Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Zhong Yizhu had freed up some time these past two days and started working on new fragrance blends.

Chen Xiaorong first followed him as an apprentice to learn the basics of identifying and distinguishing scents—he wouldn't be able to handle it on his own anytime soon, but even so, it took a lot off Zhong Yizhu's plate. He didn't dare make too much, afraid it would go bad if it sat around too long. Now he had a good sense of how much incense the shop sold per day, and he estimated quantities accordingly, only keeping about ten days' worth of extra stock on hand, and bumping that up during festivals.

Because of this surplus, he'd mentioned to Liu Mingtao the idea of selling incense pellets in town. Liu Mingtao went home to talk it over with his folks and brothers and their wives, and the next day he came to Zhong Yizhu with his start-up money in hand.

Zhong Yizhu charged Liu Mingtao eighteen wen per pellet, with the deal that Liu Mingtao couldn't sell for less than the Bamboo Fragrance Shop's price of twenty-five wen. If he could sell for more, that was his own business—Zhong Yizhu wouldn't get in the way. Beyond that, Zhong Yizhu also gave him the tablecloths and hanging displays they had used when selling at the market, so he wouldn't have to shell out for those.

Liu Mingtao felt a warm surge of gratitude. At this rate, he'd make seven wen on every pellet—all thanks to Zhu Ge'er's kindness.

Liu Mingtao and Zhong Yizhu agreed on a day to pick up the goods. He took a page from Zhong Yizhu's book and planned to set up his stall on market day in Chuiliu Town. This was the first time he'd made such a big call on his own—he was nervous but couldn't help feeling excited.

After seeing Liu Mingtao off, Zhong Yizhu thought for a second, then turned and headed to the bedroom.

He pulled a bamboo basket out from the bottom of his clothes chest, all secretive-like. Inside was an unfinished set of clothing. He'd bought the fabric on the sly and sewn the garment in whatever spare moments he could grab.

Pei Mu's birthday was still ten days away, but he'd never celebrated it and didn't plan to start now.

Given how things were with the Pei family, Zhong Yizhu could understand how Pei Mu felt—fine, no celebration then. But he'd still secretly made Pei Mu an outfit, buying good fabric and sewing it carefully—just a bit slowly.

Today's batch of incense pellets was already done, and Chen Xiaorong had volunteered to take over the rolling. With a free moment on his hands, Zhong Yizhu carried the basket over to a sunny spot and started sewing, stitch by stitch.

He was so focused on his sewing that he didn't notice what was going on outside at first—until Pei Mu pushed open the courtyard gate and came in. His eyes went wide, and he frantically shoved the clothes back into the basket, then rushed into the bedroom to hide it.

When he turned around, he nearly ran straight into Pei Mu, who was coming through the door. Seeing how flustered he was, Pei Mu swallowed whatever he'd been about to say and just raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of secret mischief is our Zhu Ge'er up to?"

Zhong Yizhu tried to play it cool, but his voice came out weak: "Nothing at all."

Pei Mu had only wanted to tease him because he looked so cute—he wasn't actually trying to dig into anything. He pulled the young man into his arms and gave him an affectionate squeeze, then told him about the visitor from the Yan household.

Zhong Yizhu looked up at him, delighted: "Really! I was just wondering why you were back so early."

Seeing the light dawn in Zhong Yizhu's eyes, Pei Mu almost laughed—he was still hung up on the timing of his return.

He pulled the list from his chest and handed it over: "Of course it's real. Our little Boss Zhong's skills are getting famous all the way in the prefectural city. Pretty impressive."

Zhong Yizhu beamed at the praise, and when he looked at the list, he saw it nearly cleaned out his whole stock. But he was only happy about it.

He said modestly: "It's just one household's young masters and misses who like it. Hardly famous across the whole prefectural city."

Still, Yan Wenqin was rich and powerful, and for the young masters and misses of his household to send someone all this way to buy Zhong Yizhu's incense—that was about as clear a stamp of approval as you could get.

Pei Mu watched Zhong Yizhu's eyes sparkle—if he had a tail, it'd be wagging a mile a minute right now. His heart itched, so he bent down and kissed him, then gave him a good squeeze before letting go.

He led the young man toward the back courtyard and tilted his head: "Want to come along when I make the delivery?"

Zhong Yizhu nodded: "Yes." For such a big order, with customers coming from so far away, and with the Yan Wenqin connection, they had to show some real sincerity.

Pei Mu had figured he'd want to come. He glanced at the sky and did the math—going and coming back would make it too late, so they might as well stay at the shop overnight.

The two quickly hashed out the plan and told Chen Xiaorong to let Sun Yunniang know they wouldn't be back today. As for the training that was supposed to start today, they'd have to swing by Liu Mingfeng's on the way out to explain and have him pass the word to the others.

Zhong Yizhu checked off the items on the list. This trip meant not only getting all the goods on the list ready but also sending a fresh batch to restock the shop. By the time everything was loaded onto the cart, his stock was just about wiped out.

Chen Xiaorong, who was helping out, was stunned—this really was a huge order!

When he heard they wouldn't be back tonight, he nodded quickly and added: "I'll hang these pellets up to dry as soon as I finish rolling them. Zhu Ge'er, don't worry—the boss and I will keep an eye on Auntie."

Soon, Zhong Yizhu and Pei Mu drove off together.

By the time they got to the city, the sun was already going down. Pei Mu drove the cart back to the incense shop first.

He'd originally planned to deliver the goods straight to the customer, but Miss Qinghe was super polite and insisted on coming to the shop to pick them up herself. It gave Pei Mu a look at how a big household did things and how highly Yan Wenqin was regarded in his family.

