“It’s really not me. I’ve been behind this counter the whole time and never even touched it.”
“If it wasn’t you, then how did it end up shattered right in front of you? This cup was shipped in from overseas, brought here by a merchant caravan from Suzhou and Hangzhou. Just the other day, Song the Wealthy Gentleman offered a high price for it, but I couldn’t bear to sell. Today must be my unlucky day, and now it’s ruined in your hands.”
Kang He and Fan Jing stepped closer and saw, inside the Antique Shop, a middle-aged man with small eyes and a big belly, wearing cloud-tipped silk shoes, scolding someone fiercely with his sharp tongue.
On the other side was a young man, face flushed red, at a loss for words to defend himself. Who else could this be but Fan Xin, who had been working as the shop accountant for more than a month?
“He’s been working here for over a month, and I’ve found him diligent and careful with the accounts, so I haven’t made things hard for him. This cup was meant to be sold for seven taels and eight coins, but now that it’s broken in his hands, my heart aches even if I know it can’t be restored. He should compensate me five taels of silver, and we’ll call it even.”
“If he refuses, I’ll take the matter to the authorities and let the County Magistrate judge. For a scholar like him, getting involved in a lawsuit will make it hard for him to hold his head up in the future.”
Hearing such a hefty price, Fan Xin felt his vision darken, the world spinning around him.
He blurted out, “How could this cup possibly be so expensive!”
“This is an Antique Shop, not a place for cheap goods. Haven’t you seen the ledgers these days? Do you think I’m taking advantage of you?”
“One word: are you going to pay or not?”
Fan Jing, seeing this, furrowed his brow tightly and was about to rush forward, but Kang He quickly held him back.
“This Storekeeper is clearly bullying Da Xin for being honest, trying to swindle his money. If you go in and start a fight out of anger, we’ll lose all reason and really have to pay him.”
Kang He calmed Fan Jing down and stepped forward into the shop.
“Pay? Pay what? Do you have any proof that my cousin was the one who broke the cup?”
The Storekeeper, seeing the two approach, was momentarily startled, thinking they were customers—until he heard them speak up for Fan Xin.
Taking another look at their simple clothes, he immediately dismissed them.
He flicked his sleeves. “Young men, this is our shop’s business. If you’re here to watch the excitement, do it outside. If you’re not here to buy, we don’t serve you.”
“It’s the shop’s business, but my cousin is being framed by you here. If I just stand outside and watch, Storekeeper, you must have arranged this well.”
Seeing Kang He and Fan Jing arrive, Fan Xin felt as if he’d gained support. He quickly went to their side. “I was just keeping the books at the counter when the cup somehow got smashed. The Storekeeper insists I broke it and wants me to pay! It’s so expensive—how could I ever afford it!”
The Storekeeper, hearing they were relatives, looked a bit uncomfortable.
But seeing they were just country folk, he wasn’t afraid.
“Fine, since you’re here, why don’t you both pay up for your brother and stop holding up my business?”
“Pay up? If anything, I think the Storekeeper should be compensating my brother!”
“You say my brother broke the cup—do you have proof? Show us, let everyone see!”
The Storekeeper pointed. “My shop assistant saw it with his own eyes.”
Kang He looked at a thin, wiry man. “You saw my brother break the cup?”
The assistant puffed out his chest. “Yes, I saw it. There was a bang, and Fan Accountant broke it.”
Kang He asked, “Alright, if you saw it, which hand did he use—left or right?”
The assistant hesitated, “Left… left hand.”
“He was at the counter, using his left hand to move abacus beads, and the abacus was right there. How could he have broken the cup with it?”
“I remembered wrong! It was the right hand.”
Kang He sneered, “His right hand was keeping the accounts—did he put down his brush just to smash a cup for fun? What did the cup ever do to him?”
“I think it wasn’t him who broke it, it was you, and now you’re trying to blame him! Spouting nonsense like this—let’s go see the magistrate and see if your story holds up!”
With that, he was about to drag them off to court.
The assistant was immediately terrified and called out to the Storekeeper for help.
“Don’t you dare drag people around and make a scene in my shop!”
Kang He wasn’t afraid of the Storekeeper. He shoved the assistant aside and pressed on, “What, Storekeeper, are you afraid to face the authorities now? You say this broken cup was imported from overseas and brought by a merchant caravan—show us the purchase receipt so we can see how much it’s really worth!”
“Song the Wealthy Gentleman offered a high price? Bring him here, let’s see if he even knows this cup or ever made an offer!”
