The next day, Shen Xuan rode his mule out, trotting along, and arrived in Lezhou City in just an hour.
He left early today, so when he reached Jinli Street, it was still maoshi (5-7 AM). The shops along the street had just opened, and there weren't many pedestrians yet.
From a distance, Shen Xuan saw the joss paper stall; the vendor had just arrived himself and was setting up the stall, placing the joss paper and paper pagodas one by one.
Seeing Shen Xuan arrive so early, the vendor was delighted and quickly gestured for Shen Xuan to come over and sit.
The joss paper business was different from others. It was sparse during normal times but became exceptionally popular before the Qingming and Zhongyuan Festivals.
It was the kind of business that didn't open for a year, but when it did, it made enough to last a year.
As soon as his stall was set up, customers started arriving. Shen Xuan naturally couldn't sit idle and immediately unfurled his brush and ink to write memorial texts.
In less than half an hour, the crowds on Jinli Street grew, and a long queue formed again in front of the joss paper stall.
Some people who hadn't managed to get their texts written yesterday also came looking for him today.
Shen Xuan was even busier than the day before... For the entire morning, Shen Xuan's hand never stopped.
He wrote twenty-eight memorial texts in just half a day, his wrist throbbing with needle-like pain. It wasn't until noon, when more people came out for lunch, that Shen Xuan finally got a moment to breathe.
He rested, took a sip of water, stretched his wrist, and bought a meat bun from a nearby shop.
He had just taken a bite when people came looking for memorial texts again.
One guan per memorial text—Shen Xuan was short on money right now, so he couldn't bear to turn away a single order.
He hastily put down his bun, ignored the throbbing pain in his wrist, and began writing again.
As it approached shenshi (3-5 PM), Shen Xuan calculated the time and stopped taking new orders, deciding to finish the existing ones and head back.
He had arrived early today and wrote a total of fifty-nine memorial texts throughout the day.
After deducting the vendor's share, he netted fifty-three guan and one hundred wen.
Shen Xuan took the money to a nearby money changer this time.
Adding the money left from yesterday, he exchanged it for a fifty taels silver note and five taels of actual silver, with over four guan remaining.
An ordinary farming family in Yunshui Village, in years without natural disasters and after deducting food rations, could only save one or two taels of silver a year.
An ordinary yamen official in Lezhou City had a monthly salary of only one taels, making it twelve taels a year.
Adding "gray income" from connections, transportation, guarantees, and roads, earning sixty or seventy taels a year was considered an upper-middle income in the city.
Shen Xuan earning over fifty taels in just two days was genuinely due to his literacy and the timing of the Zhongyuan Festival. After all, literati in the Great Jin Dynasty were still very valuable.
As long as one held a xiucai degree and wasn't overly aloof, they could easily earn six or seven taels a month by copying books, writing letters, or teaching wealthy young masters, which was enough for an entire family's expenses.
***
While Shen Xuan was working himself to the bone in Jinli Street, in Yunshui Village, Brother Zhong carried a vegetable basket towards Shen Xuan's house.
He hadn't slept a wink the night before, tossing and turning, his mind filled with images of Xue Fenglin and Shen Xuan laughing and chatting in the courtyard.
Shen Xuan was tall and looked just like a man. Although Brother Zhong's family was poor, he was slender and somewhat delicate in appearance.
He believed that men preferred Ger who looked like women, and since Shen Xuan wasn't as delicate as himself, why did he get such a gentleman?
If Shen Xuan could, then he could surely win the other's affection too!
Besides, there were precedents in the village for gentry families taking multiple secondary wives.
He would rather share a husband with Shen Xuan than marry that old widower and raise his sons.
So, early in the morning, Brother Zhong first went to the mountain to dig bamboo shoots, then to the fields to gather some wild vegetables.
He then picked a little of each and put them in a carrying basket.
Unlike Wang Xiaolian, he usually didn't have money for rouge and powder, so he didn't wear makeup.
But before leaving today, he put on his best clothes, washed his face repeatedly, plucked his eyebrows with string, and styled his braided hair before heading out.
