Chapter 46: Buying Fans

Moreover, the founder of Wang Guan Academy was none other than the immensely famous Prince of Yuzhang, and the chief librarian was from the Hedong Liu clan—if I truly competed, might I offend these powerful figures?

Simply put, I am an unregistered person, bearing a fake identity as a member of the Langya Wang clan—I ought not draw attention to myself.

Liu Zhao, seeing Wang Yang’s hesitation, sighed: “I know this matter is not easy to carry out; after all, the Prince originally favored Wang Guan Academy, so although he promised ten thousand coins as a prize to the winner, it is in fact—” When he said “ten thousand,” Liu Zhao deliberately spoke vaguely.

“How much?” Wang Yang immediately perked up.

“Ten thousand, awarded to the winner. If Zhiyan wins, these ten thousand coins are yours!” Liu Zhao enticed.

Wang Yang was somewhat tempted.

He had been reborn into this world, destitute! Even his clothes were bought on loan, and he now owed Liu Zhao sixteen hundred and twenty coins in total!

Even if Liu Zhao wasn’t pressing him for repayment, he couldn’t indefinitely live off others’ food and lodging.

Thinking of this, he asked: “Sir, what did you mean just now by ‘registering under a household’?”

Liu Zhao, seeing Wang Yang’s interest, quickly explained: “It means transferring your original household registration, temporarily attaching it to Jingzhou, before you can enter the commandery school.”

He thought to himself: Zhiyan doesn’t even understand household registration—he must have been buried in his studies and knows little of worldly affairs.

Wang Yang pondered, deciding to use this opportunity to see if Liu Zhao could help resolve his household registration issue; he carefully chose his words and asked softly: “But... what if I have no household registration?”

Liu Zhao was startled: “No household registration? What do you mean by no household registration? You live in Yixing—haven’t you registered?”

Wang Yang sighed deeply: “It’s not that I don’t wish to tell you, sir, but this matter is too delicate to speak of.”

“My apologies, my apologies—I was too abrupt.”

Liu Zhao naturally assumed this might involve some secret of the Langya Wang clan, a family feud, and mentally conjured a dramatic tale of an illegitimate son.

“So even if I wished to enter the commandery school, I still couldn’t. Registering requires at least having an original household registration.” Wang Yang probed.

Liu Zhao, sensing an opening, immediately asked: “If I could resolve your household registration issue, would you be willing to represent the commandery school and compete against Wang Guan Academy?”

Wang Yang solemnly replied: “I will give my utmost effort and not let down your trust!”

Liu Zhao was overjoyed, but soon grew troubled: registering an ordinary unregistered commoner would be easy, but Zhiyan is a scholar-official! How could this be handled?

Seeing Liu Zhao’s troubled expression, Wang Yang asked: “Sir, is there some difficulty?”

“If it were before the household inspection, it would indeed be simple—but now...” Liu Zhao feared Wang Yang might change his mind, so he shifted tone, feigning ease: “Never mind—leave this matter to me. Directly restoring your original registration is impossible, but for temporary attachment... let me think...”

Wang Yang stood up: “Then think it over—I’m going out of the city and won’t be back for dinner.”

Liu Zhao worried: “Zhiyan, the scholarly debate is in seven days—Liu Tan’s learning is profound; you must not underestimate him!”

“Don’t worry!” Wang Yang smiled, bowed, and stepped out the door.

Liu Zhao continued to fret: How could he solve this household registration issue?

“Wow! This is Jingzhou City! So big! So tall!”

Xiao Awu stood beneath the city wall, head tilted up, utterly awestruck.

The majestic city wall stood in stark contrast to Awu’s tiny frame.

“Can we go up and take a look?” Awu asked eagerly.

“The city ramparts aren’t open to just anyone.”

“Oh.” Awu looked dejected, then blinked his big eyes: “Ordinary people can’t go up, but someone as handsome and powerful as you, Young Master, must have a way!”

“Awu, flattery doesn’t always work.”

Awu said “Oh,” then asked: “What does ‘flattery’ mean?”

“Young Master, what is a tower?”

“This is a tower.”

“What kind of tower is this?”

“Er...”

“Young Master, what does ‘er’ mean?”

“When you don’t know or can’t answer, you say ‘er.’”

“Young Master, is there a patch of grass here?”

“Why are you looking for grass?”

“Er...”

Thus, the tall and the small wandered through Jingzhou City.

