Confirmation

Over the next few days, Shao Shuyi kept a very low profile in the celadon shop. Perhaps Wang Huadu's words had made an impact, for he seemed to sense that something was amiss. Wang Sheng had vanished once more, but Wu Youcai and Zhang Neng were still around. Actions of theirs that had once seemed ordinary now carried a different implication in Shao Shuyi's eyes. On the final day of the sixth month, he returned home to Zhangjing as usual. Of the four dou of coarse round-grain rice, he gave half to Wang Huadu and one dou five sheng to Cheng Ji as tuition. The remaining five sheng went toward meals for them all—though it was hardly enough, so Shao Shuyi took out five guan in paper money to buy more. He earned quite a bit now, yet he spent virtually all of it, a classic case of living paycheck to paycheck. He thought nothing of it. Money was only money when spent; unspent, it was merely scrap paper. In a world steadily falling apart, honing skills and forging friendships were what truly mattered, far better than being a miser. Take the last incident: Wang Huadu had taken the initiative to propose tying up the two men inquiring about him under the cover of night. He had been thoroughly proactive, not fearing consequences in the least. Making a friend like this was well worth it. Of course, Shao Shuyi had not agreed to it. For one thing, he worried about snatching the wrong people; for another, he feared Wang Huadu could not handle the old-and-young pair on his own, which would only provoke a disaster beyond salvage. Today, upon returning home, before they even began martial practice, Wang Huadu pulled him aside to bring up the matter again. "Those two have left," Wang Huadu said. "We should have tied them up back then." Hearing this, Shao Shuyi thought to himself that Wang Huadu was truly lawless. He would string people up and beat confessions out of them at the drop of a hat—a genuinely ruthless streak completely at odds with his grinning, cynical exterior. "With those meager skills of yours, could you even take them down? There were two of them." Shao Shuyi gave him a doubtful look. "Tell me exactly what happened first. Every detail." Wang Huadu assented. After some questioning, Shao Shuyi finally learned that the elder and younger man had lingered around the village for a few days, gleaned a bit of information, and left three days ago. Just as Wang Huadu had said last time, they had mostly inquired into Shao Shuyi's family situation. Wang Huadu had also pried into things next door and obtained much the same news, except for one additional detail: they had asked whether Shao Shuyi had any tax arrears. Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi furrowed his brows. "Could they be planning to report me to the authorities as a tax-defaulting absconder and have the government dispatch men to arrest me?" "That is almost certainly it, though it might not be that simple," Wang Huadu said. Shao Shuyi nodded slightly. "Are we training or not?" As Shao and Wang muttered between themselves, Cheng Ji, who had just finished adjusting his infantry bow, grew displeased and called out loudly. "Coming, coming!" Shao Shuyi answered, silently noting that Cheng Ji was truly a man of principle. Having taken the payment, he taught earnestly and would not permit any slacking off. His conduct was upright; pity he sat aboard a ship destined to sink. Soon, the crack of bowstrings resounded across the open clearing as a new round of practice commenced. *** At noon, Yu Yuan hurried over and shared a meal with them. He was quite loyal and generous. From somewhere unknown, he had brought—or rather, filched—half a cured chicken, which Shao Shuyi and the others stewed haphazardly with wild vegetables, leaving their mouths slick with savory fat. Once lunch was finished, Wang Huadu made an excuse to pull Yu Yuan over to a branch of the inlet near the Shao family's courtyard. "I hear your elder brother serves as a clerk in the prefectural office?" Wang Huadu asked. "Not the prefectural office. He is a clerk-interpreter in the Transport Office," Yu Yuan replied. Wang Huadu froze for a second. "Not the prefecture? That makes things tricky." "What are you trying to do?" Yu Yuan asked, perplexed. "Are you bold enough?" Wang Huadu asked. "You..." Yu Yuan was taken aback and instinctively stepped half a pace back. Wang Huadu looked somewhat disappointed and cast him a disdainful glance. "Never mind. A scholar like you really shouldn't get his hands dirty." Stung by the provocation, Yu Yuan's face flushed. "Tell me what it is first! I won't do anything that goes against heaven and reason." A flicker of approval showed in Wang Huadu's eyes, and he explained his thoughts in a low voice. Yu Yuan jumped in fright at what he heard, staring at Wang Huadu in astonishment. Wang Huadu looked down on him again, sneering, "What, does Master Yu think I resort to bloodshed at every turn, that I'm no decent sort, and want to cut ties with me? Fair enough. We were never on the same path anyway." Yu Yuan's face reddened further, and he flared with irritation. "What kind of talk is that? I only think we shouldn't be reckless. One must plan carefully before acting." Wang Huadu stared at him for a moment, then suddenly grinned, baring a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Good! That's just what I was waiting to hear." He glanced left and right, then lowered his voice. "I'm not asking you to kidnap anyone, nor to lift a finger. All you need to do is ask your brother to check the background of those two men—to see if they are prefectural bailiffs or agents dispatched by the lizheng. A clerk-interpreter in the Transport Office might not oversee criminal matters, but with official dispatches passing back and forth and warrants being issued, he can catch wind of things. It's not so simple for the prefecture to arrest a boat household; doing so without going through the Transport Office is impossible." Yu Yuan was stunned, then realization dawned on him, his brow furrowing deeply. "You fear... fear they want to seize Xiaohu?" "Nonsense, of course!" Wang Huadu spat. "No sooner did Xiaohu offend someone at the shop than people showed up at his door asking about his household registry and tax arrears. Don't you see through that yet? They want to use official channels to throw him into prison! Once he's locked up, no matter how true his ledgers are, no one will believe them." A