Soon, he arrived at the entrance of Shen Xuan's small courtyard. The courtyard was quiet at this time; Shen Xuan had already left, and Xue Fenglin had not yet risen.
Brother Zhong already knew Shen Xuan wasn't home today. He knocked on the door and deliberately called Shen Xuan's name a few times.
After a moment, Xue Fenglin indeed opened the door and walked out of the house.
He saw that his face had completely recovered today, except for a few remaining bruises and scrapes.
Only his right foot, which had been bitten by the snake, was still not very agile. Wearing the new outer garment Shen Xuan had bought for him, Xue Fenglin came to the door.
Seeing Brother Zhong, he said, "Shen Xuan has gone to the city. He won't be home all day today, probably only returning tonight."
He was only temporarily staying here and didn't really want to have too much interaction with these villagers.
But this person had come to find Shen Xuan and was a Ger, so he wondered if he was a friend of Shen Xuan's in the village.
Xue Fenglin knew Shen Xuan had a difficult life in the village, so he was even more afraid of slighting his friend.
For Shen Xuan's sake, he politely put on his clothes, stepped out, and spoke to Brother Zhong, his attitude very gentle.
As soon as Brother Zhong saw Xue Fenglin's face, his heart was already in turmoil.
Coupled with Xue Fenglin's kind attitude towards him, he felt that there was an opportunity to exploit.
"Big Brother Lin, I'm Brother Zhong, who used to live next to the Shen family. Shen Xuan and I have always been good friends," Brother Zhong said with a smile.
"These past few days, Shen Xuan moved further away and hasn't had time to go to the mountains with me to dig vegetables. I really miss him terribly. So, this morning, I just happened to dig some fresh wild vegetables and bamboo shoots, and I brought them over for him."
Brother Zhong held up the basket in his hand for Xue Fenglin to see, and Xue Fenglin indeed saw some fresh wild vegetables inside.
The vegetables bought yesterday at home hadn't been finished yet, so there was no shortage of food.
Xue Fenglin initially didn't want to accept them, but after refusing a couple of times, he found that this Ger was persistent, acting as if he wouldn't leave if Xue Fenglin didn't accept.
So, he reluctantly opened the courtyard gate and let him in.
As soon as Brother Zhong entered the courtyard, he scanned every corner with his eyes. He went straight to the kitchen, put down the vegetables in the basket, but didn't leave.
Instead, he went to the front courtyard. He skillfully picked up a basin of dirty clothes from a corner of the courtyard and said,
"Look at this basin of clothes, just left here unwashed. Shen Xuan really is something; a Ger being so lazy. Does he expect you, a man, to wash them?"
Speaking of these dirty clothes, when Xue Fenglin was bedridden a few days ago, it was indeed Shen Xuan who washed them.
But these past two days, Shen Xuan was too busy in the city; how could he have time to wash clothes when he came back?
Xue Fenglin pitied his hard work, and his body was almost fully recovered, so he washed them himself during the day.
He certainly didn't have to do such chores at the Marquis's residence before, but now that he was doing them, he felt it wasn't that difficult, just a matter of moving his hands.
Besides, masters in the Marquis's residence, regardless of gender, didn't do rough work.
Hearing Brother Zhong immediately belittle Shen Xuan, making it sound as if Shen Xuan ought to do these chores, Xue Fenglin was very displeased.
Brother Zhong carried the basin of clothes to the well and, without asking, began to wash them.
He did a lot of chores at home, so washing clothes and cooking were second nature to him, and he was often praised by villagers for being capable.
As he washed, he said to Xue Fenglin, "Big Brother Lin, you're alone at home and injured, which must be very inconvenient. I'll wash these clothes for you."
He added, "Shen Xuan isn't here at noon either, how will you eat lunch? I don't know what you like to eat, should I make something for you later?"
Brother Zhong deliberately put on a virtuous and capable act, constantly putting Shen Xuan down, all for Xue Fenglin to see.
If it were an ordinary rural family, perhaps this tactic would work. But Xue Fenglin had spent so many years in the Marquis's residence; what tricks hadn't he seen?
