Changning rose on tiptoe to see clearly the figures on the painting. Her pair of grape-like eyes were filled with delight. Her chubby hand pointed at the figure of herself on the scroll and said, “There’s Ning-niang up there! Ning-niang likes this one!”

Before Fan Changyu could speak, Xie Zheng asked the scholar, “How much do you sell your paintings for?”

The scholar was dazed for a moment before realizing that this strikingly handsome man, who looked by no means easy to provoke, was asking the price of his work. He hurriedly said, “No money, no money—just take it as a gift from this humble one to the young master and the madam.”

Fan Changyu was still embarrassed by what the scholar had said earlier, but she did think the painting looked rather nice. Seeing that the scholar refused to name a price no matter what, she thought for a moment, then chose the smaller of the two strips of cured meat she had prepared for Head Constable Wang and handed it to the scholar, saying, “This piece of cured meat is for you, consider it a New Year’s gift.”

Then she straightened her face and pointed at Changning. “This is my younger sister.”

Receiving a strip of cured meat was an unexpected joy for the scholar; his flattery flowed even more readily. “It was my clumsy eyes that failed to recognize it. Then I wish Madam and Young Master to be blessed next year with a pair of dragon-and-phoenix twins—perfect harmony, and children’s laughter ever at your knees.”

Fan Changyu: “……”

She wanted to say something more to the scholar, but since she and Yan were only pretending to be husband and wife, it didn’t seem necessary to explain that to a stranger.

Even after leaving the scholar’s stall with the painting rolled up in hand, Fan Changyu still felt awkward inside. From time to time she glanced at Xie Zheng walking beside her, holding the scroll.

Finding his expression as calm as usual eased her discomfort a little.

They returned to the spot where they had been selling earlier, packed up their things, and planned to go to the bookstore to buy paper and ink.

The owner of a nearby New Year-goods shop, apparently envious that Fan Changyu had sold more than twenty strips of cured meat in less than an hour, dragged his plump body out after her. “Young lady, please wait.”

Fan Changyu turned at the sound of his voice and saw the portly shopkeeper from the New Year-goods store approaching with a broad smile. He asked, “Will the young lady be coming here again tomorrow to sell cured meat?”

Tomorrow was the second day of the new year. Fan Changyu not only had to open her own butcher shop but also needed to supply braised meat to Yixiang Tower. She probably wouldn’t have time to sell here again, so she shook her head. “I likely won’t have time the next few days.”

The fat shopkeeper smiled. “Then this old man would like to do some business with you. However much cured meat the young lady still has at home, just bring it here and leave it in my shop to sell. The proceeds we’ll split sixty-forty—you six, I four. What does the young lady think?”

Fan Changyu thought to herself—wasn’t this exactly what Manager Yu had called “catching the wolf with an empty hand”? He wouldn’t pay a single coin, yet she would have to deliver the cured meat, and he would still take nearly half the profit.

Cured meat, unlike fresh meat, could be hung in a cool, airy place and kept for a year or two without spoiling; naturally it sold for more than fresh meat.

During the festival days, she had been charging sixty-five wen per jin; even if customers bargained, she could still sell it for sixty wen or higher, never below sixty-five wen.

According to that fat shopkeeper’s sixty-forty split, even if everything sold at sixty-five wen per jin, she would earn only thirty-nine wen per jin—less than if she sold it herself at her own shop.

Fan Changyu said, “I don’t want a split. If you truly intend to buy, we can settle the account plainly—sold by weight.”

The fat shopkeeper chuckled. “The young lady clearly isn’t someone who knows how to do business.”

Fan Changyu was just about to reply when Xie Zheng suddenly spoke up: “A profit split is fine.”

Both Fan Changyu and the shopkeeper looked at him at once—Fan Changyu in bewilderment, while the fat shopkeeper’s eyes narrowed with a pleased smile. “This young man seems to know how to do business, thinking long-term…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Xie Zheng cast him a cool glance. “Eighty-twenty split.”

The shopkeeper’s smile froze on his face. “Young man, aren’t you opening your lion’s mouth a bit too wide?”

Fan Changyu quickly calculated in her heart how much she could earn from an eighty-twenty split.

