Chapter 63: What I Didn’t Dare to Imagine Before
Li Jinzhu stood in the shadow of the courtyard entrance, leaning against the doorframe, watching the brightly lit kitchen.
The kitchen door was open, and Li Yin Zhu was waving a half-sewn shoe sole, excitedly talking about something. Li Xue Dong was clapping his hands against his book and laughing heartily. Li Xiao Nan was leaning against Li Yu Zhu, giggling non-stop, while Li Yu Zhu, also laughing, was quickly sewing the shoe sole.
Li Jinzhu stepped over the threshold, leaning back against the doorframe, her eyes fixed on her sisters and brother, who were all laughing together. A wave of emotions churned within her, but she couldn’t quite identify the feeling.
Li Xiao Nan subconsciously glanced at the courtyard gate.
“Eldest Sister is back?” Li Yin Zhu reacted quickly, poking her head out to look.
“I’m back,” Li Jinzhu replied, patting her clothing placket and stepping out of the shadows.
“Have Eldest Sister eaten yet?” Li Yu Zhu hurriedly wound her needlework around the shoe sole.
“Eldest Sister went to a banquet, of course she’s eaten!” Li Yin Zhu interjected, quickly finishing winding her needlework. “I’ll go get the tea leaves and make Eldest Sister a cup of tea!”
Now, their family had tea leaves too, and good quality ones at that! Hong Zhen Ye had given them to Li Xue Dong, who then passed them on.
“Make a pot, but use a little less tea. If the tea is too strong, I won’t be able to sleep,” Li Jinzhu instructed.
Li Yu Zhu busied herself adding water, and Li Xue Dong handed his book to Li Xiao Nan and sat down to tend the fire.
Li Xue Dong wasn’t good at cooking, but he was quite skilled at tending the fire. Li Xiao Nan couldn’t even manage to tend the fire properly.
“Is everything alright?” Li Yu Zhu finished adding water and carefully examined Li Jinzhu’s expression.
“There is something,” Li Jinzhu took the tea caddy from Li Yin Zhu, pinched a small amount of tea leaves, and examined them in her palm. She put a few back into the tea caddy and poured the rest into the teapot.
“What is it? It’s not bad news, is it?” Li Yin Zhu asked with some urgency.
Eldest Sister’s banquet tonight was about her marriage, and now there was something to discuss!
“It’s not about you,” Li Jinzhu pushed Li Yin Zhu back gently and looked at Li Yu Zhu. “Mr. Gao wants to form a marriage alliance with us?”
“Mr. Gao? A Nan?” Li Yu Zhu didn’t understand.
Li Xue Dong’s hands, which were tending the fire, froze.
“Mr. Gao only has one adopted daughter!” Li Xiao Nan nudged Li Xue Dong. “Mr. Gao wants to take Brother as his son-in-law?”
“Yes!” Li Jinzhu looked at Li Xue Dong.
Li Xue Dong tightly pursed his lips, his whole body stiff, his expression blank.
“Xue Dong?” Li Jinzhu called out.
“Did Eldest Sister agree?” Li Xiao Nan nudged Li Xue Dong and looked at Li Jinzhu, asking.
“I didn’t dare to agree completely, as I don’t know if Xue Dong is willing. Xue Dong?” Li Jinzhu leaned forward and patted Li Xue Dong on the shoulder.
“Eldest Sister!” Li Xue Dong cried out, his voice choked with tears. “A Nan, A Nan…”
“If you’re not willing, then we won’t agree. Don’t cry!” Li Yin Zhu pulled at her sleeve and reached out to wipe Li Xue Dong’s tears.
“Brother must be happy,” Li Xiao Nan sighed with emotion and patted Li Xue Dong’s back repeatedly.
In the eyes of the students at the Gao Family School, Mr. Gao’s only daughter, Zhi Jie’er, was like a goddess.
Back then, she would huddle in a corner of the classroom, watching the older and younger boys jostle to catch a glimpse of Zhi Jie’er’s skirt hem. If they could hear even a little bit about Zhi Jie’er, it would cause everyone to excitedly discuss it for eight to ten days.