Even the servants in the Marquis's residence no longer used such clumsy methods as Brother Zhong's.
After learning Brother Zhong's intentions, he naturally no longer regarded him as Shen Xuan's friend.
Seeing Brother Zhong squatting there, grunting and washing clothes, he didn't expose him. Instead, he went into the house, took off the two bed sheets from the bed, and threw them to him, saying,
"These are Shen Xuan's and my bed sheets. Wash and dry them too."
The weather was good today, perfect for washing and drying. Since there was free labor, why not use it?
Brother Zhong was stunned. He hadn't expected this Lin Ye, who seemed so gentle, to be so unpolite with him, directly ordering him to work.
However, since he wanted to make a good impression on the other party, he couldn't give up halfway.
Although he was somewhat unwilling, he held back and didn't say anything, taking the bed sheets and washing them.
Furthermore, Brother Zhong was sweating profusely washing the bed sheets there.
After finally washing and hanging them, he realized Xue Fenglin had long since disappeared, nowhere to be seen, and hadn't witnessed his virtuous display.
"Big Brother Lin, Big Brother Lin?" Brother Zhong walked to the side of the house and called out a few times, finding Xue Fenglin sitting inside.
He looked up and saw him, then asked, "Are you done washing? Then you can leave."
Brother Zhong: "..."
He had worked for half a day in vain, yet he didn't seem to have earned any special regard from the other party, not even a polite word of thanks.
Brother Zhong's chest tightened, but seeing Xue Fenglin's handsome face, he forcefully suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart.
Xue Fenglin's expression was indifferent; he didn't even spare him another glance. Brother Zhong couldn't tell what he was thinking.
He knew that some men were used to being served and were not very perceptive about these chores.
Perhaps Big Brother Lin hadn't noticed his performance? Brother Zhong thought to himself.
Thinking this, he forced another smile and entered the room, speaking softly to Xue Fenglin,
"Big Brother Lin, it's almost noon. How about I make you lunch? I don't know what you like to eat?"
Xue Fenglin finally looked up at Brother Zhong and said, "No need to trouble yourself. Please leave quickly."
Xue Fenglin's naturally sharp phoenix eyes, just a glance at Brother Zhong, stirred his heart and made his face flush.
He thought to himself, such a handsome man, like an immortal banished from heaven, if he could gain even a sliver of his favor, it would be worth anything!
"It's no trouble at all. I'm not as clumsy as Shen Xuan; I'm very nimble with my hands..."
Brother Zhong was jealous that such a man had become Shen Xuan's husband, and in his words, he couldn't help but try to put Shen Xuan down.
But before he could finish, Xue Fenglin interrupted him. Then he heard him say coldly,
"It's I who finds it troublesome. I don't want to see you disturbing me here. Now, get out!"
He added, "And Shen Xuan is my husband. He naturally doesn't need to be good at these rough chores. In the future, I'll just buy a servant like you to do them. Don't let me hear you disrespect him again."
Brother Zhong froze, feeling as if he had plunged into an ice cellar in the middle of summer, his heart turning instantly cold.
His face swelled crimson, as if someone had peeled off his skin and thrown it on the ground to be trampled, wishing he could find a crack in the earth to crawl into!
Only then did he realize that his little schemes had long been seen through by the other party, who had deliberately used this method to humiliate him.
The contempt and mockery in Xue Fenglin's eyes pierced him like knives. He fled the courtyard like a bird, rushing into the deserted mountain forest.
He dared not return home, fearing that his sudden disappearance for the morning would be noticed by his parents and younger siblings.
They would only scold him and force him to marry that old widower!
Brother Zhong found a secluded corner, sat on the ground with his knees hugged, and cried bitterly.
Why! Why did Big Brother Lin treat him that way? He prided himself on his good looks and being as diligent and capable as Shen Xuan. Even the birthmark on his forehead, which indicated fertility, was redder than Shen Xuan's! What exactly was he worse at than Shen Xuan?
Was it true that everyone had their own destiny, that Shen Xuan was lucky, and he was just born to a wretched life, undeserving of a good life?
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