Chapter 91. Chapter 91 is not about going far away, but about getting closer (emotions...).
Lin Xiushui stood still, not in a hurry to speak.
Two or three rows of red lanterns hung under the eaves of houses along the street. People passing by carried large buckets containing fertility materials, which were sure to contain red eggs and auspicious fruits. Silk floss was in high demand at the end of the year. Three women passed by and chatted, “I knew we wouldn’t be able to buy any good quality this year. I started preparing last year, afraid that even if I rushed, I wouldn’t be able to buy any.”
“I didn’t think that last year was the old year and this year is the new year, and that newlyweds should use new quilts,” the woman in the middle said regretfully. “It was a real blunder.”
Two women in thick coats ran over, one of them saying, "Let's go into that shop and take a look. I'm short three bolts of colored silk for my daughter's dowry, and if we don't buy them now, it'll be too late."
Even in the cold night, there were still many stalls along the roadside, mostly fortune-telling stalls, calculating whether a man and woman's birth charts were compatible. There were also many selling tea cakes and geese, with a hefty reward offered for wild geese. Even though the imperial court stopped arresting hunters who sold wild animals after September, the geese had been captured again and again, and very few had survived.
Lin Xiushui also noticed a vendor selling colored paintings depicting five men and two women. Many people were buying them, as they were inspired by the legend of King Wu of Zhou, who was said to have five sons and two daughters, hoping to have many descendants.
Incense, candles, flowers, tea, fruit, mutton, wine, geese, matchmaker's boxes, tea cakes, crowns, colorful satins, and so on were all prepared for the wedding, making the nine lanes and thirty-six alleys of Sangqing Town a sea of red.
The red color illuminated every face, seemingly joyful and happy, as if everyone was wrapped in a red silk cloth.
Lin Xiushui reached out and caught the falling red scraps of paper that had come from the firecracker, then threw them away and clapped her hands.
She walked up the stone steps to the side, reaching the same height as Chen Jiuchuan. "You haven't guessed yet, so how can you say you can't guess?"
"I want to hear what you have to say," Chen Jiuchuan said.
The two rarely discussed such matters, such as marriage, or love and affection.
Lin Xiushui knew that Chen Jiuchuan was testing her, and she also understood his thoughts. Like an ice block in summer or a stove in winter, she could feel them as soon as she got close.
She looked directly into Chen Jiuchuan's eyes and said, "I wouldn't have done that before, but I've thought about it now."
She sighed in the cold wind and said softly, "I don't know."
Chen Jiuchuan, who had been on tenterhooks, was now caught in a dilemma after hearing her words. He followed Lin Xiushui, asking, "Don't know?"
“I just don’t know,” Lin Xiushui said as she walked forward. Chen Jiuchuan walked very fast, and she stepped on his shadow.
Chen Jiuchuan was skeptical. As they passed the restaurant where they were going to eat, he called out to her, "A Qiao, come over here."
The two sat in the quiet corner. The waiter brought over the menu. Lin Xiushui ordered a goose rib and a lamb bone dish first and then put it down. Chen Jiuchuan added a four-fresh soup and then suddenly stopped talking, only a faint whisper could be heard.
"When you went to Mingzhou before, you said you had something to tell me when you came back. Is this the question?" Lin Xiushui asked bluntly, she didn't believe it.
Chen Jiuchuan couldn't bring himself to say it.
Thinking back to his return from Mingzhou, he passed through Shanglintang and went home. His mother, Zhang Fengmei, was there and scolded him for having money to burn, wasting several strings of cash by hiring people to help in the fields.
“Only three strings,” Chen Jiuchuan corrected.
Zhang Fengmei spat at him, not even wanting to give him the braised pork knuckle, and complained that he didn't bring Sang Ying back, so he couldn't even get a hot braised pork knuckle.
“Three strings of cash,” she sneered, “Those who know you will think you are sixteen or seventeen, those who don’t will think you are six or seven. You don’t need to get married and start a family, and even if you do, you don’t need money.”
"I can't even be bothered to talk to you. How did I end up with such a wretched son like you?" Zhang Fengmei was furious. She said this while pointing at Chen Jiuchuan, and she didn't hold back a single word.
Chen Jiuchuan didn't want to listen, but Zhang Fengmei grabbed his clothes and forced him to sit down to listen to her mother's lecture. "Most of the money your father and I earned went to your sister as dowry. If you want to find a wife, you have to work hard yourself, you know? You think you're so special just because you have a little money in a day?"
"If you were to find a young woman from town, how much dowry would you need to list on the engagement letter? Gold, silver, land, houses, property—which of these do you have?"
"Of course, if you want to marry into the family, I won't stop you."
Chen Jiuchuan shamelessly said, "Then I'll really go."
“Go ahead, I’ll definitely beat you to death,” Zhang Fengmei replied expressionlessly, adding, “You spineless coward.”
Chen Jiuchuan truly admired his mother; she always managed to hit the nail on the head, giving him a thorough dressing-down over half an afternoon.
Zhang Fengmei absolutely forbade Chen Jiuchuan from doing no work, living off his savings, and returning to Shanglintang to farm. She said that the traditional social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants was utter nonsense, and that farming was only enough to make a living.
