Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 193: Cheng Wenyin

Everything seemed calm on the surface, but only Liu Yu knew that her departure from Yangzhou was a hasty escape.

Liu Yanzheng was acting strangely. He might remember her and knew Wei Lianxing, both of whom were people and events that had never appeared in this life. When she realized that another person might know about her past life, Liu Yu’s heart was never at peace again. For several days, she lived in a state of anxiety, but she kept this unease tightly suppressed.

Liu Yanzheng didn’t know much about her from his previous life, Liu Yu thought; as long as she left Yangzhou, everything would be fine.

~

In the city of Yangzhou, after hearing “Xi Mingyue” play twice, Liu Yanzheng found it impossible to remember more. Gradually, he lost interest in this place, leaving Chen Fang to inquire about a wealthy merchant named Meng. As for Liu Yanzheng, he would no longer step foot in the Liuxian Pavilion.

In the vast city of Yangzhou, there were countless wealthy merchants heading to Liuxian Pavilion. It wasn’t difficult to inquire about someone with the surname Meng; the challenge was that there were quite a few people with that surname.

However, since Liu Yanzheng specified that it was a guest of “Xi Mingyue,” it became relatively straightforward. After observing for six or seven days, Chen Fang discovered two candidates and figured out the patterns of their visits to Liuxian Pavilion before inviting Liu Yanzheng over.

Unlike the grand gestures he made in his previous life at Liuxian Pavilion, this time, Liu Yanzheng was exceptionally low-key. He merely sat in the hall to identify people and, with an aura that kept others at bay, even sent away the female courtesans who approached him with a wave of his hand.

The first merchant with the surname Meng he encountered wasn’t someone he recognized from his dreams, but after another two days, he met another one, and this time it was a match.

Liu Yanzheng glanced at this Mr. Meng a couple more times, and Chen Fang immediately understood, whispering, “This one is a major silk merchant in Yangzhou. Do you actually know him?”

Thinking it over, it seemed unlikely. Liu Yanzheng had spent a lot of time at sea but rarely came ashore; it was his first time leaving the Quanzhou area. If Liu Yanzheng recognized him, there could only be one possibility: he was also a sea merchant, but Chen Fang had looked into the other man’s background and found that was not the case.

Yet Liu Yanzheng’s expression was cold. “I know him.”

This surprised Chen Fang. “Where do you know him from?”

Where he recognized him from, Liu Yanzheng was even more curious about. What kind of grudge could he have had that led him to treat this man so badly that he couldn’t live or die?

He sought an answer but found himself clueless in front of these two faces from his dreams.

A chapter of the past in Yangzhou lay quietly beneath the surface.

~

Meanwhile, at Wuxing Wharf in the Two Zhejiang region.

Liu Yanan and her group had just boarded their ship, which was filled with raw silk. Aside from the guards protecting the vessel, there was a crowd of men, women, and children by the dock, with Liu Yanping accompanying them.

If Lu Chengxiao were present, he would certainly recognize several familiar faces among them; these were the villagers from Chengjia Village whom they had met last June during their silk collection trip to Wuxing.

Among them was the family of Cheng Wenyuan, where Liu Yanping and the others had stayed during their last visit, and they were now all at the wharf.

Cheng’s mother clutched her daughter’s hand, clearly worried, and kept wiping her tears. “What kind of girl goes out to earn silver? Your father and I are useless, and now the burden falls on you.”

That girl was Cheng Wenyin, not just anyone; she was Cheng Wenyuan’s younger sister and a skilled silk weaver from Chengjia Village.

On this trip, besides collecting raw silk, Liu Yanping and the others had another important task: to invite a few silk weaving masters back from the Two Zhejiang region.

In unfamiliar territory, finding silk weavers was not easy. Wuxing had excellent silk, and after making a few profitable trades on the road, Liu Yanping and the others headed straight for Wuxing, collecting silk and inquiring as they went.

