Chapter 51: Going Premium on May 1st
Wan Jing got down first, standing by the carriage with lowered eyes.
Gu Yan glanced sideways at Shi Gun from Wan Jing’s direction, and with a smile on Shi Gun’s face, he snorted.
Li Xiaonan got out of the carriage and stood next to Wan Jing, cautiously looking around.
“Let’s go.” Gu Yan didn’t look at Li Xiaonan, but with a rustle, he unfurled his folding fan and strode forward.
Lu Xiu and this blockhead Wan Jing were so close they could share a skirt; this little girl was indeed kindred spirits with Wan Jing from the moment they met!
Gu Yan was tall with long legs and walked with long strides, while Li Xiaonan and Wan Jing had to trot to keep up.
Not far away was a watchtower that could overlook the entire Beixing Wharf.
Gu Yan went straight into the watchtower. Li Xiaonan, clutching Wan Jing’s sleeve with two fingers, turned her head back and forth, looking at the commander of the guards and the guards standing rigidly at the entrance of the watchtower.
This Young Lord was becoming more and more like the real thing!
Gu Yan went straight to the top of the tower.
The watchtower was spacious and tall, with the uppermost level resembling an open-sided pavilion with eight sides.
Li Xiaonan leaned on the railing and gazed into the distance.
The weather was clear today, and as far as the eye could see, one could see as far as their vision allowed.
Li Xiaonan looked down at the ground.
From this height, it was only about four or five stories high. At such a low height, one could still see as far as their vision allowed.
Was this like her, standing on the shoulders of countless wise and capable people from a thousand years later, looking at this world, was it also like standing in this watchtower looking into the distance?
Alas!
Li Xiaonan sighed inwardly. She missed the Shanghai Tower and Jin Mao Tower shrouded in mist; those were true skyscrapers.
“That young man I just appointed is named Fan Wu, and everyone at the wharf calls him A Wu,” Gu Yan said, pointing with his folding fan.
That A Wu was walking and running along the wharf. Beside A Wu was the woman who had screamed to stop the fight that day. The woman had a large cloth bag on her back and was holding an abacus.
“That woman is A Wu’s cousin, and also his wife,” Gu Yan explained.
“It’s a bit chaotic,” Li Xiaonan said, looking at the messy wharf.
“Yes, it’s only A Wu’s first day in charge, and it’s only this chaotic, which is quite good,” Gu Yan squinted at A Wu and his wife.
Wan Jing did not dare to lean on the railing as Li Xiaonan did. She stood obediently, trying to get as close to the railing as possible without being noticed, stretching her neck to look out.
“Let’s go down and take a look.” Gu Yan had surveyed the top of the watchtower and patted Li Xiaonan’s shoulder with his folding fan.
Li Xiaonan followed Gu Yan down from the watchtower and walked through the crowd.
Not long after, Gu Yan suddenly stopped. Li Xiaonan, who was trotting closely behind, would have run into Gu Yan if Wan Jing hadn’t grabbed her.
“Quite capable!” Gu Yan said, shaking his folding fan, with a compliment that wasn’t quite genuine.
Li Xiaonan stretched her head out from beside Gu Yan to look ahead.
Far ahead, A Wu seemed to be standing on top of everyone, high and mighty.
“So high!” Li Xiaonan exclaimed.
“He’s walking on stilts,” Gu Yan replied, closing his folding fan with a rustle, and then strode forward.
About ten to twenty steps away from A Wu, Gu Yan stopped and looked up slightly at A Wu, who was shouting commands.
Wang Gui had already run over. Seeing Gu Yan watching intently, he didn’t dare to disturb him.
Gu Yan looked from A Wu to the woman standing beside him and casually asked, “How is it?”
“Hmm?” Li Xiaonan was startled.
What did this abrupt “how is it” mean? What was “how is it”?
“Reporting to the Young Lord, all the porters at Beixing Wharf registered before midnight. This morning, all who could come have arrived, earlier and more complete than usual. Even now, they are all following orders,” Wang Gui reported with his hands clasped.