Later that evening, Miss Qinghe showed up right on time with her people to pick up the goods. Seeing Zhong Yizhu there too, she gave a graceful bow with a smile before starting to check the incense under his guidance.

Zhong Yizhu spoke easily and confidently, clearly remembering exactly which incense he'd given the Sixth Young Master that day. Once everything was accounted for, he brought out several boxes of scented balms, saying they were new blends he'd made and offering them as gifts for the household's ladies to try.

Qinghe leaned in for a sniff and immediately felt perked up—it was a really elegant, pleasant tea scent. She figured her young mistress would love it and quickly said she wanted to buy more. Zhong Yizhu said apologetically: "This is all I've made so far. If you want more, Miss, you'll have to wait a bit. But the balm lasts a long time—one box will go quite a ways."

Qinghe hadn't expected Zhong Yizhu to be telling the truth—he really had sent every last bit of the new stock. She quickly thanked him, her impression of this handsome and honest young man improving even further.

Zhong Yizhu calculated the total and waived the odd change for Qinghe. She paid the silver, and the servant behind her stepped forward to place the incense into the multi-tiered wooden boxes they had brought. Qinghe bowed in farewell, and two servants followed behind her, each carrying two large wooden boxes as they exited the shop, catching the eyes of many passersby.

Zhong Yizhu recorded this transaction himself—just this one order brought in fifty-eight taels of silver.

The remaining stock Zhong Yizhu had brought was barely enough to fill the shop's shelves, and even the storeroom was nearly empty except for some slower-moving items.

Zhong Yizhu had originally planned to be at the shop tomorrow, but now there was no way to stay—he needed to hurry back and make more incense to keep the shop supplied.

...

Because Zhong Yizhu had made another big sale, the rate at which they consumed raw materials was faster than anticipated. Considering that this situation might happen again, Pei Mu decided to move up their trip to Quzhou Prefecture to the end of this month, to avoid any interruption in the incense material supply.

Pei Mu informed the few people who would be going with him, and none of them objected. Since the decision was made, it didn't matter whether they left a bit earlier or later—as long as they could return before the busy farming season.

What surprised the group was that Pei Mu had said he would teach them self-defense techniques, but he'd never mentioned that a young man would be joining them.

Previously, Kong He had wanted to change his surname, and Zhong Yizhu had told him to think it over carefully, saying that what mattered was the heart, not the name. Though Kong He had been sold into servitude, these past days he had lived more like a human being than in all his previous ten-plus years. He knew that a master like Zhong Yizhu was extremely rare, and since Zhong Yizhu treated him well, he naturally wanted to repay that kindness.

When Pei Mu asked if he was willing to train in martial arts, he agreed without hesitation. He knew Pei Mu wanted him to better protect Zhong Yizhu—and that was exactly what he wanted too.

Kong He no longer wanted any connection to Kong Dashan, so when Pei Mu introduced him, he called him Zhong He, saying he was a worker at the shop.

The others noticed that Zhong He was taller than most of them and privately thought that if he bulked up more with training, he'd look even less like a typical young man. They wondered what was going on in his head.

But this was their master's business—they could think what they liked, but they had no standing to say anything. At most, they'd grit their teeth and compete with each other during training, vowing not to lose to a young man, or it would be too embarrassing.

They were quickly proven wrong, however.

When Pei Mu had them hold horse stances, Zhong He lasted the longest. When Pei Mu had them carry buckets of water back and forth, Zhong He spilled the least and ran the fastest. When Pei Mu taught them techniques, Zhong He executed them most perfectly.

At first, a few felt embarrassed at being outdone by Zhong He, but eventually they had nothing left to say—because even if you brought in other men, they'd probably lose too. It wasn't that they were incompetent; it was that Zhong He was simply that good.

Their training ground was a large open area stretching from the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain to the eastern end of the village. Pei Mu didn't let Zhong He mix in with the other men—he had him train at a separate distance. Since the area was completely open and visible to everyone, Zhong He had no physical contact with the other men whatsoever, so his reputation remained untarnished.

Zhong He never showed much expression. While the others grimaced and groaned from exhaustion, he simply wiped his sweat in silence.

Even Pei Mu was somewhat surprised. He'd only known that Zhong He was strong and thought that learning some techniques would make him more capable than the average person. Having someone like that by Zhong Yizhu's side would give him peace of mind when he was away. But Zhong He turned out to be far more impressive than he'd imagined—both his reactions and his endurance were outstanding. With proper training, he might truly become a "fierce warrior."

Pei Mu had no prejudice about young men versus grown men. He asked Zhong He if he was willing, and then added extra training for him. After all, they trained behind closed doors in their own courtyard, with Zhu Ge'er and his mother around—no one could find cause for gossip.

Because of this, Zhong He now came and went with them, and could no longer stay overnight in the city to watch the shop. Pei Mu invited the young couple who had previously looked after the shop to come back for night duty.

He didn't offer this job to Yao Le, first because he wasn't as capable a fighter as Zhong He, and second because he needed to go home in the evenings to care for his father—he couldn't spare the time.

Pei Mu was busy every day—mornings selling at the city market, afternoons back in the village for training—and he was also having Yao Sheng help him find people. Since he was going anyway, he wanted to bring two more cartloads of goods, which meant it would be safer to have another trained fighter among the travelers.

Back then, he had been silent and cold, not one for making connections, and he couldn't even remember the faces of those who had returned from the battlefield with him. Yao Sheng, by contrast, excelled at such things and still kept in touch with quite a few people.

Within a few days, Yao Sheng brought someone to meet him.