Collecting silk had gone smoothly, but finding skilled weavers was not as easy.

Setting aside the difficulty of assessing the quality of skills, most of the skilled weavers were women, and how many women in their weaving workshops would dare to leave their homes and travel with a group of unfamiliar merchants?

With this back and forth, Liu Yanping thought of Chengjia Village, where they had stayed while collecting silk last year.

There were indeed a few skilled weavers in Chengjia Village, and their previous cooperation had been quite pleasant, so after some consideration, Liu Yanping decided to lead his companions to Chengjia Village to try their luck.

His luck must have truly been good.

When they arrived at Chengjia Village, there was a joyful event happening. Cheng Wenyuan, who had hosted them last year, had passed the county examination in February and the provincial examination in April, and he was now a scholar.

Given such a joyful occasion, it was only right to bring a gift of congratulations.

Liu Yanping and his group were invited to stay for a meal at Cheng’s house. During the banquet, Liu Yanping mentioned that he and Lu Chengxiao had opened a dyeing workshop together in Yuan County and that they had already purchased the raw silk; they were just short a few skilled weavers.

Being locals, Liu Yanping thought to ask the Cheng family for assistance in locating one or two skilled weavers who might be willing to join him in Yuan County.

Who was the best weaver in Chengjia Village? Cheng Wenyuan’s sister.

To be honest, Liu Yanping was genuinely asking for Cheng Wenyuan’s help and had never considered his sister. A girl of eighteen or so, with an elder brother who had achieved a degree, she would be in a phase where everyone was talking about her; how could she possibly want to go out?

Thus, Liu Yanping had never thought of that.

However, unbeknownst to him, while he was talking with Cheng Wenyuan, the Cheng family girl had overheard. After pondering for a moment, she approached him to inquire about wages. Upon hearing that they were looking for skilled workers, she assured them she would teach the craft well to the workers in the dyeing workshop, ensuring that they would have a skilled weaver in training. The workshop could offer thirty-five taels of silver per year, with a one-year contract.

In short, the valuable thing was the skills she was willing to teach.

When the Cheng girl heard that the annual salary was thirty-five taels of silver, her eyes immediately lit up. “In addition to silk, are you also hiring masters who specialize in brocade and gauze?”

“Of course we are! Does Miss Cheng know such masters?”

The Cheng siblings both laughed. Cheng Wenyuan said, “Of course, I know them. My younger sister learned her silk weaving skills from our aunt when she was young. My sister is good at weaving silk, while our aunt is skilled in brocade and gauze.”

Liu Yanping was overjoyed and quickly asked the Cheng siblings to help introduce him.

The two villages were not too far apart, so Cheng Wenyuan decided to take Liu Yanping and his group along. It would be better to see many things for himself.

Liu Yanping was naturally happy to oblige. After visiting Cheng Wenyuan’s aunt and seeing her skills, they secured a weaver for their workshop.

This was originally great news, but when they returned to Chengjia Village, Cheng Wenyin asked, “Are you still looking for weaving masters for your workshop?”

Liu Yanping nodded. With their combined embroidery and fabric shops, along with their existing fabric business, they had ample space to expand. Just hiring one master for silk was not enough, so he asked, “Do you have any recommendations, Miss?”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Wenyin smiled and pointed to herself, saying, “Do you think I can do it?”

It turned out she had a desire to take on this job.

This caught Liu Yanping off guard, while Cheng Wenyuan’s expression changed slightly.

The Cheng family began discussing among themselves. The rural house wasn’t spacious, and even if the Cheng family spoke inside, Liu Yanping and his companions could still hear some of it.

It turned out that after Cheng Wenyuan passed the scholar exam, he would need money for further studies and exams. Cheng Wenyin, who was in charge of family matters, was very concerned for her brother. Upon hearing that she could earn thirty-five taels by teaching silk weaving for a year, she became intrigued. When her brother became a scholar, they would have a celebratory feast, and she overheard her brother’s classmates mention that to go to the capital for exams would require at least a hundred taels.

