Chapter 18 — A Secret Rendezvous and His First Employee

When Chu An’an woke again, he felt as though he were riding a horse.

His entire body was being jostled so badly that he felt like throwing up.

He struggled to open his eyes.

Then he realized—

He was on someone’s back.

The realization startled him so badly that he immediately began struggling.

“Who are you? Let me go!”

Zhao Junyi immediately spoke up.

He quickly lowered An’an and helped him sit in the grass by the roadside.

Then he reached out and touched his face.

“How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?”

Seeing the anxiety written all over his face, Chu An’an’s head was still fuzzy.

Had he missed something?

“Where are you carrying me?”

At the mention of that, Zhao Junyi could no longer stay calm.

“Of course I’m taking you to see a doctor. When I came back, I saw you collapsed on the ground. You scared—”

The two of them looked at each other.

They could see themselves reflected in each other’s eyes.

Zhao Junyi swallowed the rest of his sentence.

You scared me half to death.

That was what he’d wanted to say.

Chu An’an felt a little awkward.

“I’m fine. Some sugar water will fix me.”

He was probably anemic, combined with being exhausted lately.

“No. I won’t feel at ease until you’ve seen a doctor.”

“I’m really fine. The sun is making me feel even worse. I’d rather go home and rest. I’ve just been too tired lately.”

Zhao Junyi looked at him carefully.

An’an really didn’t look seriously ill.

In fact, he was making a very expressive face as he complained about the sunlight.

Only then did Zhao Junyi believe him.

He crouched down in front of him.

“What are you doing?”

Zhao Junyi awkwardly said,

“You’re still not feeling well. I’ll carry you home.”

“Oh.”

Unlike Zhao Junyi, Chu An’an wasn’t embarrassed at all.

That broad, straight back looked quite comfortable.

He happily climbed onto it, immediately wrapping both arms around Zhao Junyi’s neck.

“Why didn’t you borrow the village chief’s ox cart?”

It was so hot outside.

Wouldn’t carrying another person while running like this be exhausting?

Zhao Junyi could feel An’an’s breath brushing against his ear as he spoke.

He could smell the faint fragrance on An’an’s body.

He could feel the strength of the arms wrapped around his neck.

Every single sensation was unusually clear.

“An ox cart is bumpy. Carrying you is faster.”

“Oh.”

So he could run pretty fast.

And his body was really strong.

When they arrived home, Chu An’an was placed on a bench in the main room.

Not long afterward, Zhao Junyi brought him a bowl of sugar water.

Only then did An’an notice that Zhao Junyi was wearing the light cloud-colored outfit he’d made for him.

For a moment, he stared blankly.

“What did you do that made you so exhausted you fainted?” Zhao Junyi asked.

Chu An’an drank the sugar water while his eyes darted around.

Oh no.

He should have said he’d gotten overheated.

What if Zhao Junyi learned that running his business had exhausted him to the point of fainting?

What if he stopped him from doing business in the future?

Of course, Zhao Junyi couldn’t actually control what he did.

And Chu An’an certainly wouldn’t listen if he tried.

But Zhao Junyi was the person who had treated him best after his family’s downfall.

If he tried to stop An’an from working, it would only be because he was worried about his health.

So An’an didn’t want to start an argument over it.

He put down the bowl and said innocently,

“You know I’ve been making a lot of money lately, right?”

“That doesn’t mean you can neglect your health. I have silver.”

As he spoke, Zhao Junyi started reaching for his money.

Chu An’an immediately waved his hands.

“Stop. I don’t want your money.”

He didn’t notice the brief shadow that crossed Zhao Junyi’s face when he said that.

Seeing that pretending to be innocent wasn’t going to work, Chu An’an had another trick.

He’d learned it from Zhou Run.

That morning, he’d tried to persuade Zhou Run not to work so hard and to open his stall an hour later.

Zhou Run had responded by telling him about how he’d been neglected by his parents since childhood and had always been short of money.

After hearing that, An’an had felt too awkward to continue persuading him.

So now he said,

“Sigh. A few days ago, I went to see my parents and eldest brother.”

“Just the money needed to smooth things over was three taels of silver.”

“And I only got to see my eldest brother.”

“I couldn’t even ask the manager to let me see my parents.”

“In circumstances like these, I’m practically dreaming about making money.”

He only said this because he wanted Zhao Junyi to stop interfering with his business.

