Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Chen Rong trembled with rage, tears streaming down her face. "What kind of father acts like this? Qiu Er must have drawn the shortest straw to end up with such a good-for-nothing."

Wang Ying poured her a cup of water, and it took a long while for her to calm down.

"Sorry you had to see this. It’s embarrassing that something like this happened on your first visit."

"Aunt, please don’t say that. We’re your family. Since Father-in-law is gone, Qing Yan and I are your support. We came here to stand by you."

Hearing this, Chen Rong’s tears fell again. She held Wang Ying’s hand and said, "Good child, no wonder Eldest Sister-in-law likes you so much. You’re truly thoughtful."

Wang Ying handed her a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

Lately, Chen Rong had been deeply troubled. She couldn’t discuss family matters with outsiders, and she couldn’t burden her children with them either, so she had kept everything bottled up. Now, finally having someone to confide in, she poured her heart out to Wang Ying.

"Look at him—no ability of his own, yet always dreaming of pie in the sky. When he was young, he looked down on merchants and was solely focused on earning an official degree. The family supported him for over ten years, and in the end, he didn’t accomplish a thing.

Now that he’s older, he’s suddenly interested in business. He abruptly shut down the tutoring school he was running and insisted on opening a shop, only to lose a large sum of money."

The Lin family used to be fairly well-off—after all, not many families could afford to support a scholar. But no amount of wealth could withstand such wastefulness. While Old Master Lin was alive, he could still keep Lin Zhangbin in check, but after the old man passed away, Lin Zhangbin completely let himself go.

Chen Rong took a breath and continued, "Now he’s working as an accountant at a pawnshop. I thought he’d finally settled down, but then he got involved with the Fang family.

What kind of family are the Fangs? Their reputation in Longquan County is in the gutter. They have some dirty money and will do anything. What decent family would willingly give their child to them? They’d be cursed behind their backs!"

"Nothing’s been decided yet, Aunt. Don’t worry. We’ll try to talk some sense into Uncle these next couple of days."

"Can you stay a few more days?"

"It depends. We originally planned to go into town tomorrow to find a porter guild to deliver New Year’s gifts to Fourth Uncle. We’d have to leave the day after. With the year almost over, we can’t keep our shop closed for too long."

Chen Rong sniffled. "You mentioned opening a shop earlier. How’s business?"

"It’s alright. We’re scraping by, barely making enough to cover the family’s expenses, but life is a little easier than before."

"That’s good. Whether you earn more or less, as long as you’re content. You and Qing Yan aren’t young anymore—you should start trying for a child."

Before, Wang Ying would have felt extremely awkward hearing this, but since their relationship had changed, she wasn’t as resistant to the idea. She nodded in agreement for now, whether they’d have children or not.

*

In the other room, Lin Zhangbin was also seething with anger. As he picked at his food, he muttered, "Your aunt has no foresight. Does she think finding some respectable, simple man will make life better? Everything costs money—keeping a roof overhead and food on the table. Without money, you can’t even afford food. How is that any kind of life?"

"Uncle, that’s not right. Whether there’s money or not, character is what matters most. If our cousin suffers abuse after marrying into that family, no amount of money will make up for it."

"Don’t listen to your aunt’s nonsense. Fang Erlang isn’t as bad as you think. Sure, he likes to drink and visit brothels, but that’s only because he doesn’t have anyone at home. If he had a husband, he wouldn’t fool around outside."

Chen Qingyan couldn’t listen any longer. His uncle was a scholar, after all—how could he say something so absurd?

"Once someone gets involved with drinking, whoring, and gambling, it’s hard to break free for a lifetime! My cousin from my second uncle’s family was addicted to gambling. He squandered a huge family fortune, and even after the gambling den chopped off three of his fingers, he still didn’t repent. How can you be so sure Fang Erlang will change after marriage?"

Scholar Lin could tell his nephew was speaking on his aunt's behalf.

"Let’s not talk about this anymore. Drink and eat."

"Uncle, marriage is a serious matter. We can’t be rash—"

*Smack!* Lin Zhangbin slammed his chopsticks down, grabbed his hat, and stormed out.

Chen Qingyan wanted to go after him, but his aunt stopped him. "Don’t bother. Let him go."

"But where will he go at this hour?"

Aunt Lin snorted coldly. "He’s not short on places to stay. You two should wash up and rest. You can sleep in the east room. I’ll take the kids to the west room."

*

After the lights were out, the two lay in bed, unable to sleep.

Since they were at someone else’s house, they didn't dare speak freely. Wang Ying simply threw on her clothes and sat up. "What do you think your uncle really means by all this?"

"I’m not sure. Maybe Fang Erlang really has some exceptional qualities."

Wang Ying shook her head. "I doubt it. I suspect that Fang guy promised your uncle some benefit. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so eager to marry his son off as a fill-in wife."

Chen Qingyan said, "But Uncle doesn’t have any sons. After Second Cousin marries out, it’ll just be the two of them. What use would they have for so many benefits?"

"True. Then why is he so determined to marry our cousin into that family?"

"I can’t figure it out either. I feel like there’s something else going on."

Wang Ying said, "Forget it. There’s no use guessing. Let’s ask Cao Kun about it tomorrow. He has wide connections in the county and should know this Fang guy."

"Alright."

Early the next morning, Lin Zhangbin returned beaming. He walked in and greeted them cheerfully, seemingly completely unaffected by the previous night’s events.

Aunt Lin didn’t ask where he’d spent the night. The atmosphere was awkward and tense, as if a fight could break out at any moment.

After breakfast, Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan prepared to go find the porter guild. Uncle Lin wanted to go with them, but Wang Ying declined.

