Chapter 33: Can’t Go Without

Chapter 33: Can't Go Without

"Rip rip—" The pillowcase was violently torn apart, and Xianjin pulled out a thick book bound with coarse hemp thread, holding it close to the fire starter to read.

"Sixth year of Zhaode..."

It was seven years ago.

Every month's profits from purchasing, selling, and reselling were meticulously recorded, starting at thirty taels and going up to fifty taels without limit.

Still considered small change.

Starting from the eighth year of Zhaode, two additional accounts appeared each month, only labeled as Anyang Prefecture, with one account totaling one hundred taels. There were also several expenditures added, amounting to roughly five hundred taels per year. This should be the detailed records Mr. Chen Liu mentioned about selling the eight and six zhang xuan paper to Anyang Prefecture and dealing with the bandits of Baocuosi Temple.

Xianjin asked softly, "How much do we usually charge for a piece of eight zhang xuan?"

Chen Jianfang hesitated for a moment before quietly replying, "I... household affairs have never been handled by the eldest branch. I... I don't know."

Oh.

Xianjin nodded, not pressing further.

The despondency and restlessness that Chen Jianfang had momentarily shaken off swept over him again. Though he didn't want to explain further, he still opened his mouth, "My late father passed the Imperial Academy exams eight years ago and then took office in Chengdu, Sichuan. I studied at Qingcheng Mountain Courtyard first and later read at the Imperial Academy. I spent little time at home..."

He didn't know why, but he feared this girl would think him like those scholars who lived in an ivory tower, their ears deaf to the world outside, their hearts set solely on reading the classics.

After some thought, he explained further, "All household matters were managed by my grandmother and Second Uncle. At the end of each season, the letters exchanged wouldn't detail down to telling us how much a sheet of paper sold for."

Eight and six zhang xuan were far more than just sheets of paper.

If Master Li Sanshun heard this, he would surely scream, "Eight zhang xuan is a legacy item! Even when I'm dead and my bones are rotten, this paper will still be stronger than me!"

Xianjin couldn't help but laugh as she recalled the image of the skinny old man raising a wooden beam and shouting. "If you don't know, you don't know. You'll find out naturally in a couple of days after your mourning period ends!"

As she spoke, she stuffed the ledger into her chest, hearing a rustling sound of footsteps outside. Xianjin decisively blew out the fire starter and crouched behind the door frame. After the footsteps faded away, Xianjin didn't light the fire starter again, relying on memory to feel her way out of Zhu's residence in the darkness.

Her feet landed on the snow-covered streets, and her heart followed suit, settling back into reality.

Xianjin felt exhilarated and walked extremely fast. Chen Jianfang wanted to ask something but didn't know what. Should he ask her what she planned to do with the ledger? It seemed unnecessary.

This ledger would naturally be handed over to his grandmother.

Those who needed to be disciplined would be disciplined, and those who needed to be purged would be purged.

That steward Zhu was dead. If they could topple Mr. Chen Liu, the real power in Jing County's workshops would only be Third Uncle. What did Third Uncle understand? Once Grandmother left, the young lady standing behind Third Uncle, Miss He, would become the undisputed head of Jing County.

She... seemed eager to take charge?

Chen Jianfang looked over. The young girl was radiant, her features animated perhaps due to excitement. He couldn't help but lower his head and smile.

Some girls and women just couldn't sit still, like his mother. After his father's death, she picked up her flower and bird gongbi paintings again, painting parrots and sparrows so vividly that they seemed ready to mimic human speech with their red beaks.

Arriving at the Chen residence's gate, Chen Jianfang called out to Xianjin, "Miss He—"

Xianjin turned around, responding with an "Mm" to hear what he had to say.

"My name is Jianfang, and I am second in the family ranking. The eldest branch uses a unified ranking system. I have an elder sister married in the capital. You..."

You don't need to call me Daling.

It always sounded somewhat ominous.

Xianjin thought about it and nodded, "Alright, Erlang."

Xianjin exerted great effort to swallow back the word "Shen."

It was all because of the popularity of the Investiture of the Gods during her childhood.

