Pei Yan was very satisfied with Hu Xing’s attitude and stated his purpose: “I’m planning to help Miss Yu plant trees.”
It was Miss Yu, not the Yu family!
It was planting trees, not making the mountain forest profitable!
Hu Xing’s mind raced rapidly, but his face remained respectfully humble as he smiled and said: “Your idea is excellent! Although it’s a bit late to plant trees now, at least we’re still catching the tail end of the season. Moreover, the weather is good at this time—the fruit trees are blooming. Miss Qing Yuan can accompany Miss Yu climbing the mountain, admiring the flowers. When tired, they can have tea under the trees and share some jokes. Nothing could be better.”
Pei Yan’s eyes gleamed with amusement.
This Hu Xing—no wonder he could curry favor with his mother. He truly had an exquisite mind.
He said: “Then it’s settled. You go make the arrangements.”
Thunder exploded in Hu Xing’s heart.
He hadn’t expected it to be like this… Wasn’t he being forced to take sides? He couldn’t afford to offend Old Lady Pei, and he could even less afford to offend Pei Yan. Then there was Miss Yu—did she know that Third Master Pei had such feelings for her?
If he couldn’t afford to offend Old Lady Pei and Pei Yan, he could afford to offend Miss Yu even less.
For a moment, he didn’t know whether to feel more sorry for himself or for Miss Yu.
However, no matter what he was thinking at this moment, since Pei Yan had spoken, he didn’t dare show the slightest hint of opposition. He had to deal with the immediate situation first.
Hu Xing’s mind raced even faster. He felt slightly dizzy: “Third Master, do you think this would work? I’ll first go tell Miss Yu that our estate has grown a type of fruit. This fruit sells well and the tree is easy to grow—we just don’t know if it’s suitable for planting in their family’s mountain forest. After you and Miss Yu return to Lin’an, we need to go carefully examine the mountain forest. I’m guessing Miss Yu will agree eight or nine times out of ten…”
Pei Yan coldly interrupted him: “What if Miss Yu doesn’t agree?”
Hu Xing was startled.
If Pei Yan couldn’t keep his composure, he couldn’t possibly have gotten to where he was today. But at this moment, though Pei Yan looked the same as usual, small details revealed a few traces of impatience.
It seemed he needed to reassess the matter concerning Miss Yu.
Hu Xing quickly said: “Miss Yu might not agree, in which case she’ll have Yu Yuan, the young master of the Yu family, accompany us up the mountain. That’s not urgent either. Although Young Master Yu is fairly shrewd, he doesn’t understand farming. When the time comes, I’ll accompany Yu Yuan up the mountain. I have plenty of ways to make Young Master Yu take the initiative to ask Miss Yu to step in.”
Pei Yan wanted to ask what methods he had to make Yu Yuan proactively request Yu Tang’s involvement, but thinking that Hu Xing was fairly reliable in front of him, as long as the goal was achieved, it didn’t matter what methods he used. If he explained too clearly and some unspeakable methods were used, should he agree or disagree?
He should maintain a normal attitude. Like the matters he had assigned before, as long as the goal could be achieved, that was enough.
Pei Yan pondered: “What fruit tree are you talking about?”
He needed to understand this thoroughly. If Yu Tang asked about it and he knew nothing, wouldn’t that be a joke?
Hu Xing secretly rejoiced that because he used to manage the Pei family’s estates, he had the habit of often inquiring about estate farming matters. He said: “There’s a type of peach tree in Qingzhou. It branches in May or June each year and bears fruit in November or December. Our estate in Ji’an is currently testing this type of peach, though it hasn’t borne fruit yet.”
But this was enough to use as an excuse.
Various ideas came to him readily.
Pei Yan looked at Hu Xing with obvious appreciation.
Hu Xing felt a surge of excitement and silently apologized to Yu Tang in his heart.
Although he was wronging her, he was ultimately a steward of the Pei family and had to listen to Third Master Pei.
If he did anything wrong, he could only find an opportunity to apologize to Miss Yu later.
The two talked in the study for quite a while, after which Hu Xing went to see Yu Tang.
Yu Tang was organizing the local specialties she had bought with Miss Xu on the street that day—which ones were for Miss Xu’s parents, which ones were for Miss Xu and Third Madam Yang. Qing Yuan was leading several young maids in cutting paper to paste on the paper boxes containing the specialties.
Hearing that Hu Xing had come to visit, Yu Tang was somewhat surprised and quickly invited him in.
Hu Xing was very surprised to see Yu Tang.
It had only been a few days since he’d seen Miss Yu, yet he could feel she was becoming more and more beautiful.
It wasn’t that she was dressed more beautifully, nor that her skin was fairer or her complexion more rosy. Rather, it was that inner-to-outer quality—like beautiful jade polished by time, gradually revealing the smooth beauty of absorbed color. Unlike before, when she was beautiful enough to spot in a crowd at a glance, yet always lacked a certain depth and lasting charm.
What had happened?
Hu Xing couldn’t figure it out, but it wasn’t appropriate to dwell on it. He smiled and stepped forward to greet Yu Tang.
Yu Tang quickly invited him to sit down.
Although Hu Xing was the Pei family’s chief steward, he was always respectful toward her family whenever they met. As a junior, she should naturally show Hu Xing respect as well.
She had a young maid go wash some cherries and nectarines to give Hu Xing a taste of something fresh, then sat across from him and smiled: “When did you come from Lin’an? Is there some urgent matter? Has the sutra lecture gathering at Zhaoming Temple already concluded? Are Old Lady and the others well?”
