Chapter Seventeen: The Test

  In the dead of night, in the third courtyard behind the shop, all the rooms were pitch black, except for the west-facing main house where a faint yellow candlelight flickered through the window paper. Zhao Dong lay on a pear-wood rocking chair, wearing only a sweat-drenched undershirt, with a pair of soft hands gently pressing against his forehead. The old wounds on his body and face would occasionally throb with pain, and his head would feel unbearably stuffy at times. Whenever this happened, he would resort to massaging himself to relax.

  Zhao Dongjia's usual fierce appearance was nowhere to be seen, and the scars on his face seemed to have relaxed a bit. He narrowed his eyes comfortably and said, "Wan Niang, your skills are getting better and better."

  "These trivial skills are nothing, Master has been through the ups and downs of life, fought in the midst of swords and shadows to build this family's foundation. If we can't even do these things right, how can we justify Master's hardships?"

  "There's nothing tough about going out to sea, it's staying in this shop all day that's tough."

  She looked to be in her thirties, with some wrinkles on her forehead, but her hands were still as smooth and white as a young girl's. She sat behind Zhao Dong's house, massaging his back while saying slowly: "I just hope that one day you won't have to go out to sea again, and I won't have to worry about you every day. Once Xiang'er gets married and gives us a grandson, I'll be content."

  "Nonsense, if you don't go out to sea what's the point? If you don't go out to sea can you afford a house like this and raise so many servants? I was born to sail the seas, even though most of the time it's those corrupt officials who profit from it, but at least it's better than selling stuff in a shop every day."

  Wan Niang sighed: "Every time you say this, I don't expect anything else, just hoping that Xiang Er will get married soon and give us a grandson."

  "How come you're so anxious, you want a live-in son-in-law, this is an ancestral taboo, it's just a plebeian thing, and how many people would be willing to do that. You still insist on finding a scholar, now look what's happened, after searching for three years, you still can't find one."

  Wan Niang lowered her head, her eyes slightly red around the edges. After a moment, she spoke softly: "If Zhenyi were still here, it wouldn't be so difficult. Otherwise, we should just adopt my sister's youngest son and have him take on the Zhao surname. We'd at least have someone to rely on then. Xiang'er is already seventeen this year; if we keep delaying, it'll be a loss for our daughter."

  Zhao Dong's family impatiently said: "You go and handle it, you've already agreed with your selfish sister about the inheritance, now quickly find a matchmaker for Xiang'er to talk about marriage, don't just know how to talk, it's all been talked about for three years but still hasn't been settled."

  Wan Niang felt quite wronged in her heart. Originally, Zhao Dongjia had one wife and two concubines, the first two died, and Zhao Dongjia was going to remarry again. Once he went out to sea and got injured, after that, he never mentioned it again. In fact, she still wanted to find a son-in-law for her daughter, this Zhao Dongjia often goes out, finding a son-in-law can keep her daughter at home, there is still someone to talk to. So she has not been very concerned about the adoption, but her sister was eager to adopt a son for herself, just because their family had money.

  But a suitable live-in son-in-law is hard to find, and Xiang'er will be seventeen soon, she doesn't dare delay any longer, so she brings up the matter of remarriage again. Hearing that Zhao Dongjia has agreed, they start planning Xiang'er's marriage, and then say to Zhao Dongjia: "Old master, when are you going out to sea next? Before you leave, let's find a matchmaker to discuss it first."

  "I haven't fixed a date yet, still waiting for another batch of goods. Once they arrive, I'll leave. Don't bother me with these trivial matters, you handle it first and I'll deal with it when I get back."

  "Alright then, who will you bring into the shop this time?"

  "It's still Old Cai, there are goods from various families on the boat, can't be chaotic, no financial assistant is not feasible, only he can rest assured, after we leave, you have to keep an eye on things in the shop, that new accountant is unknown, every day must count the silver money clearly."

  "I understand, but it's also a hassle to be on guard every day. Since we don't know the bottom line, Master can try him out."

  "Well, that's easy too."

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  "Get up!"

  Before dawn, Chen Xin started kicking the door again. The three followers who helped with the banquet yesterday were exhausted, but they still couldn't escape in the morning. They got up with sleepy eyes and stood in the courtyard, waiting to practice lining up.

  Lu Zizi and Er Tun also got up early, they have been like this for a few days. At first, they thought it was novel, but later they found the queue training to be really boring, just watching as a joke. When exercising, they felt it was useful, Lu Zizi followed along and did it too, in addition to push-ups and sit-ups, he also made two pairs of dumbbells at the blacksmith's shop, adding one more item.