At sixty-five wen per jin, she would get fifty-two wen; at sixty wen per jin, she would still get forty-eight wen.

Yet Fan Changyu truly had no intention of taking this deal. She said, “What’s the point of splitting profits? Let’s just sell it by weight, make it a one-time trade. The market’s base purchase price for cured meat is around fifty wen per jin. If I send the meat over first without receiving a single coin, I can’t rest easy. Let’s go—let’s buy your paper and ink at the bookstore first; afterward we still have to go pay New Year’s greetings at Head Constable Wang’s home.”

She pulled Changning along to leave, but the fat shopkeeper, seeing this, hurriedly said, “Eighty-twenty it is, then!”

He smiled helplessly. “The young lady and the young man really do play the red-and-white-face¹ Red-and-white-face act (唱红白脸) — an idiom derived from traditional Chinese opera, where red-faced roles symbolize uprightness and sincerity, while white-faced roles represent cunning or severity. Figuratively, it refers to two people deliberately taking contrasting roles — one soft, one hard — to influence or persuade someone, similar to the English expression “good cop, bad cop.” act well. I only wanted to make this deal because I saw how fine the young lady’s cured meat looked today—such good color and aroma, clearly top-grade goods.”

As he spoke, he beckoned the three of them toward his New Year-goods shop. “Let’s draw up a contract, and the young lady can bring the meat over later.”

When Fan Changyu met Xie Zheng’s gaze, she still looked a little dazed, as if she hadn’t expected the deal to be settled so easily.

Xie Zheng’s expression remained calm as ever. He said to her, “Go sign the contract.”

The fat shopkeeper was clearly not new to this kind of “empty-handed-catching-the-wolf” business. He swiftly wrote up the contract, and when he handed it to Fan Changyu to read, she dared not be careless. She read it word by word, then passed it to Xie Zheng. “Take a look—does it seem proper?”

When Xie Zheng nodded, she took the brush and boldly signed her name.

The shopkeeper gave them a deposit of one tael of silver, then cheerfully saw them out of the shop.

As they walked down the street, Fan Changyu muttered to Xie Zheng, “Tomorrow morning I have to open the butcher shop, and also deliver the braised meat to Yixiang Tower. I’m afraid I won’t be able to bring the cured meat until the afternoon.”

Xie Zheng said, “If you’re too busy to get away, I can hire a cart and deliver it for you.”

Fan Changyu felt a bit awkward. “Then I should pay you wages, shouldn’t I?”

Xie Zheng gave her a sidelong glance. Fan Changyu felt certain she hadn’t imagined it—he seemed displeased again.

Changning, carefree as ever, hopped along in front. Whenever she saw some trinket she liked but didn’t dare ask Fan Changyu to buy, she would glance pleadingly at Xie Zheng instead.

He bought her a few small things here and there, until her arms were so full that her chubby hands could barely close around the pile.

Fan Changyu warned her, “Ning-niang, if you keep wanting to buy everything you see, next time I won’t bring you to the county market.”

Changning lowered her head and stared at her toes while being scolded.

From beside them came the man’s cool, distant voice: “I was the one who wanted to buy them for her.”

Fan Changyu felt as though he were deliberately opposing her. Pressing her lips together, she said, “A child doesn’t understand reason; you can’t just indulge her every whim. She likes everything on the street—how could we possibly buy it all? Some lessons have to be taught so she’ll learn.”

Xie Zheng said nothing more. As the three of them walked on, even Changning could sense the odd tension between Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng.

She looked from one to the other, then down at the pile of things in her arms. Suddenly she stopped, turned around, and shoved all the trinkets into Xie Zheng’s hands. Her chubby fists clutched at her own clothes as she said, “Ning-niang doesn’t want them anymore. Brother-in-law, take them back and return them.”

Seeing the layer of tears glimmering in her grape-black eyes, Fan Changyu sighed, crouched down, and patted her on the head. “We’ve already bought them this time, so that’s that. But you can’t do this again, understand?”

Changning, her eyes brimming with tears, nodded hard and stretched out her plump little arms, wanting Fan Changyu to carry her.

