Chapter 19: The Smallest Officer

Early the next morning, before the morning bell had rung, the crowing of roosters was already rising one after another. Wang Daixi got up very early, fetched a wooden basin of water, and washed the porcelain bowls bought the day before in the courtyard, the occasional clinking sounds drifting over.

Chen Xin heard the noise and could not fall back asleep, so he too got up. Opening the bed curtain, he saw the walls covered with resting mosquitoes; luckily he had bought the bed curtain yesterday, or he would not have slept at all. The sanitation in Great Ming cities was indeed worrying. There was nothing edible in Chen Xin's room, yet there were still two rat holes. Last night several rats had crawled back and forth on the windowsill, tormenting him for half the night.

After dressing, Chen Xin again checked the silver on his person. The two of them had originally carried fifty taels each. Yesterday Liu Minyou bought a house and furniture, so not much was left. Chen Xin had to go to work and could not carry money with him, so he wrapped up the fifty taels of silver, ready to give them to Liu Minyou shortly.

"It seems I should sell that pearl," Chen Xin thought as he pushed open the window lattice. He saw Wang Daixi's small back sitting on the ground, her sleeves and trouser legs rolled up, washing bowls with a cloth, her two goat-horn braids bobbing rhythmically.

Hearing the sound of the window opening, Wang Daixi looked over. Seeing it was Chen Xin, she said happily, "Brother Chen is up! I'll fetch water for you to wash your face."

With that, she nimbly went to the stove, took a slightly smaller wooden basin, and went to the large water vat to fetch water for Chen Xin. The vat was very large, not much shorter than Wang Daixi herself, and the water level was not high. Wang Daixi was only twelve or thirteen and had always been malnourished. She stood on tiptoe, laboriously scooped out half a basin, but could not lift it up.

Chen Xin did not refuse Wang Daixi's help in fetching water, but seeing her struggle, he went over to take it and placed it on the stone table. Tapping her head, he said, "Isn't there a ladle over there? Just use the ladle from now on."

Wang Daixi tilted her head up, squinting with a smile. "I know, I'm just clumsy."

Chen Xin smiled too, cupped water in both hands, and washed his face. It was cool. When he looked again, the rippling water reflected his own image: the beard on his chin had grown a section, his hair had grown a little too, and he wore a right-lapelled blue robe. Chen Xin laughed in surprise. This was the first time since transmigrating that he had seriously looked at his own appearance. Although it had only been ten-odd days, he was already a complete ancient person. The white-collar life of calling the shots in the company seemed as distant as a century ago; only that professional smile seemed unchanged.

Wang Daixi watched him stare blankly, tilted her head, and asked, "Brother Chen, is this water no good? Shall I go draw fresh water from the well?"

"No need." Chen Xin came back to his senses, wiped his hands on his clothes, and headed straight for the shop front. He kicked the door with his foot. "Everyone up!"

A flurry of chaos erupted inside. A moment later, Zhang Da opened the door with bleary eyes, looked at Chen Xin ingratiatingly, and said, "Brother Chen is up. I'll fetch water for you to wash your face."

"I've already washed. All of you, fall in in the courtyard."

"Can we sleep a bit more? We slept yesterday..."

Chen Xin said, brooking no doubt, "No. Come out and fall in right now." With that, he turned and went back to the courtyard. Seeing he was serious, Zhang Da dared not argue further. The three of them hurried out the door. Hai Gouzi was the tallest and stood on the right, Zhang Da in the middle, Zhang Erhui on the left.

"Starting today, you rise at dawn. First practice drill formation, then physical conditioning. Two hundred push-ups each, two hundred sit-ups. And again after dinner."

"Two hundred? That's too many, ouch."

Zhang Da had barely spoken half when Chen Xin kicked him. Looking at the three coldly, he said, "From now on during training, no one speaks unless I say so. Even when speaking, you must raise your hand first."

The three had never seen this side of Chen Xin. Startled, none dared speak. They stood ramrod straight, looking at him with some fear.

"Daixi, go cut a few bamboo strips from the leftover bamboo pole from yesterday. Now." As Chen Xin spoke, he pulled out the knife strapped to his leg and tossed it onto the stone table.

Wang Daixi had been about to pour out Chen Xin's wash water. Seeing this scene, she quickly set down the basin, went into the right-side main room, brought out a leftover section of bamboo pole, and began chopping by the stove.

With a creak, Liu Minyou's door opened. The commotion in the courtyard was too loud for him to sleep, so he came out and stood under the eaves to watch them train.

Wang Daixi saw him, stood up, and said, "Brother Liu, I'll fetch wash water for you."

Chen Xin still said coldly, "Finish the bamboo strips first."

Liu Minyou hurriedly waved his hands. "Daixi, you go ahead with your work. I'll do it myself."

