Chapter 25: A Balance of Kindness and Power

The rest of the day was a feast for the four time travelers. The banquet sent by Master Gao was a “grand four-piece set,” with twelve lavish dishes.

The style was not quite modern Cantonese, but the ingredients were fresh, the cooking meticulous. A thick soup of Xishi’s tongue had them nodding in approval.

It’s good to be a leader, Bei Wei thought. How could the common man enjoy such corruption? Just then, Gao Xian, Gao Qing’s wife, brought in the main course: a platter of glistening meatballs the size of pigeon eggs, swimming in a clear broth and sprinkled with green scallions.

Wen Desi took a bite. A clean, fresh taste filled his mouth, with a faint, numbing spice of Sichuan pepper. For all his culinary experience, he couldn’t identify the ingredients. It was a mix of chicken and seafood, he thought. “What is this?” he asked.

“A treasure of land and sea,” Gao Xian said softly. “A mix of turtle meat, silverfish, chicken, frog, and white shrimp. Does master like it?”

“Good, a truly good taste.”

“Landlords really live a decadent life,” [Engineer Wang][y003] said, his voice filled with a longing for decadence.

“Making such a fuss over a meatball,” Bei Wei pursed his lips.

“Almost every dish has Sichuan pepper,” Wen Desi said with a shake of his head. “It’s ruined the taste. The ingredients are so fresh, so natural…”

“It seems to be a habit in Ming Dynasty cooking. The Great Ming is an important market for the Southeast Asian spice trade.”

“This entrepôt trade… it could be profitable.”

Gao Xian brought over six small dishes of smoked and cured snacks. She offered to warm the jar of Jinhua wine that had come with the banquet, but they refused. They had a strict no-alcohol policy in the Ming Dynasty time-space.

“Since the masters are unwilling to drink wine, how about some flower dew that I distilled myself, mixed with water?”

“Flower dew? Like toilet water?”

“Yes, I distilled it myself. I have rice leaf and perilla. Please, try some.”

It was an essential oil, distilled from plant leaves and flowers. Mixed with water, it had a unique, fresh, and elegant taste.

A doubt began to form in Xiao Zishan’s mind. Gao Xian was a tenant farmer’s wife, a common servant, yet she knew how to make flower dew and could recite the recipe for “a treasure of land and sea.” He scrutinized her. Her movements had a certain grace, a stark contrast to her husband’s clumsiness.

“Sister-in-law Gao,” he said, “you have served in the main residence before, haven’t you?”

She trembled. “Yes, this servant has always been in the Gao residence.”

“That can’t be right. You were a common servant. How do you know the recipe for this dish? And where did you learn to make flower dew?”

She stammered, flustered. “It was… taught by my sisters… I have made a fool of myself…”

“How old are you?”

“Thirty.”

He looked at her face, at the faint traces of youthful charm beneath the sun-darkened skin. He thought of Gao Lujie’s appearance, of the age difference between the couple. He understood. But now was not the time to expose her.

He glanced outside. Gao Qing was working in the backyard. “Does Gao Qing often go to Master Gao’s place?” he asked.

Gao Xian started, but said nothing. He knew he was right. Master Gao was using Gao Qing to spy on them.

“That Manager Yan also comes often, right?”

“He hasn’t come… only occasionally…”

“So has he not come, or has he come occasionally?”

“He… has come occasionally, just as an acquaintance visiting…” She was lying. He could see it in her eyes. His face darkened. She knew she was caught. With a thud, she knelt before him.

“This servant deserves to die, I should not have deceived the master…”

Bei Wei, a revolutionary soldier, was about to protest, but Wen Desi stopped him. This was part of their plan.

“He has come quite a few times, right? I’m afraid he has even gone into our courtyard to have a look.”

“No, no,” she said, her face pale with fear.

“And he also made you a promise. If one day we return to Australia, he will take you back into the Gao family, is that right?”

She trembled. The masters knew everything! She cursed her husband’s weakness. Every time Manager Yan cajoled and threatened him, he had let him search the place. It was the crime of betraying one’s master!

