28. Drawing Monthly Wages in Advance

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The entire reception hall fell into a deathly silence.

Madam Li had clearly taken pity on Xie An. Several times she tried to speak, but each attempt was silenced by the fierce glare Li Ru shot her.

In the end, Madam Li let out a quiet sigh and said nothing more.

Although the Li household possessed a certain amount of wealth, it was no more than a prominent family in a small town. Their finances were hardly inexhaustible. Supporting Li Shaoyun’s martial training had already cost them a great deal.

Later, in order to help Li Shaoyun pass the academy examination and earn the title of military licentiate, Li Ru had emptied the Li family’s savings accumulated over many years. By now, their expenditures had already exceeded their income.

Madam Li felt that Li Ru was being excessively harsh toward Xie An. Yet she also knew that he was doing it for the sake of their son, and so she could only accept it.

Everyone stared at Xie An’s lowered head, waiting for his reply.

Chunlan watched Xie An standing alone in the middle of the hall and also felt that Li Ru was being too cruel. Unfortunately, she was merely a servant girl, and her words carried little weight. There was nothing she could do to help him except sigh inwardly.

The oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily on Xie An. Even from several yards away, he could sense the look on Li Ru’s face—the expression of a man certain that his prey was already in his grasp.

Xie An understood Li Ru’s thoughts. There were no more than three of them.

First, he believed that after serving as a slave for thirty years, Xie An had no right to dream of breaking free from the Li family’s control.

Second, Xie An had offended Li Ru’s authority and displeased him.

Third, the Li household was desperately short of money. Moreover, Li Ru cared greatly about his reputation and believed that obstructing Xie An’s redemption would make him lose face before the local gentry. Thus, he had simply chosen to make the price brutally high. It was both a threat and a genuine demand.

Whatever the reason, Xie An found it deeply unpleasant. But he also knew that this was not the time to argue over it.

In order to secure his freedom, Xie An composed himself and said, “This humble one has managed to save some money over the years, but I am still short of two hundred taels. I humbly ask Master Li to show mercy. Could you perhaps lower the amount a little further?”

Madam Li leaned close to Li Ru’s ear and whispered to him for a while. Li Ru then yielded one step.

“In consideration of your diligent service to the pawnshop over the years, I will waive twenty taels. One hundred and eighty taels. Not a single copper less.”

Xie An saw the finality in Li Ru’s eyes and understood that no matter how humbly he pleaded, Li Ru would not relent.

At last, Xie An agreed without hesitation and explained that he needed several days to gather the money.

Li Ru gave him seven days. Xie An had no grounds to argue and withdrew from the reception hall.

Madam Li told Chunlan to see him out. Once Chunlan had left the hall, Madam Li turned to Li Ru.

“Husband, don’t you think we’ve been too harsh?”

When Madam Li had first married into the Li family, Xie An had already been there.

In the blink of an eye, thirty years had passed. She had watched Xie An change from a young man into a white-haired old man, and she could not help feeling a little more compassion for him.

Li Ru, however, explained his intentions.

“I know this will make Old Xie think us cruel. But my Li family has been in business for two generations. We may be wealthy, but we lack status. Shaoyun is about to take the military examination. If he succeeds, our Li family can leap straight into the ranks of the prominent families in the county.

“Everything must serve Shaoyun’s interests now. I’m doing this to raise money for him. He is about to register as an assistant steward of White Feather Hall, and he will inevitably need silver to cultivate connections and smooth the way. Everything I’m doing is for our family.

“Besides, I also intend to make Old Xie retreat in the face of difficulty. His skill at appraising goods is excellent, and he is well known both in and around the town. Many of our old customers come specifically because of him. If he leaves, the pawnshop’s business will suffer greatly. One hundred and eighty taels is a price we must demand.

“Let him stew for a few days and temper his arrogance. Once he understands the proper place of a servant, he’ll become obedient and never mention buying his freedom again.”

Madam Li sighed, but ultimately said no more.

Buying one’s freedom and resigning from one’s position appeared to be two different matters, but in truth they were one and the same.

As long as Xie An remained a servant of the Li family, he had to submit to their commands. If they ordered him east, he had to go east. Once he bought his freedom, however, he would regain his liberty. Under the laws of Great Qian, he could resign from the pawnshop at any time, and the Li family would have no grounds to stop him.

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…

Chunlan escorted Xie An out through the rear gate of the Li residence. Looking at the old man with hair white at the temples, she could not help feeling sorry for him.

“Master Xie, that’s simply how the master is. Please don’t take it too much to heart. Don’t make yourself ill with anger.”

“Thank you, Miss Chunlan.”

After offering his thanks, Xie An hurried away.

He knew that Chunlan was concerned for him, but saying that he might make himself ill with anger was truly an exaggeration.

Before coming to the Li residence that day, Xie An had already prepared himself for Li Ru to demand an outrageous price. After all, he had lived in the Li household for thirty years and knew Li Ru’s temperament. He simply had not expected Li Ru’s appetite to be so enormous.

Clearly, Li Ru had no intention of letting him buy his freedom. That was why he had raised the price so high—to make Xie An retreat in the face of difficulty.

Xie An naturally understood his intentions.

Li Ru wanted him to remain at the pawnshop. Even if he did little work, the reputation and trustworthiness he had built over thirty years as a master appraiser would continue attracting many old customers.

The value of that alone far exceeded one hundred and eighty taels.

But Xie An had made up his mind to buy his freedom and live as an upright man.

Although Li Ru had demanded an outrageous sum, at least he had stated his conditions. The matter would be much easier to handle from here.

