Chapter 16: Viewing the House (Part Two)

The two exchanged a glance, and Chen Xin said to Wu Fangya, "Why does this door face east instead of south? It cuts off a chunk of the shop-front space." Wu Fangya replied, "Young Master Chen, this street runs north–south. The house fronts the street on the east side; the south side already butts against someone else's courtyard wall — how could you open a door there? Every house on this half of the street has its door facing east."

"Still not quite to my liking. We're in trade too, so the feng shui orientation has to be considered."

"Young Master, you may not be aware — although the door is on the east side, it is set to the south, occupying the xun position. The main hall sits in the kan position. A xun door with a kan house is also a highly auspicious layout."

Chen Xin understood nothing of feng shui; he was only looking for flaws to make bargaining easier. Once the house agent started on the Eight Trigrams, he was completely lost. With no other choice, he stubbornly insisted that a door not facing south would harm his business, then added that the kitchen was too crude, and argued with the agent.

In the end, Liu Minyou stepped in to smooth things over, saying they were basically satisfied but asking for the price to be reduced by a few taels. Chen Xin disagreed about buying immediately and started quarrelling with Liu Minyou — the two putting on a double act to pressure the house agent.

Wu Fangya had no choice but to tell them, "In that case, I will discuss it further with the owner and see if he will yield a little. I will certainly give you both an answer tomorrow morning."

The two thought it over. Chen Xin did not start work until the day after tomorrow, so tomorrow would still be in time, and they agreed.

Liu Minyou remembered something and asked the house agent, "If the price is settled, how soon can the house be transferred?"

"As long as we can get Head Tan of the local watch and the neighbours on both sides to act as witnesses — and this place has another convenience: Head Tan already has the red deed ready. If he is available, the transfer can be done tomorrow. Will the two young masters write the red deed themselves or hire a scribe? A scribe costs an extra four or five fen in brush fee."

"Of course we'll hire a scribe. And — are there any other fees?" Neither of them was confident about writing such a document.

"The deed tax is eight per thousand, paid to Head Tan. Then there is the witness fee for the neighbours on either side — at the young masters' discretion. Apart from that, there is only my agency fee."

Liu Minyou cupped his hands and said, "Uncle Wu has explained it clearly. In that case, we must trouble Uncle Wu to make another trip, so we can settle this sooner."

Uncle Wu had a very good impression of Liu Minyou. Smiling, he said, "No trouble, no trouble. I live nearby myself. If this goes through, we will be neighbours from now on; helping each other out is only right."

They all went out together. Wu Yue took his leave of the group and hurried off toward the south of the city to discuss the matter with the house owner.

Seeing him leave, Zhang Erhui clutched his head and asked Liu Minyou, "Brother Liu, can you give me back my knife?"

"Give it back? That knife is for self-defence. Do you need to draw a knife just because you broke a bowl? If this happens again, I'll confiscate it and use it to chop vegetables."

"Understood."

Liu Minyou glared at him fiercely several times before handing the knife back. Zhang Erhui snatched it, sheathed it, and stuffed it inside his clothes, clutching it tightly.

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As soon as Zhang Dahui burst into the trackers' shack carrying meat, he shouted, "Brother Dai, this is what Brother Chen sent us to bring you."

The trackers saw it was Chen Xin's little sidekick and immediately came over warmly to greet him.

Dai Zhenggang grabbed Zhang Dahui with his left hand and Hai Gouzi with his right. "Little brothers, quick, quick, come sit down. Last time was too rushed — I never even asked your names. Will you tell your big brother?"

"Zhang Dahui!" "Hai Gouzi!"

"Good, good, fine names." Dai Zhenggang naturally could not have explained what was good about either name. He glanced behind the two and changed the subject. "Why didn't your Brother Chen come?"

Zhang Dahui answered, "Brother Chen went looking for work today, but he kept thinking about Er Tun's injury. He sent us to bring food. He said eating meat helps wounds heal faster."

Er Tun quickly thanked them both. Hai Gouzi did not say much, just grinned foolishly as he watched Zhang Dahui talk.

Lu Lvzi asked Zhang Dahui a little hesitantly, "What kind of work is Brother Chen looking for? An official post or a business?"

