Recently, during his spare time, Tang QiaoYuan’s calm temperament has been tested again, he thought about it, again and again, and decided it was better to not rush to tell Fang Su about the gambling houses. Fang Su was only nineteen now, it wouldn’t do any harm to him for another year or so, until he can wear a hair crown1, everything can be slowly explained to him.
But things never go as planned, the more Tang QiaoYuan wanted to hide it, the easier it was to make a mistake. After enjoying peaceful days for less than a month, uninvited guests came to their door.
The so-called greedy man who’s like a snake trying to swallow an elephant, Tang QiaoYuan has read this exact sentence so many times in books before, but no one dared to play such a trick in front of him; after living for more than twenty years, he has finally met two living individuals.
It was morning, the sky was shining.
Fang Su has not woken up yet, he was wrapped in a thin quilt and slept very soundly on the bed. Tang QiaoYuan sat at the table while sipping his tea, the bed curtains were raised high, so he could see Fang Su’s sleeping appearance just by leaning his head, and was in a very good mood.
Footsteps came from the corridor; the individual must have known that Fang Su was still asleep, thus never opened its mouth to make a noise, and only knocked lightly on the window twice.
Tang QiaoYuan glanced sideways, put down the teacup, got up and went to the bed to let down the curtain in order to conceal the person inside. Once he got to the porch outside the room, Bai Ping was already there waiting for him, after greeting him faintly, she whispered: “Master, there’s a woman and a ten-year-old child waiting outside the residence.”
She only managed to say half the sentence, unlike her neat temper, Tang QiaoYuan immediately knew that they were not ordinary guests, he turned his head to look inside the room and asked: “Is it related to madam?”
Bai Ping nodded: “Yes, the visitor claims to be Madam’s mother”
Tang QiaoYuan understood clearly, he smoothly closed the room’s door entirely, and walked out of the courtyard. Bai Ping followed him quietly from behind, and listened to him readily ask without really asking, “Hasn’t Su Su’s mother passed away for many years now?”
Bai Ping did not answer, but knew that things were definitely going to be interesting.
The two visitors were invited to come into the front hall, the woman had a beaming smile on her face, and placed politely on the table the small basket in her hands which was filled with various things.
Tang QiaoYuan waved his hand for his servant to pour the tea, his gaze landed on the basket, the red cloth did not cover the things that were inside it, revealing a half-cut sweet potato. He raised his chin to that spot and asked with a smile what it was.
The woman’s look became more and more brilliant, and pushed the basket closer to him by two inches: “Master Tang, these are some goods that were grown on our field, since Fang Su has left our home, his father has always been concerned about him, and he always wanted me to bring some sweet potatoes, he always loved to eat these when he was home…”
“Could it be that I was the one who was too careless?” Tang QiaoYuan raised his eyebrows while nodding, and smiled at her politely, “And I thought that Su Su only liked to eat exotic food that came from the land and sea, as well as the four seafood delicacies2.”
The woman’s smile became slightly stiff, as jealousy flashed by, then laughed with him again, and assumed her original pretense as a loving mother, but suddenly the child beside her pulled on her clothes and asked: “ Mother, what are the four seafood delicacies?” the child pouted angrily. Although he didn’t dare to throw a temper tantrum in this place, he was used to being domineering at home and couldn’t hold back a word of complaint, “I have not even eaten it, but brother already has…”
The woman panicked, hurriedly she covered the child’s mouth and glared at him with her head down.
Tang QiaoYuan chuckled, and turned a deaf ear. He still talked with her about the basket of sweet potatoes: “Then, what do you want to get back from the Tang household with this basket of things?”
The explicit question made the woman look embarrassed, how could she not notice the contempt and disgust of the man in front of her. But she’s already come here, how can she just go back empty-handed, thus she braced herself to go on with it, and pretended to feel embarrassed and brazenly asked: “Master Tang, Fang Su is our family’s eldest son, his father originally expected him to pass on the incense3, but now as a man, he has married into the Tang household, this…”
Without finishing her words, she waited for Tang QiaoYuan to figure it out himself.
Yesterday, Father Fang took his youngest child with him to the city to sell vegetables, while she remained at the village. How could she not know when Fang Qiang ran home alone before noon to tell her exaggeratedly what he had seen with his own eyes. The child spoke enviously with his eyes wide open, said his elder brother wore very nice clothes; beside him, there was a very wealthy-looking man who was talking and laughing with him, and was very considerate.
Fang Su’s second mother was originally a very mean and jealous person, so how could she remain calm after hearing this. She thought about it for several days, and couldn’t sleep well at night. She hated and envied Fang Su for not only not suffering any injustice, but also enjoying a better fortune than her. The more she thought about it the angrier she felt, the only way was for her to come to this place and ask for some benefits, thus this morning she couldn’t hold on any longer and brought her son along with her to their door.
Tang QiaoYuan understood it and knew that this was nothing more than giving some money to dismiss them.
But he was not a charitable person, and in addition, he was very clear about how harsh the woman before him treated Fang Su, as such his smile gradually disappeared
“It’s not easy.” Tang QiaoYuan sneered, “No one in Lin Zhou city has ever dared to bargain with me… but what you said was not unreasonable, Fang Su is indeed the Fang family’s eldest son, in this case, it would be better for me to show some mercy and send him back. As for the debt the Fang family owes me, how about offering this little child in exchange? I could raise him for a few years, he will be exempt from abalones, sea cucumber, shark’s fin and fish maw, but he will not lack in sweet potatoes porridge. Once he’s old enough, he will be sent to the GouLan Yard4, but he will definitely be returned when the debt has been fully paid off.
