Chapter 43 A rough estimate is three hundred strings of cash.
Five men who had managed to seize the sandbags boarded the pleasure boat. Apart from Aunt Zaohua, the other four were all strong men, but without exception, they had all been through a fierce battle; their hair was disheveled and their clothes were in disarray. However, the five men were in high spirits, and under the gaze of the crowd, they boarded the boat with their chests out and heads held high, their faces full of excitement.
Meng Chun led four apprentices off the painted boat and took four baskets of paper money with them. After disembarking, they boarded the covered boats on the shore to collect the paper horses scattered on the various boats.
"Come, everyone, stand up straight." Father Meng waved and called out, "Stand four feet apart in pairs. We'll ask you three questions to prove that you bought funerary objects from my paper horse shop. Then you can take away the black gold paper horse and the brass paper horse."
The guests on the pleasure boat watched with great interest.
“What questions are you asking? I can’t read, don’t make things difficult for me,” Aunt Zaohua said.
Meng Qing stepped forward and asked the first two questions: "What have you bought at the paper craft shop? How much did they cost?"
Meng's mother carried Wangzhou to another person and asked the same question. The other three were questioned by Meng's father, Shen Yuexiu, and Wenjiao.
“I bought two paper figures, two hundred coins each, for a total of four hundred coins. Your mother also gave me three bundles of paper money.” Aunt Zaohua passed the test with ease.
“I bought two bundles of paper money, ten coins per bundle.”
“I bought five bundles of paper money and two incense sticks. The paper money was ten coins a bundle and the incense sticks were seven coins each.”
"I bought plain-colored wreaths, five hundred coins each."
"I asked you to make a paper dog for me, and you charged me 120 coins."
The five people answered fluently without any pauses or wandering eyes; they had indeed all bought things from the Paper Horse Shop.
"One last question: in the future, when relatives or friends are holding funerals, will you recommend that they buy funerary objects from our Meng Family Paper Horse Shop?" Meng's father asked loudly.
Mr. Yu laughed when he heard this.
"meeting!"
"Definitely."
"Don't worry, Mr. Meng, I'll definitely help you get business later."
Some of the people on the pleasure boat wore mocking expressions, while others shook their heads and laughed.
“This Master Meng is honest; he didn’t mean to make things difficult for anyone and genuinely wanted to give away those paper horses,” Master Xie said.
The students surrounding him nodded in agreement.
"Master, we've retrieved the paper horse." The apprentices carried the paper horse aboard and then turned to disembark.
Meng's father picked up a paper horse and walked into the crowd, saying, "Everyone, take a look. This paper horse is the same color from head to toe, and there are no watermarks from being soaked in water. This proves that it is waterproof and moisture-proof, which can solve the problem of funerals on rainy days."
"There's no need to say that," Shi Zhengli interrupted, angrily saying, "What do you mean by 'funeral procession' or 'not a funeral procession'? Don't you know any taboos?"
"This young master doesn't understand. You're young, so you may not have heard of a method to ward off evil spirits. The elderly and those with severe illnesses can sense a life-or-death crisis they will face in a certain year. To avoid this calamity, they will buy a coffin in that year to ward off the evil. Those facing even more severe crises will even hold a funeral to deceive the officials of the underworld. This is not uncommon in folk customs, and there are indeed cases where seriously ill people have lived for many more years after warding off evil." Preventing him from disrupting the proceedings, Meng's father patiently explained, "An ancient saying goes, 'Treat the dead as if they were alive, treat the departed as if they existed.' The soul does not perish after death. I believe that after death, the soul enters the underworld to continue living, which is another kind of rebirth. So there's no need to be superstitious. Everyone goes through this, sooner or later. It's not that avoiding funerals will prevent death. If you arrange your affairs well before death, you can enjoy happiness after death."
“If funerary objects represent bad luck and can affect one’s fortune and lifespan, I think we practitioners of funerary objects would all die young. But most of the people I’ve seen in this line of work live long lives,” Mencius’ mother replied. “It shows that funerary objects are not bad luck; perhaps making funerary objects is actually an act of accumulating good fortune.”
Du Min stepped forward and said, "As far as I know, in every dynasty, every emperor began to arrange his affairs after his death at the beginning of his reign. For emperors who lived long lives, after the imperial mausoleum was completed, they would personally visit it and even personally select the burial objects. Even sages did not have any taboos about their affairs after death, so why should we?"
