To steer the course of a business deal with a single sentence — even with the background Ning Yi had carried over from his previous life, backed by a formidable intelligence-analysis system and a whole team of advisors — would have counted as a commercial miracle achievable only under fairly extreme circumstances. And to change a decision the other party had already made, without painstaking coordination across every angle, was normally nothing short of a pipe dream. And yet the situation at hand was different.

What Ning Yi had managed to sense certainly owed something to his own sharp instincts, but the matter fell squarely within the He family’s own vital interests — while Ning Yi could only guess at fragments of it, they themselves might already have been harboring suspicions on the very same points for some time. Perhaps even before Ning Yi and Su Tan’er’s visit, these people had already been troubled and suspicious over the matter. And Ning Yi’s offhand remark had, in that instant, signaled to them that “the Su family already understands the situation” — while Su Tan’er herself hadn’t even noticed anything of the sort, simply certain that the He family’s deal had fallen through.

Once it happened, Ning Yi could only shake his head ruefully, feeling that this reflexive instinct of his was entirely unnecessary — he’d gone and turned doing business into some kind of obsession, unable to escape the weighing and calculating of it for the rest of his life. Beside him, Su Tan’er was full of confusion, though naturally pleased that things had taken a turn for the better; she went back in to continue discussing business, and Ning Yi, who’d originally planned to head to the bookshops in the east of the city, found himself unable to get away after all. By evening, when everyone headed back together, Su Tan’er still looked thoroughly puzzled in the carriage.

Several more days passed like this, drawing close to the twelfth month. The Su household grew steadily livelier despite the heavy snow, with the New Year drawing near — managers from the Su family’s branches in nearby cities began gathering in Jiangning to review performance and settle dividends, and various cousins and relatives of the Su clan were also arriving to spend the New Year and pay their calls. Every day the household gates saw a steady stream of comings and goings, already taking on a fair scale.

Jiangning had no shortage of wealthy households, and scenes like this weren’t uncommon around this time each year. These past few days, Su Tan’er had been busy on several fronts at once — dealing with the ongoing exchanges with the He family, starting to check over the year’s accounts, and also attending to a number of relatives she hadn’t seen in a long while, keeping Chan’er, Juan’er, and Xing’er all busy without pause as well. Returning from outside this day, with the snow still drifting down, she found a row of carriages parked outside the estate gate. Since she had business through the main entrance, she let her own carriage go on ahead to the side gate. Just then, some of the household servants at the main entrance were carrying in four or five large crates, so she waited outside with Xing’er.

Su Tan’er wore a snow-white fox fur cloak that day, its fluffy collar setting off her fair, delicate face — there was still something of a girl’s freshness to her, and yet also the poise and independence built up over several years. She’d made something of a name for herself in Jiangning’s business circles by now; before her marriage, there had been plenty of times she’d dressed in men’s clothes, though she’d never gone out of her way to hide the fact that she was a woman. Onlookers, seeing her, tended to think her less a merchant than the refined daughter of some scholarly family — and once a deal was struck, people often felt they hadn’t sensed much sharpness in her at all, only realizing, after piecing the whole picture together some time later, just how formidable this woman truly was. There was even talk that, had she been born a man, the current head of Jiangning’s textile trade might not be the Wu family at all.

In an age that so favored men over women, Su Tan’er’s position brought her plenty of inconvenience, though in truth plenty of men found themselves somewhat ill at ease negotiating with a woman too — some strange, some dismissive, some delighted. What set her apart from others was largely her ability to work at turning that awkwardness to her own advantage, finding some usable edge amid a disadvantage she couldn’t otherwise change. To Ning Yi’s eye, this might in fact be a rather touching sort of struggle. Of course, no one else could sense any such pity or tenderness in it. Those within the Su household had, for the most part, grown used to this Second Miss’s manner by now — her shrewdness on one side, her beauty on another, her softness on yet another, and the way she’d quietly, imperceptibly come to hold up the senior branch of the family on still another. Seeing her standing outside now, a nearby steward soon came hurrying over.

“You lot, get out of the way, don’t you see the Second Miss has returned!”

The steward waved everyone off, urging them to hurry along, and Su Tan’er walked over with a smile. “No, no, it’s fine, Uncle Qi — let them go in first, they’re already halfway through carrying it all, it’d only be more trouble to bring it back out again. Go on in, go on in…”

With her say-so, the steward — addressed as Uncle Qi — let the men continue in at their own pace. Su Tan’er then asked, “Uncle Qi, why aren’t they coming in through the side gate?”

