Chapter 10 — Pinching the Lamp Wick
The front hall was surrounded by a lot of people, but in the end, one of the managers came over and covered the iron machines with a thick layer of canvas, instructing a few assistants to keep watch at night while sending the rest away.
Kou Pei Feng had just moved the machines out and was still full of excitement when Xie Jing stopped him. Before Xie Jing could speak, he said, “Hey, do you know why the provincial master is coming here this time?”
Xie Jing replied, “To buy machines?”
Kou Pei Feng glanced around, speaking in a low, excited voice, “I heard it’s to build a factory—”
Xie Jing was momentarily stunned. “What kind of factory?”
“Hey, what else? A distillery!”
Xie Jing racked his brain but couldn’t recall any plans about building a distillery from his previous memories. He didn’t remember Lord Bai Jiu expanding construction in the Heihe area; if there were any factories, it would be in Qinghe County. He remembered when Bai Mingyu had been assigned by Lord Bai Jiu to come here to pay respects to Grandma Kou, and he had followed along—that was the last time he had returned here.
Kou Pei Feng, still excited about the grand venture, pulled Xie Jing along. “We’re among the first to come. I heard from people near the eldest young master that this factory will need over a hundred people. Maybe we can get a small managerial role?”
Before Xie Jing could respond, someone in front shouted loudly: “Xie Jing!”
Xie Jing looked up immediately. Kou Pei Feng, slower to react, was bumped on the arm by Xie Jing and finally realized what was happening. He responded repeatedly and ran forward.
Xie Jing hadn’t slept well that night. Several times he had gotten up to peek out the window, convinced he heard the sound of hooves and thought Lord Bai Jiu had returned.
The next day, after waiting all day and seeing that Lord Bai Jiu had not returned, Xie Jing couldn’t help but ask, “Why haven’t the eldest young master and his group returned? Could something have happened?”
Bai Mingyu lazily tossed peanuts into his mouth one by one. Chewing, he said, “No way. My elder brother has capable people with him!”
“Capable people?”
“Yeah, the guards hired last year, about ten of them. Their skills are excellent!” Bai Mingyu demonstrated a set of moves he had learned from his guard master, looking very pleased. “See? The guard taught me this. Cool, right?”
Xie Jing: “…”
Xie Jing thought he could easily knock down both Bai Mingyu and the guards.
The younger second master used to have some skills, so why was he so unstable as a teenager? He seemed to have been spoiled all his life. Xie Jing could hardly recognize him.
Within a few days, news about the distillery project spread, becoming increasingly concrete. It was said to be a multi-hundred-thousand silver dollar deal, and almost everyone in the Heihe trading house was excited.
Only Xie Jing remained unfazed, still copying books and writing next to Bai Mingyu, only running out in the evenings to make a couple of ice lanterns.
After several days, a faint blue tint appeared in Xie Jing’s eyes from fatigue.
Bai Mingyu, uninterested in studying, assumed Xie Jing was working hard writing. During these few days, while his elder brother was away, he secretly rode out for fun and brought some treats back for the young readers left behind, shoving them into Xie Jing’s arms proudly. “Here, eat!”
Xie Jing took them and set them aside, lowering his head to continue writing.
Bai Mingyu asked, “What are you copying today? Oh, now you’re drawing too?”
“It’s a map the manager gave me. Since we’ve been talking about building a distillery, we need to know its location,” Xie Jing said, having asked the manager specifically for it, just to trick Bai Mingyu.
After drawing for a while, Bai Mingyu grew bored and went to the front yard to check the machines, quickly causing the manager to shout and plead without daring to discipline the second young master directly.
That night, when Xie Jing got up again, he finally saw Lord Bai Jiu and his group returning. Seeing the familiar carriage, he breathed a sigh of relief. Once the courtyard grew quiet, he returned to his bed, feeling the weight that had pressed on his heart for days lift, and fatigue swept over him.
Young people grow quickly and tire easily. Exhausted, Xie Jing wrapped himself in a thick robe and curled up to sleep.
