The matter of sending gifts to the Luo family might have seemed enormously significant to Lou Shuwan and the others looking on, but as far as Ning Yi was concerned, if he had to define it, it was really nothing more than an unintended windfall that had come of planting willows without meaning to.
Madam Luo had once been the daughter of an official family, of a melancholy temperament — one could imagine her as cut from a mold rather like Lin Daiyu in Dream of the Red Chamber. Women raised with such excessive refinement, delicate in temperament and elevated in taste, often ended up somewhat depressive; it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Having married a merchant, Madam Luo had likely grown distant from her former circle of young ladies — all of this was easy enough to imagine, though of course it was only casual speculation.
For women who had always lived in pampered comfort like this, sending over a box of silkworms for her to raise wasn’t exactly a stroke of brilliance. Compared to a cat or dog, silkworms tucked away in a little box might actually be more endearing — most girls would probably like them. Picking mulberry leaves with your own hands to feed them, watching the leaves visibly nibbled away bite by bite, was probably more entertaining than watching a cat or dog pick at a big plate of food. Once she had something to occupy her mind, her spirits would naturally lift; once her spirits lifted, her illness would improve on its own. It really was as simple as that, in principle.
Of course, if the woman didn’t like silkworms, or had grown up in the water towns of Jiangnan and already raised them as a child, or if her troubles weren’t so simple to begin with, then sending a box of silkworms wouldn’t accomplish anything at all. But it was a scattershot approach either way — Ning Yi had mentioned it offhand, and they’d simply tried it out. Over the past month or so, they had visited dozens of merchant households connected to the cloth trade; that things had actually worked out with the Luo family in Luotian was purely an unexpected result, never the product of any deliberate strategizing.
No one could grasp human nature so precisely as to guarantee success on a first visit — not even a genuine psychiatrist, even given every scrap of information available, could have been certain that a box of silkworms would win Madam Luo over. That it worked was simply a matter of probability. Truly experienced, successful people usually only outperform ordinary people by these very odds.
Aside from the somewhat unexpected success with the Luo family in Luotian during this period of visiting around, there were also several merchant households local to Hangzhou who had by now essentially agreed to support the Su family’s business dealings in the area. It was just that Su Tan’er hadn’t yet made her full push here, so the Hangzhou merchants hadn’t felt much impact from it yet, and had mostly already accepted the Su family’s arrival as an outside merchant house. In the past few days, the first shipment of goods and looms transported over from Jiangning had arrived; the warehouse and the workshop here were already prepared, and everything was simply waiting for the formal launch.
“When the time comes, if the Su family needs it, my Luo family can supply the cotton materials in full. As for raw silk, I have a few friends around the Su-Hang region as well — in a few days I can introduce Brother Su to them…”
“On behalf of my elder sister, my thanks in advance. Though it seems, when it comes to silk, Elder Brother Luo, you might well be able to supply that too…”
“Oh?”
“Sister-in-law, that is.”
“Er… heh, hahahaha…”
The two men speaking in the cabin at that moment were Luo Tian and Su Wending. At this point in the conversation, Luo Tian burst out laughing loudly, and the sound drew the attention of the two women in the small cabin nearby — Luo Tian’s wife, Wen Haiying, and Su Tan’er, who was chatting with her. Madam Luo was a petite, introverted woman. Though she was the daughter of an official family, her depressed spirits made her seem, at first glance, more like a shy little homebody who blushed at everyone she met; her speech, too, was soft and gentle. But ever since Su Tan’er had given her silkworms and taught her how to raise them, the two of them had grown quite close.
Just a little while ago, when the Luo family’s boat had drawn alongside, Madam Luo’s mood had still seemed somewhat low. Meeting Su Tan’er with delighted surprise, she had clutched her little box and, in tears, told her that one of the silkworms had died the day before — she hadn’t managed to raise it properly, and it grieved her terribly. Su Tan’er had gently comforted her for a while, then produced a box of her own and given her one to replace it. Afterward the two of them had sat in the little cabin chatting on and on about the dozen or so silkworms in their two boxes, and before long had grown as intimate as old bosom friends.
