Around the Double Ninth Festival, Zheng Fan returned from Quzhou and distributed festival gifts to a total of eight people in the shop, including himself.
It was not a lavish haul. Shao Shuyi received ten guan in paper currency, two dou of rice, one liang of refined salt, and several dried salt fish, all of which he hauled over to his newly rented riverside courtyard.
Indeed, this residence sat right beside the river. To the west rose a low knoll heaped up by persons unknown; climbing to its top gave a sweeping view of both the Lou River and the Yangtze.
Settled in a yard like this, life was truly comfortable.
At times, Shao Shuyi felt fortunate to be a transmigrator, but at other times he almost resented the identity. For no other reason than that he knew too much.
Shaking his head, he walked back to the rear bedroom and neatly stowed his various provisions.
The residence contained more than one bedroom, yet together they could furnish only a single bed and a battered tea table.
Shao Shuyi placed the table beside the bed and propped his bronze hand cannon against the wall atop it. The various jars and crocks containing gunpowder and supplies were tucked into the corner beneath the table for easy access at a moment's notice.
When no one was looking, he even gave the storied weapon a quick bow. It was purely for peace of mind, praying that it would not burst its barrel at a critical juncture.
The bedding had been a gift from Zheng Fan, neither brand-new nor worn out. Wang Huadu had carried it, along with a few dining utensils, over two li on his back to bring it here.
"This place is far better than the old one," Shao Shuyi said with a sigh of satisfaction.
Sitting on a chair that was missing a leg, Yu Yuan quietly counted bank notes. After a moment, he looked up and said, "Brother Shao, rent is paid through the end of the first month of next year. After buying a few more daily utensils, we still have thirty-five guan and eight hundred and twenty wen left. In addition, there are eight dou of rice and three liang of—"
"That's enough." Shao Shuyi waved a hand. "It's just a few dozen guan in paper notes. You can count them until flowers bloom, and it won't add a single coin."
Saying this, he seemed to have forgotten how pinched for cash he had been six months ago, indulging in a touch of bravado.
"Paper currency loses value by the day; we'd best spend it as soon as we can." Shao Shuyi leaned back on the bed and drawled, "Go cook us dinner."
"Brother Shao, aren't you going back to the hostel to eat?" Yu Yuan asked.
"What kind of question is that?" Shao Shuyi replied. "Fish and meat every single day gets greasy. Tonight I just want some pickled vegetables and rice porridge. Hurry up, I'm starving."
"Right, on it." Yu Yuan nimbly shoved the money into a wooden box.
Just then, Wang Huadu walked into the courtyard carrying a hefty bundle on his back and bellowed, "Xiaohu, which room did you save for me?"
"Take your pick in the front yard!" Shao Shuyi shouted back, rising to step outside.
Behind Wang Huadu followed a young woman and a little girl of only four or five.
Catching sight of Shao Shuyi, the woman bowed her head in greeting, while the little girl blinked her round eyes up at him.
"And this is...?" Shao Shuyi asked with hesitation.
Wang Huadu winked and grimaced before mumbling evasively, "Let them stay here for now. Their old place is on the verge of collapsing. Su Niang is a hard worker; she hires out to wealthy families during the day and sews at night. Her days are... quite rough."
With that, he pointed at the little girl. "She—"
"Daddy," the little girl chirped in a crisp voice.
Wang Huadu's eyes went wide as saucers, and he snapped, "Who told you to call me Daddy?"
The girl shrank in fright and hid behind her mother.
The woman shot Wang Huadu a glare.
Wang Huadu's bluster instantly deflated, and he muttered sullenly, "I've lived like a muddlehead since I was small, and I'm still this damn mess now that I'm grown. Somehow I wound up with a daughter out of nowhere."
"Haha." The first to burst out laughing was actually Yu Yuan.
Seeing this, Wang Huadu immediately shoved the bundle into Yu Yuan's arms. "Laugh, laugh your head off! Go on, pick a room for me and spread out the bedding."
"Understood," Yu Yuan replied meekly.
The woman hurried forward, her face flushed red as she took back the bundle, then led her daughter away by the hand to choose a room for themselves.
"You got off easy this time," Wang Huadu remarked, clapping Yu Yuan on the shoulder. "What are you standing around staring for? Go cook dinner, I'm starving."
Ordered to cook by two people in a row, Yu Yuan could only resign himself. With his gentle temperament, he held his tongue and trotted off toward the riverbank to wash the rice.
"I saw someone building a large estate just to the west earlier. Who is it?" Wang Huadu asked, pulling his gaze away from Yu Yuan.
"I don't know either," Shao Shuyi said. "I heard they're outsiders planning to settle here permanently. They bought up that property, and figuring it was too small, they're expanding it further."
"Filthy rich," Wang Huadu scoffed with a curl of his lip.
"In a few days, I'll take you to meet even richer people," Shao Shuyi said with a chuckle.
"Who? Should I bring weapons?" Wang Huadu asked, his spirits instantly perking up.
"It's the sacrificial ceremony for the Heavenly Consort. Don't cause trouble. The elder Officer Zheng will be there too," Shao Shuyi said helplessly.
