Chapter 159 Three Hundred Coins

Although the Xie clan owned a vast estate in Nanshan, the Xie residence in Shanyin County could not compare in area to the Nanshan Primary School's hermitage.

Xie Yi possessed divine strength by nature; carrying a large pottery basin while walking was no different to him than carrying a tile shard. "Father, your son bought something fine to bring—Chixiao?"

When had the hound-crane arrived? Wasn't it still in Nanshan?

Chixiao disliked Xie Yi as well, unwilling to look directly at him with its beady eyes.

Xie Youru rebuked, "So clumsy and rash, don't frighten it."

"Yes." Xie Yi gently put down the pottery basin. Chixiao peeked at the basin, and Xie Yi blocked it.

The official documents lying on Xie Youru's desk had been delivered by the Assistant Officer of the Right Bureau of Bandits. The documents described a frame-up case; the crime had been committed in the morning, and the truth had been found out by noon. It involved Sima Chong, a scion of the imperial clan, and also related to Ban Shu's disciple Wang Ge. Alas, this Sima Chong had lost to Wang Ge himself, yet he still dared to dispatch such a stupid "brain trust" to act.

The only smart thing Sima Chong had done was that the ten fools he dispatched all knew each other in pairs. By capturing just two of them, how could the other eight be found in the shortest possible time? And it must be done without startling the candidates in the Intensive Training Camp too much.

Xie Youru looked at his eldest son and asked, "Who did you go to see this morning?"

"Ah Chong. He came to Shanyin County to deliver dispatches." Xie Yi felt a pang of vigilance and smiled all over his face as he reached out to pet Chixiao, only to have the hound-crane snap at the back of his hand twice.

"Don't bother it!" Xie Youru said with a pang of heartache, stepping forward to stroke Chixiao's speckled crown. "Where did these straw-woven fish come from?"

Xie Yi immediately said, "These are no ordinary straw-woven fish. Twenty-four in a basin, signifying the twenty-four solar terms; swimming downstream, signifying favorable weather; packed tightly together, signifying a surplus every year."

Chixiao could understand the word "fish," and its little head tilted back and forth in a tangle. It both loved being petted on the crown by its master and wanted to bite the fish. Knowing its mind, Xie Youru picked one up to tease it.

Xie Yi: "Hey? The Beginning of Spring is gone!"

"Nonsense, you brat asking for a beating!"

"I'm wronged! Your son meant this fish is called the Beginning of Spring." Xie Yi was beaten around the room, making Chixiao leap and flap its wings in delight. Unable to dodge, he simply turned his back to his father and shouted, "If Father wants your son to do something, just say it. Why make your son take a beating for nothing?"

"Hmph, then I'll say it directly."

Xie Yi's hair had been beaten loose. He tossed his head, chuckled, and asked, "Did Ah Chong's trouble get reported to you, Father?"

"Hmph." Delighted that his sons were so quick-witted, Xie Youru could no longer maintain a stern expression and laughed as well. "I'll give you the identity of a bandit-capturing officer to enter the Timber Garden's Intensive Training Camp. Within eight days, ferret out the other eight fools. That brat Ah Chong is always stirring up trouble; I can let him off if we catch two, but if all ten are caught, even I can't help him!"

"Yes, yes, yes. On behalf of Ah Chong, I thank Father."

Turning around, father and son discovered that only half a basin of straw-woven fish remained, as Chixiao had pecked and scattered them everywhere. "How much did it cost to buy these?"

"That quasi-master craftsman let me name my own price. Feeling the auspicious meaning, I gave three hundred coins."

"Well, it is better to give more and not acquire a bad reputation for bullying the common people."

"Yes."

"A quasi-master craftsman? Where did you buy these fish?"

"At the Southern Gate of the Timber Garden."

"What did that quasi-master craftsman look like?"

"She was a young maid, quite young, and you couldn't make out her features. I'm telling the truth!" Seeing his father grow angry, Xie Yi quickly defended himself, "Her face was so dirty, only her eyeballs looked clean. I know what Father suspects, but it definitely is not Wang Ge! That young maid who sold the straw-woven fish talked so much that your son couldn't even get a word in; she spat all over my face."

Xie Youru uttered an "oh" and felt relieved. Tiger had praised Wang Ge before, praising her for speaking little, being graceful and quiet. Though it wouldn't matter much if the eldest son met Wang Ge upon entering the Intensive Training Camp, it was best they didn't meet at all.

Father and son had no idea that when Tiger had praised Wang Ge, it was back when the Nanshan lodgings allowed bathing at any time. Inside the Timber Garden, conditions were austere to the extreme, and drinking water required waiting for the kitchen's meal times. Candidates like Wang Ge, whose minds were entirely devoted to improving their craft skills, simply did not wash their faces.

