Payday (2)

Lin Xiao arrived outside the Hu Household's courtyard gate. An auntie from the household invited him in to sit, but he declined, asking only for her help in calling Tietou out.

There was no helping it. The Hu Household hadn't split up, and the whole extended family was crowded into a single courtyard.

With so many eyes and ears around, Lin Xiao didn't much like going inside.

As soon as Tietou came out, Lin Xiao led him off to a dark corner.

There, in that dark corner, the two of them quietly went about paying his wages.

Tietou's eyes lit up when he got the money.

He asked in a whisper:

"Brother Xiao, is this really for me?"

Lin Xiao nodded, then realized it was probably too dark for Tietou to see him, so he whispered back:

"Yes. Put it away safely in your Storage Bag. Don't let your second aunt find out, or she'll start making a fuss and demand you hand it over to the family fund."

Tietou nodded hurriedly, pulled his Storage Bag from his robes, and put the money inside:

"Don't worry, Brother Xiao, I know. Hehe, tomorrow I'll ask my dad to bring me back a roast chicken to eat. Have you heard? A roast chicken shop opened in town a while ago. Their chicken smells amazing! And it isn't expensive, either-just thirty-eight copper coins!"

The moment Lin Xiao heard that, he pulled out thirty-eight copper coins and handed them to him.

"Have Uncle bring one back for me tomorrow too!"

Tietou patted his chest.

"No problem. Leave it to me!"

Tietou's father, Third Uncle Hu, usually went to town to pick up odd jobs, so he made a trip there every day.

Third Uncle Hu and Lin Dayou were on good terms, so Lin Dayou occasionally asked Tietou's father to bring things back for him.

Third Uncle Hu often went to the Lin Household to deliver things to Lin Dayou, and when Lin Dayou wasn't home, Lin Xiao, who was idle at home, was the one who received them. As a result, Lin Xiao knew Third Uncle Hu fairly well.

Having settled the matter of the roast chicken, Lin Xiao said goodbye to Tietou and headed to the next household.

When Tietou returned home, Third Aunt Hu, who had been lying in wait in the courtyard, caught hold of him and asked softly:

"Tietou, did that second boy from the Lin Household really strike it rich in town today?"

Hu Liang impatiently pulled his arm out of her grip.

"Oh, no! Third Aunt, could you stop prying into things you know nothing about?"

Third Aunt Hu wasn't pleased. She stopped keeping her voice down and raised it high.

"Hey! How am I prying into things I know nothing about? Everyone who came back from the market today has been spreading the word. They said that second boy from the Lin Household was doing some kind of business in town, and a huge crowd gathered around his stall. Even if each of them only gave him one copper coin, wouldn't he have struck it rich?

"It's not that I, your third aunt, want to criticize you, but you've played with that second boy from the Lin Household for so many years. How come you haven't learned even a bit of his knack for making money? And that boy too-you're such good friends, yet when something good comes along, he never thinks to bring you in. He just gobbles it all up by himself..."

At that moment, a door flew open with a smack, and Hu Liang's mother stood there and shouted at him:

"Tietou! Get inside and go to bed! What are you running around outside for so late at night? Aren't you afraid of running into a ghost?"

The moment he heard his own mother's shout, Hu Liang ran for home.

"Coming, Mother, coming! I'll go to bed right away!"

Only Third Aunt Hu remained in the courtyard, stamping her feet in anger under the moonlight.

"Pah! Who are you calling a ghost? You're the ghost!"

Lin Xiao hurried on without stopping to the next household.

The Qin Household.

The Qin Household had fewer people, and its family relationships were simple too.

The two elders had died early, so the family had split up long ago.

Qin Jianghe's father, Eldest Uncle Qin, lived with his wife, Madam Liu, and their two sons, Qin Jianghai and Qin Jianghe.

Qin Jianghe was the second son.

As a result, he had more free time.

That was how he had the time to become buddies with Lin Xiao and the others.

As for Qin Jianghe, he was actually a rather calculating person.

But Lin Xiao didn't mind.

At heart, Qin Jianghe was actually still a fairly simple person. All his shrewdness had been learned when he was young, living in a big family while his grandparents were still alive and the family had yet to split up.

The Qin Household's family relationships had once been at least as complicated as the Hu Household's, if not more so.

Qin Jianghe's family was the eldest branch, but his grandparents had borne and raised so many children that his father, the eldest son, had eight younger brothers and sisters.

They had all married, and they seemed to have inherited the Qin grandparents' genes, for they were especially good at having children.

That made Eldest Uncle Qin less favored in the eyes of the old couple.

After all, the eldest branch had no more children after Qin Jianghai and Qin Jianghe.

The Qin elders, who had been so prolific themselves, naturally liked the sight of children and grandchildren without end, so they were especially partial to the other branches that could produce children.

Where there was favoritism, conflict naturally followed.

And where there was conflict, open strife and veiled struggles naturally followed.

As a child, Qin Jianghe had been especially good at reading people's expressions and playing little tricks on others.

But he only turned that shrewdness outward, never against his own.

So Lin Xiao didn't mind that side of his character at all.

On the contrary, he liked it very much.

Because he himself was especially protective of his own.

Lin Xiao met Qin Jianghe in the Qin Household's main room.

Knowing that Lin Xiao had something to discuss with Qin Jianghe, Eldest Uncle Qin, Auntie Qin, and Qin Jianghai all returned to their own rooms, leaving the main room to the two young men.

Lin Xiao likewise pulled out a string of coins and handed it to Qin Jianghe with a grin.

"Our sect is a proper sect, after all, and a proper sect has to pay a stipend. This is yours."

Hearing that, Qin Jianghe felt he couldn't very well refuse, so he accepted it.

"Brother Xiao, I'll work hard to think of ways to make money too. Next time, I'll earn money for our sect as well!"

Lin Xiao smiled.

"Good! From now on, we'll all earn money together and develop our sect properly."

As he spoke, Lin Xiao pulled out all the remaining money and handed it to him.

"Paying wages and managing the money were supposed to be your jobs as the finance elder. I've already paid two households on your behalf, so you'll have to come with me in a bit."

Qin Jianghe knew Lin Xiao was doing this to familiarize everyone with his position as the "finance elder," so how could he refuse?

He nodded hurriedly.

"Of course, of course. Don't worry, Brother Xiao, I'll keep this money safe! I even hold my Storage Bag in my arms when I sleep. No one can hope to steal the money from me!"

After saying a word to Eldest Uncle Qin and Auntie Qin, the two of them went out together.

Qin Jianghe touched the Storage Bag inside his robes, with its more than two thousand copper coins, his heart burning.

He was going to pay other people!

Though he hadn't earned the money himself.

But in the future, he would work hard to find ways to make money for the sect!

The next household was Sun Yigao's.

The Sun Household had even fewer people.

There were Landlord Sun, Auntie Sun, and their only son, Sun Yigao.

When she saw them arrive, Auntie Sun welcomed them warmly into the main room.

"Gao'er is changing his clothes. Brother Xiao, you two sit down for a bit!"

Auntie Sun brought them two cups of water, then set a box containing several kinds of dried fruit and nuts on the table for them to eat.

Lin Xiao quickly said:

"Auntie Sun, please sit down. We just came to give Brother Sun his stipend from our sect."

Since Auntie Sun knew about their sect, Lin Xiao didn't need to be discreet about it.