Chapter 33

Sitting at his desk, Wang Xian was still in a daze. Life is truly unpredictable, he thought. This morning, he was still basking in the glory of finally becoming an official, but two hours later, he was already worrying about the miserable days to come...

After leaving Li Sihu's room, a bailiff led him to a neighboring room, which was crammed full of account books. In the gaps between the books, there were several desks, each occupied by a clerk in a white robe, busily working away.

The bailiff left after a brief word with the people inside. The clerks looked up, some with indifference, some with sympathy, and some with a sense of schadenfreude. It was the round-faced, chubby one who stood up, tidied a desk for him, and grinned, "Take a break, I'll work for a while."

Wang Xian smiled gratefully and sat down. Listening to the sound of abacuses being manipulated, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to help but couldn't find a way to pitch in, so he refilled everyone's teacups and then sat there, lost in thought.

Fortunately, his daze didn't last long. A gong sounded outside, and all the clerks heaved a sigh of relief, tidied their desks, and quickly left the room.

Wang Xian, unsure of what to do, was approached by the chubby one again, "It's mealtime, I'll take you to eat."

"Thank you, brother," Wang Xian smiled gratefully, "Why aren't you avoiding me?"

"My name is Wu Wei, and people call me 'Whatever.'" The chubby one laughed, "Just kidding, my father treated you before."

"You're Dr. Wu's son?" Wang Xian realized, "That's why you look familiar."

"Hehe, let's go, or we'll miss the meal." Wu Wei led Wang Xian to the canteen.

Indeed, it was called a 'canteen.' This term was adopted from the Tang Dynasty, when Emperor Taizong ordered canteens to be set up in all government offices, from the central to the local level, to encourage officials to eat together, fostering communication and camaraderie, and extending the time for deliberation and office work.

In later dynasties, the canteens were inherited, but their function of deliberation and office work had disappeared, leaving only the function of eating, hence the term 'eating in the canteen.' For low-income officials and clerks, this was a very considerate benefit, which is why the common people envied them, calling it 'eating the government's food.'

By the Ming Dynasty, canteens were also divided into different levels, especially in local prefectures and counties. For example, Fuyang County had three canteens: the officials' canteen on the left side of the county office, the clerks' canteen on the right side, and a canteen for the clerical staff in the front yard. The canteens were progressively larger, but the quality of the food was inversely proportional.

Wang Xian and Wu Wei entered the middle-level clerks' canteen. This canteen also had two levels: the inner room was for the regular clerks, and the outer room was for non-regular clerks like them. This showed how pervasive the concept of hierarchy was in the Ming Dynasty.

As soon as Wang Xian entered, he saw a sea of white robes and black hats, sitting around square tables, chatting and laughing while eating quickly. Wu Wei led him to his own table, saw that there was no bowl for Wang Xian, and said with a smile, "You're late today, the kitchen has already counted the number of people. Eat from my bowl."

Wang Xian tried to refuse, but Wu Wei pushed him onto a bench, "Just eat, I'll get another bowl."

Wang Xian nodded and sat down. When Wu Wei returned with a bowl of rice, Wang Xian hadn't even picked up his chopsticks.

Wu Wei quickly picked up a piece of fatty meat and said, "The quick get it, the slow miss out!"

"Um." Wang Xian nodded, actually eyeing the food on the table with envy. Although it was just four dishes and a soup, with meat and fish, it was a great temptation for someone who usually ate coarse rice and vegetable soup.

'Never thought the clerks' meals would be so good...' Wang Xian thought, but he heard people complaining that since Sima Dan took charge of the canteen, the food had gotten worse. Sima Dan was Sima Qiu's brother.

Despite the complaints, everyone ate very quickly. Wang Xian hadn't even used his chopsticks much when his plate was already empty, and he finished with a bowl of rice...

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In the afternoon, Wang Xian offered to help Wu Wei with some work, but Wu Wei wouldn't let him, "Forget it, one mistake and I'll have to start over. Get familiar with the situation first."

Wang Xian had no choice but to find a household regulation book, spread out some paper, and practice calligraphy.

After some time, a middle-aged clerk in a green robe entered. The clerks looked up and made a move to stand, "The Lingshi is here." Lingshi was a respectful term for a clerk, originally used for county officials in the Han Dynasty.

The Lingshi smiled before speaking, waved his hand, "Everyone is busy, I just came to see the new guy." He walked to Wang Xian's desk, saw that he was copying regulations, and smiled, "You've really changed." He patted Wang Xian's shoulder, "Come on out."

"Lingshi..." Wang Xian followed him out of the office and saw him smiling at him.

"Just call me Uncle." The Lingshi, Zhang Hua, was the head clerk of the household department. He was originally under Wang Xian's father and later transferred to the household department. When Wang Xing returned, he visited the Wang family, so he naturally treated Wang Xian kindly, "I was out this morning, otherwise I would have come to see you earlier."

"Still call you Lingshi." Wang Xian smiled bitterly, "If the Sihu hears, it won't be good."

"Ha, he has ears everywhere..." Zhang Hua sneered, "Did he give you a hard time?"

"That's the Sihu's way of showing care."

