Chen Guizhi asked Lu Liu to share his thoughts, and he laid them out one by one.
“For us, his conditions are easy to meet. My brother-in-law is a juren. I will go ask my brother later—see if he can have my brother-in-law act as a guarantor so both sides can sign a contract. With a juren backing it, he will definitely feel at ease.
“As for Brother An and the others, they do not have the capital to open a honey workshop. When my brother-in-law returns, Dafeng will make a trip back to the mountain village—for the honey, and also for Er Tian and that child. We have already discussed it. When the time comes, we will see whether Da Qiang wants to borrow money from us or merge their apiary into the trading firm. They would contribute the hives and honey, while the firm provides the capital for the workshop and the refining techniques. That way, the firm expands a bit, they can start earning sooner, and they can also use the firm’s existing reputation to find merchants.”
No matter which option they chose, having fewer partners would make things easier down the line.
If it really did not work out, they could always look for other beekeepers.
Chen Guizhi nodded as she listened and urged him to go ask right away.
Since it was just next door, Lu Liu got up and left immediately.
That left Chen Guizhi in the room with the two little children—and Hai Youtian, who was growing more and more restless.
She had already asked Li Feng to sound Hai Youtian out, but Li Feng had been busy these past few days, while Hai Youtian had been running around the countryside. They had not crossed paths. So Chen Guizhi decided to handle it herself.
She asked, “Has your family settled down in the prefectural city? What are they doing now?”
Hai Youtian answered honestly, “We live on the outskirts in the west of the city, growing vegetables and raising chickens. The place is small—when I go inside, I barely have room to stand. Everywhere I turn, I bump into someone. It is uncomfortable for everyone, so when I go home, I just leave some money to help out.”
In the past two years, he had been sending less money back, but his family worked hard and had finally pulled through. The land brought in income, the number of chickens kept growing. Aside from the cramped house, life was decent.
Chen Guizhi asked if he missed home and why he did not redeem himself and return.
“Save up some money,” she said. “Get a bigger place, marry a wife or a husband, have a home of your own. When someone is waiting for you at home, and in a few years you are holding a child in your arms—that is a stable life.”
With such homely talk, Hai Youtian’s fear of her faded, and his usual cheerful expression returned.
“When I first entered the brokerage,” he said, “I was still learning and did not earn wages. Later, when I started making money, I kept thinking of my family. When I went back and saw them all crammed together, barely getting by, I first made arrangements for them. Every month, my money had somewhere to go—household expenses, medicine when someone fell sick. I even begged the manager to lend us a bit of land so they could grow vegetables, deducting the rent from my wages. Later we got chicks, and they could sell eggs and vegetables. They barely made ends meet, and only then did I feel at ease saving money.
“I wanted to buy some land, but then winter came. Our whole family did not even have a heated brick bed—how could that do? So I hurried to get them a better place. That used up several months of wages. Then I went around to other brokers, begging for old clothes and bedding left behind by tenants, just so they could get through the winter. It takes three to five years for a family to get back on its feet. I was busy, they were busy. Now that things are better, they feel they owe me—but since I have not lived with them, we have grown distant instead.”
He scratched his head. “Life outside is hard. My family is not well-off. Even if I redeem myself, I do not know what I would do. It is hard to earn money out there—I do not even dare think about marriage and supporting a family.”
Chen Guizhi thought he was quite capable—how could he lack confidence in this?
“Take something you are familiar with,” she said. “You could source goods and resell them—that is money too. Start as a peddler. How could you not support a family?”
Hai Youtian shook his head. “It is not that simple. Peddlers have their own territories. If you trespass, you get beaten. I do know some merchants, but I am just a broker—what credibility do I have? How much capital? Businessmen are clever—they would not let me profit off the difference. Acting as a middleman, passing information—I barely scrape by. If I leave the brokerage but still do this line of work, I would offend other brokers. Someone like me is better off finding a master to work for. But I have seen too many masters who beat and scold—I am honestly afraid.”
He sighed. “I am familiar with the brokerage. The manager always looks out for me—it feels like home. He even said that if I endure a bit longer, he might recommend me to the head boss and promote me to manager. Since my contract is there, I am considered trustworthy. Later, the boss could even arrange a marriage for me, like with household servants of big families. I do not really want that—my descendants would all be bound servants.”
Chen Guizhi asked, “Do you think you get a choice?”
Hai Youtian laughed. “My wages are not high—just two or three taels a month. Nothing remarkable.”
She praised him for being clever. He only smiled, glancing outside, wondering why Lu Liu had not returned yet.
Then she asked, “If you cannot afford to marry, you could marry into a family. You are young and capable. In another household, you could take on responsibilities. Whatever your in-laws do, you do. You would not have to worry about marriage at all. Is that not good?”
Hai Youtian was so startled he waved his hands repeatedly, rattling off all the miserable stories of live-in husbands.
“It is hard enough in rich families—poor families treat them even worse. I would not dare!”
He was someone who feared even a harsh employer—how could he throw himself into a pit of fire?
Chen Guizhi said, “I have an old friend in the mountain village. Her family has shares in a trading firm. Her child is like a brother to Dafeng. Their conditions are good, and they are kind. They cannot bear to marry their child out, so they want to bring in a husband. Since I am here in the city, she asked me to help look. I think you are quite suitable. Listen to the conditions—no beatings, no scolding. If you marry in, you will work at the trading firm and follow Dafeng. Would you consider such a household?”
Hai Youtian: ?
He was completely stunned.
What—someone was arranging a marriage for a broker? And one bound by contract at that?
He immediately grew bashful. “Aunt Chen, you…”
She corrected him, “Call me Aunt.”
He quickly amended, “Aunt Chen—no, Aunt Chen—I trust you. Boss Li is also a good man, I know that. But the family you mentioned—are they moving to the city too? I… I feel like they would not be looking for someone like me…”
Chen Guizhi had visited many matchmakers. Though she favored Hai Youtian, she did not make any promises. She only said that if things went smoothly, there would be meetings toward the end or beginning of the year.
If Shun Ge’er did not find a suitable match, she would arrange for the two of them to meet. If he did, then it would simply mean her old friend had already found a suitable son-in-law.
Li Feng had long wanted to bring Hai Youtian into the trading firm. She was not playing games—regardless of the outcome, she would arrange for him to work there.
Whether or not the marriage worked out, Hai Youtian would gain his freedom and a foothold in the outside world—a stable life.
“If you can accept marrying in,” she said, “I will put in a good word for you.”
Hai Youtian sat there, thinking for a long time. Under these conditions, he was willing.
Having a home of his own—suddenly everything would have meaning.
At that point, Chen Guizhi changed the subject and raised her voice, “Why is Liu Ge’er not back yet? Asking something should not take this long.”
Lu Liu, who had already returned and was waiting outside, paused a moment before knocking and entering.
“I stayed to chat with my brother for a bit,” he said. “He agreed—my brother-in-law can act as guarantor.”
Wanting to make a good impression, Hai Youtian made another trip to the countryside to speak with Sun, the widowed beekeeper. The next day, he returned with news.
Honey could be settled and filtered. After that, it could be sold. As for the remaining techniques, Sun would only teach them after the contract was signed.
The honey they had at home had already been stored long enough—it did not need further settling or filtering.
With this confirmation, Lu Liu was delighted.
Li Feng was home that day. He carried out a jar of honey into the courtyard. Lu Liu brought a ladle and carefully scooped the honey into a newly bought wooden bucket.
The color of the wood matched the golden hue of the honey perfectly. Reflected in his eyes, he thought of its price and murmured softly:
“Like flowing gold.”