After Kang He’s barrage of questions, the Storekeeper’s face turned ashen.
“If you can’t show proof of purchase or get Song the Wealthy Gentleman to testify, then at least the broken pieces are still here. Let’s have someone inspect them and see if they’re really worth as much as you say!”
“Let me make this clear: if you keep insisting my brother broke the cup without proof, he’ll accuse you of employer fraud, extortion, and slander. Who would dare work for you after this?”
The Storekeeper immediately deflated, unable to argue back.
He wiped his face and changed his tone. “Fan Accountant is a scholar, always honest and trustworthy. It must have been my assistant’s mistake, a misunderstanding all around.”
“Zhang, you good-for-nothing, always dozing off—how could you wrongly accuse Fan Accountant? Aren’t you going to apologize?”
The assistant, afraid of going to court, hurried over to Fan Xin to apologize.
“My eyes must be bad, I made a mistake and wrongly accused Fan Accountant. I deserve a beating!”
Fan Xin forgave the assistant.
But Kang He wasn’t so forgiving—he knew the real culprit was the Storekeeper with his bad intentions.
There was no way Fan Xin could keep working in such a shop. Kang He made the Storekeeper apologize in person and settle the month’s wages with Fan Xin, making it clear he wouldn’t be coming back.
The Storekeeper was reluctant at first, but when Kang He threatened to call the neighbors and make a scene, he grudgingly paid Fan Xin.
“If it weren’t for you two today, that Storekeeper would have framed me for sure, and I’d have to pay him on top of losing my wages. I couldn’t earn that much in half a year!”
On the way home, Fan Xin was deeply grateful to Kang He and Fan Jing.
Kang He said, “He took advantage of your good nature, knowing you’re easygoing and not good at arguing, and picked a time when there weren’t many people around to try to cheat you. Who knows how many others have suffered at his hands!”
“The more you give in, the more he gets his way. In such cases, you have to stand firm. Even if it means going to the authorities, there’s nothing to fear! We may not have power or influence, but that doesn’t mean we should let people bully us.”
Fan Xin wasn’t as quick-witted as Kang He. When trouble came, he only panicked and couldn’t think straight, nor did he have Fan Jing’s ability to defend himself. He couldn’t help but feel useless.
He shook his head and reminded Kang He, “Shops like that in the City probably have connections with the authorities. We’re just ordinary folk—if we went to court, we’d probably lose.”
Kang He replied, “You’re not wrong, but he was clearly trying to frame you, with so many holes in his story. He only wanted five taels, which is a lot for us, but nothing to an official. If he really wanted to win a lawsuit, he’d have to spend much more to grease palms—five taels wouldn’t get him anywhere. Officials aren’t like street loafers who can be bought off with a few coins. It’s not worth the trouble, so he wouldn’t actually go to court.”
“Of course, maybe he does have a relative who’s an official, but if that’s the case, he wouldn’t bother with such a petty scam. Cheating you out of money is his real goal. There’s no need for him to really go to court—just threatening with official connections is enough to scare people.”
Fan Xin nodded, finding reason in his words.
Kang He saw Fan Xin still looked shaken and figured he hadn’t calmed down yet after today’s ordeal.
He didn’t lecture any further, but offered a few words of comfort and invited him to come have dinner with the family that night.
Kang He understood why Fan Xin was so inexperienced.
He’d grown up as the family’s only hope for scholarly success. Of the two households, he was the only son, cherished by his parents and grandparents. He was never made to do farm work or cut firewood, always coddled and protected.
He spent all his days in the Shuxue, and though his studies weren’t outstanding, Xu Xiu Cai always looked after him, so no one dared give him a hard time.
Now in his twenties, the worst he’d ever suffered was a beating from Fan Jing.
But even that, he thought, was only because Fan Jing couldn’t stand his timid ways.
He found it odd—after hanging around Xu Yang for so long, how had he not picked up any of his boldness?
Kang He glanced at Fan Xin, who was holding the soybean drink they’d bought earlier, hunching over and sipping slowly. He shook his head—this kind of temperament was really hard to change.
Back home, Kang He told his family about inviting his uncle’s family over for dinner.
The two fish they’d bought in the City had lost most of their water and were barely moving in the basin. Kang He quickly cleaned and salted them while they were still fresh, and Fan Jing took them away.
With the whole family eating together, Chen Sanfang took down the fresh pork that Fan Jing had brought home a few days ago after slaughtering a pig. She’d salted it to keep it from spoiling, but now washed off the salt and cleaned it thoroughly.
