Driving the cart, Song Shi entered the city that afternoon.
He tied the cart in the stable in the courtyard behind the shop, straightened his clothes, brushed the dust from his sleeves, and strode toward the shopfront.
The workers at the Silk Shop were coming and going, some carrying goods and others dusting. The whole place was a scene of bustling activity.
As soon as Song Shi entered, several of the younger workers spotted him.
“Brother Song Shi is back!” Xiaoliuzi, one of the workers, greeted him with a grin. “What was the urgent matter at home? You left in such a hurry.”
Song Shi smiled and answered vaguely, “Nothing serious. There was just something going on at home, and my father insisted that I go back for a while. It’s all taken care of now.”
He did not mention the marriage arrangement. When he had asked for leave earlier, he had only said that it was a family matter and had not told anyone that he was going home to meet a potential match. After all, he had been a hundred times unwilling then and felt embarrassed to admit it. Now that he had found such a treasure, he was still too ashamed to suddenly change his story—it would make him seem fussy and hypocritical before.
Xiaoliuzi did not ask further. He merely leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Brother Song Shi, the shop’s been swamped these past two days while you were gone. Shopkeeper Liu’s mentioned you several times.”
Song Shi nodded. “I’ll go see Shopkeeper Liu first.”
He straightened his collar, crossed the shopfront, and headed toward the accounting room in the back.
Shopkeeper Liu was sitting at the accounting desk, working an abacus. A pair of spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose, and his fingers moved the beads with a rapid clatter. He was a tall, thin man in his fifties who had worked in the Lu family’s shops for more than twenty years. He was a shrewd man.
Song Shi stood at the door and gently knocked on the frame. “Shopkeeper, I’m back.”
Shopkeeper Liu raised his eyes, removed his spectacles, and looked Song Shi up and down before snorting. “Back, are you? Judging by the look on your face, you’d think you’d picked up a gold sycee.”
Song Shi chuckled as he walked in and sat down across from him, rubbing his hands together. He had not intended to mention the marriage arrangement, but the happiness on his face was impossible to conceal. After holding it in for a while, he finally spoke. “Shopkeeper Liu, I have something to tell you.”
“Go on.”
“My family has arranged a marriage for me.” As he said this, Song Shi unconsciously straightened his back. “She’s the daughter of a licentiate—a proper scholar’s family.”
Shopkeeper Liu was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. “A licentiate’s daughter? What’s the girl like?”
“Wonderful!” Song Shi slapped his thigh, his eyes shining. “Shopkeeper, I’m not praising her just because she’s my future wife, but that girl has looks, character, and ability—she’s got everything. You should have seen her. She’s capable in every way, inside and out!”
Seeing him like this, Shopkeeper Liu could not help laughing. He was used to seeing Song Shi bowing and scraping in the shop, carefully reading everyone’s mood. It was rare to see him show such genuine emotion.
“All right, congratulations.” Shopkeeper Liu lifted his teacup and took a sip. “Have you set the date?”
“Not yet,” Song Shi hurriedly replied. “We’ve only just met each other. Next we have to match our birth characters and choose an auspicious day. Shopkeeper, I wanted to tell you that I may have to go home a couple more times soon to arrange the wedding. Please bear with me here at the shop. I promise I won’t neglect my work. I’ll do everything I’m supposed to do, without missing a thing.”
Shopkeeper Liu put down his teacup and glanced at him, remaining silent for a moment.
Song Shi felt somewhat uneasy. The shop’s rules were strict, and the workers could not easily take leave. He had already taken two days off. If he asked for more, he feared Shopkeeper Liu would be displeased.
Unexpectedly, Shopkeeper Liu sighed, and his tone softened. “All right. You’ve been working under me for five or six years now. You’ve grown from a little boy into a grown man. Starting a family is a good thing. Go take care of whatever needs taking care of. I’ll keep an eye on things here at the shop.”
Song Shi’s heart warmed. He immediately stood and bowed to Shopkeeper Liu. “Thank you, Shopkeeper! Rest assured, I, Song Shi, will remember your kindness for the rest of my life!”
Shopkeeper Liu waved his hand and cursed him jokingly. “Enough of that. Go get to work!”
======
Song Shi felt even better after leaving the accounting room.
Humming a little tune, he returned to the shopfront and helped the workers carry bolts of fabric and stack the shelves. His hands and feet were even quicker than usual. Several of the younger workers gathered around him, chatting with him all at once.
