Fan Changyu followed Cook Li to Yixiang Lou. Upon entering, she saw an impressive landscape screen. The floor was paved with exquisite carved blue bricks, and the doors and windows were adorned with various intricate floral and animal designs.
It wasn’t mealtime, so there weren’t many guests in the restaurant. At a glance, the ground floor alone had over a dozen large round tables covered with fine silk. The chairs were also elaborate, not bare but furnished with matching embroidered cushions and backrests, exuding an air of grandeur.
No wonder the townspeople called Yixiang Lou the finest restaurant.
Cook Li led Fan Changyu to a private room upstairs and said, “The owner is inside. Just go in, miss.”
Fan Changyu hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open, finding herself face to face with a young woman who was enthusiastically gnawing on a braised pork knuckle with her sleeves rolled up.
The table before the woman was laden with various delicacies.
Fan Changyu glanced at the doorway again and asked uncertainly, “Are you the owner of Yixiang Lou?”
The woman put down the pork knuckle, quickly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the oil from her face, and cleared her throat before saying, “You must be Changyu, right? Please, have a seat.”
With these words, Fan Changyu knew this was indeed the owner of Yixiang Lou. She thought to herself that the woman wasn’t quite what she had imagined, but she seemed quite amiable.
After sitting down, she asked, “You know me?”
The woman smiled and said, “I’ve heard about you from Master Li. Your braised meats are exceptional.”
Perhaps having heard about Fan Changyu’s confrontation with Wang Ji, she looked her over and smiled, “Before meeting you, I didn’t know you were such a pretty and delicate young lady.”
Fan Changyu didn’t know how to respond and only returned a faint smile.
The woman smiled warmly, “My surname is Yu, and my given name is Qianqian. I’m a few years older than you, so I hope you don’t mind if I call you Sister Changyu. I assume you know that Yixiang Lou has stopped doing business with Wang Ji for braised meat. I’ve had someone buy and taste the braised meat from your shop, and it’s indeed better than Wang Ji’s. If you’re interested, I’d like to do business with you for braised meat.”
This unexpected opportunity would have been something Fan Changyu couldn’t have hoped for in the past. Thinking of her current family situation, she pondered for a moment before politely declining, “Thank you for your interest, Madam Yu, but I’m afraid I can’t take on this business.”
Yu Qianqian let out a surprised “Oh?” and asked, “Why not?”
Fan Changyu replied honestly, “I plan to leave Linshui Town after the New Year.”
Yu Qianqian expressed her regret and asked, “Have you decided where you’re going?”
Fan Changyu hadn’t thought this through yet, so she simply said, “I’m still discussing it with my husband.”
Yu Qianqian’s slender fingers tapped lightly on the table as she said with a hint of disappointment, “Without your braised meats, this town will lose another delicacy.”
There was a touch of jest in her words.
Although it was her first time meeting this female proprietor, Fan Changyu found her quite amiable. Thinking that she might not return for a long time after leaving with her younger sister, she said, “If Madam Yu enjoys the braised meat, I can teach you the recipe for the marinade, and you can have your staff prepare it.”
Yu Qianqian, though now a restaurant owner, had once been a cook herself and knew how valuable a recipe could be. She hurriedly said it wasn’t necessary and looked at Fan Changyu with some exasperation, “You’re too honest, girl. If you’re going to a new place, you’d better be more cautious. Don’t give yourself away with just a few words.”
Fan Changyu could sense the female proprietor’s good intentions and smiled, “I won’t. I’m willing to give you the recipe because you seem kind-hearted.”
Yu Qianqian was amused by her response and thought for a moment before saying, “How about this? My restaurant is busiest during these few days before the New Year, with all private rooms booked. We need a large quantity of braised meat, and those gourmets are very picky, complaining that our braised meat doesn’t taste as good as before. Wang Ji’s business practices are unscrupulous. They backstabbed me before and are now collaborating with other restaurants using Yixiang Lou’s reputation. I absolutely can’t swallow this and go back to Wang Ji. Why don’t you supply the braised meat for my restaurant before the New Year, and I’ll figure out how to fill this gap after the New Year.”
