Chapter 458: A Small Business

In the afternoon, Zhang Yu walked home, his steps growing lazier with each one. As he reached the teahouse at the street corner, he heard someone call out to him, “Young master! Over here, over here.” He glanced over and saw it was the storyteller from the teahouse.

Sitting down at the table, the storyteller obligingly pushed over a steamer of char siu bao, “Young master, have a bun, have a bun.”

Zhang Yu had always saved money by skipping breakfast, so he eagerly dug in. After he had his fill of tea and food, the storyteller, with a broad smile, handed him a copy of Story Club. The storyteller was semi-literate, so he always asked Zhang Yu to read these popular publications to him for source material.

Zhang Yu turned to the serialized Entertainment Tycoon and began to read in a low voice, “Last time, we left off with Young Master Guanxi sending his book trunk for repairs, only to lose the several hundred secret erotic photographs hidden in the false bottom, causing a great sensation. Miss Jiao Jiao was so ashamed and angry that she was on the verge of suicide…”

After he finished reading, it took a long while for the storyteller to come to his senses. He wiped the drool from his mouth, “These Australians really have a lot of tricks. Are there any more explosive stories?”

Zhang Yu flipped through the pages, “How about this strange tale from the city: The Sea and Sky Grand Banquet, a Gathering of Orioles, and the Case of the Hidden Slaves in a New An County Cellar.”

After finishing the book, the storyteller stuffed ten copper coins into Zhang Yu’s hand. Added to what he had saved from skipping breakfast these past few days, he now had enough for the next issue of War History Research. Zhang Yu’s steps became lighter.

His mother, who had been sulking at the shop front, couldn’t help but smile when she saw her son return. She followed behind him, constantly asking about his studies, and brought him a pot of hot tea and a plate of freshly baked walnut pastries. Zhang Yu wanted to go downstairs to help his father crack walnuts and knead dough, but his mother wouldn’t let him, “A young man should just focus on his studies.” She then went on to complain about how difficult business was, how she had been cheated out of a few hundred cash by an official, and how today was basically a wasted effort. Look at the tailor shop owner’s son in the east, he passed the scholar examination, and now neither the officials nor the beggars dare to bother them. All our family’s hopes are on you.

“You must pass the scholar examination!” his mother said as she left. With a tragic expression, Zhang Yu opened his Selected Contemporary Essays. The thirteenth question was a “cut-and-paste” question, and an inexplicably heartless one at that: “The ruler’s wife, Yang Huo, desires…” He read the nonsensical opening, the rambling follow-up, and the empty main argument. A wave of stuffiness and annoyance washed over Zhang Yu. He really couldn’t read any more and pushed the book aside.

Although the vow to pass the scholar examination still echoed in his ears, Zhang Yu couldn’t resist taking out a copy of War History Research from his book trunk. Even though he had read it through several times, it still felt fresh and exciting. He turned to the new book advertisement on the back cover: “A masterpiece of Aussie science fantasy makes its dazzling debut! A sci-fi master’s magnum opus! This year’s must-read work! A soul-shaking, marvelous adventure! An all-out production by the Aussie Publishing House!” He caressed the title From the Earth to the Moon, looking at the advertisement picture of a shuttle in front of a giant, cratered sphere. He was full of curiosity. He had read fantasy novels before; War History Research was currently serializing a political fantasy novel, Diary of a Conquered People, about the Sun-Moon Dynasty being invaded and conquered by the barbarian Water-Green nation. Anyone with a discerning eye could see it was about the great Ming, but since the officials didn’t prosecute and the people didn’t complain, no one made a fuss. But Zhang Yu had never read a science fiction novel before. He was itching to read it, but the price made him hesitate. Although the arrival of the Australians had driven the old bookstores out of business and book prices had dropped by several percent, he could only rely on a little pocket money from his parents. The Australians kept coming out with new things, one moment a new episode of the picture show, the next a new comic book. The money he saved from breakfast and earned from reading to the storyteller was simply not enough.

Thinking of Shixin’s words, his heart was also filled with confusion. How many in the community school could actually pass the scholar examination? Most parents sent their sons to school just to learn a few characters and be able to read account books. Even if they didn’t continue their studies, the thought of inheriting this small shop and running it for the rest of their lives felt disappointing. Since the Cropped-Hairs came, he had learned that there was such a vast world beyond the Four Books and Five Classics. In his mother’s words, his heart had “gone wild.” The only golden path he had known now seemed narrow and confining. “Maybe I should call Shixin and run off to Lingao?” a thought appeared in Zhang Yu’s mind.

Zhang Yu was quickly startled by his own thought. To defect to the Cropped-Hair bandits! He knew he was not capable of such a bold act. Those who had defected to the Cropped-Hairs in the early days were all families who had no food or clothing, who had no other choice but to go to Lingao and get their hair cropped as a last resort to save their lives. Later, some struggling artisans and small vendors went to Lingao because it was easy to find work and do business there. Now, there was a third type of person, all down-and-out scholars like Mr. Wu who couldn’t bear the ridicule of others and their poverty, and in a fit of anger, left behind heroic words like “If no place wants me, I’ll go be a Cropped-Hair bandit,” and defected to Lingao to seek an official position.