“That’s absolutely right,” Dr. Xu said as he came downstairs.
Du Min bowed to Dr. Xu and continued humbly, “Most of those present today are my teachers and classmates. I don’t know if you are all open-minded about funeral matters or if you’re just making an effort to give me face by coming. I am deeply grateful for your presence. We are all well-versed in the classics and have already attained enlightenment. I hope you will not be bound by worldly views. In the future, I will organize a gathering and invite you all to discuss whether paper-made funerary objects can replace pottery funerary objects in later generations. Before that, I have written two related essays and submitted them to Dr. Xu. Dr. Xu, would you mind being the keynote speaker?”
Dr. Xu showed some interest, and Du Min was indeed a man of substance. He nodded and said, "Prepare well and don't disappoint your teacher."
Du Min was secretly pleased and bowed in agreement.
Interrupted, Meng's father forgot what he was going to say. He busied himself handing the paper horses to the five chosen people and said, "There is one last thing. These five paper horses are waterproof and moisture-proof, but we haven't tested whether they can burn quickly. Which of you five intends to burn the paper horses for our ancestors? You can burn them on the riverbank. Du Xuezi can help write the memorial."
Aunt Zaohua waved her hand, "I'll see if I can sell them first. If I can't, I'll burn them for my husband."
“I can burn this one right now. My father loved cows and dogs when he was alive. I couldn’t afford a paper cow when he passed away, so I could only burn a paper dog for him. He had never seen a horse in his life, so I burned a horse for him so he could experience the thrill of riding a horse,” the man who had bought the paper dog said with a smile.
“I can burn this on the spot too. My father died young and suffered his whole life. He never enjoyed any of my good fortune. I won’t go hungry if I’m short a few coins, but I won’t get rich if I have more. I’ll just burn it for him. I won’t sell it anymore,” said another man who had bought five bundles of paper money and two incense sticks.
The other two men remained silent.
"We'll burn two of them on the spot today," Meng's father said. He would switch the paper horses and burn two of the best-made ones on the spot.
Meng Qing took out a writing brush, yellow paper, and ink and gave them to Du Min. Du Min said, "Brothers, come here, I need to write a memorial."
Wang the cloth merchant and Li the cloth merchant walked up to Meng's father. Wang the cloth merchant pointed to several awning boats on the river and asked, "What is your young master doing? Is he burning paper money?"
“Yes, five paper horses are a bit too few, so we brought four baskets of paper money. Anyone who doesn’t have any taboos about this can take a bundle,” said Meng’s father.
“You are all kind-hearted people,” Wang Bushang said.
"I dare not accept such praise." Father Meng waved his hand. "It has troubled everyone and delayed their business. It is not right for them to leave empty-handed."
Wang Bushang pondered that this plan was quite good. Today's event was the most cost-effective and reputation-enhancing measure he had seen in over forty years. It not only made the Meng family's paper horse shop a household name but also accumulated a good reputation.
"I'll order any paper-made funerary objects from your shop that you can make. They all need to be waterproof and moisture-proof. I'll come to pick them up at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month this year," said Wang, the cloth merchant.
“Me too,” Li Bushang said.
“Okay, I’ll place an order and send it to you later. If anything is missing or in short supply, just let me know,” said Mr. Meng.
“Okay, I’ll collect the deposit and give it to you after I receive the order,” Wang Bushang agreed with him.
"If I may be so bold as to ask, are you planning to move your ancestors' graves to Beiman Mountain?" Meng's father asked.
Wang Bushang nodded, “There is an old saying that goes, ‘Born in Suzhou and Hangzhou, buried in Beiman Mountain.’ Beiman Mountain has good feng shui. Many kings and generals of the past dynasties were buried in Beiman Mountain. I will move my ancestors there first, and after I die, my coffin will also be placed in Beiman Mountain.”
Meng's father was somewhat puzzled. He had spent most of his life in Wu County, and the farthest he had ever been was Dujiawan. He couldn't understand why they would move their ancestral graves to a place thousands of miles away just for the sake of feng shui.
"Is the feng shui really that good?" he asked.
