Jiang He looked at him in confusion.
“Why?”
“If I really am the son of a noble family, then the people who tried to kill me might be blood relatives fighting over the inheritance. If I suddenly show up without my memories, it’d be easy for someone to deceive me. If I can’t even tell friend from foe, I might not even know how I died. I’d rather stay here and recover slowly.”
That actually made a lot of sense.
Sure enough, even with amnesia, a person’s nature didn’t change, and neither did his mind.
He might be a little slow in some areas, but in others, he was remarkably sharp.
“You’re right. But even if it’s not for the sake of recovering your memories, we still have to collect the money we’re owed.”
Xie Zhao nodded.
“We do. But… don’t blame me for pouring cold water on your plans.”
Jiang He blinked.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know how far Liang City is?”
Jiang He had no real concept of the distance.
She only knew that when Father Jiang had gone there years ago, the return trip alone had taken more than two months. It certainly wasn’t close.
“How far?”
“More than two thousand li from here.”
Over two thousand li…
That was an incredibly long journey in ancient times.
“Jiang He, do you know how much travel money we’ll need?”
She shook her head.
She still had no idea, but she was certain it wouldn’t be a small amount.
Xie Zhao lowered his head in thought, silently calculating the expenses.
After a moment, he looked up.
“We have to prepare for the worst—that we make it all the way to Liang City and still fail to recover the debt. So we need enough money for a round trip. For the two of us, we’ll need at least ten taels of silver.”
Jiang He’s mouth hung open for a long moment before she finally asked,
“Even if we’re careful with our spending, it’ll still cost that much?”
“Yes. That’s already the frugal estimate.”
“Then… how much money do we have now?”
Xie Zhao held up two fingers.
“Two taels?”
“Twenty copper coins.”
Jiang He: “…”
She remembered that steamed buns nearby cost one copper coin each.
Which meant…
Their entire fortune could only buy twenty steamed buns?
“How do we only have this little money…” she muttered.
“Father spent a lot on medical treatment these past two years. After he passed away, we spent even more on his funeral. This is all that’s left. But don’t worry. I’ll be paid in a few days.”
Jiang He nodded silently, feeling a little anxious.
Then Xie Zhao added,
“Don’t worry too much. It’s only a few taels of silver. I’ll work hard and earn it. Once Master Zhang’s residence is finished, I’ll definitely have enough money for the trip to Liang City.”
“Is there a lot of work at Master Zhang’s estate?” Jiang He asked.
“Quite a bit. It’ll keep us busy until next year. This residence isn’t even for Master Zhang himself—it’s for his elder brother. I heard his brother is the current Grand Chancellor. He’s getting old and will soon retire to his hometown. This house is being built for his retirement.”
The Grand Chancellor…
Surely the Grand Chancellor would know Xie Zhao.
Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, she couldn’t tell.
“So when is Master Zhang’s elder brother retiring?” she asked.
Xie Zhao shook his head.
“I don’t know. Even after the house is finished, it’ll have to sit empty for another couple of years. I’d guess… at least three years from now.”
Jiang He quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Whether it turned out to be good or bad, at least they wouldn’t cross paths anytime soon.
…
Xie Zhao escorted Jiang He back to her room, telling her not to close the door. If she needed anything, she was to call for him—and call loudly.
After a busy day, he was exhausted.
He lay down on his bed and quickly fell asleep.
Before long, he was trapped in another nightmare.
Strange, distorted images flashed before him.
Everything was blurred except for one clear sound—a child’s voice repeatedly calling out.
“Big Brother… Big Brother…”
Xie Zhao jolted awake.
The voice in his dream overlapped perfectly with Jiang He’s voice.
Could something have happened to her?
Alarmed, he immediately jumped out of bed and rushed to her room.
Seeing her lying peacefully asleep, he finally relaxed.
It had only been a nightmare.
Although the Jiang family had fallen into ruin, the house itself remained.
It was actually quite large, with many rooms, though most of them were empty after all the furniture had been sold.
