Chapter 52 The Unrentable Shops at the Wannan Branch
Indeed, including the return journey, we would arrive in Kyoto around mid-to-late July, with not much time left before the imperial examinations in the latter part of the month.
Furthermore, Bai Yan also needed to finalize the exam questions with other officials in charge of the imperial examinations, and then bring back to Xiao Ji what he had seen and heard along the way.
However, there was still a small matter that Bai Wulan had instructed me to handle.
Bai Yan was, after all, the young master of the Bai family's cloth shop, and Wannan was the largest supplier of cloth raw materials for the Bai family, so he had to go and inspect it.
Bai Yan: "Alright, shall we stay for another three days? We still need to visit the cloth shop."
Jiang Yuzhi nodded, "Okay."
Finally, fearing that Bai Yan might be too busy and stressed, she added, "It's not particularly urgent."
Bai Yan: "No rush, no rush, three days is enough. Yu Zhi, would you like to come with me on the inspection? Or will you stay at the Prince's residence to pack your luggage?"
There wasn't much to pack, so Jiang Yuzhi replied without hesitation, "I'll go with you."
The two in front were talking as they walked back, while the two behind them, one expressionless and the other with a mournful face, were muttering to themselves.
Huai'an: "Waaah, I'll miss you while I eat."
Chichi: "Meow."
Huai'an: "What should I do? I'll miss you so much, and you'll miss me too, right?"
Chichi: "Meow."
Huai'an: "How can I live without you? Waaaaaah!"
Eat: "Meow"
Huai'an: "Waaaaaah..."
He tried hard to suppress the urge to cry his heart out, his much thinner cheeks rubbing against the little woolly head.
Chichi was used to being held in Huai'an's arms. On some late nights, Huai'an would also hold Chichi and hide in the canopy bed where Princess Nanzhao had slept, crying for his deceased mother and for the old sheep An'an who had died of old age.
...
After a quick lunch, Bai Yan and Jiang Yuzhi went out again with Chichi, while Huai An, unusually, did not accompany them.
He was very pragmatic. It wasn't appropriate for an outsider like him to go to someone else's property. Besides, Chichi was leaving, and he should also get used to living alone. So he stayed at the mansion and packed Chichi's belongings to take with her.
Summer afternoons are always hot and humid, and Wannan is no exception, with an added touch of dampness.
However, ghosts, gluttons, and mortals who are born weak are not affected.
Most people were taking a midday nap at home to cool off, and there were very few pedestrians on the streets, with only the occasional noisy chirping of cicadas.
Baijia Cloth Shop is located in the heart of the bustling city. Most people in Wannan who grow cotton or raise silkworms will sell their cotton cloth and silk to the shop. The shop also buys unprocessed silk and cotton.
This branch is three times larger than the main store in Kyoto, a two-story building with a warehouse at the back. In addition, there are several larger warehouses near the store that cooperates with the fabric shop.
Moreover, Baijia Cloth Shop also had many workshops that employed women and young ladies to spin thread, weave cloth, and dye it.
Manager Miao of the Wannan branch had been waiting for a long time. He had received the news the day Bai Yan arrived in Wannan, but he didn't dare to disturb him.
The young master was either staying at the Prince's Mansion, handling official business at the Prefect's Mansion, or inspecting the reconstruction progress in various parts of Wannan.
Manager Miao sent his assistant to pay respects to the Prince's mansion, but received no reply.
It's finally here!
Shopkeeper Miao was almost moved to tears. It was wonderful that the young master remembered to come to the shop and hadn't forgotten them.
He wiped away non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes, and, in his fifties, waited cheerfully at the shop entrance, his wrinkles around his eyes bursting open with laughter.
"Uncle Miao, why are you waiting outside?" Bai Yan led Jiang Yuzhi and Chichi over. "Yuzhi, this is Manager Miao, the manager of the cloth shop. I spent half of my childhood with him."