Wang Bushang chuckled, “The feng shui of burying kings and generals is certainly not bad. My only wish is that my descendants can change their household registration. In my life, I cannot wear clothes or ride in a sedan chair. Only when I die and am buried can I experience the feeling of being carried in a coffin. It is truly a pity. Brother Meng, you may not understand me today, but in a few years, when you have more money and are rolling in money, you will understand. Copper coins piled up at home are just sitting idle, and silks displayed at home are just for looking at. You cannot own land, wear fine clothes, or ride horses or sedan chairs when you go out. Even your house is subject to regulations. It's so frustrating.”
Mencius' father nodded, "If I ever become incredibly wealthy, I will be buried with you on a mountain after I die."
Wang Bushang laughed loudly and patted Meng's father on the shoulder, "Alright, I'll be waiting."
"Father," Meng Qing called out, "the memorial is finished."
"Go ahead and get busy," Wang Bushang said.
Meng's father looked at the river. The awning boats that had been delivering paper money had all returned. He and Meng Chunyang raised their hands, and Meng Chunyang took out the remaining paper money from the bottom of the basket and lit it in a sheltered spot on the bank.
The five bundles of paper money were scattered and piled up. After the thick smoke cleared, golden flames leaped up to half a person's height. Two men carrying paper horses and holding memorials walked over.
"Passing ancestors, please make way! The funerary objects to be burned next have owners, so don't try to steal them!" Meng's father shouted.
A memorial was burned to ashes, and a paper horse made of brass was first suspended in the air and thrown onto the fire. Flames licked the horse's head, and after a puff of black smoke, the outermost layer of ox glue melted, and the paper horse suddenly burst into flames. The flames started burning from the inside of the horse's mouth, then shot up its neck and into its belly. As the fire raged, the rice stalks and bamboo strips collapsed, but the sturdy "horse skin" still held up, resembling a horse-shaped glass lantern.
As the glue melted, the crystal-clear amber paper horse that Meng Qing had been pursuing appeared. Layer by layer, the tung oil paper burned to ashes, and black paper scraps flew wildly inside the amber.
The people on the pleasure boat stood up one after another, and everyone walked to the side of the boat that was docked. They looked at the scene on the shore with amazement. The scene was too stunning.
People on the bank gathered around, and some were pushed into the river, only to climb back ashore cursing loudly.
"Master!" Butler Chen rushed into the room, opened the window, and said, "Master, come quickly, the glass is on fire."
Master Chen was a step too slow; the last layer of the brass paper horse's "skin" was burned through, and the suppressed flames burst forth.
Applause erupted on the pleasure boat, and those on the shore followed suit.
"Quick, burn another paper horse," Meng's father beckoned.
Because the black and gold paper horse's "horse skin" is thick and black, the flames reflected off it are much weaker. The flames lick the "horse skin," and the gold glow shimmers faintly within, like a black pearl with fire inside. However, compared to the exquisite brass paper horse, this one pales in comparison.
“Brother Meng, I forgot something. The paper horse must be made of brass, and it should be as big as possible,” Wang Bushang shouted.
“Mine too,” Li Bushang echoed.
"Master, let's also order two brass paper horses to burn for our ancestors during the New Year's ancestral worship ceremony," Madam Xie urged, tugging at Master Xie's clothes. "They're so beautiful!"
“Yes, yes, yes, we burn them when we worship our ancestors. If other people’s ancestors have them, my ancestors should have them too.” A very wealthy country gentleman said, “I want two, no, I want five brass paper horses.”
Upstairs, Gu's father looked troubled. He glanced at Gu Wuxia, who immediately understood: "Should we also order brass paper horses?"
Mr. Gu wanted to say no, but he was also tempted.
“Miss Meng took the initiative to invite us here, presumably hoping to turn hostility into friendship,” Gu Wudong said. “Now that we’ve come, it wouldn’t look good to leave empty-handed.”
"Then let's support their business," Mr. Gu said, taking the opportunity to back down.
When Gu Wudong went downstairs, he saw a long queue already formed on the first floor, with Du Min and Meng Qing each holding a pen and registering on the list.
"Honorable sir, would you like to buy this brass paper horse?" Aunt Zaohua asked as she approached Gu Wudong.
"Sister Hua, go downstairs and sell." Mother Meng asked her to leave, thinking to herself that this person was really unscrupulous, trying to steal business from the owner.
As soon as Aunt Zaohua stepped off the painted boat, she was stopped by a man who asked, "Auntie, I'll buy this paper horse for three strings of cash."