  "Today, the sea dog gives an order, the whole team."

  "Yes, sir, align right."

  Officer Chen Xin held a rattan stick, looking at the three-man team with satisfaction. This officer couldn't even be considered a squad leader, and was previously an amateur military enthusiast who knew little about the era of cold weapons. Now he could only use what he learned from university military training first. Although this kind of formation training cannot improve individual ability, it is most effective in forming discipline and obedience.

  "Attention! Waiting for your orders, sir."

  Three people stood straight, waiting for Chen Xin to start the team training drills.

  "Take a short rest, and then start physical training."

  "Right, let's start with physical training."

  Zhang Dahuai was stunned, the last few days he took advantage of Liu Minyou's softness and stole a lot of laziness. Today Chen Xin put physical training first, but couldn't escape. Chen Xin listened to Liu Minyou's words last night and decisively let Liu Minyou rest in the morning, guarding them to practice physical training first.

  First do push-ups, Chen Xin required to do ten groups, each group of twenty, Zhang Dahui and his two brothers worked hard, did five groups of one hundred, and by the sixth group they were already very exhausted.

  "One, two... eleven..."

  Zhang Dahuai was sweating profusely, his arms were numb and aching, his upper body was propped up, but his lower body was stuck to the ground, he couldn't move no matter what, sweat flowed from his cheeks into his eyes, but he couldn't even wipe it away.

  With a "crack", the rattan stick landed on Zhang Dahuai's back. He felt a sharp pain and his lower body immediately lifted up, now he feared the rattan stick more than knives.

  Twelve

  "Slap"

  Zhang Dahuai was beaten like this, doing twenty of them, and as soon as he finished, he fell to the ground unable to move. Zhang Erhui was only slightly better than him.

  Chen Xin saw they were really not doing well and ordered them to switch to sit-ups.

  Several people started practicing again, and Chen Xin said to Lu Bi: "Transmitting the truth, I have a request for you."

  Lu Zi hastily said: "Brother Chen, please speak, I'll go through fire and water without frowning once."

  "That's not it, just ask you to supervise their training according to my previous method. If they can't do push-ups, change to sit-ups, if they're tired, switch back to push-ups or dumbbells. Within an hour and a half, each exercise should be done in full ten sets, every move must be done thoroughly. Finally, it's formation training, just follow the previous method, if not up to standard, use a rattan stick to beat."

  Lu Zi heard this and felt a bit embarrassed: "Brother Chen, is it not too hard for these young brothers to practice like this? Why don't I teach them some boxing techniques instead, just like the ones you taught us?"

  "Okay, but you have to practice what I said a few more times."

  "But won't they be exhausted like that?"

  "Do you still remember the day when you fought with Tang Zhen at the dock?"

  "Of course I remember."

  "Is that green hand powerful?"

  "He's formidable, but that young man has taken up a knife; if he didn't use a knife, we wouldn't be afraid of him."

  "With this method of mine, even if those people from that day were to come again with two more young men wielding knives, I wouldn't be afraid of them."

  Lu Zhuanzong asked in doubt: "Can this method defeat the Green Hand?"

  "Not yet, no need for you to replace a naturally gifted person like Big Brother."

  "Then I'll give it a try and help Brother Chen keep an eye on them."

  "No, no, it's not watching them, you're saving their lives."

  "Ah!? Brother Chen, this...”

  Chen Xin sternly said, "If in the future they encounter someone like Qing Shou, their outcome will depend on how you supervise their training. If you are strict, they can survive; if not, they will either die or be crippled. Their lives are in your hands."

  Lu Chuanzong also tensed up when he heard this, and although he still trusted Chen Xin's words, he had to put aside his sympathy: "Since big brother has said so, Chuanzong knows what to do." After speaking, he bowed to the three followers again, "Three younger brothers, you also heard Chen Big Brother's words. If there is any offense, I can only ask for your forgiveness."

  Chen Xin nodded in satisfaction, handed the whip to Lu Chuanzong, and watched him direct the training until all three of them had been beaten by Lu Chuanzong before he felt at ease. He went out and called for Lu You, and together they went to work at the pawnshop.

  As usual, they waited until the Cai family father and son opened the door, hung up the shop sign, Chen Xin and Cai Shenji went to the warehouse together to wipe the Japanese swords and fans. Cai Shenji complained to Chen Xin while doing it.

  "Brother Chen, even if you're free, can you teach me how to do accounting?"

