Chapter 143: The Wind Rises
Matchmaker Miao steeled herself. After the mounting shop closed, she sat in the corner behind the signboard and continued to wait until it was almost dark. A cart arrived, and the two people following it dismounted and led their horses into the adjacent tea house. The cart stopped at the entrance of Cai Lian Lane, and Li Jinzhu and Li Xiaonan alighted one after the other.
Matchmaker Miao stood up and hurried to the center of the street. She suddenly stopped, turned, and quickly walked to the cart driver, who was about to crack his whip to urge his donkey forward. She grabbed the cart driver and asked, “The two girls from the Li family hired your cart? Where did they go?”
The cart driver glanced sideways at Matchmaker Miao and snorted. Just as he was about to swing his arm to break free, Matchmaker Miao took out two copper coins and pressed them into his hand.
The cart driver weighed the copper coins. “Hejia Village, east of Guo Lane.”
“What were they doing there?” Matchmaker Miao immediately pressed.
The cart driver glanced sideways at Matchmaker Miao again. Matchmaker Miao handed him another copper coin.
“Watching someone weave.”
Matchmaker Miao made a sound of understanding and had just let go when she suddenly stepped forward again, grabbing the cart driver once more. “Take me there.”
The cart driver glanced sideways at Matchmaker Miao.
“I’ll pay you extra for the ride!” Matchmaker Miao climbed onto the cart.
“It’s already dark, and I haven’t eaten dinner yet. I’m not taking any more jobs.” The cart driver turned his head and glanced at Matchmaker Miao.
“I’ll give you ten more copper coins.” Matchmaker Miao settled herself on the cart.
The cart driver extended his hand to her. “Then give me the fare first.”
“Half now.” Matchmaker Miao took out copper coins and counted them out to the cart driver.
Matchmaker Miao returned from Hejia Village and entered Pingjiang City, it was already late at night.
Matchmaker Miao asked the cart driver to take her directly to Pingyatou’s home. After paying the remaining fare, Matchmaker Miao stepped forward and knocked on the door. She called out Wu Er Nainai and whispered into her ear, talking for a long time.
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Linhai Town, the wharf.
At the entrance of the Inspection Office, Xiao Ma, a porter queuing to have his tallies checked and stamped, stretched his neck. He looked at the tallies in the hands of a young porter in front of him, then at his own, and then at the other’s. He carefully raised his hand and brought it closer to compare.
His tallies were at most half of the other person’s!
“Hey, brother, is all this yours?” Xiao Ma could no longer hold back. He gently tapped the shoulder of the porter in front and asked with a smile.
“Of course! If it’s not mine, whose could it be?” The young porter was in a very good mood.
“Then how do you have so much!” Xiao Ma exclaimed. “Look at mine, it’s half of yours! I worked a full day today, I didn’t rest for a moment!”
The young porter glanced sideways at Xiao Ma, the corners of his mouth slowly turning downwards. After a moment, he leaned his head over and chuckled, “You guys have to pay tribute, we don’t.”
“What do you mean by that? I’m not paying tribute.” Xiao Ma was bewildered.
“You two places issue tallies, you get two for every one issued, we only have one place to issue them, so each trip counts as one.” The young porter looked smug, shaking a handful of bamboo slips that he could barely grip at Xiao Ma.
“What? It can be like this? You’re falsely claiming! How can this be allowed! You definitely won’t pass the inspection!” Xiao Ma glared at the young porter.
The young porter glanced at Xiao Ma, shook his handful of tallies again, and smugly moved forward.
Xiao Ma tightly pursed his lips, watching the young porter lean over the inspection counter and hand in his handful of tallies. He immediately stepped forward, squeezed next to the young porter, and stretched his neck to look at the three men in long gowns inside.
One of the three men in long gowns was rapidly counting the tallies, another was verifying their authenticity one by one, and the third was writing down the number of tallies, stamping it, and handing out a small slip about two fingers long.
“Let me see!” Xiao Ma forgot about his own tallies and rushed forward to look at the small slip the young porter had just received.
The young porter held the small slip out to Xiao Ma’s eyes, generously letting him look.
Xiao Ma stared at the number on the small slip. He remained standing there, stunned, even after the young porter, holding the slip, staggered off towards the bank.
The number on the small slip was more than double his!
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Huang Xianzhou and Mr. Yao each had a small stool. In front of them, two adobe bricks supported a wooden board, on which sat a large bowl of stewed meat with more fat than lean.
Mr. Yao scooped some broth, picked out a piece of leaner meat, and added a few chopsticks of dried bamboo shoots to his bowl. Huang Xianzhou only took two chopsticks of dried bamboo shoots and scooped a few spoonfuls of broth over his rice before putting down his spoon and calling to the porters squatting around them.
“Xiao Jiu, you just recovered from your illness, you go first, take two pieces. Old Zhao, you’re older, you take one more piece. Everyone come over, one piece each.”
The porters quickly stood up, each taking a piece of meat, and then shared the remaining broth.
“Thanks to the two Masters, we’ve been feasting every day these past few days,” one porter said with a smile.
“Thanks to the Young Lord,” Huang Xianzhou replied with a smile.
Ever since the Young Lord set up a shed at the wharf, he had people deliver such a large bowl of meat or chicken every morning and evening. Thanks to the Young Lord, his popularity had been growing.
“Master Huang, have you heard about those people over there, where each trip counts as one?” a middle-aged porter asked Huang Xianzhou.
Huang Xianzhou nodded.
“That’s falsely claiming. Aren’t you going to do something about it?” the middle-aged porter asked.
“That’s not my responsibility, I can’t do anything about it,” Huang Xianzhou said with a smile.
“I’ve seen it several times, and the Inspection Office doesn’t do anything. Those men in long gowns just bury their heads counting tallies and writing slips. How can this be!” another porter said indignantly.
“Don’t all porters’ jobs count as one trip? Why here do you have to count two trips as one? I’m really puzzled about this,” Mr. Yao asked slowly.
“This is Linhai Town, of course it’s different from other places!”
“When I first came to this wharf, thirty years ago, although two trips counted as one, for every ten trips, you got two extra tallies. Later, two became one, and then there were no more subsidies,” said Old Zhao, the oldest porter, speaking slowly.
“My grandfather said that in the very beginning, it was also one trip counted as one here. My grandfather is seventy this year!” a young porter next to Old Zhao chimed in.
“Your grandfather is senile!” a middle-aged porter opposite said.
“My grandfather may be blind, but he’s not senile at all!” the young porter retorted.
“Master Huang, didn’t that Young Lord say he was going to manage the wharf? Those people over there are falsely claiming tallies, and the Young Lord isn’t doing anything about it? The Young Lord should be able to manage it, right?” the porter next to Huang Xianzhou asked, furrowing his brow.
“Why don’t you go and talk to the Young Lord?” Huang Xianzhou suggested.
“Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?” the middle-aged porter next to the porter boss interjected.
“Why is it inappropriate? They’re falsely claiming!” a young porter said indignantly.
“Then you go and talk,” the middle-aged porter retorted unceremoniously.
“I’ll go if I have to! They’re falsely claiming!” The young porter ate his meal quickly and stood up. “Is anyone going with me? Let’s go! Now! We’re doing the same work, why should they get twice as many tallies as us!”
Three or four porters stood up.
“Master Huang, please try to persuade them. These young lads don’t know any better! This could cause trouble!” Old Zhao stood up anxiously.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine. The Young Lord wouldn’t argue with them. It’s fine, if you want to go, then go. It’ll definitely be fine, don’t worry!” Huang Xianzhou waved his hand at those people, signaling them to hurry.
