Chapter 76: Huan Zhen Confronts Wang Ge

Little Jia sought to ease the tension. Seeing Lady Jun approaching, she asked, “How is it that you don’t know this young fellow? He wants to learn bamboo slip-making from A-Ge—could it be, like our Tigerhead, he’s studying letters?”

The elder Jia replied, “He’s kin to the Jia landlord’s family, used to live on the east side of the village. Jia Patriarch instructed the widower to inform us elders: this family committed a grave offense and was expelled from the clan. They now rent lodgings from the widower, caring for him as atonement. If he hadn’t come, I would have forgotten to remind you all. From now on, pay little heed to them when you see them.”

Little Jia was the first to respond, “Understood.”

“A-Ge, A-Shu, especially you two—do you remember?”

“We remember.”

Wang Xing tiptoed and said, “Grandmother, let me tell you—last night, my sister and I saw him when we went to fetch water.”

The elder Jia picked up her grandchild, and Wang Xing whispered the details of what happened by the well.

The old woman clicked her tongue twice, her disdain deepening. “A-Ge, it’s cold outside, hurry back in. A-Shu! Come inside with grandmother.”

Outside the courtyard wall, a few dead leaves rustled.

Little Jia hadn’t exchanged a single word with her daughter and inexplicably felt like one of those fallen leaves, her place on the branch seized by Wang Ge. Well, this time she conceded! “Wang Ge, your little sister is honest; whatever grudges there are between us, I hope you never take them out on A-Shu.”

“Where did that weasel run off to yesterday?”

“What?”

“Did A-Shu say something to you that frightened the weasel away?”

“You… what nonsense are you talking?”

“You’re always complaining I don’t teach A-Shu, aren’t you? Did I teach well this time?”

The hard look on Little Jia’s face paused, turning to surprise, fear, and disbelief. What was Ge-shu talking about? Was she referring to bamboo weaving or to what A-Shu said yesterday…?

Wang Ge didn’t provoke her further. Such was the drawback of living within a single courtyard: one always had to be wary of the treacherous. Fortunately, in this Jin Dynasty, there was the Craftsman’s Edict; the eldest branch, as she took the exams for apprentice and journeyman, not only gained confidence but also made the elders realize that the eldest branch need not rely on the second or third branch in the future. The Jia woman knew this well, hence her repeated scheming, which exposed her disguised face.

Wang’s grandfather and his grandson rushed back before nightfall, their baskets full, each carrying bundles of reed stalks stuffed with down.

After a hurried supper, Elder Jia and Wang Ge busied themselves sewing winter clothes for Uncle Yuan Yan. Wang Shu patched the winter garments that grandfather and brother had torn while cutting reeds.

It was once again the day Huan Zhen taught Wang Xing to read. Second Brother Wang had moved the desk early to the window of the secondary main house and, seeing Wang Ge’s densely drawn lines on the floor, deliberately asked, “A-Ge, you’re quite skilled—are these talismans?”

“If I could draw talismans, I’d make you a protective one first, Second Uncle.”

Second Brother Wang felt greatly pleased.

Wang Ge immediately asked, “Second Uncle, just now my grandmother went to the kitchen—was she carrying the freshly milled wheat flour Uncle Three just made?”

“Yes. Your grandmother wants to steam sesame cakes for Master Huan.”

“Oh.” Wang Ge had thought too much, assuming grandmother wished to nourish Second Uncle and that she might get a taste herself.

When Huan Zhen and Tie Feng arrived at the Wang household, the aroma greeted them at the gate. Elder Jia personally tended the stove this time, kneading the dough with sesame, sprinkling even more on top, and, once each cake was cooked, dipping it slightly in saltwater and crisping the crust at the kettle’s bottom.

Since becoming a village soldier, Huan Zhen had not eaten his fill at any meal. The wheat cakes he received that morning contained bran and were cold and hard when handed out; Tie Feng had kept them warm in his winter coat. Both arrived hungry, and the scent of cakes made their mouths water and their stomachs rumble.

The two devoured their meal ravenously in the kitchen, and when they entered the secondary main house, Wang Xing was already diligently practicing his characters.

The siblings divided the spots in the room where the light was brightest.

