After a simple wash and lunch, Zhen Niang went to the front of the ink shop.
Currently manning the shop was an assistant named A-Tang, fifteen years old – considered an adult in this era, though in modern times he might be considered child labor. However, in this period, thirteen or fourteen was the proper age to begin learning a trade. A-Tang had attended a private school for some time and was literate, so Zhen Niang had Zheng Fuli take him under his wing, first as a shop assistant, then learning to identify and assess inks. During his free time, he could also learn in the smoke room, though learning smoke processing wasn’t mandatory.
The boy wasn’t simple-minded; he was quite clever and knew that getting into the Li family ink shop was a rare opportunity. So even though the shop had many daily chores, whenever he had free time, he would run to the back courtyard’s smoke room to help with manual labor, such as adding oil and other tasks, which earned him the attention of Master Quan, the smoke master.
Master Quan was the head of smoke processing at the Li ink workshop. When Zhen Niang first took over the workshop, Er Gou had incited him to try to intimidate her, but instead, she ended up intimidating them. When the Li Old Madam came to the Nanjing ink shop, she brought Master Quan along to manage the smoke room. It was fortunate for A-Tang to catch his eye.
So during his free time, A-Tang would learn smoke processing from Master Quan. Overall, the boy had good relationships with everyone in the shop.
Today, since several managers and masters had worked late the previous night, Madam Huang had A-Tang watch the shop and attend to customers. Despite his young age, he was meticulous. Early in the morning, he had already organized everything in the shop perfectly.
“Head Manager,” A-Tang promptly greeted as Zhen Niang entered. Those from Huizhou preferred to call her Miss Zhen, while those hired in Nanjing generally called her Head Manager.
“Was it busy this morning?” Zhen Niang asked.
“Not much, just a few customers picking up orders. I handled the deliveries according to the receipts,” A-Tang said, bringing over the morning’s accounts for Zhen Niang to review.
“Good work,” Zhen Niang nodded after checking the delivery notes.
They chatted for a while longer, mostly about business matters. A-Tang, having heard from Master Quan about the Head Manager’s legendary smoke processing skills, took the opportunity to ask several questions about things he didn’t understand.
After getting answers, he carefully recorded them like treasures.
After their chat, seeing the shop was quiet, Zhen Niang went out again. It was noon, very hot, with few customers. Shop managers were dozing in their stores, assistants were half-asleep, occasionally dusting with feather dusters, while some gossipy shop owners’ wives stood in the shade of various buildings, chatting.
Naturally, last night’s incident of Sister Ge Qiu catching adulterers was a hot topic.
“Haha, with Ge Dana’s character, that Madam Cao is in trouble now,” someone said.
“She deserves it. If you dare do such things, you must dare face the consequences,” another responded.
Zhen Niang had no interest in such gossip. She had planned to return to the workshop for smoke processing, but having been cooped up in the workshop for days and pulling an all-nighter yesterday, despite sleeping all morning, her head was still fuzzy. So she told A-Tang she was stepping out and went to walk along the riverside opposite the shop.
Zhen Niang leaned against an ancient willow tree by the embankment, eyes half-closed. The Qinhuai River’s breeze always carried a sweet fragrance. Today was sunny and bright, with the sunlight creating golden sparkles on the water.
The riverbank, with its green willows, verdant embankment, blue sky, white clouds, and the official street scenery reminiscent of “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” made Zhen Niang’s mind wander unconsciously. She thought that if in the future technology advanced enough to offer ancient time-travel tourism, this would surely be the most popular tour route.
The thought made her smile.
“Stealing half a day of leisure, Miss Li seems in good spirits,” a lazy voice came. Zhen Niang opened her eyes and turned to see Luo Jiu, carrying a small stool, a wooden bucket, a fishing rod, and a small hoe, wearing a conical hat – the standard outfit of a fishing enthusiast.
“Fishing at high noon isn’t the best timing,” Zhen Niang looked up at the sun directly overhead.
“Who needs so many rules? Fish when you want to fish,” Luo Jiu said casually, then squatted down to dig for earthworms in the muddy ground nearby.
Zhen Niang actually wanted to ask him about lending money to the Tang family, but thinking it over, felt it wasn’t worth bringing up, so she didn’t respond and turned back to gaze at the river.
“Here, reach out, help me hold this,” Luo Jiu’s voice came from beside her.
Lost in thought, Zhen Niang reflexively extended her hand and then felt something cool and slippery wriggling in her palm. Looking down, she saw it was an earthworm. Her expression changed dramatically, but being naturally strong-willed, she took a deep breath and calmly used two fingers to pinch the worm and throw it into the water, where a large black fish appeared from nowhere and swallowed it.
Only then did Zhen Niang turn to glare at Luo Jiu. Last time with the xiaolongbao, he had wanted to see her embarrassed, and now with the earthworm – this person hadn’t become more mature at all, he was still as mischievous as when he was a young master in Huizhou.
Luo Jiu had been waiting for Zhen Niang to scream but hadn’t expected this girl to be so extraordinary. Getting glared at by her, he rubbed his nose awkwardly: “Sorry, I didn’t realize women seemed to fear these things.”
“You seem quite experienced with women,” Zhen Niang was annoyed and couldn’t help but make a sarcastic comment. However, once spoken, the words seemed to carry a hint of jealousy, which wasn’t at all her intention.
