Chapter 52: Presenting Books

  A Gift of a Book

  Two young men standing in front of the window had already regarded Yao Fang as a treasure trove, listening intently to his enthusiastic and eloquent speech. Just as Yao Fang was talking about his experiences at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair in Austria, one of the young men couldn't help but swallow his saliva and said without turning around, "Fu Bo, bring some tea, I'm thirsty."

  At this time, a black shadow flashed out from the corner of the wall in that house. If it wasn't for the voice "Fu Bo", no one would have noticed that there was an unassuming and thin old man here, who had been waiting motionlessly for orders.

  The old man pushed open the door and whispered a few words to the people in the outer room. The door facing the courtyard was then opened, revealing seven or eight people quietly sitting inside waiting for orders. First to emerge were two sturdy men dressed as household servants.

  Yao Feng's eyes flickered, and he saw that the two of them had their chests out and their bellies in, with steady steps and a stable pace, obviously having a solid foundation, they were people who had practiced martial arts.

  The two men didn't even look at Yao Fang, and with big strides walked towards the front yard of the inn, probably to ask for tea. Yao Fang saw that they were walking with big steps but cautiously, as if they were born into a military family.

  Yao Fan's eyes narrowed slightly, and his dark pupils turned, he had already made a judgment in his heart: these two young men were not ordinary! Their family members, at least, were also guardians like Wei Guofu.

  Moreover, Yao Fan observed that the two who went to fetch tea were very disciplined, not a single extra word was spoken, this kind of quality, Wei Guofu's men couldn't match. Even Bai Dagui and Li Shitou, Wei Guofu's personal guards whom Yao Fan often saw at the city gate, usually stood and sat in a sloppy manner.

  Yao Feng withdrew his observing gaze, turned around and smiled harmlessly: "Since everyone is going to Jinan Prefecture together, it's fate, let's introduce ourselves. My name is Yao Feng, courtesy name Zao Fan, I'm 26 this year, what are your names?"

  Yao Fan's self-introduction was quite rough and simple for this era, but these two young men didn't think it was strange. They thought that since he had returned from overseas, even the queue passed down by his ancestors was gone, so naturally he couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.

  Originally, they thought of using surnames to address each other as brothers to fool people, but unexpectedly, the other party directly reported their names and forced them to make a decision.

  The young man hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to speak, but heard the thin old man who had just been called Fu Bo say: "Young masters, the old master has repeatedly instructed that on the road, you must not show off, and your names cannot be told to outsiders."

  Yao Feng deliberately hummed softly in his nose, putting on a calm expression. But he was actually curious, what kind of family would bring their personal guards or house soldiers when going out?

  That young man saw Yao Fan hum a tune, and he knew he was unhappy. After all, others had openly reported their names, and if he concealed his own without speaking, it would be too rude. Moreover, the three of them had agreed to travel together to Jinan Prefecture; if they were to make things awkward now, wouldn't that be a disaster for the rest of the journey? Most importantly, this young man really wanted to hear Yao Fan's tales of strange and exotic things from the Western world.

  The young man immediately retorted, "What outsider! Brother Yao is from a wealthy merchant family, with bicycles worth hundreds of taels of silver for each employee. Are you afraid he's a robber?"

  Na Fubo didn't seem to care at all, and calmly said: "I think Mr. Yao is not a bandit, but if young master's name gets spread around like this, I'm afraid we won't have any peace for the rest of our journey."

  The young man saw the old slave talking back, his brow furrowed slightly, and he was obviously unhappy. He said: "If Brother Yao's mouth is not tight and has no credit, how can he run to all corners of the world and make big deals with those foreign nobles? Someone like Brother Yao who is well-versed in both Chinese and Western cultures and has a wide range of knowledge, how could his mouth be loose?"

  The young man cannot be said to be not clever, and there is another meaning in this sentence, which is to emphasize Yao Fan's identity and remind him not to reveal their names after knowing them, otherwise he would lose his own identity.

  If Yao Weng knew his thoughts, he would definitely think that young people are just young people, and they are naive.

  The young man said, turned his face to Yao Fang and bowed his hands apologetically: "Fu Bo is an old man in my family, but he has two concerns. Firstly, he is afraid that my brothers will encounter bandits on the road. Secondly, because our family's reputation is somewhat well-known outside, if my brothers' names are spread out, there must be some people who want to come and pay their respects. At that time, it would be unavoidable to welcome and send them off, which would be a waste of heart and mind. Please forgive me, Yao brother."

  Yao Feng smiled naturally: "With such a cautious family member following you, your parents would let you go out, how could I blame him? The elderly all know that going out is doubly cautious, as the saying goes, being careful makes a thousand-year-old boat, Fu Bo's words are indeed wise and brotherly, and it's right for you to listen to him.