For convenience, the three of them had originally lived in adjacent rooms.
Father Jiang had occupied the middle room, with Jiang He and Xie Zhao on either side.
Returning to his own room, Xie Zhao thought to himself,
I should move.
With an empty room separating him from Jiang He, if anything happened during the night, he wouldn’t hear her.
Yes.
He’d move tomorrow.
He’d take the room directly on her other side.
Early the next morning, Xie Zhao began moving his belongings.
Jiang He rubbed her sleepy eyes and saw him carrying a rolled-up straw mat and quilt into the small room next to hers.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ll be sleeping here from now on.”
Jiang He looked at the tiny room.
“That room was meant for a maid on night duty. Once you put a bed inside, there’s barely any space left.”
“That’s fine.”
She was speechless.
“What are you making such a fuss for? Our house has plenty of empty rooms. Why do you insist on living here?”
“It’s too empty over there. I’m afraid you’ll get scared at night.”
The maid’s room was practically connected to the master’s room, separated by nothing more than a curtain.
To put it bluntly, even if someone passed gas in the middle of the night, the other person would hear it.
She did not want to sleep this close to a man she barely knew.
“I’m not scared. Move back.”
Xie Zhao had already finished making the bed.
Without looking up, he replied,
“I am. Let’s just say I’m the one who’s scared.”
Jiang He: “…”
Yeah right. As if I’d believe that.
“It’s getting late. I have to get to work. Breakfast is already cooked and waiting in the pot. Remember to eat. I’m leaving.”
With that, Xie Zhao jogged away.
He arrived just as attendance was being called.
His name had only just been called, allowing him to narrowly avoid trouble.
Otherwise, his wages would have been docked.
He wasn’t skilled enough for fine craftsmanship.
The only way he could earn money was through hard labor.
After working there for nearly a month, he’d become acquainted with several fellow workers.
One of the young bricklayers was named Lu Changgeng.
He had originally been a scholar and had even passed the county-level qualifying examination a few years earlier.
Later, however, his family split apart, and they could no longer afford his education.
He had no choice but to leave school.
Now he was working to save enough tuition so he could continue studying and hopefully pass the xiucai examination next year.
“Hey, why’d you take yesterday off?”
Xie Zhao lowered his voice.
“It was my father’s forty-ninth-day memorial. I went to visit his grave.”
“Oh… I’m sorry. I didn’t know your father had passed away.”
“It’s fine. Birth, aging, illness, and death are simply part of life.”
“You’re surprisingly open-minded.”
Xie Zhao was silent for a moment before replying,
“He’d been sick for a long time. Every day was filled with pain. He said that reaching the end was a kind of relief, and that we shouldn’t be too sad.”
Lu Changgeng nodded.
“That makes sense. As long as you’re alive, there’s always hope things can get better. But once an elderly person falls seriously ill, there’s rarely any chance of recovery. They’re simply waiting for death.”
As the two chatted quietly, the foreman spotted them.
“What are you two talking about? Get back to work! No talking! If you want to chat, get out!”
The two immediately shut their mouths.
Just then—
Bang!
Something heavy crashed to the ground from the west wing.
A terrified scream followed.
Every worker stopped what they were doing and turned toward the sound.
Moments later, several men carried someone out.
The injured man clutched his leg and screamed in agony, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
“Who was that?”
“Master Wang. They were raising the main beam in the west wing today. He slipped off the beam and fell. Judging from the looks of it, his leg’s probably broken.”
“What? Even Master Wang fell? He’s the chief carpenter for beam raising!”
“There’s something strange about that west wing. Two people have already fallen there, and they still haven’t managed to get the center beam into place.”
…
At the Jiang residence…
After breakfast, Jiang He cleaned the house before walking through every room inside and out.
The result disappointed her.
Everything that could be sold had truly been sold.
The only thing left to sell…
…was the house itself.
It was a spacious three-courtyard residence.
From its size alone, it was obvious that the Jiang family had once been truly wealthy.