"Then forget it." Wang Huadu lost interest at once. Then, remembering something, he glanced around and lowered his voice. "Xiaohu, let's get our hands on a boat as soon as possible so we can do some business."
Shao Shuyi knew full well what kind of "business" he meant, but could not be bothered to elaborate. He merely asked, "In a rush to provide for a family?"
Wang Huadu froze, then bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Xiaohu, where is your head at? I'm completely on my own; where would I get a family? Don't listen to nonsense—I'm not even married!"
"Fine, fine, whatever you say." Shao Shuyi couldn't be bothered to argue. "There's no rush for a boat; our funds are too tight. Let's wait until next spring, and we can talk things over with Baijianu then."
Wang Huadu nodded and urged, "We must buy one, mind you."
"Yes, I know," Shao Shuyi agreed, feeling somewhat helpless.
How had things ended up like this, constantly scheming to buy secondhand bows and secondhand boats, pinching every copper? It was utterly shabby. Why hadn't heaven let him transmigrate into an emperor? At the very least, being the son of Zheng Yonghe, Hao Tianlin, or Shen Wansan would have done nicely.
Evening glow blanketed the western sky as ribbons of kitchen smoke curled upward. The riverside courtyard welcomed a tranquil night, almost as though peace reigned across the realm.
***
On the tenth of the ninth month, Cheng Ji arrived as promised. He supervised Shao Shuyi's archery practice for half a day, correcting several subtle flaws.
In the afternoon, he watched Shao Shuyi wield the ring-pommel saber.
Shao had taken up the saber under Liang Tai's instruction, but being new to it, his form was rather clumsy. Unable to watch any longer, Cheng Ji stepped forward to instruct him personally, guiding his hands through the movements.
As for purchasing a bow and arrows, Cheng Ji mentioned that someone was willing to sell a used bow with thirty arrows included, and he could act as guarantor. However, if the balance was paid off over three months, the price would be ninety guan.
Shao Shuyi had no objections. On the spot, he counted out thirty-five guan in paper money for Cheng Ji: thirty guan as the down payment on the bow, and an extra five guan that left Cheng Ji thoroughly baffled, something Shao referred to as a "guarantee fee."
Over the next few days, Shao Shuyi and the others worked during the day and slept at the riverside courtyard by night. They shot the breeze, honed their skills, or wrote, living quite comfortably.
Yu Yuan had once worried whether someone might seek revenge, but glancing at the nearby construction site to the west—where torches burned bright even at night and over a hundred men were lodged—he held his tongue.
On the fifteenth of the ninth month, Shao Shuyi walked several li with Wang Huadu to Tianfei Palace in Liujiagang to attend the sacrificial ceremony in honor of the Heavenly Consort.
Zheng Fan waved to them from a distance.
Shao Shuyi hurried over to salute him. "Officer."
Wang Huadu bowed as well.
Zheng Fan did not look at him, addressing only Shao Shuyi: "Good lad, hiding out in the suburbs to live. Aren't you afraid the Lake Tai water bandits will come slit your throat?"
Resting his hand on the hilt of his saber, Liang Tai followed closely behind Zheng Fan and nodded to Shao Shuyi in greeting.
"Didn't you say, Officer, that after the incident, the Long Bridge naval garrison began suppressing the bandits?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Zheng Fan let out a hearty laugh. "With that bunch of good-for-nothings at Long Bridge, what bandits could they possibly suppress? Still, to be fair—the Lake Tai bandits are just as useless. Having lost over a hundred killed and wounded, they're in utter disarray, scattered and hiding out."
At that point, his tone shifted, and he pointed not far ahead. "Aren't you afraid Sun Chuan might make a move on you?"
Shao Shuyi followed his finger, only to see that squat, round dumpling of a man, Sun Chuan, smiling pleasantly as he escorted a woman by the arm. He greeted people from time to time, projecting an aura of broad connections and considerable influence.
Trailing behind the couple was a youth of thirteen or fourteen, who walked with his head lowered, painfully shy.
Whenever the woman turned to look at him, the boy would lift his head and force a polite smile to return greetings, only to quickly drop his chin again and steal glances around him.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Shao Shuyi felt he was truly "hungry"—he actually thought the woman in her early thirties looked quite appealing, carrying herself with an air of elegance. He was currently poor as a ghost; if that woman were willing to hand over the cargo of three ships to him—
*No! I can't sink that low.*
Shao Shuyi gave himself an inward check, quietly withdrew his gaze, and said to Zheng Fan, "Officer, Squire Sun has immense wealth and extensive influence; dealing with me would naturally be child's play. But why would he bother?"
"What do you mean?" Zheng Fan asked with surprise.
"To him, the Zheng Clan Celadon Shop was merely a single business venture. Losing it certainly stings, but it doesn't break his bones," Shao Shuyi said. "Besides, I'm just a worthless life; is it worth his trouble? If he failed to kill me in one stroke, given how often he frequents the docks, a single blast from a hand cannon a few paces away would drop him dead. To whom would he take his grievances then?"
