Chapter 2: The Wind Rises from Zhongshan Mountain Chapter 5: The Luthier Has It
In the evening, Zhao Shouzheng went home and started rummaging through the drawers.
"Father, what are you looking for? You don't even want to eat." Zhao Hao stood at the door and asked curiously.
"I didn't find anything..." Zhao Shouzheng was about to evade the question, but then he remembered that his son already knew about it, so he said awkwardly: "The pawn ticket for the jade pendant I pawned last time is about to expire, and I'm going to redeem it."
"I put the pawn ticket away." Zhao Hao coughed lightly, telling him not to work in vain.
"Oh, my son is very convenient." Zhao Shouzheng was overjoyed and stretched out his hand and said, "Hurry and bring it here."
Zhao Hao nodded, turned around, went to his bookshelf, and took out a pawn ticket from a copy of The Analects of Confucius.
It was the one belonging to Zhao Shouzheng.
"I have to redeem it quickly. If it's too late, I might have to pay an extra two taels of interest." Zhao Shouzheng is now able to spend money carefully and feels that he has grown a lot.
"Father can't be redeemed." Zhao Hao shook his head and told Zhao Shouzheng exactly what he had heard that day. He also pointed out the trick on the pawn ticket.
"This is outrageous! Anyone who runs a pawn shop can be killed!"
Zhao Shouzheng was so angry that veins on his forehead were throbbing and he was about to tear up the pawn ticket.
Zhao Hao quickly snatched the pawn ticket and reminded him with a smile, "Didn't father also cheat him out of 2,500 taels?"
"Oh, yes..." Zhao Shouzheng's anger immediately subsided and he said, "I felt guilty at the time, but now I just wish I could cheat more money!"
"We're just getting started." Zhao Hao carefully folded the pawn ticket and said with a confident smile, "The big payoff is still to come! Father, just focus on your studies and don't worry about this anymore. Sooner or later, that Zhang will kneel before you and beg you to accept the jade pendant."
As he spoke, he slapped his palm on the table and gnashed his teeth, "How much did Zhang steal from my Zhao family? I must make him spit it all out!"
"My son said so, and I will wait and see."
Zhao Shouzheng repeatedly reminded him not to forget about the jade pendant.
It seems that in Dad's heart, the jade pendant has a very important meaning...
…
In the next few days, under Zhao Jin's supervision, Zhao Shouzheng got up at the crack of dawn, worked hard morning and night, and went to prison on time regardless of rain or shine... He seemed to have gotten used to this kind of life. Of course, it was inevitable that he would complain to his son.
Whenever this happened, Zhao Hao would listen patiently, just to relieve the stress of the examinees.
As for Zhao Jin, although he repeatedly reminded himself to keep calm, he still couldn't help being irritable all day long before the decree was issued. This made Zhao Shouzheng and the busy people in the restaurant suffer. Zhao Hao had to appease everyone all day long and asked them to bear more of Zhao Laozhang's worries...
Gao Wu also helped Wu Yu and his wife find a place to live, which turned out to be the small courtyard that Zhao Jin had vacated. This feeling of changing the cage for a new bird really made everyone laugh and cry.
However, Wu Yu and Si Ya were very diligent. They cleaned up the courtyard and made it look brand new in just a few days. Zhao Jin even wondered if this was the doghouse where he lived.
With this capable couple helping out in the store, plus Gao Wu, Yu Peng, and a group of strong men from Caijia Lane who also came to lend a hand when they were free, the preparations for the restaurant were much faster. By the end of the month, everything was ready, and they were just waiting for an auspicious day.
"Have you set a date?" Qiaoqiao was sitting by the well, cutting off the branches of the yellow loquats and casually said to Zhao Hao beside her.
After half a month, she had lost her initial reservedness and the two of them got along much better.
Nanjing at the end of March already had a taste of summer at noon. The humidity was high and people would sweat when they moved. Mr. Zhao, who was not very active to begin with, stayed at home even more. Every day, he would go to the restaurant in front of him at most in the morning and evening, and then come back to take a nap and read a book under the shade of a tree. He didn't want to live too carefree.
