Chapter 13: Becoming a Tyrant
Zhao An had thought that with another person in his bed—and a person he liked, at that—he wouldn’t be able to sleep. But Hu Sheng had been still ever since he lay down. Listening to his light, shallow breathing, Zhao An had actually drifted off to sleep very quickly.
However, he was still mindful of having to ripen the strawberries in the morning, so he opened his eyes just as the sky was beginning to lighten. Then he stealthily climbed out of bed, whispered guiltily, “I’m going to relieve myself,” and then left the room.
At this point, Hu Sheng had indeed woken up, but he didn’t open his eyes. Not long after, Zhao An returned, crawling back into the quilt from the head of the bed, seeming to intend to sleep in a little longer.
Hu Sheng couldn’t sleep now either. He listened as Zhao An’s breathing gradually became regular, then quietly turned over. He saw a foot that had kicked out of the quilt. The round toes were a faint, pale pink. It should have been a foot that had never experienced any labor, but there were several new calluses on the sole. It seemed his life had indeed not been easy recently.
Amidst the crowing of roosters and barking of dogs, the sun gradually rose over the distant mountain peaks, casting an orange-yellow morning glow. When Zhao An finally woke up, Hu Sheng had already gotten up and left. He had only left fifty liang of silver on the table and a note. “I have retrieved the redemption money for Hai Bo and Qin Tong. The rest is compensation from Zhao Tongming.”
When he saw the silver and the note, Zhao An’s first reaction was that the preparations he had stealthily made this morning were for naught. He put down the note and ran outside, ducking into the hemp-cloth tent Hu Sheng had set up last night. Sure enough, not a single one of the bright red strawberries was missing.
He blamed himself for sleeping in, and also felt that Hu Sheng was too heartless, leaving without even saying goodbye. The most detestable was the heavens; it had rained so heavily last night, yet this morning, the sky was clear and vast.
However, the strawberries had already been grown. Since he couldn’t give them away, he could only take them to Ruyi House to sell. But as he was leaving with Qin Tong as usual, he repeatedly instructed Hai Bo, who was staying to watch the house, “Unless we come back, don’t open the door for anyone, no matter who it is.”
Hai Bo agreed, but Zhao An still felt uneasy. After a moment’s thought, he added, “When we get back, we’ll look around the village and buy two guard dogs to raise.”
Hearing this, Hai Bo suggested, “Why not buy two more young servants? If we raise them well, they will surely be loyal to the Young Master.”
After all, raising two dogs consumed about the same amount of grain as raising two people. At most, the price of buying dogs was a little cheaper than buying people.
However, Zhao An’s expression immediately changed. “Hai Bo, think about it yourself. How did it feel to be sold? Why would you want to buy people?” Having Hai Bo and Qin Tong by his side was already an accessory that came with his status. If he were to buy people, he really couldn’t get over that hurdle in his heart. Call him a hypocrite if you will; although he couldn’t control others, he could at least control himself.
Hai Bo wanted to argue that some families couldn’t afford to raise their children, and buying these children and giving them a meal was actually a good deed. But then he thought about it from their perspective and felt that being sold was indeed not a good feeling.
So, the retort ultimately remained unspoken. He could only nod at Zhao An. “When the Young Master returns, we will definitely pick the two best puppies.”
Only then was Zhao An satisfied. He took Qin Tong to the village entrance to wait for Liu Hu’s ox-cart, but after waiting for a long time, no one came. When he finally saw an old woman, Zhao An hurried over to call out to her, “Has the ox-cart to the city already left?”
But when the old woman saw Zhao An, she turned and ran like a mouse seeing a cat. Qin Tong was baffled by this scene. Zhao An rubbed his nose, suddenly remembering his majestic display of power yesterday. He had probably scared all the villagers.
Zhao An was helpless. Since the image of a tyrant had already been formed, he didn’t want to correct it. He took the basket from Qin Tong’s back and said, “Go and chase her down for me.”
An old woman’s steps were no match for an agile young boy like Qin Tong. It didn’t take long for him to catch her. After catching her, he asked, puzzled, “Auntie Liu Song, have you done something to feel guilty about? Why did you run when you saw my young master?”
It turned out this was the mother of Liu Song, the person Hai Bo often traded with. Caught by Qin Tong, she came before Zhao An and said tremblingly, “The heavy rain last night washed away the rice seedlings of many families in the village. Liu Hu’s family also suffered a disaster, so he probably won’t be driving the cart for a while.”
“Thank you for the information, Auntie,” Zhao An apologized politely, then gestured for Qin Tong to let her go. He then watched as the old woman left his sight at a much faster pace than before.
With no cart to be found, they could only walk to the city. But even the official road was muddy and impassable, so much so that even though Zhao An was carrying nothing and leaning on a stick, he almost fell.
Qin Tong’s situation was much better than Zhao An’s. Having been running around chopping firewood recently, he was familiar with the mountain paths. Walking on this muddy road, his footing was much more stable than Zhao An’s.
Proceeding at such a slow pace, the two of them took a full shichen to reach the city. When they arrived at Ruyi House, Manager Feng actually said with a smile, “I thought you weren’t coming. It rained so heavily last night. There are far fewer people at the market today, and the number of customers in the restaurant has also halved.”
Hearing this, Zhao An said directly, “If business at Ruyi House is not good today, then these strawberries don’t need to be sold. I want to give them to a friend.”
Manager Feng had just been thinking of haggling down the price when he heard this reply. He was a little displeased, but then he heard Zhao An continue, “My friend’s name is Hu Sheng. He has blue eyes. Manager Feng should know him, right? He stayed at my house last night, and I said I would give him some strawberries, but he had to leave early this morning on urgent business, and I can’t find him. If the manager doesn’t mind, could you help me send a few dozen strawberries to him?”
“So Young Master Zhao is also a friend of Young Master Hu! He is very close with the Fourth Young Master of my cousin’s family. Why don’t you give some strawberries to the Fourth Young Master and have him pass them on?” Manager Feng’s tone instantly became even more enthusiastic.
Only then did Zhao An know that the man who often paraded through the streets in brocade robes and used qinggong in public was the son of the county magistrate.
Thinking of this, he felt a faint twinge of jealousy. This Fourth Young Master could often be with Hu Sheng. They might have already slept foot-to-foot, and perhaps even done more outrageous things.
So he couldn’t help but ask, “May I ask if this Fourth Young Master is married? The taste of strawberries is very popular with the ladies. If there is a Young Madam, I should also send a portion to her to show my respect.”
Sending gifts to the female family members was indeed a conventional tactic. Manager Feng, suspecting nothing, answered naturally, “It’s a pity, but the Fourth Young Madam passed away ten years ago due to complications in childbirth. The Fourth Young Master has been mourning his late wife all these years and has never remarried.”
Normally, a person like Hu Sheng shouldn’t be interested in a married man, but if the other party was a widower, it seemed to be a different matter.
Just as Zhao An was lost in thought, a voice suddenly interjected, “Why are you so concerned with my family affairs? Do you have an unmarried sister at home who needs a husband?” Feng Shaoping thought to himself, The sisters in Consort Li’s family are probably as beautiful as this young man before me.
But he didn’t know that Zhao An found his tone too frivolous, and even thought with a hint of disgust, Even if Hu Sheng’s taste were any worse, he probably wouldn’t fall for someone like this.
