Chapter 319
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“This?” The old gentleman from the money exchange was dumbfounded.
He sat there for a while, not knowing what to say. After a long pause, he finally murmured: “Esteemed customer, could it be that you’ve come to our money exchange to stir up trouble?”
Zhang Xiaohua was greatly surprised. “I’m simply here to withdraw my own silver—who’s impatient enough to make trouble for you?”
“Then since you’ve received your silver, why not be on your way? Why ask for so many copper coins?”
Zhang Xiaohua found it even stranger. “What’s wrong with copper coins? I just like spending them—so what? Are you telling me that such a large money exchange doesn’t even have five strings of copper coins?”
“This—!” The old gentleman was at a loss for words, choked speechless by his remark.
What Zhang Xiaohua said wasn’t wrong. A money exchange, as the name implied, ought to have a reserve of all kinds of currency—how could it lack copper coins? But in truth, most dealings at the exchange involved gold and silver. If someone brought a large-denomination banknote and withdrew a hefty sum in gold or silver, that would be completely normal. Yet this young man had come with a five-tael silver note and was asking to exchange it for five strings of copper coins—five thousand wen in total. Such a thing was unheard of.
“Are you even a real money exchange? Do you have copper coins or not?”
Zhang Xiaohua was starting to lose patience.
Only then did the old gentleman come to his senses. He confirmed: “Esteemed customer, you truly wish to exchange for copper coins?”
“Yes. I want copper coins.”
Still trying to dissuade him, the old gentleman said: “If you’re spending in the marketplace, small bits of silver should suffice—why go through so much trouble?”
Zhang Xiaohua stood firm and said, “Doesn’t your wall say, ‘Customers Above All’? I’ve made but a simple request—can’t you even meet that?”
The old gentleman glanced at the four bold characters hanging on the wall. He had no choice but to rise and call out: “Xiao San, Xiao Si, go fetch five strings of copper coins for this gentleman.”
“Wait!” Zhang Xiaohua seemed to remember something else. He reached into his robe and pulled out two more silver notes. “While you’re at it, old sir, please break this note into one-qian pieces, and exchange this other one into copper coins as well.”
“Ah!!” The old gentleman was stunned. “You want more exchanged?”
“Yes? What, is your money exchange short on copper coins?”
“Sigh~” The old man could only sigh helplessly. Waving his hand, he said: “Xiao Si, you two go to the back and check if we’ve got that many copper coins in the vault!”
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before muffled grunts and huffing could be heard from the back, and the two assistants staggered out carrying heavy strings of copper coins. With great effort, they reached the counter, and with even greater effort, they hoisted them onto the tall counter—clang! clang! the coins landed. Never in their lives had the two assistants felt such resentment toward the one who designed such an absurdly tall counter.
Seeing the small mountain of copper coins piled atop the counter, even Zhang Xiaohua felt a little dizzy. He had never imagined that ten taels of silver could be exchanged into such a vast quantity of copper coins. Glancing at the small pile of scattered silver pieces beside it—just a few dozen—it was shocking to realize they were worth nearly half as much as that entire heap of coin strings. In an instant, Zhang Xiaohua, whose knowledge of finance was close to zero, had gained a rather vivid new understanding.
Looking at the mound of copper coins, Zhang Xiaohua grinned and asked_ “Old sir, would your money exchange perhaps be able to spare me a large hemp sack?”
The old gentleman, having been bothered long enough, didn’t even reply. He simply waved toward Xiao San, who casually reached down and pulled out a half-worn sack from under the counter, tossing it onto the pile of coins. Zhang Xiaohua didn’t mind in the slightest. With a cheerful smile, he picked up the bag and began loading in the ten thousand wen worth of copper coins. With one hand he hefted the sack, and with the other, scooped up the handful of scattered silver coins from the counter and stuffed them into his robe.
Then, he simply stood there in silence. Seeing that Zhang Xiaohua hadn’t left yet, the old gentleman frowned. “Esteemed customer, is there something else?”
Zhang Xiaohua looked slightly puzzled and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, the old man hastily added: “Esteemed customer, it’s best you hurry along with your business. Our money exchange truly has no spare copper coins left. Even if you wanted to exchange more, we couldn’t accommodate it.”
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua chuckled and said: “Well, if there really aren’t any, I won’t ask again. But your exchange ought to keep more on hand—who knows, I might need to make another exchange tomorrow.”
Behind the counter, the old gentleman nearly fainted from exasperation, rolling his eyes wildly as he waved his hand repeatedly. “Take care, esteemed customer. I’ve other matters to tend to, so I won’t be seeing you off.”
Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said: “You truly want me to leave now?”
“Yes, yes! Please leave quickly.”
The old gentleman finally abandoned the shop motto of “Customers Above All” and spoke his true thoughts.
“Very well, I’m off.” With that, Zhang Xiaohua cheerfully picked up the big hemp sack and turned to leave the exchange, with Ji Xiaohua trailing behind, his face full of confusion.
As soon as they stepped outside, Ji Xiaohua hurried after him and whispered: “Young Master, did we make a mistake just now? It seems…”
Before he could finish, Zhang Xiaohua glanced back and suddenly pulled Ji Xiaohua into a run. Not caring where they were going, he turned several corners before stopping and laughing: “We’ve struck it rich! We’ve struck it rich! Today’s haul is equivalent to a month’s salary at Huanxi Villa!”
“Young Master, what do you mean? This humble one doesn’t quite understand, was it that the money exchange didn’t take their cut?”
Zhang Xiaohua didn’t bother explaining. “Little kids shouldn’t ask too much. Let’s go.”
