RMCF: Chapter 58

 

Chapter 58

“Brother Zhang, what a rare guest~ I didn't think you'd still remember Ninth Lady.”

Zhang Fangyuan raised his eyes to look at the voluptuous woman who swayed her hips like a water snake. He loosened his crossed arms and, without any small talk, simply said, “I've brought you something good.”

Yin Jiuniang's face showed surprise, yet she still stepped forward with a smile. “I wonder what Brother Zhang has for me?”

Zhang Fangyuan didn't say much more. He pulled a small bottle of perfume from his waist pouch and handed it over.

Yin Jiuniang was already puzzled that Zhang Fangyuan had come to see her alone, and now he was giving her perfume. Yin Jiuniang was even more at a loss as to his intentions.

Her jade-like fingers pinched the small bottle. Even without opening the lid, she could faintly detect the subtle fragrance of roses. Women have always loved scents, especially those who work in places of song and pleasure.

In just a moment, Yin Jiuniang, who had seen quite a bit of the world, was already captivated by the perfume in her hand. The scent was strong up close but subtle from afar. Whether placed in a room or used in a bath, it would be far more effective than flower petals.

She examined it closely. Though she didn't claim to know every fragrance, she had used all the finest perfumes in the city, yet she couldn't identify the origin of this one. 

“Indeed, Brother Zhang's gift is something fine. I just wonder why Brother Zhang is suddenly so kind.” As she spoke, she pressed closer. “How would you like Jiuniang to repay you? Perhaps by offering myself to you?”

Zhang Fangyuan pushed her away. “Enough, spare me your tricks. If anyone seeking fine fragrances asks about the source of this perfume, you know what to say.”

Yin Jiuniang's brow twitched slightly. “I thought you were giving this just to me. I didn't realize Brother Zhang has gone into the perfume business.”

“Just doing someone a favor. This bottle of perfume if for you, consider it payment.” With that, Zhang Fangyuan didn't linger. “I'm off.”

At the door, Zhang Fangyuan ran into An San'er, who was looking rather agitated.

“Brother Zhang, when did you get here? Why didn't anyone call me? You must have been waiting.”

An San'er suppressed his temper and put on his usual fawning, grinning expression.

“I wasn't looking for you.”

As Zhang Fangyuan's words fell, Yin Jiuniang leaned over the railing in the distance and called out, “Brother Zhang came to see me.”

An San'er was a little surprised, but didn't ask questions. He just grinned and walked alongside Zhang Fangyuan, lowering his voice. “Brother Zhang, do you need another one of those things?”

Zhang Fangyuan waved his hand. Not to mention that the ones at home weren't used up yet; taking more back now would be hard to explain.

An San'er cheerfully acknowledged and offered to see Zhang Fangyuan out. Then, remembering what had upset him earlier, said, “Brother Zhang, do you know someone called Ao Er?”

“Hm?”

“Last night, he came to the pavilion to drink and have fun. Got so drunk, no one noticed him crawl under a table and fall asleep. This morning, when we were cleaning up, we tried to wake him and kick him out. But the guy was still sleeping soundly and refused to get up.”

Zhang Fangyuan said, “If he's someone important, have his family come fetch him. If he's just some common thug, have him carried out and dumped in the street. Why do you need to ask me?”

“The thing is, he said he knows you, Brother Zhang. He said he's your underling.”

Zhang Fangyuan frowned. He followed An San'er to the main hall and saw a drunk man lying on the floor. Such people were common in the pleasure house; Zhang Fangyuan had long since grown used to them.

“Hey, time to wake up.”

Zhang Fangyuan walked over and kicked the man sleeping face-down on the floor. “Where are you from?”

The man mumbled, “I'm Zhang Fangyuan's lackey. How dare you disturb my sleep.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a basin of cold water, freshly drawn from the well, was poured over the back of his head. The drunk man jolted awake, his body springing up from the floor like a mangy dog. He sat on the ground, yelping about the rain. It took him a long moment to clear his vision. When he saw the fierce, towering man in front of him, he scrambled backward in fright. 