Su Tan’er, in truth, felt nothing much for silkworms one way or another. Though her family had never directly raised silkworms, coming from a textile-trading lineage she had grown up well accustomed to how things went in silkworm farmers’ households. A few silkworms in a box might look pretty and be fun to watch, but thousands upon thousands of silkworms filling a room could hardly inspire much tender affection. She’d only put this box together a few days ago, once the relationship with the Luo family had been settled, and after assembling it she had curiously fed the worms a few mulberry leaves and chatted with Ning Yi about it for a while with a smile. But once that initial flicker of girlish delight had passed, she’d reverted to her usual capable, businesslike self and handed the box off to her maids to manage. Xiao Chan and Juan’er both adored the little creatures and ran out every day to gather mulberry leaves, tending them quite conscientiously.
For a long while now, Su Tan’er’s position in life had made it difficult for her to pursue the “lady of the house” strategy of socializing. She had few close female friends. Though it was said that in Jiangning, many merchant wives who never set foot outside their own front gates nonetheless admired her when they spoke of her, far more often what circulated were all sorts of unkind gossip. Su Tan’er had no way of sitting in someone’s back garden for an afternoon chatting about sisters-in-law and household trivia the way they did. Here, though, she’d made a friend of this sort — since Wen Haiying knew Su Tan’er managed a great many business affairs, she admired her tremendously. And as for his wife making a like-minded friend and getting to relax a little, even if the friendship wasn’t entirely without ulterior motive, Luo Tian was glad enough to see it too.
In the outer cabin keeping Luo Tian company, the conversation was mostly carried by Su Wending, with Su Wenfang and Ning Yi there as companions; most of the talking, then, went on between Luo Tian and Su Wending, with Ning Yi only occasionally chiming in — for instance, when Su Wending’s talk lingered too long on business matters, Ning Yi would ask Luo Tian how he and Madam Luo had first met, and sure enough Luo Tian would burst out laughing and go on and on. Once the Luo couple had left, Su Wending asked Ning Yi somewhat anxiously: “Brother-in-law, how did I do just now?”
“Not bad,” Ning Yi said with a smile. “Though you used to be a good-for-nothing playboy — why are you always talking business with people these days? Your sister may be planning to hand the Luo family connection over to you, but right now we’re making friends, not negotiating a deal. Wouldn’t it be better to crack a few of your usual careless jokes, the way you used to?”
“Ahem.” Su Wending’s face turned serious. “Brother-in-law, I’ve already decided to turn over a new leaf. The man is a formidable merchant — how could I still be as frivolous as before? I’ve thought about this for a long time — how to speak in a way that comes across as both professional and pleasantly good-humored… And also, I just had the feeling that Madam Luo, being a young lady of an official household, might have certain sensitivities — perhaps it wasn’t very polite of us to bring that up…”
Before he could finish, Su Tan’er, standing beside Ning Yi, turned her head and shot him a sidelong glare. “Doing business is mainly about making friends — you only need to actually talk business once the moment calls for it. If you make a habit of befriending people in ordinary times, that’s enough. And besides, however Luo Tian may put it in words, the fact that he managed to marry the daughter of an official family must please him greatly deep down. When the man himself is right there, you shouldn’t bring it up — the rest of the time, you just need to steer the conversation toward the subject. Idiot…”
“Oh.” Scolded by his elder sister like this, Su Wending hung his head. “But Second Sister, you’re always so proper and serious when you talk business too — wasn’t I trying to learn from you…”
Su Tan’er pursed her lips and glared at her cousin, though she wasn’t really angry. She glanced at Ning Yi, saw that he was smiling too, and then laughed despite herself, somewhat exasperated: “Your second sister is a woman — how could it possibly be the same as you men!”
Su Wending didn’t talk back anymore. Ning Yi laughed: “Honestly, you did fine.” Only then did Su Tan’er let him off the hook. She turned to look back at the Luo family’s pleasure boat receding into the distance; Wen Haiying leaned out of the window and waved, and Su Tan’er waved back with a smile. Then, turning to Ning Yi beside her, she said: “It feels like we’re using people…”
“There are friendships that are pure, and friendships that aren’t so pure — it’s not right to think of it that way. I’m genuinely glad you’ve made a friend.”
“The original intention was to do business with Luo Tian.”
“Now that you know each other, even without any more business between you, the two of you can still sit and chat, or go out shopping and buying things together.”