"He's going to be an accountant — two taels of silver a month."

Lu Lvzi was startled. "Brother Chen came here to be an accountant?"

"Not originally. Brother Chen had over a dozen taels of silver on him and spent some on the road. The day he saw you were in trouble, he gave it all to you. We had no choice but to stay on in Tianjin."

Dai Zhenggang asked urgently, "Then how have you managed these last few days without silver?"

"We had a little loose silver left, but Brother Chen couldn't bear to spend it. The last couple of days he had us scrimp and save — we went hungry every day. Today he finally found work, got an advance on his wages, and gave me the last silver he had on him to buy food and bring it to Er Tun."

"Ah......"

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Chen Xin and his three companions had nowhere else to go. After wandering around aimlessly for a while, they returned to their inn room, only to find that Dai Zhenggang had brought Lu Lvzi, Er Tun, and the others back together with Hai Gouzi and Zhang Dahui. Er Tun's arm was in a splint, and he looked much better.

When Dai Zhenggang saw Chen Xin, his face was full of shame. "Just now this young brother Zhang Dahui told me everything. So Brother Chen came to Tianjin to look for work, and you are not from a wealthy family at all. Those ten taels were everything you had. For days you haven't even had enough to eat, yet you still saved silver to send us food. It truly shames us beyond words."

Chen Xin caught on instantly and, without the slightest blush, climbed right up the ladder. "Brother Dai, you must not listen to this child's nonsense. It has been hard, but taking pleasure in helping others is a virtue of our Huaxia. Which matters more — eating a little less or saving someone in urgent need? It goes without saying."

Lu Lvzi asked worriedly, "Brother Chen, you've run out of travelling money, and we can't pay you back any time soon. How will you get by?"

"No matter, no matter. None of them know this, but yesterday I pawned a family heirloom jade pendant. I have a sum of silver in hand again now. Tianjin seems decent enough — I plan to settle down here."

Liu Minyou stared in amazement at Zhang Dahui, who looked thoroughly pleased with himself. The kid had a real gift for learning to spin lies — no wonder he was always clamouring to go cheat people out of money. And Chen Xin played along flawlessly, swiftly crafting a radiant image of righteous courage and loyal friendship. He moved Dai Tiezi and his crew beyond measure; had they been women, they probably would have offered themselves in marriage.

Just as Liu Minyou expected, when they heard that Chen Xin had pawned his family's jade pendant, Dai Tiezi and the others dropped to their knees at once. Er Tun even began to cry and tried to kowtow to them. Chen Xin and his friends hurried to lift them up. Dai Zhenggang was as strong as an ox — Chen Xin could not budge him at all. He simply stayed kneeling and said to Chen Xin, "Dai Tiezi has never bowed to anyone, but today I bow to you, Big Brother. No matter how Brother Chen sees me, from this day on I will always regard Brother Chen as my big brother."

Lu Lvzi, Er Tun, and the others all chimed in agreement.

Chen Xin laughed heartily. "Good. I am likely a few years older than you, so I will shamelessly accept you calling me Big Brother. Friendship between friends lies in knowing each other's hearts. There's no need to behead a chicken or burn yellow paper. Now listen to your big brother — all of you, get up, get up."

Only then did Dai Zhenggang and the others stand up cheerfully. Lu Lvzi even said to Chen Xin, "Brother Chen, tell me where you pawned your family jade pendant. One day, no matter what, I will redeem it for you."

Chen Xin had no jade pendant to pawn — it was all made up. But that did not stump him. He changed the subject. "When I fell into the Tatar den, I hid that pendant here and there. Later I understood: what we call a family heirloom is really about cherishing the memory of our ancestors. What matters is the sentiment, not the object. As long as you hold that sentiment in your heart, what does the object itself count for?"

"But..."

Chen Xin waved his hand, cutting Lu Lvzi off. "We'll talk about all that later. Big Brother has his ways. With the silver from the pawn, I've already bought a place to live. In a couple of days, bring all the injured over here to rest and recover."

"We can't keep imposing on you, Big Brother."

"Since you've acknowledged me as your big brother, what imposition is there? If you stay in that shack of yours and catch a chill or something, those wounds will become a real problem."

"Alright then."