Chapter 56 Chapter 56 Whereabouts

"It's not me. I didn't even touch it inside this counter."

"It wasn't you. It wasn't you. How could it have shattered in front of you? This lamp was shipped in from overseas, delivered to our shop by a merchant caravan from Suzhou and Hangzhou. Mr. Song paid a high price for it the other day, but I couldn't bear to part with it. I'm truly unlucky to have it destroyed in your hands today."

Kang He and Fan Jing walked closer and saw a middle-aged man with small eyes and a big belly in the antique shop. He was wearing a pair of cloud-shaped silk shoes and was scolding someone with a sharp tooth.

The young man on the other end of the phone, who was talking to him until his face turned red but was so honest that he didn't know how to argue, was none other than Fan Xin, the accountant?

"You've been working for me for over a month now. Considering your diligence and good accounting, I won't make it difficult for you. This lamp was supposed to sell for seven taels and eight cents, and now you've ruined it. Although I'm heartbroken, the item can't be restored. If you give me five taels of silver, we'll be done with it."

"If you refuse, I will take the property to the government office and ask the county magistrate to defend us. You're just a scholar, and if you get involved in this kind of lawsuit, I'm afraid you'll never be able to hold your head up high again."

When Fan Xin heard such a high price, he felt dizzy and his vision went dark.

He said anxiously: "How can this lamp be so expensive!"

"This is an antique shop, not a place for cheap stuff like that. Have you seen any small business in the account book lately? Do you think I'm taking advantage of you?"

"In a word, are you going to pay or not?"

Seeing this, Fan Jing frowned and was about to rush forward, but Kang He quickly held him back.

"This shop owner is clearly taking advantage of Daxin's honesty and trying to cheat him out of his money. If you get angry and rush in and hit him, then we won't be able to handle it, and you will have to pay him back."

Kang He comforted Fan Jing and walked into the shop.

"Compensation, what for? Do you have evidence to prove who broke the lamp?"

The owner was slightly startled when he saw the two people approaching, thinking they were customers, but he was speaking for Fan Xin.

After another glance, he saw that the two were dressed simply and immediately ignored them.

He flicked his sleeves and said, "Little brother, this is our shop's business. If you want to watch the fun, you can stay outside. If you come inside, you can't do business. I won't entertain you here."

"It's a matter in the shop. My cousin was framed by you. I was watching the fun outside. The owner is really good at arranging people."

When Fan Xin saw Kang He and Fan Jing coming, he felt as if he had received a helping hand. He hurried over to them and said, "I was just recording the bill at the counter when this lamp somehow broke. The owner is blaming me for breaking it and wants me to pay for it! How can I afford to pay for such a valuable lamp!"

When the shop owner heard that it was a relative, he looked a little uncomfortable.

But seeing that they were all poor country folk, he was not afraid.

"It's good that you came. You can compensate your brother for his debt and it won't affect my business."

"Compensation? I think the owner should compensate my brother."

"Since you say it was my brother who broke the cup, do you have any proof? If you do, bring it out so we can see it!"

The shop owner pointed and said, "My shop assistant saw it with his own eyes."

Kang He saw a thin and slender man and asked, "Did you see my brother break the cup?"

The clerk puffed out his chest and said, "Yes, I saw it. With a loud bang, Mr. Fan broke it into pieces."

Kang He said, "Okay, since you saw it, was it his left hand or his right hand that was broken?"

The guy was stunned for a moment: "Left...left hand."

"He was at the counter, turning the beads with his left hand. The abacus was right there. How could it have been broken?"

"I remembered it wrong! It's the right hand."

Kang He sneered, "Your right hand was keeping accounts, but you put down your pen and took the time to smash the cup? How big of a grudge do you have against the cup?"

"I don't think he broke the cup. You broke it, and you're trying to put the blame on someone else! You're lying like that. Let's go before the magistrate and see if your story will pass muster with the county magistrate!"

After saying that, he was going to take the person to court.