Seeing this, Yin Jiuniang couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

“Who are you? When were you ever my lackey?”

The man finally realized that the very person he had been invoking was standing before him. Seeing the threatening glares of the Yunliang Pavilion staff, he quickly crawled over and hugged Zhang Fangyuan's leg. “Brother Zhang, it's me! I’m Ao Er from the village hollow. The one the villagers used to call ‘Guo Dan’er’.”*

* Guo Dan’er 狗蛋兒 — dog egg

Zhang Fangyuan furrowed his brows. The man's face did seem vaguely familiar. After a moment, he said to An San'er beside him, “I think he’s from my village.”

An San'er said, “Since he's from Brother Zhang's village, we'll let it go today.”

Zhang Fangyuan shook off the man's clinging arms. “Hurry up and get lost. Stop hanging around.”

“Yes, yes.” Relieved to be let off, the man scrambled to his feet and scurried out.

Seeing this, Zhang Fangyuan said, “I'll be going too.”

Yin Jiuniang walked to the door and called out to the man's imposing retreating figure, coquettishly, “Brother Zhang, come again next time~”

Ao Er, who had run off into the distance, heard the courtesan's voice and couldn't help but look back, a hint of envy in his eyes.

Zhang Fangyuan went back to mind his stall for the afternoon; from now on, he only needed to wait for the people to come to him seeking the goods.

Later in the day, when business was slow, he closed up the stall early. Stopping by the general store in town, he bought a small vat of aged soy sauce and vinegar at a low price to take to the tea stall. Firstly, it was needed at home for their own use anyway; and secondly, these condiments were common purchases for nearby villagers. Stocking them meant villagers could buy directly from the tea stall, saving a trip to town for such small items.

Besides that, he also negotiated with a wine shop to stock at the tea stall, the same principle as with the condiments. It was even easier to arrange than the soy sauce and vinegar. In his days of frequent drinking, he had gotten to know many taverns. He had a good handle on the prices and quality of both expensive and cheap wines.

After all that, his cart was loaded with goods, even fuller than when he'd come in the morning. 

These were all things that could easily break or get damaged, so he drove the horse slowly. By the time he reached the tea stall, the sun had completely set, leaving only the day's residual heat rising from the ground.

“You brought back so much!”

Xu He heard the sound of cart wheels on the official road and guessed Zhang Fangyuan was back. The road was quiet at night, with few carts or horses, though there were plenty of people hurrying home. 

He put down the cloth he was using to wipe tables and went over to help move the soy sauce, vinegar, and wine inside. 

Zhang Fangyuan smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen. “What's for dinner tonight?”

“Dried tofu stir-fried with pork.”

Xu He carefully hugged a wine jar as he walked inside. “I sold several pieces of dried tofu that was made yesterday. There were two pieces left—they’d go bad if we keep them another day. There was also some leftover meat, so I decided to stir-fry them all.”

Zhang Fangyuan knew about the dried tofu Xu He and Zhang Shiyue made together. Each piece was about the size of his palm and as thick as a little finger. Sliced thinly on the diagonal, one piece could make a whole plate, and it was delicious whether stir-fried or served cold. 

In town, dried tofu sold for five or six wen apiece. Xu He decided their tea stall would sell for five wen per piece. Beans weren’t considered expensive—most farm households had some stored—but making tofu, bean curd, or dried tofu was labor-intensive and time-consuming, so the price was naturally higher than ordinary fruits and vegetables. 

Occasionally, villagers passing by on their way home would be willing to buy a piece to cook with.

Business at the tea stall had been good today, and Xu He was in a good mood. They rotated different ready-to-eat dishes each day, such as tofu and braised dishes, that villagers could buy and take home. “Today, a servant from the landlord’s family in Zaocjiao Village came and bought two jin of braised meat.”

“That's great.”