Xiaoliuzi had sharp eyes. Seeing the smile that had remained at the corners of Song Shi’s mouth, he could not help asking, “Brother Song Shi, why are you so happy today? Did something good happen at home?”
Song Shi did not stop moving, but the smile on his face faded a little. He did not want to make a show of his engagement at the shop. After all, he had only said that he was taking leave for a family matter. Announcing a betrothal now would make his story seem inconsistent. But he truly could not hide his feelings, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not press down the corners of his mouth.
“Nothing much,” he said vaguely. “The matter at home was taken care of, so I feel more at ease.”
Xiaoliuzi did not think much of it and turned back to his own work.
After a while, Xiaoliuzi suddenly came over again for some reason. He raised his brows and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Brother Song Shi, while you were gone these past few days, Sister Qingluo came to the shop and asked about you.”
Song Shi’s hands paused, and the smile on his face faded a little more.
The workers nearby perked up as well, each of them straining to listen.
“That’s right, that’s right,” another worker chimed in. “Sister Qingluo asked where you’d gone. We told her you’d gone home because of a family matter. She also said that when you came back, you were to take the newly arrived fabric to Miss’s courtyard.”
“Brother Song Shi, does Sister Qingluo have a thing for you?” Xiaoliuzi asked with a sly grin.
In the past, Song Shi would have blushed at such words and laughed bashfully, secretly delighted inside. But today, his reaction was completely different.
Song Shi placed the fabric in his hands on the counter and turned around, his expression unexpectedly stern.
“Stop talking nonsense.” His voice was not loud, but his tone was firm. “There’s nothing between Miss Qingluo and me. She’s the personal maid at Miss’s side, a respectable person. I’m just a worker at the shop—how could I presume to reach above my station?”
Xiaoliuzi stared at him for a moment, then said awkwardly, “Brother Song Shi, haven’t you always—”
“Always what?” Song Shi interrupted. “That was me being muddleheaded before, making a fool of myself trying to curry favor. Don’t say things like that anymore. What will people think of that young lady if word gets out?”
The workers exchanged glances, none of them expecting Song Shi to be so serious this time.
Xiaoliuzi knew the details best. In the past, Song Shi had been extremely attentive to Qingluo—he went to Miss’s courtyard every few days to deliver fabric, ran errands for Qingluo, and bought things for her. Once, Qingluo had said she wanted osmanthus candy, and Song Shi had run all the way across two streets to buy it for her. Who in the shop did not know that Song Shi had feelings for Qingluo? They had teased him about it plenty in private.
Yet today, Song Shi looked so righteous and resolute that he seemed never to have known Qingluo at all.
Xiaoliuzi was bewildered, but he did not dare ask anything else. He nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, Brother Song Shi is right. We shouldn’t have been running our mouths.”
The others chimed in as well, laughing and joking as they quickly changed the subject.
Only then did Song Shi pick up the fabric and resume working. His expression relaxed, but inwardly he was secretly relieved. Fortunately, he had not said that he had gone home to meet a potential match when he asked for leave. Otherwise, these fellows would have made even more fun of him. But there was no helping it now. In any case, he had never had anything to do with Qingluo, so it was only right to cut things off.
Yet the thing one feared most was often the very thing that happened.
Just after noon, while the shop was at its busiest, a series of light footsteps sounded at the entrance.
Song Shi was measuring fabric for a customer when, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of someone entering—a goose-yellow beizi, a moon-white skirt, and a floral hairpin adorning her head. Her footsteps were light. He knew who it was without even looking up.
Qingluo.
She had spent enough time in the shop to be familiar with everyone, above and below, and did not need anyone to greet her. She walked straight to the counter and called out in a clear voice, “Xiaoliuzi, Miss sent me to collect those two bolts of cloud brocade. They were ordered in advance.”
Xiaoliuzi hurriedly acknowledged her and ran to the back to move the fabric.
Song Shi lowered his head and pretended to be completely absorbed in wrapping the customer’s cloth. He did not even raise his eyelids.
Qingluo stood by the counter and waited for a short while. Her gaze swept casually over the shop before landing on Song Shi.
She frowned slightly.
Whenever she came to the shop before, Song Shi had always been the first to greet her. He would bring her tea and water, ask after her, and fuss over her attentively. Sometimes she deliberately ignored him, but he never grew angry. He would still smile and hover around her.