The young man was immediately frightened and kept calling for the owner.

"Stop dragging people around in my shop and causing trouble!"

Kang He wasn't afraid of the shopkeeper either. He left his assistant and went straight to the old man: "What's the matter, shopkeeper? Are you afraid of seeing the authorities again? You said that these broken pieces of teacups on the ground were shipped from overseas and brought into the shop by a merchant caravan. Show me your purchase receipts so we can see their value!"

Mr. Song wants to buy it at a high price? Invite him here and ask him if he has actually seen this lamp and how much he offered!

The shop manager, Master Kang, turned pale as he asked this question.

"If I can't produce any proof, and can't ask Mr. Song to be my witness, I'll just have this broken cup as evidence. I'll pick it up and have someone examine it to see if it's really as valuable as the shop owner says!"

"Let me put this on hold. If you can't produce irrefutable proof that my brother broke this lamp, and can't prove its value, my brother will sue you for hiring fraudulent workers and defrauding people. I'll see who dares to work here again, or who will trade in such a shady shop."

The shop owner immediately lost his temper. He had no idea that he would run into such a tough guy. He was unable to argue for a while.

He wiped his face and changed his expression. He said, "Mr. Fan is a scholar. I think he is the most honest. I think the clerk made a mistake and misled him. It's all a misunderstanding."

"Zhang Jiu! Are your eyes on your butt? All you do is doze off and wrongly accuse Mr. Fan. Why don't you come and apologize?"

The man was afraid of seeing the authorities, so he went to apologize to Fan Xin.

"It's my fault for being blind. I misunderstood Mr. Fan. I hope you won't hold it against me. I deserve a beating, I deserve a beating!"

Seeing this, Fan Xin spared the man.

Kang He was not such a talkative person. He knew that the cause of today's incident was not the clerk, but the owner's bad intentions.

How could he continue to work well in such a shop? He asked the owner to apologize personally and pay this month's wages to Fan Xin, and he would never come to their shop again.

The shop owner was reluctant at first, but Kang Heyan called on the neighbors and people on the street to come and seek justice. He was afraid that the matter would become a big deal, so he reluctantly paid the money to Fan Xin.

"I'm so grateful to you two for this. Otherwise, the shop owner would have been framed and would have had to pay him money. My wages wouldn't be enough to pay him back in half a year."

On the way back, Fan Xin was grateful to Kang and Fan Jing.

Kang He said, "He saw through your personality, cousin. He knew you were good-tempered and not good at arguing, so he deliberately picked a time when there were few people around at noon to start a riot and extort money from you. I'm afraid I don't know how many people have fallen victim to his tricks before!"

"You're becoming increasingly weak, which plays into his hands. So you should be strong. If you meet someone like him, you won't be afraid of him even if you have to go to the authorities! We don't have power or influence, so we don't flaunt it and offend people easily, but we can't let others bully us just because we don't have power."

Fan Xin is indeed not as smart as Kang He. When something happens, he is too anxious and his mind is not as clear as it used to be.

I didn't have Fan Jing's kung fu to defend myself, and for a moment I really felt useless.

He shook his head and couldn't help but remind Kang He, "Merchants like these in the city are likely to have connections with the government. We ordinary people would only suffer if we sued them."

Kang He said, "What my cousin said is not wrong, but he is deliberately accusing you of something with so many loopholes in his plan. He only extorted five strings of cash from you. Although it is a large sum of money for a family like ours, it is nothing in the eyes of an official."

"If he wants to win the lawsuit, he has to use money and gifts to smooth things over. Five strings of cash is not enough to get everything done. Officials are not street vendors who will run you around for a few coins. Why would he really go to court for such a fuss?"

"Of course. He might have relatives in government who wouldn't be so unscrupulous. But extorting money from you is his primary goal. There's no need to go to court. He'll just bring up his connections to scare you."

Fan Xin thought about it and felt that it made some sense.

Kang He saw that Fan Xin looked panicked, and was afraid that he had not yet recovered from what had happened today.

