small details involved that He Yi’s head was spinning. In case there was anything he had overlooked, he asked Zhou Qu for a little advice.
Seeing that He Yi truly knew nothing and had no elders at home to guide him, Zhou Qu felt rather sorry for him. Besides, He Yi was an honored guest and had been sincere and respectful, so Zhou Qu explained, “There are certain customs in our trade. I’ll tell you about them. On the day I come to your house, you need to set off firecrackers, and you must prepare a family meal to receive me.”
He Yi assumed these were courtesies intended to show respect for a craftsman. He did not question them further, thanked Zhou Qu for his guidance and gifts, and took his leave.
“So tired…” They had talked at such length, yet all he had managed to arrange was the furniture order. There was still so much waiting for him to do, and this was only the beginning.
Xue Ci carried his wooden chest without the slightest sign of fatigue. That did not mean he had been doing nothing. He had listened carefully to their entire conversation, silently memorizing unfamiliar terms and working through the ordinary grammar they used.
Since he did not understand such matters yet, he could not help He Yi discuss them with Zhou Qu. There was still an enormous amount for him to learn. Learning was a very long road indeed.
He Yi finally headed toward the blacksmith’s shop. He still remembered the way, but when he reached it, he found that everything had changed. The storefront looked newly refurbished, and the interior had been cleaned until it was spotless and orderly.
The young woman he had met previously was nowhere to be seen. A husband and wife were sitting inside, and they immediately got up to welcome their visitors.
The couple were extremely warm. When they heard that He Yi wanted a few small metal parts forged, they agreed at once, even though he had not yet explained what kind of parts he needed, so they could not possibly know how difficult the work would be.
He Yi had brought his drawings. He spread them out and began discussing them with the new blacksmith.
Ever since his visit to the oil mill, he had been thinking about how to improve its vertical pressing equipment. Drawing on his professional understanding of mechanics, he planned to make a block-and-tackle pulley system that would reduce the force required to operate the existing vertical oil press, increasing its oil-extraction efficiency by more than ten percent. He had refined the design and transferred the details onto paper.
Since he could not measure certain dimensions inside the mill, he intended to build a working model first and use it to persuade the oil mill’s owners.
He had also drawn up a budget for the actual cost of building the improved apparatus, and he was reasonably confident that the people at the mill would accept his proposal.
The blacksmith kept nodding, readily agreeing to everything. He Yi handed over the drawings and commissioned him to finish the work within six days, when he would return to collect it.
Since the pieces were small, although they were unlike anything the blacksmith had made before, the charge was modest. He Yi paid only fifty copper coins.
The blacksmith’s wife saw the two of them out with a beaming smile.
At last, everything He Yi had come to town to do was done. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed toward the town archway with Xue Ci.
As they passed an ice-jelly stall, Xue Ci poked He Yi’s arm with his fingertip, then stopped in front of the stall and refused to move.
He Yi handed him some money and encouraged him to try buying it himself.
The older man running the stall was still calling out his wares. When he saw Xue Ci stop, he asked whether he wanted a bowl.
Xue Ci nodded and asked, “How much?”
“Want soybean flour on it? Three copper coins with the flour, two without.”
“With.” Holding his wooden chest, Xue Ci could not easily count the money in his palm. He grew anxious and hurried over to He Yi, wanting him to take the chest, but instead of speaking, he only made a series of plaintive little “Mm, mm” sounds.
The aggrieved note in his voice made He Yi’s mind go pleasantly numb. He freed a hand, took the wooden chest from Xue Ci’s arms, and stacked it with his own.
“Go on.”
“Mm!” Xue Ci brightened immediately. He quickly counted out three copper coins and gave them to the stallholder.
“I don’t have any tables or trays here. Did you bring a bowl? I can put it in that for you.”
Xue Ci looked back at He Yi.
“We only have a bamboo tube,” He Yi said.
“We only have a bamboo tube,” Xue Ci repeated after him.
“That’ll do! Coming right up! One serving of ice jelly with soybean flour!” The older man was running the stall alone, yet he insisted on shouting the order while he packed it for Xue Ci.
