Shop for sale
The backyard of Sushan Market was completely filled with the heavy smell of smoke, flour dust, and sweet, oily aroma.
Before dawn, the deep darkness was forcibly torn open by the bright lights, illuminating every weary figure.
The steamers piled up like small mountains, with white steam billowing out in a torrent.
The flames roared day and night in the stove, spitting out scarlet tongues, baking the face of the stove-keeper, Shi Dayong, until it was bright red and shiny, with sweat trickling down his forehead and into his neck.
The temporary workers, who were carrying heavy crates of materials, had their clothes worn out on their shoulders, revealing red, swollen, and bleeding flesh. Their gritting, shuffling steps landed heavily on the ground.
Pei Qingwu's eyes were filled with spiderweb-like blood vessels, making him appear like a silent clay statue in the midst of this noisy and chaotic scene.
Her throat was parched and burning, her voice was already hoarse, but her hands kept kneading the cold, hard dough on the cutting board.
The knuckles of my fingers were already worn raw, and the blood seeping out mixed with the snow-white flour. I kneaded it in and kneaded it in again and again, without feeling any pain at all.
"Boss, this newly delivered batch of candied fruit has been mixed with sand!"
Yinlan's voice was choked with sobs as she rushed towards her, holding a handful of dried apricots.
Pei Qingwu's hand suddenly stopped, and he raised his bloodshot eyes, only to coldly glance at the candied fruit.
"Pick them out! Pick them out one by one! If you delay even a moment, nobody will live!"
Yin Lan trembled, biting her lip, and dared not say another word. She squatted down in the corner under the dim oil lamp, holding the dried apricots, and began to carefully pick out every bit of impurity with trembling fingers.
"Master! We're running out of molds!" Fifth Sister's voice was also trembling with tears.
She had just run back, carrying several newly borrowed wooden molds in her arms, her body covered in flour and charcoal ash.
"Qian Tao!" Pei Qingwu called out without looking up.
Qian Tao, her voice hoarse, was directing several newly hired kitchen helpers to stack steamers when she heard the noise and turned around sharply.
"Go! Gather every mold you can borrow or buy in the entire city, regardless of whether it's new or old, or how different its size or style may be. Make sure you pile it up here before dawn!"
Qian Tao nodded vigorously, wiped the sweat from her face haphazardly, and rushed out onto the still-dawn-less street.
A suppressed cry of pain suddenly rang out from the corner.
Ji Fanghua swayed, and the heavy wooden tray slipped from her hands and crashed down, scalding hot cakes and fragments scattering all over the ground.
Her small body went limp, and a long, bloody gash appeared on her wrist from the flying shards of porcelain.
"Fanghua!" Wen Baizhi exclaimed and rushed over, frantically tearing off a relatively clean strip of cloth from the inside of her skirt and pressing it tightly against the bleeding wound.
Pei Qingwu's heart felt as if it had been ripped out. He instinctively stepped forward, but his gaze fell upon a row of empty steamers, waiting to cool and be molded.
She abruptly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, all that remained in her eyes was an utterly exhausted emptiness.
"Aheng, the wound medicine is in the third drawer on the left."
Then, she lowered her head again and continued to pound the dough.
Almost the instant she finished speaking, Gu Heng rushed out from behind the counter, ran a few steps to Ji Fanghua's side, and took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket.
After skillfully sprinkling the medicinal powder, he tightly wrapped and secured it with strips of cloth torn from the angelica root. The whole process was astonishingly fast.
"Don't be afraid, it's just scary to look at," Gu Heng comforted him in a low voice. "Take a rest for a while, keep an eye on the fire, and make sure the stove doesn't go out."
Ji Fanghua's face was pale, tears welled up in her eyes, and she nodded vigorously.
After settling her in, Gu Heng stood up, his gaze unconsciously drifting towards Pei Qingwu.
The latter stood ramrod straight, her clothes soaked with sweat from her temples and back, outlining her thin and slender figure. Only her hands continued to move on the cutting board with an almost frantic speed and force.
Gu Heng clenched his fist, his nails digging deep into his palm. His Adam's apple bobbed a few times, but in the end, he said nothing.
He silently walked toward the mountain of pastry shelves and began to rearrange the boxes of pastries that had been toppled over in disarray.
Exhaustion, like a vine, coiled up from my already numb heels, digging deep into my bones.
Gu Heng felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and his head felt as if it were stuffed with wet cotton wool.
He struggled to sort the pastry boxes, his movements becoming slower and slower, his fingertips occasionally twitching slightly.
Just as he was about to slide down the cold frame, Pei Qingwu stood beside him.