Perhaps because he thought about it all day, he dreamed of events from many years ago.
It was when he returned to Qinghe County with Lord Bai Jiu. Rumors outside said Lord Bai Jiu had rushed back specially for him, but Xie Jing knew Lord Bai Jiu had also returned to see someone else.
After paying respects to Grandma Kou, Xie Jing returned to the residence, still smelling of incense, and stood at the door, hesitant to enter.
It was a hot summer day. The carved wooden door was wide open, with only a bamboo curtain hanging to the ground, swaying slightly in the breeze.
The curtain blocked sight but not sound.
Inside, he clearly heard the crash of a teacup. Xie Jing saw Lord Bai Jiu angry for the first time, scolding loudly: “If you speak nonsense again, you’ll get the stick!”
The young Bai Mingyu, now a head clerk but still with a fiery temperament, kneeled stiffly. “Master, if you want to hit me, go ahead. My father always used the family law to punish me with the stick. Today, let it count as a lesson from you instead.”
Lord Bai Jiu murmured a few words, and Bai Mingyu, ever shameless, continued: “I won’t recognize them. When my father called them uncles and elders, if something went wrong, they’d only eye my family’s remaining money. Now everyone knows I’m with you and have made a name for myself, and they want to claim me back? Not a chance!”
“You are, after all, a member of the Bai family in Qinghe County.”
“From today onwards, I am not!”
Bai Mingyu kowtowed to the person at the main seat. “I don’t recognize them. I only recognize you! If you insist I must acknowledge my ancestors, then I’ll recognize you as my father…”
Lord Bai Jiu laughed at him in exasperation. Xie Jing, standing outside the door, couldn’t help but stumble, brushing against the bamboo curtain.
Bai Mingyu turned sharply, the curtain swinging, but he couldn’t see Xie Jing’s face.
Xie Jing woke up, squinting and putting his hand to his forehead. He suddenly remembered something.
Bai Mingyu’s father and brothers had died young, and he had been adopted by Lord Bai Jiu, making him utterly loyal. Could Bai family’s master and eldest young master have suffered misfortune at that time?
A fine cold sweat appeared on Xie Jing’s forehead. Once he realized the key point, he sat upright.
He no longer remembered everything clearly and had been overly cautious, missing details. These days, staying by Bai Mingyu’s side also allowed him to observe others in the Heihe trading house. He had already suspected Bai Mingzhe, the eldest young master, because of the bullets, but now he wondered: what if the eldest young master himself didn’t know?
Xie Jing couldn’t sit still and went to the front yard. He still had a Mauser bullet in his pocket, planning to find Lord Bai Jiu and warn him, or at least give him the bullet for safekeeping.
In the front yard, Lord Bai Jiu’s carriage was gone. After asking around, they said Lord Bai Jiu had gone out early with a German engineer.
Only Bai Mingzhe, the eldest young master, remained, quickly giving instructions about merchandise turnover while munching a thin pancake and drinking tea. He looked hungry but spirited, cracking his knuckles with enthusiasm.
Xie Jing hesitated, then stepped forward to speak with him.
Before he could approach, the guard beside Bai Mingzhe blocked him, scolding, “Which household? What are you doing in the front yard?”
Xie Jing said, “I work for the young master. I have something to discuss with the eldest young master.”
The guard looked at him and said, “Go wait at the right corner gate. The eldest young master is heading out soon. You’ll get only a moment to speak. Don’t waste time.”
Xie Jing complied and went to wait at the corner gate.
After a while, no one came. Then he heard the sound of carriages and looked up, only to be suddenly grabbed by the collar and slammed against a brick wall!
Caught off guard, Xie Jing coughed, and before he could speak, someone gripped his neck. The man was strong enough to lift him: “Are you Kou Pei Feng?!”