He wasn’t asking Zhao Junyi for money.

Then he waved Zhao Junyi over.

“Come closer.”

Zhao Junyi leaned toward him.

An’an lowered his voice mysteriously.

“Do you know how much I can make in a month based on the profits from the past few days?”

They were obviously in their own home, yet An’an acted as though they were discussing some state secret.

Zhao Junyi lowered his eyes and looked at him from close range, playing along.

“How much?”

An’an proudly lifted his chin.

“Seven taels!”

Seeing Zhao Junyi’s astonished expression, An’an became even more smug.

Most people in the village had no fixed income.

Their ways of making money were limited to:

• growing vegetables and grain
• raising livestock
• gathering mountain produce
• woodworking
• masonry

There were no proper jobs in the village.

Those kinds of jobs were found in the county, where people could work long-term or take temporary labor.

Villagers who had nothing else to do would often go into town looking for short-term work.

And even then, they weren’t necessarily able to compete with local workers.

If someone managed to secure a permanent job in the county, they were considered quite accomplished in the village.

Anyone who could reliably bring home several hundred copper coins a month would have an easy time finding a marriage partner.

Most county jobs paid several hundred copper coins a month.

Better jobs could pay one tael or slightly more.

A shopkeeper might earn around two taels a month, making that one of the highest wages available to ordinary workers.

Zhao Junyi earned more.

A Qianhu received three taels of military pay per month.

But a Qianhu was already an exceptionally rare position.

Going any higher meant entering the ranks of the official class.

For an ordinary poor person, Qianhu was basically the highest position they could realistically attain.

An ordinary soldier earned only several hundred copper coins a month.

And yet—

Even Zhao Junyi’s income couldn’t compare with Chu An’an’s.

One person was now earning more than many wealthy households in the county.

Seeing Zhao Junyi’s continued shock, An’an became incredibly pleased with himself.

He’d wanted to brag about this for ages.

He wanted someone to praise him.

Unfortunately, he understood the principle of keeping wealth hidden, so he’d been quietly making money all this time.

He hadn’t even told Zhou Run how much he made.

“Well?”

“I’m amazing, right?”

Zhao Junyi let out a long breath.

“Very amazing.”

Chu An’an’s figurative tail practically rose to the sky.

Of course he was willing to work so hard. He was earning so much from it!

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Junyi asked,

“So you make this much money, but you still refuse to hire anyone because you’re afraid your recipes will be leaked?”

The only thing Zhao Junyi knew An’an sold was bamboo cake.

It was soft, chewy, and sweet.

Its taste alone wasn’t particularly extraordinary.

But its appearance—

That was genuinely astonishing.

The translucent cakes were as beautiful as flowers.

Different colors arranged together were even more stunning.

The last time Liang Dashu returned to the army, he’d praised An’an to everyone.

He’d practically become a fanatic admirer of the bamboo cakes.

When the others asked him to bring some back so they could see them for themselves, he’d said he’d already eaten them all at home.

Naturally, nobody dared criticize him to his face.

They didn’t contradict Liang Dashu because they respected Zhao Qianhu.

But privately, nobody really believed him.

They assumed Liang Dashu was simply trying to protect the reputation of his subordinate’s foolish husband.

Some people had heard about bamboo cakes.

They said the stall owner was a young, clever-looking ge’er, and that his products were expensive but sold extremely well.

But what did that have to do with Zhao Qianhu?

His husband was supposedly an idiot.

Surely he wasn’t going to claim that this clever bamboo-cake vendor had a brilliant future.

They only humored Zhao Qianhu and didn’t argue.

Zhao Junyi thought about this because of something else.

His soldiers came from all over the country.

Yet not a single one of them had ever seen bamboo cakes anywhere else.

That made him suspect that An’an’s recipe was extremely valuable.

An’an’s profits were likely so high precisely because the recipe was so rare.

Chu An’an immediately pointed at him and nodded repeatedly.

“You hit the nail right on the head!”

“How could I possibly dare hire people?”

Even before he’d hired anyone, people had already found excuses to peek into his kitchen.

If he actually let someone inside to work, what would happen then?

After thinking about it, the only safe solution was to buy someone.

If he held their contract of servitude, they wouldn’t dare betray him.

The master holding a servant’s contract effectively held that person’s entire fate in his hands.

Such a person would be far less likely to leak a recipe.

