Dongkuan Village

“Please, have a seat. Come and have some honey water. By the way, how should I address you?” Uncle Dan welcomed the esteemed guests into the main hall. While offering them water, he engaged in casual conversation.

“Uncle Dan, my last name is Jing, and my given name is Yi. This is my father,” Jing Yi introduced himself. When he noticed that Dan Tian had entered the hall, he rose and greeted him, saying, “Brother Dan, Happy New Year! We’ve come to collect the six red lanterns we ordered from you earlier.”

As he spoke, Jing Yi took a small package from behind his back, retrieved one hundred wen, and handed them to Brother Dan.

“Jing brothers, no need to be so polite. Completing a business deal in the first month of the new year signifies a prosperous year ahead,” Brother Dan replied joyfully.

He then told his father to keep the guests company and took his spouse to place the six lanterns onto Jing Yi’s donkey cart.

Upon hearing this, Jing Yi insisted on helping with the lifting, saying he could manage the physical work while sparing Brother Dan’s energy. Despite Brother Dan’s polite refusal, Jing Yi followed him outside.

The two of them entered the workshop on the east side of the house, where numerous lanterns of various sizes hung. Some of the lanterns displayed remarkable artistic craftsmanship, exquisite and exceptional.

Even someone like Jing Yi, who had seen a lot in the world, couldn’t help but marvel at the intricate and detailed craftsmanship.

“Brother Dan, your craftsmanship is truly outstanding, almost at a master level,” Jing Yi praised sincerely.

“Crafting lanterns is nothing compared to being a master. These lanterns don’t sell much. Rural folks buy them mostly during the New Year for festivities. I barely make a profit,” Mr. Dan said with a bitter smile.

Their family didn’t have much land, and while they possessed the ancestral lantern-making skill, they only sold a few during festivals to supplement their income.

“Have you ever considered selling your lanterns in the town?” Jing Yi asked.

“My father tried selling his lanterns in town before, but few people bought them. Carrying the lanterns around town resulted in damage, and he made even less profit,” Brother Dan sighed.

“Brother Dan, I’m not sure about other’s lanterns, but I’m confident people will buy yours,” Jing Yi suggested. “Coincidentally, there’s a Lantern Festival in town on the fifteenth day of the lunar new year. Why don’t you give it a try?”

“Ah? My lantern business requires quite a bit of space, and I don’t have connections in town. Moreover, they might not grant me a place on the fifteenth day,” Brother  Dan said, feeling troubled.

Though he believed his lanterns were more beautiful than his father’s, he faced various difficulties when attempting to sell them in town.

Jing Yi thought for a moment and glanced around the workshop. He noticed that Brother Dan and his spouse worked together in the workshop, with one workbench containing wood and bamboo materials and the other stocked with lantern fabrics and embroidery threads. It was essentially a family-run business.

After only two brief meetings with the Dan family, Jing Yi found them to be honest and simple rural folk. Brother Dan possessed a straightforwardness characteristic of artisans, and they could potentially become valuable acquaintances.

Considering the practical aspect, Jing Yi believed that to fully address the matter of Lin Family’s eldest daughter, having well-informed contacts was crucial. Therefore, having an “informant” in Dongkuan Village was an excellent idea.

Jing Yi continued, “Brother Dan, I have a food stall in town, a small business. Although it’s at the east end of the main street, it’s right next to the East Harbor, so there’s a lot of foot traffic. I also have a piece of open land in front of my stall. If you want to start selling lanterns, we can discuss a good arrangement.”

Ultimately, Lin’s father and mother were likely to expand their business, both of whom were proactive individuals rarely seen in rural areas. If Aunt Lin’s stall were to vacate the space in the future, the piece of land in front of the stall could be rented out.

As they talked, Jing Yi smiled. This scene felt familiar; he had negotiated a similar business deal with Jixiange Pavilion before, except that the roles had now reversed.

“Brother Dan, perhaps we can cooperate in another way. Our shop can act as a consignment seller for you, meaning we’ll sell your lanterns, and you’ll get a share of the proceeds. In general, consignment sellers in this form usually take a 7-3 split. However, since we’re both rural folks, we can do a 8-2 split. But we’ll need to negotiate the pricing of the lanterns together.”

Brother Dan, initially puzzled, now understood. After some consideration, he believed this deal could work. It felt like he was getting a great deal, and even if he faced tough negotiators who loved bargaining, the final selling price wouldn’t differ much from the 8-2 split.

Feeling relieved, he agreed immediately and expressed his gratitude to Jing Yi. Jing Yi then suggested, “Brother Dan, since our shop opens on the fifteenth day of the lunar new year, coinciding with the Lantern Festival, I propose that you and your spouse come to town that day to sell lanterns. This way, you can determine the actual market prices and get direct feedback from customers to see which lanterns are popular and sell well. By the way, prepare some extra lanterns; we have space to store them.”

To build trust in this business partnership, Jing Yi wanted the Dan family to participate directly in this process. Brother Dan agreed, saying, “Sure, that’s thoughtful of you. We’ll bring a batch of lanterns over on the fourteenth and then another on the fifteenth morning.”

With both parties benefiting and at ease with the arrangement, they discussed various other details. However, as the day was growing late, Jing Yi asked about the Zhu family without revealing his identity, wanting to gauge what the Zhu family had told the village.

“Brother Dan, is there a family surnamed Zhu in Dongkuan Village? I heard they are quite wealthy. Do they have an unmarried son? A family in our village is interested, and they asked me to inquire.”

Mr. Dan, perplexed, replied, “Yes, there is a Zhu family with plenty of good farmland. However, their son is already married. I haven’t heard of any eligible bachelors in their family.”

Dan’s wife, who had been watching their two children in the yard, chimed in, “Jing brother, my husband isn’t well-informed about village matters. Let me fill you in.”

“In fact, the young man from the Zhu family is indeed married, and it seems his wife didn’t treat her in-laws well. She was lazy and disrespectful, and after some disputes, she was sent back to her parents’ home last year. Before the New Year, the Zhu family announced a new marriage for their son, and they plan to remarry him at the end of February.”

“But we have other young men in our village who are capable as well. You can introduce them to the young ladies from your village.”

These conversations served a dual purpose for the villagers in ancient times. Not only did they indulge in gossip, but they also felt they had performed good deeds by helping others gather information on potential matches.

“Divorced and remarrying already? What could be so severe as to warrant a divorce?” Jing Yi feigned shock.

It appeared that this unscrupulous family was not only tarnishing Lin’s eldest daughter and her family’s reputation in the village but also creating a fabricated narrative to justify their actions. This family’s behavior was truly despicable.

“They claim that the young bride was disrespectful to her in-laws, lazy, and, most importantly, she hadn’t given birth to any children during her time in the family. But we live far from the Zhu family, and we don’t know all the details. Perhaps there are more serious issues,” Dan’s wife said.

In truth, many villagers wondered why such a severe step as divorce was taken for a disrespectful daughter-in-law. It was clear that the husband’s family had used various methods to deal with the situation, and there were likely deeper issues.

“All right, thank you, Sister-in-law. I’ll let the elder ladies in my village know and have them look into other options,” Jing Yi replied.

With all matters discussed, both parties felt content. For Brother Dan, this business didn’t require additional costs and wouldn’t disrupt his family’s current life. Earning money was always a significant benefit, and if they didn’t succeed, they could sell the lanterns slowly in the future.

For Jing Yi, he had also resolved another issue. He had always wanted to find a more suitable job for Jing Feng, something that would make good use of his talents. Regarding the main hall issue, the restaurant had gradually stabilized, and hiring a waiter to help with it in town was manageable.