Cheng Wenyin thought that while she was still unmarried, she could help her brother save as much as possible.

She understood that the workshop wouldn’t pay a high salary to a teaching master year-round; what he could earn would likely only be for a year. But earning thirty-five taels in a year would help their family save up, and even if they didn’t save enough in three years, it wouldn’t be too far off.

The siblings debated for a while, with Cheng Wenyuan saying he would earn his own expenses for school, and it wasn’t suitable for his sister to travel so far.

Cheng Wenyin directly asked him how he planned to earn it.

Cheng Wenyuan replied, “I can earn silver by copying books and writing letters for others.”

Liu Yanping listened as Cheng Wenyin calculated the costs for her brother from outside. She noted how much silver could be earned from copying a book, how many books could be copied in a month without affecting his studies, the years of the local and provincial exams, and the related costs. The result was that even with his diligent efforts, it would be challenging for Cheng Wenyuan to gather enough for his studies and exams.

Eventually, the Cheng family was persuaded. With Cheng Wenyuan’s aunt accompanying them and having discussed with Liu Yanping, they decided to send their younger son with the daughter on the ship, which led to the farewell scene at the dock today.

Though Cheng’s mother had agreed, she was still wiping her tears at the dock.

Cheng Wenyin quickly comforted her mother, saying, “Aunt is going too, and both Young Master Liu and Young Master Lu are fine gentlemen. Plus, my second brother is with us. What is there for you to worry about?”

Although Cheng’s mother was older, she had often relied on her eldest son and daughter for decisions over the years, having little opinion of her own. However, even though she usually didn’t have strong opinions, this time she thought much more than usual. Holding Cheng Wenyin’s hand, her eyes reddened as she said, “That may be true, but you’re sixteen this year. There are children your age in the village who are already married. Even those who marry late are starting to find matches. If you go away, what will happen to your marriage prospects?”

Cheng Wenyin laughed and leaned closer to her mother, whispering, “What’s late about sixteen? Don’t worry, Mother. The person running the workshop is from Yuan County, and there aren’t many skilled silk weavers there. That’s why they’re coming to recruit from our side. Do you think this is a job that will last long? At most, I’ll be gone for a year. Once I learn what I need, the older weavers will teach the newer ones, and it won’t cost as much. I’ll be back in a year, and I won’t miss my chance to get married. Besides, do I look like someone who would struggle to find a match? I’m pretty and capable, and I have a scholar brother!”

Her whispers were not as quiet as she thought; at least Cheng Wenyuan could hear her from a distance.

At first, Cheng Wenyuan felt okay listening to the earlier parts of the conversation, but when he heard the latter half, he felt embarrassed. He glanced at Liu Yanping, who was just smiling, his expression unreadable, which reassured Cheng Wenyuan a bit. He then clasped his hands together toward Liu Yanping and said, “Sister and Aunt are going to Yuan County. I hope Brother Liu will take care of them.”

Liu Yanping, noticing how Cheng Wenyin’s few words dispelled her mother’s worries, found it amusing, though he didn’t show it on his face. Hearing Cheng Wenyuan’s request, he smiled and replied, “Of course, we invited the master ourselves. Brother Cheng, don’t worry. We often travel this way for business, so your sister and aunt can travel with our ship to and from. If you have any letters during this time, you can send them to the post station. If it’s not urgent, you can also send them to President Liu at the Jiangyou Guild in Zhejiang City for forwarding.”

After exchanging polite words, they finally boarded the ship. A large vessel set sail, carrying a full load of raw silk and the future key members of the dyeing workshop, departing from Wuxing.

At this moment, Liu Yanping wouldn’t have imagined that this brisk and straightforward girl would be gone for not just a year. When he returned with people two years later, she would no longer be just the merchant’s daughter, but that is a story for another time.

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