After lunch, when the sun was at its highest, the heat rose from the ground until it was stifling.
Lu Ling wanted to take the bowls and chopsticks to wash them, but Shu Rui wouldn’t let him. Unable to argue, he simply picked up a palm fan and fanned him to cool him off.
“It’s stuffy inside. When it’s time for a nap, I’ll move the repaired lounge chair from the front hall and put it under the corridor. We can rest outside—when the cross-breeze comes through, it’s much cooler than indoors.”
Shu Rui continued, “You really should rest properly. I’ll sprinkle some water and mop the corridor later; that’ll make it even cooler.”
Hearing the implication in his words, Lu Ling asked, “You won’t nap with me?”
“I have to go to Dongshan Academy later to pick up the list, and in the evening I still need to deliver meals there as usual.”
Lu Ling’s brow twitched. “Then I’ll go with you.”
“You were complaining of a headache earlier, and you could barely walk steadily on the way back. The midday heat is intense—if you go out again and get heatstroke, how could your body take it?
“Today, you’re not going anywhere. Stay home and rest.”
No matter how Lu Ling argued, Shu Rui refused to relent. When he left, Lu Ling followed him to the door, but Shu Rui closed the courtyard gate from the outside, leaving him inside, unable to go out.
Lu Ling stared at the gate in silence. Had he known it would turn out like this, he wouldn’t have complained so much earlier about dizziness and headaches.
He’d gotten a few gentle words out of it, but forgotten about the matter at the academy.
That scholar surnamed Yu, with his pale face and fairly decent handwriting—Shu Rui understood these things and appreciated them. Whenever the two met, they always had plenty to talk about.
Business courtesies and polite talk were one thing, but they could even discuss books and plays. It was truly irritating to listen to.
He considered going out, thought it over carefully for a moment, and in the end decided against it.
If he had just played the part of being weak and sickly, then suddenly became lively again, it would inevitably arouse suspicion—especially since Shu Rui was so perceptive.
With a sigh, Lu Ling admitted to himself that even though his own health was poor, Shu Rui still cared more about business matters, unwilling to spare even half a day to keep him company.
Lu Ling smiled bitterly. In the end, in Shu Rui’s heart, he probably didn’t count for much.
Then again, they were neither kin nor acquaintances. He was merely a troublesome matter Shu Rui had encountered halfway along the road. Shu Rui hadn’t abandoned him midway, had brought him all the way to Chaoxi Prefecture, fed and housed him well, and even sought out doctors for him. To have done all this was already the height of kindness and righteousness.
What right did he have to be greedy for more, or to demand a place in Shu Rui’s heart?
Their marriage was false. When he was confused before, Shu Rui had never been muddle-headed. It was already kindness enough that he had indulged his stubbornness out of pity.
Fortunately, he had now bought himself some time while clear-headed—to understand his true self, and to let Shu Rui understand him as well.
Lu Ling slipped out through the front gate, found a courier station, and sent a letter back to Jizhou.
Shu Rui held up an umbrella against the sun as he went to Dongshan Academy to collect the list. Today there were only seven meal orders in total.
Yu Qiaosheng looked somewhat embarrassed. With neither many nor few people ordering meals, he hadn’t called out to more students to subscribe, yet Shu Rui still had to light the stove and cook a batch, then deliver it again in this sweltering heat. There wasn’t much money to be made, and it only added trouble.
“The weather is hot, and people have little appetite. It’s normal that not many want hot meals. In this season, cold foods are actually more popular. Tonight, I’ll switch to delivering cold noodles instead.”
Hearing that Shu Rui didn’t mind and even spoke this way, Yu Qiaosheng’s goodwill toward him grew by another measure.
He took a booklet from his robe and handed it to Shu Rui. “This is a collection of miscellaneous writings I copied while transcribing books for a wealthy household, with the master’s permission. When it’s hot, flipping through a few pages while fanning yourself can help ease the烦闷.”
Shu Rui had grown up in a scholarly household and had always loved reading all kinds of books. When he left the Bai family, if he hadn’t been afraid that his trunk would be too heavy to carry, he would have brought all the books from his room with him.
Seeing Yu Qiaosheng give him a book, he couldn’t hide his delight. He accepted it at once and flipped through a couple of pages.
“It seems to be Rongzhai Essays.”
Yu Qiaosheng’s eyes lit up in surprise. “You know this book?”