“Er…” Su Tan’er thought this over, then glanced at her husband beside her. “Husband, your way of thinking is always so strange.” As she turned back around, she happened to see Xiao Chan and Juan’er in the cabin tidying up the silkworm box, putting in a couple of mulberry leaves — and some thought seemed to occur to her suddenly. “Actually… things on the Luo family’s end are pretty much ready now, and everything else is more or less in place too. As we said before, in a couple of days we should let Xiao Chan formally join the household properly. What do you think, husband?”
She turned a smiling glance on Ning Yi, and he looked back at her: “Truly?”
The question cut too sharply. Su Tan’er narrowed her eyes, exasperated, and slumped her shoulders a little. Then she and Ning Yi both looked toward Xiao Chan in the cabin, and after a moment she took hold of Ning Yi’s hand and shook her head slightly: “Not truly.” Her voice came out muffled, as though blown from between tightly pressed lips. “But it still has to be done. Xiao Chan is like a little sister to me, in any case — I’ll see to it properly, and I won’t let her be wronged.”
Having said this, she turned to walk off. But after one step she turned back, because Ning Yi hadn’t let go of her hand. His expression had also turned somewhat serious now. “Since that’s how it is, there’s something I’ve been thinking about.”
“Hm?”
“Do you think, going forward, the three of us could sleep in one bed? I know it gets a bit hot in summer, but winter’s plenty warm — a whole family lying there in a row…”
Su Tan’er froze for a long moment, wanting to stomp on his foot but in the end unable to bring herself to do it. Just then Xiao Chan turned her head from over there, saw Ning Yi looking at her with such a strange smile, and couldn’t help but feel puzzled, her eyes widening slightly. Su Tan’er looked her over, then suddenly smiled and waved her hand: “Xiao Chan, come here.”
“Hm?” Xiao Chan trotted over. “Miss, Young Master, is something the matter?”
“Your Young Master says that in a few days, the three of us should all sleep in one bed. What do you think, Xiao Chan?”
The young maid was stunned for a moment, her face flushing scarlet in an instant. Then, aghast, she lowered her head, twisting her fingers in front of her for a good long while. “This… this… but… Miss… this… hic…” She hiccupped.
Ning Yi rolled his eyes and looked up, at a loss for words. Su Tan’er blinked, smiling with pure, innocent delight: “Hm?”
“But-but-but-but, but… Miss… this… Young Master… Miss…”
She glanced up at Ning Yi, looking as though she might burst into tears any moment, but after that one glance she didn’t dare look again, afraid her mistress would think she was seeking Ning Yi’s rescue. Ning Yi reached out and gave two little taps in front of her eyes: “Your mistress is teasing you — don’t mind her…”
“But-but-but-but, but… it’s only right that Miss should tease me…” Her voice trailed off halfway through the sentence, and both Su Tan’er and Ning Yi burst out laughing. Ning Yi said: “Go on and get to your work — I’ll help you tease your mistress in a bit…” Su Tan’er immediately turned her head, tilting her face up to look at him, her eyes full of a stubborn warning that said just you dare tease me — though of course, such looks had no effect whatsoever on Ning Yi.
Xiao Chan twisted her fingers together, turned and walked off in a fluster, distracted. After a few steps she glanced back again; Ning Yi smiled at her, and she quickly turned away again, not daring to look. Su Tan’er was just about to needle Ning Yi further when there came a loud bang — it was Xiao Chan, who had forgotten to step over the low threshold on her way into the cabin, and had gone sprawling flat on the cabin floor without even remembering to cry out. On the other side, Su Wending and Su Wenfang saw it and pointed, roaring with laughter at her misfortune, while Su Tan’er had already dashed over ahead of Ning Yi to help her up.
“Miss…” Xiao Chan looked up at her with a woeful expression, seemingly still turning over what had just been said. She’d fallen hard, though not badly enough to actually be hurt — her nose and forehead had gone slightly red from the impact. Su Tan’er rubbed the spots gently for her and patted the dust lightly from her clothes. In truth, by now the two of them were roughly the same height; Xiao Chan, though she still seemed childish, was no longer a little girl but a young woman. Still, these small gestures of patting her down felt just like they had in childhood, when Xiao Chan had been clumsy but also rather adorable. Though Su Tan’er was the mistress of the household, she often looked after those close to her the way an elder sister would, and even now that they’d taken on the management of so many household affairs together, that hadn’t changed.
