Chapter 12: Book Boy
Fifth Aunt later said that on the night of Meng Xiao's wedding to Diao, after finishing his business, he returned to his room. Diao and Meng Xiao made a covenant to sleep together every seven days thereafter. What was that old man Huang's saying? That's right, the wife must not refuse, and the husband must not be greedy. The husband should be responsible for external affairs and must not stay in his wife's room for too long. Husband and wife should respect each other and observe the "Nine Don'ts": Don't eat together. Don't indulge in lust. Don't force resistance. Don't slander. Don't gossip. The husband must not speak rudely, and the wife must not compare herself to others. The husband must not discuss external matters with his wife, and the wife must not discuss family matters with her husband.
"The way of a gentleman begins with husband and wife, and at its peak, it examines the heavens and the earth," Fifth Aunt said. "This is called 'righteousness brings harmony to the family, and grace brings harmony to the family.' Between husband and wife, it's not love, but grace and righteousness. Affection is the yin. The yang is grace and righteousness. Gratitude and righteousness should be used as the measuring stick; it's about names and responsibilities. With names and responsibilities, a wife is a wife, a concubine is a concubine, and a maid is a maid. Affection is meant to make you forget the importance of names and responsibilities. If there's no grace and righteousness between husband and wife, then if any of the concubines, maids, chickens, dogs, pigs, or ducks want to overstep their bounds, they can resort to affection, and the chickens, dogs, pigs, and ducks will surely prevail. We don't understand this principle, but Diao Shi understood it from birth. She married into the Meng family to give that already renowned figure in Shu an extra arm, thus entwining the Huang and Diao clans with the Meng family. That's why she wasn't afraid of the deceptions of affection. Do you understand?"
The Sixth Aunt obviously didn't understand. She said, "What will Shi Lang do if he goes out to mess with others?"
Aunt Wu said, "The wild cats out there are just cute. And you manage the household with integrity, so why worry?"
When Sixth Aunt heard this, she was displeased. She came from a brothel and was skilled at seducing men. She had called countless men "wild cats and wild raccoons." Sixth Aunt said, "I'm afraid that as a concubine, I won't be able to live without gratitude and love."
So what if Fifth Aunt said she was a concubine? She, Han, was a concubine, as were the third and fourth sisters. Who in this courtyard was not a concubine?
Sixth Aunt said: "It is my concubine, and none of them has any grudge against you."
Fifth Aunt said, "You say you don't have it, but Han says she does, and the third and fourth sisters also say they do. Are you still going to live?"
Sixth Aunt suddenly realized that Fifth Aunt Tian wasn't talking about the past, but the future. Fifth Aunt had set her sights on Meng Xiao's wealth. She was inviting her to sing a song of gratitude, so that Shi Lang would know that they were the highest-ranking concubines.
Third Aunt Ma and Fourth Aunt Luo were also plotting the same idea. Eighth and Ninth Aunts had been demoted to maidservants by Han long before Meng Jian's death, leaving them without the authority to consult with the concubines. Now that Han considered Dalang the pillar of the family and lived with Pi Baochang, she no longer had any interest in arguing with the concubines. Third Aunt Ma and Fourth Aunt Luo fabricated a series of trivial household matters and told them to Diao, attempting to prove their hard work and contributions. Fifth Aunt Tian and Sixth Aunt Hu were dismissive of this scheme, saying that with Diao's intelligence, she couldn't tell who was who. Sixth Aunt said, "No matter how good Diao is, she's just a decoration. Look at her—doesn't she weigh 200 pounds?" She then suggested that she introduce another concubine for Meng Xiao. Fifth Aunt Tian said this was unseemly and would offend Diao. Shilang was a public servant, and the master's affairs were public affairs. We should help him with public affairs as well. The master of the family can't handle matters outside, so why should public affairs be handled privately? Public affairs must be handled publicly. Find him someone, a public servant.