"No need to trouble yourself, Uncle. We also plan to stroll around town and will come back later."

Hearing this, Lin Zhangbin didn’t insist. On such a cold day, he had no desire to go out and rush about.

Aunt Lin, however, spoke up. "Qiu Er, go with your cousin and sister-in-law. They’re not familiar with the area—make sure they don’t get lost."

Lin Sui also wanted to go but was glared at by his mother, so he obediently stayed home.

Lin Qiu bundled up in a thick cotton coat and followed them out. The child was introverted and didn’t say a word along the way, trailing behind them like a little shadow.

Wang Ying took the initiative to ask, "Cousin, do you know where the porter guild in town is?"

Lin Qiu, wrapped in a scarf with only his large eyes visible, pointed south and said, "Just keep going straight, and you’ll see it."

After walking for about half an hour, they finally saw the porter guild’s sign. Four or five flatbed carts were parked at the entrance, with workers loading and unloading goods.

Wang Ying approached and stopped a worker to ask, "Brother, is there someone named Cao Kun here?"

The worker shouted, "Second Boss, there’s a young man here to see you!"

The others burst into laughter. Cao Kun came out of the room and was startled when he saw who it was. He quickly scolded, "Stop talking nonsense! Shopkeeper Wang, what brings you here?"

"I’m here on some business. I want to send some things to Fourth Uncle in Laizhou. There aren’t any long-distance porter guilds in our town, so I came to the county to ask."

Cao Kun thought to himself: Doesn’t your family get deliveries from Laizhou every day? Couldn’t you just send them along with that?

Wang Ying seemed to read his mind. "We only pick up the vegetables halfway. We’ve never traveled that far, and besides, we only have one mule. If it goes to Laizhou, we won’t be able to pick up vegetables."

"It’s cold outside. Let’s talk inside."

Chen Qingyan and Lin Qiu followed them in. The shop was spacious, with plenty of goods stacked to the side. Six or seven workers were busy running around, indicating business was good.

Cao Kun led them into the adjacent room and closed the door.

"I thought Shopkeeper Wang was planning to set up shop in the county."

Wang Ying understood what he meant—with vegetables selling so expensively in the county, he was afraid they might cut out the middlemen and open a shop directly.

"We're unfamiliar with the county, and we don’t have that much cash on hand. We haven’t considered it for now."

Cao Kun laughed upon hearing this. "What does Shopkeeper Wang want to send to Laizhou?"

"Five baskets of food, nothing valuable. How much would it cost?"

"I’ll have it sent along for you in a few days when it’s convenient. No need to pay."

Wang Ying said, "One thing’s one thing. Since we're all running businesses, let’s settle it properly."

"Then just give two strings of coins."

Two strings of coins weren’t expensive. Before coming, they had asked around in town—hauling a cartload of goods to a neighboring county cost at least one string of coins.

"I’ll jot down the address for you later and have someone deliver the goods."

"Sure, don’t worry. I’ll see to it they’re delivered."

"There’s one more thing I wanted to trouble Boss Cao with," Wang Ying said. "I’d like to ask about someone. Do you know of any Fang families in the city?"

"There are quite a few Fang families in the city. Which one does Shopkeeper Wang mean?"

"He’s the second son. I’ve heard his family is quite wealthy and owns several shops."

Lin Qiu suddenly looked up, surprised that his cousin-in-law was inquiring on his behalf.

Cao Kun stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "The Fang the Second you’re referring to must be Fang Shen? His family sells gold and silver jewelry, antiques, calligraphy, and paintings. They own five or six shops."

Lin Qiu nodded repeatedly and whispered, "That’s him."

Hearing the voice, Cao Kun looked up, and their eyes accidentally met. Those deer-like eyes of his widened in surprise, and he quickly looked away.

"What kind of person is he?"

"It’s hard to say about his character since I haven’t had much contact with him. But I’ve heard he often frequents brothels and has spent a lot of money on courtesans. He’s quite notorious in the city as a rake."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qiu was about to burst into tears.

Chen Qingyan’s expression also darkened, but he remained silent to save his cousin’s face.

Wang Ying asked, "Where can we find this person?"

"You can probably find him at Zuihualou or Qiuyuefang in the city. May I ask why Shopkeeper Wang is looking for him?"

"It’s a private matter. Thank you, Boss Cao."

Wang Ying got up to leave. Cao Kun escorted the three to the door, his gaze lingering on the quiet young man until they were out of sight.

A few young workers came over to tease him, "Second Boss, who were those people?"

"An old customer. The tall one with her is her husband. Don’t talk nonsense next time."

"Hey, but you should hurry up and find a wife. If you wait any longer, your ‘stick’ might rust." The workers burst into laughter.

Cao Kun kicked each of them in frustration. "Scram! Get back to work. Don’t bring up touchy subjects."

*

On the way home, Lin Qiu couldn’t stop crying. He never expected his father to arrange a marriage with such a person. He felt heartbroken, and he thought it would be better to hang himself early.

Wang Ying felt terrible seeing him like this. If it were a stranger, she might have let it go, but this was her own cousin—she couldn’t just watch him walk into a pit of fire.

Chen Qingyan stopped and said, "No, I have to see this person for myself. If he’s truly as bad as people say, why would Uncle insist on marrying you off to him?"

Wang Ying thought the same. She took Lin Qiu to a nearby clothing store and bought each of them some coarse men’s clothes, planning to sneak into the brothel.

Ge'er's clothing typically consisted of cross-collared skirts, while men's clothing featured diagonal-collared short robes or long gowns. The two bought grayish-blue short robes, tied their hair up with ribbons, and concealed the pregnancy marks on their necks and faces. They now looked like teenage boys.

"Let’s go and meet this Fang Erlang!"