“Stop dwelling on all that. Husband’s right, I was just teasing you…” Su Tan’er said softly.
“But even if Miss… uh…” Xiao Chan trailed off mid-sentence, suddenly freezing. Su Tan’er looked at her, blinking, puzzled as to what had happened. But then she felt a faint coolness on her own face; raising a finger to touch it, she found it was tears — though Xiao Chan hadn’t actually cried. She let her finger linger on her cheek for a moment before it finally dawned on her that this was coming from her own eyes. But the tears had only slipped out unconsciously, and a moment later she was smiling again.
“In a few days, we’ll hold the ceremony for you and your husband. Although… although the two of us are marrying the same man, we grew up together since childhood, and I feel like I’m marrying off a little sister too, you know?”
“Miss… maybe… maybe I won’t get married after all…”
Su Tan’er shook her head, smiling: “No.” Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ning Yi approaching from behind. Her brow furrowed for a moment, and lifting her chin, she said, word by word: “Go! Away!” Her voice came out just slightly crisp and imperious, unlike her usual tone, but carrying its own playful charm that suited her temperament perfectly. To Ning Yi’s ear, it had more than a little flavor of a modern “fierce girlfriend” — except that a modern woman might have gone on to do all sorts of extra things, while she, at most, stopped at this tone of voice. She might even feel it wasn’t quite right to speak to her own husband this way, and there was a fleeting note of apologetic weakness in her glaring eyes. Having said her piece, she pulled Xiao Chan off to one side.
That was the little episode that happened on the boat. Some time later, it was nearly time to head over to Xiaoyingzhou, and the pleasure boat finally set off in that direction. As they came in to dock, all manner of boats large and small already crowded the surrounding waters. The Luo family’s boat drew alongside again; Wen Haiying, accompanied by a maid, hurried over to find Su Tan’er. She was an extremely delicate, gentle soul, and having married into a merchant family had long since drifted from the circle she’d known as an official’s daughter — if she couldn’t find someone to accompany her, she probably wouldn’t dare disembark into such a crowded place.
Su Wending and Su Wenfang, being lively by nature, disembarked first. Su Tan’er and Wen Haiying stayed in the cabin, watching the people disembarking from boats near and far, exchanging greetings — various famous talents of Hangzhou and the like. Luo Tian had already gone ahead. Su Tan’er kept her company by talking about Luo Tian, and Wen Haiying would occasionally point out a scholar or two she vaguely recognized — she had, after all, once taken part in this sort of discussion and admiration of celebrities herself. Eventually the conversation turned to Ning Yi.
“…I’ve heard people say that Sister Tan’er’s husband is a famous great talent of Jiangning. Will he be composing poems over there later?” Wen Haiying asked timidly.
Ning Yi hadn’t yet come ashore at this point. Su Tan’er considered it: “That… I’m not really sure myself. He doesn’t much care for that sort of thing.” Having said this, she thought again and added, “We’re outsiders here, after all — it’s probably not good to draw too much attention. My husband… probably won’t write anything, for my sake…”
“Oh.” Wen Haiying nodded and didn’t press further, then said with a smile after a moment, “Actually, the two of you have such a good relationship.”
Su Tan’er smiled demurely: “It’s Elder Brother Luo and Sister Wen who are the ones everyone envies.” But there was more than a little pride mixed into that smile of hers.
Meanwhile, the scenery on Xiaoyingzhou was beautiful, and Ning Yi was already preparing to disembark and walk around. Since Su Tan’er was keeping Madam Luo company, he had no need to accompany her for the moment, and was just about to go find Xiao Chan and the others when Xiao Chan came over, her head slightly bowed, evidently weighed down by some concern of her own. After hesitating a moment, she finally worked up the courage to tug at Ning Yi’s sleeve: “Young Master, I… there’s something I want to say to you. Do you… do you have a moment?”
She glanced at Ning Yi, then immediately lowered her head again, her face flushing crimson, seemingly turning over some thought of her own. But judging by her expression, it didn’t look like she was about to break things off with him… Ning Yi considered it for a moment, then nodded and said, “Mm.”