"How can I read the almanac..." Zhao Hao lazily leaned on the recliner, flipping through a thick almanac and said, "How about you decide for me?"
"If my father and his family heard you say this, they would be so angry that they would die." Qiaoqiao washed and peeled the loquats one by one, put them on a white porcelain plate, and brought it to the stool next to Zhao Hao's chair. "So many people are waiting , you should settle down quickly and stop dawdling."
Zhao Hao picked up a ripe loquat and put it into his mouth. It tasted so sweet that his mouth was filled with saliva.
This made him regain a little bit of the happiness he had when he was in Zhao's house.
It's just that no one feeds him, which is not enjoyable enough. But if he dares to make such a request, Qiaoqiao will beat him up.
Just as I was chatting with Qiaoqiao, a strange cry came from outside the courtyard wall.
"Nephew, I'm back!"
That man is tall and has protruding ears. Who else could he be but Fan Datong?
"My dear nephew, you really know how to enjoy yourself." Fan Datong came in with sweat all over his face, fanning himself with a paper fan, complaining, "This damn weather, there hasn't been a drop of rain since the beginning of spring, it's so hot that I'm dying."
He sat down beside Zhao Hao, took a few gulps of tea, and then picked up the loquats one by one and put them into his mouth. In a blink of an eye, he had finished all the ripe fruits...
Naturally, Qiaoqiao rolled her eyes at him . But Fan Datong was thick-skinned and didn't care at all.
"Uncle, did you deliver the letter?" Zhao Hao didn't dislike Fan Datong, he was used to his shamelessness. Moreover, he found that Fan Datong was not useless, at least he was much more useful for running errands than Gao Wu who was good at talking.
"Of course." Fan Datong boasted proudly, "There is no famous prostitute in Qinhuai River that I don't know. We are all very familiar with each other..."
"I heard that it costs fifty taels to get on board..." Zhao Hao said quietly.
"I just like to brag, but my dear nephew always bullies me..." Fan Datong was speechless. The famous prostitutes in Qinhuai River were not someone he could get in touch with at his level. Even when he had a little wealth, they were still beyond his reach.
"Let's talk business." Zhao Hao rolled his eyes and said, "Don't add anything."
"Well, fine, no extra ingredients..." Fan Datong's recent focus has been on Zhao Hao, so naturally he will do whatever Zhao Hao wants. "Yesterday I asked along the Qinhuai River and finally found Ma Xianglan, whom my nephew mentioned, and gave her your letter."
"How did she reply?" Zhao Hao asked.
"After reading the letter, she agreed immediately, saying that she would arrange it in the next two days and would arrive the day after tomorrow morning." Fan Datong said in disbelief, "She is one of the top ten prostitutes in Qinhuai River! People like them are supposed to be the most reserved. Without three visits to her cottage, eight sedan chairs, and ten kinds of gifts, it is impossible to invite her."
In fact, Zhao Hao had no confidence that he could definitely invite Ma Xianglan to come out of retirement. He just wrote the letter to invite her with the idea of giving it a try and forgetting it if it didn't work.
Unexpectedly, she actually agreed.
To put it bluntly, the Qingguan people are like the Hanlin Shujishi in the court.
When serving as a Hanlin, the Shujishi had to maintain their status and be content with poverty. This was called "nurturing one's reputation" and was laying a solid foundation for future service in the cabinet. At this stage, if one did something that would make one lose face, it would greatly affect one's future prospects and would definitely not be worth the loss.
The same is true for prostitutes. If they only care about money at this stage and do some cheap things, they will inevitably be looked down upon by their peers and patrons. They will soon lose their appeal and will no longer be able to maintain the noble spirit of selling art but not their bodies...
But Ma Xianglan actually agreed to come to Caijia Lane, where many poor families gathered, to work as a zither player in a newly opened small restaurant. This was not only a devaluation of her status, but it was also a self-destruction of her future...