"Three strings of cash? Why don't you just rob someone? It's at least six strings of cash," Aunt Zaohua shrieked.
“I have six strings of cash. Can’t I ask the owner to buy a new one? Your paper horse has been floating in the river for half a day and has been touched by many people.”
“There’s a line of people waiting to buy brass paper horses on the pleasure boat. If you’re not in a hurry, you can join the line and see when it’s your turn,” Aunt Zaohua said shrewdly. “The minimum is six strings of cash. You can pay on the spot and take the brass paper horse away right away.”
The man looked at the pleasure boat, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, six strings of cash it is. Come with me."
"It's time to leave, the pleasure boat is leaving, today's excitement is over," said a spectator on the shore, still feeling the excitement.
Before the pleasure boat left the shore, Yu Dongjia jumped off the boat, followed closely by his two sons. The three of them made their way through the crowd back to the rice shop.
"Father, how about I go to the Meng family's paper horse shop to become an apprentice? They make a hundred or two hundred strings of cash a day, it's incredibly profitable." The two old men were on the shore, but their minds were still on the pleasure boat. He was excited and eager to try, saying, "I'll go learn the craft, and after I'm done, I'll open a paper horse shop in Jiaxing County."
"Yu's Rice Shop can't accommodate you?" Master Yu glanced at him and said, "Meng's Paper Horse Shop has been in Wu County for more than ten years and only now does it have a business of one or two hundred strings of cash a day. You think you can make money just by changing places? Do you have a powerful backer or connections?"
“The people who placed orders today are all rich and powerful. The poorest should be the students from Chongwen Academy. You can’t even afford to be associated with the students of Chongwen Academy. Who do you expect to buy your paper offerings? Poor people? Today, some people on the shore fought over a bundle of paper money, and some even fell into the river. How much business can they possibly do for you?” Old Master Yu asked.
Yu Dongjia nodded, "Don't be envious. You two brothers, one manages the rice mill and the other manages the rice shop. It's tiring and the profit is a bit small, but you can make a lot of money in a year."
Many others shared the same idea as Yu Lao Er. After the painted boat left, the onlookers at the Lumen Ferry were still gathered, and some were restless, wanting to go to the Meng Family Paper Horse Shop to become apprentices and learn their craft.
In a house behind the teahouse, several men were gathered around a brass paper horse, cutting open the thick outer layer of paper.
"It's straw inside... Why is it tied so tightly? Cut it with scissors." The cardboard was peeled off, and a pile of straw was dismantled, leaving only a frame made of bamboo strips.
"Bring us the bamboo strips. We'll use this as a reference to build the frame. I refuse to believe that only the Meng family in the entire Wu County knows how to make paper offerings." A thin-faced man said, his face full of indignation.
If Mencius' father were here, he would recognize this man as the one who initially offered twenty strings of cash to teach him how to make paper funerary objects as soon as possible.
Half an hour later, the man picked up a stool and smashed the strange bamboo hoop on the ground to pieces.
*
Wumen Ferry Crossing.
The painted boat docked, and the guests disembarked one by one. After the guests left, Meng's father, mother, and Meng Chun also got off the painted boat.
Meng Qing stayed behind last. She handed two strings of cash to Du Min and instructed him, "You take Master Chen and Steward Chen back to Renfeng Lane. This is the cost of renting the boat. You should give it to the boatman when you get off the boat."
Du Min nodded, "Thank you, Second Sister-in-law."
Meng Qing waved her hand, "You're welcome, it's good for both of us."
Du Min smiled and said, "Don't cook tonight. I know a restaurant that serves delicious food. I'll treat you to dinner tonight."
Meng Qing thought about it and figured that based on the number of orders placed today, Du Min wouldn't be short of money in the future, so she nodded in agreement.
After Meng Qing disembarked, the painted boat left the Wumen ferry crossing.
"I'm starving! I'm not going back to cook. Let's go to Niu Ji Restaurant for dinner." Brilliant with wealth, Mr. Meng's face was flushed, and he generously offered to treat everyone.
"Alright, I'm too tired to move anymore," said Mother Meng. "Yuexiu, Wenjiao, you two come along too. You've been on tenterhooks all day, so your master will treat you to lunch."
"You guys go first, I need to go back," Meng Qing said.
