After spring began, Chen Jinhu took the luggage Wang Wanwan packed for him and returned to the escort agency to resume work.
Their agency was called Yongxing Escort Agency, located in an inconspicuous alley in Yongxing Prefecture. The head, Bing Xingda, was a cheerful man in his thirties who had taken over the agency from his father.
The agency wasn't very large to begin with, and in this era, few people traveled long distances, so there was little need for escort services.
As a result, business had always been lukewarm. Over the years, it remained at a scale of only twenty or thirty people, taking jobs from all over the place. It wasn't enough to make a fortune, but it was better than struggling for food in the fields.
At first, when Bing Xingda saw Chen Jinhu walking toward him on his own feet, he thought it was Chen Liejiu. He was about to ask why he had come when Chen Jinhu got closer, and he realized it wasn't Chen Liejiu.
Chen Liejiu wasn't that tall and didn't have such a bright smile.
Bing Xingda was astonished: "Xiao Hu, your legs are healed?!"
Chen Jinhu knew people at the agency would be surprised. He smiled at every he met: "My Second Brother cured me!"
"Your Second Brother?" Bing Xingda frowned. Didn't Chen Jinhu's family only have an elder brother, Chen Liejiu? When did a Second Brother appear?
Chen Jinhu explained: "My Second Brother is the husband my elder brother married. He doesn't let us call him brother-in-law; we all call him Second Brother."
"Oh right, that's the case. Look at my memory." Bing Xingda scratched his head, remembering. Last year, Chen Liejiu had told them in the prefectural city that he had married a man into his family, a scholar.
At the time, every was a bit skeptical. How could some as fierce as him manage to marry a man, and a gentle scholar at that?
Probably just a farmhand who knew a few characters—and without parents who couldn't even support himself.
It wasn't that Bing Xingda looked down on Chen Liejiu; it was just that after seven years of working together, he had watched Chen Liejiu grow from a child into some increasingly good-looking and increasingly fierce. He had no confidence that Chen Liejiu could find a good man.
Fighting bandits, confronting soldiers, arguing with officials—there was nothing he didn't dare do. He had more courage than any man.
He even talked rough. Ordinary men would hide in embarrassment when they heard other men discussing their wives, but not him—he joined in and talked with them, never seeing himself as anything less.
He even said that once he had my, he would find a handsome husband to satisfy his cravings.
He was beautiful, but how many men in this world could handle a husband like him?
No was surprised that he married a man; but that he married a scholar—they couldn't believe it a hundred times over.
Scholars liked shy, delicate men like those in brothels; taking them as concubines was thing, but marrying into their family? Wasn't that asking for their lives?
Chen Liejiu had told him that his husband treated him very well, wasn't disdainful at all that he was a bully, and was even studying for the imperial exams to earn him face.
He said he would bring his husband to meet him in a couple of days, but days turned into more days, and until now, he still hadn't seen this husband.
He knew then that Chen Liejiu was boasting.
Men—what's the big deal about boasting? He had even claimed his wife was the most beautiful in the world.
Even if he wasn't as good as described, they wouldn't mind, but keeping him hidden was just pointless.
Now, hearing Chen Jinhu say that Chen Liejiu's husband had cured his legs, Bing Xingda couldn't help but get curious: "Does your Second Brother treat you well?"
"Well, of course he does!" Leaving aside everything else, Xu Huaiqian was truly beyond reproach in how he treated their family.
He didn't disdain his elder brother, didn't interfere with him, respected him.
Taught his younger sister to hatch chicks.
Taught Wanwan to make knots.
Went through great trouble to cure his legs.
Chen Jinhu pointed to his legs, which now walked like any else's: "If he didn't treat us well, would he have cured my legs?"
"Besides, my Second Brother is a scholar, a scholar with a Xiucai title." Husbands are ; Chen Jinhu knew that promoting Xu Huaiqian's goodness outside was giving face to his elder brother, so he was happy to praise Xu Huaiqian.
"—What?!"
This time, not only was Bing Xingda astonished, but even the others lazily sunbathing while checking goods nearby were drawn in by his words.
They were happy for Chen Jinhu that his legs could walk normally again, but that was far from shocking.
But Chen Liejiu marrying not just a scholar, but a scholar with a Xiucai title—that was truly astonishing.
Some like Chen Liejiu?
Managed to marry a Xiucai husband into the family?!
