Chapter 5: Taking Over the Cheng Family Business
The night lamp in the main room was dim and soft.
The Old Madam looked around at the people in the room, paused, and finally said, “Why don’t we entrust it to you?”
The Cheng Family, since the great-grandfather’s generation, owned thousands of acres of tea gardens and a certain amount of fields in Huizhou.
During the day, I learned from the steward that when Master was alive, he opened several tea houses in Yangzhou Prefecture. Taking advantage of the canal transport, he shipped the Cheng Family’s tea to various places north and south, and his business grew larger and larger. Even many high-ranking officials in the Capital City enjoyed drinking Cheng Family’s tea.
After Master passed away, the Eldest Young Master, Cheng Cangshi, inherited his Canal Troops official position. The Second Young Master, Cheng Huaishi, would manage the family business while also studying literature, with the aim of passing the imperial examinations.
I bowed my head and said to the Old Madam, “Mother, your daughter-in-law has just arrived and I fear I am not capable of this task.”
The Old Madam instructed a maidservant, “The jar of tea by my bedside, pour a cup for the Second Young Mistress.”
The maidservant agreed.
A moment later, she brought the tea in a celadon cup and handed it to me.
The Old Madam looked at me, and I took a sip.
At first, it seemed ordinary. In the blink of an eye, a rich wild aroma spread from my lips and teeth to my lungs. The fragrance enveloped me from all directions, intense and surging.
“How is it?” the Old Madam smiled.
“Good tea.”
“This is Autumn Wild Tea from Jinzhai, Lu’an Prefecture, not from the garden. Wild tea has no rules in its taste and cannot be sold at the counter. What I value is precisely its lack of rules. Spring breeze, summer rain, autumn dew. It can withstand and endure everything. Once you taste its flavor, you will feel it has no roots or foundation, its fragrance is simple and unpretentious, without any ulterior motives.”
The Old Madam spoke with deep meaning.
The Eldest Young Mistress said with a fawning smile, “Mother, even if you value Young Mistress Zhu, she has no experience in business, how can she understand counter matters? Doing business is not child’s play. Is it not a constant flow of money like water every day?”
The Old Madam pondered for a moment and said, “Yu Zhen speaks with reason. Then it shall be this way: Sang Yu will first be responsible for collecting the account books from all the counters, review them, and then submit them to me.”
Saying this, she ordered a servant boy, “Go, call Wu Bi from the West Street counter.”
The servant boy responded and left. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a tall man walked in and respectfully said, “What does the Old Madam require?”
The Old Madam said, “You have been at the counter for ten years, and you have followed Second Master for ten years. You are experienced in handling matters. From now on, you will guide the Second Young Mistress in familiarizing herself with the family business. Since Second Master is no longer here, in the second branch, there is only the Second Young Mistress. You must be diligent.”
The tall man named Wu Bi quickly replied, “Yes.”
The Old Madam beckoned, signaling me to come to her side.
With red eyes, she said to me, “Sang Yu, if you manage things for Huai’er, I will feel as if Huai’er is still here. In a few years, I will adopt a child for you from the clan. Then the second branch will not be considered extinct.”
I lowered my head, “Your daughter-in-law obeys Mother.”
The Eldest Young Mistress said, “Mother, my maternal cousin is a skilled businessman in Fuliang, perhaps…”
“No need. Yu Zhen. You do not need to worry about this matter.”
The Old Madam lightly dismissed the Eldest Young Mistress’s words.
The matter was thus settled.
Finally, the Old Madam felt that besides Xiao Yin, there was no reliable person to command in my room, so she bestowed upon me a maidservant named He Hua, who was by her side.
He Hua wore her hair in a bun and looked like she had been married.
However, the married servants in the manor went home at night or rested with their families in the servants’ quarters in the backyard.
He Hua did not.
