Chapter 036
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Pill Bug
Edited by Gumihou
At the first light of dawn, Xue Tingxiang woke up.
He cracked open his eyes, finding the room still dark.
The usually neat kang was a mess. At some point, their quilts had become tangled together, no longer in the tidy state they used to be.
Well, Xue Tingxiang thought, he must have felt too hot sometime in the middle of the night and kicked off the quilt. In fact, it looked like both of them had kicked off the quilt together.
Zhao’er was lying very close to him, sleeping in a very unsightly pose, with her right leg draped over his and only half her head on the pillow, her arm and the other leg hanging off the edge of the kang.
She was still sound asleep. It was rare for Xue Tingxiang to see Zhao’er still asleep. Now that he saw it, he felt that this kind of Zhao’er was a little adorable.
He could not help but move a little closer, close enough to feel her faint breath. It was also clear that her inner garment was very thin, and there was a bright red cord around her fair and slender neck.
He continued to inch closer. Just before he reached her, he lowered his head, resting his forehead against her cheek. A long moment later, he slowly lifted his head, his lips tracing a line against her face as he did.
“Zhao’er.”
A low sound rolled around his throat for a moment before he swallowed it down. He lay next to her face, trying to control his breathing. He did not want to wake her.
When Xue Tingxiang woke up again, it was already broad daylight.
More importantly, there was no one beside him, and Zhao’er was not in the room either. He sat up abruptly and started putting on his clothes, a strange sense of panic rising in his heart.
As soon as he hopped off the kang, the door suddenly opened and Zhao’er came in, looking perfectly normal as she said, “You’re up? You sleep really soundly, you know? Anyway, I kept some breakfast for you.”
He followed her out of the room. The sun was shining brightly that day, almost blinding in its intensity. Heizi was lying under the eaves, wagging his tail. When the dog spotted him, Heizi got up and approached him.
Xue Tingxiang patted the dog before sluggishly brushing his teeth with a willow twig dipped in salt, and then washing his face.
By the time he was done, Zhao’er had brought his breakfast out.
Breakfast that day was steamed buns made with white flour and coarse corn porridge.
Xue Tingxiang received the porridge, took a sip, and then accepted the bun. Without going back inside, he sat on a small stool under the eaves to eat.
“Alright, you eat that. I am going to check on the vegetable garden out back,” said Zhao’er
He said nothing, still wondering what her expression had been like when she woke up that morning and noticed how she had slept. How could he have fallen asleep and missed her reaction?
Sun’shi stood inside the house, a keen eye on the situation outside. When she saw that Zhao’er had gone to the back garden, she finally emerged.
“Gou’er, ah. Did you just get up?”
“Fourth Aunt.”
“Is life very difficult at the school? Why do I feel like you have gotten thinner?” Sun’shi asked, obviously trying to get a conversation going.
“Have I?” Xue Tingxiang bit into the bun to free one hand and touched his face.
Sun’shi sighed gustily and said, “This child, ah. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You can take your time with your studies.”
It was rare for Sun’shi to speak to him in this tone, which made Xue Tingxiang a little uncomfortable. He was just wondering what this woman wanted when Sun’shi suddenly got to the point.
“Gou’er, ah. Fourth Aunt wants to talk to you about something. You see, your Fourth Uncle walks the street every day and wears out several pairs of shoes each month while making only a few extra coins. I heard from your Fourth Uncle that Zhao’er’s new business is doing quite well, so I was thinking about having her bring your Fourth Uncle in. Think about it, isn’t it better to benefit family than outsiders? We are relatives after all…”
Sun’shi licked her lips, feeling a little nervous as she continued, “Of course, aside from benefiting the family, it is also good for you and Zhao’er. Zhao’er is a grown woman now, and Jiang Wu is an unmarried youth. It is not very appropriate for the two of them to be seen coming and going all the time, but things will be different if it’s your Fourth Uncle.”
Xue Tingxiang’s eyes flickered. He asked, “Why not speak to Zhao’er, Fourth Aunt? I am not the one running the business. Therefore, I cannot make the decisions.”