If even that wasn’t enough to prevent betrayal, then either the person had been exceptionally tempted—

or the master had treated his servants so badly that they were willing to betray him no matter the consequences.

As he spoke, An’an awkwardly rubbed his nose.

“I was planning to buy someone to help me.”

“But I don’t have enough money right now.”

Just moments ago, he’d been boasting about how much money he could make.

Now he was saying he had no money.

It sounded almost like he’d been bragging.

But it was the truth.

He really could make money.

He’d simply only recently started earning it and hadn’t accumulated savings yet.

He muttered,

“I’ll handle this. Don’t worry.”

His solution was to buy someone earlier than planned.

He’d originally intended to buy a helper once he had accumulated enough money.

Now he’d encountered this unfortunate child.

Maybe moving the plan forward wasn’t such a bad idea.

And after collapsing from exhaustion that afternoon, his determination to get help had only become stronger.

The problem was that he didn’t have enough silver.

He’d have to borrow from the village chief.

He could also borrow from Zhao Junyi.

But he was afraid Zhao Junyi wouldn’t ask for the money back.

He didn’t want to owe him even more.

Unless Zhao Junyi truly became his husband.

Then they wouldn’t need to distinguish between whose money was whose.

Zhao Junyi nodded.

“I understand.”

“I’ll help you.”

“For now, lie down and rest. I’ll prepare the ingredients.”

Running a food business wasn’t simply a matter of cooking things.

The preparation beforehand was just as troublesome.

After Chu An’an explained how to prepare all four products, he finally relaxed and went to sleep.

After all, he was still feeling unwell.

He could justify being lazy for a little while.

After sleeping for a while, he woke and rolled his neck.

His mind felt clear.

His hands and feet felt light.

He suddenly felt capable of doing a lot of work.

The sunlight outside was no longer as harsh.

It was probably evening.

There wasn’t much time left in the day, but he wasn’t worried.

With two people working, they could get everything done much faster.

They could prepare all the food for tomorrow.

Next, he had to think about the child.

This wasn’t a small matter.

He wanted to take responsibility for the child.

But he also had to take responsibility for himself.

Before buying him, he still needed to find out whether that couple’s situation really was as tragic as they’d claimed.

He also needed to know whether the child had any bad habits, such as stealing.

If everything checked out and the child was honest, then he could bring him home sooner and finally make his own workload more manageable.

Tomorrow, he planned to spend a little money to ask someone from the village to inquire about the family in the neighboring village.

As for now, Zhao Junyi was still home.

He also needed an excuse to go to the village chief’s house to buy eggs and ask about borrowing money.

After making his plans, he walked out feeling refreshed.

Then he saw Zhao Junyi sitting on the steps in the courtyard, peeling yams.

Although Zhao Junyi’s cooking was barely edible, he was remarkably efficient at preparing ingredients.

The little knife in his hand flashed rapidly.

He had already changed into old clothes.

But because his physique was so good, even his back and side profile looked handsome.

Chu An’an watched him for a while.

Only then did he notice—

In a distant corner, a child was crouching in the shadows.

He looked almost like a ghost.

An’an jumped.

“Holy crap! Who is that?”

The child hurriedly stood up.

Only then did An’an realize that the child in the corner was cutting the peeled purple sweet potatoes into pieces.

And—

It was the same unfortunate child he’d encountered that morning.

The child’s eyes were swollen and bloodshot.

He must have cried for a very long time.

But now he wasn’t crying.

He merely called out in a tiny voice,

“Master.”

That made Chu An’an even more confused.

But seeing how pitiful the child looked, his first instinct was to comfort him.

“I wasn’t scolding you just now. Don’t be scared.”

His voice softened.

“What is your name?”

“Wang Xiaoya.”

“Okay, Xiaoya.”

“I see you two have almost finished preparing the ingredients.”

“Go rest for now. I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner.”

Wang Xiaoya hurriedly said,

“I can start the fire and cook.”

“No.”

“I have something to discuss with another brother.”

Only then did Wang Xiaoya realize that An’an wanted him to leave.

This wasn’t the time to prove himself.

He lowered his head obediently and walked toward the only empty room.

It was the room where Zhou Run had previously slept.

Now that the child had already moved into their home, Chu An’an had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

Still, he asked,

“What happened?”

Zhao Junyi explained.

He had bought the child and brought him home.

He then explained Wang Xiaoya’s basic circumstances.