“We’ll wait for our senior sister to come with us,” Shen Yuexiu said.
"No need, I know the way. You guys go order first, I can eat as soon as I get there." Meng Qing reached out to ask Meng Chun for the key, as she had given her key to Du Li.
After getting the key, Meng Qing carried Wang Zhou back to breastfeed. Luckily, there were many people today, and Wang Zhou was so focused on talking to them that he forgot about breastfeeding and didn't fuss even though he was hungry.
Meng Qing hurried back to Jiayufang. Before she could even take out her keys, she saw that the gate was wide open and Da Mao was barking in the yard.
"Du Li?" she called from outside the door.
"You're back?" Du Li was cleaning the donkey shed again. He straightened up and looked over, saying, "Is the banquet on the pleasure boat over?"
"You know? Wangzhou, look who he is." Meng Qing held the child back, making him face Du Li.
Du Li dropped the broom, walked out of the donkey shed, dusted himself off, and saw Wang Zhou grinning at him. He said happily, "He's not angry with me this time."
The two returned to the backyard, where Meng Qing sat under the eaves to breastfeed the baby, saying, "It was quite a lively day, it's a pity you didn't see it."
When Du Li arrived, the pleasure boat had already left, and he hadn't seen anything. He didn't understand the excitement she described, so he felt nothing. He untied the money pouch from his waist and said excitedly, "I brought two buckets of eels to the fish market today. The big ones were sixteen coins each, and the smaller ones were thirteen coins each. I made a total of seven hundred and thirty coins. I didn't expect selling this stuff to be so profitable. I plan to catch eels to sell year-round. You can have all this money; I won't keep a single coin. I still have the money my father gave me before."
Meng Qing reached out and took it, saying, "Catching eels can be quite profitable. You saved up two buckets of eels over four days? You made a net profit of two hundred coins a day. That's more profitable than selling rice cakes at a small stall."
Du Li nodded, "As long as I can sell them, I'll catch eels every night from now on. If we run out in my own village, I'll go to the next village to catch some."
Meng Qing scrutinized him for a few moments; his eyes were dark. "You didn't sleep well?"
"I catch eels in the first half of the night and sleep in the second half."
"It's too late, it'll ruin your kidneys," Meng Qing said.
"You'll ruin your kidneys?" Du Li suspected he misheard and said, "It won't ruin my health. I'm in good health. I've hardly ever been sick since I was a child, and I've never seen a doctor."
Meng Qing smiled slightly, "I meant kidneys, kidneys that can make me pregnant."
Du Li choked on his saliva, mumbled a few words, and couldn't get a reply. He could only blush silently.
Meng Qing didn't say anything. After Wang Zhou finished eating, she handed the child to him and said, "Come on, let's go to Niu Ji Restaurant for lunch. Dad will treat us at noon. Are you going back this afternoon? Your third brother will treat us to dinner tonight, to our whole family."
Du Li suspected he had misheard, "He invited you to dinner?"
“Yes, he struck up a conversation with Dr. Xu and Master Chen today. To thank us for the opportunity, he’s treating us to dinner tonight.” Meng Qing locked the door. On the way, she told him about what had happened in the past few days. “The guests he invited, Master Xie and Master Lin have both placed orders. Seven out of the nine students from Chongwen Academy have placed orders, and more than ten students from the prefectural school that he tricked into coming have also placed orders. However, the deposits haven’t been collected yet. I don’t know if they will go back on their word later.”
Du Li did some mental calculations, then asked in shock, "How much are all these orders worth?"
Meng Qing chuckled, "A rough estimate is three hundred strings of cash."
Du Li swallowed hard, and exclaimed in shock, "My father-in-law is going to become a wealthy businessman!"
"Not quite. It's not like I'm making 300 strings of cash a day. I won't receive the final payment for these orders until the end of the year. My business usually relies on funeral parlors. Most ordinary people won't buy the funerary objects displayed today. Business will be a little better, but it won't make me a rich merchant," Meng Qing explained.
Upon arriving at Niu Ji Restaurant, the waiter led Meng Qing and her family of three to a private room, where the dishes were already being served.
"Oh? My son-in-law is here? When did you arrive? Come and sit down." When Meng's father saw Du Li, he patted Meng Chun and said, "Make room, this seat is for your brother-in-law."
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