“Why not?! Aren’t you the pillar of the second branch? You are the man of the family. If it is you, Zhao’er will definitely listen. It is true that Fourth Aunt has some selfish reasons, but it is also true that this can be good for you and Zhao’er too. You two children are still young and don’t understand just how frightening people’s flapping mouths can be.”
She was still speaking when Zhao’er suddenly came around the house and asked, “What do you mean by how frightening people’s mouths can be?”
Sun’shi had not expected Zhao’er to overhear her and started to laugh out of sheer awkwardness. She was about to brush the matter off when Xue Tingxiang said, “Zhao’er, Fourth Aunt wants you to bring Fourth Uncle into your business.”
“Business?” Zhao’er looked at Sun’shi, her lips pursed.
Sun’shi felt oddly embarrassed and flustered by Zhao’er’s appearance.
Fine, she freely admitted that she was wrong to speak to her nephew about Zhao’er’s business behind her back, but since she had already brought the subject up, Sun’shi had no intention of backing down. She had thought over the matter long and hard throughout the night and decided that this was too good an opportunity to let go. After all, no one could ever dislike having extra silver in hand. Moreover, just how much money was there in farming? She, too, wanted to send her Maodan to school, and everyone knew how expensive that could be. Just look at all the fuss the entire village made over sending Xue Juncai to school.
She repeated what she had said earlier to Gou’er and then stared intently at Zhao’er.
Zhao’er’s had a very solemn expression on her face. Sun’shi was starting to believe that this might not work out due to her earlier blunder when, unexpectedly, Zhao’er nodded and said, ”That’s fine. Once Fourth Uncle comes back from the fields this afternoon, tell him to come find me.”
Status-wise, Zhao’er was clearly the junior by one generation, but Sun’shi was the one bobbing her head eagerly at this off-handed command. She did not find it at all strange for Zhao’er to have Xue Qinghuai come to find her instead of the other way around.
That morning, Zhao’er had gotten up early to chop up the pig trotters that she had bought the day before.
The plan was to make braised pig trotters, but the trotters had to be blanched in hot water and rinsed a few times to remove the blood and scum. Next, oil was heated up in the wok, and some sugar was fried over a low fire until it caramelised. Then, the trotter pieces were added to the wok and fried until the caramel coated them well, followed by wine and a bit of soy sauce for colouring. After that, spring onions, ginger, garlic and other spices were added. Once the aromatics were fragrant, water would be added, enough to cover the trotters and the wok was left to simmer over low heat.
Next, she brought out some leg bones she had specially picked out at the pork vendor. She efficiently cracked the bones open with a cleaver and made a simple [1] Pork Bone Soup with some ginger, spring onion, a couple of star anise and cinnamon sticks.
[2] By then, the Braised Pork had been simmering for a while, and she transferred it into a clay pot and let it continue to stew – even though the dish was barely half-done, it was already very fragrant.
Both were time-consuming dishes. Therefore, after making sure that the fire was low and steady, she left them to simmer in their own time.
When it was almost time for lunch, Zhao’er went to the kitchen and stir-fried two vegetable dishes. She also sent some of the food, especially the meat dishes, to the main house.
It was not a lot, just enough for the old couple. Zhao’er was not the type to repay grievances with kindness, but since the family still had to stay under the same roof, use the same kitchen, and often ate together, it was unacceptable for juniors to secretly cook something behind the seniors’ backs without at least sharing some with their elders.
The four dishes had all been set out on the kang table when Zhao’er noticed that Xue Qinghuai had not come to the Second Branch’s room yet. [3] She had already seen Sun’shi drag him into the Fourth Branch’s room, so he should probably know what was going on by now. Also, knowing Fourth Uncle’s character…
In the end, Zhao’er deliberately called a greeting to Sun’shi at their window. Not long after that, Xue Qinghuai paid a visit to the Second Branch.
As soon as he walked into their room, he was already talking about how they should ‘pretend this never happened’ and that they ‘do not have to mention it again’. Clearly, he had been quarrelling with Sun’shi earlier. If Zhao’er had not called out from the window, who knows until when these two would have argued?
“Fourth Uncle, please sit down. Let’s eat first. It’s better to talk over a meal.”