She said nothing, but silently placed a white porcelain bowl in his hands, the bowl containing warm millet porridge.
Gu Heng suddenly looked up.
At this moment, Pei Qingwu's face was as pale as gold paper, his lips were cracked and peeling, and his eyes were filled with unfathomable weariness.
"You're exhausted. Have some porridge and rest."
He choked up suddenly, hurriedly lowered his head, picked up the bowl, and gulped down the porridge.
The warmth of the rice grains slid down my throat, barely dispelling the metallic taste.
On the morning of the fifth day, everything was finally over.
The shop was deathly silent, with tables and chairs askew and the floor a mess, as if it had been the site of a catastrophe.
Everyone seemed to have had their bones removed, lying sprawled haphazardly on the messy ground or beside the cold stove, their breathing so faint as to be barely audible.
Pei Qingwu was still barely standing, her gaze slowly sweeping over the battlefield that had survived the calamity. She swayed, and her vision blurred.
Gu Heng caught her in time.
"Sister, I'll accompany you to the military camp in the west of the city to deliver the goods."
Pei Qingwu closed his eyes and nodded.
The journey to the military camp in the west of the city was long and bumpy. The simple carriage creaked and groaned, each jolt feeling like a blow to Pei Qingwu's aching bones.
She leaned against the swaying carriage wall, her eyes closed, her face ashen.
The immense strain from days of intense work and mental exhaustion was now surging back at her, making it difficult even to maintain a sitting posture.
The carriage was filled with the lingering sweet aroma of pastries, but now it only smelled nauseating.
Suddenly, the carriage stopped abruptly, as if it had been obstructed by something.
Pei Qingwu was thrown forward violently by the inertia, his forehead almost hitting the wooden board opposite him, but fortunately Gu Heng protected him in time.
Just as she was still in shock, the carriage curtain was roughly pulled open by a hand with distinct knuckles.
The blinding sunlight suddenly flooded into the dimly lit carriage, outlining the silhouette of a travel-worn young man.
The visitor was Zhao Xu.
"General Zhao?" Pei Qingwu asked in surprise.
"Is Master Pei going to the military camp in the west of the city?" Zhao Xu didn't waste any words, his gaze fixed on Pei Qingwu, completely ignoring Gu Heng's wary and guarded posture beside him.
"Yes, what's wrong?"
Zhao Xu's appearance was anything but ordinary.
Pei Qingwu suppressed his churning fatigue and doubts, and gently shook his head at Gu Heng, who was as tense as a bowstring, signaling him to calm down.
"May I borrow a moment of your time, Master Pei? I have something to say."
Pei Qingwu nodded, leaned against the carriage wall, and struggled to move his almost numb legs as he got off the carriage.
Gu Heng immediately followed closely behind, never leaving his side.
Zhao Xu led them quickly into a narrow, secluded dead-end alley beside the street.
The alley was piled with clutter and smelled damp and musty.
“Master Pei,” Zhao Xu lowered his voice to a whisper, “do you know that the 30,000 portions of pastries you sent to the military camp were meant to feed a pack of wolves that are about to turn against the court?”
"What does Lord Zhao mean by this?"
Zhao Xu said urgently, "I risked my life to stop you today only because I didn't want your Sushan Market to be dragged onto a pirate ship! Murong Chengen, he... he might rebel!"
"What?!" Gu Heng exclaimed in a low voice upon hearing this, despite his strong will.
Pei Qingwu swayed, barely managing to stay upright by holding onto the cold wall.
"How so?"
Do you remember when we first met? When I was being chased?
Seeing Pei Qingwu nod, Zhao Xu continued.
“Last year, I went to Hexi on official business. When I arrived in Ganzhou, Murong Chengen was still the Jiedushi of Hexi at that time. I accidentally entered a remote valley, where there was a huge workshop with a furnace that burned all year round.”
"What's even stranger is that there were poultry sheds all around, and flocks of chickens, ducks, and geese were squawking and making a racket day and night..." Zhao Xu's breathing quickened again, and a deep fear lingered in his eyes: "I just felt something was strange at the time, so I took the opportunity to sneak in and try to find out what was going on..."
His voice suddenly dropped to a low hue: "Then I saw with my own eyes that what was being forged in the furnaces there were piles of weapons and armor, and the birdsong outside was simply to cover up the ceaseless hammering of the furnaces day and night."
At this point, Zhao Xu suddenly shivered.
"After I was discovered, I was first rescued by Pei Dongjia. After that, if it weren't for my father's status as the governor of Qinzhou, which made them hesitant to act, I would never have survived until now."