"You're no gentle soul, lad," Zheng Fan laughed. "At fifteen, you already have two or three lives on your hands. That's truly rare. If you weren't still of some use, Thirteenth Brother would want to crush you even more than Sun Chuan does."
*Zheng Song doesn't like the sight of me?* Shao Shuyi could only offer an awkward, goofy grin.
If driven by no other choice, would he ever want to bare his fangs? A fierce, biting dog makes even its master uneasy.
Finishing his grin, he recalled something and asked in a probing tone, "Officer, if I were to acquire a seagoing ship in the future, would it be requisitioned for grain transport?"
"Oh? Quite the ambition you have," Zheng Fan remarked in astonishment. "You're registered as a boat household; having a ship is only natural, and having it requisitioned is just as natural."
Having said that, Zheng Fan seemed to catch his drift and chuckled. "Clever lad, your mind is sharp. But you ought to know why people go to great lengths to fraudulently register their vessels under others' names. They have no choice; it's a losing enterprise. In times like these, owning a ship is treated like a crime—a crime that brings financial ruin and tears families apart. Have you truly thought this through?"
Shao Shuyi gave a dry chuckle. "The Zheng clan is an eminent family in the Transport Office. Might they offer some protection?"
As the saying went, a distant prefect was no match for an immediate supervisor. Even if officials from Kunshan Zhou or the Maritime Trade Supervisorate put in a word to help someone evade corvée grain-transport duty, it might not accomplish much; it all depended on whether the right ties were in place. The Transport Office was entirely different: they were the ones who compiled the roster of requisitioned boat households, wielding the power of life and death.
"Why should we help you?" Zheng Fan cast an annoyed look at him. "The Old Minister wouldn't trouble himself with such trifles. And if you want the Third Young Master to step in, on what grounds? He isn't an easy man to persuade."
"True enough." Shao Shuyi nodded, temporarily setting the notion aside.
"Rongfu is here. Come over with me to pay our respects," Zheng Fan said, giving Shao Shuyi a light tug.
"Yes." Shao Shuyi fell half a pace behind, taking in his surroundings as they walked.
Facing them stood two stone pillars, each inscribed with a line of a couplet:
*May the colossi long stand firm, for the Motherly Virtue matches the depth of the broad earth;*
*May the whale-tide forever calm, as divine mercy shades the farthest reach of sea and sky.*
Behind the pillars stood the divine statue of the Heavenly Consort, flanked on both sides by guardian deities whose identities he did not recognize.
An altar table had already been laid out before the statue, but the formal ceremony had not yet begun, as the auspicious hour had not arrived.
Chiliarchs, sailing masters, ship superintendents, merchants, and officials crowded the hall together, dozens of men in all, chatting and laughing amiably.
Without question, this was a magnificent grand gathering of the sea, a sight seldom seen in inland regions.
"Rongfu." Zheng Fan parted the crowd and smiled in greeting upon reaching Shen Rong.
"Yifang." Shen Rong cupped his hands.
Three people accompanied him: besides his son, Shen Sen, there was the married couple, Lu Zhonghe and Lady Shen.
Shao Shuyi's attention sharpened. He shot an unobtrusive glance at Lady Shen, who appeared poised, dignified, and virtuous, but he did not dare look too long, quickly shifting his gaze to Lu Zhonghe.
That fellow Lu Zhonghe was actually looking right at him!
Feeling a twinge of guilt, Shao Shuyi lowered his eyes and focused inward, his expression solemn.
Yet Lu Zhonghe clearly had no intention of letting him off. He took two unhurried steps closer, eyed Shao Shuyi up and down, and spoke in an oily, sarcastic tone, "I hear Accountant Shao comes from a boat household, but this must be your first time attending the sacrificial ceremony for the Heavenly Consort, is it not?"
*Hmm?* Shao Shuyi looked up at Lu Zhonghe.
*Is he implying that I'm of lowly status and never had the right to attend such a ceremony before?*
"Master Lu has sharp eyes. This is indeed my first time standing in the presence of so many noble gentlemen before Tianfei Palace," Shao Shuyi said evenly. "In past years, our prayers were mostly offered by the banks of the Zhangjing River, facing the bow of our family's battered old boat. There were no carved stone pillars or couplets, no bells and drums or refined music, and often not even enough offerings could be gathered due to lean harvests. Yet my late father often said that the Heavenly Consort's mercy protects all who seek their living on the sea, without distinction between high and low. Thus, wherever and whenever one prays, so long as the heart is sincere, the devotion is accepted."
Pausing briefly, he continued, "Though Master Lu has never braved the rivers and seas, having studied the classics from an early age, you surely grasp my meaning."
Lu Zhonghe choked on his words, at a loss for a reply.
Shao Shuyi's remarks had been spoken quite clearly. Not far away, two ship superintendents overheard him and, moved by his words, turned their eyes toward them.
Lady Shen gave a soft cough and led Lu Zhonghe away by the sleeve.
Shao Shuyi smiled to himself. *A greenhorn dares pick a fight with me? Stuffed so full of the sages' texts that your brain has turned to mush?*
Just then, the refined ritual music swelled, signaling that the ceremony was about to commence.
Chapter 41