So, Fifth Aunt Tian and Sixth Aunt Hu spent a month searching Chengdu and surrounding counties, then went back to the villages to look. Fifth Aunt found a man named Chao from her hometown of Fengxiang, Qishan County, and bought him for ten coins, bringing him back to Chengdu and asking him to be Meng Xiao's servant. This man named Chao was fifteen years old, five feet two inches tall, with a clever but not stingy appearance, and pretty eyes without being coquettish. Although he had never attended a private school, he had learned "Shuowen Jiezi" from a scholar who grew red fruits. He could recite "Qiong Da Yi Shi" and recite "Wu Xing" and "Liu De". Sixth Aunt Hu was worried that he was not talented enough and was afraid that he would be returned to Shi Lang. Fifth Aunt said, "It's like a catty and eight taels, one carrot, one hole. Shi Lang used to be a monk, not a juren. If you find someone who knows how to do it, he will definitely cause a stir in the Wutai Poetry Case. Secretary Zhao ruled the world with half a copy of the Analects of Confucius. Now, to rule one person, knowing how to write is enough." As expected, Fifth Aunt predicted. When the man surnamed Chao came in front of Meng Xiao, Meng Xiao looked him up and down. Without asking what he knew, he first asked, "What's your name?"
The Chao family said, "Chao Hui."
As Meng Xiao stared at him as he spoke, he felt that the man had thin hands and feet, and his nose and mouth were too small, like a mannequin. At this time, Sixth Aunt handed Mr. Chao a piece of paper and a pen, saying, "Quick, write down your name." Mr. Chao wrote it and handed it back. Meng Xiao stared at the words for a long time and asked, "What's your name?"
Chao Hui replied, "Master, there is no need to memorize it. You can call me your servant in the future."
It was just as Sixth Aunt expected. Meng Xiao wanted to refuse, saying that he was used to being alone and would not feel comfortable being followed by others. The servant said nothing and did not show any concern. Meng Xiao felt embarrassed and said, "It's not that I don't want you, it's that there is no need to have you." The servant still said nothing. Meng Xiao said to Fifth and Sixth Aunt, "There really is no need."
The servant said, "It's not necessary, it's not necessary. The master is well-organized and has a sense of moderation in everything. Everything should be done with moderation. Etiquette is about nurturing. If the master doesn't support his servants, how can he not support any of them?"
Meng Xiao stared at his pale face, greatly displeased. He thought, "I'm the master, how dare you lecture me?" The servant must have seen his displeasure, so he said, "If the master doesn't want me, let me speak. If I'm rude, you can punish me. For a servant, being respectful but not polite is flattery."
Meng Xiao looked at him for a while longer, thinking he looked a bit like a cat. He had the same look and the same unyielding spirit. A playful mood struck him, and he said, "It seems you're not here to serve me, but to talk to me."
The servant said, "I can speak and serve. If I fail to serve well, I will be punished."
Meng Xiao said, "Are you putting me in a difficult position by letting me punish you?"
The servant lowered his head and said, "I dare not."
Aunt Wuliu watched from the side and thought there was a chance, so she said, "If Shilang doesn't like him, that's fine, we can find another one."
Meng Xiao hurriedly said, "That's him. With this one, it seems like I've read a lot." As a result, Chao Shutong became Meng Xiao's servant.
After a few months, Chao Shutong learned to handle chores for his master, which was a must for a comprador. Things like fumigating and washing clothes, arithmetic, accounting, and needlework were all things he already knew. In order to better serve Meng Xiao, he also learned cooking, tea ceremony, and pharmacology from the servants of the Meng family. In the year of Bingxu in the Qiandao period, Meng Xiao went to Qiongzhou to discuss business and brought Shutong with him. The two stayed in the Jiming Inn of the Huojing Tea Plantation. Meng Xiao went to Wangshan Pavilion to discuss the alum mine with a group of business people. After finishing his chores, Shutong went to talk to the head of the tea plantation and asked Meng Xiao where the fourteen businesses in Qiongzhou were located, where the annual supply of one million kilograms of Qiong tea was sent, and how much the businessmen at all levels earned from it.
