Chapter 28: The Village Chief’s Little Scheme

By the end of September, the northern frontier was getting chillier by the day.

Early in the morning, the cold wind slipped straight up one’s pant legs, making Chu Xiaoqi shiver from head to toe.

The Ji family wasn’t faring any better—each one of them looked pale and cold.

“Mom, how’s the clothing coming along?” Chu Xiaoqi called out as she passed by Ji Mother’s room, carrying a basin.

Ji Mother rubbed her stiff hands and looked toward the door. “I finished two cotton quilts yesterday. Haven’t started on the clothes yet.”

“This weather is getting colder by the day—start with the clothes first. Otherwise, everyone’s going to freeze when they go out.

The quilts can wait a bit. As long as we keep the kang bed heated, we won’t freeze even without a thick quilt.

If you can’t manage alone, have Xiaolan help you out.

She’s at the age to learn sewing and embroidery anyway.”

Ji Mother smiled and agreed readily.

After breakfast, Chu Xiaoqi bundled up 300 charcoal pens with cloth strips, stuffed them into a basket, and instructed Ji Jingxuan:

“When you get to town, go to Lin’s Carpentry Shop first. I ordered ten whiteboards there and told the shopkeeper you’d pick them up this morning.

I’ve already paid—just take them with you.

If more people at the academy want to place orders, have the shopkeeper make them. I’ll settle the bill with him at the end of the month.”

Ji Jingxuan smiled warmly at her busy figure and agreed.

Chu Xiaoqi didn’t notice the affectionate way he was looking at her. She just kept bustling around, preparing things.

She bent down to lift the basket. “Come on.”

Ji Jingxuan quickly turned his back to her, pulled the shoulder straps, and hoisted the basket on his back. “I’m off then!”

“Go on! It’s cold—if you see an ox cart, spend three copper coins and ride it.”

The weather was getting colder fast. Days were shortening rapidly—it got dark by 5 p.m., and light didn’t return until 7 or 8 a.m.

Ji Jingxuan left just before 6 a.m. It was still pitch black, and he fumbled his way along the muddy road toward town.

“Jingxuan? Is that you up ahead?”

Hearing someone call from behind, Ji Jingxuan stopped and turned around.

“Village Chief? Where are you going so early?”

Sure enough, it was the Village Chief. He quickened his pace to catch up and walk alongside him.

“It’s getting cold, so I’m going to town to deliver some warm clothes to Erhu.”

Zhou Erhu was the Village Chief’s second son. He had never been interested in school and always liked tinkering with wood.

With nothing else to do, the Village Chief sent him to apprentice at Lin’s Carpentry Shop in town when he was just fourteen.

Now that the weather was turning, the Village Chief’s wife was worried their precious son would catch a chill, so she made her husband bring him clothes.

“Village Chief, I’m heading to the academy. Why don’t I take the clothes to Erhu for you? It’s cold—no need for you to make the trip.”

The Village Chief waved him off. “No, no. I was planning to go buy some coarse salt and cooking oil anyway.”

Since the Village Chief insisted, Ji Jingxuan didn’t push and just made casual conversation along the way.

Once they arrived in town, they went their separate ways.

Ji Jingxuan asked around and eventually found Lin’s Carpentry Shop. Just as he was about to enter, he ran into the Village Chief again.

“Village Chief?”

“Jingxuan?”

They were both a bit surprised.

Ji Jingxuan looked up at the shop sign and suddenly understood. “So Erhu’s apprenticing here?”

The Village Chief nodded with a hint of pride. “Yes, he’s here at Lin’s. Jingxuan, weren’t you going to the academy? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, Qiqi ordered some boards from Lin’s. She told me to pick them up on the way.”

“That girl’s making boards? What for?”

Just then, a sturdy young man about the same age as Ji Jingxuan rushed out from the shop. When he saw Ji Jingxuan, his face lit up and he gave his arm a hearty slap—

Zhou Erhu gave Ji Jingxuan a hearty slap on the arm. “Jingxuan, how come you’re walking into town with my dad?”