Were they hallucinating?!
The escorts rubbed their ears, afraid they had misheard and that it wasn't true at all.
"He really is a Xiucai!" Chen Jinhu didn't give them time to recover, confirming directly. "He passed last autumn!"
"My Second Brother is amazing," Chen Jinhu's smile brightened. "He passed the Xiucai exam at just eighteen. The government exempted his land from taxes, and even the family's corvée labor was waived."
Mishan County was too remote—so remote that the government didn't even assign corvée labor for building bridges or roads. But that wasn't a good thing; in fact, if you didn't perform corvée, you still had to pay a corvée tax.
Before, the Chen family only had Chen Jinhu, who was underage, so naturally, they didn't have to pay the corvée tax.
But if Xu Huaiqian hadn't become a Xiucai, once Chen Jinhu turned eighteen, land taxes, poll taxes, and corvée taxes would all come due.
That was why, even though the family wasn't particularly short on my, every was striving hard to earn—they were preparing for future taxes.
Now that Xu Huaiqian had a Xiucai title, he could exempt two people from taxes, just enough for himself and Chen Jinhu, making life easier for the family.
"Incredible!" Bing Xingda and the others listened as if hearing a tall tale, stunned. "Chen Liejiu is something else—marrying such a capable husband. Why didn't he bring him out to show us when he and his husband came to the prefectural city for the exams?"
"There was an issue at the time." Chen Jinhu knew about this; Chen Liejiu had told him. "My Second Brother is perfect in every way, except for thing—his health isn't good."
"Right after finishing the academy exam, he collapsed from exhaustion," Chen Jinhu's smile faded. "He even went blind. His eyes only started improving around the time I returned home."
Chen Liejiu had wanted to introduce Xu Huaiqian to them, but at that time, Xu Huaiqian was so sick that Chen Liejiu could barely manage caring for him al—how could he remember such things?
"Just from taking an exam, he got that sick?!" How weak must his body be?!
Escorts were used to tough travel and had much stronger constitutions than ordinary people. They couldn't understand how some could go blind from just sitting in a cramped exam hall for three days.
They could only attribute it to Chen Liejiu's husband's extremely poor health.
Chen Jinhu didn't argue this point—Xu Huaiqian's health was indeed very poor: "It's all because of that damned prefect—he's too greedy."
Every cursed the prefect of Yong'an. He imposed high taxes on shops in the prefectural city. Smaller, inconspicuous places like their escort agency were fine, but if they dared expand or gain fame, they would face layer upon layer of exploitation.
Hadn't they seen how the once-largest restaurant in the prefectural city, Wangjiang Tower, had changed owners?
But who would have thought that some already so greedy would also embezzle from the exam supplies sold to students every year.
" Sigh, there's nothing we can do." Bing Xingda patted Chen Jinhu's shoulder hearing him curse the prefect. "He's the top official here. I heard he has powerful backing in the Changnan Administration Commission. How can us small, powerless people hope to oppose him?"
"At least your Second Brother's eyes are better now. Consider it a lesson learned." Bing Xingda brought Chen Jinhu into the agency. "Enough of unhappy talk. Your legs are healed, and we've got a few escorts lined up for the new year. Pick a few shorter s to start with?"
Hearing this, Chen Jinhu remembered what Xu Huaiqian had told him at home and hurriedly said to Bing Xingda: "Boss, I have a way for the agency to make my while on escort trips. Want to try?"
Bing Xingda looked at him in surprise: "What way?"
"My Second Brother taught me." Chen Jinhu took out the map Xu Huaiqian had drawn for him and spread it on the table. "I often talked about escort work with my Second Brother while I was home. After hearing me out, he drew this map."
"Our location is in the south of the Changnan Administration Commission. The escorts we often run go to the north of Changnan and other, more distant administration commissions."
Chen Jinhu pointed to the lines on the map: "Boss, Changnan doesn't produce much, but other commissions do. For example, Jiangnan produces silk, Qixi has tea, and Shengbei has ceramics."
"Our agency handles the most escorts to Shengbei. Going from Yong'an Prefecture to Shengbei must pass through Sanchun Prefecture in Qixi. Sanchun tea is famous—why not bring some along to sell on the way north? On the return trip, we can bring back Shengbei ceramics and do the same?"
They were escorting anyway—while delivering goods for others, couldn't they also transport goods for themselves?