Chapter 102: The Starting Point
After Li Jinzhu figured things out, the first thing she discussed with Li Shikuan was the proper etiquette for Yinzhu’s wedding, including the three-day return visit.
Firstly, this was the custom in Li Family Market and Xiao Li Village; secondly, it was the busy farming season, and agricultural work could not be delayed; thirdly, the bonds of kinship and affinity by marriage would be built over many years of interaction, not just in one or two banquets.
The day after Li Yin Zhu’s return visit, the siblings set off back to Pingjiang City.
The family worked until midnight to tidy everything up. The next day, as soon as it was dawn, Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu headed to the workshop, Li Xuedong went to school, and Li Xiaonan slept until the sky was bright. After breakfast, she moved a table outside and stood in the courtyard, absentmindedly writing, contemplating her business.
Mei Jie came running from the backyard, untying her apron, and said to Li Xiaonan with a smile, “A Nan, you watch the house, I’ll go buy some eggs. Those hens of ours are about to go broody!”
“Mm? Okay.”
Li Xiaonan stopped writing and watched Mei Jie pick up a basket, go into the main hall, take down the lidded bamboo basket hanging from the beam, count it carefully, take a string of large coins, and run out.
Li Xiaonan stood there for a while before she realized.
Mei Jie went to buy eggs!
Their family had never bought eggs before!
Mei Jie was buying eggs to let the hens hatch chicks.
Li Xiaonan stood there blankly for a moment, then slapped the brush in her hand onto the table, put her hands on her hips, and laughed heartily twice.
She knew where her business should start!
She should first create demand, and then launch her loom rental business.
She needed to start by collecting fine cloth, putting up a sign saying she would buy fine cloth year-round, until everyone started thinking about weaving fine cloth, and then she could launch her loom rental business.
Collecting fine cloth would require going door-to-door, walking through streets and alleys. She, a young girl, wouldn’t be able to do it; not only would no one believe her, but they might even report her to the village head.
She needed a shopkeeper to represent her, and it had to be a man, preferably an older one. Where could she find such a person?
Li Xiaonan was troubled.
If she secretly hired someone, as a young girl, she definitely wouldn’t be able to control them, and things would surely get out of hand.
She couldn’t discuss this with her eldest sister. She had tried probing several times, but her eldest sister disagreed with her whimsical business idea. Besides, if she discussed it with her eldest sister, her private savings would be gone.
Eldest Uncle? That wouldn’t work either. If Eldest Uncle knew, Eldest Sister would know too.
Third Sister? Third Sister had just gotten married, so she couldn’t cause her any trouble.
Brother definitely wouldn’t work, and neither would Mei Jie. Who else was there?
Li Xiaonan paced back and forth in the courtyard with her hands behind her back.
There was only one person left.
Li Xiaonan stopped and sighed.
………………………………
Gu Yan, wearing a moon white fine cloth long gown, a silk sash tied around his waist, and a pair of slightly worn cloth shoes, with a wide-brimmed straw hat common in Jiangnan, sat in a tea shed under several large camphor trees, drinking tea and watching the lively scene not far away.
A few zhang away, the County Magistrate of Kunshan County, Huang Xianzhou, and the neighboring County Magistrate of Wujiang County, Chen Guanghe, were arguing again.
Gu Yan sipped his tea, watching the two men, who were like fighting cocks, refusing to yield to each other.
A moment later, County Magistrate Huang looked heartbroken, clapping his hands loudly, while the opposing County Magistrate Chen leaned back slightly, looking at County Magistrate Huang with suspicion.
County Magistrate Huang reached out and patted County Magistrate Chen’s shoulder, continuing to look heartbroken.
A moment later, the two men patted each other, occasionally nodding and sighing together.
Gu Yan looked at County Magistrate Huang with admiration.
This meeting between the two counties, with its cycle of arguing and then reconciling, and then arguing again, had already repeated three times. Whether they argued or reconciled was almost entirely dictated by Huang Xianzhou.
Chen Guanghe was being manipulated by Huang Xianzhou.
After this moment of shared indignation, the two men stopped arguing. After talking head-to-head for a while, they waved goodbye.
Gu Yan followed Huang Xianzhou from a distance. Once the County Magistrate of Wujiang County, Chen Guanghe, was out of sight, he quickened his pace and caught up with Huang Xianzhou.
Huang Xianzhou looked at Gu Yan, his eyebrows raised.
It was him again.
“We’ve met before,” Gu Yan said with a smile.
“Young Lord,” Huang Xianzhou said, cupping his hands respectfully towards Gu Yan.
