Just as he was thinking this, a boat suddenly appeared on the river opposite them.
Then two boats, three boats, five boats, ten boats—more and more boats appeared on the river, lining up and filling the entire canal, making it impossible not to notice.
"Look, look, the river!" There were still a few scattered customers in the tavern's private room, and now they all noticed the unusual scene on the river, their eyes turning toward it.
Even those who hadn't looked were prompted to do so.
"Oh heavens! What happened? Why so many boats?" People who didn't understand what was happening could only express their shock through exclamations.
The five magistrates and Xu Huaiqian in the private room naturally noticed this too, but unlike the other customers, they didn't shout or scream. Instead, they wondered what was really happening.
River bandits? Waterway raiders?
But the boats were moving in an orderly manner, and with so many arriving, they weren't attacking the spectators on the banks—it didn't seem like bandits at all.
It looked more like merchant ships!
But what in Yong'an Prefecture could attract so many merchant ships?!
Before the magistrates could figure it out, Xu Huaiqian, whose eyesight had recovered and was now excellent, spotted a figure in fiery red standing on the deck of the lead ship. Without a second thought, he rushed out of the private room, dashed out of the tavern, and headed for the dock.
The magistrates, bewildered, followed him. Thinking of his beloved husband, they wondered: Could this be his husband's doing?
Sure enough.
When the ships reached the dock of Taoyuan County, Chen Liejiu, dressed in fiery red, jumped off the deck, hugged Xu Huaiqian whom he had missed day and night, and immediately said to Magistrate Min of Taoyuan: "Magistrate Min, please arrange berthing for the ships behind!"
"...Wh-what?!" Magistrate Min stared dumbfounded at the dense array of ships behind them. How was he supposed to arrange that?
"These are all here to buy charcoal," Chen Liejiu said, holding Xu Huaiqian's hand, full of energy. "The transactions will be in your county—the taxes..."
"I'll arrange it right away!" Magistrate Min understood perfectly. Even if Taoyuan's dock couldn't accommodate so many ships, for berthing, all you needed was a wooden stake or a tree to tie up to.
Conditions were simple—every would have to bear with it.
"Chen Wu, go back to Xinghua Village and have the elders bring all the charcoal to Taoyuan dock. Chen Qiang, take the guests to the inn and get them settled." After instructing Magistrate Min, Chen Liejiu arranged his own people.
Then, under the astonished gazes of the magistrates, he pulled Xu Huaiqian back to the inn, held him, and kissed him again and again: "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too." Xu Huaiqian's body warmed under his kisses.
Even though he was wearing a heavy cloak, he had been chilled to the b from the long exposure to wind on the river.
But with Chen Liejiu's kisses, he felt his blood stirring with excitement.
"You should have waited for me at the inn; why did you come to the river to meet me?" Chen Liejiu touched his ice-cold face, wrapped his little husband in the inn's cotton quilt, and held him.
"Missed you." Xu Huaiqian gazed at him unblinkingly.
"Don't look at me like that," Chen Liejiu said, his heartbeat quickening. "If you look at me like that, I'll want to kiss you again."
"Kiss me, kiss me all you want!" They were legally married—they could kiss as much as they wanted!
"You'll make me bleed!" Chen Liejiu's thumb brushed Xu Huaiqian's crimson lips. He didn't know why his little husband's skin was so delicate—it broke with just a kiss.
"Really?" Xu Huaiqian pursed his lips but felt nothing. "Then kiss my cheek?"
"If I kiss your cheek, we won't be able to go out!" Chen Liejiu laughed. After three months apart, if he started kissing his lips and then his cheeks, would he even be able to leave the room?
"Why were you g so long?" Xu Huaiqian asked, puzzled. "Didn't you say you'd return after selling?" Did it really take that long to sell 120 cartloads of charcoal?
"And what's with all those ships outside?"
"Don't worry, I'll explain by ." Xu Huaiqian had asked many questions at once, but Chen Liejiu wasn't impatient. He held him and explained carefully: "It's a bit hard to explain, and a bit unexpected too."
Here's how it happened.