chill ran through Yu Yuan's heart. He did not care much for Confucian classics, but he had read plenty of miscellaneous books. He knew that reporting a tax-defaulting absconder required only a single written complaint from neighbors for bailiffs to arrest a man without so much as a trial. "Five guan in baochao." Wang Huadu drew a crumpled wad of paper notes from his bosom and shoved them into Yu Yuan's hands. "If your brother is willing to look into it, this money is his. If not, I'll find another way—but there isn't much time left. At the latest, I need word by the night after tomorrow." Yu Yuan clutched the stack of notes, his palm sweating slightly. He knew that what Brother Shao lacked most right now was not money, but time. "Fine!" Yu Yuan took a deep breath, tucked the baochao into his sleeve, and walked away with resolve on his face. Wang Huadu watched his retreating figure and cursed under his breath, "Scholars are unreliable after all, but better than nothing." He looked up at the sky. Dark clouds hung low, threatening rain. This wretched weather was well-suited for underhanded deeds. Returning quietly behind the house, he picked up the anchor-axe Cheng Ji had brought and began practicing in proper form. Of all weapons, he favored this one alone. On the battlefield, one strike silenced an enemy completely—splendid beyond words. *** Shao Shuyi departed around dusk. Before leaving, he left a copy of Key Points on the Audit of the Celadon Shop's General Inflows and Outflows for the Past Half-Year at home, instructing Wang Huadu to keep it safe. He had written it whenever he found spare moments, and it was of paramount importance. Cheng Ji did not return to camp; instead, he went to his home near the military stockade to spend the night with his wife, children, and elderly kin. Disciplined and law-abiding though he was, the world was what it was, and morale was in decline everywhere. He could not remain unaffected; over time, slipping away to go home like this had become a regular habit, one he even took for granted. On the third of the seventh month, three days after wages were paid, Liujiagang was stiflingly humid. At noon, Shao Shuyi stepped outside for a look, only to find the outdoors no cooler than inside. A thick, clammy heat hung everywhere, as if heaven and earth were trapped in a giant steamer—miserable in the extreme. After standing there for just a brief moment, he felt a layer of fine, clammy sweat break out all over his body, so he retreated behind the counter. Over the whole morning, they had sold only five or six pieces of porcelain, bringing in four guan and five hundred wen. With few accounts to enter, Shao Shuyi sat in his chair, dozing with eyes half-closed as he ran through the key points of archery technique, reflecting on his posture, rhythm, and flaws. Cheng Ji had told him his natural aptitude was decent, but he had started practicing rather late. Children from military families typically drew small bows at age six or seven; as they grew older, they built up strength, drew heavy war bows, and accumulated skill bit by bit. They would also hunt often, honing their technique in conditions akin to actual combat and correcting flaws until achieving mastery. Shao Shuyi had not touched a bow until he was fifteen, which was indeed late. Cheng Ji said that were it not for his good talent, he would never have had a chance in this lifetime to become a first-rate archer. Shao Shuyi did not care much about that. Most soldiers in the various rebel armies of the late Yuan dynasty came from peasant stock. Had they ever touched bows and arrows before? Seldom, if ever. Many did not even possess the physique to draw a heavy bow, having suffered from childhood malnutrition and poor development. But in truth, it did not matter. In large-scale pitched battles between formations, what was practiced was "blanketing firepower." While elite archers were undeniably precious, an army could fight just as well without them. Besides, I'm only doing this for self-defense, not to become some valiant general. Why worry about all that? At this thought, his mind settled, and his head began nodding as sleep crept over him, until the shishu Cao Tong walked over and whispered, "Accountant, someone is here to see you." Shao Shuyi woke up and looked up, only to see Wang Huadu. He thanked Cao Tong, gestured to Wang Huadu, and rose to head toward the rear courtyard. Cao Tong stood where he was, watching the two figures depart. After a moment's hesitation, he turned and walked in another direction. "Did you set out early in the morning?" Shao Shuyi brought out two cold meat flatbreads and said, "Eat first." "I set out in the dead of night," Wang Huadu said. "How else could I get here so quickly?" "You can certainly run," Shao Shuyi said, somewhat speechless. "What's wrong with taking a boat? It's not like you lack the money." "I was born into a postal courier household," Wang Huadu laughed. "If I couldn't run, how could I belong to a courier household? I wouldn't even be able to deliver letters." With that, he grabbed the two meat flatbreads and wolfed them down. "I knew you'd be coming today, so I got tea ready." Shao Shuyi poured a bowl of tea that had already cooled and pushed it toward Wang Huadu. "Brewed from Palace Commander Fan tea." "What? Palace Commander Fan tea?" Wang Huadu swallowed a bite of flatbread in surprise. "Just loose-leaf tea," Shao Shuyi said, taking a seat across from him. He meant that the superior grades of Palace Commander Fan tea were made into tea cakes, which buyers typically boiled with various condiments. The remaining middle-and-low grades were processed into loose tea, steeped simply in boiling water—very close to modern tea-drinking habits. Brewing tea with boiling water was a major innovation in the history of tea during the Yuan dynasty, though it was not yet widespread and not considered particularly "high-class." "Xiaohu, just for these full meals of yours, with meat, fish, and tea, I'll fight them to the bitter end," Wang Huadu declared as he stuffed his face. Shao Shuyi was pouring tea for himself; his hand paused at those words. Yet he did not press, patiently waiting for Wang Huadu to finish eating. Wang Huadu, lacking such patience, pressed on: "After lunch that day, I went out of my way to speak with Master Yu..." Shao Shuyi listened in silence. Only when Wang Huadu finished did his expression finally shift.