Arrogance and Condescension

"Oh. Now that the caravan is back from the trading run, customary practice is to pay out wages this afternoon, or by tomorrow at the latest. The men are all waiting for their money so they can head home. Would you sign off on it?" "Also, tomorrow is the delivery date for this batch of burrow spider silk. The Baoshu merchant is getting a bit impatient, so would you..." In the past, Master Gan had always signed off on such matters. Now it ought to fall to Second Master Gan, but... Second Master Gan erupted in fury, slamming a hand down on the table as he rose. "Money, money, money! My brother is dead, my mother is unconscious, and at a time like this, your mouth is still full of the stench of copper? Do you have even a shred of a human heart?!" "Please calm yourself, Second Master." A person needed a heart, yes, but work still had to be done; an estate as large as the Gans' still had to function as usual. "Get out! Stop bothering me with these petty trifles!" Manager Zhao parted his lips, but no words came out. Just then, the inner door creaked open, and an old maidservant emerged. "The old mistress has awakened, weeping and asking for the Second Master." Second Master Gan hurried inside, not forgetting to look back and warn Manager Zhao along the way. "The old mistress can't take any more frights! Do whatever needs doing with those trivial matters, and don't come add to our grief!" Not long after he went in, Manager Zhao heard Old Mistress Mao wailing heart-wrenchingly once more. Second Master Gan wept alongside her, their laments rising and falling in turn, answering one another in a chorus of grief. Manager Zhao let out a long sigh. As he headed out, he nearly collided head-on with another person rushing inside. "Third Master?" It was none other than Third Master Gan, who had rushed back upon receiving word. His eyes were slightly bloodshot. Hearing the cries from the inner chamber, he pulled Manager Zhao into the back hall to talk. "Manager Zhao, what in the world happened?!" Manager Zhao gave a broad account of what had transpired, with the focus naturally placed on how Master Gan had met his end. Third Master Gan listened with blank, unblinking eyes before collapsing heavily into a chair. It took him a long while to choke out, "Have... have the arrangements for my eldest brother's funeral been made?" "Ah, yes. I just settled them with the Second Master." It had taken an immense effort. The Second Master had choked on his tears so hard he couldn't speak, pausing several times in between. Third Master Gan uttered two vague assents. "Then what about us... what are we supposed to do from here..." Usually, their eldest brother held up the sky above the Gan family. Now that the sky had collapsed, what were they going to do next? Zhao Fu waited patiently for him to continue. With Master Gan dead, leadership of the Gan estate and the merchant guild fell to the remaining Gan brothers. If they took no initiative, what could servants like him decide? Third Master Gan asked with a hint of hope, "Are guild affairs also being handled by Second Brother for the time being?" "That... this humble one does not know either." Manager Zhao gave a bitter smile. "The Second Master is overwhelmed by grief and unwilling to concern himself with such matters." Third Master Gan cleared his throat again. "If no one manages the guild, won't everything fall into chaos?" "Would you be willing to take charge, Third Master?" Manager Zhao could not conceal his surprise. Bracing himself, Third Master Gan said, "Give me an overview first." "Very well, very well. Our Gan Merchant Guild employs one hundred and twelve people. Our primary business is with the Demon Nest, mainly trading in textiles, medicinal herbs, and ores, along with seven minor categories. The Gan family possesses four hundred mu of premium irrigated fields and one thousand one hundred mu of standard fields. As for storefronts, there are eight in Wuze County and twelve in Bailong Township..." Manager Zhao gave him a rough rundown—it would have filled six or seven hundred characters if written down—before concluding, "As for the rest, you would need to inspect the ledger room; everything is recorded plainly in the registry... Third Master?" Third Master Gan listened with his mouth half open, his brow knitting tighter and tighter. So much? So complicated? Wavering, he managed to say, "Fine, I'll go have a look another day. Are these usually handled by dedicated personnel?" "Some are, some aren't. In the past, the master would appoint people as needed, while Chief Steward An oversaw the big picture." Manager Zhao slipped in a bit of self-interest. "At times, the master had me handle things as well." The hint was as plain as day, yet Third Master Gan merely uttered a noncommittal grunt and took no stance. Manager Zhao's heart sank halfway in an instant. Sure enough, even now Third Master Gan had no thought of entrusting it to him; nine times out of ten, he favored that man surnamed Luo to take over. Suppressing a cold scoff inwardly, Manager Zhao spoke again: "There is still one most important matter at hand." "Hm? There's more?" The reluctance on Third Master Gan's face was now undisguised. "Go on." "That the Gan Merchant Guild could dominate Wuze County owed not only to Master Gan's extraordinary acumen, but also to our exclusive trade with the Demon Nest." Since Manager Zhao was still in the guild's employ, he had to say what needed to be said. "However, on this trip, our caravan was coerced by bandits into the Spider Queen's territory to provide cover while they stole treasures from an underground palace. Although the bandits failed in the end, the Spider Queen no longer trusts us as she once did. Consequently, she handed the token for entering and leaving the swamp to another youth." "Oh..." Third Master Gan nodded. "And then?" He had some general awareness of the family business. Seeing his expression, Manager Zhao knew he hadn't grasped the gravity of the situation. "The trouble is that without the Transit Pass, we will never be able to enter the Demon Nest Swamp again; the mirage mist surrounding it will block us. In that case, the Gan Merchant Guild will lose its exclusive dealings with the Spider Queen, and from then on, we will hold no advantage in Wuze County." He gave a wry smile. "Word of Master Gan's death will spread across the entire county in less than two days. When that