Chapter 10

Gu Yun stood at the alley entrance and watched Lin Yue walk several steps forwards towards a household courtyard.

The neighbouring house beside it had already been demolished, leaving behind an open plot of land. Old bricks and timber from the demolished structure were piled in one corner.

Several men stood outside the house. Leading them was an elderly craftsman dressed in blue robes, sporting a short beard already threaded with white amongst the black.

Lin Yue walked over and exchanged a few words with the old craftsman before joining the group. Not long after, several more people arrived.

The old craftsman opened his mouth to speak, but from so far away, Gu Yun could not hear a thing. He only saw the man speak briefly before the entire group set to work and headed into the cleared plot.

Soon, Gu Yun could no longer see Lin Yue. Like a fish slipping into water, he vanished amongst the half-built structures.

The children nearby continued playing noisily. Gu Yun withdrew his gaze and looked over at them instead.

They were all young and small, but compared with village children, they looked far more presentable and lively. Few of them were yellow-faced or painfully thin.

The children had originally been playing happily, but the moment they noticed a stranger staring directly at them, they became wary and froze in place. Only after a long while, when they saw the stranger remained motionless, did they resume playing, though they deliberately kept further away from him.

He was practically an adult already. How could he possibly play with a bunch of little brats?

Gu Yun deliberately ignored Lin Yue’s earlier instruction. Leaning against the large tree, he stared blankly at the sky in utter boredom.

Suddenly, a loud commotion erupted.

Gu Yun snapped back to attention and looked over, only to discover several children fighting over a spinning top. In this area, spinning tops were called “old oxen”.

The racket made his head throb. He tried moving farther away, but after only a couple of steps, the increasingly loud quarrelling suddenly sparked a brilliant idea in his mind: a way to learn the language and writing of the Xuan Dynasty.

“When you whipped the old ox, it already fell over three times! We agreed that after three times it’d be someone else’s turn!”

“I was counting! It didn’t fall three times!”

“It did! Everyone saw it!”

“I saw it too. It definitely fell three times.”

“It’s my toy. Even if it did fall three times, I can still have another turn. Besides, it wasn’t three times at all. That one time it tipped over, I whipped it back up immediately. That doesn’t count!”

The children were arguing fiercely when a strange voice suddenly interrupted them, clear and pleasant like flowing water.

Everyone turned around sharply and discovered it was the stranger speaking.

Gu Yun said, “I’ve got something even more fun.”

The children thought he spoke oddly, almost like a weirdo. After exchanging glances, one slightly taller child stepped forwards and asked, “What thing?”

“A jumping grass frog,” Gu Yun replied.

The children immediately rushed over like a cluster of little radishes.

“Show us!”

“You talk funny.”

Gu Yun smiled but ignored the latter comment. “Wait a moment.”

He found a nearby household selling flatbreads and shamelessly asked for a reed leaf. After cutting it into a suitable size, he folded it into a frog.

The moment the frog bounced with a press of the finger, the children cried out in amazement. Someone immediately reached out to snatch it.

Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Gu Yun pressed down on the child’s hand.

“You can have the grass frog,” he said, “but in exchange, you have to teach me characters first.”

“We don’t know many.”

“That’s fine too.”

“Deal,” declared the taller child.

The children truly were not lying. They genuinely knew very few characters. Gu Yun rummaged through everything in their heads and only managed to extract a few dozen words in total.

He carefully memorised every single one. At the same time, he practised speaking with them for a while. By the time he looked up again, it was already noon.

Handing the frog over, he said, “Paper works even better than reed leaves. Come back this afternoon and I’ll teach you how to fold them. But…”

The children instantly understood the implication he had left hanging.

“We’ll bring you a sugar cake!”

Gu Yun had originally only hoped for something like a handful of melon seeds. Receiving the promise of an unexpected sugar cake instead delighted him immensely.

“Deal!” he agreed at once, utterly unashamed of tricking children.

The children grabbed the frog and scattered in all directions.

Gu Yun pushed himself upright from the ground. The shade of the tree cast a patch of coolness over him. Only then did he suddenly wonder why he had never thought of using this method of exchange before.

In a daze, he remembered.

He had thought of it before. At the time, however, he believed children knew too few words and could not speak enough for it to be useful, so even if he traded with them, it would accomplish little.

And in truth, that had indeed been the case.

Now, however, things were different. With someone to rely on, he no longer needed to worry so carefully over every gain and loss.

Gu Yun suddenly laughed, then rose onto his tiptoes to look towards the construction site. By this hour, Lin Yue ought to have finished work; the employer did not provide meals, so they would usually go out together to eat.

After a while, he indeed heard the sound of work ending. The old craftsman and the others came out looking utterly exhausted, but Gu Yun’s gaze quickly swept through the crowd and failed to find Lin Yue.

Where was he?

Gu Yun hurried towards the construction site.

While he was thinking of Lin Yue, someone else was thinking of him too.

That day, the pawnshop assistant, having been publicly humiliated by this “Miss Gu,” felt deeply disgraced and seethed with anger. He cursed loudly, then went out to see whether Gu Yun might be able to pawn something for a higher price elsewhere.

Gu Yun walked too quickly, and the man missed him. So he grabbed a beggar child, gave him a few coins, and told him to go and find the person.

The beggar rounded up a few companions and quickly located Gu Yun, reporting back.

The county town was not large. The pawnshop where Gu Yun had made his pledge did not even need to be visited again; it was obvious he had achieved what he wanted.

Still simmering with frustration, the assistant instructed the beggars to secretly follow Gu Yun. If possible, they were to cause him some trouble—ideally a beating; if not, then at least a fright would do.