At that time, Manager Miao was still Bai Wulan's page. After Bai Yan was born, Xiao Yao and Bai Wulan were busy with their family business and had no time to take care of their young son. Apart from his wet nurse, Manager Miao was the closest person to him. His wet nurse was Manager Miao's wife.
Shopkeeper Miao bowed deeply, "Young master, this old servant has missed you so much! This must be Miss Jiang, she's so beautiful. Is that the sheep of the Prince of Huai'an behind you? Young master, if you really like it, this old servant will try to get one for you. You can't force the prince to have one."
Bai Yan: "Huai'an agreed."
Shopkeeper Miao stroked his beard and nodded: "That's settled then. A good child wouldn't snatch something that someone else likes."
Bai Yan: "Uncle Miao, we will be returning to the capital in a few days. Let me take a look at the account books first. Also, please buy some snacks and come upstairs with us."
Uncle Miao: "Alright, young master, go up first. This old servant will be there shortly."
There are two or three private rooms on the second floor for entertaining distinguished guests. These rooms are usually used to receive guests with large orders or to provide tailor-made clothing for female guests.
Bai Yan casually picked out a piece of clothing, invited Jiang Yuzhi to sit down, and then sniffed around the room, occasionally gnawing on the table leg to grind his teeth.
After the waiter served the tea, he closed the door and left, without bringing back the pastries.
Bai Yan poured out half a cup. "Here, have a sip of tea. It's not as good as your favorite Crystal Orchid, but it's still alright."
Jiang Yuzhi looked out at the street, took the teacup, but didn't drink a drop. "Mingze, Granny Huang said I'm not far from success."
That's great.
"I'm a little scared."
What are you afraid of?
"Would you like to visit the underworld? Or what do you think the underworld is like?"
"Uncle Yan and his two older brothers?"
Jiang Yuzhi chuckled, then took a sip of the slightly cool floral tea. The rich floral fragrance calmed her down a bit. "Almost. I'm sorry for hiding my identity from you before."
Bai Yan understood Jiang Yuzhi and didn't blame her. "So, can you tell me about the underworld now?"
Jiang Yuzhi: "Mmm, if you want to hear it."
Bai Yan: "Of course."
He stopped gnawing on the table leg and lay down at Jiang Yuzhi's feet.
The waiter brought out the snacks and told them that Manager Miao was organizing the accounts and wouldn't be up for another half hour.
Bai Yan waved his hand dismissively, indicating that he understood.
With the remaining three of them, Jiang Yuzhi spoke again, "Uncle Yan is the most powerful person in the underworld, the Emperor of Fengdu. You should have guessed something about that."
Bai Yan was a good listener; he nodded.
Jiang Yuzhi: "My eldest brother and second brother were the original Black and White Impermanence. My eldest brother is Master Fan, Fan Wujiu, and my second brother is Master Xie, Xie Bi'an."
Bai Yan silently murmured the two names to himself. This was the first time Jiang Yuzhi had formally introduced him to people from the underworld. After his death, the ghosts who would come to collect his soul were familiar to him, which was not bad.
“I’m from the previous dynasty, so I’m quite a bit older than you. You should call me ‘elder sister’,” Jiang Yuzhi said, still in the mood to joke.
"Sister?" Bai Yan said aloud. Why did this title sound so familiar? It seemed like someone else had mentioned it to him before.
"Just kidding," Jiang Yuzhi said, putting down her teacup. "If it were He Ji, he would definitely just refuse coldly. I told you before that I couldn't find the souls of my parents and relatives, and even the ghosts in the underworld couldn't find them. But now I have some leads."
Bai Yan poured her some flower tea. "Yu Zhi, you're feeling apprehensive about getting closer to home."
Jiang Yuzhi looked up, her red eyes filled with confusion, "Feeling apprehensive as I approach home? But I really want to find them..."
Bai Yan: "But you're also afraid they'll really look at you with resentment, aren't you?"
Jiang Yuzhi fell silent and lowered her head.
