There is no rebuttal to this.
Fu Jingxuan grew right upon the tip of his heart; besides being his person, he was also his very heart itself.
“What are you laughing at?”
Had this been their childhood and such a dispute arose, Fu Jingxuan would have surely retorted. Now, however, he only smiled without a word. He stood up and cupped his hands toward Fang Zesheng. “The Head Merchant makes a valid point. It was my oversight; I shall certainly pay more attention in the future.”
Having spoken his piece, he hummed a soft tune and strolled out of the study, leaving Fang Zesheng alone at the desk for a long while until a hidden curve finally tugged at the corners of his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, late autumn arrived. The leaves gradually turned yellow and fell one by one.
Hu Yunshan settled into the Fang residence. Besides studying tea with Fang Zesheng, he helped Fu Jingxuan handle various chores; including running errands and looking for people without a single word of complaint. Some of the Fang family’s former servants were located; some were still capable of working, while others had grown too old to manage the responsibilities of an accountant or steward. Upon hearing the news, they returned to pay their respects, their eyes red as they recalled the past alongside the mute uncle.
As for the tea processors, Fang Zesheng only went to find two households personally. The stewards of the other four households had already caught wind of the news; they gathered together and, bringing along many workers who had once received favors from Fang Changru, they all rushed over together.
Ma Long was the youngest among these stewards, in his early thirties and in the prime of his life. To support his family over the years, he had worked as a boatman, his skin darkened and tanned by the sun. Upon seeing Fang Zesheng, he knelt directly in the courtyard of the inner courtyard and kowtowed three times. “Back then, it was I who made my father write down the cake-pressing techniques to hand over to Wang Xiuhe. I have no excuses to offer now; I only hope the Head Merchant will give me a chance at redemption and allow me to return to the Fang family to process tea once more.”
He knelt on the ground with his back straight without offering a single word of defense for his past mistakes. Yet even if he didn’t speak of it, everyone understood.
Ma Long had elderly parents above him and a wife and children below; as a mere commoner faced threats and bribes, he had no other choice but to compromise. To this day, his father; who had processed tea for the Fang family for forty years, had not spoken a single word to him because of this incident, calling him ungrateful and accusing him of disregarding the master’s kindness.
The old man was deeply loyal, yet he never considered if his son had prioritized that loyalty, what would have become of their entire family, both young and old?
Fang Zesheng remained silent while waiting quietly for him to finish before asking, “Back then, Lady Wang wanted to give you a shop as a reward. Why didn’t you take it?”
Ma Long said, “Those are the Master’s shops. If they are to be granted, it is the Master who must grant them to me. By what right does a woman surnamed Wang act as the head of the household? I only yielded to her coercion because I had no power to resist, yet I held in contempt being bound to her in any way.”
“So, you would rather give up being a steward to become a boatman?”
Ma Long hurriedly added, “Even as a boatman, I never let my cake-pressing skills grow rusty either.”
Fang Zesheng said, “Please, rise.”
“Head Merchant…”
“Give my regards to your father. If he is still able to return and offer some guidance, let him come back together with you.”
As evening approached, the tea workers in the courtyard gradually dispersed.
Fu Jingxuan sat on the steps in front of the main house watching a few withered osmanthus blossoms fall into the lotus pond.
Fang Zesheng sat in his wheelchair beside him. Fearing he might catch a cold; he instructed the mute uncle to bring a prayer mat for him to sit on.
Fu Jingxuan took it and sat while muttering, “I’m not a small child.”
Fang Zesheng said, “Are only small children afraid of the cold?”
Fu Jingxuan glanced at him. “Small children are frail; I am strong and healthy now and don’t fear such things.”
“Even the strong and healthy are made of mortal flesh.”
“Mortal flesh does not need to be treated so delicately either.”
Fang Zesheng disagreed. “One must always be careful. You suffered from many colds as a child; have you forgotten how miserable it was?”
