What Was the Real Reason?

"Why are you back?"

"I'm an apprentice here. I haven't finished learning yet, so of course I had to come back!"

Wang Tiaodeng stared at Zhang Laifu for a long moment.

There was no mistake. It was Zhang Laifu.

How was he still alive?

"Didn't I tell you to buy Gray-Eyed Bamboo? Where is it?" Wang Tiaodeng tried to keep his composure.

Zhang Laifu shook his head. "I couldn't find the Old Shipyard. I don't know the place."

"If you didn't know it, you should've asked!"

"I did ask. I still couldn't find it."

"Then what were you doing all afternoon?"

"My hand was hurt, so I went to get it treated." Zhang Laifu raised his right hand. It was covered in bandages.

Wang Tiaodeng didn't know what to say.

Old Liang came out of the room. "Laifu, you're back?"

"I'm back. Master saw that my hand was hurt, so he gave me two Silver Dollars to get it treated."

"Bullshit!" Wang Tiaodeng snapped. "I gave you that money to buy Gray-Eyed Bamboo. Who told you to get your hand treated?"

Zhang Laifu looked aggrieved. "Why wouldn't you let me get it treated?"

"I didn't say you couldn't. I'm saying those two Silver Dollars I gave you..."

Old Liang laughed. "Old Wang, why make a fuss? It's only two Silver Dollars. I'll have someone bring you the money in a bit."

With Old Liang smoothing things over, the matter ended there.

A little after nine that evening, the shop hands brought Deng Yuechuan back. His cheeks were blue with cold, his lips were white, and his teeth chattered so hard he could barely speak.

Old Liang stepped up to him. "What did you run off to the Old Shipyard for?"

Deng Yuechuan lowered his head without answering. Yang Laoliang barked, "I asked you a question. Are you deaf?"

He had to say something. Deng Yuechuan glanced at Wang Tiaodeng and said cautiously, "I heard Master say Gray-Eyed Bamboo was good for learning the craft, and that they sold it at the Old Shipyard, so I went to buy some..."

"Bullshit!" Wang Tiaodeng glared at him. "When did I ever say that to you? I said it to Laifu!"

Deng Yuechuan nodded. "Yes, Master said it to Laifu. I heard him. I want to learn the craft too, so I ran to the Old Shipyard."

A crowd gathered to watch, Chen Xiaowang among them. He frowned. Something about this didn't feel right.

Old Liang walked up to Deng Yuechuan with a smile. "You went to buy bamboo? Where is it?"

Deng Yuechuan lowered his head. "I couldn't buy any. I waited a long time, but the bamboo seller never came."

Old Liang turned to Wang Tiaodeng. "Master Wang, he says the bamboo seller never came. Why did you still send Laifu to buy bamboo?"

Wang Tiaodeng sighed. "There's always someone selling bamboo at the Old Shipyard. I don't know why he didn't come today."

"Is that so?" Old Liang smiled, then turned back and patted Deng Yuechuan's cheek. "Kid, that's called stealing a master's teachings. You know that?"

"Master Wang means to teach Laifu, not you. Try this again and I won't spare you. Get inside."

Deng Yuechuan left, and everyone else returned to their rooms. Old Liang called Chen Xiaowang over. "Xiaowang, did you have something to say just now?"

"I... I don't have anything to say..."

Old Liang lifted a lantern to shine on Xiaowang's face. "Your brother Laifu's been good to you. He treats you like a brother and is always saying good things about you to me. What happened today was strange. Are you sure you've got nothing to say?"

Chen Xiaowang hemmed and hawed for a long time before finally telling the truth. "Shopkeeper, when Master told brother Laifu about the Gray-Eyed Bamboo, I don't think brother Deng was there."

"Had he already gone out by then?"

"I don't know. I didn't see brother Deng again after breakfast today."

Old Liang waved Xiaowang away, then had the shop hand Xiao Chu fetch Zhang Laifu.

"Laifu, do you know what Master Wang meant when he told you to go to the Old Shipyard today?"

Zhang Laifu said, "He told me. I was supposed to buy bamboo to learn the craft."

"Then why didn't you go?"

"My hand was hurt. I couldn't learn the craft!"

Old Liang frowned. "Brother, do you understand what I mean?"

Zhang Laifu said, "Sure. You told Old Wang to teach me the craft, and now he's willing to. That's a good thing."

Old Liang shook his head. "It's no good thing. You'd best stay away from Old Wang from now on. Whatever he asks you to do, pay him no mind."

Zhang Laifu was even more confused. "Shopkeeper, you told me to learn from Master Wang. How am I supposed to do that if I pay him no mind?"

