Chapter 14: Village Rumors

Chapter 14 Village Rumors

"It's nothing. I just heard from the shopkeeper that Fourth Young Master Feng is also a friend of Hu Sheng, so I wanted to ask him to deliver some strawberries to Hu Sheng for me. I also thought of giving some strawberries to Fourth Young Master Feng’s family as a thank-you." Zhao An offered a seemingly proper excuse, concealing his hidden, personal motives.

Feng Shaoping found Zhao An’s overly polite demeanor rather incongruous. He eyed Zhao An suspiciously and said, "If you’re friends with Hu Sheng, why not deliver the gift to him yourself?"

Zhao An replied calmly, "The mountain paths are rough. Someone of my frail constitution can’t easily make the climb, unlike Fourth Young Master Feng, who possesses such exceptional martial arts skills."

Hearing Zhao An allude to the mountains, Feng Shaoping finally acknowledged that Zhao An indeed knew something about Hu Sheng. His guard eased significantly as he said, "Give the strawberries to me. I’ll make sure they’re delivered to him."

Though Zhao An would have preferred to see Hu Sheng again in person, he had already gone this far and couldn’t back out now. He counted out fifty strawberries, borrowed a basket from Shopkeeper Feng, and handed it to Feng Shaoping.

Feng Shaoping had come to Ruyi Restaurant to collect debts on his father’s behalf. After taking the strawberries, he headed to the back courtyard to handle the accounts. Shopkeeper Feng counted the remaining sixty-one strawberries and paid Zhao An 181 copper coins. He added, "When I said earlier that business was slow and we might not sell the extra strawberries, I was only joking. Young Master Zhao, you must be sure to deliver the full amount of strawberries to me next time. If possible, try to grow even more—we can handle the surplus."

Sure enough, merchants certainly knew how to change their tune in an instant. Faced with Shopkeeper Feng’s smile, Zhao An responded lightheartedly, "Next time, I’ll definitely deliver the full amount to you, Shopkeeper Feng. However, the strawberry season only has about a month left. If we want to expand cultivation, we’ll have to wait until next year."

Even if Zhao An had the ability to make strawberries available year-round, given the era’s rudimentary greenhouse technology, it was clearly impossible to enjoy the same fruit in all four seasons. He had no intention of posing as a mystic or revealing his supernatural abilities to anyone other than Qintong and Uncle Hai. At most, he could extend the strawberry season to three months—any longer would strain credibility.

Seeing the disappointment in Shopkeeper Feng’s eyes, Zhao An quickly shared another piece of good news: "Besides strawberries, my family also grows some grapes—large and sweet ones. I’ll bring some for you to taste later. I’m sure you’ll like them."

"That sounds wonderful!" Shopkeeper Feng replied immediately. "If they’re delicious, I’ll definitely offer a high price to buy them from you, Young Master Zhao."

Though it was still a distant possibility, Zhao An and Shopkeeper Feng discussed it as though it were a sure thing. Grapes had been introduced to the Central Plains over a thousand years ago, and although yields were low due to climatic conditions, with the right varieties, Zhao An could use his supernatural abilities to ripen and improve their flavor. As for Shopkeeper Feng’s promise to purchase them, it was merely a verbal commitment—if the grapes Zhao An brought weren’t good, he could simply refuse to buy them.

After leaving Ruyi Restaurant, Zhao An took out the copper coins he had just earned and said to Qintong, whose face still bore a red mark, "You and Uncle Hai were both frightened yesterday. Use this money to buy some candies and pastries to share with Uncle Hai."

Qintong had often received rewards in the past and accepted the 100-plus copper coins without fuss. However, he said, "I don’t really like pastries or candies, and Uncle Hai is too old to enjoy them much either. How about we buy some meat instead?"

So Zhao An bought more meat and set aside fifty coins to purchase two chickens back in the village. As for buying grapevines, he planned to have Uncle Hai take Qintong to the prefectural city to help him with that later.

As for himself, he was, after all, someone under imperial orders to return to his hometown and guard the ancestral tomb. If he dared to openly step beyond the borders of Changxi County, his life would be on the line. Even if the Emperor hadn’t assigned anyone to watch him constantly, he feared that the next time Zhao Qingcheng had a disagreement with the Emperor, he, an innocent bystander, would once again become the target for venting anger.

Moreover, Zhao Qingcheng and Li Xiuye had disagreements quite frequently. Yet, no matter how they quarreled, it was always others who ended up suffering. To be safe, Zhao An would absolutely not break the law unless it was a matter of life and death.

The journey back from Changxi County took another hour. By the time they arrived home, they had missed the usual lunch hour, but Uncle Hai was still waiting for them. Lunch was quite lavish: a large bowl of braised pork, a plate of marinated dried tofu, some steamed dried fish, and a vegetable dish. The abundance was largely due to the preparations made the previous noon; since heavy, greasy food wasn’t suitable for morning meals, it was only now being served.