Zhou Erhu and Ji Jingxuan had been childhood friends and grew up together. But after Zhou Erhu was sent to town to apprentice at a young age, the two hadn’t seen each other again.

Ji Jingxuan was just as delighted to see him. “My wife ordered a few boards from Lin’s Carpentry yesterday. She asked me to come fetch them this morning.”

“What? Those whiteboards were ordered by your wife?” Zhou Erhu looked surprised.

Ji Jingxuan grinned and nodded. Seeing that time was running short, he urged, “Erhu, I’ve got to get to class at the academy. Could you get me the boards?”

Seeing his hurry, Zhou Erhu didn’t ask more. He turned back into the shop and quickly carried out the finished boards, handing them over.

Ji Jingxuan thanked both father and son before hurrying off in the direction of the academy.

The Village Chief watched Ji Jingxuan’s figure disappearing into the distance, then turned to Zhou Erhu, frowning curiously. “Erhu, what does Jingxuan’s wife want those boards for?”

“How would I know?” Zhou Erhu shrugged. “The shopkeeper’s really secretive about these boards. When he mixes the lacquer, he doesn’t even let us see how it’s done.”

The Village Chief shifted uncomfortably, visibly surprised. “What? All that secrecy for a tiny wooden board?”

Zhou Erhu stuck out his lips and nodded. “That’s right! Do you know how much one of those boards sells for?

Thirty copper coins!” He waved three fingers right in front of the Village Chief’s face.

“Thirty copper coins? For a board no bigger than two palms? What’s Jingxuan’s wife trying to do?”

“Who knows…”

The Village Chief left the carpentry shop, but the question nagged at him—it was itching in his chest like fleas. He just couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Why would Ji Jingxuan’s wife spend so much money on those wooden boards?

He wandered the marketplace for a while, bought a pound of coarse salt, but just didn’t feel like heading home.

Almost unconsciously, as if led by fate, he found himself standing outside the academy.

It happened to be lunchtime, and the students were on break.

Just then, he saw a young scholar walking out of the academy, holding a whiteboard. The Village Chief quickly stopped him.

“Young man! Hey, young man…”

The scholar turned around with a puzzled look. “Elder, can I help you?”

“I saw your board there and thought it was quite an interesting thing. Mind telling me what it’s used for?”

Seeing that the old man was genuinely curious, the scholar perked up with interest. He lifted the whiteboard, pulled a charcoal pen from his satchel, and began writing on the surface. Then he untied a damp cloth hanging from his bag and wiped the writing away.

“See? That’s how it works. Pretty handy, isn’t it?”

The Village Chief stared, eyes wide, and couldn’t help but marvel. “What a clever little tool!

Say, young man, how much does a set like that cost?

I’d like to get one for the children at home.”

“Oh, not much. The whiteboard is 50 copper coins, and the pen is 2 coins each. One pen lasts for dozens of essays.

But you can’t really buy these in the market.

They’re made by my classmate’s wife—she gave us students at Sifang Academy a special discount.

If you want to buy from her directly, I don’t know how much she’d charge outsiders.”

After the scholar walked away, the Village Chief slumped onto the edge of a flower bed and started counting on his fingers like an old fortune-teller.

Sifang Academy had over a hundred students. If they made 20 coins profit per board, that’s already 2 taels of silver. Pens were 2 coins each, and if each student bought ten, that’s another 2 taels—and pens are consumables, too!

And this was only the discounted internal price for the academy. What about the outside market?

Forget the whole northern region—even just within their Beihe County, there were at least a thousand scholars!

Heh…

Who would’ve thought—Ji family’s second household, staying quiet and low-key, was secretly doing something this big?

At this rate, could they ever be short on food or clothes again?

No way—he had to get home and tell the wife right away.

Get her over to Ji—

“…We should visit the Ji family’s second household more often,” the village chief muttered to himself as he walked home.

Even if the two families couldn’t marry into each other, they could still benefit somehow from getting close.

