Chapter 20: White Collar

"Hang the shop sign!"

Chen Xin had just approached the Japanese dried seafood shop when he heard a shout ahead. Shopkeeper Cai, with his youngest son, was hanging the shop sign outside the storefront. Only after several visits did Chen Xin notice the shop's name — it was called "Dongyuan."

Chen Xin hurried over to help. Shopkeeper Cai's youngest son, sixteen, was named Cai Shenju. He looked rather mature for his age, even sporting a beard. Shopkeeper Cai told him to call Chen Xin "Big Brother," but the boy muttered something unwillingly that no one could make out.

Kids this age are in their rebellious phase — insecure yet narcissistic, wrapping themselves in a defiant shell that can actually be cracked easily with just a few words of praise.

Chen Xin warmly took his hand and said, "So this is Mr. Cai's young master. One taught by the master and his wife is indeed different — look at that handsome face, and so steady in his work. If I may be so bold, this junior brother of mine will surely far surpass his father in accomplishments one day."

At this, the youngest son's face finally showed a smile. Shopkeeper Cai certainly didn't mind his son surpassing him and chuckled, "Don't flatter him. If he can settle down and start a family soon without giving me worry, that'll be enough." Then he said to Cai Shenju, "Still not calling him Big Brother Chen? Your Big Brother Chen passed the Licentiate exam. If you had even half his promise, I'd be thanking the Bodhisattva."

Hearing this, Chen Xin realized he was being set up in opposition to Cai Shenju — bad for camaraderie. He quickly cut in and said to Cai Shenju, "Your big brother is only a few years older, so I'll presume to call you junior brother. Truth be told, I envy you deeply. Look at you — cherished by the master and mistress, working to help the family at such a young age. When your senior brother was your age, he was still idling at home eating free meals. If you ever need anything from your big brother, just say the word. But when you rise to rank and fortune someday, don't forget your senior brother, alright?"

For a youth this age, the moment someone points out his merits, he swells with pride. Cai Shenju, hearing this, was already calling Chen Xin "Big Brother Chen" repeatedly.

Having smoothly handled the rebellious phase, Shopkeeper Cai finished hanging the sign. After climbing down from the stool, he admonished Chen Xin, "The first thing upon opening the door is to hang the sign properly. Remember, it must never fall to the ground — that would scare away the God of Wealth. If the proprietor saw that, you'd lose your job."

Chen Xin quickly accepted the teaching — so many strange old rules in this ancient world. The three of them then removed all the door panels together, marking the start of a new business day.

There was also another shop assistant inside, moving sea cucumbers to restock the goods. Shopkeeper Cai called him over and introduced him to Chen Xin. This man was named Lu You, from Shandong, an honest and simple fellow. Old Cai bossed him around casually. After exchanging a few words, Chen Xin learned that Lu You also lived on Erdaojie, though in rented quarters.

The Dongyuan Japanese dried seafood shop had only these few people in total. At night, a man called Old Wang kept watch in the shop, but he wasn't around during the day. The entire shop occupied the southern side of a three-courtyard compound. Shopkeeper Cai told Chen Xin he was only allowed to move about in the first courtyard. The second and third courtyards housed the proprietor's family, maids, and serving women — no entry without the proprietor's summons. Only the proprietor's wife, the proprietress, would sometimes come to the shop. The proprietor originally had three wives and concubines; the first two had died, leaving only one concubine now, along with a son and a daughter. The daughter normally stayed in the third courtyard, while the son was said to be away from home — Old Cai said he'd never even seen him.

Old Cai showed Chen Xin around. The first courtyard was fully equipped, with wing rooms on both east and west sides. The latrine was in the southwest corner — standard layout, since the southwest was generally considered an inauspicious position, and the filth of the latrine could suppress the baleful energy. The kitchen was in the east wing, near the south, while the other wing rooms were all storerooms. The gate to the second courtyard was directly north in the first courtyard; it looked even larger inside. Old Cai said the second courtyard had a side gate for the family's convenience.

Although Chen Xin's title was Accountant, he had no separate room. He worked right in the shop handling cash — essentially accountant, cashier, and storekeeper all in one. The counter held only some loose silver and copper coins; clearly they didn't fully trust this new accountant yet. It was arranged that all silver received each day would be locked in the silver chest by Old Cai in the afternoon for safekeeping.

The main task today was for Old Cai to hand over the storerooms to Chen Xin. Old Cai took the inventory ledger and opened one of the west wing rooms. Inside were nothing but Japanese swords and folding fans. Daily cleaning and wiping were done by Lu You and Cai Shenju. Old Cai said to Chen Xin, "Our Japanese swords come in long and short. The Japanese call them things like nodachi, kodachi, and uchigatana, but we just write long sword, medium sword, and short sword. When you keep the accounts, remember to distinguish them, or it'll be chaos."

Chen Xin took out the silver inventory and looked it over. The selling price for long Japanese swords ranged from seven to thirty taels. He couldn't help asking Old Cai, "The silver inventory lists several prices for long Japanese swords — how are they differentiated?"