“It’s almost the end of the year, and there’s no Spring Festival next year. You can’t find a wife yourself, so you should just focus on making money,” Zhang Fengmei said, picking vegetables. “Once you’ve made enough money, I’ll arrange a marriage for you as soon as the year after next.”
“Don’t follow your deadbeat father’s example. He dared to get married when he had nothing. I’ve lived a life of hardship with him for most of my life. I don’t want to have to work for you when I’m old. You need to be more responsible.”
Chen Jiuchuan had heard his mother say this since he was a child. She only told him these words and never told Sang Ying.
He was also ambitious. Before the age of thirteen, he worked in the fields. At fourteen, he had the courage to go out and run a shipping business, traveling along both sides of the river to the town, then to the inner city of Lin'an, and finally to Mingzhou. His mother used the money she earned to buy seven or eight acres of high-quality land and helped him cultivate it.
During August and September, he spent most of his time in town and had little business with the boats. His father didn't scold him; running a boat was hard work. But he would always grumble at him, saying that he was too weak for his age and that he should just stay in town and earn a pittance.
Chen Jiuchuan didn't have a high opinion of Sangqing Town. Running a shipping business in the town, he couldn't afford a large house even after two or three years. From Lin'an on the Qiantang River to Yuyao and then south along the Grand Canal, he could earn enough to build a large house, several acres of prime land in Lin'an, and acquire pearls, jade, and other valuables if he used his seventy strings of cash as capital, led a fleet of ships, and operated a shipping business for a year.
But he was torn between his own flesh and blood and his money. He was torn between a better life, a promise he could make, and the future.
When you have no money, even if you meet a really good person, how can you bring yourself to say the things you want to say?
Happiness also requires money to create.
"Ah Qiao," Chen Jiuchuan called softly, his thoughts returning to the small room in the windy night.
Lin Xiushui looked at him quietly. Chen Jiuchuan said, "People often say that you should start a family before starting a career, but I should start a career first. If I were to do something, Mingzhou would offer a better path than Lin'an."
"But actually, I can't make a choice either."
He couldn't have both in a short time, and he also had to lay everything out in the open.
Lin Xiushui asked, "Is it for yourself? Or for others?"
"It's for myself," Chen Jiuchuan admitted. He did everything to become a better person, not to make Lin Xiushui bow down and accommodate him.
Because I know very well what I want to achieve.
Lin Xiushui picked up the menu again, her tone light and cheerful, "Then let's order another dish to celebrate Chen Jiuchuan making a major decision at this moment, a decision that concerns himself."
"And why not go?"
“After you go to Minnesota, we can look forward to every meeting thereafter.”
The words were so direct and frank that Chen Jiuchuan felt his heart pounding wildly, as if it were about to leap out of his chest.
Lin Xiushui truly felt that the two of them were too familiar with each other. They had known each other since birth, and Chen Jiuchuan's figure had been present in her life trajectory for the first fifteen years. They were so familiar that she knew all the past events.
Sometimes, we lose because we're too familiar with something.
Familiarity will reveal how well you are compatible, but too much familiarity diminishes the sense of novelty and anticipation, and diminishes the desire to explore each other further.
Distance may be another way of getting closer to each other, clarifying whether it's because of familiarity with someone's existence or because of liking someone's existence.
"When are you leaving?" Lin Xiushui asked.
Chen Jiuchuan said, "We'll have to wait until after the winter solstice."
Lin Xiushui calculated that there were still seven or eight days left.
She also listened to Chen Jiuchuan's shipping business in detail for the first time. It wasn't just something he said casually; he wanted to work in shipping first and then switch to ocean shipping.
In the second year of the Xianping era, both Mingzhou and Lin'an established maritime trade offices for overseas trade. However, their maritime trade was not as developed as that of Quanzhou. At present, Quanzhou was thriving, with many fleets heading to the coasts of Tianzhu and Lanli. In summer, the northwest wind blows at sea, and in winter, the northeast wind blows. In summer, foreign ships arrive in Quanzhou, and in November, various merchant ships set sail from Quanzhou to Lanli to spend the winter. Following the monsoon, they cross the seas for a month to do business with various countries.
Shipping is tiring and only yields small profits, while maritime transport is vigorously promoted by the imperial court, and there are more ships going to Quanzhou than to Lin'an Prefecture.
But Chen Jiuchuan said, "I am very optimistic about Mingzhou. Even hundreds of years from now, its maritime trade will continue to thrive."
Compared to Lin'an, Mingzhou had an extremely advantageous location. It was situated in the heart of the Grand Canal, at the confluence of three rivers: the Yuyao River, the Fenghua River, and the Yong River. The prefectures along the river were Lin'an, Shaoxing, Yangzhou, and Nanjing. The journey by boat was very short, and it was also possible to reach Kaifeng directly from there.
The trade route from Minnesota Port to the Korean Peninsula or the islands of Japan was quite mature.
Chen Jiuchuan did feel that shipping was not as good as sea transport. He did not abandon shipping all at once, but continued to work in shipping first, and then learned the compass, also known as the south-pointing fish, which is used to indicate the direction in navigation, as well as the star-gazing technique used in conjunction with the south-pointing fish.