“How can Fourth Uncle even have the face to eat your food? Don’t listen to your Fourth Aunt. Once silver falls into her eyes, she cannot see anything beyond it.”
“Still, do sit down and have a meal first. Can’t Gou’er and I keep Fourth Uncle here for a single meal?”
When phrased like that, Xue Qinghuai had no choice but to sit down at the kang.
Of the people within the Xue family, Zhao’er’s cooking skills were considered the best, and everyone in the Xue family knew it. However, it was rare for Zhao’er to enter the kitchen.
Zhao’er had also prepared some wine. Xue Qinghuai raised his chopsticks and picked up a piece of Braised Trotter. The trotter had been braised until the meat and tendons were tender. [4] Xue Qinghuai took a bite of the meat and a sip of the wine before saying, “Zhao’er, this trotter has been perfectly braised; it is tender but not oily.”
Zhao’er laughed as she picked up a piece of Braised Trotter for Xue Tingxiang. She wanted him to eat more. She had especially made the braised meat and soup to nourish his body.
“As Fourth Uncle said, just ignore your Fourth Aunt. How can an elder squeeze into my nephew and niece’s business the moment you two start making some money? What kind of despicable behaviour is that? Don’t mind your aunt. Women like her have long hair, but are short on wisdom and love to speak without thinking.”
Zhao’er’s lips pursed into a smile as she listened to Xue Qinghuai. Once he was done, she said, “Actually, I did not agree to this suggestion out of familial obligation. I had been considering some other avenues of business, but with only Jiang Wu and myself, we really don’t have enough people. Uncle should also know what my business is about. It may be easy to make money now, but how long can it last? Good quality used clothing is limited, but it still costs money, and the quantity is not assured. I had been thinking, wouldn’t it be better to just buy the materials ourselves and make the clothes to sell?”
“Make them ourselves?”
Zhao’er nodded. “That’s right, I did some calculations. A bolt of ordinary dyed cotton fabric costs about 300 coins and can be made into 5 garments. Therefore, each garment should cost about 50 to 60 coins to make. However, 300 coins is the market price for a single bolt of cloth. If we buy more, the cost will be cheaper by at least 30%. The more cloth we buy, the less the cost and the more profit we can make.”
This kind of simple arithmetic was something that Xue Qinghuai could also work out easily. He did some mental calculations and asked, “Once the cloth is purchased, you still need to turn it into clothes. Labour will cost money. Who would make them? What about the size? This should all be taken into consideration.”
At that, Zhao’er smiled and said, “I have not been running around outside for nothing. Nobody in the village wears closely fitting clothes anyway, and so long as they fit and do not look too bad, most people would buy them. Women’s body size fits a certain range, so we can have clothes made in two sizes within that range. For the men’s clothing, we may need a few more sizes. Still, people would be quite happy with the clothes even if it is a little large since it would be less troublesome to alter them than to make a complete outfit from scratch.
“But your clothes sell well because of the good fabric. Otherwise, the villagers won’t even consider buying ready-made clothes, since it would be cheaper to make them themselves.”
“Therefore, we must find a source of cheap but good fabric and win through quantity, making sure that our clothes are cheaper or at the same price as the cloth they would have to buy to make the clothes. We will have to do some research and consider many points, but I believe the potential to make money here is still good. The potential profits could be great. As for labour, what village woman does not know how to sew? So long as we offer money, there will be plenty of people willing to work for us.”
In fact, Zhao’er had already done her market research back when she had the women of the village make sachets with scrap fabric bought from those embroidery workshops.
Xue Qinghuai did not say anything as he sipped his wine bit by bit, lost in thought.
After a long time, he finally said, “Alright, how do you plan to do it? Your Fourth Uncle cannot offer much seed money, but I still have a few taels. Fourth Uncle still has plenty of strength in him, so I will do my best to help.”
That was exactly what Zhao’er wanted; she knew exactly where she wanted to place Xue Qinghuai in her new business.
Then, she proceeded to explain how she would collect things like grain and eggs in place of money for the clothes.
“Fourth Uncle, you should also know that I often sell vegetables in town, right? Even back then, I noticed that many of the wealthy families, as well as restaurants, taverns and other places of business that sell food, would need all kinds of ingredients. Where do you think they get their ingredients? Naturally, it is from the nearby villages. Naturally, rare ingredients would have to be brought in from the outside, but ordinary things like grains and vegetables come from the countryside.
