With one glance, Bai Mingxia could see that Hua Zhi was not boasting. She truly could support the Hua Family — and because of that, she would never tie the family’s survival to another person. That was why she spoke of collaboration, not of asking for help.

Bai Mingxia suddenly understood why Yuezhi had made that lament of his.

He lowered his gaze to the two bowls of food before him, picked up a piece and placed it in his mouth. It was sweet, but not cloyingly so — even he, with no particular fondness for sweets, found it acceptable. Women and children, he suspected, would find it impossible to resist.

“How do you wish to collaborate?”

There was promise in this. Hua Zhi’s eyes brightened and she sat up straighter. “Young Master Bai, do you think there is a market for this?”

“If it is the only one of its kind, there is a market.”

“Of course it is the only one of its kind. Even if someone wished to imitate it, mastering the precise technique would take considerable time.”

Quite self-assured, Bai Mingxia smiled. “You want to sell this through the Yunlai Restaurant?”

“Yes.” Hua Zhi was glad to deal with someone straightforward — she was equally direct. “For example, this preserved peach: large pieces can be cut into smaller ones and offered to guests as complimentary samples. If a guest finds it to their liking, they will naturally order more — and of course, ordering more means paying. What does Young Master Bai think?”

“Most of those who come to dine and drink here are men. They may not take much interest in something this sweet.”

“As long as one out of every ten tables of guests thinks of the wives and children at home, that is enough.” She had no real intention of selling large quantities through this venue. What she wanted was to use the Yunlai Restaurant’s name and reputation to elevate the product’s standing. She was confident that most women and children would enjoy it — and once word spread among them, the market would open on its own.

Bai Mingxia drummed his fingers on the table. “Your shop will continue selling outward as well?”

“Of course. Regardless of how much is sold through your establishment, I will split fifty percent of the profits with you.”

Fifty percent! Bai Mingxia was astonished. That was truly bold. “Aren’t you worried that people will only trust the name of the Yunlai Restaurant, and that all the goods will end up coming only from me?”

“And what of it?”

Indeed — what of it? Everyone had eyes. Given enough time, the source of the goods would become clear to all. The Yunlai Restaurant was not accessible to just anyone, but the shop on the street corner kept its doors wide open at all hours, welcoming anyone who passed. It might appear that Hua Zhi was the one at a disadvantage — yet in truth, she was baiting the trap by sacrificing the small to catch the great.

No wonder the old matriarch of the Hua Family had passed the household over to this eldest granddaughter, bypassing all the daughters-in-law in between.

Bai Mingxia picked up a slice of mandarin and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. Hua Zhi unhurriedly drank her tea, without the faintest trace of impatience.

“Then let us have a mediator come.”

Gu Yanxi, who had been standing aside as a silent observer all this time, suppressing every trace of presence, picked up the thread. “The mediator is waiting downstairs. Xu Jie, go and bring the person up.”

Hua Zhi did not turn around. Any thanks she wished to express could wait until another time.

Her reaction led Bai Mingxia to assume she had come prepared for the deal to succeed, and so had brought the mediator along from the start. He found himself admiring this young woman all the more. Smiling, he said, “I had already planned to travel to the Northern Territories sometime after the New Year, once the weather improved, to see poor suffering Yuezhi. If by then there is anything you need me to bring him, just hand it to me.”

Hua Zhi did not mention that she too would be going this year. She simply said, “Then I shall trouble Young Master Bai when the time comes.”

“By seniority, you ought to call me Uncle.”

Hua Zhi accepted this with easy grace. “Yes, Uncle Bai.”

Bai Mingxia’s smile rose from within his eyes. His gaze fell on Gu Yanxi. “I don’t believe I’ve caught this gentleman’s name. He looks quite unfamiliar.”

“This one is Lu Yanxi.”

Lu? There was indeed one notable Lu Family in the capital, and he knew all of their prominent members — he had never heard of anyone by this name. “My dear niece, this gentleman and you…”

“The children of our household are in delicate health. I asked Master Lu to teach them some exercises for strengthening the body — not necessarily to hold off three or five opponents, but at least to suffer from fewer illnesses.”