He was fourteen years old and a ge’er who had grown up in the neighboring village.

“Fourteen?”

Chu An’an was shocked.

The child was so thin and small that he’d thought he was only ten.

“Mm.”

“His family isn’t doing well.”

Zhao Junyi continued explaining.

Wang Xiaoya’s family was among the poorest households in the countryside.

They had only a few mu of poor-quality farmland.

The family survived by eating wild vegetables and watery porridge.

He had an older brother who worked as a porter in the county.

Some time ago, the brother had accidentally fallen and broken his leg.

His treatment required a large amount of money.

As for Wang Xiaoya himself, he was extremely hardworking.

He was a typical example of poor children growing up early.

He often went to the edge of the mountains to gather wild vegetables and firewood.

His family’s circumstances were easy to investigate.

Zhao Junyi had wanted to buy An’an a helper.

Once he heard about this family, he’d immediately considered them.

When Zhao Junyi arrived at their home, Wang Xiaoya’s parents told him about the kind ge’er who had given them two hundred copper coins that morning and reserved Xiaoya for three days.

As soon as they described that kind young man’s appearance, Zhao Junyi guessed it was An’an.

So he simply told them that he was the ge’er‘s husband.

He paid the money and took the child away.

The scene when he’d taken Xiaoya had actually been rather heartbreaking.

Wang Xiaoya had cried bitterly, repeatedly calling for his parents.

Yet he never once said,

“I won’t go.”

Clearly, he knew there was nothing he could do to change his fate.

Compared with Xiaoya’s grief, his parents had seemed rather cold.

They’d only secretly wiped away their tears behind his back.

They’d let go quite decisively.

Perhaps, in their eyes, as long as Xiaoya wasn’t sold to a brothel, this was already a good ending.

Or perhaps this was their final way of loving him.

They deliberately didn’t show too much attachment, making it clear to his new master:

We won’t cling to him.

You can use him without worry.

There was no need to tell An’an all of this.

It would only make him soft-hearted and sad.

Fortunately, Chu An’an hadn’t heard the painful part.

His first reaction was instead,

“So when you said at noon that you’d help me…”

“This is the help you meant?”

Zhao Junyi didn’t understand at first.

“I thought you meant you’d help me prepare the ingredients.”

“It’s both.”

How could this man be so bad at taking credit?

Chu An’an asked again,

“How much did you spend to bring him here?”

Zhao Junyi paused.

Clearly, he didn’t want to tell him the truth.

Chu An’an smiled.

His gaze sharpened.

“I want the truth.”

“Twenty-three taels and six hundred and eighty copper coins.”

Oh.

That was surprisingly precise.

“Was that all your money?”

Zhao Junyi hesitated.

Then nodded.

In a peaceful era, human life was valuable.

Buying a person generally started at around twenty taels of silver.

Someone like Wang Xiaoya—a skinny, half-grown ge’er—wasn’t worth much.

Twenty-three taels was reasonable.

People with household-management skills or particularly attractive appearances could cost far more.

But even so—

This purchase had completely emptied Zhao Junyi’s savings.

Chu An’an was curious.

“What are you trying to get out of this?”

“I normally don’t spend money. There’s no use keeping it.”

“Are you seriously telling me that?”

“Who says money has no use?”

Zhao Junyi felt his heart skip.

He hadn’t expected An’an to look so beautiful and gentle yet be completely impossible to fool.

After thinking for a moment, he said,

“Then you can repay me later?”

“Huh?”

Chu An’an laughed in disbelief.

He had always intended to repay the money.

But hearing Zhao Junyi actually say it out loud still surprised him.

And somehow—

It irritated him.

The irritation had nothing to do with money.

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“You can repay me if you want.”

“If you don’t want to, then forget it.”

“It’s up to you. I don’t mind.”

Zhao Junyi hurriedly explained everything in one breath.

Then he added pitifully,

“I don’t want you to repay me.”

“But today you said you didn’t want my money.”

All right.

Chu An’an’s mood immediately improved.

He leisurely said,

“Of course I’ll repay you.”

“After all, what relationship do we have?”

He deliberately gave every word a meaningful tone.

After teasing him enough, the two of them continued discussing business.

Zhao Junyi took out Wang Xiaoya’s contract of servitude.

“I’ve already spoken with his parents.”

“Officially, we’ll say that Wang Xiaoya is working in our household.”