Fan Changyu pondered for a moment, thinking that moving to a new place would require money for housing and other necessities. The money from selling the pigsties, fields in the countryside, and the shops in town might not be enough. If she could save some more money now, it would be for the best. So she nodded in agreement.
Yu Qianqian was delighted, “You’re helping me out of a tight spot. Yixiang Lou used to cooperate with Wang Ji on a yearly contract, buying braised meat at fifty wen per jin regardless of the season. With meat prices being high during the New Year, I’ll pay you sixty wen per jin. Yixiang Lou sells at least ten braised pig heads a day. If it’s inconvenient to prepare at your home, you can use the kitchen here at the restaurant. Wages will be paid daily.”
As Fan Changyu’s home had been sealed by the authorities, it was indeed inconvenient. She nodded, “I’ll prepare the braised meat in the restaurant’s kitchen.”
It was already late afternoon. Fan Changyu went to the meat market, accompanied by a young servant from Yixiang Lou, to buy ten fresh pig heads.
Her family used to run a pork shop in that area, so most of the butchers on that street knew her. Seeing her buy so many pig heads, they couldn’t help but ask, “Changyu, is your shop selling braised meat again tomorrow?”
The quick-witted young servant from Yixiang Lou immediately said, “Miss Fan’s braised meat is now exclusively sold at our Yixiang Lou.”
Yixiang Lou was a big name in town. Even Wang Ji’s reputation had suffered greatly after their business with Yixiang Lou fell through.
Many acquaintances congratulated Fan Changyu.
Since her family’s pork shop had closed, other butcher shops’ business had improved. When Fan Changyu came to buy pig heads from them, they all offered special discounted prices.
In the market, a fresh pig head usually costs twenty wen per jin, weighing about six or seven jin. Fan Changyu could buy them for just eighteen wen per jin.
Using Yixiang Lou’s kitchen facilities and seasonings, their custom-made large pot could braise four or five pig heads at once. Two pots were enough to braise all the pig heads, and the cost of seasonings for an entire pot was only about thirty wen.
Fan Changyu did a rough calculation. After braising these two pots of pig heads, she could make a net profit of about two taels and five qian of silver.
She felt a bit dazed for a moment.
When she was selling at her shop, she would work from dawn to dusk, haggling with the aunties buying vegetables, and after deducting costs, she would only make about two taels of silver for an entire day’s work.
Now, she only needed to spend an hour or two selecting good pig heads at the market and braising them at Yixiang Lou to earn this amount of money, which was incomparably easier than before.
Remembering that the female proprietor had offered her sixty wen per jin, she suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable. She found Cook Li, who was preparing soup in the kitchen, and said, “Master Li, could you please tell the owner to just pay me fifty wen per jin for the braised meat?”
Cook Li frowned and asked, “Why’s that?”
Fan Changyu scratched her head embarrassedly, “The owner is kind, but I feel the pay is too much. I’m not comfortable with it.”
Cook Li gave her a look, “If the owner offered you this price, it means she thinks your braised meat is worth it. What’s there to be uncomfortable about? Don’t let the owner’s youth fool you; she has a sharp eye for business. Although she was tricked by Wang Ji this time, her previous cooperation with them was always profitable. Put your mind at ease.”
Fan Changyu curiously asked, “What happened with the business between Wang Ji and the restaurant?”
Cook Li had nothing good to say about Wang Ji, “That greedy, unscrupulous old bastard! The owner was planning to open another restaurant in the county town to expand Yixiang Lou’s business. She ordered twelve pig heads from Wang Ji for good luck. Wang Ji agreed readily, but on the opening day, they didn’t deliver the pig heads on time.”
“When the owner sent someone to urge Wang Ji, they hadn’t even bought the pig heads yet! The originally ordered pig heads had been bought by another restaurant in the county town at a higher price, and they had also signed a multi-year contract with Wang Ji for braised meat. Missing the auspicious time for delivering the pig heads on the opening day was a huge taboo! The owner was furious and immediately stopped all business with Wang Ji.”
Fan Changyu hadn’t known that this was the reason Yixiang Lou had cut ties with Wang Ji. Thinking of the young master of Wang Ji’s attitude, she couldn’t help but say, “Wang Ji is unethical.”