A perfectly reasonable explanation — except that Lu Yanxi looked nothing like a martial arts instructor. But seeing that both of them wore expressions of complete matter-of-factness, Bai Mingxia said nothing more, merely noted it in his mind and thought to bring it up when he saw Yuezhi.

The mediator was a man of well-known integrity in the capital. Once the contract was signed, Hua Zhi had no intention of lingering. She rose, stepped back two paces, and gave a deferential bow. “Thank you, Uncle Bai. The Hua Family is grateful.”

“Grateful for what? It is simply a transaction from which we both stand to gain.” Bai Mingxia smiled ruefully at himself. “If Yuezhi knew I had the audacity to take fifty percent from you, he’d probably cut ties with me — but had I not taken it, I suspect my dear niece would not have done business with me at all.”

Hua Zhi smiled, neither confirming nor denying, gave another bow, put on her veiled hat, and turned to leave.

She liked conducting business. She did not like dealing in personal favors. She had always felt that a favor which could be negotiated was not a favor at all, but a transaction.

Bai Mingxia looked at the two porcelain jars remaining on the table before him, picked up another piece of preserved peach and put it in his mouth. All of a sudden he laughed. If the Hua Family were to fall, he would dig a hole and throw his own head into it.

Coming down from the third floor to the ground level, many gazes fell upon Hua Zhi. The Great Qing was not a forgiving world for women, and not many came and went from wine restaurants — those who did were mostly accompanied by their husbands. An unaccompanied young unmarried woman, as was plainly the case here, was a rare sight indeed. Still, given that she had been on the third floor, it was best to keep one’s remarks to oneself.

Gu Yanxi swept his gaze around, and quite a few people swiftly pulled their eyes away — though it only changed their staring from open to covert.

Hua Zhi acted as though she did not know that all those whispers had anything to do with her. Once she was back in the carriage, she took off the veiled hat at once. She had never been comfortable wearing such things.

The curtain was drawn aside, and Hua Zhi looked out at the man mounted on the tall horse. “Today it was I who failed to think things through. Thank you, Master Lu, for thinking of it on my behalf.”

Linying, catching sight of Hua Zhi, tried to push his large head in through the carriage window. Gu Yanxi was quite glad of the excuse to draw closer to Hua Zhi, gave the reins a token tug, then let the horse do as it pleased. “You simply hadn’t counted on things going so smoothly,” he said. “That Bai Mingxia and your Fourth Master of the Hua Family go back to childhood. As for that little shop of yours — the reason it never had anyone come in to cause trouble, despite having no customers, was because he stepped in on its behalf. It landed him in quite a bit of trouble with the eldest of the Bai Family on account of it.”

Hua Zhi had not known of this. She would need to offer him a proper word of thanks. “The Bai Family didn’t want to have dealings with the Hua Family?”

“Old Master Bai and your grandfather were never in harmony, but the man is rigid and old-fashioned in his ways — not the sort to strike another when they’re down. He simply didn’t wish to have any entanglement with the Hua Family.”

“Then why today did Uncle Bai still…”

“He can hold his ground.” Sunlight filtered through the window and fell on Hua Zhi’s face, rendering her complexion all the more fair as snow. Gu Yanxi looked at her unhurriedly from beneath lowered lids, and continued: “Bai Mingxia is the only capable one in his generation. Old Master Bai clings rigidly to the old rule of passing everything to the eldest-born and refuses to bend it, pressing him at every turn to yield. Every achievement Bai Mingxia has produced is attributed to that useless good-for-nothing elder brother instead. The old master merely reprimands with words, and his mother urges him only to back down further — yet no one has noticed that he has already been backed to the very edge of a cliff. A family like the Bai Family, by the time it reaches this generation, is more or less at its end.”

“And if it were to pass into Uncle Bai’s hands?”

“It would not be worse than it is now. His ability is no less than your Fourth Uncle’s.”

That meant he was truly exceptional. She had always believed that the most capable person in the Hua Family was Fourth Uncle — unfortunately a hero with no field for his heroism. Fortunately, the general atmosphere within the Hua Family was a good one. Her father’s greatest virtue was his capacity to accommodate capable people.