The next day, Meng Xiao went to Wenhoutang to discuss things and returned to Jiming Inn. The book boy was not there at the time, and the head of the tea farm said that he had gone to the mountains for a spring outing. Meng Xiao wanted to drink, so he went to the boiled meat shop with the head of the tea farm and a bag buyer. The shop was very close to the post station, and there were many shops near the post station. When passing by a teahouse, Meng Xiao saw the book boy. Opposite the book boy was a man dressed as a postman. A mongrel horse with a saddle on its back was tied to the flagpole at the door of the teahouse. Meng Xiao stayed in front of the teahouse, watching the book boy and the postman. After a while, the book boy handed two pieces of letter paper to the postman, paid the bill and walked out of the teahouse, and Leng Keke caught Meng Xiao's eyes. Meng Xiao took out the letter given by the book boy from the postman, opened one and read it in front of the two of them, and asked: "Do you accept the beating or the punishment?" He asked again, "How much did you make by selling my affairs as a spy?"
Meng Xiao said, "Run, run into the mountains. Otherwise, I will kill you tonight."
The servant disappeared like a wild cat. Meng Xiao returned the letter to the postman and said, "Send it back. Don't mention it, or I'll seem disrespectful."
That evening, Meng Xiao, Bao Mai, and the head of the tea plantation finished their drinks and returned to Jiming Inn. He staggered up the mountain, still tipsy. Half the mountainside was owned by the tea plantation. To get up, one had to pass through the tea plantations at the foot of the mountain. The plantations were planted with Maofeng tea. The tea trees, pruned after spring, stretched out their sparse branches. It was not yet the autumnal equinox, and the land had not been fertilized, so the peat gave off a faint stench. The mud odor, mixed with the fishy fragrance of the tea trees, chilled the eyes. Purple and red mixed with green tinted the mountainscape blue. The stone wall of the tea plantation leaned against an earthen dam. Behind the dam was a patch of nightshade. Meng Xiao walked two miles along the five-foot-wide path between the tea trees, climbed over the stone wall, crossed the earthen dam, and entered the nightshade forest. The servant was hiding among the nightshade trees. When he saw him, he took off. He ran a few steps, stopped, looked back at him, and ran a few more steps. Meng Xiao followed the servant boy, striding up the mountain. The servant boy reached the top first, tripped over a rock, and fell to the ground, motionless. Meng Xiao walked over and lifted him up, as if picking up a piece of clothing.
As the two of them walked down the mountain, the surroundings were very quiet. The servant said nothing, only keeping a pale face. After returning to the courtyard of Jiming Inn, Meng Xiao let go of the servant's hand and grabbed his collar again. The servant said, "You are a monk, you can't kill people!"
Meng Xiao curled his fingers and took the boy's collar into his palm. The boy said, "You can't! Kill people!"
Meng Xiao tightened his grip again, lifted the servant into the air, and said, "When I was a monk, I crippled the magistrate's lackeys and raided the dens of thieves. Who would have thought that a wild fox like you would dare to sell me out?"
The book boy's eyes turned red, tears flowed down, and his eyeballs rolled upwards. Meng Xiao added more strength. The book boy's tongue stuck out, very long, and he looked as if he was ready to die. Meng Xiao threw him out. The book boy hit the doorpost and collapsed to the ground. Meng Xiao turned his heel, and the swastika-patterned bricks on the ground cracked with several new lines. This scene was seen by the head of the tea farm. Thinking that someone was going to die, he hurried over to mediate. Meng Xiao said it was okay, then helped the book boy back to the house and let him sit on a bamboo stool. Meng Xiao put a lotus leaf bag in front of the book boy and said, "Eat it."
The servant looked at the lotus leaf bag with tears in his eyes and asked, "What is it?"
Meng Xiao said, "From now on, follow me and I'll let you eat meat, and you'll eat it."
The above story is what Meng Shanggong heard from Meng Xiao and the head of the tea farm in Huojing County, Qiongzhou. Meng Shanggong said—and Meng Xiao also said—"I did drink too much that day. After entering the house, I sobered up a little." The head of the tea farm in Huojing County, Qiongzhou, said, "If it weren't for me, he would have strangled the child to death."
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