Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 746 The Mules and Horses Eating Outside
He Xiaokui dragged his weary legs through the winding, shabby alleys of Xuan Nan Fang. He deliberately took a long detour, avoiding several main roads where patrols often checked people, and finally returned to his small courtyard deep in the back alley of Luomashi Street before the curfew drums sounded.

This was an ordinary little courtyard with a low gate and mottled earthen walls. It contained only a main house, a side room, and a kitchen, so cramped that it was almost impossible to turn around. His elderly mother and his toddler son, who had just learned to walk, lived in the main house, while the west wing was where he, his wife, Ms. Lü, and their slightly older daughter lived.

Tuk-tuk-tuk.

He Xiaokui raised his hand and knocked on the courtyard gate.

"Who is it?" A woman's wary voice immediately came from inside the door.

"Me," He Xiaokui replied simply.

The latch was pulled, and with a creak, the door opened. It revealed the ordinary face of He's wife, Lü Shi, a peasant woman. Seeing her husband, a hint of relief flashed in her eyes: "Husband, you're back? Why are you so late?"

He Xiaokui didn't answer, or even glance at her. He squeezed through the door, went straight to the water vat next to the kitchen, grabbed the gourd ladle hanging on the rim, scooped up a full ladle of cold water, and gulped it down. The icy water dripped down his chin, wetting his shirt and temporarily quenching his thirst from the long journey.

Lady Lü was somewhat disheartened by his indifference, but she didn't say anything. She simply closed the courtyard gate silently and bolted it.

After finishing his water, He Xiaokui let out a long sigh, but his stomach began to rumble. He had been running around all day, only managing to buy a small, palm-sized hard-crust bread on the way, which had long since been digested. He wiped his mouth and was about to ask Madam Lü to bring the food to the side room.

squeak-

The door to the main room opened. He Xiaokui's mother leaned against the door frame, staring at him with a sullen face, while her young son timidly grabbed her trouser leg and curiously peeked out.

He Xiaokui felt a pang of guilt and swallowed the words he was about to say, calling out softly, "Mother."

"Hmph!" The old woman snorted heavily, her voice filled with displeasure. "You still remember you have a mother? Where have you been gallivanting off to? It was already dark when you came home! I thought something had happened to you!"

He Xiaokui chuckled, a smile spreading across his face. As he reached into his pocket, he explained, "Mom, what are you thinking! I went to the branch near Fuchengmen to exchange some money today. I took a detour, which is why I'm a little late."

The old woman frowned even more: "Don't you work at a bank yourself? Why did you go all the way to Fuchengmen?"

"Hey! Don't flaunt your wealth!" He Xiaokui pulled out two heavy, standard silver ingots from his pocket, which gleamed alluringly in the dim light, and presented them to his mother like treasures. "Look! Look, two taels! Full weight of snowflake silver! If I cashed the silver notes that people gave me at the Zhengyangmen branch, wouldn't those shrewd people at the counter know that I received a big reward today?"

The two gleaming silver ingots immediately captured the old woman's attention. Her cloudy eyes widened instantly, her anger dissipating considerably, leaving only shock: "For...for whom is this a reward? Delivering a message and running an errand, and you get such a large reward?"

"Hehe, those Western merchants gave it to me!" He Xiaokui puffed out his chest. "Today I ran an errand for Eunuch Gao, delivering an important letter to them, and they rewarded me with this amount without saying a word!"

The old woman was still incredulous: "Two taels of silver for delivering a message? They...they're so generous?"

“Simply delivering a letter isn’t worth it!” He Xiaokui shook his head smugly, lowered his voice, and boasted mysteriously, “But I’m delivering a letter concerning the Minister of Revenue under the guise of being ‘a servant under Eunuch Gao’s command’! Do they dare to look down on me? Ha! Do they not want to do business on the territory of my Great Ming?”

Upon hearing this, the old woman's face showed no joy, but rather astonishment: "You...when did you become a servant under Eunuch Gao?"

He Xiaokui clicked his tongue dismissively: "I'm not, so can't I say it? If they believe me, that's all that matters."

“You fool, how dare you use Grandpa Gao’s name to ask for so much money?” The old woman suddenly became worried. “Two taels! That’s almost two months’ wages!” The bank paid He Xiaokui one tael and two mace a month, which was not a small amount. It was more than many of the laborers who worked hard at Dongbianmen.

“It wasn’t what I wanted,” He Xiaokui argued. “It was given to me by that Wu Dongzhu himself.”