First, he needed to gather the money.

Everything else could wait until after he had regained his freedom.

Several months ago, one hundred and eighty taels would have been an unimaginable sum to Xie An.

But now, it was not particularly excessive.

After all, Zhang Lin had told him that a steward of White Feather Hall received twenty taels a month. If he approached Zhang Lin and arranged to draw six months’ pay in advance, that would amount to one hundred and twenty taels. Combined with the sixty taels already in his possession, it would be enough.

Alternatively, he could visit the Blood Ridge black market again. Perhaps he might encounter that young man with the chamber pot. If so, he could make another lucky bargain.

Although Li Ru had been harsh and deliberately difficult, Xie An was now only one step away from buying his freedom. Whatever happened, he felt he had to make one last effort.

When he returned to his little house, Xie An found that his two disciples had actually begun practicing the Life-Nourishing Exercise with great enthusiasm. Han Li even had the movements looking fairly convincing.

As for He Chunli… he was practicing with his backside stuck in the air. No matter how one looked at it, it resembled a dog paddling through water.

Seeing how delighted his disciples were dispelled much of the gloom in Xie An’s heart.

The shop would not reopen until the eighth day of the New Year, so everyone was free with nothing to do. Ordinarily, this was the season for visiting relatives. But all three of them were servants without families of their own, so naturally they had no relatives to visit. They could only huddle together for warmth, forming a little family of their own.

“Master, am I doing this correctly?”

“And me, and me…”

Xie An glanced at the two disciples’ movements.

“Han Li’s is passable. As for you, Little He… are you practicing the dog-paddle stroke?”

“Hahaha!”

Han Li slapped his thigh in delight. He Chunli, who was already shy and thin-skinned, became even more embarrassed.

“I’ll demonstrate it for you. Watch carefully.”

Xie An was in poor spirits that day, but seeing how diligently his two disciples were practicing, he could not help being infected by their enthusiasm. He stopped and demonstrated the movements for them.

The saying went that a master revealed his skill at the very first move. Xie An had performed only a few movements when both disciples were left utterly astonished.

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“Master, your movements are so beautiful! You look just like a great hero.”

“Little He, you really don’t know how to speak. Remove the words ‘just like.’ Master is a great hero.”

“Brother Han is right. I spoke carelessly.”

“Don’t get distracted. Watch closely.”

After Xie An’s reprimand, the two disciples gathered their thoughts and began studying in earnest. The more they watched, the more astonished they became.

Though they were beginners, they could clearly feel that Xie An’s movements flowed as smoothly as running water, each one linking seamlessly into the next. When he threw a punch, it even produced sharp bursts of sound through the air. He looked immensely powerful.

In an instant, both disciples gazed at their master with utter admiration.

After completing the entire sequence, Xie An lowered his hands and stood still.

“That’s enough. Work it out yourselves. Cultivation depends mainly on your own efforts.”

Leaving them with those words, Xie An returned to the storeroom beside the little house and practiced the Life-Nourishing Exercise for the rest of the day.

At dusk, after Xie An and his two disciples had eaten dinner, they hurried out.

By the time they left the town, night had fallen. Xie An wrapped a black cloth around his face and once again made his way to the Blood Ridge black market.

Although the market had not been officially closed, hardly anyone was there on the third day of the New Year. Only twenty or thirty stalls remained, and there were few merchants or customers.

Xie An went straight to the market but did not find the young man with the chamber pot. He then went to the courtyard on the outskirts and found Zhang Lin.

“My old brother, I’ve been waiting eagerly for your arrival.”

Zhang Lin was still dressed in his steward’s uniform. He warmly welcomed Xie An into the inner hall and even had Zhou Xing prepare some aged tea for him.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhang Lin got straight to the point.

“What a coincidence. Steward Zhang Biao was ambushed and killed by bandits on New Year’s Eve, leaving his position vacant. If you are interested in joining White Feather Hall, old brother, you can take his place.”

As he spoke, Zhang Lin studied Xie An with a half-smile, as though he knew something.

He had no evidence, but Zhang Lin had a powerful feeling that the old man before him was responsible.

Several months ago, Zhang Lin and Xie An had hinted at Zhang Biao.

Then Zhang Biao had died.

And only three days after his death, Xie An had come knocking.

How could there be such a coincidence?

What was more, Zhang Lin had examined the scene and knew that Zhang Biao had been killed by a heavy bow. When Zhang Wei and Lu Wei had died, Zhang Lin had witnessed the scene from a distance. Xie An had used a heavy bow then as well.

Putting everything together, Zhang Lin had reached an eighty- or ninety-percent certainty.

Zhang Biao had been killed by this old man standing before him.

But without proof, such a matter could only be buried in his heart. He absolutely could not speak of it aloud.

Meeting Zhang Lin’s gaze, Xie An immediately knew what the old fellow was thinking.

But he was not flustered. Zhang Lin merely suspected him; he had no evidence. Moreover, after half a year of observation, Xie An believed that their interests were currently aligned. Zhang Lin would not go so far as to expose him.

Of course, Xie An would never place his hopes entirely in Zhang Lin’s trustworthiness. He wore a mask every time he came to the black market, and Zhang Lin did not know his true identity. If Zhang Lin ever tried to set a trap for him, Xie An would have no choice but to send him to the grave.

A debt of friendship was one thing and could be repaid. But when life and death were at stake, Xie An—who possessed the strength to protect himself—would never hesitate.

After weighing the matter carefully, Xie An said, “Steward Zhang, could I draw six months of my salary in advance?”