“You recognized me last time?” Gu Yan gestured for Huang Xianzhou to walk ahead.
“After the Young Lord left last time, I thought about it for a few days and had an epiphany,” Huang Xianzhou replied, his respect tinged with a subtle distance.
“What was your epiphany?” Gu Yan sensed the distance from Huang Xianzhou and looked at him.
“Someone of the Young Lord’s character and appearance is rare among ordinary people. Perhaps you can’t find one in the entire Pingjiang Prefecture. Later, when I heard the Young Lord had arrived in Pingjiang Prefecture, I had my epiphany.”
Gu Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he listened.
From Huang Xianzhou’s words, he detected a subtle hint of sarcasm.
Where did this distance and sarcasm from Huang Xianzhou come from?
“Have you discussed with the County Magistrate of Wujiang how to dredge that river channel?” Gu Yan weighed Huang Xianzhou’s distance and sarcasm in his mind, showing no outward reaction.
“Yes. The dredging of that river channel was originally a simple matter.
“In the autumn of the year before last, the Wang family on this side of the river and the Zhang family on the other side became related by marriage. The Zhang family’s daughter married into the Wang family and was mistreated by her mother-in-law. On New Year’s Eve, the Zhang family’s daughter hanged herself.
“The Wang family, knowing they were in the wrong, sent a mediator to apologize and held a grand funeral for the Zhang family’s daughter. The Zhang family’s clan leader and elders had already let it go, but the Zhang family’s daughter’s brothers were furious and smashed things for seven days during the funeral.”
Huang Xianzhou looked at Gu Yan and explained:
“This is a local custom. For a daughter-in-law who dies young in her husband’s family, after her maternal family has eaten the meal at the funeral, if they smash bowls and plates, it’s considered understandable. Usually, they would only smash one table’s worth of bowls and plates.
“But the Zhang brothers not only smashed all the bowls and plates on the tables, but they also rushed into the Zhang family’s daughter’s in-laws’ home and smashed all their bowls and plates. By the sixth day, they had forced the Zhang family’s daughter’s in-laws to sell their fields and cattle. On the seventh day, when the Zhang brothers started smashing bowls and plates again, the Wang family’s young men stepped in to stop them. The young men from both families got into a fight, a rather serious one, creating enmity.
Huang Xianzhou sighed.
“County Magistrate Chen only took office last autumn and is not yet familiar with the local customs and sentiments. The matter of dredging the river channel is actually due to the discord between the Zhang and Wang families, their attempts to sabotage each other, and even their desire to destroy each other. It’s not about the dredging itself, but about how to resolve the feud between the Zhang and Wang families. This is a major issue.”
“Has there been a violent clash?” Gu Yan asked with a slight frown.
Huang Xianzhou looked at Gu Yan with some surprise. “Not yet. That is the greatest fortune amidst misfortune.”
Outsiders, and even he himself before taking office in Kunshan County, had thought that the customs in Jiangnan were gentle and graceful, and that brutal incidents like violent clashes would not occur. After taking office, he realized that the customs in Jiangnan were as fierce as those in the north.
This Young Lord seemed quite knowledgeable about the local customs of Jiangnan, which was rare.
“Have you and Chen Guanghe discussed how to resolve the feud between the Zhang and Wang families?” Gu Yan continued to ask.
“Not yet. This trip was just to explain the origin of the river channel dredging issue to County Magistrate Chen.”
“This matter cannot be delayed. Firstly, the flood season is approaching, and secondly, if this feud between the two families leads to loss of life due to delay, it will become an unsolvable knot. Gu Yan paused, then looked at Huang Xianzhou, “This matter will be troublesome for you, how about it?”
“I would be honored,” Huang Xianzhou quickly cupped his hands.
“Well, I’ll think of a way to assign the matter of dredging this section of the river channel to Kunshan County’s jurisdiction,” Gu Yan said with a smile.
“The Young Lord is wise. This is an act of accumulating merit and virtue,” Huang Xianzhou cupped his hands.
Gu Yan’s eyebrows twitched at his mention of accumulating merit and virtue. He glanced at him sideways and suddenly asked, “My temporary stay in Pingjiang Prefecture, does it interfere with your official duties?”
“The Young Lord’s presence in Pingjiang Prefecture is as distant to me as your presence in the Capital City. I cannot feel any interference here.”
Gu Yan looked at Huang Xianzhou sideways. Huang Xianzhou met Gu Yan’s sideways glance and immediately lowered his eyes.
Gu Yan chuckled and shook his head.
This Huang Xianzhou was truly annoying!
