Lin Shaocong was furious that He Shengjun had sent Zhang Laifu to guard the old manor.
After Lin Shaocong scolded him a few times, He Shengjun grew displeased as well. "Young Master, you told me to find him a livelihood—not at our family's main manor, not too close to it, and not letting him wander the streets. Do you think a place like that is easy to find?
"Now that I found him one, you think it isn't suitable. Aren't you making my job too difficult?"
Lin Shaocong raged, "I told you to find him work, not send him to his death! Over the years, not a single person who spent the night in that old manor ever walked out on their own two feet! Gone without a trace, dead or alive! Aren't you just sending him to his grave?"
"He deserved to die in the first place!" He Shengjun's tone hardened. "Young Master, you're a man destined for great things. Just when are you going to cure yourself of this softhearted weakness? You know in your own heart what a massive liability this man is. If you hadn't forbidden it beforehand, I would have killed him with my own hands!"
Lin Shaocong pursed his lips and said nothing.
Realizing his voice had risen, He Shengjun softened his tone and continued, "Young Master, in a Lin family this big, who else can you trust? Do you still not have faith in how I handle things? I know you won't kill someone who shared hardship with you. Sending him to the old manor doesn't count as killing him. If he can't survive the night, that's just his own bad luck—how could anyone blame us?"
Lin Shaocong sighed and fell silent.
It was not that he had nothing to say, but that there was no way to say it.
He Shengjun had struck right at the heart of the matter: in the entire Lin family, He Shengjun was the only one who could truly get things done for Lin Shaocong.
In other words, no matter what He Shengjun did or how it turned out, Lin Shaocong had no choice but to accept it.
***
Zhang Laifu boiled some cabbage and white rice for himself, ate his fill, and hoisted a rolled-up straw mat from the storeroom, ready to sleep.
He certainly wouldn't stay in the servants' quarters in the front courtyard. Those buildings were terribly constructed and looked ready to collapse at any moment.
The structures in the rear courtyard were somewhat sturdier, but the layout was tricky. A rotten swing set threatened to crush anyone if it fell, and the entire yard was overgrown with weeds that completely obscured the paths. Going out to the latrine in the middle of the night could easily lead to tumbling into the pond.
The main house was the most solid of all. Outside was a reception hall, and inside was a bedchamber. The roof tiles over the bedchamber were still mostly intact, enough to keep out the wind and snow.
The only inconvenience was a water cart blocking the entrance. That was no problem, though—he could just move it aside.
Zhang Laifu lifted the two handles of the single-wheeled cart. Before the wheel even turned, the two water tanks on top began clattering and rattling loudly.
Why did this water cart make such a racket?
Then again, a racket might not be a bad thing.
Zhang Laifu left the water cart right in the doorway.
If someone tried to enter, they would inevitably bump into it, and he would hear it immediately. It was better than an alarm.
Zhang Laifu settled down in the inner room. He Shengjun had prepared several padded cotton jackets for him. They were bought several sizes too large and did not fit him, but they served perfectly as quilts, wrapping him up tightly and keeping him warm.
Tomorrow, Zhang Laifu planned to head over to Zhuzi Street to repay the silver dollar he owed Li Yunsheng. He would add another silver dollar as an apology.
He would add yet another silver dollar to pay for the tuition he owed.
Another silver dollar on top of that to see if he could learn more about how to open the bowl.
And one more to ask where he could obtain craft essence.
Would He Shengjun come check on him tomorrow?
Probably not.
The fact that this place had decayed to such a state proved that the Lin family cared very little about this manor. At dozens of li for a round trip, he definitely wouldn't bother making the journey...
Night had completely fallen, though it was probably only eight or nine o'clock. Zhang Laifu tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so he pulled out the white hat and examined it closely.
On the surface, there was nothing extraordinary about it. Li Yunsheng had once said that when a bowl encountered the right soil, it would resonate. What could that suitable soil be?
Could it just be ordinary dirt?
Zhang Laifu gathered some soil and sand from the courtyard and put it into the hat. After waiting for quite a while, the hat showed no reaction whatsoever.
It probably wasn't sand or dirt.
Clothes and hats were often mentioned together in the same breath. What about testing clothing?
Zhang Laifu went to the women's quarters in the rear courtyard to find a pair of scissors, snipped off a piece of his filthy long gown, and put it inside the hat.
Still no resonance.
Li Yunsheng had said that seemingly unrelated things could also serve as soil. Since he had nothing else to do anyway, Zhang Laifu decided to see what else in the courtyard he could try.
He went to the cellar, plucked a cabbage leaf, and put it in the hat. No reaction.
He pulled off a radish green. Still no reaction.
He put in a few grains of rice. It still didn't work.