Shu Rui smiled. “I’ve read a few pages of it before, but never had the chance to finish it.”
He did own this book once, but after only reading a few pages, his aunt had begun plotting to send him away. Busy dealing with that, he had no mind to finish it, and later it was all left behind at the Bai household.
After coming to Chaoxi Prefecture, he had been busy making a living and hadn’t read in a long time.
Occasionally he did manage to steal a bit of leisure, but he had no books left on hand. Buying them outside wasn’t cheap, and he was someone who appreciated fine calligraphy. Books with good handwriting were either specially carved from elegant script, or painstakingly hand-copied character by character by scholars like Yu Qiaosheng.
Printed copies with fine script were already expensive; the most valuable of all were those with beautiful handwriting, personally copied rather than mechanically printed.
“I’m truly fortunate to be able to read this book again—and copied in such fine handwriting by Scholar Yu himself. Reading it will surely be a pleasure.”
After some time interacting, Yu Qiaosheng had already realized from Shu Rui’s speech and manner that he was not only literate, but also skilled in arithmetic.
Once, carried away in conversation, he had absent-mindedly resorted to scholarly phrasing, only afterward remembering that Shu Rui was a merchant ge’er and worrying it might embarrass him. To his surprise, Shu Rui understood him perfectly.
Yu Qiaosheng found this exceedingly rare—a ge’er so kind, intelligent, and versed in literature.
With his usually strict elder brother away, it was just the right time to lend this copied book to Shu Rui.
Originally, he had only wanted Shu Rui to read for leisure and broaden his horizons. He hadn’t expected that after flipping just a couple of pages, Shu Rui could identify the book by name, which truly astonished him.
“As long as you don’t mind my dabbling in letters, it’s better for good books to be shared than hidden away.”
After a few more words, Shu Rui took his leave.
Yu Qiaosheng returned to the academy in high spirits. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, another student walked up to him.
“That copy of Rongzhai Essays—I asked you twice to let me read it, and you wouldn’t. Yet you turn around and give it to someone else. I never thought that you, Brother Yu, who claims to care only for books, would also grow sentimental.”
Teased like this, Yu Qiaosheng replied, “I’ve received kindness from him and ought to return the courtesy. With empty sleeves, there are only a few books I can offer.”
The other student chuckled mischievously. “A handsome scholar’s romance makes a fine tale. But that merchant ge’er—can he really appreciate your fine book? Don’t let good intentions fall on deaf ears.”
Yu Qiaosheng said, “Don’t underestimate him. He not only knows how to read, he has read Rongzhai Essays. I didn’t mention it, yet he named the book outright.”
The student was startled. Seeing no reason for Yu Qiaosheng to lie, he grew serious. “That really is unusual. Could he be a ge’er from a once-fallen family?”
“I wouldn’t presume to pry into someone’s background.”
The student nodded, then said:
“But speaking of it, that ge’er delivers meals to the academy every day, and his cooking is truly excellent. His soups are first-rate, he’s courteous and well-mannered, and he understands literature. As a spouse, he’d surely be very considerate—exactly the kind of partner a scholar would seek.
“Only…”
He didn’t finish his sentence or continue. Yu Qiaosheng looked at him and asked, “Only what?”
The student laughed awkwardly. “It’s just that his looks… Brother Yu, with your talent and appearance, what fine person couldn’t you have? Why take a fancy to someone like that?”
Yu Qiaosheng’s brows drew tight. “Don’t talk nonsense. What ‘favor’ or not? I made it clear—the book was a thank-you gift. With the August academy examination just around the corner, you still have the leisure to gossip about such things?”
“I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I won’t run my mouth anymore, all right?”
By then, Shu Rui had already entered the market. There were only a few meal orders for the evening, so he didn’t need to buy much rice or food. On his way back, he picked up vegetables and meat along the way.
With even a little movement in this weather, the heat came on fast, sweat breaking out all over. Shu Rui had to keep a constant eye on his complexion.
At this time of year, iced drinks were everywhere on the streets. When he reached the main road by Shili Street, he really couldn’t bear it anymore. He simply walked into a small shop called Le’er Sweet Drinks and ordered a bowl of chilled melon drink to quench his thirst.
In this kind of heat, especially in the afternoon, a shop like this should have decent business. Strangely enough, there was hardly anyone inside.
When Shu Rui passed by before, he had rarely seen people going in or out. He had assumed it just wasn’t the right season for business, but now that it was midsummer, it was still the same.