"Of course they gave it to you. You're practically 'Gonggong's servant,' how could they not give it to you?" The old lady was quite perceptive. "Does Gonggong know you accepted this money?"

“Of course Eunuch Gao knows! When I returned to the yamen to report, I told Young Eunuch Gao,” He Xiaokui’s eyes flickered, trying to remain calm, but his voice grew softer and softer. “Young Eunuch Gao even praised me for being clever, saying that the reward money was earned by myself and told me to keep it…”

"Hmph! Who are you trying to fool?" No one knows a son better than his mother. She saw through his guilty conscience at a glance and said sternly, "You must have only vaguely said that you received a reward, without mentioning how much you received! Otherwise, why would you go to all the trouble of going to Fuchengmen to exchange the silver? And you said 'don't flaunt your wealth'? You're just afraid that if you reveal it, Eunuch Gao will find out that you've been extorting money from him!"

“A little more is a little more, a little less is a little less, so what?” He Xiaokui retorted stubbornly.

"More or less? Five and a half cents or a few dozen coins is one thing, but this is two ounces!" The old woman became more and more agitated as she spoke, her spittle almost spraying onto He Xiaokui's face. "Even throwing a pebble into water makes a sound! Do you think Eunuch Gao and your shop assistants are deaf and blind? What if those foreign merchants accidentally mention it to Eunuch Gao one day, or the shop assistants gossip about it? Will you still want this new, respectable job? Huh?"

Lady Lü, who had been standing to the side without daring to interrupt, also leaned in worriedly and whispered in agreement, "Yes, mistress... losing your job is the least of your worries. Those are people from the palace... If they are blamed, we..." Before she could finish speaking, her eyes were already red.

His proud and hard-earned "achievements" were dampened by his mother and Madam Lü's cold treatment, leaving He Xiaokui feeling both annoyed and irritable, a nameless anger rising within him. He dared not vent his anger on his mother, so he abruptly turned to Madam Lü and roared, "Shut up! Great men don't concern themselves with trifles! What do you know, you short-sighted, foolish woman! Those foreign merchants handle deals worth tens or hundreds of thousands of taels of silver! Would they care about a mere two taels? When we bought that mansion of Minister Li, it cost six thousand taels in cash plus taxes and duties! He didn't even blink! What's this compared to that!"

Startled by his shout, Madam Lü shrank back immediately, tears welling in her eyes, and dared not utter another word.

But his mother wouldn't have it, continuing her relentless questioning: "What does it matter to you whether they blink or not? Did they give you these two taels of silver because of your reputation? They gave it to Eunuch Gao! They gave you so much money hoping you'd put in a good word for them with Eunuch Gao! Can you do that? Do you have that ability? Don't you feel like this money is burning your hands?" He Xiaokui was rendered speechless by his mother's barrage of questions: "Ugh! This is so annoying! I... I've already exchanged the silver, I've already got the money, I can't... I can't give it back, can I?" His voice softened, tinged with helplessness.

"Return it? Of course not!" the old woman said firmly. "Returning it will only make things worse! People will think you think it's too little or that something went wrong! Tomorrow, you should give the money to Eunuch Gao. That way, you'll be on good terms. Just say it's a reward from the foreign merchant, and you didn't dare to do it on your own, so you came to hand it over. That way, you'll show that you're sensible and dutiful, and you'll also please him!" Madam Lü nodded repeatedly, agreeing with the idea.

He Xiaokui's heart began to pound, but he still stubbornly insisted, "But I've kept my promise."

"You'll cash out and not exchange it for a ticket again!" His mother glared at him.

"This..." He Xiaokui was speechless for a long time before muttering, "I was thinking of using this money to buy you a new winter coat."

"This money wasn't earned honestly. Even if it's made into clothes, I won't feel at ease wearing them; I'm afraid it'll shorten my lifespan!" The old woman's words were still harsh, but her tone seemed to have softened somewhat. "Tomorrow morning, go and get this done! Do you hear me?"

He Xiaokui was stunned for a long time, and finally could only let out a long sigh: "Oh well! Alright!"

--------

In the early morning, the summer heat began to rise.

He Xiaokui jogged, panting and sweating profusely, into the gate of the Zhengyangmen branch. He had gotten up before dawn that morning and rushed to the Zhengyangmen branch to exchange the two burning silver ingots for two brand-new one-tael silver notes. After all that trouble, he hurried back, but still missed the roll call.