Chen Liejiu sent charcoal to Lord Song with the intention of using Lord Song's reputation to open up sales in Suzhou Prefecture.
After all, he had delivered charcoal to Lady Song, and she had accepted it. Many people saw it that day, and they had been selling in Suzhou Prefecture for some time.
Surely some opportunistic or unwilling to give up people would come to inquire.
Moreover, by sending charcoal to Lord Song, Lady Song—being a cautious person—would likely write to Lord Song in the capital to inform him, even if Chen Liejiu had Lord Song's handwritten letter.
Perhaps she would even send some of the charcoal to the capital. If Lady Song dared to send the charcoal to the capital, Chen Liejiu could publicize widely in Suzhou that their charcoal was praised by officials in the capital.
Even Lord Song said it was good!
Now, with all the scholars and officials in Suzhou feeling hopeless, if a type of charcoal suddenly appeared that could help them curry favor with capital officials, wouldn't they buy it?
Even if not for currying favor, buying it for personal use would be fine too.
Their imitation silver frost charcoal was so good that any who used it would never go back to black charcoal. Chen Liejiu was confident that once sold, it would sell big!
At first, everything went according to plan. Lady Song did write to Lord Song after Chen Liejiu left and sent the charcoal to the capital.
As her son had said, "Caution ensures long-term safety." She didn't dare take any risks in Suzhou Prefecture.
But with Chen Liejiu presenting her son's handwritten letter, she couldn't refuse him outright—what if he was some her son valued?
So she had to handle it herself.
The imitation silver frost charcoal arrived in the capital at Lord Song's residence as Chen Liejiu had expected.
Lord Song was busy. The Emperor had compilers and editors working day and night revising books—he had no time to read family letters.
And since the servant only delivered the letter and charcoal, he thought his mother had sent it out of concern that he might lack charcoal in winter.
He didn't pay much attention.
It wasn't until October, when the New Year was approaching, and the Emperor saw they had been working hard on the revisions and finally eased up, that Lord Song let down his guard and relaxed.
This relaxation led to a discovery: his home was always warm and cozy, without any winter chill—completely different from before.
He glanced at the charcoal basin, saw the layer of white frost, and immediately turned pale with alarm. He asked his wife: "Silver frost charcoal? Where did it come from?"
Although he had been promoted a bit, he was far from being able to afford silver frost charcoal!
"Your mother sent it. It's not silver frost charcoal," his wife explained. "It's a similar kind called imitation silver charcoal."
"Imitation silver charcoal?" Song Yunfan pondered. "Charcoal made to imitate silver frost charcoal?"
"Probably that's what it means." His wife wasn't sure either.
"Where did Mother get it?" Song Yunfan felt the warmth of the imitation silver charcoal—it was almost as good as silver frost charcoal, truly high-quality.
"She said it was a New Year's gift from your student in Yong'an Prefecture," his wife explained. "Isn't it normal for students to send gifts to their teachers? So I used it. It turned out to be quite good."
"Let me see the letter." Lord Song couldn't understand why a student from Yong'an would be so enthusiastic about sending him charcoal.
After reading his mother's letter and learning it was from Xu Huaiqian, he frowned.
Even if he had asked Xu Huaiqian to inscribe something and sent books in return, it didn't make sense for Xu Huaiqian to send such high-quality charcoal as a New Year's gift.
And this imitation silver charcoal was so good, yet he had never heard of it on the market. Instantly, Song Yunfan realized the key point: Could this be a request to help sell charcoal?
Very likely!
His current official position was thanks to Meng Fangxun and Xu Huaiqian. Helping them sell a little charcoal didn't seem like too big a favor.
And the charcoal was excellent.
Coincidentally, it was time for officials to exchange New Year's gifts in the capital. He had his wife select some charcoal and send a basket to each household.
Exchanging charcoal during the cold winter was a perfectly normal practice among officials.
But Lord Song's charcoal was different—it looked like silver frost charcoal but wasn't. However, when burned, aside from lacking the fragrance of silver frost charcoal, it was almost identical.