Wang Daixi timidly sat back down and began making the bamboo strips.

The group stood like that. Hai Gouzi and the other two had no idea what Chen Xin intended and watched him anxiously. In the courtyard, only the sound of Wang Daixi laboriously cutting bamboo could be heard.

After a good while, Wang Daixi finally brought over two bamboo strips. Chen Xin casually picked one, swished it twice to test its force, the strip humming through the air. Hai Gouzi and the other two couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Now begin the chant. Hai Gouzi leads; all three chant together."

"Bowl is left, chopstick is right."

"Bowl is left, chopstick is right."

"Left first, then right."

"Left first, then right."

"Left hand right foot, left foot right hand."

"Left hand right foot, left foot right hand."

They chanted ten times in a row without error. They had practiced on the road and had some foundation.

"Now one at a time. Hai Gouzi calls the chant first; Zhang Da marches."

"Forward march: bowl, chopstick, bowl, chopstick... Halt."

Zhang Da had no problem marching, but as soon as he stopped, he got confused, taking several steps before coming to a halt. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, whoosh—the bamboo strip cut through the air and smacked his arm with a slap.

"Aiyo!"

"Slap." "No shouting."

"Aiyo!"

"Slap." "No shouting."

"..."

"How is 'halt' executed?"

"On the command, step out with the left foot, then bring the right foot to the left foot and stop."

"Zhang Da calls the chant; Zhang Erhui marches."

"Forward march: bowl, chopstick, bowl, chopstick... Halt."

Zhang Erhui concentrated fully and finally got it right.

"Erhui marched well. Erhui calls the chant; Hai Gouzi marches."

"Forward march: bowl, chopstick, bowl, chopstick... Halt."

"Ouch!"

"Slap." "No shouting."

"Aiyo!"

"Slap." "No shouting."

"..."

"Again, in order."

After several rounds, all three had been struck, red welts now marking their arms.

Chen Xin held the bamboo strip and looked at the three. "You may speak now. Why did you come through the pass?"

"It was the Tatars... Aiyo!" Zhang Da had barely spoken half a sentence when the bamboo strip struck again.

"As I said at the start, raise your hand before speaking."

Zhang Dahui hurriedly raised his hand and replied, "It was the Tatars who took our home."

"Why were the Tatars able to take your home?"

Zhang Erhui raised his hand and said, "We couldn't beat them."

"Well said. If you can't beat others, you have no home. This is not an age where reason prevails. If someone schemes against you, seizes your courtyard, and breaks your limbs — what will you do?"

Hai Gouzi raised his hand and shouted, "We'll hack him to death! But Brother Chen, wouldn't it be better if we practiced with blades and spears? Why do we have to practice this lining up?"

"I say it's useful, so it is useful. Now is not the time for you to practice blades and spears. What's more important than blades and spears is discipline. During training, no haggling is allowed. From now on, do as I say — train every day. Next is physical conditioning."

Chen Xin finished speaking and glanced at the sky. The morning bell had already rung; it was time to go to work at the Japanese dried seafood Dian. He handed the bamboo strip to Liu Minyou and said quietly, "Minyou, watch over them. If anyone makes a mistake, hit them — it won't cause injury. They need to be properly disciplined. They even dare to haggle with me now."

Liu Minyou agreed and saw Chen Xin out. Once outside the gate, he said to Chen Xin, "These are all children. Isn't this a bit too harsh? Besides, there's no need for fighting and killing right now. If it really won't work, we could just let them find some work to do..."

"Sixteen or seventeen is still young? Plenty of people their age are already married with children. You've seen the example of Dai Zhenggang and the others, and you've seen the Shen family. What reason is there to speak of? If we don't train now, it'll be too late when the time comes to use it. Don't worry about finding them work for now. Training again in the afternoon, and literacy at night."

Chen Xin remembered another matter. "That bag of silver of mine is under my pillow. Keep it for now. At noon, they need to eat meat. If we can't start a fire, go buy it from a restaurant, otherwise they won't get enough nutrition. Also, Dai Zhenggang and the others are coming today — help arrange for them to stay."

Having said this, he went out the gate and headed toward the Confucian Temple.

Liu Minyou returned to the courtyard and led the three in starting physical conditioning. This was also something Chen Xin had taught on the road: push-ups, twenty per set, ten sets total now, with rest between each set.

After three sets, everyone was gasping for breath. Zhang Erhui, being small, couldn't manage the fourth set. He lay on the ground unable to push himself up, his face straining bright red. Liu Minyou, seeing this, couldn't bear it and said, "Erhui is small — doing half is enough. You can go rest."

Zhang Dahui, seeing this, also said to Liu Minyou, "Brother Liu, I can't go on either. I didn't sleep well last night — I've got no strength."

"Alright then, you rest too..."