Fan Changyu gathered the child into her arms and gently patted her back, her tone half doting, half helpless. “Why are you crying? I didn’t even scold you.”

With a nasal tone, Changning said, “Big Sister, don’t be mad at Brother-in-law. Ning-niang knows she was wrong.”

Fan Changyu glanced at Xie Zheng, who was standing to the side holding a pile of little trinkets, her voice turning even more helpless. “I’m not mad at him.”

Changning said, “You’re ignoring Brother-in-law.”

Fan Changyu laughed softly. “When did I ignore him?”

Changning’s tearful eyes shimmered like black grapes. “You’re not talking to Brother-in-law anymore.”

Fan Changyu thought to herself that she usually didn’t talk to Yan Zheng that much anyway—but seeing her little sister on the verge of tears, she could only coax her gently. “Weren’t we just talking earlier? We just haven’t said anything for a while now.”

But the tear that had been trembling at the corner of Changning’s eye finally fell—a large bead that hit the ground with a plop. “Big Sister is definitely angry.”

Fan Changyu surrendered. “Then what would make you believe I’m not angry?”

Changning thought for a moment and said, “Hold hands. Holding hands means you’ve made up!”

Fan Changyu was silent for a beat. “How about I talk to him the whole way instead?”

Changning, stubborn in her child’s logic, insisted, “Holding hands means making up.”

Fan Changyu exchanged a glance with Xie Zheng. His face showed no emotion, but she felt terribly self-conscious all the same.

She tried to reason with the child, “Look at your Brother-in-law, he’s holding so many things in his hands. And I’m carrying things too. If we use one hand to hold hands, won’t everything get too heavy?”

Only then did Changning drop the matter, though as she walked ahead she kept turning back to look at them from time to time.

Afraid that Changning might come up with some new, odd demand, Fan Changyu spoke to Xie Zheng. “Children are just noisy by nature. Don’t take it to heart.”

Xie Zheng said, “I don’t think she’s noisy. I’ll likely be leaving after the new year, so I wanted to buy her a few more toys while I can.”

Fan Changyu hadn’t expected that there was such a reason behind all the little things he had bought for Changning. Hearing that he was about to leave, an odd feeling rose quietly in her chest. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I misunderstood you earlier.”

Xie Zheng turned his head slightly toward her. “Why apologize?”

Fan Changyu said, “I misunderstood you and spoke harshly. Naturally, I should apologize.”

She pressed her lips together, then asked, “You’re leaving so soon? Won’t you wait until you’re completely healed?”

Just as Xie Zheng was about to reply, a troop of mounted soldiers came charging down the street, scattering pedestrians and knocking over vendor stalls.

As the warhorses closed in, Fan Changyu instinctively crouched down to shield Changning, while Xie Zheng lifted his cloak to block the mud splashed up by the pounding hooves.

When the soldiers had ridden off, many of the pedestrians who had been knocked over—or splattered with mud—were angrily cursing after them.

Fan Changyu looked up to see that half of Xie Zheng’s cloak was covered in mud. She frowned and asked, “Are you hurt?”

Xie Zheng shook his head, but his gaze still followed the departing soldiers, a dark, cold glint hidden in his eyes.

One of the peddlers whose stall had been overturned spat fiercely in that direction and cursed, “Those damned officials, can’t even behave themselves during the New Year!”

Fan Changyu asked, “Why have soldiers come to Qingping County again? Are they here to suppress bandits?”

The peddler said, “Suppress bandits? Those are debt-collecting devils, they’re here to seize grain! Haven’t you heard about what happened in Taizhou? The front lines are short on provisions. The army can’t collect enough through official requisitions, so they just snatch from the common folk. If you don’t hand it over, they beat you to death.”

Another middle-aged man nearby added, “Looking at this, it won’t be long before they start conscripting soldiers again.”

Footnotes

• 1
  Red-and-white-face act (唱红白脸) — an idiom derived from traditional Chinese opera, where red-faced roles symbolize uprightness and sincerity, while white-faced roles represent cunning or severity. Figuratively, it refers to two people deliberately taking contrasting roles — one soft, one hard — to influence or persuade someone, similar to the English expression “good cop, bad cop.”