  But since you have concerns in your hearts, it's better not to tell me, otherwise if others hear about it and cause trouble, I'll be the one to blame. As a humble merchant, I don't want to take on that responsibility."

  Yao Fan has figured out the thoughts of these two little ones by retreating in order to advance.

  The young man saw Yao Fang and didn't ask about their identity, but instead felt at ease and hastily said: "I trust you, Brother Yao!"

  After speaking, he looked around and saw that the yard was empty and there were no others, only He Shicheng standing behind Yao Fang serving tea.

  Yao Feng saw him looking at He Shi Cheng and smiled: "Shi Cheng is my right-hand man, the one I trust most."

  He Shicheng was moved in his heart and slightly lowered his head.

  The young man smiled with some pride: "My surname is Li, my name is Jingfang. This is my second brother, Mingyu, and the one inside is my third brother, Jingyu. Just call us Brother Li on the road."

  Yao Feng bit her lower lip in recollection, thinking that this name did seem a bit familiar...

  In a flash of inspiration, Yao Fan thought of someone and felt great joy.

  "Travelling a thousand miles to find no place! Obtained without any effort!"

  But the more he was delighted, the less expression on his face, and he said lightly: "Good, then I'll call you two Li brothers from now on. To distinguish between you, I'll call you Li Da brother, Li Er brother, Li San brother, haha. As for your esteemed family name, it's better not to tell me. I'm a merchant, although I have no backing, but I also know how to strive and improve myself, but I don't dare to pursue a noble family."

  That young man Li Mou heard his elder brother report his name, thinking that Yao Fan would ask about his father's name, but unexpectedly Yao Fan's face was calm and peaceful, speaking with a clear and gentle tone, and he suddenly felt a sense of admiration.

  He didn't know that Yao Fang was now thinking about how to make good use of the three sons in Li Hongzhang's family, as if he had opened a Buddhist ritual.

  Yao Fan did not disappoint his historical reputation as a little tyrant, and in his heart, he thoroughly investigated these three little brats:

  I remember that Li Hongzhang's first wife gave birth to sons, but they all died prematurely! Then his first wife, Zhou Shi, also passed away. The unfortunate Li Hongzhang married a second wife, Zhao Xiaolian, at the age of 40, and then adopted his brother Li Shaqing's 7-year-old son, Li Jingfang, the following year when he was 41 years old.

  But unexpectedly, Li Hongzhang's 24-year-old wife Zhao Xiaolian was extremely auspicious for her husband. Li Jingfang, this stepson, also had a true and auspicious fate. Next, Li Hongzhang gave birth to a biological son, who was the young Li Xizhu.

  Then she gave birth to another daughter, Li Jingyu.

  Later on, they had sons and daughters one after another.

  Li Jingfang had no idea that Yao Fang was already plotting against him and knew that his "third brother" was a woman!

  He thought to himself that the names of my two brothers were not known to ordinary people, unless they were old officials or members of a family of high-ranking officials. Since he didn't ask, it was better that way, in case he got scared if he knew, and it wasn't convenient to talk on the road.

  Thinking of this, he smiled and said: "Brother Yao is indifferent to fame and wealth, I admire him very much. Our chance encounter and pleasant conversation are joyful things in themselves. If we were to learn from those vulgar people and casually bring up the names of our family's prominent figures as a way to show off, it would indeed be meaningless.

  "My elder brother took a boat from Anqing all the way to Yantai, but was really tossed about by the sea and got motion sickness. My second and third brothers started feeling seasick as soon as they boarded the ship and vomited so much that they couldn't eat or drink anything. Seeing them getting thinner and thinner, I quickly got off the boat at Yantai and hired a horse carriage to travel overland to Jinan Prefecture."

  Yao Fandao: "How can you see a rainbow without experiencing wind and rain? So you weren't originally headed to Jinan Prefecture, were you?"

  Li Jingfang laughed and said: "The wind and rain have passed, but the rainbow can't hold back the spit, haha, we are planning to go to Beijing."

  When Li Jingfang casually mentioned their destination, Fu Bo's eyebrows furrowed in anger.

  "I've been back in the Qing Dynasty for two months now, but I haven't been to the capital city yet. I really don't know what it's like under the emperor's feet. It's truly a place I yearn for. However, my friends and I have joined forces and plan to open a branch office in the capital city. It won't be long before we can put up our signboard and start business."

  Li Jingfang smiled and said: "Unfortunately, we won't be staying in Beijing for long. We'll just go see our family elder, receive some instructions, and then immediately head to Tianjin to study."

  Yao Feng was familiar with history, but pretended to say: "Oh, I see. Reading books is the right way! You two read well, and each of you will take the imperial examination in the future, and must bring glory to your ancestors."