Xie Jing looked up, surprised to see a thirty-year-old man, not very tall, with a simple, rustic appearance. If not for Xie Jing’s small size at thirteen, he wouldn’t have been lifted so easily, but the man had impressive strength. Despite his rustic appearance, his eyes were sharp. Xie Jing hoarsely said, “Yes.”
The man loosened his grip slightly but still held his collar, then asked, “Two weeks ago, you helped the eldest young master move a box and broke one. Remember?”
Xie Jing, having already learned the full story from Kou Pei Feng, pretended ignorance. “No, that can’t be. I didn’t touch anything valuable normally. You asked me to move it and promised two silver dollars…”
The man pulled him and warned, “You saw it, didn’t you? Otherwise, how would you know it was valuable?”
Xie Jing feigned wide-eyed innocence. “What do you want? At most, I won’t tell anyone. It’s just some scrap copper. I’ve seen worse. Brother, why don’t you let me earn a share too? I still have a few silver coins.”
With many people around the Heihe trading house, they couldn’t linger at the corner gate. A lookout whistled softly.
The man looked at Xie Jing and, seeing his eager face, loosened his grip and smiled. “Alright, but you won’t get paid for nothing. Luckily, we have some crates of liquor. Help me load them onto the carriage.”
“‘Kou Pei Feng’” rolled up his sleeves to help but clumsily kicked a crate, causing it to crash into the carriage. An impatient loader cracked him with a whip: “Fool! Look carefully next time!”
By luck, the whip struck his thick robe, causing no injury.
The short man watched the boy. When the lookout ran over—a bearded man from Qinghe who had previously interrogated Kou Pei Feng—he reported, “Elder brother, I confirmed. This is Kou Pei Feng. What should we do?”
“Has Third Brother seen him?”
“No, he’s at the distillery and hasn’t returned. But I asked around; it’s definitely Kou Pei Feng.”
The short man asked, “Everything ready?”
“Yes, too close to the market to bring brothers during the day with officials around. Just waiting for dark.” The bearded man grinned excitedly. “Didn’t expect both Bai family young masters here. Once we get these two ‘treasures,’ we’ll have a profitable year. Worth the year-long stakeout in Qinghe!”
“Take Kou Pei Feng and let him ‘sleep’ in the forest ahead. No mistakes!”
“Yes!”
The bearded man and several guards approached. Suddenly, a brother on the carriage jumped down, and a flame burst behind him, setting the man’s clothes and the carriage tarp on fire!
The guards on the carriage rolled in the snow, trying to extinguish it.
The frightened horses reared, scattering crates of liquor. Flames shot high. A boy in the center of the fire swiftly pulled a dagger, cut the carriage ropes, mounted a horse, and shouted: “Heihe Bai family trading house is going under! Everyone evacuate!”
The shouting and smoke alarmed many. Apprentices rushed over.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Even the short man and bearded man were stunned. The boy had already ridden off, shouting “Heihe Bai family trading house is going under!” They couldn’t catch up.
Crowds gathered with buckets of water.
The bearded man wanted to chase, but the short man barked, “Fall back!”
“But elder brother, what about Kou Pei Feng…”
“Forget him. Retreat!”
Xie Jing bent low on his horse, urging it faster, circling Heihe city shouting the warning. His burned clothes and scorched horse tail made him look pitiful. Soon, many headed toward the Bai family trading house.
Xie Jing didn’t stop. He identified the distillery’s direction and rode swiftly.
From the carriage, he had seen that the liquor bottles also contained kerosene.
These men were not stealing for profit—they were bandits! That explained everything. When Xie Jing first met Bai Mingyu, he only knew him as the head clerk, never hearing about his father or brothers. Bai Mingyu was like a lone wolf; only Lord Bai Jiu could be trusted.
Lord Bai Jiu’s left leg ached in the cold winter. He had undergone two surgeries by Western doctors, but the household said only it was an old injury, never revealing the cause.
Xie Jing, small in stature, clung tightly to the reins, almost hugging the horse’s neck, the wind burning his face. But he felt nothing now, only his heart pounding wildly, wishing he could fly faster and faster.