“We’ll pay him wages.”

Chu An’an nodded deeply.

“Keeping a low profile is definitely better.”

He couldn’t imagine how wealthy someone would have to be to openly buy servants.

Even the wealthiest family in their village—the village chief’s household—didn’t have servants.

He had bought Xiaoya because he needed an employee who wouldn’t leak his recipes.

He wasn’t buying someone so that he could sit around being served food and drink.

But would outsiders understand that distinction?

All they’d hear was that he had enough money to buy a servant.

Then they’d assume he was making an enormous amount of money.

Soon, his shabby thatched house would be surrounded by people trying to pry into his business.

Now that the matter of a helper had been resolved, and he no longer needed to borrow money from the village chief, the two of them quickly cooked everything they needed for the next morning.

Then they made a generous dinner.

Chu An’an served Wang Xiaoya a bowl of white rice and called the child out to eat.

The boy was visibly stunned.

His entire face seemed to ask:

“I can eat too?”

He ate even the plain rice with almost religious reverence.

He didn’t dare touch the dishes on the table.

So Chu An’an personally picked up some food and placed it in his bowl.

The next morning brought an unusually cool and refreshing day.

Zhao Junyi left early, saying that he had something to take care of.

Before leaving for the county, Chu An’an called Wang Xiaoya over.

“How did you sleep last night?”

Wang Xiaoya shyly nodded.

“I ate well and slept well.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“Don’t call me Master anymore.”

“Call me Boss.”

“As for Zhao Junyi, you can call him Boss Zhao.”

Chu An’an handed him a bamboo cake filled with grape flesh.

“Try this.”

At first, Wang Xiaoya was too embarrassed to accept it.

But he soon realized that his master was gentle while also being someone who meant what he said.

So he stopped pretending to refuse.

“Thank you, Boss.”

He took one bite.

His eyes immediately widened.

He looked at Chu An’an.

Then took another bite.

And looked at him again.

How could something be this delicious?

And it was sweet!

In the past, the only time he’d ever eaten white sugar was when he was sick.

While he was eating, Chu An’an explained,

“Let me briefly explain how things work here.”

“I run a food business.”

“The recipes I have are rare, and people are always trying to find out what they are.”

“So you absolutely cannot leak any of them, understand?”

“I will not tolerate betraying your master.”

Wang Xiaoya’s contract of servitude was still in Chu An’an’s hands.

If he betrayed his master, the consequences were obvious.

Seeing his usually gentle master suddenly become serious, Xiaoya was a little frightened.

“I won’t.”

Chu An’an reached out and patted his head.

“Other than that, just think of yourself as someone who came here to work.”

“I won’t beat you or curse at you.”

“I’ll pay you wages.”

“And from now on, don’t feel embarrassed about eating rice or meat.”

“Understand?”

Wang Xiaoya nodded vigorously.

At home, he’d already done plenty of work and still couldn’t eat his fill.

If he could work here and eat his fill—

He was willing to do it!

After explaining everything, Chu An’an told Wang Xiaoya to stay home and prepare the ingredients.

He would return after selling the morning food.

Not long after An’an finished selling breakfast and returned home, Zhao Junyi came back too.

The weather wasn’t as hot today.

A gentle breeze drifted through the courtyard.

After several consecutive days of scorching heat, the cool weather made everyone feel considerably better.

Chu An’an was teaching Wang Xiaoya how to cook.

Wang Xiaoya already knew how to cook, but just like Zhou Run in the past, he was too reluctant to use meat.

So his food wasn’t particularly tasty.

Chu An’an was teaching him something entirely different:

Use plenty of meat.

Use plenty of rice.

At that moment, Zhao Junyi glanced at the other person in the courtyard.

Then he leaned close to An’an’s ear and whispered,

“Come to the county with me for lunch today.”

Chu An’an smiled.

He guessed it was probably related to some important matter concerning him.

By now, he’d figured out a little about Zhao Junyi’s personality.

He did things without talking about them.

He’d gone out that morning.

He’d probably gone to make arrangements.

Now that everything had been settled, he’d returned.

An’an had no idea what important matter he still needed to handle.

But that didn’t stop him from pretending to be innocent and delighted.

“Are you taking me out to have fun?”

“A secret rendezvous?”

“I’m so happy!”

“Thank you, Brother Zhao.”

Zhao Junyi froze.

A… secret rendezvous?