  Li Jingfang burst out laughing.

  Li Mouyu also smiled on the side: "Look at what Yao Dage said, if taking the imperial examination were as simple as eating a meal, that would be great."

  "Yao, you said earlier that two years ago you went to the World Exposition in Vienna, Austria and saw all sorts of machines and attended a music concert. I found your story really interesting."

  Yao Fan knew what he meant, wanting him to continue telling them strange and wonderful things, but how could fishing be fed all at once?

  Yao Feng smiled and said, "I've been talking for half a day, although I've had some water, but I'm also very tired. You all came by horse carriage, right? But I walked here on my own two legs, and I really need to rest now."

  As soon as Yao Fan said this, Li Jingyu, who was listening to the story with rapt attention in the house, also felt extremely disappointed and wished that Yao Fan could continue to chat idly by the window.

  Yao Fan continued to smile and said, "My Yao family has been operating overseas for over 200 years. We have a vast collection of books that fill our shelves. Every time an elder in my family reaches old age and can no longer travel on business, they devote themselves to translation. This time I brought some of the books from home with me, originally just to browse through during my journey. Today, since we hit it off so well, I'll give you a few volumes."

  Upon hearing this, Fu Bo and the other family members who had been eavesdropping finally felt completely at ease. A person going out on a business trip with many books must be bringing them to pass the time on the road. Such a person was absolutely not a bandit or thief; who has ever heard of a bandit carrying a pile of books when they go out?

  Actually, when Yao Fan led the group to take a bath in the courtyard, Fu Bo had thought about whether to stop them. Firstly, he was afraid of exposing the identities of the three precious children of the Li family. Secondly, looking at Yao Fan and his entourage, who were all dressed neatly and elegantly, they must be from a wealthy family, not to mention the luxurious carriage, but also the new clothes, shoes, and socks that these men wore, which was rare even in the rich Jiangnan region. Moreover, looking at these men, their faces were all rosy and full, it was clear that they were used to eating well.

  Taking all these comprehensive analyses into consideration, old and worldly-wise Fu Bo felt that once he intervened, it would inevitably be a tug of war.

  Think of those rich people, who will easily give in? Unless they reveal their identity, but that would expose everything. At that time, don't mention the troubles of welcoming and sending off officials along the way, what if the remnants of the Shandong bandits want to fight to the death, what if something happens, then even if you die a thousand times, you can't escape responsibility.

  Fu Bo felt relieved and quickly pushed open the door to come out, making a bow to Yao Fang said: "I was rude just now, please don't mind, Mr. Yao."

  Yao Feng hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, smiling: "Old sir, you're looking at me as if I'm too petty. Don't be so polite, come with me to get the book."

  After speaking, Yao Fan took Fu Bo to the backyard to take the boxes for loading goods.

  Yao Feng asked his men to move a box of books out of the house, and upon opening it, they found a set of books he had prepared to present to the governor of Jinan Prefecture. He picked out "The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire", "The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany", "The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medieval Europe", "The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Roman Empire" and "The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece".

  Five sets of books, after being processed by Yao's father, the original publisher and author names were all erased, leaving only four small seal characters in the shape of a field, arranged like an official seal on the top right corner of the cover. Any content that involved data explanations and references after 1875 was also deleted.

  All five sets of books were printed on thick copperplate paper. The printing factory found by Yao's father was small, but it was a university-affiliated enterprise with complete color printing equipment. As long as you were willing to spend the money, the quality was impeccable. This factory had been printing Oxford dictionaries for years, and in school, they only sold for 20 yuan per copy. From the hardcover to the inside color pictures, you couldn't pick out any flaws, and it was absolutely impossible to tell that they were pirated books.

  Fu Bo was greatly astonished to see so many beautifully printed colour books, and he had never seen such fine printing and paper quality before. So he immediately stopped doubting Yao Fan.

  Fu Bo is now ninety-nine percent sure that Yao Fan is a wealthy merchant who has returned from the Western world. Think about it, such a colorful book with paper so good it's shocking, did the Qing dynasty ever have this kind of paper? Yao Fan said these were just ordinary books stored at home, which made Fu Bo even more respectful - this family actually had such high-quality books that they could be compared to several famous book-collecting families in the Qing dynasty.

  Fu Bo called two family members in the yard to carefully hold them, and he himself made a bow: "Mr. Yao, please rest assured, I will send the book over immediately."

  Yao Fan nodded and stopped talking nonsense, went into the house and fell asleep immediately.

  These two days of riding are really too tiring, and after the buddies took a shower, they all fell asleep with a loud snore.

  After a while, the yard was filled with the sound of snoring.