At the urging of the three children, Lin Wu closed up her shop the following day after they had finished school and headed to Riverside Tower with Lin Jing and Tigerhead.
Qi Lang did not go with them. As soon as school let out, he climbed into his family’s carriage and went straight to Riverside Tower, clearly intending to arrive first, deliver the message, and make sure everything was handled properly.
In a private room at Riverside Tower, Qi Xuan was looking through the account books when he heard a familiar set of footsteps outside. He glanced up and saw Qi Lang’s sturdy little figure appear in the doorway.
The boy stood before him with his hands clasped behind his back and a solemn expression on his round face. “Elder Brother.”
Seeing that posture, and remembering how the boy had repeatedly lectured him at home the day before, Qi Xuan felt a faint twitch at his temple. “You got out of school early today.”
“Elder Brother, don’t change the subject. I have something important to tell you.” Qi Lang lowered his voice, trying to sound as serious as possible. “Father put you in charge of the wine-and-food trade, but you haven’t managed it well.”
“How have I not managed it well?” Qi Xuan’s gaze returned to the account book. He had already heard this yesterday. It seemed his little brother was not especially bright, nor did he have a very good memory. He kept repeating the same words over and over without the least bit of weariness.
“All those mung bean-sheet shops listen to the grain guild instead of you.” Qi Lang counted off the points on his chubby fingers. He had carefully thought over his argument again in class that day and had come up with new reasons. He could hardly wait to explain them to his elder brother.
“And that wonton shop bullied Elder Sister Lin’s pastry shop, but you didn’t do anything about it either. It’s just like at school. You’re the teacher, but the students don’t listen to you. Some of them even bully other students, and they all listen to the teacher at the school next door. As a teacher, you don’t have any authority.”
He spoke with such earnestness that it was clear he was disappointed his elder brother had failed to correct the disorder in the trade. He had even begun to doubt Qi Xuan’s ability to manage things.
Worse still, because his elder brother had failed to establish his authority, the students—or rather, the shopkeepers—were in chaos, and bullying had even taken place. Qi Lang found this deeply troubling.
Qi Xuan listened to this fresh statement without so much as lifting his eyelids. The boy had already reported the matter to their father over the previous evening’s meal, embellishing it generously.
At the time, their father, Master Qi, head of the wine-and-food trade, had held his teacup and listened with great interest.
“Xuan’er, listen to this. Your little brother says you’re no good at managing things and have insufficient authority. It seems you still need more experience. If you can’t even convince your little brother, how do you expect to command the respect of everyone else?”
Only after Qi Lang finally came to a stop did Qi Xuan close the account book and set it aside. He looked up at the boy. “I understand. Shopkeeper Lin and the others should be arriving soon. Since you’re so concerned, I’ll listen carefully to what happened. If someone in the trade truly broke the rules, I’ll deal with it.”
At that, Qi Lang’s little brows drew together again. He stepped forward, his tone growing even more solemn. “Elder Brother, that isn’t right.”
“Oh?” Qi Xuan watched those clear, black-and-white eyes and waited for him to continue.
Qi Lang pressed on, trying to make his reasoning perfectly clear. “This isn’t a question of whether I’m concerned. It’s part of your duty, since you’re in charge of the wine-and-food trade. It’s like how a teacher is supposed to manage the students. If a student doesn’t report something, can the teacher pretend not to see it when someone is bullying a classmate? Whether or not I came to tell you, once you knew about it, you should have dealt with it.”
“You’re right,” Qi Xuan replied readily. “It is indeed my responsibility. I was negligent in this matter, and I should deal with it.”
That admission finally eased the sternness in Qi Lang’s expression. He nodded his small head in satisfaction.
Just then, Lin Wu and the others arrived. Tigerhead’s booming voice could be heard outside as he cheerfully greeted the familiar attendants in the building.
Qi Lang immediately abandoned his elder brother and turned to trot out the door.
The private room fell quiet again. Qi Xuan rose as well and walked over to the tea table prepared for guests. He could not help sighing inwardly. The two brothers of the Shen family really were each more troublesome than the last. Shen Guanting himself was far away in the capital, yet he could still send trouble all the way to Qi Xuan’s doorstep.