“This servant deserves to die, it’s all my husband’s fault…” She confessed everything, her voice choked with sobs. “My husband has a weak heart. I beg the master to consider his old age and his leg ailment, and spare him. I am willing to receive double the punishment in his stead.”

It was as they had suspected. Her desperate plea for her husband moved them. One doesn’t know the sweetness of the new society until one has been in the old one.

Xiao Zishan let the silence hang in the air before he spoke. “Sister-in-law Gao, since your family has been assigned to us, have we done anything to wrong you?”

“You are too kind. My whole family is endlessly grateful.”

“We gave you rice when you were hungry, and an allowance for your children. We ask for no gratitude in return. We only hope for a peaceful place to rest. We do not want to be watched.”

She said nothing, only sobbed and kowtowed.

“Get up.”

“This servant dares not. I ask the master to punish me heavily, to uphold the family discipline.”

She’s a clever one, Xiao Zishan thought. Not the wife of an ordinary peasant.

“Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. But we had not set any rules beforehand. Ignorance is no crime. Get up.”

“Thank you for the master’s grace.” She was not afraid of being beaten, but of being driven away.

“As for future matters, do you understand?”

“Yes, this servant knows.”

“You are much better at understanding things than Gao Qing. In the future, you must teach him well, to know when to advance and when to retreat!”

“This servant knows.”

“As long as you serve with diligence and loyalty, whether we return to Australia or not, we will not leave you without a proper outcome. Conduct yourselves well.”

“This servant thanks…” She was about to kneel again, but he stopped her. It was better to show less of the landlord’s authority. “Go and call Gao Di here.”

After she had left, he turned to the others. “How was my acting?” he asked, anxious to change the mood.

Wen Desi’s mouth fell open. “Zishan, were your ancestors really poor peasants?”

“Of course.”

“You are a Golden Horse Best Actor,” [Engineer Wang][y003] exclaimed.

“You scared her,” Bei Wei said. “Wasn’t that a bit much?”

“It was a bit much,” Xiao Zishan admitted. “But to balance kindness and power, it was necessary. We are surrounded by eyes. If we don’t turn this situation around, we won’t be able to carry out our work.”

“Giving them benefits was ‘kindness,’” Wen Desi said. “Now is the time to show ‘power.’”

“Yes,” Xiao Zishan explained. They couldn’t gouge out these “eyes,” so they had to “turn” them.

“Will this be enough?”

“It’s just the beginning. Loyalty is not built in a day. It’s very difficult to recruit followers.”

To gain loyalty, one must have strength and offer benefits. They had offered benefits. Now, they had to show their strength.

“I see that the transmigration predecessors all had it easy. A few words, and their followers would bow down to them.”

“We don’t have the protagonist aura, do we?”

“You can have it, I don’t want it…”

The mood lightened. Xiao Zishan breathed a sigh of relief. He had not been confident, but he had taken advantage of the woman’s fear of her past.

Gao Di arrived, his account book in hand. He was a clever boy. Seeing his mother’s red eyes, he knew something was wrong.

Wen Desi asked about his family and looked at the account book. He praised the boy’s work, and Gao Di’s uneasiness began to fade.

“Do people from the Gao family come often recently?”

“Yes!” the boy said, nodding vigorously. “That Yan Xiaomao comes often, and whispers with my father.”

“Yan Xiaomao (Yan Small Hat)?” Wen Desi realized he was talking about Manager Yan, who often wore a six-in-one small hat.

“What do they talk about?”

Gao Di hesitated. “Just say whatever you want,” Xiao Zishan said.

“It seems that Yan Xiaomao is always asking about the masters’ news,” Gao Di said. “But my father doesn’t let me listen.”

“Are the people of the Gao family good to you?”

“Good? I don’t know. I… have never served in the Gao family. The masters in the accounting office are quite good to me, and there are a few other children. We often play together.”

“Are they all slaves of the Gao family?”

“Yes, some are born in the house, and some are like me.”

“Among those children, is there anyone you are particularly good with?”

“There are quite a few. Little Li, Little Qian, the Wang brothers…”

“Good. Come to the study in a while and make a list of names,” Wen Desi instructed.