The light outside gradually softened, filtering in through the doors and windows in a pale golden glow. The room seemed quiet and gentle.
Lin Wu’s heart gave a faint flutter. Her fingertips instinctively brushed over the inconspicuous pocket beneath her short jacket, where a small purse was tucked away.
A little jade ring hung from the purse, almost identical to the one Shen Guanting wore.
It was also the birthday gift he had given her last time.
She could not help lifting her eyes toward the person across from her.
Shen Guanting looked perfectly composed. In fact, when he caught her gaze, the curve of his lips became even more pronounced. In the soft light, his smile appeared harmless, yet it was impossible to tell what lay behind it.
“Now then, my creditor A Wu,” he began, his tone carrying that familiar teasing note. “Have you settled on a figure? I came in such a hurry today that I don’t have much cash on me. If you name too high a price, I’m afraid you’ll have to give me a few days to raise it. I may have to go home and scrape together the money—or pawn a couple of old robes.”
Lin Wu had no interest in entertaining his rambling nonsense. She merely lowered her eyes and pondered.
The two jade rings were identical in shape, material, and color. Could it be that even Young Master Shen was unable to resist the temptation of “buy one, get one free”?
Yet given Young Master Shen’s taste and usual manner, whether he meant to give it away or wear it himself, it seemed unlikely that he would use some casual freebie.
Could the jade ring appear plain and unremarkable while actually concealing some precious quality that an amateur like her could not discern?
At that thought, she even felt tempted to take out her own purse and examine the ring more closely. In the end, however, she could not bring herself to be as forthright as he was.
Or was it merely a coincidence?
Whatever styles of clothing and jewelry were popular among the people, they soon appeared everywhere. A while ago, for instance, young ladies had taken to wearing a certain kind of silk flower. One need only walk a few steps through the market to see several people wearing identical ones.
Perhaps this jade ring was simply an ordinary style that happened to be fashionable at the moment.
As she continued to make wild guesses, Shen Guanting seemed to notice where her gaze had lingered.
Following her line of sight, he looked down at the jade ring around his waist. A smile slowly spread through his eyes.
Lin Wu’s heart sank.
She was no stranger to that smile. It hovered somewhere between mischievous amusement and earnest concentration, impossible to read. But it was invariably a sign that he was about to start spouting some kind of nonsense.
“This?” Shen Guanting said, meeting her gaze with complete naturalness. He raised a hand and untied the jade ring from his waist, holding it between them.
He lowered his eyes and examined it carefully for a moment before saying, as casually as could be, “A Wu, are you curious about this jade ring? I’m ashamed to say that it’s nothing rare. It’s really just an ordinary piece of jade.”
His words made Lin Wu secretly sigh with relief.
Following his lead, she chose her words carefully. “I only thought it looked rather—”
The words had nearly reached her lips when she changed them. “Rather elegant. It doesn’t seem quite like your usual style, Guanting.”
Shen Guanting chuckled at that, as though amused by her comment—or perhaps reminded of something. “So, does A Wu dislike this jade ring?”
Lin Wu hurriedly waved her hands. “Of course not. I only thought that its refined and gentle appearance suits the bearing of a graceful gentleman, which seems very fitting for you. It appears I was mistaken.”
Thinking of the ring on her own purse, she spoke with unusual courtesy. If it truly was the same style, saying to the giver’s face that she disliked the gift would have been terribly impolite.
The little jade ring had also caught the attention of Lin Jing and Tigerhead, who were still puzzling over the promissory note.
But after taking a closer look, Tigerhead blurted out, “Big Brother, this jade ring is completely plain. It looks worthless.”
Lin Jing glanced at it as well, then reached into his own little purse and rummaged around until he pulled out a small, flattened, round stone with patterns running across its surface. He held it beside the jade ring and compared the two with great seriousness.
Tigerhead immediately let out an admiring “Wow.” “Jing, your stone is much prettier than my brother’s jade ring!”
Lin Jing looked a little pleased with himself. “I found it in Qingxi Garden a few days ago. I have lots more little stones.”
Then, remembering that he ought to spare his senior brother’s feelings, he added considerately, “Brother Ting’s jade ring is pretty too. It has a circle, so you can hang it from your clothes.”
That was how he praised it, but their attention soon shifted entirely to the little stones.