He didn't say anything more, just comforted him a few words and asked him to come home with his uncle and others for dinner that night.

Kang He also knew why Fan Xin was so naive.

He had been studying with the high hopes of his family since he was young. He was the only child in two families, so his parents and grandparents loved him like the apple of their eye. They never let him work in the fields or go up the mountain to chop firewood. They just spoiled him and he knew nothing.

He spent the whole day in the private school. Although his academic performance was not outstanding, he was under the care of Mr. Xu, so no one dared to be angry with him.

When I was in my twenties, the greatest suffering I had ever endured was being beaten by Fan Jing.

However, he felt that he was beaten so often because Fan Jing couldn't stand his cowardly look.

He was also surprised that he didn't learn from Xu Yang even though he was hanging out with him.

Kang He turned his head and glanced at Fan Xin, who was holding the bean curd water they had bought earlier. He hunched his back, held his chest with his hands, and slowly put the water into his mouth.

He shook his head. It was really hard to describe this man's temperament.

When he got home, Kanghe told his family about inviting his uncle's family to come over for dinner.

The two fish bought from the city had leaked all the water and were no longer struggling when poured into the basin. Kang He wanted to kill them and salt them as they were still fresh, so Fan Jing took them.

Thinking that the whole family would have to eat together, Chen Sanfang took down the piece of fresh pork that Fan Jing had gotten from the stove two days ago when he went out to slaughter a pig. He had salted it for fear that it would go bad, and now he washed the salt off carefully.

Kanghe called the eldest wife to come for dinner, and Chen couldn't help but ask, so Kanghe told Chen what happened today.

Chen Sanfang listened to the scolding and cursed at the black-hearted shop owner and his family. Then he sighed, "It was hard to get a decent job. Your aunt-in-law was getting a little better, but now she's lost her job again. I'm afraid the family will be worried again."

Kang He said, "The owner of that shop has bad intentions. He can't keep staying there just for a job."

"Yes, I must quit my job. But I'm also worried that with Fan Xin's character, he's bound to be bullied outside."

Chen originally thought that Fan Jing had a tough temper and was difficult to get along with, but now, after looking at Fan Xin, she felt that being tough was better than being weak.

At night, Fan Shoushan, Zhang Jingui, and Fan Xin came over for dinner. Grandma Fan's eyesight was not good and she could not walk at night, so Grandpa Fan stayed in the house to keep her company.

After the meal was ready, the two elders and the vegetables and meat were sent over first, and then the whole family started eating.

Of course, people at the table couldn't help but talk about Fan Xin.

The family hasn't dared to tell Fan's father and grandmother about this. They are old, and if they get angry and cause harm, it will be terrible.

"Luckily it was Dajing, Sanlang, and Daxin who brought the sweet water. Otherwise, those black-hearted people would have been very badly bullied. Daxin is a kind-hearted child, so how could he have defeated these old sly guys?"

Fan Shoushan and Zhang also thanked Kanghe and Fan Jing.

After learning about Fan Xin's situation today, Zhang Jingui felt very distressed. She cursed the shop owner in a low voice and was so angry that she said she would throw rotten eggs in his shop tomorrow.

Fan Shoushan also felt bad. How could his parents feel good when their own child suffered injustice outside?

The couple didn't do any work outside the house the whole afternoon and just stayed at home feeling depressed.

Fan Xin felt bad when he saw this. If he hadn't lost his job and his family would know about it sooner or later, he wouldn't have wanted to tell them and make them worry.

"It's good that I didn't suffer any loss."

Fan Shoulin and Chen comforted the eldest wife and her husband, saying, "If you lose your job, you can always look for another one. There are so many shops in the city, and not all of them are like that black-hearted shopkeeper. There are always kind and compassionate ones."

Fan Shoushan sighed, and Zhang felt sad as she spoke. After what happened, the two of them no longer acted like capable brother and sister-in-law.