But today, even though he was clearly in the shop, he acted as though he had not seen her.
Qingluo felt somewhat displeased, but nothing showed on her face. She continued chatting with Xiaoliuzi with a bright smile. When Xiaoliuzi brought out the cloud brocade, she examined the fabric carefully and nodded in satisfaction.
“Thank you for your hard work, Xiaoliuzi,” Qingluo said, her gaze drifting toward Song Shi once more.
Song Shi was arranging the shelves with his back to her, showing no intention of coming over.
Qingluo pressed her lips together. She carried the fabric two steps toward the door, then stopped.
She assumed that she had been too cold to Song Shi in recent days and that he had therefore become discouraged. That was not necessarily a bad thing. One had to strike him with a stick, then offer him a sweet date, keeping him dangling so that he would be even more attentive. That was how she had always treated him, and Song Shi had always fallen for it.
With that thought, Qingluo turned back. She deliberately walked over to Song Shi, her voice louder than usual and carrying a hint of intimacy. “Brother Song Shi, you’re back? Why didn’t you come say hello?”
Several workers in the shop secretly looked over, their eyes full of anticipation as they waited for the spectacle.
Only then did Song Shi turn around. He wore the standard smile he used for customers and gave her a polite, indifferent nod. “Good day, Miss Qingluo. I was busy just now and didn’t have the chance.”
Qingluo was stunned by the way he addressed her.
Brother Song Shi—had become “Miss Qingluo”?
The smile on her face stiffened for an instant, but she quickly restored it. Assuming Song Shi was merely sulking, she deliberately moved a little closer and lowered her voice. “Brother Song Shi, what have you been busy with at home these past few days? Did you tire yourself out?”
Her words were intimate and considerate. In the past, Song Shi would have been flattered beyond belief and blushed from ear to ear.
But the Song Shi before her took a small step back, putting distance between them. The smile on his face remained courteously polite, but his tone was as bland as plain water. “Thank you for your concern, Miss Qingluo. Everything at home has been taken care of. Do you need anything else? The shop is busy, so I’ll have to excuse myself.”
With that, he turned around and continued arranging the shelves, presenting her with his back.
Qingluo stood where she was, holding the two bolts of cloud brocade. Her face turned from red to white.
The shop fell silent for a moment. Several of the workers lowered their heads and pretended to work, not daring to look over.
Qingluo bit her lip and stood there in a daze for several breaths. She had meant to offer Song Shi a sweet date so that he would continue hovering around her as he had before. She had not expected him simply to refuse to play along. His manner, keeping her at arm’s length like a stranger, made it seem as though she had done something shameful.
Her face suddenly flushed, and her eyes began to grow hot.
Clutching the fabric, Qingluo stamped her foot and hurried out. Her footsteps were fast and heavy, as though she were throwing a tantrum at someone—or fleeing in defeat.
Xiaoliuzi watched her back disappear through the doorway, then quietly moved over to Song Shi and lowered his voice. “Brother Song Shi, Sister Qingluo seems angry. Her eyes were even red.”
Song Shi did not stop working or raise his head. His tone was so calm that he might have been discussing something that had nothing to do with him. “What does that have to do with me?”
Xiaoliuzi stuck out his tongue and did not dare ask anything else.
After finishing with the shelves, Song Shi dusted off his hands and went behind the counter to sit down. His expression was calm, but inside, he felt indescribably exhilarated.
In the past, whenever Qingluo smiled at him or said a few extra words, he would be happy for half a day, feeling as though he had taken one step closer to her. Yet she had always maintained that sort of ambiguous distance with him—neither rejecting nor accepting him, keeping him hanging so that he would willingly run errands for her and curry favor with her.
He actually understood that Qingluo might not truly think much of him. She was the personal maid at Miss’s side and had high aspirations. Perhaps she had already set her sights on a better way out. He was merely a shop worker. She simply enjoyed being fawned over. Striking him with a stick and then offering him a sweet date had only been a way of manipulating him.
Once Song Shi understood that, he felt even more strongly that he had been a fool before.
Fortunately, he had met Fang Wan.
Whenever he thought of Fang Wan, Song Shi could not keep the smile from his lips. He lowered his head and looked at his hands, remembering how he had given her the silver hairpin and rouge that morning, and how she had accepted them with that faint “Thank you, Young Master Song.”
Her tone had not been warm, but she had not refused the gifts. That was enough.
As for Qingluo?
She could go wherever she pleased.