Xiao Awu had never entered a city before and was thrilled; Wang Yang, as a “newcomer” who had only recently been reborn, was equally excited. They stopped and looked, walking all the way to the market.

At the time, markets were walled, had gates, and featured official pavilions called qiting shilou, serving as government-regulated centralized trading grounds.

There were four market gates, each leading to the center, intersecting to form a “cross.”

Shops lined both sides of the roads, merchants gathered thickly, stalls and alley shops buzzed with cries of vendors—thriving and lively.

Wang Yang entered a shop selling fans, accompanied by Xiao Awu, who held a lotus leaf bundle and was loudly chewing “white cocoon candy.”

White cocoon candy was a popular sweet at the time: glutinous rice was mashed into cakes, dried, cut into strips, fried in oil, then coated with powdered sugar and wrapped in lotus leaves—somewhat like modern “glutinous rice sticks.”

Yet this small bundle, containing barely a few strips, cost twenty-three coins! Wang Yang had earlier seen a broken horsewhip sold for only ten coins—he couldn’t help but marvel at how expensive these “glutinous rice sticks” were! (Ancient records often mention “xx coins,” but this is simply shorthand for “xx wen”; “xx wen” was the common usage, though the full form was less frequently used.)

The shopkeeper, seeing Wang Yang’s refined bearing and aristocratic attire, enthusiastically introduced various delicate silk fans. Wang Yang had already visited several shops; now he examined this one thoroughly and confirmed that folding fans had not yet been invented—he was certain. He asked: “Can you customize fans here?”

“Of course. What type of fan would you like customized?”

Wang Yang gave the shopkeeper a detailed description of a folding fan, expending considerable effort to make him understand what it was; the shopkeeper was thoroughly baffled:

“Why would you make such a thing? There are so many beautiful, convenient fans here—all far more practical than that object! That thing doesn’t even fan as well as a palm-leaf fan! And since its purpose is simply to fan air, why fold it?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Just tell me: can you find paper that is sufficiently strong and smooth, so it won’t tear when folded or unfolded?”

“Perhaps... maybe? But such stiff paper is usually coarse and thick—not suitable for a scholar’s desk.”

“That doesn’t matter. The paper must be white, bright, as pure white as snow! How much would such a fan cost?”

“This... this shop has never made one—it would require trial production, and material and labor costs would be high...” The shopkeeper glanced at Wang Yang, as if making a decision, then said: “Alright, I won’t overcharge you—two hundred coins.”

Before Wang Yang could speak, Xiao Awu suddenly said: “Young Master, I told you to go to that other shop—they only charge fifty coins!”

The shopkeeper, looking into Awu’s innocent, wide eyes, had no suspicion and felt embarrassed: “Which shop? Let me tell you, many small workshops deceive customers—low prices, but they don’t make things carefully.”

Wang Yang silently gave Xiao Awu a thumbs-up, patted his head, and smoothly continued: “But that shop takes two days—I need it by tomorrow.”

The two of them, a masterful duo of haggling, spun lies without blushing.

The shopkeeper hurriedly said: “I can have it ready by noon tomorrow!”

“Then I’ll have it made here—I’ll pay forty coins...”

“You—” The shopkeeper was about to explode.

But Wang Yang continued: “Forty coins per fan. If you make them well, I’ll place an order for thirty fans total—complete them within seven days. Can you do it?”

——————————

Note: ① Hu Sansheng believed folding fans already existed during the Southern Qi, known as “waist fans”; this view has been clearly refuted by scholars and need not be elaborated upon. Those interested may consult Zhou Yiliang’s *Notes on the History of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties* and Yang Xiangmin’s *The Story of the Fan*.

② In the [Author’s Note], the character “ Zi ” in the phrase “ Chongzhiweizi ” is printed as “ Zuomiyouzi ” in the Zhonghuashu Bureau 2022 edition, but this character cannot be typed on standard input methods; I have used the “ Zi ” from Yang Xiong’s *Fangyan*, an alternate form with the same meaning, specifically referring to rice ground into cakes.

③ In fact, each chapter’s [Author’s Note] previously cited a historical source related to the chapter’s content—either corroborating the objects or foods mentioned, or echoing the chapter’s theme, hinting at the origin of an idea, or reflecting the social customs and mores of the era.

But for some reason, the system failed to publish many of them; when I asked the backend, they said direct posting wouldn’t work—I had to make minor edits, and adding a period somehow made them appear. I don’t understand the mechanism—it’s strange. So if you see “periods galore” in earlier [Author’s Notes], don’t be surprised.