"Care my ass, his heart is smaller than a needle's eye!" Zhang Hua cursed, "Just because he didn't marry your mother? He couldn't get the upper hand with your father, so he's bullying a junior. What kind of skill is that!"

Wang Xian was stunned. He wanted to go back and ask his father if there was a deep-seated grudge with Li Sihu. It seemed he had guessed right.

But seeing Zhang Hua's attitude, he knew Zhang Hua also had issues with Li Sihu.

However, Wang Xian knew the saying 'misfortune comes from the mouth,' so he just listened.

Zhang Hua led him to the back of the household department, through a half-open door, and saw three rows of west-facing rooms, each with eighteen rooms, densely packed and very cramped.

Zhang Hua led him to a room at the end of the second row, opened the door, and said, "This is the clerk's dormitory. According to regulations, clerks should live here, and only go home on holidays. Although the rules have been relaxed in recent years, you're new, and there's someone watching you, so you should stay here for a while!"

"Um." Wang Xian nodded and followed him inside. The room was ten feet wide and twenty feet long, with a thick layer of dust on the floor, a bed, a desk and chairs, and a washstand...

"Clean it up." Zhang Hua said, "Then bring some bedding from home. The government provides clothes and food, but not bedding... at least not for you."

"Um." Wang Xian could only nod.

"Alright, clean up here." Zhang Hua said, "When you're done, go home. No need to come back to the household department."

"Okay." Wang Xian nodded, saw Zhang Hua out, and looked around the room. He took off his new clothes and hat, went barefoot in short pants, and found a well to get a bucket of water to clean the floor and furniture.

By the time the room was thoroughly clean, the sun was already setting. Wang Xian wiped the sweat off his forehead, put on his clothes, and left the government office.

On the street, he let out a long sigh of relief. The strict hierarchy in the government office was truly oppressive, especially with a superior who hated him by association...

He glanced sympathetically at the two grain merchants still in shackles and quickly walked home. The closer he got to home, the more people greeted him, "Erlang, you're out early today?" "Erlang, take some oranges home, I'll give you a discount..."

Of course, the most common question was, "Erlang, which department are you in?"

When he answered "household department," the people's expressions changed...

Wang Xian felt a chill. Who have I offended now?

"Ah, Erlang, take a basket of oranges for your sister. What, no money? That's a slap in the face, after all these years as neighbors, you want to pay for two oranges..." Uncle Liu, who sold oranges, suddenly became extra enthusiastic, insisting on giving him a basket of oranges.

"Erlang, this is fresh white carp, just caught, take it to supplement your strength..." Brother Qi, who sold fish, picked up two fish and came over.

"Brother Qi is silly, who eats fish to gain strength?" Brother Zhu, who sold meat, chopped four pig's feet, wrapped them in lotus leaves, and handed them to Wang Xian, "Here, stewed pig's feet with yellow beans, guaranteed to make you run around!"

For a moment, everyone on the street became loving and generous, not only giving him things but also showering him with praise:

"I said it from the beginning, Erlang has great potential, see, it came true!"

"Erlang, tonight at Liu's tavern, I'll treat you to mutton hotpot, to gain some weight for the fall!"

"Erlang, this young man is a natural for an official, he'll definitely go far..."

"..."

Unsolicited kindness, there must be a catch. Wang Xian didn't take anything and almost fled. But the neighbors chased him all the way home. He couldn't deal with it, so he hid in his room to practice calligraphy, leaving his mother to handle the situation outside.

People came and went, the flattery never stopped, leaving Wang Xian speechless. This was too much...

It wasn't until well after dinner that the visitors finally stopped. Wang Xian came out of the west wing and saw his mother happily humming a tune, sorting through the things the neighbors had brought. A quick glance showed a variety of food and items, enough to last for a while without spending money.

"You did well, son." His mother smiled, "Thanks to you, I finally have a chance to receive gifts again."

"Mother, why would the neighbors give us things for free..." Wang Xian wasn't proud, but seeing his mother accept everything, he felt the need to warn her, "They must have something in mind."

"I know, isn't it just about the government re-registering the yellow registers?" His mother laughed, "Among neighbors, even if they don't bring gifts, you still have to find a way to let them off, right?"

"Ah..." Wang Xian thought, you really have high hopes for me, not knowing that I'm a clay Buddha crossing the river—hardly able to save myself! But he didn't want to upset his mother, so he asked, "Where's Father?"

"Your father is the sneakiest. Yesterday he said he'd go anywhere, but today he's off to Hangzhou to lobby." His mother pouted, "Lobbying is good, but if he gets assigned to Yunnan, I won't go."

She looked at Wang Xian and said casually, "By the way, Lin girl came by today."

"Oh?" Wang Xian pretended to be indifferent but perked up his ears.

"Her family is moving to Suzhou tomorrow..."

"Oh..." Wang Xian was surprised, "Why Suzhou?"

"Lin girl's grandmother's family is there..."

"Oh..." Wang Xian's eyes dimmed.

His mother looked at him and said softly, "Lin girl is already engaged..."

"Oh?" Wang Xian was shocked, jumped up, and darted out.

"What are you doing?" His mother called out.

"Going out..." Wang Xian's words were barely out before he disappeared through the door.

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