When Chen Shi asked about inviting the eldest branch for dinner, Kang He explained what had happened that day.
Chen Sanfang cursed loudly, wishing a whole family of misfortune on that black-hearted Storekeeper, then sighed. “It wasn’t easy for Da Xin to find a decent job. His mother just started getting better, and now he’s lost his job again. The family will be worried sick.”
Kang He said, “That Storekeeper is no good. There’s no reason to keep enduring just for the sake of a job.”
“True, he had to quit. But I’m still worried—Fan Xin’s temperament is so mild, I’m afraid he’ll get bullied wherever he goes.”
Chen Shi used to think Fan Jing was too stubborn and hard to get along with, but now, seeing Fan Xin, she felt that being tough was better than being weak.
That night, Fan Shoushan, Zhang Jingui, and Fan Xin came over for dinner. Fan Nai couldn’t see well and couldn’t walk at night, so Fan Ye stayed home to keep her company.
After finishing the cooking, the second branch brought over some dishes for the elders before the rest of the family sat down to eat.
Of course, Fan Xin’s situation came up at the table.
The family hadn’t dared to tell Fan Ye and Fan Nai yet. They were old, and if they got too upset, it could be serious.
“If it hadn’t been for Da Jing and Sanlang bringing Da Xin sweet drinks, that black-hearted Storekeeper would have bullied him terribly. Da Xin is just too honest—how could he handle those slippery types?”
Fan Shoushan and Zhang Jingui both thanked Kang He and Fan Jing.
After what happened to Fan Xin, Zhang Jingui was heartbroken and quietly cursed the Storekeeper. She was so upset she even threatened to throw rotten eggs at his shop.
Fan Shoushan felt terrible too. Seeing his own child suffer outside, how could a father feel at ease?
The couple had been so upset they hadn’t even gone out to work that afternoon.
Fan Xin felt bad seeing this. If he hadn’t lost his job and had to tell the family, he wouldn’t have said anything to worry them.
“As long as you weren’t cheated, that’s all that matters.”
Fan Shoulin and Chen Shi comforted the eldest branch. “You can always find another job. There are so many shops in the City—not everyone is as heartless as that Storekeeper. There are still kind and honest ones.”
Fan Shoushan sighed, and Zhang Shi was so upset she almost cried. After this, the two of them no longer acted like the elder siblings who could handle everything.
“There are plenty of jobs in the City, but most are hard labor. Ordinary assistants, porters, and odd jobs are always needed, but anything a bit more respectable is much harder to get.”
It wasn’t that they thought shop assistant work was beneath them—it was just that Fan Xin couldn’t handle it.
He’d tried doing heavy work at home before, ended up with heatstroke and fainted in the fields, and became the laughingstock of the village. People joked, but no real harm was done, and someone even gave him some cooling water out of kindness.
But in the City, if he tried heavy labor and something happened, who would look out for him? Strangers look out for themselves, not others.
Shop assistant jobs didn’t require as much strength but needed a quick mind.
Fan Xin’s mild and slow nature wasn’t suited for that either.
Bookkeeping was the most suitable job for him. Shops preferred experienced accountants, and Fan Xin, being a naive young man with no experience, was rarely hired.
It had taken a lot of effort to get into the Antique Shop. At first, everyone seemed friendly and undemanding—they thought it was a decent place, but it turned out to be a trap.
His parents didn’t blame him for losing his job—they were just worried!
He was already twenty-three or twenty-four and still unmarried. Even if a good match came along, without a stable job, no decent family would want him.
They’d planned to look for a match once he settled into the bookkeeping job, but now everything was up in the air again.
Since leaving the school, Fan Xin was gradually realizing how hard it was to make a living. Fan Shoushan and his wife regretted having sheltered him so much.
In contrast, Xiangxiu had gone out into the world early and become capable.
Zhang Jingui felt worse the more she thought about it. Xiangxiu had left home so young and surely suffered a lot, but she’d never complained, always saying everything was fine and sending things home.
For the first time since the family split, the two branches sat around the same table sharing their worries. Usually, everyone only showed their best side and hid their troubles, but today they let it all out.
Kang He quietly listened to the elders, picking out fish bones for Fan Jing and putting them in his bowl, not saying a word.
When Fan Jing had eaten enough, Kang He finally put down his chopsticks.
“If you’ll listen to my suggestion, I think Da Xin would be better off working here in the village.”
Everyone paused at Kang He’s words. Fan Shoushan said, “What could he do here? He tried helping in the fields before, but that would waste all those years of study. He’s just not cut out for it. If he were like his father, working the land, I’d have nothing to say.”
