Chapter 4: 4. Chapter 4: Eight Taels

Chapter 4: Eight Taels

Before long, Su Ruojin had finished preparing dinner. As Su Yanli and Shutong had not yet returned, she placed the prepared dishes on a bamboo rack to keep them warm.

Su Sanlang was so anxious that he kept looking toward the courtyard gate. "Big Sister, why isn't Father back yet?" His little belly had been growling with hunger for a long time.

Su Dalang also stood at the kitchen door, worriedly looking out at the pitch-black night sky. He could hear the north wind howling, making him shrink his neck in the cold. "He hasn't come back this late; he must not have been able to borrow any money."

Su Ruojin’s brows twitched. If her father managed to borrow money, would he be promoted another rank like before? That would be a rank of 7b. If that were in a county office, he would truly be catching up to the magistrate; it would be about more than just a one-tael raise.

The wind grew stronger, and in the thick, cold darkness, a sense of dread grew unbidden. Su Ruojin couldn't help but hunch her shoulders and step out into the night. Her small legs hurried toward the courtyard gate. Just as she was about to stand on tiptoe to look toward the alley entrance, she heard someone call out, "Second Young Lady..."

It was Uncle Shutong’s voice. By the light filtering from a neighbor’s house, Su Ruojin saw her father beside him. Overjoyed, she waved at Su Yanli. "Father... Father..."

Su Dalang also hurried out from the courtyard. "Father!"

Su Sanlang, unable to outrun the howling north wind with his short legs, cried out anxiously, "Father... Father... and me too!"

Su Yanli, who hadn't managed to borrow a single coin, felt as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He walked through the streets in a daze. Pedestrians hurried past, none sparing him a glance, and certainly none knowing he had no money to pay for his wife’s childbirth expenses.

If anyone knew that he, a grown man, couldn't even provide for his wife and children, his reputation... Su Yanli felt like a walking corpse. Had his servant Shutong not found him, he wouldn't even have known where he had drifted.

The children’s calls suddenly rang out, jolting the despondent Su Yanli back to his senses. He reached out and caught his daughter as she ran toward him. "A-Jin..." He picked her up and tucked her into his arms. "Why are you out in this cold?"

He quickly entered the courtyard, and Su Dalang followed behind.

Shutong followed them in and closed the gate.

Su Yanli looked toward the corridor. "The midwife..." He didn't dare ask if she had left, or if she was waiting for his money.

Hadn't Uncle Shutong told Father? Su Ruojin looked toward Shutong.

Shutong’s face was frozen stiff; he rubbed his hands and blew on them. "The Master was walking unsteadily, so I thought he had been drinking with Magistrate Fan!"

Su Yanli:...

He hadn't even been able to get through the door of Magistrate Fan’s house. He had gone to see colleagues, but they were either out meeting friends or short on cash themselves. He hadn't borrowed a single copper. Heartbroken, he hadn't known how to face his wife and children, let alone be drunk.

"Then, Master, the way you were walking..."

Su Yanli glared at the servant and put his daughter down. "How are your mother and brother?" Not seeing the midwife, Ma, he assumed she wasn't in a rush for the money yet.

"Father, Little Brother has eaten and is asleep, and Mother has had a bowl of sweet rice soup and is resting too. We..." Before Su Ruojin could finish, Su Sanlang cried out impatiently, "Father, eat... eat..."

As he spoke, he pushed the curtain and ducked into the kitchen.

As the curtain lifted, the aroma of meat wafted out. Su Yanli took a breath and asked, puzzled, "A-Jin, did you cook the meat for the 'Third-Day' ceremony?"

Su Ruojin nodded. "Yes, Father."

"You..." Su Yanli’s temper flared, but his voice remained suppressed. "How can you be so thoughtless? How could you use the 'Third-Day' meat..." He paced in circles, frustrated. "What are we to do now..."

He hadn't borrowed a single coin tonight, and now the child had cooked the meat for the ceremony. What would they use for the ceremony the day after tomorrow?

Su Ruojin pursed her lips and looked at him with a smile.

"You’re still smiling?" Su Yanli glared at his daughter. "Do you believe I’ll spank you?"

Whenever the Master was angry with the children, he would threaten to spank them, but he never actually did. Shutong grinned as well.

Why were they both smiling? Just as Su Yanli was about to launch into a long lecture to scold his daughter and servant, Su Ruojin finally couldn't hold back. "Uncle Shutong, hurry and tell Father how much silver those stone paintings sold for."

Su Yanli: "..." He stared at the servant, Shutong.

Shutong smiled and replied, "Master, they sold for a full eight taels of silver."

"Someone bought them?" Su Yanli couldn't believe it. He asked hurriedly, "Who bought them? Why would anyone buy them?"

Just as Shutong was about to answer, Su Ruojin interrupted, "Father, it’s cold outside. Let’s go into the kitchen and eat while we talk."

Was there really silver? Even after his daughter and the servant explained the whole process of earning the money, Su Yanli still couldn't believe it. "Eight taels... that’s almost a month of my salary."

Shutong held his rice bowl, shoveling in a mouthful whenever he could. "If it weren't for the Second Young Lady’s idea, we wouldn't have earned these eight taels."

With his rice bowl at hand, piled with the pork belly and braised tofu his daughter had placed there, Su Yanli had no appetite. He continued to press, "How did this happen?"

Seeing his master wouldn't even eat because he was still in disbelief, Shutong had to put down his bowl and explain the process from start to finish once more.

Before today, the master had three children: two boys and one girl. The two boys, one eight and one three, were simple. The eight-year-old was studying, gentle in nature, not particularly mischievous or talkative. The three-year-old had just learned to talk and walk.

But the girl, the Second Young Lady, was completely different from her brothers. She wanted to read books like the eldest brother and ask questions like an adult. Every day when Shutong returned, she would bombard him with questions, asking about everything under the sun.

Half a month ago, after he dropped the Master off at the Imperial Academy, he went to the market to buy daily necessities. While out, he naturally looked at the sights and chatted with people. At a bookstore, he met a steward who was looking for paintings.

The steward had been searching the bookstore for a long time but couldn't find the paintings he wanted, muttering to himself. Although Su Yanli was a Doctor at the Imperial Academy and his calligraphy and painting were quite good, the capital was a place where, let alone ancient treasures, even contemporary masters were countless.

Shutong had just listened and moved on, but when he returned and Su Ruojin kept asking questions, he mentioned it. Who would have thought the Second Young Lady’s eyes would light up? She came up with a plan and told him to find that steward again.

Whether it was heaven helping them or not, a few days later, he really did run into the steward again. He told him the Second Young Lady’s idea, and the steward found the concept of painting on stones quite novel.

So, Su Ruojin took the stones she had collected while out playing and had her father paint on them. As a double-degree Jinshi and a Doctor at the Imperial Academy, his painting skills were excellent. Naturally, it caught the steward’s eye, and they earned eight taels of silver.

So that was it.

Su Yanli looked at the gleaming silver pieces on the table—two pieces worth over seven taels—and was overcome with emotion.

Shutong stuffed a large mouthful of food into his mouth. "I’ll keep going to the market. If I hear any news, I’ll bring it to the Second Young Lady so she can think of ways to make money."

Su Ruojin curled her lips. "Such lucky coincidences are rare. If we rely on this to get rich, we’ll all be left drinking the northwest wind."

Shutong:...Why was she dampening his enthusiasm? The twenty-seven or twenty-eight-year-old young man pouted, looking aggrieved.

Su Ruojin grinned and said to her father, "Father, Mother is in confinement, and you have your official duties. Let me and Uncle Shutong handle the household affairs."