As for Wang Ge, she never imagined that a basin of twenty-four solar term fish could sell for three hundred coins. After the patrol officer at the South Gate checked her travel pass and recorded the task completion time and the amount of money, he kindly informed her, "If you want to send the money home in advance, you can find the female official in charge of the quarters."

Wang Ge bowed in gratitude, found Official Meng, and temporarily stored the money (she needed to accumulate a full string of a thousand coins to mail them back to Duoyi County). When she returned to the courtyard, before even stepping into the room, she heard weeping.

Four young women had failed to complete their daily tasks, and the most miserable among them—having found no luck with luck-based tasks until now—had already given up.

Mistress Meng signaled for Wang Ge to sit nearby and whispered, "Don't try to comfort them. There's no comforting them."

"Understood."

Young Mistress Lin complained in a low voice, "Just now, I couldn't bear it and went over to offer some advice, but that woman..." She slightly raised her index finger, pointing toward the artisan sitting in the innermost corner diagonally opposite. "End up, she said... Of course you dare talk about grand principles after finishing your tasks. Isn't it infuriating? Who can guarantee they'll complete their tasks every time? Instead of looking for her own flaws, she blames everyone else?"

Wang Ge did not echo her. She picked up her winnowing basket and signaled that she was going to the production area to practice splitting bamboo strips.

She sat down and took advantage of the twilight to sharpen her knife blade, checking it against the light every few strokes. To split the finest strands, a razor-thin blade was the primary key.

Just as she caught the light, Young Mistress Lin came out. In Wang Ge's line of sight, the knife blade seemed to divide Young Mistress Lin into upper and lower halves. The other woman sat down in the work area furthest away from her, working with wooden blocks and using a file.

Mistress Meng and another artisan surnamed Xu also came out, both hoping to use the twilight to practice for at least another half-hour.

Jiasha Village.

Today's twilight was different from usual. As the setting sun sank behind the wild mountains, the solitary old man passed away.

The old man's hands, creaked into dark folds, remained tense in his final moments. He tightly clutched Wang Zhu's hand, wanting to use his remaining clarity to instruct the child a few more times, but it was too late.

Wang Zhu wept bitterly, frantically cupping the old man's hand with his own: "Grandfather..."

Grandfather, I know what you're going to say, I know! I've mended my ways, can you watch over me for a few more years?

"Grandfather..." Wang Zhu choked with grief, unable to catch his breath. The old man's hand was not as warm as before. He was terrified; the old man's hand was slowly turning cold. Unlike last winter, turning cold now meant it would surely never warm up again. He refused to accept it! He was afraid that a living person would turn cold.

That would mean Grandfather was truly dead!

Ah! Overwhelmed by grief with nowhere to vent, Wang Zhu slammed his head hard against the wooden bed board.

"I've mended my ways, I've mended my ways, I've mended my ways! Grandfather... I should have, I should have mended my ways sooner, sob... I should have mended my ways sooner..."

Wang Sanlang was striding angrily toward the well; he simply couldn't endure it any longer! Every day when that unfilial son returned from the fields, he first went to cook evening meals for outsiders. Did he still have his own father in his heart?

That stubborn old wretch deserved to be lonely; who knew how he badmouthed Wang Sanlang behind his back, teaching the unfilial, muddle-headed, increasingly foolish wretch!

Two village neighbors arrived at the well to fetch water before Wang Sanlang. Hearing the unusual commotion, they rushed into the house and hurriedly pulled away Wang Zhu, who was covered in blood and nearly fainting. Touching the old man's breath, they too were filled with sorrow.

Wang Sanlang arrived. The anger he had built up along the road instantly melted away the moment he reached the old man's doorway: "Ah Zhu? Come home to eat—Ah Zhu? Ah Zhu, what's wrong with you? Oh dear! What's wrong with my boy?"

The neighbors handed Wang Zhu over to Wang San: "The old man is dead. Ah Zhu is a kind child and couldn't accept it for a moment, so he banged his head himself. Hurry and carry him home on your back, and take him to the township to examine his injuries tomorrow morning."

Wang Sanlang agreed repeatedly, hoisted Wang Zhu onto his back, and hurried home.

Wang Zhu was not unconscious and pleaded, "Father, give me my three hundred coins."

Wang Sanlang stopped dead in his tracks, twisting his head in displeasure: "What three hundred coins?"

"The four thousand five hundred coins Eldest Sister Ge earned—wasn't a string of a thousand given to our third branch at the time? Weren't three hundred of those coins mine?"

"What do you want money for?"

"To buy a coffin for Grandfather."

"Buy my foot!" Wang Sanlang angrily shoved him, sending Wang Zhu crashing straight to the ground with a heavy thud.

Fearing that passing villagers might see, Wang Sanlang jerked Wang Zhu up, roughly wiped the blood from his face, dragged him along, pressed his head down, and hauled him back into the courtyard. He kicked the door shut, slid the bolt, shoved Wang Zhu into the main room, and cursed, "You unfilial wretch, say that again?"