  "Of course I can, but I also learned from your old man, why are you guarding Baoshan every day with empty hands?"

  "I'm also illiterate, he scolds me for not being serious in private school when I was young. Can't learn from him."

  Chen Xin smiled and nodded, following his father's example. He had no choice but to agree, but looking at Cai Shenjiu's mischievous personality, it was hard to say if he could learn a few words.

  "It's not necessarily about learning accounting, look at me, I'm an accountant but I also have to do miscellaneous tasks."

  "Doing odd jobs is better than going out to sea. My father told me to get ready, I might have to go out to sea with the master. My mother is worried sick."

  Chen Xin remained expressionless, smiling and saying: "Going out to sea is not good, I'll find a Japanese daughter-in-law for your mother."

  "I really don't want to go to Japan, it's all at sea on just one ship, what if it capsizes and I drown? Just thinking about it scares me."

  "Has your dad said when we're going? If there's time, I can still teach you how to swim."

  "It's just that I didn't say anything, only that it was urgent. Don't tell anyone else, my dad warned me about this, and I can only talk to you, Chen Ge, for a few words."

  Just as they were talking, Lao Cai shouted in the courtyard with a hoarse voice, calling out to Chen Xin.

  Chen Xinkai opened the window and said to Old Cai: "Sir, did you call me?"

  "Yes, come quickly to the shop, Mr. Dong is looking for you to handle some business."

  Chen Xin hastily went out the door and arrived at the shop, where Zhao Dong's family stood proudly in the middle. Seeing Chen Xin arrive, he beckoned him to come forward and handed over a package of things.

  "Take this package of fragmented silver to the Liye Fang's melting shop and exchange it, I need it for this afternoon. Old Cai, come to the second room after you finish your work, there is something."

  He didn't say how much silver it was and turned back into the inner chamber with his hands behind his back.

  Chen Xin felt a slight sense of surprise in his heart, usually a little more silver was handled by Old Cai, but today so much silver was given to him to handle, he didn't know what urgent matter the master had found Old Cai for.

  Surprised and returned to surprise, things still need to be done. Chen Xin weighed it in front of several people and said to Cai Zhanggui: "Sir, the total is 21 taels and 6 mace and 6 fen, after division, each person's share is roughly 4 cents."

  Old Cai nodded and instructed him: "That's all right, go early and come back early. When you get there, just say it's from the Dongyuan store, they won't dare to lay a hand on you."

  "Yes, thank you for your guidance, Mr. Xie."

  Put away the loose silver, and searched all the way to Liye Fang's discount store. At the door, a large piece of cloth was written with the words "Qingsilver". After entering, a shopkeeper came over.

  "Should I pay with silver or copper?"

  "Put the silver, I'm from Dongyuan shop, please weigh it first with a balance." Chen Xin took out the cloth package and spread it on the counter. The shopkeeper sitting at the counter heard that it was from Dongyuan, came over to take a look at the quantity, put some silver on the balance and weighed it, showing Chen Xin that it was twenty-one taels six mace six fen seven li, which was even more than what Chen Xin had weighed himself.

  The scale is overweight, the shopkeeper asked Chen Xin: "How did you tip over?"

  Chen Xin didn't quite understand and thought for a moment: "How do you usually do it?"

  "The young master can make two silver ingots of ten taels each, and six mace small ingots. After deducting five fen and six li for the refining fee, the young master will still have one fen left as his earnings." The shopkeeper said respectfully.

  He suddenly leaned in close to Chen Xin's ear and said in a low voice, "We don't dare adulterate the silver at Dongyuan Store, but by using some tricks, we can save two or three cents of silver per ingot. The purity remains unchanged, the weight is not reduced, and no one can detect it. As long as you agree, you and I will split it evenly."

  The shopkeeper was about forty years old, with dark skin and a rough appearance. His attitude could be said to be very gentle, but it always made people feel that something was not quite right.

  Chen Xin's heart slightly stirred, and he immediately laughed: "Oh? Do you know that I am the young master of Dongyuan Shop, how can my own money be divided equally with you?"

  The shopkeeper's eyes revealed a hint of mockery, and he blurted out: "Young master, you're joking, you're obviously...", but suddenly realized his mistake, paused for a moment before rounding off the sentence: "You can't possibly be that, I've met the young master of Dongyuan before, what are you talking about?"

