Qing Yao

Chapter 31 The Yamen All Say Yes

When he was young, Lao Ma came to Yangzhou from Taixing to shave people's heads. He has been doing this for more than 30 years. His barbering skills are absolutely impeccable, and he also has a unique skill in cleaning ears. Therefore, with his good reputation, he almost monopolized the barber business in Wanzi Street, making it impossible for other barbers in this area to patronize him.

It is a bit hard, but after working hard for a year, I can at least earn twenty or thirty taels. After deducting all expenses, there is no problem leaving ten taels in my pocket. Although it cannot be compared with opening a shop, it is definitely much better than farming at home.

Lao Ma is very content with this kind of life, but today he clearly felt something was wrong. Early in the morning, crows were calling in the yard where he rented a house, and when he was about to wash his face and go to the stall, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

Seeing the man's eyelids twitching violently, his wife was also startled: "My dear, old man, nothing will happen today, right?"

"What could possibly happen? Women are so frightened!"

Old Ma pulled his eyelids, but the harder he pulled, the more violently they twitched. He had no choice but to ask his wife to tear a small piece of paper from the almanac, stick some saliva on it and stick it on his eyelids.

I don’t know where this folk remedy came from, but it actually works. My eyelids stopped twitching after a few times!

"The sun is shining brightly today, take out your winter clothes and dry them in the sun."

After casually giving his wife a few instructions, Lao Ma picked up his pole and went to Wanzi Street to set up his stall as usual.

Over the years, many old customers have advised him to rent a storefront on the street so that he can do business even in windy and rainy days, without being too cold in winter or too hot in summer.

But Lao Ma thought the storefront was too expensive, and he was also used to his freedom, so he felt that working in a shop was not as comfortable as going from street to street.

Besides, he is old and he probably only needs to work for another two or three years. There is no need to spend money to rent a shop.

It was a hot day today, and the sun was making people feel uneasy early in the morning. When Lao Ma turned into Wanzi Street with his carrying pole, his head was covered in sweat. He wiped it with a towel and was about to put down his things and prepare to set up the stall when two people with red cloth on their arms came to his stall.

"Please wait a moment, I just opened my stall and need to boil water before I can shave your hair."

Thinking that the man came to get a haircut, Lao Ma smiled and put down his carrying pole, then bent down to move the charcoal stove under it.

Unexpectedly, one of the two men spoke up: "Master, we are from the government office. We are not here to shave your head. We have good news to tell you."

After saying that, the man showed his left arm to Lao Ma. Lao Ma was illiterate and could not understand what was written on the red cloth, but since the man said he was from the yamen and had good news to inform him, he quickly straightened up and asked what the good news was.

"Congratulations, Master, you've been recognized by the government as a trusted craftsman. This is a sign specially given to you by the government. You must keep it and hang it on your carrying pole. When the people see this sign, they'll know you have good skills and a good reputation, and they'll all come to you for haircuts."

Ren Chaoyang, who was born into a family of the Qing Gang, smiled and took out a wooden sign from his cloth bag and threw it on Lao Ma's carrying pole.

"Ah, there is such a good thing?"

Old Ma was so happy that he didn't expect that his craftsmanship would be recognized by the government and that he would be given a sign that the people could trust. He rubbed his hands excitedly and didn't know what to say.

Unexpectedly, the young man opposite, who claimed to be from the government, stretched out his right hand in front of him and said, "Okay, we have given you the sign. Now pay the money."

"Pay?"

As if a bucket of water had been poured over his head, Lao Ma's heart trembled violently: "No, what is the money?"

"Pay the certification fee. Oh, yes, this certification fee is also the deposit for your stall."

Ren Chaoyang originally didn't intend to waste too much time talking to the old man, but he could see that many neighbors were curious and gathered around to watch. Thinking of the young boss's instructions, he could only talk about the concepts of certification fees, deposits, etc., which were doing good things for the people.

Fortunately, he has a good memory. If it were the burly Ding Er next to him, he probably wouldn't be able to say a word.

The onlookers were also puzzled. But when they learned that if Lao Ma shaved a customer's head or damaged his ears, he could use the money to compensate him, they all thought it made sense. The problem was that Lao Ma didn't understand what certification or guarantee meant. He just knew that the other party was here to collect money from him.

His "peasant mentality" prompted him to pick up the wooden sign thrown on his shoulder pole. As he handed it back, he shook his head and said, "If you want to pay, I don't want this sign. Besides, everyone in the neighborhood knows my craft. I've been doing it for more than 30 years and haven't had any problems. Yes, isn't it said that a gold or silver tablet is not as good as the reputation of the people? I only need the reputation of the people. I don't need the reputation of the government."

"Master, can the reputation of the people be as good as that of the government?"

Ren Chaoyang didn't even reach out to take the sign that Lao Ma handed him. He pulled Ding Er, who was about to glare at the old man, and said with a smile, "Besides, after you pay this money, you can still get it back if you quit later. If you don't pay, we can't do this job anymore. We can't sit here with you all day, can we?"

These words were clearly meant to be threatening.

"Can this money really be refunded?"

Old Ma also saw what kind of people these two young men were, and he was worried in his heart. As the saying goes, the people should not fight against the officials. If he really didn't pay the money, the government would definitely cause trouble for him. However, if he could return it, it was not impossible to pay it.

"Of course I can withdraw. How can the government's words be disregarded?"

"How much does it cost?"

"Not much, just one thousand coins."

"A thousand coins!"

Old Ma had a severe toothache. He only earned twenty or thirty taels a year, and this payment would be half a month's income. He immediately hesitated.

A familiar old customer nearby heard this and asked if he could pay less, after all, Master Renma earned his money through hard work.

Ding Er glared at the nosy person angrily: "It's ok for him to pay less, and you can pay the rest for him?"

The choked old customer turned his head away, too lazy to pay attention to the two idiots.

"Master, we understand your difficulties, but you also need to understand ours. This matter was assigned by the government, and it's difficult for us who run errands for the government."

As Ren Chaoyang spoke, he took the stool prepared for the guests from the old man's carrying pole and sat on it with an air of superiority. "Of course, if you really don't want to pay, we can't force you. But you can't do business today. If we really ask you to do it, who knows how the higher-ups will deal with us later."

Old Ma was troubled by this situation. He also knew that this kind of little devil was the most difficult to deal with and he could only spend money to avoid disaster. However, he didn't have that much money on him, so he asked if he could pay it tomorrow.

"You can pay tomorrow, then you can come back tomorrow to set up the stall."

Ren Chaoyang made a choice that was not negotiable.

With no other choice, Lao Ma could only borrow money from an old customer to pay the certification fee.

Ren Chaoyang and the other man were all smiles after receiving the money. Before leaving, they said several words of good luck to the barber and told the barber that if he quit his job one day and wanted to return the money, he should take the wooden sign to the government office to return the money.

"Alas, this world,"

Looking at the two idiots walking away, Lao Ma shook his head and sighed. Then he thought that it was not without benefits. After all, the government recognized him as a craftsman that the people could trust, and he could brag about it to others in the future.

Just as he was bending down to set up his stall, a man selling candied haws came towards him, shouting as he walked: "Candied haws, candied haws that the people can trust! Even the government officials say it's good candied haws!"

Along with the shouting, a sign exactly the same as the one in Lao Ma's hand was hanging on the straw bundle full of candied haws, swaying back and forth, which was particularly eye-catching.

(End of this chapter)