Li Yunsheng seemed to have mentioned iron shavings, wood shavings, and the like.
The pillars under the eaves were made of wood. Zhang Laifu took a kitchen knife and was about to scrape off some shavings, but a second thought stopped him. He was here as a caretaker; carving wood directly off the building hardly seemed appropriate.
The water cart was made of wood. Even if the old manor were ever renovated, that water cart would certainly be useless. Knife in hand, Zhang Laifu scraped the side of the wooden tank twice.
*Clatter, clang, bang!*
Not only did the tank make an enormous din, but the wood was also exceptionally hard. Zhang Laifu scraped for a long time until the blade's edge rolled, yet he only managed to scrape off a tiny pinch of wood shavings.
He placed the shavings into the bowler hat and waited for a long time. There was no movement.
Those shavings had not been easy to come by, so Zhang Laifu could not bear to throw them away. He tucked them into his pocket, searched the rear courtyard for some needle and thread, and placed them into the hat. Still no reaction.
After a full circuit through the front courtyard, rear courtyard, and side courtyards, the hat remained unchanged.
Returning to the central courtyard, Zhang Laifu was ready to give up. But as he passed the doorway of the side room east of the main hall, the hat seemed to twitch in his hand.
Why did it move? Was there suitable soil here?
Flanking the main hall of the central courtyard were two side rooms. The western side room was a study, and the eastern one was an ancestral shrine.
The ancestral shrine was meant for venerating the ancestral spirit tablets. Why would this bowler hat react to the shrine?
*Creak—*
Zhang Laifu pushed open the door to the ancestral shrine. The moment one foot crossed the threshold, the bowler hat in his hand moved again.
This time, the movement was far more pronounced. Zhang Laifu watched with his own eyes as the brim curled upward.
Such a strong reaction sparked a bold guess in Zhang Laifu's mind.
This bowler hat had likely been crafted by an ancestor of the Lin family, or else it shared a deep history with one of them.
Inside this ancestral shrine, there had to be a specific object capable of awakening it.
Where could that object be?
Pinching the brim, Zhang Laifu carefully tested his way around the ancestral shrine.
The spirit tablets had long been cleared out, leaving behind only a pile of clutter and an offering table.
The table was thick with dust—a very fine, powdery layer.
Zhang Laifu gently wiped a bit of dust from the table, and the hat began to tremble violently.
The hat had such a powerful reaction to this table?
Perhaps someone had kept the hat on this table for years in the past, or perhaps the table and the hat had belonged to the same master.
Or, even more directly: this table was the most suitable soil for this hat!
But how could a table become soil?
How could a table this large ever fit into the hat?
Zhang Laifu scraped off some wood shavings from the table and put them into the hat, but the hat showed no change.
What about chopping off a leg and placing it inside?
Was there any fundamental difference between a table leg and wood shavings?
Was there another way?
After turning it over in his mind, Zhang Laifu struck upon a method to turn the table into soil.
Burn the table into ash, put the ash into the hat—wouldn't that make it soil?
A table wasn't worth much; he could always compensate the Lin family with a new one. Still, burning it inside the ancestral shrine was out of the question—he might set the whole building on fire. He would have to burn it out in the courtyard.
"Ancestors of the Lin family, please take no offense. I only came here for work and have no quarrel with you. I'm just borrowing your family's table. Once this is done, I'll pay out of my own pocket to buy a new table and put it back in the ancestral shrine."
Just as Zhang Laifu moved to lift the table, something suddenly occurred to him.
Back on Fangpai Mountain, when Chief Yuan Kuilong had wanted to open a bowl on the spot, Old Song had mentioned that once a bowl was opened, it could not be stopped. One had to find a good seed before opening the bowl.
Zhang Laifu had no seed on hand right now. If he succeeded in opening the bowl with nothing to plant in it, wouldn't the bowl be ruined?
Where could he obtain craft essence?
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
A sudden burst of knocking echoed from the front courtyard.
The Lin family's old manor was enormous, with two courtyards separating the front gate from the main house. Under ordinary circumstances, knocking would be completely inaudible here.
Yet Zhang Laifu could hear it clearly now, proving that the person was pounding with immense force—enough to smash down the door panels.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
In the dead of night, in a desolate mountain manor, who could possibly be knocking at this hour?
Had He Shengjun come?
Checking on him right after leaving?
Zhang Laifu was about to step out of the ancestral shrine when he suddenly heard a sound outside.
*Clatter, clang, bang!*
Someone had bumped into the old water cart.
Touching the water cart meant someone had already reached the entrance of the main house.
Only a moment ago, they were outside the manor, and now they were at the front door. This person moved terrifyingly fast!
Chapter 21