There is a saying: "Observe the sun during the day, observe the stars at night, and when the sky is overcast, observe the compass."
When people talk about what they love, they become bright even in the darkness illuminated by two candles. Lin Xiushui saw his radiant spirit, which was very touching.
Even when they parted, she would think of his brilliance that night; it felt like she was getting to know Chen Jiuchuan for the first time.
It was less about understanding and more about clumsily exploring his mind.
Lin Xiushui didn't exactly reject this inexplicable feeling.
To Jin the tailor, she was also baffled. She bought several pieces of azure fabric and asked Shuiqin for advice on how to make a men's robe.
"You don't want to tell me you're thinking of switching to men's clothing?" The tailor pulled her close, exhaling a puff of white breath to dispel such an unbelievable thought.
Lin Xiushui was truly impressed. "Old Jin, what are you thinking about all day long? Do I have that many people to do this?"
They were busy on both ends. The skirt was altered over and over again. The people in Lin'an wanted something even more unique. The progress of the colored woven fabric was not going well. It was disassembled and woven again, and then disassembled again. The alterations were quite frustrating, even in the cold weather. The fabric was woven with uneven distribution of colored threads, resulting in obvious color differences.
Meanwhile, the Wang family's rental shop was urging for the red wide-sleeved shirt, so Lin Xiushui found a few more tailors from other places to sew the cut-out shirts together first.
The tailor gave an "Oh," and drew out the sound, "Then let me guess who it's for?"
"Don't guess," Lin Xiushui covered her ears, "I can't hear you."
Suddenly, the tailor said, "Alas, daughters are gone once they grow up."
"Stop," Lin Xiushui held up a finger to shush him, "They're going to Mingzhou, it won't be a big problem for me to make a few clothes, will it?"
"I haven't even said who it is yet," the tailor muttered, his words a clear attempt to cover up his guilt.
She became curious again, "Going to Mingzhou again, when are you coming back?"
"I don't know, it should happen every now and then."
The tailor frowned in disapproval. "Can this be done? Next year is an inauspicious year, and we can't just keep living like this. It's really worrying."
"What are you going there for? His shipping business is doing very well over there."
Lin Xiushui took the robe pattern and thought about making two more thick oilcloths for him. This time, she didn't say she didn't know. "Just reverse the two characters for 'shipping'."
"A transport ship?"
Lin Xiushui spoke eloquently, “That’s right, it’s a sure-fire business in Mingzhou. The shipyard is there. Shipyards in Jiangxi and Hunan have decreased, and the shipyard in Wenzhou has been merged into Mingzhou. There are more canal transport ships and coastal defense ships built there every year. It’s the time when there is a shortage of people to transport ships.”
“The timber yards in Mingzhou were merged into Wenzhou, and the timber was then transported back using special official ships.”
There's a tacit rule that the main transport ships can carry soil on board and then sell it along the river, earning money from two sources at once.
Jin the tailor thought to herself, "Oh no, I've really been fooled by this kid. Before, when she asked Lin Xiushui, she knew nothing and didn't know anything about transportation. But now, he knows everything clearly, even though it's all convoluted and messy."
“You’ve really gotten on a pirate ship,” sighed the tailor.
Lin Xiushui said, "Which pirate ship carries Shaoxing cloth? Tell me about it. This pirate ship said it can carry Shaoxing Yaohua silk, crepe, and cocoon cloth."
When Chen Jiuchuan told Lin Xiushui about it, she was even more surprised than when he told her about shipping. Shaoxing is most famous for its wine, followed by its cloth. Yaohua silk is very famous, after all, it is a tribute cloth, but crepe and cocoon cloth are not. Laymen rarely know about these two kinds of cloth that are not famous, but the material is very good.
The tailor was speechless; he was truly thoughtful.
Sang Ying asked Lin Xiushui the same question, munching on a rice cake and asking incredulously, "I don't understand, why do you say you're going to Mingzhou, just to arrange a transport ship?"
Lin Xiushui repeated it again, and Sang Ying yelled twice, "Does he find me annoying? He talks to me like he's borrowing money from the pawnshop and is in a hurry to return it, afraid that he won't be able to pay it back."
She stomped her foot in annoyance, but wasn't truly angry. After all, Chen Jiuchuan had seriously asked her whether he wanted her mother or father to stay with her after he settled in Mingzhou. He said she was fine living alone, and he would ask Wang Yuelan to look after her. The rice business was too tiring; without his frequent help with transporting the rice, he would ask his cousin Zhang Lin to help. If she wanted to return to Shanglintang, she could take Zhang Lin's boat; he would bring things over from Mingzhou, so she should remember to receive them…
Sang Ying was puzzled. "If we're talking about shipping, Lin'an would be a good choice. It's the capital, close to the town, and I think it's great everywhere. Mingzhou is a bit too far away."
“It might take three to five days to make a round trip. If he stays too long, he won’t be familiar with you, let alone us.”
Perhaps, or perhaps not, Lin Xiushui thought.
Unfamiliarity is also a form of familiarity.
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