Chapter 4: Hello Chang’an
Chapter 4: The Careless Gift
At that moment, the door was suddenly pushed open from the inside.
The boy was startled and took two steps back.
"Where are you from? What are you here for?" A middle-aged man, dressed as a steward, spotted the boy, frowning while sizing him up.
"My dad sent me over," the boy said timidly.
"Who's your dad?"
"Zhou... Zhou Ershuan."
The steward squinted, recognizing the boy a little. "From Zhoujia Village?"
The boy quickly nodded and stepped forward to hand over the deposit receipt.
The steward, after looking at the receipt, scolded with a stern face, "How did you handle this?! You were supposed to deliver it last night, but my master waited all night!"
They had struggled to find someone last-minute in the middle of the night, but it was useless. The master's mind was still fixated on the painting previously sent from Zhoujia Village. He was so upset he had been throwing things in a tantrum!
The steward had just been scolded and was about to take people to Zhoujia Village to handle the situation.
As he spoke, the steward glanced at the donkey cart behind the boy.
"Please calm down," the boy said nervously. "My dad hurt his leg yesterday and couldn't move, which caused the delay. I came in his place last night, but I got lost and by the time I arrived, the city gates were already closed..."
"Enough!" The steward had no patience for the boy's explanations. "Just tell me, is the item here?"
"It's... it's on the cart."
The steward gestured for a few servants to come over.
A large black cloth bag, hidden under the funeral goods, was hauled down by several servants. The contents inside seemed to struggle faintly.
The steward noticed something off. "Why is it so heavy?"
The boy whispered, "My dad said that in addition to the one from the painting, there’s another good one, and he told me to bring it along... Since my dad couldn’t come personally, the job wasn’t done perfectly, so consider it an apology to the master."
Hearing this, the steward's expression softened.
There was no reason to be overly harsh; the Zhoujia Village folks had always known their place, never daring to play tricks on his master. So, the steward tossed a money bag to the boy. "If you're late next time, I won’t be as forgiving."
"Yes, thank you, thank you." The boy bowed.
"Wait." As the servants passed by with the bag, the steward considered opening it to check.
The boy's heart jumped.
However, the knot tying the black cloth bag was extremely tight. As the steward struggled to untie it, they suddenly heard a shout from the alley: "Come quick, the cat ran this way!"
It was the rowdy voices of boys chasing cats and dogs in the early morning—
The steward, not wanting to attract attention, urged the servants, "Take it inside."
After all, it wasn’t their first deal with Zhoujia Village, and those people always knew their place. They’d never dare to cheat his master; otherwise, they’d pay the price.
Once the group had entered the courtyard and closed the door, the boy wasted no time, quickly driving the cart away.
As the donkey cart passed through the alley, a girl, who had just drawn attention away from the situation, nodded in approval. "Well done."
The boy, eyes gleaming with a mix of tension and excitement from being praised, handed the money bag to her.
The girl took it with one hand while patting the donkey's head with the other, her eyes full of approval.
Meanwhile, the steward, leading the servants, had just carried the bag into the inner courtyard when a man in his thirties, dressed in fine clothes, came out.
The man, with dark circles under his eyes, was plump and angry. He kicked the steward, "Didn’t I tell you to go to Zhoujia Village? What are you still doing here! Where did you find this low-grade trash? Throw it out immediately!"
The steward, clutching his stomach, grinned despite the pain. "My lord, please calm down! This is from Zhoujia Village... the one in the painting!"
His master had peculiar tastes since childhood, particularly uninterested in the girls at the brothels, instead favoring virtuous, pure women. Ever since he saw the painting sent from Zhoujia Village a few days ago, he couldn't take his eyes off it, as if he’d been bewitched, constantly yearning for the woman in the picture.
Hearing this, the man's anger subsided, replaced by a gleam of excitement. He urged the servants to take the "person" to his room.
The steward, trying to please, said, "My lord, the girl might not be clean. Should I have the maids take her to be washed first?"
"Let me see her first to check if she’s as heavenly as in the painting!"
The man, eager, rushed forward to untie the bag. The more difficult it was to untie the knot, the more his anticipation grew. If something is too easy to obtain, it loses its appeal.
Finally, after much effort, the bag was untied, revealing two inner bags.
The man opened one first, and his smile froze instantly. With a horrified shout, he stumbled back. "What is this monstrous thing?!"
Inside was an ugly, one-eyed woman, her mouth gagged.
The steward, equally shocked, quickly regained his composure. "My lord, calm down. This is just a bonus... If you don’t like her, I'll have her thrown out immediately!"
What kind of business was Zhoujia Village running? Even if it was a buy-one-get-one deal, this bonus was way too careless!
"Get her out, now!" The man, fuming, ordered the woman to be thrown out. Desperate to make up for the mistake, the steward hurriedly opened the second bag, forcing a smile. "My lord, the beauty from the painting is here. Please take a look..."
Before he could finish, his smile froze.
An oppressive silence filled the room.
The man's face turned livid, his lips trembling with rage, nearly fainting.
In the bag was an old man, barely able to open his eyes.
The steward stammered, "This... this must be some mistake!"
How could there be such a terrible mix-up?! And two of them, no less!
...
In the alley, the girl untied the rope around the donkey's neck and patted it. "Let’s go."
As she let the donkey go, the boy, following behind her, asked nervously, "Why did we send them here?"
"Why not earn some silver?" The girl replied, holding up the money bag.
"If they hadn’t tried to sell us, we wouldn’t have sold them. Simple as that."
The boy, still uneasy, said, "But... but they'll figure it out soon."
"They would’ve come looking for us anyway. Instead of waiting, it's better to take the initiative and test things out." The girl’s eyes glinted with thought. Regarding this "master," it seemed the couple hadn’t lied. In fact, it appeared they felt rather secure in his backing.
This wasn’t a place for ordinary people, given how lavishly they operated.
The boy, half understanding, hurried after her. "So, can we go to the authorities now?"
"Definitely not."
"Huh..." The boy was even more confused and anxious. "Then where are we going?"
"They’re here." The girl quickened her pace. "Run—"
Before the boy could fully react, he instinctively followed her, running.
Sure enough, moments later, angry shouts could be heard behind them. "Hurry! Catch that brat!"
They sprinted through the long alley into the bustling marketplace.
Their pursuers were close, but the girl led the boy through the crowd, dodging between people until they hid behind a kite vendor’s stall and slipped into a parked carriage on the side of the street.
She had spotted that the carriage was empty, making it the perfect temporary hiding place.
Peeking through a gap in the curtain, she saw the steward and his men continue the chase, soon disappearing into the crowd.
Only then did the girl silently let the curtain drop.
Just as she was about to leave, something caught her eye, and her gaze fell on an item on the small tea table inside the carriage.
She stared at it in surprise.
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