Chen Jianfang wanted to ask something else, but after opening his mouth, he didn't ask. He heard others call her Jinjie, which Jin? Was it Jing? Or Jing? Or Jing? Was she called Miss Jin Niang or Miss Jin'er?

But this was a woman's given name.

He only needed to know she was "Miss He." To get any closer would be crossing the line.

This snowy night was already a line-crossing.

Eavesdropping for no reason, inviting a strange girl to break into a civilian's house at night, wanting to know a woman's given name for no reason...

He could blame these line-crossings on the absurd emotions brought on by his father's sudden death, but... such absurdities mustn't bring reproach upon others.

Chen Jianfang turned to walk inside.

In the coming and going, the second master's performance of The Tale of YingtIng reached its eighth act. Playing YingtIng, the second master, fueled by alcohol, pretended to be coy, tugging at his younger brother Chen Fu's sleeve, "Hongniang, Hongniang, the young lady isn't drunk, there's just a bone stuck in her throat, she can't speak until it's out—"

Whether Chen Fu was Hongniang or not was unknown, but judging by his face, he was quite red—red with anger.

Damn it, even when drunk and performing a play, he was just a supporting female character!

Pah!

Chen Fu expressionlessly pulled his sleeve back.

The entire audience burst into laughter. Xianjin hid among the commotion, returning to the left and right embraces of Chen Zuoniang and Chen Youniang.

The welcoming feast lasted deep into the night. After resting for two more days, it would be the end of the year and the beginning of the new one. Mama Zhang, under Qu Erniang's lead, rose earlier than chickens and slept later than dogs, cleaning and tidying nonstop for several days. The days of leisurely managing the workshop workers' meals were gone forever.

"When are they going to leave!"

Mama Zhang gritted her teeth as she stuffed a almond candy into Xianjin's hand. "Good thing you found a capable girl to help me—a lot—Qu Erniang is simply my bane!"

"First they want me to climb up the roof, then they want me to till the fields, and for how much pay do I get per month! If I were to take her monthly stipend, I'd be so alert even in my sleep – one eye on guard, the other on watch, if the master steals chickens to the east, I'd never dare touch a dog to the west!"

Leaders visiting, one must hold their farts in.

Xianjin munched on almond candies with glee, "Is Sansuo feeling better?"

As Mama Zhang spoke, she peeled another dish of melon seeds and pushed it towards Xianjin, "She's fully recovered. A country girl with a strong constitution and sturdy bones, after two applications of medicine, her face is fine, her legs are fine. I've specially slaughtered a chicken for her these past few days, to let her put on some flesh before she meets people again."

In the midst of their conversation, someone called out from the corridor, "Mama Zhang, Mama Zhang - offer the rice cakes to the God of Wealth!"

"Coming, coming!" Mama Zhang responded, angrily tossing the melon seed shells onto the ground, "...welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day of the New Year, in this vast mansion, only I know how to make rice cakes, right? Only I have hands, right?"

Working overtime during the New Year, her resentment was heavier than that of a ghost.

Xianjin couldn't help but laugh, crunching the almond candy and clapping her hands as she stood up, also preparing to leave.

Mama Zhang seemed to remember something, turning around to ask, "You're going out?"

Xianjin nodded, "Yes, I'm planning to go out for a walk."

"Where are you going?"

To visit my God of Wealth.

Xianjin scratched her head, "To stroll around Shuixi Street..."

Mama Zhang lost interest in the rest of the arrangements, waving her hand dismissively, her attitude firm, "Then take Sansuo with you, have her buy three catties of red sugar, five catties of pumpkin seeds, and look for some goji berries and jujubes to buy, with so many people coming, they just bring their mouths to eat and drink for free! Oh, how annoying!"

After venting her anger, Mama Zhang loudly called into the kitchen, "Sansuo! Sansuo! Come out! Accountant He will take you out for a stroll!"

Xianjin was about to refuse when she was interrupted by the eager, dewy-eyed gaze of the young girl Wang Sansuo, who had hurriedly run out from the kitchen.

As if saying, if you don't take me, you're not human.