“I bought it!” Xue Ci was almost bouncing when he returned. If He Yi had had a free hand, he would have patted his head. He was simply too adorable.
They boarded the ox cart, and there was still a little time before departure. He Yi chatted with Xue Ci. “Aren’t you going to eat it now? Though I don’t think he gave you a spoon.”
“Eat it when we get home.”
“That works too. I’ll mix some black-honey syrup for you when we get back. It’ll probably taste much better poured over the jelly.” Then He Yi remembered something and leaned closer to Xue Ci’s ear. “You can secretly chill it a little. It’ll taste even better that way.”
Xue Ci nodded.
Later, the ox cart set off, rocking violently from side to side as usual. Xue Ci sat exceptionally straight, holding the bamboo tube of ice jelly in both hands without the slightest wobble. Beside him, He Yi felt as though his brains were being shaken into a smooth mixture. He had to clutch Xue Ci’s wrist to steady himself.
This bout of motion sickness was worse than any before it. He Yi staggered when he walked, his head spinning and aching, and he felt utterly weak.
Once they reached home, he told Xue Ci what he was doing, took out some yao dew that had been stored for quite a few days, and drank it in the hope of easing his symptoms.
Unexpectedly, it had no effect whatsoever. Forget an immediate improvement; even after seven or eight minutes, and then a full hour, he still felt dreadful.
Does yao dew simply not work on me, or does it lose its effect when stored too long…? His head hurt too much for him to think, so He Yi chose to lie down and rest.
Xue Ci ate the pleasantly cold, hand-rubbed ice jelly with one hand, scooping it up as he went. With the other, he released a stream of cold energy and rested his hand against He Yi’s forehead to cool it.
Gradually, He Yi’s headache did ease. He still felt a little dizzy, but lying down put less strain on his head, so it was bearable. Once Xue Ci had satisfied his appetite, He Yi sent him to wash and rest. He stayed lying down a while longer, and after several more quarter-hours, he finally recovered.
*
Several days passed, and Old Master Zhang came again. This time he did not arrive alone. Two young women accompanied him, carrying several sets of clothing.
These were the clothes Xing Junshu had promised to give Xue Ci. There was a coarse-cloth work jacket in dark gray approaching black, a common blue cloth tunic, and a set of close-fitting martial attire. The remaining three outfits were formal wear, complete with undergarments, straight robes, outer cloaks, trousers, headcloths, sashes, and ornaments. There were even two pairs of leather shoes.
Both women looked somewhat reserved and shy upon seeing Xue Ci. Nevertheless, they remained professional and politely instructed him from a distance on how each garment should be worn.
Xue Ci memorized all their instructions. Apart from his inability to resist fiddling with the sashes and loosening them again, which left He Yi with no choice but to tie them in hard knots, he managed everything else perfectly.
Ordinarily, Xue Ci dressed very simply. When he put on these comparatively elaborate and finely made clothes, however, his graceful figure became unmistakable. The formal outfits were especially striking. Once dressed in them, he genuinely looked like an immortal descended to earth, his bearing turning instantly noble and elegant, so much so that onlookers could almost feel ashamed of their own appearance.
Old Master Zhang watched from one side with great satisfaction, nodding again and again.
Even while staring in fascination, He Yi stubbornly told himself that he could afford to give Xue Ci things like these too, provided he succeeded in negotiating his vertical-oil-press improvements.
“…” Suddenly, his teeth ached with the urge to grind them, and an odd emptiness settled in his heart.
Old Master Zhang spoke again. “There is one more matter. Young Master Xing has arranged everything so that our young friend Xue Ci may study at Rongzhang Academy. The tuition gifts have been prepared as well. When the time comes, I need only accompany him there to visit the teachers.”
Xue Ci immediately grabbed He Yi’s sleeve. Delight swept across his brow, and his expression gradually blossomed into a smile.
He Yi’s eyelid twitched. Before he could control himself, he blurted out, “…Where is this academy?”
Then he heard Old Master Zhang reply:
“In the county seat.”