Soon, he saw Lin Wu enter, surrounded by the three children.
Tigerhead led the way, his face full of excitement as he bounded into the room. Qi Lang, who had just finished reprimanding his own elder brother, was now pressed close to Lin Jing, standing firmly on the side of the aggrieved party. The three little heads turned toward Qi Xuan in unison.
The scene truly looked like they were waiting for an incorruptible magistrate to deliver a just verdict.
“Shopkeeper Lin, it has been a long time,” Qi Xuan said first. His voice was calm as he gestured toward the seats opposite him. “Please sit. I have yet to congratulate you on expanding your shop. I simply didn’t expect that, so soon after the happy occasion, such a disturbance would arise within the trade. I failed in my oversight.”
Lin Wu shook her head slightly. “You’re too kind, Shopkeeper Qi. I’m the one who has intruded upon you and disturbed your peace.”
They both knew perfectly well why she had come.
Tigerhead, in particular, had already been unable to hold himself back. As soon as the polite exchange was over, he cleared his throat and began to speak.
“Brother Xuan—please uphold justice for us!”
His voice was bright, and he deliberately dragged out the last words. In the quiet private room, it rang out with exceptional clarity. Judging from his performance, he must have watched no small number of theatrical productions in his day.
Qi Xuan was secretly grateful that the private room was located farther inside, with no other customers nearby. Otherwise, that single cry would have made anyone who did not know the circumstances think that Qi Xuan had established a court at Riverside Tower and was presiding over some enormous grievance.
It was fortunate that the boy had called him “Brother Xuan” instead of “Great and Upright Magistrate.” At least he had left Qi Xuan a little dignity.
Tigerhead was entirely unaware that he had nearly ruined Qi Xuan’s good name. His little mouth continued rattling on.
“That Liu family’s wonton shop is just too unscrupulous! Their own business couldn’t compete, so they got their relatives in the grain guild to cause trouble…”
This grievance had already been repeated by Qi Lang over and over again the day before and that morning. Hearing Tigerhead bellow it out once more made Qi Xuan feel as though both his ears and his brain were suffering all over again.
Tigerhead’s petition finally reached the part that pained him most. His voice brimmed with injustice.
“They made us miss out on hot rice noodles yesterday, and we didn’t even get to try the newly made chilled mung bean sheets! We didn’t get a single bite!”
Like beans pouring from a bamboo tube, he went from the wonton shop to the mung bean-sheet shop, from rice noodles to chilled mung bean sheets, rambling on for quite some time. When he felt his mouth go dry, he did not stand on ceremony. He went straight to the stool beside him, picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup, and gulped down two mouthfuls.
Lin Jing had listened from the side. Finally, when Tigerhead’s mouth fell silent, he corrected him. “Tigerhead ate a bowl of chilled mung bean sheets at the shop before he came.”
So Tigerhead’s claim that he had not gotten to eat any chilled mung bean sheets was not consistent with the facts. Lin Jing felt that when making a complaint, one ought to explain the facts clearly and accurately.
That morning, Sister and Brother Gao had delivered the agreed-upon mung bean sheets and rice sheets right on time. Remembering that Tigerhead had missed out the day before, Lin Wu had deliberately set aside a portion for him, knowing that he would probably come along again that day.
Tigerhead set down his teacup and retorted with righteous indignation, “That was today’s cold tossed starch noodles. I didn’t get to eat any yesterday, and that means I didn’t get to eat any. I can’t go back to yesterday and have some—and even if I could, the shop didn’t have any yesterday after school. It’s just like the rice noodles the shop sold less of yesterday and the money it lost because of that. Can we make up for it? No! Once you miss something, it’s gone forever.”
He turned his bright, piercing gaze on Qi Xuan. “So this loss is real and tangible! Xuan-ge, don’t you agree?”