Cook Li snorted coldly, “They’re just ungrateful villains.”
He then changed the subject, “I heard Wang Ji hired people to vandalize your shop?”
Fan Changyu said, “It was his son who hired people to do it, but I went to seek justice myself.”
Cook Li suddenly smiled at her, “No wonder the owner said she likes you, girl. Your personality is quite similar to hers in some ways.”
Fan Changyu felt a bit embarrassed, “The owner is a capable person. How could I compare to her?”
Cook Li sighed, “The owner has had her share of hardships too. When she first came to Lin’an Town, she was heavily pregnant and all alone, in a situation worse than yours.”
Fan Changyu had mostly heard about how formidable the owner of Yixiang Lou was, and this was the first time she had heard about her past. She asked curiously, “What about the owner’s husband?”
Cook Li just shook his head, “I heard he passed away.”
Fan Changyu couldn’t help but feel sympathetic. Cook Li looked at her again, “The restaurant is busy these days, and the owner has countless matters to attend to. She probably hasn’t even thought about those ten-when differences in the braised meat price. Don’t bother the owner with this. She’s a straightforward person, and being overly courteous might annoy her.”
With Cook Li putting it this way, Fan Changyu naturally gave up the idea of approaching Yu Qianqian about it.
After finishing braising the meat and leaving Yixiang Lou, it was already quite late.
Fan Changyu remembered that the packet of maltose candy she had bought for her younger sister was almost finished. With the two taels and seven qian of silver she had earned that day, she generously entered a candy shop and bought two packets each of maltose candy, pine nut candy, and orange peel candy.
Thinking of how Yan Zheng was afraid of bitterness, she couldn’t help but smile slightly.
He wasn’t afraid of pain, yet he was afraid of taking bitter medicine.
When she got home, Madam Zhao had already started cooking dinner.
Chang Ning was like a little statue by the door, stretching her neck to look out into the alley.
Seeing Fan Changyu return with bags of goods, she immediately bounced over like a little round ball to greet her, “Sister is back!”
Taking the paper bags and discovering several large packets of candy inside, she looked up with bright, round eyes and asked, “Are these all for Ning?”
Faced with her younger sister’s expectant gaze, Fan Changyu felt a bit guilty for some reason, “Your brother-in-law is afraid of bitterness when taking medicine. How about you share half with him?”
Previously, just saying the words “brother-in-law” made her feel uncomfortable, but now, as she coaxed Chang Ning, these two words didn’t feel so strange anymore.
Chang Ning generously agreed with an “Mm,” and then scrunched up her round face, saying, “The black goo is so bitter!”
“Black goo” was her special term for medicine.
Madam Zhao came out to pour water and overheard the conversation between the sisters. She smiled at Fan Changyu and said, “So you know how to care for your husband now?”
Even Fan Changyu’s thick skin couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed at the teasing.
As the medicine was ready, Fan Changyu took the packets of candy upstairs along with the bowl of medicine.
The person inside wasn’t asleep. As soon as she entered, he looked over and asked, “Why are you back so late?”
It was a casual question, but somehow it felt a bit odd.
“Is there any new information from the county office?” he quickly added.
The awkward atmosphere dissipated a bit.
Fan Changyu handed over the bowl of medicine and said, “The case has been closed.”
Xie Zheng raised his eyebrows in surprise, and seeing her expression, he immediately understood most of the situation.
Fan Changyu shared her speculation, “I guess with such major homicide cases happening during the New Year, the County Magistrate feared losing his position and hurried to pin the murders on the mountain bandits.”
Xie Zheng remained silent.
The waist token belonged to the Wei family. If they wanted to quickly suppress this matter, it’s possible they pressured the county magistrate through the prefecture to close the case.
Regardless, the Wei family had set their sights on Lin’an Town, making it unwise to stay much longer.
He looked at Fan Changyu: “If it’s someone seeking revenge, they might come again. What are your plans?”
Fan Changyu had planned to wait until his wounds healed before discussing leaving, but since he asked directly, she said, “I’m planning to sell our property after the New Year and take Ning to hide somewhere else for a while.”
