Two Wages

The setting sun slanted into Firewood Gate Street, gilding the frolicking old man and yellow dog with a warm golden rim.

As Yang Ge gazed at this heartwarming scene, the smile at the corners of his mouth slowly crept up to his eyes...

"How long have you been here?"

He stepped forward and asked softly.

Shopkeeper Liu answered with a smile, "Just got here."

After a pause, he glanced at the line of grain carts behind Yang Ge and asked with concern, "Why buy so much grain all at once? That's hardly a bargain!"

"Come inside and sit for a bit. We'll talk about it in a moment... Brother Mang, come on in."

Yang Ge took out his key and opened the courtyard gate, directing the grain shop's workers to unload the grain inside.

"Well now, this courtyard of yours really is elegant..."

"Have some water."

Once the grain was settled, Yang Ge brought two bowls of cooled boiled water and handed them to the father and son sitting beneath the grape arbor.

Shopkeeper Liu accepted his bowl and set it beside him, then repeated his earlier question. "You must've bought a thousand jin of grain today, haven't you? What were you thinking?"

Liu Mang also stared at Yang Ge curiously.

Yang Ge pondered for a moment before offering a guarded answer. "I've heard some rumors lately, and I don't think grain prices will return to normal anytime soon. If you've got money to spare, you might want to stock up on three to five months' worth of food too... With grain in your hands, there's no panic in your heart!"

He had kept his words fairly restrained.

Even so, they startled Shopkeeper Liu enough that he forgot to drink the water already raised to his lips. "Three to five months? What exactly have you heard?"

Yang Ge answered vaguely, "Nothing much. I just feel that something's not quite right with the current situation... We haven't heard of any droughts or floods anywhere this year, have we? So why have grain prices suddenly shot up? Here in Luting County, what ordinary person would dare drive up grain prices?"

In one sense, Luting County was indeed ordinary: a small town, few people, and an undeveloped economy.

Yet in another sense, it was anything but ordinary. After all, it was the gateway to Luoyang, a vital part of the capital region!

Shopkeeper Liu seemed to grasp his meaning, and worry slowly surfaced on his weathered face.

Seeing that the old shopkeeper understood, Yang Ge casually changed the subject. "Right, you and Brother Mang came over today because you've settled things about the inn, haven't you?"

Shopkeeper Liu put aside his worried expression and shot his only son a scornful look. "Are you going to explain things to our young friend yourself, or shall your old man do it?"

Sensing some juicy gossip, Yang Ge promptly picked up his water bowl and assumed the air of someone all ears.

Liu Mang gave his father a disgruntled look, set down his bowl, and patted Yang Ge warmly on the shoulder. "What the old man means is..."

Shopkeeper Liu lowered his head to drink. "Hmph!"

Liu Mang immediately changed his tune and laughed sheepishly. "What my dad means is, we'll keep our inn open, and I won't give up my martial arts school either. From now on, you'll be both the manager of our inn and the instructor at my martial arts school, little brother. Two jobs, two wages!"

"Well..."

Caught between laughter and tears, Yang Ge looked at the old shopkeeper. "This doesn't seem like your style!"

His unspoken meaning was: He can't see things clearly, but how can you be muddleheaded too?

Liu Mang immediately cut in. "What do our young folks' affairs have to do with an old fellow like him? Just listen to your big brother. From now on, we'll run the martial arts school shoulder to shoulder. I'll make sure you feast on the finest food, drink the strongest liquor, and marry a pretty wife..."

"Ahem."

Shopkeeper Liu coughed forcefully, and Liu Mang shut his mouth, his face full of defiance.

Yang Ge glanced at Liu Mang, then turned to Shopkeeper Liu and shook his head. "You really need to think this through carefully. It's easy to get mixed up in blades and spears, but once you're involved, getting out won't be so easy."