They tossed the five-hundred-string promissory note and the jade ring aside, then bent their two small heads together over a little side table and began chattering away as they appraised the stones.
After the little jade ring had been thoroughly belittled, Shen Guanting did not seem annoyed in the slightest. The smile on his face remained as he continued, “I often feel that, when all is said and done, A Wu and I are both in the business of opening our doors and selling things. Merchants either flaunt their strength through lavish extravagance or keep a low profile and focus on practicality to build their reputation. In my humble opinion, A Wu and I both belong to the latter sort.”
Lin Wu was even more baffled by this. How could a small pastry-shop proprietor like her possibly be in the same category as Young Master Shen, the owner of the Jizhen Pavilion?
Could it be that, because of the five hundred strings she had unexpectedly gained today, he now considered her to have risen overnight into the ranks of wealthy merchants?
Shen Guanting seemed to see the confusion in her eyes. He continued to explain of his own accord, as though discussing the principles of running a business. “Since we walk the same path, we understand that people like us value honesty above all. The goods must be honest, the prices must be honest, and the heart must be honest.”
Lin Wu truly could not understand how selling a twenty-string sword for five hundred strings could possibly be called “honest.”
Shen Guanting had no idea that she was criticizing his idea of “walking the same path” in her mind. His train of thought shifted once more, returning to the jade ring.
“To me, this jade ring follows the same principle. It does not rely on elaborate carving to make a show of itself, nor does it borrow ancient elegance or auspicious symbolism to affect refinement. It is simply what it is—plain, warm, and genuine, the same inside and out. So…”
He looked at Lin Wu. “I privately thought that something whose worth lies in its own material and character would probably suit your nature, A Wu.”
That had been his thought from the beginning. If the gift were too expensive or conspicuous, she would probably refuse to accept it openly. Even if she did accept it, it might become a burden, hidden away and left untouched. Something inconspicuous and unpretentious would suit her far better. Since he had already decided to leave Huzhou, he had hoped to give her something she could use every day.
Listening to him, Lin Wu felt a touch of helplessness. Her gaze slowly drifted away, settling on the yellowing sky beyond the window. How had he managed to circle around and bring the conversation back to this again?
Still, judging by what he had said, the two little jade rings really were of the same design. She could not decide whether to call him frank—or devious in his roundabout way.
Seeing her expression, Shen Guanting stopped at just the right moment. He said no more and tied the jade ring back around his waist.
His movements were calm and natural. By comparison, Lin Wu began to wonder whether she was the one making too much of it.
But she quickly reassured herself. Young Master Shen had the nerve and eloquence to raise the value of a sword from twenty strings to five hundred. Naturally, she could not compare with him.
After tying the jade ring back in place, Shen Guanting even hooked a finger through it and gave it a little tug.
Against his refined robes, the ring looked strikingly plain.
He smiled, his brows and eyes relaxed. “A Wu, look. Doesn’t this jade ring suit me rather well too? That’s why I kept one for myself.”
Lin Wu looked him up and down, a trace of suspicion showing in her eyes.
She could not see in the slightest how that plain jade ring complemented his finely made, meticulously tailored clothes.
Then again…
Perhaps this was simply the unique flair of Young Master Shen’s taste.
After all, some people prized contrast. The more splendid the clothing, the simpler the accessories; the more eye-catching the ornaments, the plainer the clothes ought to be.
“The jade ring is simple in style and color. It doesn’t clash with any clothing, and it isn’t restricted to any particular occasion. You could wear it every day, so it’s quite practical.” She actually began examining it in earnest, offering a serious appraisal. “And if you calculate how many times you could wear it and how much use you could get out of it over the course of a year, it becomes even more worthwhile.”
Her words were exceedingly down-to-earth, filled with careful calculation.
Shen Guanting could not help letting out a laugh when he heard her. Even his voice sounded lighter. “Quite right. When it comes to things purchased with money, practicality and value for money are indeed tremendous virtues.”
When Lin Wu saw him nodding without hesitation, she suddenly remembered that he was the proprietor of Jizhen Pavilion, the city’s shop for rare and precious goods. When it came to what was least practical and offered the poorest value for money in the entire city, if Jizhen Pavilion claimed second place, no one would dare claim first.
Thinking of this, Lin Wu could not help smiling as well.
“So A Wu thinks my eye for these things is acceptable?”
Lin Wu nodded.
