Not to mention becoming a xiucai—even passing the tongsheng examination was extremely difficult.
A xiucai…
If he really became a xiucai, she’d be even less worthy of him.
She wasn’t a secret agent, nor was she a miracle doctor.
She was just an ordinary person who couldn’t do anything special.
So what made her think she was somehow superior to people from ancient times?
What, then, did she have to be unwilling to accept?
“Mm.” Jiang He answered softly. “I’ll leave everything to you, Brother.”
After saying that, she returned to her room without even looking at him.
The smile on Xie Zhao’s face faded.
Was she…
…unhappy with the arrangement?
He hurried over and knocked on her door.
“Jiang He, if you’re unhappy, you can tell me. I never said you had to marry him. There are plenty of good men in the world—we can take our time looking.”
The room remained quiet.
After a while, Jiang He’s voice finally came from inside.
“I’m not unhappy.”
“Then why…”
“I don’t even know him. It’s all too sudden.”
Hearing that, Xie Zhao didn’t know whether he should feel relieved or disappointed.
“I see… Well, then… I’ll invite him over more often. Once you spend more time together, you’ll naturally get to know each other.”
Jiang He opened the door and forced a smile.
“It’s fine. As long as you think he’s a good person. At least I’ve seen him once. Plenty of people get married without ever meeting beforehand.”
Xie Zhao froze.
She had a point.
How could a young woman inspect a prospective husband herself?
As her elder brother, it was enough for him to do it on her behalf.
On the surface, everything sounded perfectly reasonable.
Yet somehow… something still felt off.
Xie Zhao laughed awkwardly.
“All right then. When I get the chance, I’ll visit his family. If he seems suitable… well, let’s wait until I’ve seen him.”
“Mm.”
Originally, Jiang He had planned to talk to Xie Zhao that night about starting a business.
But seeing how enthusiastically he had already found a marriage prospect for her, she no longer wanted to bring it up.
If the marriage worked out, she’d discuss business with her future husband’s family after she got married.
And when Xie Zhao left two years from now, everything here would no longer have anything to do with him.
So there was no point telling him about it.
…
Xie Zhao continued going to work each day.
Meanwhile, Jiang He began visiting households one by one, asking about cloth prices and whether they were interested in doing business with her.
She even visited the local cloth shops.
After making inquiries for some time, she had a fairly complete understanding of the market.
Jiang He had no interest in being nothing more than a small middleman.
If she was going to do business, she wanted to do it on a large scale.
And to do that, her buyers couldn’t simply be small local cloth shops.
After further inquiries, she learned that Linjiang Prefecture had an official cloth merchant that supplied fabrics nationwide.
She immediately made up her mind.
The cloth she collected would be sold directly to that official merchant.
With Aunt Zhang acting as an intermediary, Jiang He negotiated with several nearby weaving households.
From each, she borrowed one bolt each of high-, medium-, and low-quality cloth.
“We agreed we’re only lending these to you. You’ll return them, right?”
Jiang He smiled.
“Don’t worry, sisters. I’ll definitely return them. Within ten days.”
Since Aunt Zhang had accepted two jin of flour from Jiang He, she naturally spoke up on her behalf.
“Cuilan, don’t worry. We’re all neighbors. Surely we can trust each other this much. Besides, even if she wanted to run away, she couldn’t take the Jiang residence with her.”
At the thought of the Jiang family’s enormous mansion—which was worth a fortune—the women finally relaxed.
“All right then. Take them.”
“Thank you, Sister.”
“No need to thank me. If you really manage to make this business work, it’ll benefit all of us.”
“Of course. If I succeed, I’ll help all of you make money too.”
That promise painted such a wonderful picture that the women were delighted.
Every one of them was beaming with excitement.
Once everything was ready, Jiang He packed up the bolts of cloth and set off.
She figured that if she discussed this with Xie Zhao first, he’d definitely refuse.
So she decided to act first and explain later.
That morning, after Xie Zhao left for work, she placed the note she’d written on the table, weighed down so he’d see it when he returned.
With everything prepared, Jiang He set out for Linjiang Prefecture.
…
Xie Zhao spent the entire day distracted at work.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Jiang He had been acting strangely these past few days—especially that morning.
He was so absent-minded that he didn’t even hear what Lu Changgeng was saying.
“Ziming, did you hear me?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I won’t be working here starting tomorrow. I’m switching to lacquer work—painting decorative designs. It pays twenty copper coins a day, six hundred a month. That’s a hundred more than we’re making now.”
Xie Zhao blinked.
“A hundred more? That much?”
“That’s right.”
“Then I’ll go too.”
Lu Changgeng: “…”
Did he think he could just join because he wanted to?
“Can you paint?”
“I don’t know… but I can try.”
“But didn’t you say you were going to become one of the beam-raising carpenters? They’re raising the beams on the east wing in a couple of days.”
Xie Zhao stared blankly for a moment.
“Oh… right. I’m supposed to help raise the main beams. The foreman said it’d pay fifty copper coins a day. That’s fifteen hundred a month.”
At that rate, he’d save ten taels of silver in no time.
Once they had enough travel money, they’d go collect the debt.
And once they recovered those three hundred and eighty taels of silver, Jiang He would finally have a proper dowry.
Lu Changgeng laughed.
“Raising the main beams only takes a week or so. It’s not a month’s worth of work. Do the beam work first. If you still want to learn lacquer painting afterward, I’ll teach you.”
“Oh. That works too.”
“Ziming… you’ve been acting strangely today. Did something happen?”
“Nothing. I’m just short on money and feeling worried.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask. You don’t look like you’re lacking food or clothing, so why are you in such a hurry to earn money? You can’t rush these things.”
It wasn’t wise to reveal too much about money, so Xie Zhao didn’t mention collecting the debt.
Instead, he simply said,
“I have to save up a dowry for my younger sister. She’s already eighteen and still hasn’t found a husband. Even when my father was dying, he was still worried about it.”
The moment the topic came up, Lu Changgeng became noticeably embarrassed.
He lowered his voice.
“Does Miss Jiang He… really like me?”
Seeing Lu Changgeng’s hesitant, bookish manner made Xie Zhao a little unhappy.
“She said she’d leave everything up to me. Think about it—when a young lady says something like that, what do you think it means?”
“But…”
Thinking of the Jiang family’s grand residence, and remembering that Jiang He had grown up waited on by maids and servants, Lu Changgeng felt unworthy.
“Brother Ziming… could we postpone this matter?”
Xie Zhao frowned.
“What do you mean? You think my Jiang He isn’t good enough for you?”
“No, no! It’s just… I’m only a commoner right now. I’m the one who’s unworthy of Miss Jiang He. Please give me a little time. Once I pass the xiucai examination next year, I’ll come to your house and formally ask for her hand.”
Xie Zhao clicked his tongue.
“You make becoming a xiucai sound easy. What if you fail?”
Lu Changgeng blushed, but his tone became much firmer.
“I have confidence in my abilities.”
As long as Jiang He married before she turned twenty, there was no real rush.
Next year would be fine.
“All right. If you pass next year, I’ll introduce my sister to you. But if you fail, then forget about it.”
Lu Changgeng: “…”
That wasn’t what you said before.
Xie Zhao raised an eyebrow.
“What’s with that look? You don’t believe me?”
“Huh? No… it’s just… now I’m feeling a lot of pressure.”
“Pressure is good. Pressure gives you motivation.”