She followed me back to the West Courtyard, efficiently tidied up the miscellaneous tasks in the room with a few older women, brought warm water in a copper basin, and attended to my rest. Afterward, she laid out a mattress on the floor by the door and slept.
Her face was cold, and since she came with me, she has not spoken a word more or taken a step out of line.
The next day, I got out of bed.
Wu Bi was already waiting in the courtyard.
After I finished washing, I followed him to the shop on West Street.
The four characters “Cheng Family Tea House” were written by the Cheng Family’s great-grandfather, in a solemn and elegant calligraphy.
Various kinds of tea were displayed at the counter.
Wu Bi greeted the young apprentices, and they all greeted me.
Afterward, Wu Bi handed me several thick account books and said, “Second Young Mistress, these are the income from the sixteen shops in the city this quarter. Please take a look.”
I took them and flipped through them carefully.
The Zhu Family was also from a merchant background. My ancestors operated a flower wine business. After Mother married in, she managed the affairs, and it prospered day by day. During the Longqing Era, thanks to my maternal grandfather’s influence and connections, they became imperial merchants. Mother used her dowry and most of the silver from the accounts to purchase a seventh-rank official position for my father. The Zhu Family was once a prominent family in Dongchang Prefecture.
After Mother passed away, Father’s business management faltered, and it declined. After marrying my stepmother, he listened to her whispers, neglected his duties, and even lost his official position. They were also no longer imperial merchants. The Zhu Family declined day by day.
Before I was married, my stepmother never allowed me to interfere with counter matters.
Today, holding the account books, I found them obscure.
I read slowly, gradually learning, and gradually sorted out the main points. Several hours passed without me realizing it.
“Wu Bi—” I called.
No one was around.
A young apprentice said, “Shopkeeper Wu might have gone to the warehouse in the back.”
I got up and went to look for him.
The scent of tea was faint and lingering.
I pushed open the warehouse door and saw a man in black clothing sitting inside. He was holding several sheets of paper, as if he intended to put them into a tea box.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, he quickly put the papers into his sleeve.
It was as if they were the most important things in the world.
“Who are you? How did you get here? Where is Wu Bi?”
The man turned around.
His build was imposing, his face clear and handsome, and his eyes were like cold stars.
Seeing me, he loosened his clenched fist, and the cold glint in his eyes subsided.
He said, “I am from the West Street counter. Tomorrow, the Cheng Family has a cargo ship going to the Capital City, and I came to coordinate matters with Shopkeeper Wu. He is likely taking inventory and will be back shortly.”
“So that’s how it is.”
I walked over to him.
“Just now, I saw you trying to put the papers into the tea box. The journey is bumpy, and there are inspections along the way. What if…”
He said, “Do you have a way?”
He did not call me “Second Young Mistress” like Wu Bi did.
I said, “Press the tea into blocks and put the papers inside. From the outside, nothing will be visible.”
“I fear the handwriting will blur.”
“Wrap it in a layer of oil.”
He became vigilant.
I smiled, “The cargo ship heading to the Capital City, besides the customs duties to be paid to the Imperial Court, the canal transport officials in the Capital City will also need silver notes for bribes. This is a gift for the officials, isn’t it?”
Seeing me say this, he breathed a sigh of relief, “Yes.”
“I understand.”
Between officials and merchants, these matters are always unavoidable.
I signaled to him that there was no need to be so nervous.
He suddenly leaned closer to me.
“It seems Madam is not only righteous but also very intelligent.”
I suddenly looked up at him.
His voice, the voice of the masked man at the ferry terminal…
Footsteps were heard from outside the door.
“Miss, are you in there?”
It was Qin Mingxu.
How did he find his way to the counter?
Just as I was about to say something, the man beside me suddenly grabbed my arm and crouched down, his head against mine, covering my mouth.
His eyes were so close to me.
“From now on, you are not allowed to associate with Qin Mingxu.”
He extended his finger to my neck, “Yesterday, I held a knife to you, did it hurt?”