Qi Xuan could not be bothered to answer him. He merely turned his gaze to Lin Wu. “It would be difficult for me to take the initiative and confront the grain merchants over this. They would certainly deny everything. On the surface, the key parties involved—the starch-noodle shop that refused to sell to you, the Liu Family Wonton Shop, which is suspected of pulling strings behind the scenes, and your establishment, which was affected—all belong to merchants within the food-and-drink trade. The grain merchants could simply claim that this was an ordinary supply dispute between businesses in the trade and had nothing whatsoever to do with them.”
Lin Wu nodded. This was precisely what concerned her, and the reason she had come today.
Qi Xuan continued, “Besides, your establishment has already found a new source of supply today, so your business was not delayed for long. If we rashly go to the grain merchants and demand an explanation now, they could easily turn around and accuse us of making trouble where there is none. We might even give them grounds to say we are making a mountain out of a molehill—or worse, deliberately causing a disturbance.”
“How infuriating!” Tigerhead could not help slamming his palm against the table. “Are we just supposed to let this go? Let them bully people for nothing? No, absolutely not!”
Lin Jing knitted his small brows as well. “Teacher says that some things cannot be judged only by whether we suffered a loss at present. The shop has new starch noodles today, yes, but if this sets a precedent, and in the future the grain merchants—or anyone else—cut off another shop’s rice and flour supply simply because they take a dislike to it, how will anyone be able to do business on the street? Won’t all the rules fall apart?”
Qi Lang also looked toward his elder brother. “Exactly. Yesterday it was starch noodles. Tomorrow, could it be oil or salt? Yesterday it was Elder Sister’s shop, but tomorrow it could just as easily be someone else’s.”
Qi Xuan did not contradict them. “Shopkeeper Lin, what are your thoughts? Did you come today merely to understand what happened so you can take precautions in the future? Or, even if the grain merchants may refuse to acknowledge it, do you still wish to find an opportunity to reason with them?”
He paused, then added, “Regardless of what the grain merchants say, I cannot make bold claims about everything else, but I can guarantee this much: your establishment will have no trouble securing starch noodles from now on.”
Lin Wu smiled when she heard this. “Thank you, Master Qi, for looking after us. To be honest, the source of our starch noodles has already been settled, and our business has not suffered much. Rather than coming here today to demand an explanation, I would say I came because I was puzzled and hoped to understand what happened.”
“If Qi knows the details, I will tell you everything I can.”
The three children, who had been whispering among themselves at the side, immediately fell silent and pricked up their little ears.
Lin Wu’s voice was gentle. “What exactly did our little pancake shop do wrong? Or did we unwittingly offend some powerful figure, that the grain merchants would take such special care of us? Once we know the reason, we can be more careful in the future and keep our distance.”
Tigerhead immediately cut in from the side. “Sister, you’ve got it wrong! Bad people don’t need a reason to do bad things. Sometimes, deciding they don’t like the look of you—or thinking you’re easy to bully—is reason enough!”
Qi Xuan shot him a glance. “What Tigerhead said is not entirely wrong. But Shopkeeper Lin, there is no need to worry excessively. This grudge between the grain merchants and Guanting has nothing to do with you or your establishment. You need not tremble in fear over it, still less reflect on whether you have done anything wrong.”
He picked up the teapot and refilled everyone’s cups. White steam curled upward.
Qi Xuan’s voice mingled with the mist and drifted slowly through the private room.
“Speaking of which, this matter has something to do with Guanting, who has already gone to the capital.”
“As I thought!” Tigerhead gave a derisive snort. He knew it—this had to be yet another strange old debt incurred by his elder brother.
Qi Xuan continued, “The current head of the grain merchants may not even know about such a minor matter, and the people beneath him would not dare trouble him with it. It was Liang Fourth Son, the fourth son of the Liang family, who currently leads the grain merchants, who sent word privately and gave the order.”
“Liang Fourth Son?” Tigerhead and Qi Lang exclaimed in unison, both letting out an enlightened “Oh—”
Lin Jing turned his head curiously, looking first at Tigerhead and then at Qi Lang.
Even Lin Wu could not help glancing over at them with curiosity. So it really was Shen Guanting. It seemed that everyone except her and Lin Jing—the two outsiders—understood the old grudge without needing to say a word.
