Chapter 11

“‘Wh… what, hiss! Damn your mother, are you mad?!’

Lin Yue tightened his grip.

Zhao Shuilai felt as though his shoulder was about to shatter. His face flushed red as he strained to pry off the hand gripping his shoulder.

But that hand was like a pair of iron pincers; it would not budge. Worse still, the force only increased.

He cried out in pain, his legs trembling uncontrollably, bending down despite himself.

Lin Yue hauled him up bodily, brought his ear close, and said in a low voice, “My wife and I have been married for many years. I know her character better than anyone. I believe she would never do such a thing. If I hear even a single word outside that damages her reputation, I will kill you. Do you understand?”

Zhao Shuilai’s face twisted. Snot and tears streamed down together as he nodded frantically.

“Understood! Understood! Understood!”

Lin Yue released him and stepped back, his expression calm, showing no trace of emotion. “Do you need me to see you off?”

Zhao Shuilai blurted out, “No need!” He clutched his shoulder and fled in a stumbling scramble.

Lin Yue withdrew his gaze from Zhao Shuilai’s retreating figure and walked towards the entrance of the alley. His lunch break was short; this man had wasted too much of his time.

Just as he stepped out of the construction site and was about to turn away, he ran straight into Gu Yun.

The other person had no idea how long he had been hiding there watching.

Lin Yue walked over as if nothing had happened. “Are you hungry?”

Gu Yun nodded slightly. “A little.”

Lin Yue said, “Let’s eat.”

They went to the same place as yesterday. Three sorghum flatbreads and two bowls of porridge made up their lunch.

Lin Yue ate two sorghum flatbreads and one bowl of porridge.

Gu Yun ate one bowl of porridge and half a sorghum flatbread, and kept the remaining half for later.

With that, he would not need to buy flatbread again in the evening; one bowl of porridge would be enough. For Lin Yue, he would buy three sorghum flatbreads and one bowl of porridge.

The next morning, the leftover sorghum flatbreads would serve as Lin Yue’s breakfast. He certainly could not manage three; at least one would be left.

As for himself, he would not eat breakfast. To avoid being scolded by Lin Yue, he would simply say he was not hungry and would buy food later. In any case, he did not work, so skipping breakfast would not matter.

By this calculation, the minimum daily expenditure was fourteen wen.

Fourteen wen. Gu Yun’s face grew troubled. Lin Yue’s wages were only twelve wen. This meant they were always running a deficit, and his clothes might not be redeemed before the cold wave arrived.

He hesitated over whether to tell Lin Yue. Perhaps Lin Yue was not good with numbers and did not realise their situation. After thinking it over, he held back.

The other man was already working hard enough. He would try to solve it himself first.

If it truly could not be solved, then they would discuss it together. He could not keep placing all the burden on one person; it would break him.

He felt some regret. He should not have bought the mixed soup yesterday, nor the bean flour cakes. If he had not, they would have an extra sorghum cake today, which meant six more wen.

If only they had a pot.

With a pot, they would not need to spend money eating out. They could buy cheap ingredients and cook for themselves. Even including fuel costs, it would only be about eleven wen a day, and they would both eat well. But they did not have one.

A pot was not a matter of whether to buy it or not; it was a matter of being unable to afford it.

In the Xuan Dynasty, as in other ancient dynasties, pots were expensive.

No matter the material, they were costly. Unless one had the skill to make pottery, but if he had such skill, he would not be in this situation.

Gu Yun suppressed his worry and considered how to respond if the other noticed his expression.

Fortunately, the man seemed too focused on eating to notice anything unusual. That was good; it saved him effort.

After finishing, they walked back. At the alley entrance, Lin Yue suddenly said, “Have you offended someone?”

Hearing this, Gu Yun thought: so it’s come.

Earlier, when he had gone to find Lin Yue, he had stood at a corner and overheard part of the conversation between Lin Yue and the pawnshop clerk.

Although incomplete, he had pieced the situation together.

He let out a long breath. “I am not someone who causes trouble, but some people are petty. It is normal for them to bear grudges over trivial matters.”

Lin Yue asked, “So you know that pawnshop clerk?”

Gu Yun nodded. “Yes.”

He explained everything about going to pawn the clothes and how he had refused the deal because the price was unreasonable.

Lin Yue looked slightly surprised. “Your arithmetic is that good?”

Gu Yun replied, “My family does business, so arithmetic was valued. I only know a little; it is not particularly good.” He had previously told Lin Yue that he was the son of a merchant, while Lin Yue believed him to be the youngest son of a private tutor.

Lin Yue said, “That already surpasses most people. If you worked in a pawnshop, you would do better than him.”

Gu Yun, who enjoyed praise, smiled. “I did not expect him to be so petty. Because I did not complete the… mm, this deal with him, he ruined my reputation. Fortunately, you chose to believe me.”

He hesitated over the word “deal” and replaced it with “business”.

Lin Yue said, “I am your husband. Of course I believe you.”

At that moment, Gu Yun finally felt completely at ease. Ever since hearing the pawnshop clerk’s slander, he had been uneasy.

Lin Yue had no memory. From his earlier careful questioning, it was clear he was cautious and suspicious. Even if he only half-believed the slander, it could have caused serious trouble for him.

Fortunately, he did not believe it at all.

And he likely would not believe it anyway; the accusation was too absurd for any normal person.

Still, the clerk was truly malicious, using such a method against a “young lady”. If Lin Yue had been even slightly less rational, it could have driven him into a corner unless he revealed his true identity.

Time was getting late. Lin Yue still had work.

Standing under the shade of a tree, his voice carried through the wind to Gu Yun’s ear: “If anything happens, discuss it. Do not take risks alone.”

