047: Do You Want to Come with Me?

The manager had been about to ask Shen Tang why she wanted to buy Old Chu. The old fellow wasn't exactly likable. But when the bookstore owner spoke, he understood.

His expression softened with a little more goodwill.

"You want to buy Old Chu? Sure, we can discuss the price." He took the initiative and lowered his asking price. "Three taels. What do you think?"

The bookstore owner said, "Three taels? That's way too expensive!"

The manager clacked away on his abacus, then pulled out a thick, yellowed ledger and opened it to a page. "He originally cost five taels. I'm asking three now because we've known each other for years. Here, take a look. We paid one tael and two mace for Old Chu back then!"

The owner said, "How could he have cost that much?"

The manager snorted. "You think the prices five years ago were the same as they are now? These days, you can get a decent-looking maid for two hundred copper coins if you bargain hard enough. Five years ago, no one would've dreamed of prices like these. There wasn't even a war back then, and a person would've cost at least five taels. A better one could go for ten, even twenty! Old Chu's batch had caught an epidemic, so they could only be sold off cheap, and even then he cost one tael and two mace."

By the rules of the pleasure quarters, whether they were courtesans with their names posted or servants and maids who did odd jobs, markups of three to five times were the norm. For a headliner or a promising favorite, a hundredfold markup was nothing unusual. Otherwise, how would they make money?

Old Chu had cost one tael and two mace. Even at the lowest price, he should have sold for four taels and eight mace now. The manager had asked for only three taels. That was downright generous.

He wasn't doing this just out of regard for the owner, either.

As a commoner, he certainly had his shrewd, deceitful, money-grubbing side, but he also had a softhearted, kind, and warm side.

When he heard Shen Tang had come to buy back her "grandfather," his first thought wasn't to take the chance to fleece her. Instead, he imagined a deeply moving family drama—one with all the crowd-pleasing elements: a family fallen on hard times, blood relatives torn apart, a reunion after years of separation, and a family finally sharing their golden years together.

Ever since Old Chu had been bought, the old fellow had spent five years working in the Moonlit Pavilion's kitchen. He had worked diligently all those years and never caused trouble. He was quick enough on his feet, too. Aside from being taciturn and odd-tempered, keeping to himself, and never sucking up or currying favor, he had no other serious flaws.

Now his family had found him and wanted to buy him back so they could care for him properly. After all his hardship, Old Chu was finally getting his good fortune. There was no need to do something wicked for a little money and keep a family from reuniting. He might as well earn some good karma.

Seeing the owner hesitate, the manager added, "Don't put me in a difficult position. If I take too little, I'll have trouble explaining it to my superiors."

The owner sighed, knowing the price wouldn't come down any further. Shen Tang, who had been standing quietly to one side, took several pieces of silver from her purse and placed them in front of the manager. "Please weigh them and see if they're enough."

Seeing how readily she paid, the manager took a liking to her.

He marveled to himself that she really was a filial child.

Pretty, filial, and kind—Old Chu would be blessed from now on.

He accepted the silver and weighed it carefully. There was more than enough, so he took a pair of shears and trimmed off some silver. Once the amount was exactly three taels, he gathered up the shavings and took out Old Chu's contract of sale. "It's still early. Young lady, would you like to go to the Prefectural Yamen and transfer the registration?"

Shen Tang shook her head. "No."

The owner said irritably, "He's her grandfather. Why would they need to transfer the registration?"

Shen Tang: "..."

She wasn't going to transfer the registration simply because her original self wasn't registered either!

Until just now, the two of them had only imagined that Old Chu was her "grandfather." Now they were saying it right out in the open???

The manager smacked his forehead. "Oh, right. I nearly forgot. But you should find some time later to get your household registered as free people."

Shen Tang's mouth twitched. "Mm. I'll remember."

The manager beckoned someone over. "Go fetch Old Chu from the kitchen. Tell him his granddaughter's come to take him home so he can enjoy his old age."

Whether the man being bought and sold, Mr. Chu, had any objections...

That wasn't important.

