Chapter 268

Chapter 268: The Indecent Sea Cucumber

Nan Feng dashed in and, like offering a treasure, delivered a letter to Xin An.

There is nothing more delightful than receiving a letter from home, so Xin An took it eagerly. In it, her father wrote that he had received the several large chests that Tang Mo had sent. Relatives and friends all envied him for gaining such an excellent son-in-law, which made him feel proud, and he warned her not to let Tang Mo see this letter lest his tail go up with pride.

At that, Xin An could not help laughing. On the second page he wrote that cooperation with the Xu family was proceeding smoothly. Although the sugar they sold to the Xu family yielded little profit, the Xu family helped the Xin family secure the salt permit for the Northwest salt route, and the local official also showed them respect. The Xin family’s salt business, previously languishing, now saw a turning point.

At the same time, the Xin family signed a long-term agreement with sugar merchants in the Southwest and entered the Southwest Sugar Merchants Association. Next year their sugar trade would rise a whole step. With both salt and sugar in hand, the Xin family had already taken the second seat among merchants in the Huai River region.

He urged her to maintain the relationship with the Xu family, and with the letter came banknotes totaling twenty thousand taels for her to use in year-end courtesies and greasing of palms.

She read the family letter three times before carefully putting it away. After counting the banknotes and storing them in the cabinet, she began to plan gifts for the Xu family, and she also needed to prepare something for the Second Prince’s Consort. [People need to play by the unspoken rules.]

That evening, the first thing Tang Mo saw upon returning were two precious pieces. He admired them for a long while, and when he learned they were to be given away his eye twitched. His heart tightened, and reluctance filled his face. He stroked the beads again and again, polished the White Jade Longevity Immortal until it gleamed, and asked: “Are we really giving these away?”

He added, aggrieved: “Can we not keep them as heirlooms for our children?” Then, suspicious and amazed, he asked: “How do you still have such good things?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed with her brows arched, Xin An said with a faint smile: “Wipe the drool and stop looking as if you have never seen the world. Gifts must hit straight to the other party’s heart, and we cannot be stingy.”

With lingering longing in his gaze, Tang Mo turned his head and closed his eyes: “Take them away from me, it hurts just to look.” He muttered: “If I had known my promotion would cost you two treasures like this, I…” She asked with a teasing lift of her brow: “What?” then, amused, “Not getting promoted anymore?”

“Enough, stop pretending,” she said, laughing, “you say it is a pity, but in your heart you are probably pleased as anything. Are you feeling rather proud?”

Grinning, Tang Mo sat beside her: “My wife is so generous for me, how could I not be proud? I could shout it to the world.”

“Aren’t you afraid of what people will say?” asked Xin An. [Tang Rong in the past wanted both the goods and the good name, terrified anyone would know he used my dowry, like being a prostitute and still demanding a memorial archway.]

“Who would I fear?” said Tang Mo. “If my wife takes the initiative to give me fine things, it means she cherishes me, and I have every right to be pleased. Besides, outsiders talk nicely, but there are plenty who shamelessly covet a wife’s dowry. Some families start probing a girl’s trousseau in secret at the betrothal stage, waiting for the new bride to bring a rich dowry in to support the household.”

“Respectable folks will not say it out loud,” he went on, “but there are plenty of ways to make you hand over the good things. In families whose coffers are already empty, they hand household management to the new bride the moment she enters the gate. The poor girl thinks she is being honored, accepts it with delight, and once she touches it she can never put it down again.”

Staring at him curiously, Xin An asked: “You know quite a lot. Where did you hear all that?”

Serving with the Northern Garrison Army, Tang Mo had, when idle, roamed the streets and alleys, stuffing his ears with a basketful of odd tidings and befriending people from every walk of life. He grew animated as he talked. Only after finishing did he square his shoulders and speak solemnly: “I will not hide it from you. The higher I climb, the more I will need your treasures to grease the wheels. I am no pure bright moon, and I am no lofty gentleman. On duty I will not be sloppy, and I will fight for merit and use what strength I have, but I will also have to trouble you to manage those intricate inner-courtyard relations.”

He understood well the importance of the women’s quarters, yet only after his promotion let him taste enormous benefits did he truly grasp how vital they were. “If you had not cultivated Madam Liao,” he said, “and if those gifts had not gone out, how would Liao Zhi have promoted me? There are many in the Northern Garrison Army with more seniority and skill than I. On my own I could never have risen so quickly.”

“Rest assured,” he added, “once I advance I will certainly look after Father-in-law. I will make sure he feels you did not marry me for nothing.”

He was so earnest that Xin An’s nose stung and she felt like crying. Ever since he promised to take her back to the Huai River region, she had planned to give him her full support, and she had not begrudged those treasures in the least. She had expected that even if Tang Mo was not like Tang Rong, he might simply keep quiet or at most thank her. She had not expected him to speak so plainly.

“You are impossible,” she muttered with mock annoyance, “just take them and be secretly pleased. Why say all this?”

Tang Mo blinked, a little taken aback: “I only wanted to state it clearly. I cannot pretend not to see. You are a businesswoman. You give in order to gain a return. If I want you to invest, I must let you see where the return lies. It is only reasonable.”

“So you are talking business with me?” asked Xin An, lifting her eyes.

Realizing his misstep at once, Tang Mo hurried to correct himself: “I misspoke. I mean I will not use your treasures for nothing. Will you trust me?”

“We will see how you perform,” said Xin An. “If you do well, you get more. If you do not, you get nothing. Speaking of returns, then earn me a titled lady’s rank so I can bask in a little glory.”

“Your order is received,” he replied.

Hugging his wife with delight, Tang Mo felt life could not be better. Seeing that it was getting late, he lowered his voice and smiled: “Besides the returns you are thinking of, there are some other returns. Do you want them?” He glanced at his injured arm and said, half-pleading, half-playful: “My wound has scabbed over. Can I move back tonight?”

Xin An’s face went hot. She had still been feeling moved, and yet he had brought it here. She said, flustered: “I do not need that kind of return.”

“Nonsense,” Tang Mo murmured in her ear, “if you do not need it, why do you feed me two bowls of golden rice and sea cucumber porridge every day?”

Xin An fell silent. [That sea cucumber is no longer a proper sea cucumber.]

“Say what you will,” she conceded after a beat, “these last few nights without you I have felt chilly sleeping alone. You should come back.”

“There you have it,” he said. “My right arm is injured. The one next to you is the left. It will not interfere.”

Bubbling with happiness, he added: “Then I will wash up properly tonight.”

Xin An shot him a sidelong glance, her cheeks faintly red, her mind straying a little. She reached out and pinched his waist: “Nice waist.”

“You woman,” Tang Mo’s blood warmed, “what nerve.” [She adored him to bits.]

After their affectionate teasing, Xin An told him about the family letter and added: “Father has had his eye on Northwest salt for a long time. I never thought the Xu family would help get it done. With the salt permit in hand, my family can keep earning silver for years.” She did not even bother to mention Tang Gang, and Tang Mo did not bring him up either, since it would only sour the mood. “We must prepare generous gifts to thank the Xu family, must we not?” he asked. “Of course,” said Xin An. She also asked Tang Mo to befriend the sons of the Xu family. With relations having reached this point, it would be only natural. Tang Mo said: “I was just about to tell you something.”