---

Meanwhile, Ji Jingxuan brought the whiteboards to the academy. As soon as he stepped into the classroom, he was startled by the crowd—it was packed with students, and for a moment, he thought something serious had happened.

Once he was surrounded by his classmates and heard the noisy chatter, he realized: they’d all heard the rumors and came out of curiosity.

He handed out the ten whiteboards to the students who had preordered, collecting 50 copper coins each. His classmates were thrilled, and everyone also bought 20 charcoal pens at 2 coins apiece.

After completing the transactions, he quickly added, “My wife said—this pricing is only for students of Sifang Academy. Outsiders won’t get the same rate.”

That statement caused a stir. The students of Sifang Academy suddenly felt proud to belong to the school, proud that they were receiving exclusive treatment.

Normally, students weren’t allowed to sell goods within the academy.

But Dean Qiu, having heard about it, didn’t stop Ji Jingxuan or punish him.

First, Ji Jingxuan’s family was poor, and the dean hoped he could earn enough to afford travel and meals for the upcoming Autumn Examinations in Mangzhou.

Second, it was a good product, and they were even giving the students discounts—why not support it?

Ji Jingxuan collected 900 copper coins and then went to Lin’s Carpentry Shop to place an order for 50 more boards.

Shopkeeper Lin was stunned. He asked Ji Jingxuan several times to confirm: “Are you sure it’s fifty?”

After confirming again and again, the shopkeeper immediately instructed two apprentices to drop what they were doing—one to cut boards, the other to start lacquering.

Ji Jingxuan didn’t run into Zhou Erhu, but Erhu, who had been assigned to lacquer the boards, immediately realized who the order was for.

He was also puzzled—what were the Ji family doing with so many little boards?

He wanted to visit home to find out, but he was swamped with tasks, and the shopkeeper wouldn’t let anyone leave.

He could only wait until Ji Jingxuan returned tomorrow to pick up the order and ask him then.

Ji Jingxuan, wary of thieves, stuffed his bulging money pouch deep into his satchel and didn’t dare linger in town. He headed home as quickly as he could.

Meanwhile, Wang Yuhé and her mother were also in town shopping for winter goods. From a distance, they spotted Ji Jingxuan.

Wang Yuhé immediately wanted to go over and say hello, but her mother yanked her back hard.

“You silly girl! What are you doing? This is town! You still want to marry well in the future or not?”

Wang Yuhé looked wistfully in the direction Ji Jingxuan had disappeared to, angrily shaking off her mother’s hand.

“Mother, I like Jingxuan. I don’t want to marry some stranger from town!”

Her mother, thoroughly disappointed in her daughter, grabbed her arm tightly and growled low near her ear:

“What’s there to like about him? Do you like that he has nothing? That he lives one day at a time?

Look at him—does he own a single thing of value?

I’m warning you, if you keep being disobedient, don’t blame me for locking you up at home!”

Though Wang Yuhé was angry, she feared her mother might really lock her up. She had no choice but to nod meekly.

At home, Chu Xiaoqi was making sausages and cabbage-meat buns. The delicious aroma wafted far—people didn’t even need to enter the yard to smell it.

When Ji Jingxuan arrived home, he happily presented the money pouch to Chu Xiaoqi like a prized treasure.

“You sold everything?”

“Yep! All gone. I even placed another order for fifty more boards.

I told my classmates that the discounted price only applies to students at Sifang Academy. Outsiders won’t get it.”

Chu Xiaoqi grinned slyly and gave him a pat on the arm. “Not bad, huh? You’ve got a knack for business.”

Ji Jingxuan beamed at her praise like a fool.

“Oh right—other students also ordered 1,000 charcoal pens. Can we finish that in the next few days?”

Chu Xiaoqi raised an eyebrow, smiling so wide her teeth didn’t show. “Of course! Not just a thousand, even two thousand wouldn’t be a problem.”

She immediately turned toward the courtyard and shouted, “Xiaolan! Xiaozé! Come get your allowance—”