Gu Yun agreed immediately. Only after the man stepped out from the shade into the sunlight, his whole body bathed in light, did he belatedly realise there was another meaning in those words: a warning not to act rashly because of their financial difficulties.

Did he already have another way to earn money? Or was he worried Gu Yun might wander off and run into that pawnshop clerk?

That was indeed a problem.

Gu Yun thought for a moment, then decided to behave himself and stay put.

As for revenge—

He knew his limits. He was barely surviving; how could he possibly retaliate?

Lin Yue had already dealt with the matter. That could count as him having “handled it”.

He was quite good at comforting himself. After all, he had endured worse.

He only hoped that pawnshop clerk would not behave like some persistent, hard-to-kill nuisance and come back again to irritate him.

That was his hope.

But Zhao Shuilai was precisely that kind of person. He simply refused to behave like a normal human being, preferring instead to be that hard-to-kill nuisance.

He went to a clinic and had his shoulder examined.

The physician looked at the finger marks on his shoulder and drew a sharp breath. The skin beneath had already turned dark bluish-black.

“Who did this? Was it that Feng, the jailer again? That is some grip. Lucky it did not break the bone.”

The physician went on rambling: how Jailer Feng’s neighbour had nearly been beaten to death, how Feng had once been a local thug, later secured a jailer position through connections, and then rose to prison chief after befriending an official.

“Such a powerful man, and you still dare provoke him? A few benefits are not worth your life. If you have offended him, I advise you to apologise properly. Bring wine, meat, cloth, and gifts…”

Zhao Shuilai listened only to the key point: Jailer Feng was powerful and had nearly killed someone.

How wonderful.

He suddenly laughed aloud, startling the physician so much that his hand slipped and applied the medicine poorly.

When the physician realised, Zhao Shuilai’s expression had already changed. He glared at him.

“Are you blind?”

He snatched the ointment, scooped out a large lump, and smeared it onto his wound himself.

The physician was distressed. “That is precious medicine for reducing swelling and promoting blood circulation. How can you waste it! Your payment is not enough for this…”

“Bah!” Zhao Shuilai spat. “You old thing, so greedy! Trying to cheat me. Why don’t you just drop dead!”

The physician pointed at him, trembling with rage, and then fainted backwards.

The apprentices cried out and rushed over. Seeing trouble, Zhao Shuilai fled immediately, running all the way home.

His wife and child were inside embroidering. Seeing him rush in, she hurried to ask what had happened.

Before she could finish, Zhao Shuilai shoved her aside, pacing anxiously and biting his nails.

The woman tried to calm him. “We are family. Whatever it is, we can talk it through.”

“Talk it through? What is there to talk through!” he snapped, pushing her away again. The child nearby began to cry; irritated, he kicked the child and shouted at them to stop.

The woman quickly carried the child away and soothed them in another room.

After pacing for a long while and drinking two pots of hot soup, he finally went out to check on the physician. Hearing that the man was not dead and he would not be sent to prison, he finally relaxed.

His tense nerves loosened, and he sat down heavily on the ground, exhaling deeply.

“That is good… very good…” he murmured.

The woman came back after calming the child. Seeing him sitting there in such a state, she grew even more uneasy and prepared to seek help from her family.

He stopped her, stood up, and said casually, “It is nothing. Do not make a fuss.”

“Really?” she asked doubtfully.

He sneered. “Even if something were wrong, I would not tell you. What do you women understand?” He went into the main room, rummaged around, and packed two bolts of fine cloth, two strings of copper coins, and a jug of good wine, then headed out.

The woman’s expression turned ugly. She followed him, but before she could speak, he was already stepping out the door.

“Where are you going?” she grabbed his arm.

He pinched her hand, in high spirits. “Your husband is going to handle a big matter. If it succeeds, we will have plenty of money, and our son can even wear a copper ingot.”

“What big matter—”

“Stay at home!” He strode out.

The woman watched his excited back, uneasy, and eventually took the child and went to her parents’ home.

Zhao Shuilai wound his way through the streets until he reached Jailer Feng’s residence. The courtyard near the yamen was not large, but well kept.

He knocked. Feng’s concubine opened the door, sized him up, and immediately understood he was there to seek a favour. She smiled politely, led him in, and went to call Madam Feng.

Madam Feng, a woman with burn scars and a few strands of white hair, had the air of someone in her forties. She instructed servants to serve tea and asked what he wanted.

He quickly presented his gifts. “Madam Feng, I know my place. I would not dare ask Jailer Feng to do anything difficult. I only ask him to deal with someone, not kill him. Just keep him bedridden for a year or two.”

Madam Feng found it simple enough, but did not agree outright. She accepted the gifts and politely sent him off, saying she would pass the message to Feng when he returned.

If he agreed, they would arrange a proper meeting.

Zhao Shuilai agreed, but the moment he left, he cursed under his breath.

“What a formidable woman. She accepted the gifts but only said she would see about it. Not a word about returning them. She has clearly no intention of doing so.”

Feeling heartache, he squatted in a nearby brothel and waited for Feng.

Not long after, he saw Feng leave the yamen, accompanied by a woman. A servant soon came from Feng’s residence with news.

“Master Zhao, our master invites you to Linhua Tower to discuss matters.”

Zhao Shuilai immediately brightened. “Good, good!”

Before nightfall, Lin Yue finished work.

He was soaked in sweat after a long day.

Gu Yun found the smell rather overpowering and no longer tugged his sleeve, instead trailing behind him.

They went to eat dinner as planned.

After the meal, they still had two items left: a sugar cake and a sorghum flatbread.

The sugar cake was palm-sized, made with a bean flour skin and a sugary filling.

Gu Yun split it evenly into two halves. The sugar inside was exposed, red in colour. Compared with modern sugar, it was not very sweet, and had something sticky mixed in it, though what exactly it was remained unclear.