“Thank you for the compliment, but, it’s precisely my lack of experience that leads to such mistakes,” Luo Jiu said seriously.
Seeing his serious expression, Zhen Niang couldn’t tell if he was deliberately playing a prank or truly hadn’t thought it through. She looked at Luo Jiu suspiciously.
At that moment, Luo Jiu suddenly focused intently on the street ahead, frowning as he said, “Not good, there’s a fire.”
Zhen Niang followed his gaze and saw black smoke rising near the Yihousheng Second Branch, with flames flickering within the smoke.
“Is your money shop on fire?” Zhen Niang asked, the earthworm incident forgotten.
“Doesn’t seem like it. Should be the silk shop nearby,” Luo Jiu frowned.
They hurried back at a run.
The street was already full of onlookers, who began shouting when they saw the situation: “Not good, the Ge family silk shop is on fire!”
Indeed, the Ge family silk shop was on fire, though it was strange for a fire to start suddenly in broad daylight.
When Zhen Niang arrived, she saw people from various shops carrying water buckets and wooden basins to help fight the fire.
In this era, most shops were wooden structures, and being near the Qinhuai River meant strong winds. If the fire wasn’t contained, this whole row of shops might burn down. Everyone was concerned, and even the assistants and workers from the Li ink shop were helping fight the fire.
Someone had gone to report to the government office, as they had fire dragons, which were the most effective firefighting tools.
Fortunately today, the officials arrived quickly. Almost as soon as the fire started, the bailiffs had arrived.
After last night’s events at the Ge household, the shop hadn’t opened today. The fire had started in the warehouse behind the shop.
The bailiffs used a battering ram to break open the silk shop’s door, then rushed toward the back courtyard warehouse. Everyone was carrying water to fight the fire, and Zhen Niang helped pass water buckets.
At this point, the flames weren’t extensive, but thick smoke was billowing, making people’s eyes water.
Sister Ge Qiu arrived after receiving news and seeing the blackened silk, her face changed drastically: “My silk, my silk!” She collapsed to the ground, wailing loudly.
“Crying won’t help now, quickly save what can be saved!” Zhen Niang couldn’t bear to watch. Remembering how Sister Ge Qiu had previously warned her about someone planning to return ink to the Li family, Zhen Niang returned the favor with this advice.
Seeing the situation, others also joined in persuading her. When such things happen, there’s nothing to be done except try to minimize the losses.
At this moment, two middle-aged men who looked like shop managers pushed through the crowd stumbling, and seeing the scene, they began jumping in agitation.
“My grain!”
“My Songjiang cloth!”
They spoke, their eyes bulging with anxiety.
Zhen Niang looked at these two men, finding them very familiar. Squinting for a closer look, she recognized them – weren’t they the owners of the grain shop and goods shop who had previously rented her family’s premises?
She recalled how the Ge family had stored their goods in their warehouse to evade warehouse taxes, with Ge Dana profiting from the arrangement.
Indeed, a dog travels a thousand li to eat excrement, while a wolf travels a thousand li to eat meat – it seemed Ge Dana was still making money through such methods. Now these two would likely suffer some losses and probably end up in a dispute with the Ge family.
By now, with everyone’s efforts, the fire had been contained, leaving only thick smoke blackening half the sky.
Those who had helped fight the fire began to disperse, as with so many of the Ge family’s goods piled in the courtyard, people wanted to avoid suspicion, so they watched from a distance.
Zhen Niang also stood far away, but watching the bailiffs surround the grain shop and goods shop’s merchandise, and thinking about Sister Ge Qiu catching adulterers last night, she felt something strange about the situation.
At this point, seeing their goods piled outside, the two shop managers worried about losses and quickly called for carts, having their workers load the goods.
“Hey hey, what are you two doing? Trying to take advantage of the fire?” A bailiff stepped forward, swinging his short club at the workers loading goods.
“Officer, no, how could we? These are our goods,” the two managers said.
“Nonsense, this is the Ge family’s silk warehouse, how could your goods be here?” the bailiff glared.
Hearing the bailiff’s words, the two owners realized something was wrong. As they stammered, trying to explain—
“Old Sun, Old Liu, what’s going on? I bought these goods from you just days ago. Though I haven’t paid yet, we agreed that once I sold the goods, I’d naturally pay you. What? Don’t you trust me, Ge Dana? Are you going back on your word?” At this moment, Ge Dana had hurriedly arrived. Seeing the situation, he quickly interrupted.
“Yes, yes, it’s just that seeing your shop on fire, I got anxious. It was just being overcautious, worried that if you couldn’t pay right away, having the goods in hand would give us some peace of mind,” the two owners Sun and Liu heard Ge Dana’s words and understood that any losses would have to be discussed privately – they couldn’t let the officials get involved, as that would cause trouble.
Although Ge Dana’s use of the warehouse for their private goods entry was illegal, their tax evasion was equally criminal. At the very least, half their goods would be confiscated – this alone was more than they could bear.
“Now you’re changing your story? Too late. Let me tell you, someone reported you for evading warehouse taxes. Never mind the rest, we’re taking these rice and Songjiang cloth first, and you’re coming with us to explain things to the tax office. If they’re yours, show us the warehouse tax receipts. If they belong to Patrol Leader Ge, he’ll need to provide transaction proof and tax receipts,” the lead bailiff said.
Immediately, several bailiffs surrounded Patrol Leader Ge and the two owners, Sun and Liu.