After hearing this, Xie Zheng said, “If you’re going to leave, sooner is better than later.”
He was well aware of that person’s methods. With so many Xuan-ranked assassins dying in a small town like Lin’an, it would draw that person’s attention.
Fan Changyu said, “It’s only a few days until the New Year. I’ve taken a job at Yixiang Lou to help them make braised meat before the New Year. I can earn some money these days, and selling the property and transferring the documents will also take time. It’s just right to wait until your wounds are better before we set out.”
Since the conversation had come this far, she had to ask about his plans as well: “What are you thinking?”
Xie Zheng thought she was asking for his opinion and was about to advise her to leave as soon as possible. But just as he was about to speak, he realized she was asking about his plans to stay or go.
Leave?
Before he could weigh any pros and cons, he unconsciously hesitated for a moment.
Fan Changyu said, “My parents probably made some enemies years ago. If you come with me, you might be targeted by those enemies too. I was thinking of writing you a divorce paper and leaving you some money for future expenses. Aunt Zhao and Uncle Zhao are good people, and I’ll ask them to take care of you until you’re healed.”
Aunt Zhao and Uncle Zhao had no children of their own. Years ago, they had a son who was conscripted into the army, but he never returned and was said to have died somewhere.
Fan Changyu planned to leave some of the rural fields to them, making it convenient for them to collect rent from tenants, thus ensuring the old couple’s future.
As for leaving Yan Zheng here, it was purely to prevent him from being implicated in her family’s affairs again.
Listening to her plans for him, Xie Zheng felt an inexplicable irritation rising in his heart, and his voice unconsciously turned cold, “I have my plans. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Fan Changyu didn’t know what had upset him and stared at him in confusion.
Xie Zheng also realized his tone had been off. He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his expression had calmed. “If you’re leaving, it’s best to do so in the next day or two. There’s no need to specially apply for travel documents. It’s safest to travel with a merchant caravan. When passing through city gates and such, try not to leave any household registration information if possible.”
Even if Fan Changyu wasn’t very clever, she knew this was to conceal their whereabouts.
She asked him, “So do you plan to leave with me, or stay here temporarily to recover?”
After she asked so directly, Xie Zheng was visibly stunned for a moment. His dark eyes reflected the image of the young woman and the candlelight. After a while, he averted his gaze and said, “I’ll leave with you for now.”
Lin’an Town wasn’t safe for him either, and he was genuinely curious about what the Wei family’s assassins had been searching for so thoroughly in her house.
This choice was based solely on these two reasons.
When Fan Changyu heard him say “for now,” she understood his meaning. He would still leave after he recovered.
She said, “Alright, I’ll go to the county office again tomorrow to sell the shop and the pigsty in the countryside to the government at a discount.”
For land transactions, selling directly to a buyer would naturally fetch a higher price, only requiring a fee for transferring ownership at the government office and issuing a deed.
Only those in urgent need of money would sell at a discount to the government. The government would then resell the cheaply acquired property at market prices to those who needed it.
As for Yixiang Lou, she might as well just give the recipe to the proprietress.
Xie Zheng felt that the assassins probably hadn’t found what they were looking for yet, so he asked, “Do you have any family heirlooms that you need to take with you?”
Fan Changyu replied almost matter-of-factly, “Of course!”
A barely noticeable flicker passed through Xie Zheng’s eyes.
Then he heard Fan Changyu say, “I have to take that set of butcher knives wherever I go. With those tools, I can continue to make a living by butchering pigs. And if we encounter any thieves on the road, they can be used for self-defense!”
Xie Zheng: “…”
However, his words did remind Fan Changyu of something. She said, “The county office has closed the case, but for some reason, the seal on my house’s front door hasn’t been removed by officials yet. Later, I’ll climb over the wall to get the property deed.”
Xie Zheng’s eyes moved slightly, and he said, “Those masked men who broke into your house that day pried up several blue bricks from your floor as if they were looking for something.”
Fan Changyu couldn’t think of anything valuable in her house. She frowned and said, “Surely they weren’t looking for the property deed?”
Xie Zheng: “…Probably not.”