"Long, medium, and short are each divided into three grades. The Japanese have so many sword types, I can't keep them straight either. Anyway, top-grade Japanese swords all have inscriptions on the blade — come take a look." Old Cai drew a Japanese sword; cold light gleamed from it. On the blood-grooved, snow-bright blade, near the guard, there were indeed two lines of inscription.

Old Cai returned the sword to its scabbard and told Chen Xin, "Those with inscriptions are generally top grade. Some others without inscriptions, if the proprietor tests them and finds them good, are also classified as top grade — those have a red cloth strip tied on the hilt. Medium grade gets a blue cloth strip."

Chen Xin looked at the sword rack — sure enough, many had red or blue cloth strips tied on.

Old Cai then showed Chen Xin the medium and short swords one by one, and spoke of the customers for Japanese swords: usually military officers, rich young men, street fighters, and some merchants from Jingshi and the border garrisons who came to buy wholesale. Old Cai extolled the Japanese swords as marvels of skill, insisting the government troops should buy more — dealing with the Tatars would be no problem at all.

Chen Xin voiced agreement, but inwardly he paid little heed. The Ming army's problems went far beyond weaponry. But even regarding weapons, these Japanese swords were too expensive and poor in cost-effectiveness. Though they looked handsome and imposing, the blade was only three or four centimeters wide — long and thin. Fine for street brawls, but on a real battlefield, against heavy weapons like long spears, greatswords, or wolf-tooth clubs, you'd be dead for sure. The day Dai Zhenggang smashed Qing Shou's tachi with a single iron staff was clear proof. So in Chen Xin's view, the best use for a Japanese sword was for the devils to disembowel themselves.

Old Cai led Chen Xin through checking the Japanese swords against the ledger, then began on the folding fans. Folding fans had originally been introduced from Japan — first used by courtesans, later popularized for their convenience. The Japanese fans in the storeroom were painted with landscapes, flowers, trees, and birds. The finer ones had gold tracing and silver paste — like the one that fat man in Jizhou used. Suzhou and Nanzhili had many fan-making workshops, and there had even been master fan-makers like He Dezhi and Xiao Guan, whose fans could be worth two or three taels of silver each — craftsmanship no worse than the Japanese. So Japanese fans at most offered a bit of exotic flavor; though sales were decent, they weren't high-profit goods. These too were sorted and counted now.

After checking both items, Old Cai was somewhat tired. The two returned to the shop front, counted the Japanese swords and fans on display one by one, then sat down to rest. It was still early; a scattering of pedestrians passed on the street, and business hadn't even begun. Chen Xin brewed a cup of tea for Old Cai and poured one for himself, watching the business scene — it was even more relaxed than Chen Xin's old job.

As the group chatted, Cai Shenju suddenly stared at the doorway and muttered under his breath, "Don't come in, don't come in."

Chen Xin was sitting with his back to the door. Hearing this, he turned to look — it was none other than Shen Lou's wife, still wearing the same clothes as that day, her hair bun tidied up, her expression haggard. She certainly hadn't heard Cai Shenju's words. Timidly she approached the door, glanced at the sign, hesitated a moment, then stepped inside.

Cai Shenju and Lu You both groaned an exasperated "Ai!" Then Cai Shenju listlessly went to greet her and asked, "Is Madam Shen looking to buy Japanese dried seafood?"

Madam Shen glanced cautiously at Cai Shenju. "Yes, I... I'd like to buy some abalone to nourish my husband."

Cai Shenju didn't even look at her, turning his head aside as he replied, "The dried abalone on this side is three qian five fen of silver per liang. The larger ones over there are five qian five fen per liang."

"Ah, so expensive... Then I'll just look a bit more, just look."

Madam Shen's face flushed as she stood awkwardly by the abalone shelf. Cai Shenju rolled his eyes beside her; he'd known from the start this Madam Shen couldn't afford it — a pure waste of effort. Japanese dried seafood nowadays was a true luxury, better than what came from Guangdong and Fujian. The annual shipments from Japan were limited, and most of Dongyuan Japanese dried seafood Shop's seafood was sent to Jingshi and other places, with only a small portion kept for the storefront — not something ordinary people could afford.

Old Cai gave a soft snort from behind the counter. Seeing their expressions, it seemed they thoroughly disliked this Madam Shen. Just as Chen Xin was about to ask Old Cai the reason, Old Cai spoke first, murmuring to Chen Xin, "A woman walking in right when we open the door — terribly unlucky. And on top of that, her man is a petty thief. You must remember too: if the first customer through the door is a woman, after she leaves you have to burn straw to smoke the shop, and sweep the ashes out the door. If it's a pregnant woman, it's even worse — best to block her outside the door. Only then can you avoid offending the God of Wealth. You must remember this."

Only then did Chen Xin recall that both Old Cai and this Madam Shen lived in Liye Fang — no wonder he knew about Shen Lou's affairs. Though by Old Cai's logic, mother-and-baby stores in later ages would make a damn fortune.

"I see. Then what if the one entering were the wife of the Qing Military Office's Vice Prefect?"

"That would be different. The Vice Prefect's wife carries official aura — how could she be compared to some common marketplace woman?"

Chen Xin cupped his hands in solemn respect. "So that's how it is. This junior has received your teaching."