They finished putting everything from the cart into the tea stall's cellar. Zhang Fangyuan hung a small square sign with the character for ‘wine’ at the entrance, indicating that the tea stall sold alcohol. It was curious: many people couldn't read, but those who frequented wine shops were so used to seeing such signs that even if they couldn't recognize the character, they knew it meant wine was sold inside. 

After he hung the sign, the fragrant smell of stir-fry already wafted from the kitchen to the outside. Wisps of cooking smoke rose from the chimney. Passersby, smelling the fragrance, felt their stomachs rumble and quickened their pace homeward.

Zhang Fangyuan slipped into the kitchen and watched Xu He cook. Only after his wife had fished out a piece of meat for him to taste did he take a bowl and chopsticks and open one of the black clay pickle jars in the corner of the stove. A refreshing, sour aroma emerged.

In the large-bellied pickle jar, the chili peppers were bright red and glossy. The long beans had lost their raw edge. The young ginger was tender and yellow. Xu He took excellent care of the pickle jars; not a speck of mold had formed on the brine. 

“The vegetables in the second jar were only put in today. Don't grab from the wrong one. Take from the third jar—the radishes were pickled a couple of days ago, sour and crisp, just right.”

“Isn't there radish in the first jar too? And pickled greens, and cabbage stems?”

Xu He said, “Those have been pickled much longer. Too sour to eat on their own. I keep them for cooking and stewing.”

“Alright then.” Zhang Fangyuan opened the third jar and fished out some of his favorite pickled young ginger and radish, perfect to eat with rice porridge at this time of year.

One good thing about running a tea stall was that dinner had a lot more variety. They often had both porridge and steamed rice, plus many dishes that required buying ingredients in town not commonly made by farming households. Of course, what they ate depended mainly on what ingredients were left over from the day's business.

Once the food was ready, the four of them decided to eat at a table outside the tea stall. It was cooler and brighter outside. 

“Brother Zhang, about to eat?”

Zhang Fangyuan recognized the voice. It was Ao Er, whom he'd encountered in town today. “Why are you here, you rascal? Finally decided to come back to the village?” 

“Still have to thank Brother Zhang for helping me out today.” Ao Er grinned sheepishly. “I just came to try my luck, see if I could buy some wine.”

Zhang Fangyuan snorted lightly. “You just sobered up and already craving more?”

“It's not like that. We have guests at home. My mother sent me to get some to entertain them.”

Hearing this, Zhang Fangyuan didn't say anything else. He took Ao Er's wine flask, went inside to fill it, and handed it back to him, adding a warning: “If you use my name to run wild in town again, I won't be so nice next time.”

Ao Er scratched his head. “I wouldn't dare.”

After selling the wine, Zhang Fangyuan collected fifteen wen. Seeing the man lingering, greedily breathing in the fragrance of the food, Zhang Fangyuan didn't invite him to stay for a meal. After Ao Er walked away, Zhang Fangyuan shook his head helplessly. No wonder the villagers  used to dislike him; he was just a good-for-nothing mess, thoroughly annoying.

“You know him?” Xu He, noticing Zhang Fangyuan staring after the man, asked.

“He's from our village. How could I not know him?” Zhang Fangyuan urged, “Eat up. After dinner, I need to set up the tea stall properly. Now that we have more things here, just locking the door isn't enough. We'll need to get some hunting gear to guard against thieves. Also, someone will have to keep watch. It'd be best if the two of us and Second Aunt take turns staying overnight at the stall.”

Xu He agreed. The villages around them were generally peaceful, without any vicious criminals. But petty theft was common, and after what happened with the Guang family, it was best to be prepared. Better safe than sorry. 

Some days passed. Zhang Fangyuan continued to mind his small business steadily, not anxiously seeking news about whether the Rose Water had gained any fame.

Then, early one morning, not long after he had set up his stall, a young clerk from Yunliang Pavilion came, rubbing his hands and bowing obsequiously. He had come to inquire about the perfume.

 

<< ToC >>