Ah Wu, who had been spying on Zhao An’s family from the bamboo grove behind the house, no longer dared to come near. Yet the rich aroma of braised pork lingered over the entire village. Even more frustratingly, the scent had started wafting even before lunchtime and persisted long after everyone who caught a whiff had finished their meal, saliva dripping, because Uncle Hai had been keeping the braised pork warm with hot water until Zhao An returned.

It was only when Zhao An’s family finally sat down to eat that most of the village was freed from this tantalizing smell. As they adjusted seedlings damaged by the rain, they discussed Zhao An’s family affairs in the fields.

"That Young Master Zhao truly is the son of a prime minister—he’s really something. Look at Zhao Tongming, always strutting around the village like he owns the place, but when he met someone truly formidable, he was put in his place instantly," one person said, steering the conversation away from the tantalizing topic of Zhao An’s family eating meat daily to the events of the previous day.

Clearly, more than one person had witnessed the spectacle. However, as if afraid to summon trouble by speaking of it, they had tacitly avoided discussing the incident until now. With someone breaking the ice, the conversation quickly grew lively.

Liu Song’s mother, whom Zhao An had encountered that morning, was among the most enthusiastic participants. "This Young Master Zhao acted so decisively—he must have trained in martial arts before. When I first saw his delicate, scholarly appearance, I thought he wouldn’t last long in the countryside."

"And that friend of his—I happened to pass by Zhao Tongming’s door this morning and saw him," another villager said, pausing for dramatic effect before mimicking a punching motion. "With one punch, he shattered Zhao Tongming’s wall!" Then, cupping his hands to show the size, he added, "Good heavens, the hole was this big!"

"Uncle A’da, what happened next?" A young lad, captivated by Liu A’da’s storytelling, stopped working and straightened up to ask for the next part of the tale. Even the boy’s stern father, who would usually press him to keep working, watched Liu A’da expectantly, eager for the story to continue.

After basking in the attention, Liu A’da finally raised his voice to share the freshly minted story with everyone working in the fields. "Zhao Tongming’s mother was so terrified she collapsed on the spot. Only then did that gentleman leisurely say, 'I’ve come to collect the ransom for the two people you abducted and sold yesterday.'"

He even clasped his hands behind his back, imitating Hu Sheng’s clear, authoritative tone. Though his local accent was unmistakable, he managed to capture a hint of Hu Sheng’s imposing demeanor. Unfortunately, as a balding old bachelor with small eyes and a flat nose, Liu A’da looked nothing like Hu Sheng.

Nevertheless, the villagers gave his performance rave reviews. Even Patriarch Liu Huan, who had been silently smoking his pipe while watching his three sons work, was drawn into the story and urged impatiently, "What happened after that?"

Liu A’da chuckled. "Of course Zhao Tongming paid up. He handed over a bundle that looked just like the one his family tried to use to ransom Uncle Hai and Qintong last night. I reckon it contained fifty taels of silver."

When he mentioned the bundle used to carry the silver, many villagers recalled it vividly and asked for details. Liu A’da provided them, and the villagers nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, that’s the one."

In the gaps between their labor, the villagers reached a consensus: Zhao An was not someone to be trifled with, and he had a formidable fighter for a friend. Even if Zhao An’s family indulged in wine and meat, it had nothing to do with them, the common folk. It was much like how they felt about Zhao Tongming, the village magnate—though they lived in the same village, there were no interactions for weddings or funerals.

This was, in a way, the villagers’ subtle way of ostracizing Zhao An, though he remained unaware of it. Even when Uncle Hai went to buy chickens that afternoon and was treated with unusual respect, he noticed nothing amiss and easily spent fifty coins on a rooster and a hen. He didn’t hear Liu Song’s mother complain, as she usually did, about how she couldn’t even afford a chicken during her confinement after childbirth—because they had already classified Zhao An’s family as wealthy enough to eat chicken whenever they pleased.

However, Zhao An was not as wealthy as the villagers assumed. After inquiring with Uncle Hai, he learned that a good grapevine would cost at least twenty taels of silver and could only be purchased from specialized gardeners. In this era, grapes weren’t cultivated on a large scale but were grown scattered in household gardens as edible ornamental plants.

Thus, even with the fifty taels of silver Hu Sheng had left behind, he could only afford two grapevines. With such a small number of mother plants, improving the variety would be quite challenging.

Standing in the courtyard, Zhao An pondered the shortage of silver and gazed at the distant green mountains, deciding that he must venture deep into the mountains after all.

He hadn’t abandoned his long-standing determination to find valuable medicinal herbs. With his abilities, cultivating large quantities of medicinal herbs could be a lucrative venture. Moreover, using these herbs to help the sick would be a win-win situation.

However, the mountain paths were likely still slippery after the recent rain. He would wait for a couple of sunny days before considering the journey into the mountains.