The morning stillness hadn't been completely broken; the lobby was empty except for a few early-rising employees wiping the counter and organizing receipts. Behind the counter, the head manager, Yu Tinghua, the always meticulous old scholar, was frowning as he flipped through the ledgers. He immediately spotted He Xiaokui leaning against the doorframe, panting heavily.

"He Xiaokui," Yu Tinghua put down the ledger, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable sternness, "Come here!"

He Xiaokui's heart skipped a beat. He swallowed the sticky saliva in his mouth, dragged his leaden legs, and moved over with extreme trepidation. "Manager Yu... Manager Yu."

Yu Tinghua's sharp gaze swept over He Xiaokui's sweat-drenched face and soaked clothes. He asked with a stern face, "What time is it? Do you think this is a mule and horse market, where you can come whenever you want? Tell me, why are you so late?"

He Xiaokui dared not mention the matter of exchanging silver, so he had no choice but to lie, his voice so low it was like a mosquito's hum: "Replying to...replying to the shopkeeper, this...this morning when I woke up, my stomach suddenly started hurting terribly, and I squatted in the outhouse...squatted there for a long time..."

Yu Tinghua raised an eyebrow, curled his lips downwards, and let out a very soft sneer: "Hmph, diarrhea? I bet you overslept on some girl's belly last night."

He Xiaokui guessed what Yu Tinghua was about to say and hurriedly waved his hands in protest: "No! Manager Yu, I really didn't..."

"Alright!" Yu Tinghua interrupted him impatiently, his voice suddenly rising, "Stop talking nonsense with me! You should know the rules of the shop!"

"Manager Yu! Manager Yu! I really didn't do anything wrong outside! Please, sir, see the truth!" Upon hearing the word "rules," He Xiaokui panicked instantly. "Considering this is my first offense, please...please don't deduct my pay, okay?"

"I'm not going to argue with you!" Yu Tinghua said firmly, completely unmoved by any of this. "Even if you're really sick with diarrhea, you still have to follow the rules! Otherwise, if you have diarrhea today, I have diarrhea tomorrow, and he has diarrhea the day after, we might as well just close down! Besides," he pointed towards the backyard, "there's a latrine in the shop! After you clock in, go to the back latrine and squat for an hour, even if you're completely exhausted, I won't care! Rules are rules!"

The shopkeeper, He Xiaokui, was rendered speechless by the reprimand. He subconsciously glanced around the empty lobby and muttered under his breath, "There aren't any customers in the shop right now, so it hasn't caused any delays."

"No customers? Ha!" Yu Tinghua slammed his hand on the table, making the inkstone on it jump. "Just because there are no customers doesn't mean you don't have to come! Just now! While you were dawdling around somewhere, the foreign merchants from the Western trading company came by! They even asked about you and wanted to say hello. In the end, I had to serve them! Did you expect them to wait for you, the waiter, to wake up? No complaints!" He pointed at He Xiaokui's nose. "Your wages for this month must be deducted! Rules are rules!"

He Xiaokui was startled, his eyes widening in shock. "The foreign merchants... have already arrived?"

Yu Tinghua was taken aback by his reaction and found it a bit strange, but she didn't think much of it and just asked in an annoyed tone, "Yeah! What's wrong? Why are you panicking?"

"And what about Eunuch Gao?!" He Xiaokui's voice even changed slightly.

"What?" Yu Tinghua misunderstood him, and sneered, "You still want to complain to Eunuch Gao? Sue me for withholding your wages?"

"No! No!" He Xiaokui waved his hands repeatedly, shaking his head like a rattle-drum. "That's not what I meant! I was just asking."

Yu Tinghua rolled his eyes. "You have the nerve to ask? Eunuch Gao arrived earlier than you! He got here first thing this morning! Right now," he pointed to the second-floor floor, "he's in the tea room meeting with foreign merchants. He doesn't have time to worry about your lateness!"

He Xiaokui nodded blankly, his eyes twitching uncontrollably. "Okay. I... I understand."

"If you know, then get back to your seat and wait properly!" Yu Tinghua snapped, ignoring him, and lowered his head to pick up the ledger again and continue flipping through it.

He Xiaokui moved to his seat, feeling the two brand-new silver notes in his arms burning his chest like a branding iron. He stood stiffly, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards the entrance to the second floor, his heart pounding, so much so that he didn't even notice the guests arriving.

(End of this chapter)