It didn’t take long for him to understand why the place was so quiet.
When the bowl of chilled melon drink was brought over, it was only about the size of his palm, yet it cost three copper coins. Inside were just a few chunks of melon, topped with some sweet milk.
He took a taste. The melon wasn’t sweet or crisp—that alone he could have tolerated—but one piece had clearly gone bad. It tasted sour as soon as it hit his mouth. When he sniffed closely, there was a distinct rancid smell.
As for the milk, who knew how much water had been mixed into it—it was so diluted that the taste was strange.
“Boss, your melon has gone bad.”
If the flavor were merely poor, he could have endured it and chalked it up to bad cooking. But spoiled food was another matter entirely.
Shu Rui put down the spoon and asked the shopkeeper to bring him some water to rinse his mouth.
The shopkeeper behind the counter was a woman, neatly dressed and rather well put together. She wore light fine-cloth garments, with a pearl begonia hairpin in her bun and a silver comb shaped like peonies and auspicious clouds tucked at the side. She didn’t look like someone from a poor household.
Hearing Shu Rui complain, she walked over. “The melon was freshly cut. How could it be bad? Perhaps you had vinegar at noon, and the sour taste lingered in your mouth, making the melon taste sour now.”
“Sour or not, madam can taste it yourself. If it’s truly my mouth that’s the problem, then go ahead and finish this whole bowl of melon drink. Only then would it be convincing.”
Shu Rui held the bowl right up to the woman’s mouth. Originally, since the shop wasn’t far from his place, one could even count them as neighbors. But since she was being so ungracious, he wasn’t about to be patient either.
The woman, however, didn’t taste it. Whether she caught an unpleasant smell with her nose or simply knew her own food was subpar, it was hard to say.
Seeing Shu Rui’s firm attitude, she said, “It must be that the melon seller cheated me, passing off rotten melons as good ones. I’ll refund you, that’s all.”
With that, she took out the three copper coins Shu Rui had just paid and returned them.
Seeing that she was willing to refund the money, Shu Rui didn’t pursue it further. Her words might have been unpleasant, but since she gave the money back, he didn’t bother arguing with her and took the coins as he left.
Still, he found it a bit odd. How did she even run a business like this? If she were deliberately selling bad goods to swindle people for dirty money, then once called out, one would expect her to argue fiercely. Yet she refunded the money without much resistance. It felt more like she simply didn’t care much about this little business at all.
When he returned, it happened to be just as Yang Chunhua was waking from a nap. She grabbed him to chat, and he told her about his experience eating at the sweet-drink shop.
“Why would you go eat there? Half the street knows that shop’s food tastes bad and costs too much.”
“Could it be a shop opened by some wealthy household just for passing time? That woman was well dressed—she didn’t seem to put her heart into running it.”
Yang Chunhua said, “Hard to say. That woman isn’t from our alley, and she doesn’t stay in the shop much either. It opens late and closes early. She used to come to my shop to buy cloth—so picky. This wasn’t good enough, that wasn’t good enough, always saying she has clothes made at silk shops.”
“Granny Zhang loves to dig up gossip. I heard her say that the woman’s husband does some kind of big, impressive business outside. No wonder she’s so well kept.”
Shu Rui responded with a sound of acknowledgment but didn’t dwell much on other people’s household affairs.
Just hearing this, his eyes began to turn with ideas again. “There aren’t many places around here that specialize in sweet drinks. The closest one is that shop, and farther in from our street, past the general store, there’s another one. Other than that, there are only peddlers carrying baskets and packs, calling out as they go.”
“When we were fixing up the shop, I bought eight-treasure porridge once from the one near the general store. The taste was pretty good. As for the one on the main street—there’s no need to even mention it.”
Yang Chunhua immediately caught on. “What, you’re thinking of doing this business?”
Shu Rui said, “In hot weather, people like cold drinks. Now that the inn’s roof repairs are done, there’s no problem with shelter from wind and rain.
“We might as well clean up the front room and set up a table outside to sell some drinks. Even earning a few copper coins is better than leaving it empty. The meal business is bringing in less and less—we have to think of other ways.”
Yang Chunhua laughed and praised him. “If you don’t make money, who will? Who’s better at planning and working hard than you?”
Shu Rui truly did want to earn more money. For one thing, it was needed to open the shop properly. For another… for another—well, that foolish boy couldn’t be cured no matter how they tried. He had to think ahead for the future too.