Kang He replied, “I wouldn’t want Da Xin to spend his days in the fields either. To put it bluntly, if he was going to farm, why study all those years? The teacher taught him the Si Shu Wu Jing, not spring planting and autumn harvest.”
“I’ve never been to school myself, but I know the teacher always said, ‘Learning should be put to use.’ Why not have Da Xin open a Shuxue in the village and teach the children to read and write?”
Everyone was surprised by this suggestion.
Even Fan Xin, who’d been silently listening to the elders criticize him, couldn’t help but protest, “With my level of learning, how could I possibly take on the responsibility of teaching others?”
Kang He patiently replied, “Da Xin, you’re only saying your learning is a bit shallow, not that you know nothing at all. Tell me, can’t you recite and write the Qian Zi Wen?”
“Of course. Even at my worst, I can still recite the Qian Zi Wen backwards.”
“Exactly. My idea is for you to open a Shuxue here, focusing on basic education for village children—teaching them to read and write. Not everyone needs to become a great scholar. For most families, being literate is enough.”
“How many people in this world actually succeed in the imperial exams? If you do come across a truly gifted student, you can always refer them to Xu Xiu Cai, so you won’t mislead anyone.”
“Xu Xiu Cai used to run a Shuxue in the village, and his family’s fortunes rose steadily until he moved to the City. The County has better teachers, but it’s hard for village kids to study there.”
“Village families want their kids to learn, but they’re put off by the difficulty and give up. Only those determined to have their sons take the exams will send them to the City. As a result, there are more and more illiterate children in the villages.”
Kang He explained his thoughts to everyone. “If Da Xin opens a Shuxue in the village, he’ll have a steady livelihood and do a good deed for the community. He’s patient and gentle, never loses his temper, and is careful with his work. I think he’s perfect for teaching children.”
At first, everyone thought Kang He’s idea was a bit outlandish.
But as he explained in detail, they began to see the sense in it.
Fan Xin fell silent, seriously considering the idea.
Chen Shi was the first to speak up, encouraged. “Great! If Da Xin opens a Shuxue here, who would dare bully him? I think it’s the best path for him—much better than being looked down upon in the City.”
Fan Shoulin agreed. “Da Xin studied under Xu Xiu Cai. If he takes over his teacher’s old Shuxue, it makes perfect sense. Even if people don’t trust us, they trust Xu Xiu Cai.”
Fan Shoushan and his wife were visibly moved. If this could work, they’d gain both dignity and a living.
But being cautious by nature, they hesitated, worrying about all the possible difficulties.
Kang He asked Fan Xin, “Let’s put everything else aside—are you willing to be a village teacher?”
“If you are, then nothing else matters. If not, even if the Shuxue is well-run, you won’t be happy.”
Fan Xin blushed. “If I could be like Teacher Xu, teaching and nurturing others, I would love it. I’m just… afraid I won’t do well.”
Kang He said, “You haven’t even tried—how do you know you won’t do well? If you have ambitions, don’t wait until you’re old. You have to try and make mistakes while you’re young. Do you think waiting until you’re old will make you better at it?”
Fan Xin was struck by Kang He’s words, and told everyone at the table, “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”
Fan Shoushan and Zhang Jingui were overjoyed. “If you have the will, we’ll do everything we can to help you succeed.”
Kang He echoed, “That’s right.”
The two families talked for a long time, until the food was cold and the moon was high before they finally parted.
In the days that followed, Kang He went to see Xu Yang about Fan Xin’s situation.
Since the Fan family had offended Chen Yushun, Xu Yang likely wouldn’t be pleased to see the Fan family open a Shuxue, even if it was for the good of the village.
After all, it would win the villagers’ favor, which was exactly what he didn’t want the Fan family to have.
If they wanted things to work out, they’d need someone who could speak for them.
But it wasn’t just about borrowing Xu Yang’s influence for nothing—if the Shuxue could be established, it would benefit both sides.
Meanwhile, Fan Xin didn’t sit idle. He brought some fruit and gifts to the County Town to visit Xu Xiu Cai, his former teacher, both to explain his reasons for leaving the school and to discuss the Shuxue.
He wanted to get Xu Xiu Cai’s opinion.
Although things were still in the early stages, Fan Shoushan and his wife had already started cleaning and preparing their house, knowing a Shuxue would need a spacious room.
Fan Shoulin and Chen Shi came by every few days to help out.
By the time things started taking shape, it was already mid-September.