Fu Jingxuan said, “Whenever I had a cold, there was someone even more miserable than I was. I was too busy coaxing that person to remember the taste of the illness.”
A blush crept onto Fang Zesheng’s face. “Then by being so careless with yourself now, do you wish to see me miserable once again?”
“It’s not out of the question either.” Fu Jingxuan raised an eyebrow and laughed. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen the Head Merchant with a panicked face. How about I go fetch a ladle of cold water and pour it over my head?”
Fang Zesheng hurriedly pressed down on his shoulder, frowning. “No fooling around.”
The two of them bickered back and forth exactly as they had when they were young. Fu Jingxuan never mentioned Fang Zesheng’s useless legs, acting and speaking as if he were a perfectly healthy person. Fang Zesheng, in turn, no longer harbored so many worries regarding his legs; gradually, when facing Fu Jingxuan, he regained some of the spirit of his youth.
It was just that in his youth, he had never been able to win an argument against Fu Jingxuan; and though he had improved a bit since then, he still couldn’t outtalk him.
“Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the eighth month,” Fu Jingxuan said as he reached back to grasp the hand Fang Zesheng had placed on his shoulder, not letting him pull away.
Fang Zesheng nodded, curling the other party’s fingers into his palm.
Fu Jingxuan continued, “Second Madam Liu and the others have likely delivered the tea products to the Procurement Bureau by now.”
Fang Zesheng asked, “En. Did your father go?”
“Probably not. These past few years, First Madam has intended for Second Madam Liu to take over her position, so she has instructed my father to let her handle many matters on her own.”
“Madam Cheng is wise; she likely saw through Second Madam Liu long ago and deemed her capable.”
“But Second Madam is caught in the middle of it all, still thinking First Madam is guarding against her at every turn.” Fu Jingxuan lightly scratched Fang Zesheng’s palm. Though he was discussing family matters, his eyes remained fixed on San Bao, who was sweeping the courtyard, as if he were plotting something.
The next day.
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
San Bao wrapped himself in a small grey cloth shirt and slipped stealthily out of the Fang residence’s main gate. He first went to the most famous pastry shop in the West Market, waiting in a long line to buy a box of mooncakes. Then, he ran to a lumber shop at the ferry crossing, spoke with the shopkeeper for a long while, handed over a blueprint, and paid a silver ingot. By the time he finished his errands, it was already noon. He didn’t head home; instead, he ate a bowl of wonton soup along the street and picked up two portions of raw wontons for the mute uncle and Zhou Qi. Afterward, he went skipping along North Street.
The mooncakes at this shop on North Street weren’t particularly famous, but their “Fried Sesame Balls” were unrivaled. San Bao stepped inside and called out for the shopkeeper. Before the man could emerge, another person came sprinting through the door. This newcomer carried two jars of fruit wine, a box of mooncakes, and a stamped receipt for some unknown order. He shouted at the top of his lungs, “Shopkeeper! One bag of Fried Sesame Balls and make sure to add extra sugar!”
San Bao blinked his small, focused eyes and walked over with his own mooncakes in hand. “Zhou Qi? What are you doing here?”
Zhou Qi was equally startled to see him. Noting that both of them were holding mooncakes and receipts while standing in the exact same pastry shop, he exclaimed, “The Head Merchant sent me! What about you?”
San Bao said, “My Young Master sent me. I’ve been running around all day.”
Zhou Qi added, “Me too! I came out before dawn. The Head Merchant said the line at that shop in the West Market would be very long, and he was afraid the Second Master wouldn’t get to eat any, so he told me to head out early!”
San Bao chirped happily, “My Young Master had the exact same idea!”
The shopkeeper making the sesame balls heard the two of them chatting enthusiastically about a competitor’s business and irritably pulled aside the door curtain. “One serving of Fried Sesame Balls for each of you?”
Zhou Qi and San Bao exchanged a look and said in unison, “En!”
The shopkeeper asked again, “Both with extra sugar?”
Once more, Zhou Qi and San Bao spoke as one, “That’s right!”
