Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Fang Ling’s visit wasn't solely for her son; she also intended to help her husband pull some strings.

Since Chen Jing was transferred to Shanzhou, he had spent two years managing the region with remarkable success, earning top evaluations in both years. Now in the third year, barring any major mistakes, he could likely be transferred to a better prefecture.

Chen Jing was getting on in years—he would turn forty-two after New Year's. In an era where the average lifespan was only around forty, he was already approaching old age. If he couldn’t advance further, it would be difficult for him to secure a post in the capital.

Fang Ling’s ancestral home was in Jizhou. Among her three brothers, aside from the eldest who inherited the family business, the other two worked as officials in the capital: her second brother served as a fifth-rank Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and her third brother held the position of fifth-rank Vice Censor-in-Chief.

If her brothers could assist in calling in favors at the Ministry of Personnel, perhaps after next year’s evaluation, Chen Jing could be transferred back to Laizhou or Jizhou.

Beyond this, Fang Ling was most concerned about her son’s civil service exams. "It’s already November. I wonder if they’ve returned. If they don’t make it back by the end of the year, I’m afraid they might miss the county-level exams."

"Don’t worry, Auntie. Old Liang is even more serious about this examination than the three of them. He wouldn’t let them miss it."

This was indeed true. Liang Boqing’s earnest care and effort in educating his son surpassed even that of Chen Jing. The two had clicked so well over the years that their relationship was almost like that of father and son.

Fang Ling had brought only two servants and an older maid with her. Wang Ying prepared the west wing room for her to stay in.

The rented courtyard had always been small, but they had made do due to lack of funds. Wang Ying thought that if the summer ice pop business could be as profitable as the winter one, they might be able to buy their own house in the prefecture city next year.

*

As the New Year approached, Wang Ying prepared gifts and hired the Porter Guild to deliver them to his third aunt and maternal uncle.

In his last letter, his uncle had said money was tight and advised against sending gifts, but now that they were better off, Wang Ying didn’t want to skip it.

Unexpectedly, his uncle had the same idea. On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, New Year gifts arrived from him, including food, daily necessities, six bolts of fine fabric, and 200 silver taels.

Seeing these, Li Shi got teary-eyed. Her elder brother had always cared for her, worried that she might be struggling.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, gifts also arrived from the county town, delivered personally by Cao Kun.

Li Shi was really excited to see him. "Why have you come? How are your mother and Qiu Er?"

"Thanks to your blessings, Aunt, everyone at home is fine. But the county is really low on food."

"Although the flood didn’t wreck many houses, it ruined the crops in the surrounding villages. Nothing grew in the autumn. Grain merchants raised prices sharply, charging 600 wen for a dou of rice. People who couldn’t afford food turned to theft and robbery, and with the authorities doing nothing, Longquan County became a mess."

Li Shi clutched her chest in fear. "Oh no! Is everything alright at home?"

"Everything’s fine. Thanks to Sister-in-law providing so much grain, no one in the family went hungry. I worked for the Porter Guild for seven or eight years and know many people. Later, I organized a group to patrol the neighborhood daily, driving away anyone trying to steal."

Just hearing about it sounded dangerous.

Wang Ying asked, "What’s the situation now?"

"By the end of the tenth month, government aid grain finally started arriving. Things have improved for the city’s residents, though many still died of hunger in their homes. Grain prices in the county remain high. I came hoping to buy some grain in the prefecture city to take back and resell to make some money."

Cao Kun hadn’t come alone. He brought over ten men with seven horse-drawn carts, though the others stayed at an inn in the city.

During the flood, the Porter Guild boss had taken several brothers to buy grain but was ambushed on the way. The carts, horses, and grain were all lost, and he died outside the county.

The surviving workers sought out Cao Kun, hoping he would take over the guild. He was now running the guild.

Wang Ying said, "I happen to know the owner of a grain company in the city. Rest today, and tomorrow I’ll take you to check prices."

Cao Kun was really surprised. He had expected to have to find grain prices on his own in the prefecture city but never imagined his sister-in-law would know the big grain dealer. His admiration for Wang Ying grew even stronger.

At noon, Wang Ying got a table at Xianghe Restaurant for a family meal.

It was Fang Ling’s first time meeting Cao Kun. She gave him a gift she had prepared for Qiu Er’s child—a silver necklace identical to Yuanbao’s.

"When Qiu Er got married, your Fourth Uncle and I were in Shanzhou and couldn’t return. We thought we’d visit after the New Year during Qing Huai’s county exam. Since you’re here, please take this back with you."

"Thank you, Aunt."

"No need for formalities. Our family is small, and relatives are scattered far apart, making visits difficult. We just hope you younger ones can stick together, united and thriving—that would make us feel better."

In ancient times, large families were valued, and unity was essential for a prosperous life.

Compared to big families, the Chen family was indeed small. Setting aside the second branch, the main family had only Qing Yan and Qing Huai as sons, along with Qing Yun, their sister. Chen Jing had two sons and a daughter, but his younger son was only five years old—too young to really count. Third Aunt had two sons, both already married.

Lin Sui had married in the tenth month. The wedding was simple, with only a few tables of guests from the groom’s side and some relatives from the county town.

No news had been sent to the prefecture city. Given the distance and the fact that Wang Ying and the others had just settled down, Chen Rong didn’t want to bother them with the journey.

Li Shi exclaimed in surprise, "Sui Er is married? I thought the wedding was next year."