The woman’s eyes showed her panic when she heard that, she couldn’t keep her shameless face any longer, and quickly hugged the child in her arms.
Tang QiaoYuan had spoken very solemnly, beside him Bai Ping quietly raised her hands to cover her pleased smile, but her snickering appearance had been caught on. Bai Ping met his gaze, and had no choice but to agree: “Master is correct, sweet potatoes are indeed better, raising him on abalones, sea cucumber, shark’s fin and fish maw for several years, I’m afraid one would owe even more.”
“No!” the woman couldn’t help but scream for an instant as she shivered all over. It was too late for her to regret it, she looked at Tang QiaoYuan’s gloomy eyes, and hugged her child even tighter as her whole body started to tremble. Now, she didn’t even dare to have the idea of taking advantage, she just wanted to flee from this place immediately, “Master Tang… you need not overthink, this time I came only to… to see whether Fang Su has been well or not, then I will just take the child back without disturbing your peace and tranquility…”
She turned around to escape as soon as her words fell. There were many words Fang Qiang couldn’t understand, but he could faintly feel that the atmosphere was terrible, thus he held onto his mother’s sleeve tightly and followed each of her steps. The woman took him to the hall door, and hurriedly tried to cross the threshold, but was stopped by some servants who were waiting outside.
Those few people were all arranged by Bai Ping, their faces were fierce, it scared the woman so much that she fell backward and didn’t dare to move.
“How does Master plan to deal with it?” Bai Ping saw enough of this play, and walked forward from behind Tang QiaoYuan’s back and inquired.
Tang QiaoYuan had no idea yet, he felt that it was soon time for Fang Su to wake up, the smile in his eyes turned gentle again, he only wanted to return to the main courtyard to accompany him, he replied casually: “Look for a place to lock them up.”
The small storm couldn’t stir up waves, Tang QiaoYuan turned around and left this matter behind, he returned to the courtyard to coax Fang Su who had just woken up, only having eyes for his confused expression.
Fang Su hadn’t fully woken up, he usually lay on the bed for another while but today he opened his eyes and didn’t see the person who is generally by his side, he felt quite uneasy and got up from the bed to look for him while still wearing his inner garments.
The footsteps outside the room approached along the corridor, Tang QiaoYuan pushed open the door and walked inside, he pulled the beaded curtain and saw the person looking at him, there was some aggravation in his not-so sober eyes, and also some panic. Tang QiaoYuan’s heart immediately felt soft, he took a few steps forward and took him into his arms to coax him.
“Su Su is already up?”
Fang Su nodded, he hasn’t drank water yet, so his throat was dry and did not make him want to speak, he slowly returned the hug, his heartbeat gradually slowed down.
Tang QiaoYuan carried him back to the bed, he brought the clothes and dressed him neatly, touching his bare feet before putting on the socks for him, and said very distressed: “You really thought that it was summer? Mornings are cold, running around while being dressed like that, your feet are already frozen.”
Fang Su couldn’t help but speak, his voice slightly hoarse: “QiaoYuan.. where did you go?”
“Uhm?” Tang QiaoYuan was reminded about Fang Su’s affair, he smiled, not caring much, “I went to see some sweet potatoes.”
Fang Su heard that and was very confused.
Tang QiaoYuan asked again: “Does Su Su like to eat sweet potatoes?”
“En” Fang Su nodded, “I used to often eat sweet potatoes, it’s sweet, it can easily fill the stomach.”
Tang QiaoYuan chuckled lowly, his palms touching his feet trying to warm them up, curiosity could be heard in his voice: “You always eat it and you still like it, aren’t you tired of it?”
“Not tired, you can cook it in the porridge, you can also roast it, you can also mash it.”
“That good?” Tang QiaoYuan’s gaze got soft, he leaned over to kiss the corner of his eyes, “Then how about we roast sweet potatoes in the courtyard today?”
Fang Su lightly chuckled and nodded.
His palms were especially warm, which made his feet warm up very quickly, Fang Su put on his socks and shoes and went to freshen up, after finishing his breakfast and followed him to the courtyard. The sweet potatoes and charcoal stove were ready, although doing this during summertime was a bit out of place, but Fang Su found the little stove quite cute, and really liked it. He moved the small stool and sat nearby, making his cheeks red and hot.
Tang QiaoYuan brushed his hair up for him, and immediately leaned over to carry him away.
Fang Su was slightly surprised, he quickly grabbed onto his shoulders, heard him laugh while being carried away to the porch, and was teased by him: “Are we going to eat roasted sweet potatoes or roasted Su Su?”
Fang Su was stunned, then understood his words, and smiled happily with his eyes curved.
The atmosphere in the courtyard was mellow, but after a while, a maidservant ran over, she helplessly and anxiously reported to Tang QiaoYuan.
“Master, there is someone kowtowing outside the mansion, we can’t drive him away.”
Tang QiaoYuan was thinking how they were being disturbed again, then heard the ignorant maidservant continue: “That person said he is called Fang De, he came to kowtow to apologize…”
Tang QiaoYuan’s face went dark, looking angrily at this dull-head and unconcealed maidservant, while the person beside him who was originally smiling very happily became instantly pale.
Translated & Proofread by: Milktea and Gemini
Notes:
Hair crown (guan) are only worn by boy who has their coming of age ceremony at 20 years old The four seafood delicacies: abalone, sea cucumber, shark’s fin and fish maw. 传香火, to pass on the incense means to pursue one family’s lineage, as only the son can bear the family name, while the daughter will leave the genealogy once she gets married. The GouLan Yard (勾栏院) was an entertainment place and brothel.Sponsored Content