After laying down layers of straw mats, Wang Ge couldn’t draw lines and began to make rules. Huan Zhen came over, telling Wang Xing to keep writing, then approached Wang Ge and watched her use a sharp-edged stone to carve lines into a wooden board. She first carved the horizontal, measured its length, then marked the center and carved upward for the height, and finally at the top of the vertical line, drew the corners down to both ends of the horizontal.

Huan Zhen nodded approvingly—this was indeed the method for making such fixed wooden rulers. He returned to the desk and said, “Wang Xing, today I’ll teach you arithmetic. On this wooden tablet is the multiplication table I wrote, beginning with nine times nine is eighty-one, ending with two times one. Miss Wang may listen as well.”

“Yes.” Wang Ge already knew that ancient times had multiplication rhymes, and after Huan Zhen finished reciting the tablet, she understood: they were basically the same as those from her previous life, only the order was reversed. Also, the numbers on the tablet were written as “Twenty” for twenty, “Thirty” for thirty, and “Forty” for forty.

As usual, Huan Zhen recited it once through, then broke it into three parts for teaching.

Nine to seven was the first section. He recited a line, and Wang Xing followed while looking at the tablet. After three times, Wang Xing recited alone. Another three times, and he began to memorize. Wang Ge watched her younger brother standing with hands behind his back, sniffling, pretending to be mature, his eyes straining as he recited incorrectly—how adorable he looked.

Smack! Huan Zhen struck her left hand with a bamboo ruler.

“Wang Xing, stop. If Wang the craftsman is smiling so cheerfully, she must have memorized it already. Let's hear Wang the craftsman recite.” Huan Zhen turned the tablet over, making sure Wang Ge couldn’t peek.

The bamboo ruler tapped lightly in his other palm, clearly gathering force!

Wang Ge stared at the ruler and began, “Nine times nine is eighty-one, eight times nine is seventy-two… five times eight is forty… two times seven is fourteen.”

She deliberately recited haltingly, and Tie Feng, behind her, nodded to indicate she was correct.

Wang Ge’s brows relaxed in a smile, but Huan Zhen immediately scolded Wang Xing, “See? Your sister only needed a few repetitions to memorize it. And you? Did you not eat or sleep last night? Stand straight! Wipe your nose! Why cry? Keep reciting!”

Outside the wall, Wang Peng crept up, then crept away. He was terrified—he’d thought he’d hear some stories, but instead his cousin was being sternly lectured.

At noon, when Huan Zhen and Tie Feng left carrying two baskets of cakes, Wang Xing’s face was swollen from crying.

Elder Jia, unaware of what had happened, comforted him, “In a few days your brother Huan will come again. If you miss him, when we deliver winter clothes, you can go with your uncle.”

“Ugh… hic!” Wang Xing burrowed into his sister’s arms, sobbing bitterly, so sad and so embarrassed—he’d been scolded a hundred times in the morning, and his hands were swollen from the ruler.

Wang Ge soothed him, rubbing his back. “Sister has memorized them; in the next few days, I’ll teach you well. When you deliver the winter clothes, recite them loudly for Master Huan, alright?”

“Hic, hic, hic!”

After Huan Zhen and Tie Feng turned onto the north-south road, Tie Feng remarked, “These cakes must be made from newly milled wheat, ground several times. Households like the Wang family only eat new grain in the twelfth month, if ever.”

“Grandfather and grandmother are benevolent elders. The benevolent are always rewarded.” Huan Zhen chewed another cake and reminded Tie Feng, “If you keep rambling, there’ll be nothing to eat back at camp.”

“Haha, that’s true.”

In the county town, North Alley, the shipwright’s workshop.

Master Yao was not only a master carpenter but also a shipwright. After the craftsman examination, he was set to depart for Luoyang, but when he saw the ‘Leak-proof’ bamboo boat model brought by Magistrate Huan, he immediately realized his moment for fame—and perhaps for promotion to ‘Master of the Guild’—had arrived!

So even if it meant shortening his departure and traveling day and night, he had to first build the ‘Eight-barge Ship’ and test it in the water!

History is a fascinating thing. Wang Ge dared not name the boat model ‘Eight-barge Ship,’ and yet, with Master Yao, it returned to its original designation.

“Twenty” stands for twenty; “Thirty” for thirty; “Forty” for forty.

(End of chapter)