“Third Master bought these back — various decorations, big and small, for the New Year festivities, he said. They’re to go in the front hall, so it seemed unlikely anyone would be coming through anytime soon, so I had them hurry it in this way. Oh, and Second Miss, Prefect Song arrived today — he’s over at the library right now, testing the students on their learning…”

“Oh? The prefect’s here?”

The Su family, having been in business for so long, naturally had all sorts of dealings with various officials, though most of those ties were fairly distant — save for Song Mao, currently serving as prefect around the Shen Prefecture area, with whom they had a good deal more connection. This was because the Second Master, Su Zhongkan’s, principal wife had originally been Song Mao’s cousin; the Song family had produced a few minor officials over the years, and the Su household had done a fair amount of cultivating and smoothing the way when Song Mao rose to his post — so nowadays this Song Mao counted as one of the Su family’s staunchest patrons. Though a prefect’s influence didn’t extend as far as Jiangning itself, the Su household’s business dealings around the Shen Prefecture area certainly benefited a great deal from the connection.

On top of that, Song Mao’s having attained the post of prefect was itself a mark of outstanding scholarship and talent, and over the years, as the Su household had tried to cultivate more of a literary reputation, Old Master Su would often gather the family’s younger students together whenever Song Mao came to call each New Year, along with a few familiar tutors and scholars, to have the children’s academic progress examined. Song Mao was known for his blunt, forthright character; his yearly assessments rarely offered much flattery, but given his discernment, whatever he said tended to be a genuinely reliable judgment.

With a patron like this in official circles, whenever he came to Jiangning each year to call on other officials, he’d often let it be known that he had ties with the Su family, which was naturally another advantage for the family’s business dealings. But Song Mao’s connection was, after all, closest to the Second Uncle’s side of the family; hearing this news, Su Tan’er merely nodded, without any particular delight. As for the academic testing and all that, it was the same every year regardless — the Su family seemed fated, for now, not to produce any real scholars, and besides, her husband ran his classroom in such a slapdash way — where the old tutors would use up an entire day’s teaching, her husband only had the students read for a single hour and spent the rest of the time telling stories. Pleasant to listen to, sure, but as for how much good it could possibly do their scholarship, that was hard to imagine. She only hoped he wouldn’t get scolded too badly this time.

The large crates had already been carried in with much huffing and puffing, and just then, Juan’er, who’d stayed behind at the estate, came running out breathlessly. “Miss, you’re back! Cousin and young miss cousin have arrived. The young miss cousin is waiting for you… oh, and Manager Xi and Manager Luo just arrived too — it seems the matter with the He family has been settled, they’ve come to share the good news. Hee, Miss, wouldn’t you say that’s double happiness arriving at once?”

The Su family had plenty of cousins, but the one Juan’er would refer to this way could only be from one particular household. As a child, Su Tan’er had been the sole heir of the senior branch; Su Boyong, having no son, had harbored more than a little resentment toward having produced this one “girl without the right equipment,” and though he hadn’t often struck or scolded her over it, the hot-and-cold treatment had been unavoidable. Once old enough to understand her situation, Su Tan’er had gone through a period of being withdrawn as a girl, and a period of being rebellious and strange, and aside from Chan’er, Juan’er, and Xing’er, who later became her friends, about the only other friend she’d had was the eldest daughter of her cousin Su Yunsong, who at the time served as the manager in Jiangning.

Su Yunsong’s daughter went by the name Danhong, half a month older than Su Tan’er. As a child she’d been lively and boisterous, almost boy-like in temperament, gradually growing gentler and more refined as she got older. Later, when Su Yunsong went off to manage affairs in another region, his wife and daughter left Jiangning along with him, but every year on their return the two close friends would always excitedly catch up and talk about the future. Last year this cousin had gotten married, her husband also a young manager in the Su family’s textile business, and the marriage was a happy one; this year, right around the time of Su Tan’er’s own wedding, she’d given birth to a son, which was why she hadn’t been able to attend. Hearing now from Juan’er that she’d arrived, Su Tan’er brightened. “Wonderful! Where’s my cousin now?”

“Over in the courtyard. She just ran into Manager Xi and Manager Luo and chatted with them a bit. Chan’er’s over there too.”

Su Tan’er thought for a moment. “Good, I’ll head over there first. Juan’er, you and Xing’er take these account books over — the ones on top go to the accounting office, the ones underneath go to Master’s place.” Xing’er, standing behind her, cradled a thick stack of ledgers; with these instructions given, Su Tan’er parted ways with the two maids, drawing her silvery-white fox fur cloak a little tighter around herself as she headed, smiling, toward the inner courtyard.