Cao Kun explained, "The Huang family was in a hurry, and Sui Er was willing. After discussing it, they went ahead with the wedding."

Cao Kun wasn’t fond of this brother-in-law. Huang Yong, having studied for a few years, often acted arrogantly, looking down on Cao Kun for being a merchant in the Porter Guild. Their interactions were always lukewarm.

Over time, Cao Kun stopped bothering with him. His own cousins were far more scholarly yet never acted so disdainful.

However, he had only mentioned this to Lin Qiu a few times, not wanting to cause family strife.

The meal lasted until sunset before everyone dispersed and walked home.

Cao Kun still needed to check on his workers at the inn and agreed to return early the next morning to accompany Wang Ying to visit the grain company owner.

That evening, Wang Ying took Yuanbao into the experimental field. It had been over half a month since their last visit, and Yuanbao happily hopped around, picking fruits and flowers.

Wang Ying counted the money earned during this period, planning to exchange it for silver at the bank the next day to save space.

In nearly two months since opening, they had earned over 470 strings of cash. Combined with their previous savings, they now had more than 600 strings.

With some time left before the New Year, the second batch of vegetables in the experimental field was maturing. Wang Ying estimated they could sell another round during the peak season around the New Year. After this batch, their savings would likely reach at least a thousand taels of silver!

With another year of savings, they might be able to buy their own house in the prefecture city. Renting wasn’t a long-term solution; settling down properly was the goal.

After organizing the money, Wang Ying checked the notes Qing Yan had left over the past few days. On their return journey, due to the cold weather, the coastal waters had frozen, making travel by ship impossible. They had to return by carriage.

They had reached Xuzhou two days prior, completing more than half the journey.

The journey had been arduous. The south was warm, but north of the Huai River and Qinling Mountains, temperatures dropped sharply. Despite wearing warm clothing, several of them had caught colds.

The group rested in a nearby county town for four or five days before continuing northward.

The further north they went, the more difficult the travel became, with some areas buried under over a foot of snow, making carriage travel extremely challenging.

Fortunately, they encountered a military convoy transporting provisions north. The commanding officer had once served as a commander in Jizhou and was a nephew of Mr. Lu. Liang Boqing had met him once before.

General Lu allowed them to travel with the convoy. With soldiers clearing the way, the journey sped up significantly. They expected to reach Jizhou Prefecture in about ten days.

Wang Ying happily spun Yuanbao around in his arms. "Yuanbao, your father will be back in just over ten days!"

Yuanbao, who could now count from one to a hundred and understood the concept of ten, counted on his fingers and asked, "Will Daddy play with Yuanbao every day when he comes back?"

"Yes, Dad can also build a snowman with Yuanbao."

"Woo-hoo!" The little one was jumping for joy.

"But don't tell anyone that Dad is coming back, okay? This is our little secret."

The child covered his mouth and nodded, "Mm! Yuanbao won't tell anyone!"

Wang Ying ruffled his little head. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

*

Early the next morning, Wang Ying took Cao Kun to Yang's Trading Company.

When they arrived, Yang Deguang hadn't arrived yet. The clerk served them tea and asked them to wait for a moment.

Cao Kun whispered, "Wang Ying, what are the prices like at the grain shops in the prefectural city?" He didn't have much silver on him and was worried that if the prices were too high, he wouldn't make much profit after transporting the grain back.

"Millet was over one hundred and fifty wen (a unit of currency) per dou (a unit of volume) some time ago, and the price might be a bit lower now. Don't worry, this is the largest grain shop in the prefectural city. If their prices are high, others will only be more expensive."

Cao Kun nodded and waited anxiously for half an hour before Mr. Yang finally arrived.

The winter weather was cold, and he didn't like coming in too early. After seeing Wang Ying and Cao Kun and understanding their purpose, he said, "Right now, the entire Ji Prefecture is short on grain. The grain I have was also purchased from other regions. After deducting costs, the lowest I can offer for millet is one hundred and ten wen per dou, and for wheat flour, one hundred and seventy wen per dou."

This was already a very cheap price, given as a favor to Wang Ying. For others, the lowest price for millet was one hundred and thirty wen per dou, and for retail customers, it was one hundred and fifty wen per dou.

Cao Kun was overjoyed to hear this. In the county town, the lowest grain price was still two hundred forty to fifty wen per dou. Transporting it back would mean almost doubling his profit!

He had brought over two hundred taels of silver with him. If he exchanged it all for grain and transported it back, the profits would be enough for everyone to share and have a good New Year!

Yang Deguang didn’t care much for such a small business. He called one of his clerks to arrange the grain for Cao Kun while he chatted with Wang Ying.

"How has Official Wang been lately?"

"Uncle is doing well. A few days ago, it was Aunt's birthday, so we sent some fresh produce over."

Yang Deguang had also heard about it. Unfortunately, he couldn't get close to the family, and his wife had no way to send gifts.

"When you have time, could I trouble Shopkeeper Wang to help introduce me?"

Wang Ying vaguely replied, "I'll see what I can do."

Both were busy, so they didn't talk further. After Cao Kun arranged the grain, Wang Ying returned to his own shop. Ma Qianzi and Tian Ju had already set out the vegetables and opened for business.

The weather was too cold, so Wang Ying didn't let Qing Yun come out. He handled the weighing and collecting of money himself. After finishing his busy work, he sat by the stove and, like Yuanbao, counted on his fingers how many days were left until his husband would be home.