Although the Zhang family’s life was not prosperous, they were at least free from want. Guarding this ancestral old shop, even if he couldn’t pass the scholar examination, he would probably just continue to run the shop like his father, marry and have children—just like his grandfather and his father. This old walnut pastry shop was already in its fourth generation with his father. His mother always said that running a shop for a hundred years was truly harder than passing the highest imperial examination.

But thinking about his future life, Zhang Yu felt it was utterly devoid of interest: waking up at the first crow of the rooster every day to do business, taking a break at noon to go out and buy ingredients, and delivering goods and collecting payments from various teahouses and prominent households, the trivialities and difficulties of which were endless. After the evening market, he had to prepare the ingredients for the next day. He couldn’t go to bed until after the second watch. From the first day of the year to the thirtieth, it was the same every day, year after year.

As Zhang Yu grew older, he gradually understood the hardships of life. Especially after going to bed at night, he would hear his parents’ conversations before they slept: always about the difficulties of business, the rising prices of everything outside, and the numerous exorbitant taxes and levies. When they talked about household expenses, there were long sighs. In his mother’s words, “These few years, even the price of underwear has gone up.”

The thought that his current life, though not prosperous but at least carefree, could one day become unsustainable, was like being bitten by snakes and insects. In recent years, he had seen quite a few classmates from the community school and neighbors from the street go bankrupt: some had hanged themselves or drowned themselves in the river, some had sold their sons and daughters, and some had become beggars and prostitutes… He had witnessed it all. A few of his classmates at the community school, after their families fell into ruin, disappeared. Some still struggled to come to school, dressed in rags, shrinking in a corner, afraid to speak. Because they had no money to give gifts to the teachers or socialize with their classmates, even the teachers, senior students, and classmates despised them. This was still the better outcome. He had heard that some had been sold to brothels to serve male clients, and someone had seen him dressed in women’s clothes, with his head full of pearls and jewels…

Whenever Zhang Yu thought of this, he would break out in a cold sweat… He knew a thing or two about pederasty. It was also a common practice at school, mostly older students from wealthy families who were intimate with younger, handsome schoolmates. Even the teachers turned a blind eye. Classmates would occasionally joke about it, and it was not considered a big deal. But this was completely different from wearing women’s clothes and dressing up as a woman to entertain clients…

As he was lost in thought, he heard his mother shouting angrily downstairs, followed by the sound of slapping and an apprentice’s miserable cries for mercy. In the past, when business was good, the shop had two or three assistants. Now, they only had an apprentice who worked for food and no pay. Even so, his mother still complained that the apprentice “ate too much” and “stole food,” and never gave him a good look.

Zhang Yu was annoyed. He stopped reading and went downstairs. He saw his mother’s anger had not yet subsided, and the young apprentice had already fled with his head in his hands. He consoled her, “Mother, don’t be anxious. You’ll hurt yourself. Just punish him by not letting him eat.”

His mother’s expression softened slightly. She stroked her son’s head and said, “It’s nothing. A few slaps won’t hurt my hand.” Her face was full of indignation, “There’s no law anymore! His mother even had the nerve to tell me to give him some money for a haircut and a bath. I haven’t even charged him for the rice he’s eaten these past few years! And he has the nerve to ask me for money for a haircut and a bath?!”

Zhang Yu quickly advised, “Mother, whether we give it or not is up to us. Let her say what she wants.”

His mother sighed, “Silly child, do you think Mother would get angry over such a small thing? Look at the good work he’s done!” She became indignant again, “I told him to peel the walnuts, and he didn’t do it cleanly. If it gets into the walnut pastries, it’ll be bitter. As soon as the regular customers taste it, they’ll know. How are we supposed to do business then?”

To make walnut pastries, you need walnuts. Guangdong doesn’t produce walnuts, so they have to be bought from the north-south goods stores. Originally, they used fresh walnuts from the current year, but now that business was not as good as before and the price of walnuts had risen, they had started using cheaper old stock.

Old walnuts didn’t taste as good as fresh ones, so the shop mixed the two, to have both the aroma and sufficient quantity. But the inner skin of the old walnuts had to be peeled cleanly, otherwise the taste would easily become bitter. After peeling the inner skin, there were still remnants in the crevices, which had to be picked out with a sewing needle. This was usually the apprentice’s job at night. But the Zhang family’s small shop only had one apprentice. After a full day of chores, he still had to peel walnuts by lamplight at night—naturally, he couldn’t do it properly.

“This is a matter of our shop’s reputation. Mother, you are right to discipline him,” Zhang Yu nodded repeatedly. “If we indulge him this time, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

“Yu’er, you’re so much more sensible now,” his mother couldn’t help but sigh. “I just don’t know if your father has the ability to pass the shop on to you…”

“What?” These words were like a thunderclap to Zhang Yu. In an instant, the fates of several of his classmates flooded his mind.

“Yu’er, you’re grown up now. You should know a thing or two about the family’s affairs,” his mother sighed and asked him to sit down. “You know about that Great World of the Australians outside the city, right?”

“Yes, I know,” Zhang Yu nodded. “It looks like it’s almost finished.”

“They’re recruiting merchants for the Great World now. They say they’re going to open many shops there. All kinds of food, drink, and entertainment,” his mother said with a worried look. “I hear the Australians themselves are also going to open a shop there—including a pastry shop.”