Ordinarily, it would not have been worth dwelling on. He had simply acted on impulse. But unfortunately, his rival in the shop learned of it and reported him to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper’s expression immediately darkened, and he gave him a severe dressing-down.

“I knew you were petty! If it weren’t for your brother-in-law and sister, I would never have taken you on.

“The business has gone, so what? How much profit does a pawn bring in, and how much commission do you think you can pocket from it? And you still sent people to follow him, Zhao Shuilai? What, you think a few coins aren’t money?

“If your hands are itching to spend, give them to your wife! I think she has more sense than you! You’ll ruin the reputation of the pawnshop!”

Zhao Shuilai hurriedly admitted fault.

The rival at the counter fanned the flames in a low voice. “The shopkeeper speaks entirely reasonably. When he was brought in, you made it very clear. Business or no business, civility must remain. I heard it myself. Yet he’s forgotten it already. That doesn’t bode well…”

The shopkeeper’s chest rose and fell heavily.

Zhao Shuilai shot his rival a venomous look. “You—”

“Enough!” the shopkeeper barked.

The rival smiled. “No need to be angry, shopkeeper. It’s not worth damaging your health over him. That’s just how he is, perhaps. After a while, he’ll become slack in his work. I’ll clean the back yard and remind him again of what you originally said. It’s not easy for the pawnshop to find someone who can read a few characters and handle simple accounts.”

The shopkeeper made the final call. “Very well. You’ll repeat what I told him. As for the back yard, you need not clean it. He can do it himself!” With that, he stormed off.

Zhao Shuilai glared darkly at his rival, who hummed an off-key tune, strolled back to the counter, and stretched out a hand.

“Pour me a cup of tea. There are no customers. Come on, I’ll explain it to you properly!”

Zhao Shuilai was not the sort to tolerate that. He turned and left at once, refusing to work any further.

When he stepped outside, the beggar returned. Zhao Shuilai thought at last something pleasant had come of it.

But after listening, he learned that the man they followed had done nothing at all once her husband arrived.

His face twisted with rage. That evening he drank several cups of wine, returned home, and after his wife helped him wash his face, hands, and feet, he lay on the bed brooding, determined to teach those people a lesson.

His rival? His wife? A man? A woman?

He stared at the grey-white canopy above the bed. That night, a plan took shape in his mind.

The next morning, he went out to look for Gu Yun.

He had expected it would take several days at least, but unexpectedly he found her within a single morning. After watching her for a short while with a cold, calculating gaze, he circled around her, following the beggar’s description of her husband, and went to find Lin Yue instead.

He waited until Lin Yue finished work, then stepped forward and blocked his path.

The old craftsman pointed at him. “Do you know this man?”

The old craftsman was quite satisfied with Lin Yue. He worked properly, without laziness or shortcuts, and so was worth protecting a little if needed.

Before Lin Yue could speak, Zhao Shuilai cut in, “I have something important to discuss with this brother.”

The old craftsman studied him closely. Zhao Shuilai met his gaze without flinching.

“Fine. Let’s go.” The old craftsman withdrew his eyes and left with the others.

Zhao Shuilai immediately reached out to grab Lin Yue. “Brother, come with me.”

Lin Yue did not move. Zhao Shuilai pulled, but could not shift him even slightly.

He grew irritated and looked up only to find that the man before him was not only tall and broad-shouldered, but also strikingly handsome. The kind of man who stood out wherever he went.

Thinking of his own plain appearance, which rarely drew a second glance, jealousy rose in him so sharply he almost wished the other man would simply drop dead on the spot.

A cold gaze swept down over him, sharp as a blade, making his scalp prickle.

He let go unconsciously, rubbing his uncalloused hands, and gave an awkward laugh.

“I really do have something to tell you. Don’t misunderstand me. If I could stand it, I wouldn’t have come to speak of it at all. This concerns your wife.”

Lin Yue asked, “You know my wife?”

Zhao Shuilai nodded quickly. “Of course I know her! How could I not!”

Lin Yue raised his brows slightly, a faint, unreadable smile on his face. After brushing the dust from his sleeve, he said, “Go on then. What is it? I, her husband, don’t know. But you, an outsider, seem to know everything instead. There’s no need to change location. The others have all gone; only the two of us can hear.”

Zhao Shuilai swallowed, lowering his voice.

“Your wife is a shameless woman. She’s been having an affair with a clerk surnamed Wang from the Jinbao Pawnshop. The two of them meet up and get intimate every time. I didn’t know at first, but one day that clerk Wang drank too much and bragged about it himself.

“He said he wanted to marry your wife, but she couldn’t bear to leave you. You’re handsome. There’s no one better-looking in the whole county.

“Your wife said that even if you died, she still wouldn’t marry him. She said she’d rather become a concubine to a wealthy household, living in luxury with gold and silver.”

Lin Yue said, “Is that so?”

Zhao Shuilai continued, “Yesterday she used the excuse of pawning clothes to meet him again. I saw them myself. They went into Fulai Inn.”

Lin Yue: “Mm.”

Zhao Shuilai pressed on, “Are you even a man? They’re practically stepping all over you!”

Lin Yue gave a faint scoff. “You and that clerk Wang are enemies, aren’t you? You’re just using me to deal with him. At least make up a better story.”

Zhao Shuilai’s heart jolted. “It’s true I hate him, yes. But I wouldn’t have come if it weren’t real. Believe it or not, that’s up to you. You can know a person’s face but not their heart.”

With that, he turned to leave.

Lin Yue gripped his shoulder. “You’ve finished speaking. Now I have something to say to you too.”