"There are plenty of people looking for work in the city, but most of them are for physically demanding jobs. Workmen, porters, and odd jobs are in demand everywhere, but anything more respectable is in very short supply."

In fact, it’s not that he thinks the job of doing odd jobs is not decent, but Fan Xin is just not able to do it.

He had tried to do heavy work at home before, and fainted in the field due to heatstroke, becoming a laughing stock for the whole village. However, Xiaoxiao was unable to lose a single piece of flesh, and the villagers were so kind as to give him some heat-relief water. After all, he was from the same village, so they still took care of him.

If you go to the city to do heavy work and something happens, who will take care of you? Since you are not related to them, most people will have to take care of themselves.

The work of a clerk doing odd jobs is not as physically demanding as lifting things, but it tests one's intelligence and quick thinking.

Fan Xin is such a gentle person, how could he do anything?

Originally, accounting was the most suitable job for him, but the shops outside preferred to hire old gentlemen. A young man like Fan Xin, who had never done this job before, would not be easily hired.

I searched for a long time before I finally found the antique shop. When I first went there, there were many people there who were easy to talk to and not picky. I thought they were honest people, but I didn't expect that they were waiting for me here!

The couple didn't blame him for losing his job today, they were just worried!

I'm twenty-three or twenty-four years old, and I still haven't found a marriage. It's easy for men to find a wife nowadays, but if I want to find a good one, I don't have a job to make a living. When people ask me about it, I won't be able to answer them, and good families won't look down on me.

I had said before that I would wait until I got a stable job as an accountant in the city, and then ask a matchmaker to find me a partner after three or five months.

This dynasty was completely disrupted again.

After leaving school, Fan Xin gradually realized how difficult it was to make a living outside. Seeing their son so uncomfortable, Fan Shoushan and his wife regretted more and more that they had protected him too much in the past.

In this way, she is not like Xiangxiu, who went out to struggle early and has a bright future.

The more Zhang Jingui thought about it, the more she felt pity. Xiangxiu had left home at such a young age, and no one knew how much hardship she had endured outside, but she had never said a bad word to her family.

When he came to the host's house, he would just say that everything was fine and everything was going well for him, and he would always bring things for his family.

It was the first time for the two families to talk about their worries at the same table. After they separated, they lived their own lives and only showed the good side to others. Even if it was not good, they still had to keep up appearances.

Today I let it go completely.

Kang He listened quietly to what the elders said. He picked up the fish, removed the bones, and put it into the bowl with Fan Jing without interrupting.

He put down his chopsticks only when he saw that Fan Jing had almost finished eating.

"If you listen to me, I think Brother Daxin is more suitable to work in our village."

After hearing Kang He's words, everyone paused. Fan Shoushan said frankly, "What can he do in the countryside? He previously learned to tend the fields, but it was all a waste of all those years of studying. He's really not cut out for that. If he could tend the fields like your father, I wouldn't have to say a word."

Kang He said, "If Brother Daxin has to make a living in the fields, I feel bad for him. To be frank, if he wants to farm, why bother studying for so many years? The Master teaches the Four Books and Five Classics, not spring sowing and autumn planting."

"Although I've never been to school, I understand Confucius's saying, 'Learn to apply what you have learned.' Brother Fan Xin, why don't you open a private school in the village and teach the children to read and write?"

Everyone in the room was shocked when they heard this.

Even Fan Xin, who had remained silent while his elders detailed his shortcomings, couldn't help but speak up: "With my knowledge, how can I bear the burden of teaching and learning?"

Kang He said patiently, "When Brother Daxin talks about knowledge, he's just saying that his knowledge is low, not that he's unlearned. Brother Daxin, answer me, is it possible that you can't even read or write the Thousand Character Classic?"

"How could that be possible? Even if I'm not very good at it, I can still recite the Thousand Character Classic by heart."

Kang He said, "That's right. My idea is to teach Brother Daxin to open a private school specifically for rural children to learn how to read and write. Not to mention teaching them profound knowledge, learning to read and write is enough for children from ordinary families."