happens, people's minds will become unsettled." Only then would the Gan family's true storm begin. Third Master Gan finally realized how serious this was. "If this token is so crucial, why did the Spider Queen hand it to someone else?" "Presumably, she trusted that youth more," Manager Zhao explained. "The bandits' scheme fell apart because this youth interfered. When he pleaded on our behalf before the Spider Queen, it was on the condition that the Gan caravan escort him to the capital of the Beijia Kingdom." Third Master Gan let out a breath of relief. "Well, that's easy enough. Tell him I agree, and he'll give us the token, right?" "It isn't that simple." Manager Zhao shook his head. "The Spider Queen demanded that we deliver him to the Beijia capital before we receive the Transit Pass." "What?" Third Master Gan scowled. "Deliver him all the way to the Beijia capital first? Wouldn't that make us miss the autumn shipping window?" However little he cared about commerce, he knew Master Gan was always busiest in spring and autumn. "That was the condition for the caravan to leave the Demon Nest alive. We had no choice but to agree." "Once he reaches the Beijia capital, will he really give us the token? Preposterous! Only an idiot would believe that!" Third Master Gan sneered. "This is taking advantage of our misfortune. The Gan family cannot be so pedantic!" Manager Zhao reminded him, "Third Master, this effectively means the Spider Queen has placed the power to select a caravan into Young Master He's hands. We must treat him with the utmost care. Right now, he is waiting at the Yuanzhi Tavern to meet with the Gan family." As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw Third Master Gan's complexion shift abruptly into a look of awkward disbelief. "Yuanzhi Tavern?" "Tall, seventeen or eighteen, dressed in coarse cloth and sitting by the window?" *No, please don't let it be!* "Looking completely arrogant?" He didn't really seem *that* arrogant, did he? Manager Zhao let out an "ah." "That's him. Were you just at the Yuanzhi Tavern?" "..." Third Master Gan gave a dry cough. "Just passing by. Right, I have other business. Have Second Brother liaise with him." "??" The Second Master? Aside from comforting the old mistress, he had washed his hands of everything else. Manager Zhao was struck speechless. Greasing the soles of his shoes, Third Master Gan slipped away even faster than he had arrived. He Lingchuan dug at his ear. *So that's how it is.* A quarter of an hour later, footsteps sounded on the stairs. From his seat on the second floor, He Lingchuan spotted the newcomer early: it was Manager Zhao. Manager Zhao wore an obsequious smile. "Young Master He, please come with me." "The Gans finally have time?" He Lingchuan gave a faint, chilling smile. "They're permitting me inside now?" "Ah?" Manager Zhao laughed dryly. "Whatever makes you say that?" "Just earlier, Third Master Gan let his beast attack people, told me to wait here, and threatened to make me pay dearly," He Lingchuan said, spreading his hands. "So here I am, waiting." Manager Zhao's eyes widened. No wonder Third Master Gan had made such a vivid face upon hearing that Young Master He was at the Yuanzhi Tavern. Before settling the crucial business, he had gone and offended the man first! Inwardly, he cursed Third Master Gan up and down, but on the outside, his face creased into a placating grin. "Could it be a misunderstanding? I..." "I hear Second Master Gan never manages a thing. Have Third Master Gan come talk to me; I will be right here awaiting his gracious arrival," He Lingchuan said flatly. "If he isn't here within a quarter of an hour, I leave. The Gans aren't the only caravan that can travel to the demon kingdom's capital." Such a hardline stance? At that final remark, Manager Zhao agreed on the spot: "Right away, sir!" He turned and scurried off. With the eldest Gan brother gone, the tree was on the verge of toppling. He had the Shi Merchant Guild as a fallback, so what did he have to fear? Nearby, two waiters recognized Manager Zhao. Seeing him act so deferential toward He Lingchuan, they exchanged bewildered glances. This was entirely different from Third Master Gan's attitude earlier. What play were the Gans putting on? They couldn't make heads or tails of it. ... A quarter of an hour later, the wooden staircase creaked once more, but the ascent was slow, the person climbing clearly reluctant. Third Master Gan appeared, with Manager Zhao trailing behind. Approaching the table, Third Master Gan clasped his fists. "My thanks to Young Master He for your chivalrous intervention in the swamp, rescuing my family's caravan." He put an especially sharp emphasis on the word "chivalrous." Did Gan think flattery about chivalry would make him blush? Third Master Gan gave him too much credit. He Lingchuan didn't even put down his wine cup, merely swirling it twice in his hand. "I have been waiting for the Third Master all along—waiting to see how you'd make me pay." "I was discourteous earlier." Third Master Gan nearly ground his teeth to powder, yet he still had to play out the script of humble apology after arrogant swagger. "I offer you my apologies here." He Lingchuan gave an indifferent "Oh." "Regarding the Transit Pass..." "That's all?" Could He Lingchuan let him off so lightly? He had sat here doing nothing for over an hour; how was that lost time to be compensated? Even if his time wasn't worth much at the moment. "Trying to kill someone in the street, then storming in here to wreck my peace—and it ends with a flimsy apology?" "You..." Third Master Gan reeled through a hundred curses in his gut. "What do you want?" He Lingchuan leaned back casually against the window frame. "First, you foot the bill for this meal, and the damages from wrecking Yuanzhi Tavern are on your tab as well—no less than two gold pieces." Paying money was humiliating, but simple enough to handle. Third Master Gan gave Manager Zhao a nod, and Zhao summoned the shopkeeper up, handing him two pieces of gold. Holding the heavy little gold ingots, the shopkeeper thought he was dreaming. It had really turned out as this guest predicted: Third Master Gan, who lorded over Wuze County, was actually bowing his head and paying restitution? "Second, the hunter mauled by your beast is lying over at Beisong Pharmacy, seemingly just two streets away. Go compensate him for his injuries—until he is completely satisfied."