  Chen Xin smiled and pointed to the shop assistant: "Indeed, it's a joke. I'm also an apprentice of Dongyuan, just like him. But Master Dong has treated me with kindness, how can I betray him? You're being kind too, brother, but I can only thank you in my heart. As you said earlier, two mace of silver, one tael and six qian of water silk, no less on the fire money, not a single point of fake goods, and the remaining one fen and one li of fragmented silver, please return it all to me, so I can repay Master Dong."

  The shopkeeper and his assistant were stunned, seemingly not expecting Chen Xin to do this. They looked at him with a resolute expression, and having no choice, they carefully weighed out two silver ingots, handed over the fire money, and returned the remaining small change to Chen Xin.

  Chen Xin carefully watched the store assistant's operation, his eyes not blinking, watching him put the fragmented silver into the crucible to make a silver ingot, more serious than watching a thief. The store assistant was looked at by him and felt chills all over his body.

  At last, the two large silver ingots and a water silk were all done. Chen Xin put them into his bosom and stored them well. The two of them let out a sigh of relief at the same time. The shop assistant was relieved because he didn't have to be monitored by others anymore, while Chen Xin was relieved because he had finished this matter. He had heard Old Cai say before that the tricks of the silver store were not to be underestimated - if one wasn't careful, they would mix lead and copper into the silver. There were even people in this industry who specialized in counterfeiting the texture of real silver, making it impossible for even connoisseurs to distinguish between genuine and fake. Therefore, Chen Xin had no choice but to use a foolish method - supervising the shop assistant all along the way.

  After receiving the silver ingots, he returned to the pawnshop before lunchtime. Although the master didn't say who the silver was for, it was handled by the silversmith, so naturally, it had to be handed over to the master. After greeting others, he walked through the shop and directly knocked on the door of the second floor.

  The door was opened by Old Wang, the night watchman. He was a man who didn't care about anything and only listened to Zhao Dongjia. Chen Xin had tried to persuade him several times before but got rejected. When Chen Xin asked to see Zhao Dongjia again, Old Wang didn't say a word, just slammed the door shut again. Chen Xin could only wait foolishly outside. After a while, the door opened again and Zhao Dongjia walked out.

  Chen Xin handed over the silver ingots and a package of fragmented silver to Zhao Dongjia with both hands, saying respectfully: "The fragmented silver that Master Dong gave me totals twenty-one taels six mace six fen seven li, including ten taels of pure silver in two ingots, one tael six mace of water silk in one ingot, and five fen six li of fire money. The remaining one fen one li is all here."

  Zhao Dongjia received it and weighed it with his hand without looking at its quality. He hummed a sound in his mouth and turned back again.

  Just as he returned to the second floor, a person entered through the side door. It was surprisingly the owner of the pawnshop. He walked up to Zhao Dong's family with an expressionless face, seemingly very familiar with them. Zhao Dong's family handed over the bundle of cloth to him, and after opening it to inspect, he nodded at Zhao Dong's family, indicating that everything was correct down to the last detail.

  "Zhao, your accountant is a stubborn one. Not only does he not give any benefits, but also wants to collect every last piece of silver. Where can you find an accountant like that? Now you can finally rest assured."

  "It may also be a case of 'great villainy masquerading as loyalty'."

  "It's not something that can be tried out by a small official like you. Every time Old Cai comes here, he also wants to take some advantage, but you never say he's corrupt. It can't be that this incorruptible one is actually the corrupt one."

  Zhao Dongjia listened, and a smile appeared on his ugly face. He sighed in a self-deprecating manner: "If he were really a big scoundrel, he wouldn't have come to our small temple. It seems that he's probably an honest person after all."

  "Whether he is old or not is another matter, but brother can't say such depressing words. We make a living by the sea and although there are not many people, we have never been afraid of anyone coming. Now that brother's business has grown bigger, his spirit has become smaller."

  "Well said, Ah Yong, you arrange your shop for the next few days and then notify Cicada and Hei Pao. In less than half a month, we'll probably set sail again."

  The boss of the Silver Inn, who was called Dumb Courage, said with a happy face: "Yes, I've been waiting for your arrival, brother. Doing this business is suffocating, and even if I use all my tricks, I can only cheat a few scattered coins. After doing it for a few years, it's not as good as going out to sea once. I'll go prepare now."

  Chen Xin returned to the store, sat alone behind the counter, and carefully recorded the accounts of the sales from that morning. When no one was around, a faint smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he muttered to himself: "The young master that even Old Cai hasn't seen, how can an outsider like you possibly see him? Do you know how many people I've interviewed, how many people I've examined? And yet you still have the nerve to try to deceive me with this rotten trick."