"How many people in this world can truly bring honor to their family through imperial examinations? If there really is such a rare child in the private school, it would be easy to introduce him to Xu Xiucai. This way, we won't mislead the student."

"Old Xu used to run a private school in the village, but as his family became more prosperous, he moved to the city to run a business. Although the county offers better education, it's still difficult for children from the countryside to go to school in the city."

"Village families would have liked to teach their children to read and write, but fearing the difficulty of learning, they gave up. Only those who truly wanted their children to study and pass the imperial examinations would go through the trouble of sending them to the city. As a result, the number of illiterate children in the countryside has continued to increase."

Kang He shared his thoughts with everyone: "If Brother Daxin really opened a private school in the village, firstly, he would have a way to make a living, and secondly, it would also be a good thing for the village."

"Brother Daxin has a gentle and mild temperament, but he's meticulous and patient, and he doesn't get angry easily. I think he's perfect for teaching children how to read and write."

When everyone first heard Kang He's words, they all thought that he was really daydreaming.

But after hearing him explain it in such detail, I suddenly felt that it made a lot of sense, as if it was really feasible.

Fan Xin also fell silent, as if he was thinking about this matter seriously.

Chen, on the other hand, was excited. "Great! Daxin wants to open a private school in our village. Who would dare to bully him? I think it's the best way out. It's better than being looked down upon by others outside."

Fan Shoulin chimed in, "Daxin was Mr. Xu's student, so it's perfectly legitimate for him to succeed him and open a private school in the village. Everyone just doesn't recognize us, but they do recognize Mr. Xu."

Fan Shoushan and his wife were also visibly moved. If this could really be accomplished, they would have both financial and financial success.

But after all, he was used to being honest and doing his job, and had never done such a big thing before. It was inevitable that he was hesitant and afraid of this and that.

Kang He then asked Fan Xin, "Let's not talk about anything else. Brother Daxin, are you willing to be a country teacher?

If you are willing, you won't be afraid of any difficulties or obstacles. If you are not willing, then even if the private school has already been established, and you don't care about anything and just sit there and study, that is not necessarily a good thing."

Fan Xin's face flushed. "If I could teach like Mr. Xu, I'd be perfectly willing to do it. But... I'm afraid I can't do it well."

Kang He said, "How do you know you can't do it if you haven't tried yet? If you have ambitions in your heart, why don't you take advantage of your youth to take risks and strive for success, constantly trying and failing, and then you won't be able to do it well when you are old?"

After listening to Kang He's words, Fan Xin felt as if he had been enlightened. The person at the same table with him said, "Xu, I can give it a try."

Seeing this, Fan Shoushan and Zhang Jingui were delighted: "Since you have such a heart, our family will be happy to help you succeed, even if we have to do everything we can."

Kang He also said, "That's right."

The two families talked for a long time in the house until the food had gotten cold and the moon had climbed to the top of the sky, and then they dispersed.

Not long after, Kang He went to see Xu Yang alone because of Fan Xin's matter.

The Fan family had offended Chen Yushun, and he would most likely not be happy to see the Fan family set up a private school, even though he knew it was good for the village.

It is because they know that it is good for the village and easy to win people's hearts, so they don't want to see the Fan family rise.

If they want things to get done, they must have someone who has the say.

However, it is not that Kang He is just taking advantage of Xu Yang's power. If this matter can be accomplished, it will be a good thing for both parties.

Fan Xin, the person involved, was also busy. He took some fruits and gifts and went to the county town.

I went to visit Mr. Xu, the old scholar. Firstly, I wanted to talk to my teacher about my feelings after leaving school; secondly, it was about the affairs of the private school.

He wanted to get the opinion of Mr. Xu.

Although things were just beginning to develop, Fan Shoushan and his wife had already started cleaning up the old house. If they wanted to build a private school, they would definitely need a large and spacious room.

Fan Shoulin and Chen would also go over to help every now and then.

By the time this was finally settled, it was already mid-September.