Although her brother didn’t push to see her, nor did he discuss it with everyone, she could clearly sense that whenever Zhi Jie’er was mentioned, her brother’s ears would perk up and turn in that direction.
“I’ll listen to Eldest Sister,” Li Xue Dong said, wiping his tears, his mind returning to the present.
“Eldest Sister wants to listen to you, which is why she didn’t dare to agree. You want to listen to Eldest Sister, so tell me yourself, are you willing or not?” Li Xiao Nan patted him with a little more force.
“I, I’m willing,” Li Xue Dong stammered, being patted by Li Xiao Nan.
“Mr. Gao and Mrs. Gao are both good people,” Li Yu Zhu said to Li Jinzhu.
“Yes, when Tang Weng Weng mentioned that Mr. Gao fancied our Xue Dong, I was so happy,” Li Jinzhu’s throat suddenly caught. After a pause, she continued, “I never even dared to dream of it.”
“Mm,” Li Yu Zhu patted Li Jinzhu.
“A Nan, come here, Eldest Sister will hug you,” Li Jinzhu beckoned Li Xiao Nan.
Li Xiao Nan jumped up and threw herself into her Eldest Sister’s arms.
………………………………
In a corner of the villa, several connected courtyards were heavily guarded.
In the side room of one of these courtyards, Niu Che Qian sat before a long desk over ten feet wide, facing account books spread across it. He held a charcoal stick, muttering as he wrote and drew.
Hearing a sound, Niu Che Qian turned and, seeing Gu Yan, sprang up with a whoosh, spun around, and dropped to his knees with a thud.
Niu Che Qian’s swift and seamless spin and kneel caused Gu Yan’s eyebrows to rise.
“No need for this, get up,” Gu Yan said, somewhat speechless, watching Niu Che Qian kowtow with audible thuds.
“I, I, I…” Niu Che Qian’s lips trembled with excitement, unable to utter anything beyond “I.”
Gu Yan sighed, bent down, grabbed Niu Che Qian by the collar, and pulled him up.
“How are the accounts looking?” Gu Yan lifted Niu Che Qian and pressed him into a chair.
“A little, almost, what, what do you need to look at?” Niu Che Qian sat upright in the chair, pressed by Gu Yan, his whole body tense, not daring to move.
“Can you tell if these numbers are true or false, or half true and half false?” Gu Yan walked along the long desk, flipping through the books.
“They are true, there are no falsehoods,” Niu Che Qian stated with certainty.
“Oh? How can you tell?” Gu Yan stopped.
“It’s just, it’s, that, I just feel, these, that…” Niu Che Qian’s face turned red with exertion.
He could sense that these numbers were all true, just like when he reconciled accounts in the gambling houses in Yangzhou. With a glance at the numbers, he could tell if there were any discrepancies or hidden issues, but he couldn’t explain how he knew.
“So, you just feel they are true, but you can’t explain why?” Gu Yan asked, understanding.
This Niu Che Qian had always been like this.
Before, with the numbers at the customs office, he would say he felt something was wrong, but he couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.
At first, Gu Yan thought Niu Che Qian was being pretentious, but it wasn’t until much later that he realized Niu Che Qian’s feeling of something being wrong was indeed correct.
“Yes,” Niu Che Qian’s heart pounded.
“Mm, these are just the throughput figures for Beixing Wharf in recent years. There are four wharves like Beixing Wharf in Pingjiang Prefecture alone, and even more along the entire canal. In the future, if the throughput figures for all the wharves on the entire canal are compiled and sent to you, can you manage them?”
Gu Yan happily placed the account book in his hand back on the long desk.
Regardless of what the Cao Division thought, being able to receive completely truthful data was something to be very happy about.
“One person like me, I’m afraid, afraid…”
“You won’t be able to handle it?” Gu Yan finished his sentence.
Niu Che Qian nodded eagerly.
“Mm, think about it, how many people you’ll need, what kind of people, and give me a list,” Gu Yan said. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly paused, turned to look at Niu Che Qian, and after a moment, smiled, “I’ll find you a teacher, perhaps she can teach you why.”