Hu Xing thought about how cherries and nectarines had just come to market in the past few days. At the Pei residence, the masters had been prioritized for eating them. He felt that Yu Tang must be highly respected here and didn’t dare be the slightest bit careless. His smile involuntarily carried a few traces of solemnity as he said: “Everything in Lin’an is well. The sutra lecture gathering concludes the day after tomorrow. It’s Third Master—he’s worried about your family’s mountain forest and specially called me over. I came to see you right after meeting with Third Master.” He half-jokingly added: “I haven’t even been able to properly drink a few sips of tea.”
Yu Tang could imagine Hu Xing’s treatment at Pei Yan’s place. She smiled gracefully and said: “Well then, I’ve had someone bring you fruit. You can sweeten your mouth and then your heart.”
Hu Xing chuckled, feeling that if Yu Tang really entered the Pei residence, it wouldn’t be bad—at least she wasn’t someone difficult to serve.
He explained his purpose.
Yu Tang was very surprised.
She knew Pei Yan was thinking of solutions for her, but she hadn’t held much hope, always feeling that even if the mountain forest made a profit, it wouldn’t be a matter of one or two years. Perhaps their family simply didn’t have that luck. Even if they learned from Pei Yan and planted the same things, they might not necessarily make money like Pei Yan did.
What she hadn’t expected was that Pei Yan treated this matter as something of utmost importance and had specially called Hu Xing to Hangzhou Prefecture.
She couldn’t help saying seriously: “Chief Steward Hu, do you also think our family’s mountain forest is more suitable for planting peach trees?”
It definitely wasn’t suitable.
If it were suitable, he would have said so last time.
But didn’t Third Master want it to be “suitable”? Could he say it wasn’t “suitable”?
However, he wasn’t some green youth. He knew which words could be said, which couldn’t, which words would ruin things if said this way, and which words would be just right if said that way.
“That’s why Third Master had me come ask Miss Yu,” he said. “If Miss Yu thinks it’s feasible, after returning to Lin’an, Third Master will personally accompany you to the mountain forest to look and try. If Miss Yu thinks it’s inappropriate, we’ll think of other solutions. However, Third Master has already given orders for me to send a letter to a former examination classmate now serving in the northwest, asking that official to help send over two to three hundred more sea buckthorn seedlings. Our estate will also try planting sea buckthorn trees to see if they can bear fruit.”
Wouldn’t this drag the entire Pei family into it?
Yu Tang quickly said: “How can that be? I don’t even know how my sea buckthorn trees are doing yet. You should persuade Third Master to wait a few years and see how our family’s harvest turns out before making a decision!”
Hu Xing smiled: “Miss Yu needn’t take it to heart. Our Third Master said that northern preserves don’t taste good. He’s having our shop managers in the capital see if they can try making some preserves suited to southern tastes—there are many people from Jiangnan serving as officials in the capital. As long as the taste is good, there’s no worry about sales. Perhaps by putting up the sea buckthorn fruit banner, we can even attract those people from the northwest.”
Yu Tang felt ashamed.
Standing at different heights, their perspectives on matters were vastly different, and the issues they considered were worlds apart.
She had only thought about how to open a shop in Hangzhou, while Pei Yan spoke of going to the capital and attracting people from across the realm.
Hu Xing had already grasped Pei Yan’s meaning.
Pei Yan’s focus regarding Yu Tang wasn’t on planting trees, but on finding an excuse to spend more time together.
How could they not spend time together?
Did they have to climb mountains?
Earlier, he hadn’t wanted to embarrass Pei Yan, but here with Yu Tang, he didn’t have so many reservations and could naturally employ numerous stratagems.
Hu Xing said: “I can exchange a few words with your father, so don’t blame me for presuming on my seniority. I feel that your current approach won’t work. Isn’t there a saying: ‘Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.’ I feel that if you want to properly manage that mountain forest of yours, you should go out and look around more. Since Third Master has the intention to help you with this matter, you might as well discuss with Third Master about going to look at our estate, to learn from experience—since our Third Master became clan head, our estate doesn’t grow only grain anymore. Some areas plant fruit trees, some have opened fish ponds, and some even grow medicinal herbs. On the contrary, grain has been moved to estates in other regions to grow. According to our Third Master’s thinking, Jiangnan has good climate and good soil—growing ordinary grain would be a waste. Better to grow crops with higher yields.” At this point, he deliberately lowered his voice: “You can look and learn at the same time. Like the estate in Huzhou—it’s entirely planted with mulberry trees for raising silkworms and weaving cloth. That brings in much more income than farming.”
He wore an expression of “I can only say this much,” which really moved Yu Tang’s heart.
Although she didn’t understand farming either, she could learn from those who were capable!
Yu Tang fell into thought.
Seeing there was hope, Hu Xing encouraged her even more imperceptibly: “First, go with Third Master to look at your family’s mountain forest, then gradually find time to discuss this matter with Third Master. Third Master is the type who either doesn’t do something, or does it to the best of his ability. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be fixated on your family’s mountain forest as if there were a thorn in his heart. This is a great opportunity!”
Yu Tang couldn’t suppress her interest.
She nodded slowly, pondering in her heart.
Hu Xing secretly breathed a long sigh of relief.
It seemed this matter was settled.
He felt as if he had returned from the edge of a cliff back to a broad, smooth road. His whole body relaxed, and only then did he realize his back had been soaked with sweat at some unknown point.