Shopkeeper Liu shook his head too and sighed. "These times aren't like Emperor Taizong's reign. If trouble really comes knocking, we won't be able to hide from it anyway. With a spear-and-staff-wielding door guardian at home, perhaps our days will actually be more peaceful."

At this, he gave Liu Mang a helpless look and said earnestly, "Besides, you've seen what your Brother Fuyu is like. Even if he agreed to run the inn, I doubt we'd get more than a few peaceful days. I'm old. I can watch over it for him for a year or two, but can I watch over it for him all his life?"

"Since there's no stopping him either way, I might as well let him have at it. Perhaps once he loses an arm or a leg someday, he'll settle down and stop stirring things up!"

"Young fellow, you're steady and you've got a good head on your shoulders. If you can lend this wastrel a hand, it'll be his good fortune. But if you truly don't want to get involved with this lummox, we'll leave it at that!"

"A little matter like this isn't worth harming the friendship between our two households."

Liu Mang had long since grown agitated. The moment his father finished, he impatiently cut in. "Old man, you can't put me down like that..."

Shopkeeper Liu said, "Shut up!"

Yang Ge said, "Shut up!"

They spoke at the same time, their expressions and tones as if cast from the same mold.

Liu Mang shrank back, then stiffened his neck again and shouted, red-faced, "Fine, fine, fine! So you two are ganging up on me like father and son, huh? I'll leave! I'll leave, all right?"

Despite saying he would leave, his backside remained planted on the little stool as though nailed there, without budging an inch.

Ignoring his shouting, Yang Ge heaved a deep sigh at Shopkeeper Liu and said with a rueful smile, "You know me. I just want a simpler, easier life, with less thinking and less worrying..."

Shopkeeper Liu sighed along with him. "I know I'm putting you in a difficult position. But what can I do, saddled with a good-for-nothing like this?"

Hearing the implication in their words, Liu Mang's disgruntled shouting gradually faded.

Yang Ge folded his arms and stared straight at Liu Mang, like a teacher scrutinizing a student.

Liu Mang stiffened his neck and met his gaze, but an inexplicable unease rose in his heart.

After a long silence, Yang Ge suddenly asked, "May I ask, Brother Mang, are you betrothed?"

Looking utterly bewildered, Liu Mang shook his head.

Shopkeeper Liu also sighed and shook his head.

Yang Ge lowered his arms. "All right, then. I can help Brother Mang, but on one condition: he must marry and have children as soon as possible!"

Liu Mang sprang to his feet. "What does this have to do with getting married?"

Shopkeeper Liu said, "What girl from a respectable family would take a fancy to him?"

Yang Ge waved a hand at Shopkeeper Liu, then looked straight into Liu Mang's large, crimson face and said seriously, "There are no outsiders here, so I won't hide what I think... In times like these, opening a martial arts school is indeed a way forward. But with your reckless, impatient temperament, whether you'll amount to anything is an open question. Getting into trouble and breaking the law, though, is a certainty!"

"Don't tell me you'll become steady once you're the head of a martial arts school. Ask yourself whether you believe that!"

"So go ahead and build a family and a career together. As long as you're willing to marry and have children, I'll believe you can change that reckless, impatient temperament!"

"Only if you're willing to make something of yourself can I give up my peaceful days to help you. There's nothing unreasonable about that, is there?"

"Besides..."

Yang Ge glanced at Shopkeeper Liu. "With descendants, even if someone beats you to death out there someday, at least your Liu family won't lose the flame of its ancestral incense, will it?"

For Shopkeeper Liu's sake, he did not mind putting in a little extra thought and effort to help Liu Mang get the martial arts school on its feet.

Just as he and Shopkeeper Liu had judged, the current situation was bad, and opening a martial arts school really was a decent way forward...

But he could not keep playing nursemaid to Liu Mang, chasing after him to wipe his backside!

So Liu Mang still had to make something of himself.

Father and son froze, and both their gazes flickered.

Liu Mang said, "No!"

Shopkeeper Liu said, "That's a good idea!"