Old Liang sighed. "Brother, I've said my piece. You may not understand how serious this is."

"It's just two silver dollars!" Zhang Laifu looked completely at ease. "You've already promised to pay him back. Master Wang won't hold it against me."

After Zhang Laifu left, Old Liang rubbed his bald head for a long time.

He summoned Xiao Chu. "At the Old Shipyard, did you only see Deng Yuechuan?"

Xiao Chu answered carefully. "I only saw Deng Yuechuan in Warehouse Number Two. He was shivering inside, and I heard him moving around. I didn't check the other warehouses."

"What was in the warehouse?"

"Some scrap iron, rusted beyond recognition, and some sugarcane pulp."

Old Liang started. "Did you look closely? Was it really sugarcane pulp?"

Xiao Chu nodded. "It smelled sweet. There's no mistake."

"Old Wang called Shao Tiangan here? That doesn't make sense. He can't have that big a grudge against Zhang Laifu..." Sweat beaded on Old Liang's bald head, and he wiped it several times with his handkerchief.

"Business partners should be able to part on good terms. He wouldn't go that far, would he? I just don't want to do business with him. Surely he wouldn't go that far. I run a shop this size, and I've got standing in the Trade Guild... Xiao Chu, from now on, just take Zhang Laifu his meals. Don't get involved in anything else."

"Shopkeeper, are you still going to teach him the craft?"

"Teach him what?" Yang Laoliang glared at Xiao Chu. "Shao Tiangan's here. Old Wang's getting serious. Can't you see that?"

Zhang Laifu returned to his bedroom and was about to study the craft when he heard a knock at the door. It was Chen Xiaowang.

"Brother Laifu, the shopkeeper told me you treat me like a brother and have said a lot of good things about me. I don't know how to repay you. From now on, if you need anything done, just tell me. You've looked out for me so much that no amount of work I do for you would be too much."

Zhang Laifu shook his head. "Xiaowang, you've been fooled. I haven't looked out for you."

"Brother Laifu, you don't have to be so polite..."

"I'm not being polite. If I could look out for you, I'd have to be able to look out for myself first. If a man can't even do that, then when he says he'll look out for you, he's lying."

It was simple enough for Chen Xiaowang to understand. "Brother Laifu, is brother Deng trying to hurt you?"

Zhang Laifu took a paper bag from inside his padded jacket. It held a pound of buns. "Take these back and eat them. Get a good night's sleep, and study the craft hard when you wake up. Don't leave the lantern shop for the next couple of days."

Chen Xiaowang took the buns and thanked him, but he was still worried. "Brother Laifu, is there some bad blood between you and Master? His words cut like knives, but his heart is soft as tofu. There's no grudge that can't be settled."

Zhang Laifu shook his head. "People with knives on their tongues have knives in their hearts. Why would someone with a tofu-soft heart keep a knife in his mouth?"

Late that night, Zhang Laifu opened the window and invited Li Yunsheng in.

Li Yunsheng lit three sticks of incense. Only when smoke had filled the room did he speak. "Brother Laifu, I looked into the matter at the Old Shipyard like you asked. The man there is called Shao Tiangan. He does work for the underworld—or, as they'd say in the Outer Province, he's a killer. He has quite a reputation, and his skills are probably on par with Wang Tiaodeng's. This time, he came for your life."

"I knew something was wrong with Wang Tiaodeng. He pretended the shopkeeper had sent him to give me an errand, then offered to teach me the craft." Zhang Laifu was glad he had taken precautions. Instead of going to the Old Shipyard, he had gone to find Li Yunsheng first. "If he wants me dead, why doesn't he do it himself? He's a second-level Master Craftsman."

"The Old Bright Lantern Shop is the biggest paper-lantern shop in Heishakou. If he killed someone in the shop, or Yang Laoliang caught him with evidence, he'd have a hard time answering to the Trade Guild."

"Wang Tiaodeng told me to go to the Old Shipyard. If something happened to me there, wouldn't he still be a suspect?"

"Given his standing, he could explain it away as long as he found a suitable scapegoat."

"That's what's strange. Why does Old Wang hate me so much? Just because he's afraid I'll steal his livelihood?"

Li Yunsheng shook his head. "A Master Craftsman can find a livelihood anywhere. It would make sense if he wanted to give you a beating, but he sent Shao Tiangan to kill you. The reason can't be that simple."

Zhang Laifu could not make sense of it. "What is the real reason? I'll have to find a chance to ask him."

P.S. What would be a good chance?