Chapter Seventy-Two: Debts Owed, Debts Collected

Sometimes the burdens on one's heart are like a sheet of paper upon a window: before it is pierced, even if both sides are perfectly aware, peace remains undisturbed; but once the words are spoken, there is no taking them back.

Qingqing had left, leaving behind only half a luminous pearl on the table, with a note pressed beneath it.

“All these years, I have been grateful for your care. In truth, perhaps I have indeed come to value you too highly. I am still young, and life holds endless possibilities. Recently, the Nun of the Southern Sea came traveling through Yangzhou and saw promise in me, wishing to take me as her disciple. Let us take this opportunity to part for a while. Three years from now, we shall meet again. I hope by then your heart may have turned back to me.”

They each held half of the luminous pearl, a token for one day breaking and rejoining it anew.

The Nun of the Southern Sea hailed from the Quiet Waters Nunnery by the coast of Chaozhou, one of the most mysterious sects in the Tang realm. All claimed the nunnery was in Chaozhou, yet none had truly seen it.

One was set on heading north to Chang’an, the other journeyed a thousand miles south to Chaozhou. From then on, they were separated by the ends of the earth.

Yu Lang clutched the note tightly in his hand, uncertain whether he ought to give chase or not. If he caught up with her, what could he say? Overturning yesterday’s words in hopes of reconciliation? And if he did bring her back, how would they live together? In the end, he steeled his heart and did not pursue her. Qingqing had made her choice after careful thought, and Yu Lang respected it.

Hongchou stood at the doorway for a long time, holding a bowl of chicken soup, not daring to disturb Yu Lang’s thoughts.

Yu Lang opened the cupboard where Qingqing usually kept their savings and found that of the seven hundred and fifty-six taels of silver they had accumulated, Qingqing had taken exactly half—three hundred seventy-eight taels each, not a coin more or less. Recalling how Qingqing once saved every copper in anticipation of their future happiness, Yu Lang leaned against the cupboard and wept bitterly.

By the dim oil lamp, Qingqing had once lifted her delicate face and meticulously planned the use of every silver coin—some for land, some for a shop, and the rest to open a grand teahouse where travelers from north and south could rest and tell their tales.

The Chang’an Yu Lang had dreamed of was one with Qingqing by his side. Without her, many things lost their taste. For a moment or two, he almost gave in to the impulse to chase after her, but in the end, he stayed. If he were to be with Qingqing, he would first have to remove Ning Xiaoyu from his heart and give Qingqing a love pure and undivided.

Hongchou had never seen such a big man cry and stood at the doorway, even more at a loss, the chicken soup in her hands grown cold.

Yu Lang let out a heavy breath, composed himself, and took from the cupboard a silver ingot weighing about fifty taels.

He sat back down and placed the ingot on the table, speaking wearily to Hongchou, “Take these fifty taels and go home. Find yourself a good family and marry. There’s no need to follow me any longer.”

Hongchou grew anxious. “But Qingqing especially instructed me to take care of you before she left…”

Yu Lang shook his head firmly. “Go.” Qingqing was braving the lonely wilds of the south alone; how could he let another girl care for him? Though solitude is nothing remarkable, he wished to fulfill this final sentiment.

Though Hongchou appeared gentle and meek, she was stubborn at her core. She refused to yield. “Qingqing bought me. I am part of the Yu household now. Even if you cast me out, I remain one of the Yu family…”

Yu Lang feigned anger, “Is your servility so ingrained that you insist on being a beast of burden for others? What would your parents, who gave you life, think? Stand tall. You owe no one anything, and there’s no need to humble yourself so.”

Hongchou was not ungrateful; she knew Yu Lang’s words and deeds were for her own good. She entered the room and set the chicken soup before him. “Master, the soup has gone cold and must be reheated before you drink it. As for this silver, as you said, I cannot take it. To stand tall and straight, I must not be indebted to anyone.”

Yu Lang watched Hongchou leave with a gentle smile, then closed the door firmly and declined all company, sitting alone in the empty house, lost in thought.

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Hongchou bid farewell to Aunt Baba and went to her room to pack a few belongings. Among them was a narrow-sleeved dress of many colors that Qingqing had bought her. After some hesitation, she decided to take it as well, for there was no other woman left in the Yu household and the dress would serve no purpose there. It was not out of greed but simply because the dress was beautiful and she loved it dearly. Over the past days, Qingqing had also tipped her three or four taels of loose silver, which she could take home so her family would not look down on her.

Her home was in the Longxing Alley, where the poor lived. Among the tumbledown houses, her family’s was still considered respectable, but her older brother had recently fallen into gambling and had been gravely ill before; their small household could not withstand such hardship.

Still, her return was not as smooth as she had hoped. Though her brother’s illness had passed, he could not shake his addiction to gambling and soon lost every bit of the silver Hongchou brought home.

The family fell back into the old days of watery porridge and scraping by. Hongchou, unable to contain herself, rebuked her brother, only to be beaten soundly by her mother with a firewood stick. She did not cry from the beating, but when her father took the precious dress to pawn for rice, she wept. Her tears were the cheapest thing in that house. The only one who felt for her was her little brother, Lin Shuisheng, but he was only ten years old and, though male, held no sway in the household.

The dress was worth a good sum, enough rice to feed five people for three or four months. Her brother, forced by necessity, found work, and life improved a little.

But the respite was short-lived. The debt collectors inevitably found their way to Longxing Alley.

The collector was a dissolute young man, followed by more than a dozen burly attendants. He clearly was not short of money; for him, collecting debts and bullying others was mere entertainment. Beating someone on the street for no reason risked prison, but in the matter of debt collection, no matter how brazen, the authorities turned a blind eye.

Officials protected only those who could work and pay their taxes. For a family riddled with debt and unable to pay, ruin was no concern.

Her brother, Lin Yusheng, forced a smile and said to the young master, “Brother Zhang, please give me a few more days. I’ve found work as a laborer at the docks and will soon have enough for you…”

Brother Zhang flicked open his folding fan, revealing a tiger crouched behind a great stone. “Oh? How much can you earn a day at the docks?”

“When work is scarce, seven or eight copper coins; when it’s busy, perhaps ten or so,” Lin Yusheng answered honestly.

Brother Zhang rapped him sharply on the head. “You owe me a hundred and thirty taels of silver, and yet you say you can pay it back in a few days earning ten coins a day? Are you the fool here, or do you take me for one?”

Lin Yusheng’s face paled. “Brother Zhang, I borrowed only ten taels, and I already paid back five a while ago. Even with interest, I owe but seven taels at most.”

Brother Zhang’s smile turned gentle. “To have me, Zhang Tianba, collect a debt costs money. The creditor won’t pay for that—so you must. The other one hundred and twenty taels are my and my men’s expenses for coach and horses.”

Lin Yusheng fell to his knees, knocking his head on the ground. “Brother Zhang, please, please spare us. Surely you know our family could never come up with a hundred and twenty taels. Even if you sold us all, we wouldn’t fetch so much.”

But Brother Zhang already knew this; he had not come for the silver. He strolled leisurely, then used his fan’s rib to lift Hongchou’s chin. “Fine. I’ll do a good deed. I won’t take your family’s lives for the debt. Just let your sister keep my brothers company for a few days, and we’ll call it even. How about that?”