novelSusiti Chapter 8: The Fisherman of the Rivers and Seas, Poetry and Wine Accompanying His Life
Chapter 8: The Fisherman of the Rivers and Seas, Poetry and Wine Accompanying His Life
In October, it was still pitch black at dawn. Li Yuantu, holding a torch, guided Li Xuan and Li Chang. The two young men grumbled as they carried their belongings onto the boat.
Li Ji obediently packed lunch for his two older brothers and himself, slung his book bag over his shoulder, and ran towards the dock carrying a food box in each hand.
The silvery veil of the sky fell endlessly into the mountains and rivers, into the wilderness, and into the surrounding clear streams. With the movement of the oars, it drifted layer upon layer, softly and gently, into the distance, carrying away the boy's endless sorrow.
Li Ji was very sensible from a young age. He witnessed the passing of his parents and watched Li Xuan struggle to manage the family business after graduation. Li Yuantu devoted himself wholeheartedly to managing the farmland. Li Chang worked hard to catch river fish in the lake to supplement the family income.
He was the only outsider in the family who couldn't work and earn money, and they just sat at home eating away their savings every day. Countless times he thought about dropping out of school, since in these times even illiterate people could become emperors and princes, and studying was heresy.
Despite his thoughts, Li Ji always kept them to himself. He knew that doing so would only betray his parents and his adoptive cousin, Li Xuan. His grandfather had two sons, the father of both Li Xuan and Li Ji. Li Xuan's father only had Li Xuan as his son, and Li Ji was also his father's only child. Therefore, only Li Xuan and Li Ji remained of his grandfather's descendants, relying on each other for survival.
If Li Ji continues to be unambitious, can Li Xuan alone bring glory to the family? Without studying, he'll either have to risk his life in a regional military command or do menial labor. Neither option will help Li Xuan's career.
Li Chang found it strange that the usually lively Li Ji had been silent for so long. Li Chang reached out and grabbed Li Ji's small hand, saying, "Brother Ji, are you cold? It's getting colder in the morning. There's a thick fleece cloak in the boat, specially for us to keep warm after we come back from the water. Sit down, I'll go get it and put it on you."
Li Ji came to his senses and comforted him, "Brother Chang, take a rest. I'm not cold. It's the same every year, whether it's cold or hot. The coat I'm wearing was made from the cattail fluff you picked; it's thick and warm. I felt bad because you're all busy making money, and I'm the only one who's not very useful and eats a lot."
Li Chang and Li Xuan burst into laughter. Li Xuan almost lost his balance while rowing. After laughing for a while, he said to Li Ji, "Don't worry, little brother. You'll definitely have a chance to repay your brother after you graduate in three years."
Li Chang clapped his hands and laughed, "Brother Ji, you're only eleven years old. When I was eleven, nobody used me to make money either. Even when Aunt He wove fishing nets, she would send her husband down to the river. I wasn't even as tall as the fishing nets back then, so I could only follow behind them, doing chores and acting as an apprentice."
After calming Li Ji down, half an hour later, under the glow of the rising sun, Li Ji waved goodbye to Li Xuan and Li Chang at the dock and ran towards the clan school with his book box on his back.
Li Xuan and Li Chang couldn't waste any time. One rowed, and the other poled, and the small boat sped towards Guangling City like an arrow.
On the riverbank near Yingxun Bridge, Li Xuan's stall had become "luxurious." Not only was it situated under the shade of a willow tree, near the street corner, but the space allocated to the stall by the tax collector was also several times larger than before, and crucially, it was free.
This was only at Li Xuan's insistence; otherwise, the tax officials were prepared to allocate another large area to Li Xuan so that he could easily become a "sub-landlord" and rent out the prime land.
Power is truly wonderful. Even though Li Xuan and the Prince of Qi have absolutely no connection, just because the Prince of Qi's steward said a single word to Li Xuan, Li Xuan was able to act like a bully and tyrant in the Yingxun Bridge market.
The market sells all sorts of things. Li Chang happily went to the breakfast stall to buy soy milk.
Copper coins had strong purchasing power; one copper coin could buy two pieces of tofu and two large bowls of soy milk. The vendors would even proactively add the tofu to sauce and stir it into a scallion sauce tofu salad.
Li Xuan and Li Chang ate pancakes with soy milk and fermented bean curd as a side dish to replenish the energy they had expended while rowing in relays.
After quickly finishing their food, the guests entered the market one after another. Looking around, there were vendors selling firewood, charcoal, fruit, all kinds of vegetables and poultry, and especially large white geese, which were particularly popular with the people of Yangzhou.
At Li Xuan's seafood stall, several women were also browsing and selecting fish. The older women particularly liked the two burly, simple-minded boys. When Li Xuan sold fish, he would proactively give customers a discount of one ounce for each fish sold.
Li Chang was skillful; the fish he tied together with reeds were always easy to lift, sturdy, and effortless. The two young men worked together, and their business flourished. Gradually, Li Xuan gained the reputation of "Li the One-Tael Fish," while Li Chang was praised as "Skilled Li." Those unaware of the truth even thought he was a girl.
The aunties' hobbies are remarkably consistent throughout history. After becoming acquainted with Li Xuan and Li Chang, they would always inquire about their family situations.
Li Xuan was merely being modest, saying that his family owned a house and 200 mu of land in a certain township in the countryside, making them minor landowners. His parents were deceased, and he now lived with Li Chang and his son, along with his cousin who had lost his family fortune.
Haha, this seems like a negative condition. It looks like there are no elders to serve, but the new bride will have to manage the lives of several men, which will be very hard work.
By the way, both Li Xuan and his younger brother Li Ji are orphans. Although the world is chaotic these days and countless people lose their parents early, it's strange that the only two grandsons of the same grandfather are both orphans. Oh dear, is there something wrong with this family?
Some people are superstitious about this, while others are not.
Another aunt couldn't stand it anymore: "Life and death are determined by fate, how can man predict them? I think these two children are very good. Xuan is literate, intelligent, and meticulous in his work; he's clearly not from an ordinary family. Chang, with his physique and skillful hands, is obviously a man who can manage a household."
Li Chang was thin-skinned, and his dark face flushed red with embarrassment. Li Xuan, on the other hand, accepted the aunties' enthusiasm without any shyness. Instead, she recommended Li Chang to the aunties: "Not only that, my brother Chang can read some characters and is good at using counting rods. Take the transactions in the market, for example. There's no problem with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division that brother Chang can't solve."
The older women became even more enthusiastic about Li Chang, as if he were a rare treasure.
After all, although Li Xuan was good, his demeanor and bearing clearly indicated that he was not someone from a humble background. Although Li Chang worked as a servant for Li Xuan, he was of good social standing and seemed to have an excellent relationship with Li Xuan. In addition, he was tall, strong, and skillful, and now he was also literate and arithmetic, making him an extremely cost-effective option.
Li Chang couldn't understand why things had changed so much when Li Xuan took over the business, since he had sold fish on and off at the market for a year.
The women had to rush home; some families were well-off and needed to cook lunch. Others didn't need to cook lunch but had countless chores to do. Everyone was struggling to survive in this chaotic world; the noise was just a spice of life, while labor was the only constant for survival.