Fan Changyu looked at the sky outside the window: “I’ll climb over the wall to look for it when it gets dark.”
Climbing over the wall in broad daylight would be easy to spot. Her house could now be considered a “haunted house,” and after being sealed, no one except government officials was allowed to enter. If someone reported her for climbing over the wall, she’d be in trouble again.
Xie Zheng asked, “Didn’t your parents ever tell you if there was something you had to take with you even if you were fleeing for your lives?”
Fan Changyu said, “My younger sister.”
Xie Zheng: “…”
He pressed his long fingers to his brow and suddenly didn’t want to speak anymore.
Fan Changyu noticed he hadn’t drunk his medicine yet and urged him, “The medicine will get cold if you don’t drink it soon.”
Indeed, the medicine had cooled down by now.
Xie Zheng picked up the bowl and drank it all. Immediately, someone smiled and offered him a piece of orange peel candy: “I’ve tried this. It’s sweet and sour, and can also help with the bitter taste.”
Her hand was very fair, with long fingers. Unlike the weak and boneless hands of pampered women or the prominent knuckles of men, it was like how flowers and trees have their distinct structures. Hers was a different kind of beauty, somewhere in between.
The orange-colored dried tangerine peel candy lay in her palm, still covered with a light layer of white sugar frost. In the warm candlelight, the phrase “a feast for the eyes” inappropriately popped into Xie Zheng’s mind.
Using this phrase for Fan Changyu… even he fell silent.
Not wanting these strange thoughts to linger in his mind, he picked up the candy and popped it into his mouth, saying stiffly, “Thank you.”
Fan Changyu thought he was embarrassed about being afraid of bitterness, and found his awkwardness rather amusing.
She stood up with the empty bowl: “I’ll go down first, then bring you some food later.”
After the curtain swayed and she left, Xie Zheng frowned and glanced at his fingertips that had brushed her palm when taking the candy.
It tingled intensely, with a slight numbness-
When Fan Changyu went downstairs, she saw her younger sister feeding something to the falcon, saying, “Here, eat this…”
The falcon had been cornered, hunching its bandaged wings and refusing to open its beak. It stared with terrified beady eyes, looking very much like a virtuous young lady being harassed by a bully but unable to resist.
Fan Changyu asked, “What is Ning feeding it?”
Caught red-handed by her sister, Chang Ning guiltily hid her hands behind her back: “No… nothing?”
Fan Changyu just looked at her without speaking. Chang Ning feared her elder sister’s silent stare the most and immediately brought out her hands, lowering her head and saying softly, “I gave Falcon a piece of candy.”
Candy was a rare treat, and giving it to this big falcon would surely earn her a scolding.
Seeing her younger sister like this, Fan Changyu couldn’t bear to scold her. She said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, “Falcons don’t eat candy. They eat meat.”
Chang Ning’s round grape-like eyes widened, “Really?”
Aunt Zhao, who had witnessed this, laughed and said, “These wild creatures can be quite fierce. The falcon that crashed through the east room’s window before was just as big. That one was particularly vicious. The one you caught, Changyu, is well-behaved. It doesn’t hurt people and even knows how to protect its master.”
She paused before adding, “It just eats a lot.”
A big bowl of meat every day – if she and her old man had to feed this creature, they’d be penniless in a few days.
Fan Changyu looked at the falcon with growing fondness: “Maybe Yan Zheng trained it.”
She had originally planned to keep the falcon and have Yan Zheng train it to sell for money, but the falcon seemed quite intelligent and had even saved Chang Ning. Fan Changyu thought it would be better to release it once its wounds healed.
In the evening, after dinner, Aunt Zhao carried the yawning Chang Ning to her and Uncle Zhao’s room. When she returned and saw Fan Changyu still by the fire pit, she couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you going upstairs to sleep?”
The Zhao family’s house was like Fan Changyu’s, with three rooms downstairs. The main room was for eating and had a fire pit, the south room was where the old couple slept, and the north room originally had a bed too, but after a falcon crashed through the window, Uncle Zhao had temporarily stored his wood materials and the cabinets and chairs he made for others there.