Shen Guanting met her gaze, the smile still lingering in his eyes, but inwardly he gave a faint sigh. At least the subject had been put to rest.
There had to be limits even to a joke. Frightening Fourth Young Master Liang and making him embarrass himself in public had been amusing. But if he accidentally offended the sharp-minded Shopkeeper Lin before him, making her wary or distant, then he would truly have gone too far and defeated his own purpose.
If that happened, Master Shen would likely have to return home and reflect on his behavior by the light of a solitary lamp.
Master Shen had always known when to stop while he was ahead. He picked up the brocade purse that had been neglected on the table for quite some time.
“All right, enough idle talk. We should attend to the real matter. Fourth Young Master Liang’s debt has been settled. Next, I must think carefully about how much money would be appropriate to count as the debt I owe A Wu, so that we can truly call things even.”
The moment money was mentioned, Lin Wu immediately came back to herself and hurriedly shook her head, her attitude clear. “Guanting, don’t bring it up again. Those five hundred guan may have belonged to Fourth Young Master Liang, but if you hadn’t stepped in, not a single coin would have reached me. Five hundred guan is already an enormous sum. I feel uneasy enough accepting that much. If you add anything more, I truly won’t know what to do.”
Shen Guanting looked at the woman across from him. The light in the private room had dimmed somewhat from before, but because they were sitting close together, he could still see her expression clearly.
His earlier remarks about the jade ring had certainly been made half in jest, simply following the flow of the conversation. Yet Lin Wu truly did resemble a fine piece of jade: she was neither dazzling nor ostentatious, but calm and lustrous. She appeared plain and elegant, yet somehow made it impossible to look away.
And yet her excessive simplicity and tranquility also made her seem faintly distant, much like the way she had looked when she had been lost in thought earlier. Such pure and unadorned jade was rare, and there were very few people truly worthy of its elegance.
At present, however, her urgent refusal was more like the Lin Wu he knew.
He smiled slowly. “This is the way A Wu conducts business: open and straightforward, content with her place, neither greedy nor presumptuous. No wonder Double-Wood Bakery has managed to establish itself and grow steadier by the day. That disposition of yours is your greatest capital.”
Being praised so solemnly made Lin Wu feel a little embarrassed. “I’m not nearly as good as you make me sound. I only run a small business and haven’t seen much of the world. This is the first time I’ve ever had so much money pass through my hands, and I’m still rather flustered. I’m afraid I’ve made you laugh, Guanting.”
“How could you?” Shen Guanting shook his head. Looking at her, his gaze was clear and upright, and his tone was more serious than usual. “The business world is full of rises and falls, and people’s hearts are all different. Someone like A Wu, whose thoughts are clear and whose conduct is upright, is the best sort of person to have as a fellow merchant exchanging ideas, as a rival testing one another, or as a proprietor placing trust in someone.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Jing, who had been fiddling with little stones nearby, suddenly raised his small face. His bright, round eyes looked at Shen Guanting, then at Lin Wu, and he cut in, “My mother is the best proprietor.”
Tigerhead chimed in as well. “A-Jie’s food is the tastiest!”
A smile once again touched Shen Guanting’s eyes. He reached out and gently ruffled Lin Jing’s soft hair. “Little Shopkeeper A-Jing is young, but he certainly has a good eye.”
Lin Wu found herself both helpless and amused by their chorus of praise. “How did we end up becoming so polite today? It must be the influence of this creditor-debtor relationship. It seems these five hundred guan have truly made us more distant.”
She raised her eyes toward the window. The daylight was gradually fading. “It’s getting late. We should head back and prepare supper.”
Shen Guanting rose at her words. “A Wu has had to manage the shop today, and she also went to all that trouble on my behalf over this old matter. You’ve worked hard.”
Lin Wu rose as well and took Lin Jing’s hand. “That isn’t quite right, Guanting. Today, it was the Young Master Shen who personally presented me with the five hundred guan in repayment. By that reckoning, this may well have been the most valuable hour of my entire life.”
Carrying the light yet weighty purse of exchange notes, Lin Wu stepped out of Pillow River Tower. The evening breeze, cool and crisp, rushed toward her, yet she could not shake the strange feeling in her heart.
The purse containing those exchange notes was clearly light as air, yet it seemed to carry an unfamiliar presence that could not be ignored. She could not tell whether it was because she now possessed those five hundred guan—or because of something else.