Shen Tang put away the yellowed contract, its edges shedding scraps of paper, and secretly decided that once she finished learning what she needed, she would treat the contract as payment for Mr. Chu's tutoring and return his freedom to him. She would take care of the old man's food and clothing, after all. She wasn't some demonic capitalist.

So—

When Mr. Chu, sitting in the kitchen with a numb expression, was scrubbing the plates and trays piled up from the night before, he heard the announcement. His weather-beaten old face twisted for a moment. Thinking he had misheard, he grabbed the messenger and asked again and again, "Who? What granddaughter?"

The messenger laughed. "Your granddaughter came looking for you to buy you back. At long last, your hard days are over."

Mr. Chu, completely baffled: "..."

When he met the "granddaughter" he had never seen before, who had appeared out of nowhere, he nearly lost control of his expression again.

You people were calling this young man a granddaughter?

The manager patted Mr. Chu on the shoulder and said to him, deeply moved, "Old Chu, gather up your things and go with your girl. Don't keep your family waiting too long."

Ah, in this day and age, nothing was more precious or moving than a family reunited and sharing their golden years together.

Just imagining the scene brought tears to his eyes.

Mr. Chu's face remained wooden.

Shen Tang stared at him with an equally expressionless face.

"I've paid the manumission fee. Do you want to come with me?"

She suddenly felt a little guilty. Thinking it over, buying Mr. Chu without his permission had been rather disrespectful.

Mr. Chu said, "...You really intend to take this old man with you?"

Shen Tang opened her mouth, inexplicably feeling that she should choose her next words very carefully and not answer carelessly.

But then she thought about it. There was only one possible answer to that question. She had already paid. If she didn't take him, she'd be throwing her money away, wouldn't she?

So Shen Tang nodded emphatically.

"Yes. Come with me!"

Three taels of silver!

She couldn't let it go to waste!

In the past, she'd gotten Qi Shan's learning and knowledge for free. She hadn't paid him three taels—or even three copper coins.

Once she finished speaking, the atmosphere turned stiff and strange.

The bookstore owner sensed something was off, but before he could figure out what, Mr. Chu reacted first. He nodded calmly. "Mm, all right. Let me gather my clothes. Please wait a moment."

Watching Mr. Chu turn and head to the back courtyard to gather his things, the bookstore owner asked the manager, "Did they beat this old man so badly he went soft in the head? He looks dazed, like he's got some old-age illness. Taking him home will be a burden. He'll have a rough time of it."

The manager rolled his eyes. "We may make dirty money, but we're not heartless. If someone doesn't work, we might leave him hungry for a couple of meals, but there's no need to beat him."

Unless someone tried to run away or steal money. In that case, a beating was the only way they'd learn.

Old Chu had been well-behaved ever since he arrived. Why would anyone beat him?

Meanwhile.

After watching Gong Cheng finish his medicine and fall asleep, the courtesan and the young man left one after the other. As the Wooden Door shut behind him, his aura changed. A few traces of authority appeared on his refined, somewhat severe face.

He said, "I never thought there'd come a day when Brother Yun Chi didn't know the answer to a single question. Since he knows nothing, asking him is pointless. We should investigate it ourselves. Mr. Gu, send someone to keep an eye on Shen Tang... It would be best if she's no threat. The wrongful deaths of the Shen Clan's nine generations, along with Brother Yun Chi, are the best evidence that Zheng Qiao's tyranny has cost him the people's support. Then, when we send troops to punish Zheng Qiao, our cause will be just..."

The young man asked, "What if she is a threat?"

The courtesan said coolly, "Then get rid of her. Leave no loose ends!"

After a pause, he added, "Also, keep an eye out for news about that Wudafu of the Gong Clan. Report it as soon as you hear anything."

The young man lowered his eyes and cupped his hands. "Understood."

I updated early today, didn't I?

Hehe (#^.^#)

Please keep voting for the story! And if you like Tang Mei, give her a heart! Send her a heart gesture! (`)

P.S. If any of you have a reading list, please add the story to it. After it goes on sale, I think there'll be some new-book spotlight screen or something that needs to be unlocked.