Now only the loft was habitable.
Fan Changyu was still thinking about climbing over the wall to her own house, so she said, “Aunt, you go to sleep first. I’ll warm myself by the fire a bit longer.”
Aunt Zhao, having lived most of her life, could see that the young couple still hadn’t consummated their marriage.
Before, when they were at Fan Changyu’s house, they each slept in separate rooms. Now, this girl was probably planning to spend the night by the fire pit.
Aunt Zhao put on a stern face and said, “It’s late at night. Not going to your room to sleep and keeping the fire pit going just wastes firewood!”
Fan Changyu hadn’t expected Aunt Zhao to be so forceful in making her go upstairs.
She thought she could still return to her own house from the loft’s roof, so she slowly got up: “I’ll go upstairs to sleep now.”
At the foot of the stairs, she asked, “Do you have any extra quilts?”
She still needed to make a bed on the floor for the night.
Aunt Zhao refused bluntly: “No!”
Fan Changyu wanted to explain the truth about the fake marriage: “Actually, Yan Zheng and I…”
Aunt Zhao wouldn’t let her finish: “I don’t care what you’re thinking, but I can see that Yan Zheng is a good boy. Look at how he carried Chang Ning and ran despite his injuries when your family had such a big incident. Now he’s all wounded, are you looking down on him?”
Fan Changyu couldn’t defend herself: “I’m not looking down on him…”
Aunt Zhao pushed her towards the stairs: “Then why are you still thinking about sleeping on the floor? If I were Yan Zheng, I’d be heartbroken. He risked his life to protect your sister, and in the end, you don’t even care about him…”
Fan Changyu felt like a philandering son being lectured by his mother not to mistreat a good girl. She was forced to go up to the loft.
As soon as the door closed, Aunt Zhao’s scolding stopped. She took a deep breath, turned around, and met Xie Zheng’s calm and indifferent eyes. Realizing that he must have heard everything she and Aunt Zhao had said, her face showed not only embarrassment but also discomfort.
She walked towards the chair: “I’ll take a nap at the table first. When Uncle and Aunt are asleep, I’ll climb back from the loft roof.”
There was also a bed in the loft of her house. After finding what she needed, she could make do there for the night and climb back over the wall before dawn.
Fan Changyu didn’t intend to let Uncle and Aunt know about climbing over the wall. After all, it was against the law, and if they knew, they might be charged with failing to report a crime.
Xie Zheng didn’t say much.
When the candle was extinguished, the entire room fell into darkness. Fan Changyu rested her head on the table, closing her eyes for a short nap. Xie Zheng, lying down, breathed softly, also not making a sound.
But whether it was the night catalyzing fear or Fan Changyu’s delayed reaction, as she thought about returning to her house where many people had died in the courtyard and rooms, and where she had killed many people that day, the horrific images of those people’s deaths slowly emerged before her eyes.
The north wind howled outside the window, sounding like ghostly wails and wolf howls.
Fan Changyu tried many positions but couldn’t get comfortable at the table, so she simply sat up.
There was no sound from the bed. Fan Changyu tentatively asked, “Yan Zheng, are you asleep?”
“Not yet. What’s wrong?” His voice sounded particularly crisp in the darkness.
Fan Changyu bit her lip, trying to make her voice sound normal: “When you woke up at noon, you were sweating profusely. Did you have nightmares about killing people?”
There was silence for a while before a soft “Mm” came in response.
Fan Changyu felt like she had found an ally. She swallowed and said, “It was my first time killing too.”
After a pause, she asked again, “Are you still afraid now?”
The room was quiet for a long time. Finally, a calm voice came from the bed: “Come over here.”
“You don’t need to be too scared. Just imagine you’re butchering a pig. Do you know how to butcher a pig? I’ll teach you in the future. This way, even if you don’t work as a caravan guard anymore, you’ll have a way to make a living…”
As she was saying this, she had already felt her way to the edge of the bed. Sitting by the headboard, she coughed lightly, her voice gaining confidence: “You sleep. The elders say that people who butcher pigs have a strong aura of death, and even ghosts don’t dare to come near. I’ll sit here, so you won’t have nightmares.”