As you know, it is not easy for a villager to make the trip to town, especially when there is a lot of work to do. It doesn’t make sense to spend half a day travelling to town just to sell a few bunches of vegetables. I had always thought that it would be great if we could collect all this produce from the villagers and sell it in town. That way, the villagers would make some money without having to do extra work. As for us, we could make a lot of money selling good vegetables and grain to rich folk in the town, maybe even to the county!”
Xue Qinghuai was a newcomer to the ready-made clothing business; therefore, he was not at all confident about supporting it. However, he was no stranger to the food-selling business.
His eyes immediately lit up, and he said, “Zhao’er ah, how does your mind work? To think you can even think of new ways to do business with the same product. Well, your Fourth Uncle doesn’t understand the ready-made clothing business, but you can trust Fourth Uncle with the food-selling side of things!”
Zhao’er laughed, “Fourth Uncle also thinks this is a good business? We don’t have much seed money now, so we cannot do the ready-made clothing yet. Let us start slow for now and save money before making a big move.”
After that, the two of them continued talking about additional details as they ate. However, since their most important business partner was not at the table, they decided to continue their talk later in the evening, after calling Jiang Wu over.
Xue Tingxiang had not expected this outcome when he tried to insert someone between Zhao’er and Jiang Wu. To think that an intense business discussion would suddenly develop in their room.
It looked like certain things were bound to follow their destined path. His pursuit of his studies was one, and, just like in the dream, Zhao’er was pursuing the path of a merchant.
However, unlike the version of him in the dream, that stubborn, domineering, sensitive, and uncompromising brute who refused to compromise or tolerate Zhao’er’s desire to do business, who was fearful of her coming into contact with Jiang Wu, fearful of the damage to his reputation and dignity at people finding out about his mercantile wife… Xue Tingxiang was determined to be more tactful in this life. He would exercise restraint and be more open-minded. Well, this was possible because of his different mindset after having experienced that dream…
Zhao’er might love money, but what she loved even more was the fun and excitement of making money.
He could see the sparkle in her eyes as she talked about the details of this new business and her many plans to overcome various obstacles. At that moment, she was as dazzling as the stars in the sky and just as captivating.
He recalled the most intense argument they had in that dream.
To prevent Hong’er from having the stigma of a mercantile mother, Zhao’er had chosen to retreat from public life. However, she eventually grew melancholic and unhappy. Even though he tried his best to cheer her up, it was to no avail. Moreover, he was still paranoid about her thinking about Jiang Wu. In fact, he started to suspect whether her melancholy was due to her missing that person. That was the time he was preparing to go to the Capital to participate in the Imperial Examination. He left for the Capital, not knowing that they were to be parted forever.
That parting was the last time he saw her, as life and death separated them. The last image he had of her was that melancholic figure that would haunt his nightmares forever, night after night.
Perhaps, he should not have stifled her happiness for societal expectations and his ridiculous pride.
[Gumihou: Yeah, don’t do that, man]
[1] It actually said 炖, but you seriously can’t 炖 pork bones. ‘Stewed Pork Leg Bones’ don’t exist.
Especially with the lack of wine, soy sauce, sugar, potatoes, tomatoes or anything that would reduce nicely into a gravy-like consistency. Also, considering that this is Ming-ish era China, the pork bones are probably really clean of meat, with only a bit of cartilage and bone marrow being the only thing left to nibble on.
With pork bone, the best you can get is a milky 汤 or broth/soup.
You can, however, stew pork neck.
[2] Let’s braise the meat in the clay pot instead. It doesn’t matter where you boil the pork leg bones; it won’t turn into a stew.
Unless it’s a magic stew pot.
But that’s a completely different genre thing
[3] Adjusted the fluctuating IQ issue
[4] Adjusted food description and eating details
Because, unlike in Chinese where you can shove a string of words 筷子焖得又软又烂的蹄髈，又咂了口酒 together and still have it be poetic and coherent, English descriptions had to take particles and articles into consideration.
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