Li Xiaonan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. So, this “how is it” wasn’t asking her.
No wonder Wan Jing didn’t want to be by this lord’s side. With such abrupt questions, one couldn’t cope without some skill; it was indeed difficult.
Li Xiaonan glanced at Wan Jing, who was intently watching the stilts under A Wu’s feet.
“A Wu’s wife is busy with her abacus. Go and see what she’s calculating,” Gu Yan’s folding fan tapped Li Xiaonan’s shoulder, then he pointed at Wan Jing, “You go with Miss Li.”
Wan Jing curtsied in agreement.
Li Xiaonan watched Wan Jing curtsy with her eyes fixed on her. She felt that Wan Jing’s curtsy was dignified, elegant, and extremely beautiful.
Wan Jing stood up straight and looked at Li Xiaonan. Li Xiaonan met Wan Jing’s gaze, feeling bewildered.
Wan Jing slowly took a breath, glanced sideways at Gu Yan from the corner of her eye, moved her lips as little as possible, and said in a very low voice, “Let’s go!”
Li Xiaonan said “Oh” and quickly stepped forward.
Wan Jing followed Li Xiaonan with lowered eyes.
Seeing the two of them move, Gu Yan snorted and suddenly unfurled his folding fan, fanning himself vigorously.
Shi Gun glanced at his Young Lord from the corner of his eye, then at the dejected Wan Jing, and sighed inwardly.
He couldn’t blame his Young Lord for being unhappy; Wan Jing was a bit too dull.
Li Xiaonan walked ahead, Wan Jing behind her. After walking twenty to thirty steps, Li Xiaonan stopped and looked back. There were many people coming and going between them and that lord, so she couldn’t see him, and he certainly couldn’t see them.
“I was waiting for you to go first,” Li Xiaonan said, walking alongside Wan Jing, picking up on Wan Jing’s earlier “Let’s go.”
“Didn’t you hear our lord’s orders? Our lord told me to go with you, not to lead you. How could I go first?” Wan Jing emphasized the words “with” and “lead” and shot Li Xiaonan a glare.
Li Xiaonan said “Ah,” then after a moment, said “Ah” again, and then sighed, “No wonder you don’t want to work for that lord. There are too many rules, it’s quite annoying.”
“If it were just these rules, it would be fine. Everywhere you go, you have to listen to what people say, understand their hidden meanings, alas!” Wan Jing sighed in frustration.
“Then what else?” Li Xiaonan asked.
“For example, now, my whole family is in the Capital City, my relatives and sisters are all in the Capital City, and my A Hu is also in the Capital City, but I’m here!” Wan Jing almost wanted to cry.
She didn’t want to come to Pingjiang City at all, let alone stay for a year!
“Who is A Hu?” Li Xiaonan asked tentatively.
“He’s a little poodle I raised. I brought him home when he was just over a month old. A Hu is very close to me!” Wan Jing’s eyes welled up with tears at the thought of A Hu.
“Oh, a little dog.” Li Xiaonan was a bit disappointed. “You can’t bring A Hu with you when you come to work?”
Wan Jing glared at Li Xiaonan and ignored her.
“That’s right, when you’re working, that, that, you definitely can’t bring pets,” Li Xiaonan used “that” to replace the word “working.”
Wan Jing’s job was probably similar to her own work back then; companies that allowed pets were rare.
“It’s quite pitiful. Your lord won’t be in Pingjiang Prefecture forever, will he? When is he leaving?” Li Xiaonan turned around and stood on tiptoe to look in the direction Gu Yan was standing.
There were too many people, and she was too short, so she couldn’t see anything.
“He’s staying for a year! It will take over a month to travel back. Alas! Let’s not talk about this. Go and look at her abacus.”
Not far ahead were A Wu, who was on stilts, and the woman standing by A Wu’s stilts, constantly working her abacus.
We’re going on the shelves on May 1st, with two chapters a day after going on the shelves!