Bai Yan: "Don't worry, your uncle, aunt, and brother all love you."
Jiang Yuzhi: "...I love them too."
Bai Yan: "That's right. Whether you've done something wrong or not, you still have to face it, don't you?"
Jiang Yuzhi: "Grandma Huang said that as long as I repair the map of the land and grain, I can find whatever I want." She raised her wrist and showed Bai Yan the gold thread that had been wrapped around her wrist several times.
"As long as you accumulate merit, the golden thread will grow longer."
The conversation ended there, and Manager Miao knocked on the door from outside, carrying a large stack of account books.
Bai Yan: "It's good that we can see each other, Yu Zhi, don't worry too much."
Jiang Yuzhi nodded.
Bai Yan: "Enter."
Manager Miao entered, a stack of ledgers nearly half his height piled on the table. "These are the ledgers for the first half of this year." His gaze unconsciously swept over the empty plates on the table. "Did you buy too few pastries?"
Jiang Yuzhi's lips twitched. She chewed the food in two or three bites and finished the rest of the tea. "Manager Miao, please don't mind. You can discuss your business."
Manager Miao: "That won't do. We can't be negligent towards our master. Someone, bring us some more snacks."
The waiter was puzzled, as it hadn't been long since the food arrived. Despite his odd reaction, he brought out three more plates of different colored flower cakes.
Shopkeeper Miao: "Miss Jiang, please try this one."
Jiang Yuzhi chuckled twice, "Thank you, shopkeeper."
While Bai Yan was reviewing the accounts, Manager Miao would chat with Jiang Yuzhi and tell her about recent interesting events.
"I've heard that Miss Jiang sells funeral clothes in Kyoto?"
Jiang Yuzhi picked up a flower-shaped cake and secretly stuffed it into her eagerly eating mouth, "Mmm."
"It's quite a coincidence that the shop next door to ours also sells funeral clothes, but it's not very well-off and is currently up for sale due to poor management."
This piqued Jiang Yuzhi's interest.
Manager Miao noticed the difference in her expression at a glance and became even more enthusiastic, "I'll explain it to you in detail, Miss."
“His shop is also rented. As long as he can’t find someone to take it over, he will be in a state of loss. But he can’t blame others. This family wants to make a fortune off the dead!” Manager Miao lowered his voice, but his emotions remained unchanged.
"He clearly had no experience in this field. Seeing that many people died in the past few years, he wanted to open a shop selling funeral clothes. He didn't even consider that the dead were mostly poor people. Where would they get the money to buy funeral clothes? Having a coffin was considered a sign of wealth. Many people would just wrap their dead in straw mats and bury them. In the end, no one would pull the grass off the grave mounds, and the whole family would starve to death."
"Why would a rich family hire someone without qualifications to make their funeral clothes? Besides, the world has improved, and fewer people are dying, so it's natural that they can't continue doing it."
Jiang Yuzhi: "Has the shop found a new owner?"
Shopkeeper Miao clicked his tongue twice and waved his hand at her, "Unable. Miss Jiang, would you like to rent it?"
Jiang Yuzhi shook her head. She didn't know what kind of people were profiting from the dead, so there was no need to act rashly.
Manager Miao: "Don't rent it! It's a hot potato."
"A hot potato?"
"This family isn't exactly rich, so how did they manage to rent a shop in such a prime location in the city center? It's because the previous shop also closed down for no apparent reason, and the owners went crazy, insisting they'd seen a ghost."
A ghost? Jiang Yuzhi straightened her back.
"It used to be a winery, and it made a lot of money. But that family wasn't a good one. It's said that the recipe for brewing wine was brought from the master's wife's family home, but she died not long after she married him. The master remarried a few days later. Everyone said that his wife died with her eyes open and wouldn't let his family go even as a ghost."
"Nobody dares to rent it. Hey, those who make a fortune off the dead aren't afraid of anything and rent it for half the rent, but they don't dare to do it now."
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Author's Note: [Glasses]
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