Back inside the money exchange, the old gentleman had just managed to calm his agitated heart. Leisurely sipping fragrant tea, he felt as though something wasn’t quite right. Suddenly, he slammed his teacup down with a loud clang and asked: “Xiao San, Xiao Si—just now, when you gave that young man the scattered silver, did either of you take out the handling fee?”
The two looked at each other, then protested: “The handling fee has always been taken by you, Old Sir. We brothers would never steal your job.”
“Aiyo—just now that little brat muddled my head. I actually forgot to take out the handling fee.” Saying that, he hurriedly rushed out of the money exchange, but where could anyone be seen?
Looking left and right without finding a trace, the old man stomped his foot and went back inside. The two younger men tried to comfort him: “Don’t worry, Old Sir. Didn’t that kid say he might come again tomorrow? Just have him return it then.”
“Return, my foot! Didn’t you see that the banknote was from Pingyang City? That brat’s clearly from out of town. For all we know, he’s already left the city. How would he come back tomorrow?”
The two of them pursed their lips. “So Old Sir did know he was from out of town. No wonder you told him the one-fen fee was one qian.”
“As if the two of you weren’t in on it. What’s there to grumble about?” He waved his hand. “Forget it, forget it. I hunt wild geese every day, but today one pecked out my eyes.”
“Where to now, Young Master?” Ji Xiaohua asked earnestly.
Zhang Xiaohua, one hand holding his longsword and the other carrying the hemp sack, had no third hand free to scratch his chin. After thinking a moment, he said: “Let’s head to your place first.”
“Huh? My place?” Ji Xiaohua was confused, but still obeyed and turned to lead the way.
Just then, from off to the side, an old man in a felt hat shuffled over slowly. His clothes were in tatters, and behind him plodded a beast that looked neither like a mule nor a horse, carrying a bundle of firewood on its back. The creature’s fur was dirty and matted, with a large bald patch on its back, and even from a distance, it reeked unpleasantly.
As soon as Ji Xiaohua saw the old man, he called out cheerfully from afar: “Grandpa Hao! Out collecting firewood again?”
The old man lifted his deeply wrinkled face at the sound, his cloudy eyes squinting as he looked over and muttered with displeasure: “Xiaohua, how come you didn’t go help out at the tea stall today?”
Ji Xiaohua flushed red and argued: “It’s not that I’m not trying, Grandpa Hao. It’s just the shopkeeper…”
Grandpa Hao raised a hand and gently rubbed Ji Xiaohua’s head. With a sigh, he said: “I know, Xiaohua. That tea shopkeeper is a bit stingy. But for poor folk like us, where can we go without getting pushed around? Tomorrow, I’ll go and put in a word for you again. This old face of mine, the tea shopkeeper might still give some respect. If you can earn a little more, that’s something. The tea shed’s no good against wind or rain, but it suits you just fine.”
Seeing Grandpa Hao lecturing Ji Xiaohua, Zhang Xiaohua could only stand by and listen. It was no different from the kind-hearted uncles and aunties back in Guo Village. Even if the child wasn’t their own, as long as they could help in any way, they would do it wholeheartedly.
At that moment, the beast standing to the side slowly opened its nearly shut eyes and sniffed the air, as though it had caught a scent. When it laid eyes on Zhang Xiaohua, there seemed to be a glint of brightness in its gaze. It shuffled its feet forward, came to a stop in front of Zhang Xiaohua, raised its head, and brought its strange-looking face close.
Though the creature had a bit of a stench, Zhang Xiaohua was a country boy—how could he be afraid of something like this? He tossed the sack to the ground, then raised a hand to stroke the beast’s head, feeling around from top to bottom. The creature seemed to enjoy it immensely, even sticking out its tongue to lick Zhang Xiaohua’s hand. The sensation tickled him, and he found it rather pleasant. But when he looked again into the beast’s eyes, Zhang Xiaohua froze—it was as though he saw in those eyes a deep affection, longing, and hope.
Unconvinced, Zhang Xiaohua rubbed his own eyes and looked again more carefully. Sure enough, the creature’s once half-closed and listless eyes were now wide open, silently fixed on him. Those eyes seemed almost sentient, as if they were trying to communicate something.
Only then did Zhang Xiaohua think to properly examine this strange beast.
Its face looked much like a horse’s—long and narrow—but it had two protrusions on its head that resembled antlers. Its hooves were large, not unlike a cow’s, perhaps even larger. And its big swaying tail was similar to a donkey’s. This odd creature looked like a deer, yet wasn’t; like a horse, but not quite; like a cow, but also not; and like a donkey, yet somehow different—it was impossible to tell what it was.
While Ji Xiaohua was still listening to Grandpa Hao’s advice, he caught sight of the beast licking Zhang Xiaohua’s hand and quickly rushed over. “Young Master, stay back a bit—don’t let it dirty your clothes.”
But seeing how Zhang Xiaohua didn’t seem to mind at all, he laughed and said: “Young Master, Huanhuan’s really the sweetest. Got a gentle nature, too—doesn’t bite. You probably haven’t been around livestock much, but it looks like Huanhuan’s taken a real liking to you.”
Then, somewhat sheepishly, he added: “Don’t mind the smell on her—give her a good wash and she’s clean as anything. If you don’t like it, I’ll wash her right away.”
It was only now that Grandpa Hao noticed Zhang Xiaohua standing beside Ji Xiaohua. He asked: “And this young master is…?”
Ji Xiaohua explained Zhang Xiaohua’s reason for coming, and Grandpa Hao smiled and nodded in understanding.