So, many people asked Lord Song where he got this charcoal, how much it cost, and if it wasn't too expensive, they wanted to buy some too.
After all, the capital was cold.
Regular charcoal was too smoky, and you couldn't sleep with windows closed—cold wind would seep in. Silver frost charcoal was good, but seventh- and eighth-rank officials couldn't afford it.
Even if they could, they didn't dare use it. If they lit a basin of silver frost charcoal today, tomorrow the censors would impeach them for corruption and extravagance.
Since Lord Song was helping sell charcoal, he decided to see it through to the end. He wrote another letter to ask about the price and learned it was only thirty taels per cartload.
Every household caught wind of this and sent people to Lord Song to buy charcoal.
But Lord Song was an official, not a merchant. He didn't dare handle this directly and told them to go to Suzhou Prefecture to get the charcoal themselves.
His mother had said that Xu Huaiqian's husband was selling charcoal daily in the prefectural city—very hard work.
He couldn't understand why a proper Xiucai would let his husband work openly like this. But perhaps it was because they needed my that they worked so hard?
Otherwise, why would they use his favor so easily?
The handwritten letter wasn't for unlimited use. Once he visited their home and presented the letter, his mother took it back. There would be no further chances to use his influence.
Thinking of Xu Huaiqian's calligraphy, Song Yunfan ultimately couldn't harden his heart. He had his wife invite her close friends over and also promote the charcoal.
That's when things really took off.
Word spread from ten to a hundred. Women's ability to gossip was truly remarkable. Soon, every high-ranking household in the capital knew there was a type of charcoal called imitation silver frost charcoal that was almost identical to silver frost charcoal—just without the fragrance.
Now that the Emperor disliked civil officials, they kept a low profile and didn't dare be extravagant or showy. Even in winter, they didn't go out to buy silver frost charcoal, making do with the most common gray flower charcoal instead.
But for those accustomed to silver frost charcoal, using gray flower charcoal was pure torture—especially for elderly grandmothers at home. Using such charcoal was almost life-threatening for the elderly.
Hearing there was an affordable imitation silver frost charcoal for sale, every sent people out to buy it—buy it in large quantities!
So many people descended on Suzhou Prefecture and surrounded Chen Liejiu's group, all demanding to buy charcoal!
One hundred and ten cartloads of imitation silver frost charcoal were quickly divided up. Originally, Chen Liejiu planned to return first to transport more charcoal, but these people disdained the delay of him going back and forth, so they all sailed their own cargo ships and followed him back.
"This is truly, planting flowers intentionally but they don't bloom, while planting willows unintentionally and they provide shade," Xu Huaiqian sighed after hearing Chen Liejiu's story.
"Exactly!" Chen Liejiu happily pursed his lips. "I was the smartest—I knew Lord Song would help promote our charcoal once he used it."
That's why he had raised the price to thirty taels from the start! Otherwise, at ten taels per cartload, after deducting their living expenses during their long stay in Suzhou Prefecture, they might have ended up losing my.
"It's just that I used up Lord Song's favor." Chen Liejiu looked apologetically at Xu Huaiqian.
"My A-Jiu is the smartest!" Xu Huaiqian praised his wife. "It's fine that the favor was used—it was meant for you to use anyway."
"And how have you been at home?" After finishing his own story, Chen Liejiu thought of Xu Huaiqian. "How did the ginger selling go?"
"Not too well." Xu Huaiqian pursed his lips and took out the silver notes he had earned to show Chen Liejiu. "I didn't earn as much as you."
He had thought he made a lot, enough to surpass his wife, but in the end, Chen Liejiu still earned the most.
"This is amazing!" Chen Liejiu counted the silver notes Xu Huaiqian gave him, his eyes shining. "Just from farming, you earned this much—that's really impressive!"
Probably no in the entire Jin Dynasty was as remarkable as his little husband.
"But it's only for this year; next year won't be as much." Xu Huaiqian told him about distributing the ginger farming to the villagers.
"It's fine," Chen Liejiu comforted his little husband. "You still have me—everything I earn is yours."
Well, except for the little bit of private savings he had hidden away... but that shouldn't matter, right?!