…

There’s no telling what fixed pattern governs the gossip two women fall into when they get together, but when two newly married sisters-in-arms, who hadn’t seen each other in ages, reunited, the gossip that followed was, unsurprisingly, mostly about their respective husbands.

Making her way along the snow-covered paths between one courtyard and garden after another, before she’d even reached her own courtyard, Su Tan’er caught sight of the cousin she hadn’t seen in so long. As though living up to her lovely name, the woman — beautiful and gentle in bearing — still wore red even after her marriage. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, she asked after Su Tan’er’s husband, Ning Yi.

“Sister here’s been wanting to meet this brother-in-law of mine since the very start — such a shame the roads made it impossible to travel for your wedding, and I heard a bit about things afterward, but… heh, so, how is he, this brother-in-law of mine, really?”

Talking about her own husband with someone this close to her, and unable to simply brush it off with polite nothings, Su Tan’er flushed slightly. “Hard to say. Sister Hong, did you not see Liheng when you arrived?”

“No, not at all. I assumed he’d have gone out with you. I asked Xiao Chan too, but no luck — though I did just run into Xi Junyu and Manager Luo…”

Su Tan’er thought it over. “Ah, right, Prefect Song has come by too — they’re testing the students’ learning over at the library just now. Liheng’s a tutor at the school these days, so he’s likely there.”

“Actually, a few years back, I rather assumed Elder Uncle would have Xi Junyu marry into the family for you,” the cousin said, seemingly lost in thought. Seeing Su Tan’er’s brow furrow in confusion, she laughed. “Never mind that. About this brother-in-law of mine, though, sister has asked around a bit — that Water Tune Prelude tune, sister heard it sung daily even in Hangzhou. I thought at first it was just someone who happened to share his name, until I learned it was really the same person after all… but honestly, since arriving here, I’ve caught a few odd remarks…”

Opinions about Ning Yi naturally wouldn’t circulate too widely on their own, but for anyone with connections who wanted to ask around, all sorts of accounts could be had — and given her position, the cousin had no doubt learned plenty about the dynamic between Su Tan’er and Ning Yi since arriving. The bond between the two women ran deep, and she genuinely cared about how Su Tan’er felt about all this; she rambled on a little more before adding, “Rumors shouldn’t be taken entirely at face value — never mind for now whether this brother-in-law Liheng has real talent or ability… but sister just wants to know, truly, how you feel about it all, little sister.”

Being the more experienced of the two, she asked this gently, needing to understand what was in Su Tan’er’s heart before she could say anything further. Su Tan’er fell silent for a moment, then lowered her head and laughed.

“Sister, you know how I used to think about all this. As for his talent… it really is hard to say. But he’s an easygoing, unassuming sort by nature, and if it’s a question of suitability — he really is the husband best suited to me.”

The cousin studied her for a moment, then laughed. “That sounds rather like resignation…”

“Back when I had nothing better to do, I used to dream up all sorts of things too — wanting a future husband who was accomplished in both letters and arms, good-natured, and who wouldn’t stand in the way of my inheriting the family business. But that was always just idle fantasy. These days, looking at how things actually stand, if it can just keep going like this, I’d say it’s not bad at all. He… may have some talent, it’s just that he’s easygoing by nature, and sometimes does odd things — but he’s never once tried to cover up or hide anything, which is honest and aboveboard in its own way, I suppose…”

As she spoke, she lifted her head, snowflakes drifting down endlessly from the sky above. “When we first married, thinking of the days ahead, I felt afraid, and angry, and simply left Jiangning outright. Coming back, too, took every bit of resolve I had. But thinking about it now, if things go on like this, I don’t find it difficult at all anymore. I suppose that’s how it is — perhaps there’s some resignation in it, but truly… I don’t dislike it.”

The endless snow blanketed the whole of the Su estate, drifting down over the entire city of Jiangning; along this stretch of road, one woman in red and one in white walked on through the snow. After a moment of silence, the gentle-mannered cousin broke into laughter, turning the conversation away from its more serious note.

“So, no head for business, then…”

“None… er, he just doesn’t care to bother with it…”

“No literary talent either…”

“Not that either… though, heh, his teaching is a bit slapdash — there’s a student of his in the examination going on right now, and I fear he’s about to get an earful…”

“Ha, well then… my husband wins!”

“…Th-there’s no comparing them like that… I’m not even competing.”

The sound of their laughter drifted off, dissolving into the sweeping white dance of snow across the sky; the view swept past a stretch of courtyards large and small, converging on the library at the front of the Su estate, where braziers burned warm all around, a family examination of scholarship now underway, midway through its course…