Zhao Xu finished speaking in one breath, his chest heaving violently, and fine beads of cold sweat appearing on his forehead, as if he had exhausted all his strength.
The narrow alley was deathly silent, save for the heavy, suppressed breathing of the three people.
Pei Qingwu felt all the blood rush to his head, then instantly drain away, leaving his hands and feet ice-cold.
"If Master Pei trusts me, please flee immediately! Once Murong Chengen raises his banner, everyone who handled this batch of military supplies will be silenced as an accomplice! You are proof that your supply lines were open to him! The sooner the better, or... it will be too late to regret!"
After saying that, he took one last deep look at Pei Qingwu, then turned around abruptly, just as abruptly as he had come, and his figure quickly disappeared into the shadows at the alley entrance, as if he had never been there.
The afterglow of the setting sun was like cooled embers; the hustle and bustle of the day had completely vanished, leaving only a heavy and oppressive atmosphere.
Pei Qingwu sat upright in the front hall, like a jade statue whose soul had been emptied.
In front of her, everyone in the shop was gathered.
“What Young Master Zhao said is probably not untrue…” Pei Qingwu’s voice broke the suffocating silence, causing everyone to shudder: “The cakes have already been sent over. If Murong Chengen raises an army one day, these 30,000 military supplies will be nothing short of a death warrant for us.”
“Master…” Yin Lan’s lips trembled, wanting to say something, but unable to utter a word.
"Murong Chengen's mind is made up to rebel. In his eyes, we are just traces that must be erased. Staying in Qinzhou means certain death."
"Bang!" Upon hearing this, Shi Dayong slammed his fist against the door frame next to him, and the old wooden frame groaned under the weight.
"You damned scoundrel!" His eyes were bloodshot, and his heavy breathing was like a bellows being pulled.
Qian Tao's face was ashen, her voice trembling with tears: "Boss... what about us? What are we going to do? This shop... this is all our hard work..."
Upon hearing this, the others also showed sorrowful expressions.
"A life's blood?" Pei Qingwu's lips curled into an extremely bleak smile: "A life's blood that cannot be preserved is nothing more than a memorial tablet on a grave."
She paused, her gaze suddenly turning sharp as a knife: "If you want to live, the only way is to cut off your own arm!"
"Now! Immediately! Sell the shops, whether it's the main store or the West Market branch, along with all the utensils and inventory... Sell everything that can be exchanged for money! Even at a discount! And quickly!"
These words were like a thunderclap.
Fifth Sister burst into tears and rushed over to hug Pei Qingwu's knees tightly: "Master! No! This is something we...we did together, little by little..."
Ji Fanghua stood to the side, her wrist still wrapped with the bandage Gu Heng had used, tears silently streaming down her face.
“Sister…” Gu Heng looked at the almost empty, lifeless look in Pei Qingwu’s eyes, and his heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.
"If you're going to cry, wait until you're alive before you cry!" Pei Qingwu's voice suddenly rose, interrupting everyone's sobs.
"At this point, life is the most important thing! Anyway, we have skills, so where can't we do them?! First, we need to live. As long as we're alive, we can always make a comeback."
As she spoke, she pushed Wu Niang aside, stood up, and looked at Qian Tao: "Qian Tao! You have the sharpest tongue, so go and spread the word immediately! Tell all the shops and brokers in the city that the two shops in Su Shan Market are for urgent sale at a low price! You must find a buyer for me before tonight!"
"Silver Mist!"
"Master..." Yin Lan forced herself to stay awake.
"Immediately take inventory of all cash and valuables in the shop! Send people to the branch store as well, make sure not a single penny is missed – all remaining cash in the accounts and valuable materials in the warehouse – and bring them back to the head office before nightfall!"
"And Brother Dayong..."
"What are your orders, sir?" Shi Dayong hurriedly replied.
"Get the carriage ready, pick the sturdiest and most inconspicuous one, and feed all the horses! Be prepared to set off at any time!"
Pei Qingwu's gaze finally fell on Gu Heng, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Aheng, assist Yinlan in counting the money and protect the money box."
"The rest of you, pack your things. Nianci, go find Madam Zheng and ask her if she'd like to come with us."
The order had been given, and no one dared to hesitate any longer.
Qian Tao wiped away her tears and rushed out like a gust of wind. Yin Lan and Shi Dayong also immediately sprang into action.
Wu Niang and Ji Fanghua, after being swept by Pei Qingwu's stern gaze, also sobbed, suppressing their grief, and silently went to pack their belongings.
After the setting sun sank completely into the continuous rooftops, it left only a trace of resentful, blood-red remnant on the horizon.
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