Chapter 6

It was an inevitable principle that everything in the world has a polar opposite. Where there was Yin, there should be Yang. Where there was bitterness, there should be sweetness. Where there was a golden mansion, there would be a dilapidated shack. While there was affluent houses, there was also the Ping Yang Alley, which was considered rundown and poor. While the flourishing East Street was lively, the cheerless West Street was in decline.

As if completely uninfluenced by the New Year’s atmosphere, the citizens of West Street were sparsely clothed as they rushed hastily around to various places. They did not have the relaxed mood of the New Year. Most of their faces seemed apathetic and cold. Compared to the pressing problems of food and clothing expenses, the New Year festival did not seem as important. In the middle of the street, there were only a few houses that had stuck simple Spring Festival couplets on red paper at their entrances, and hung old-fashioned lanterns, vaguely giving a slight feeling of New Year.

A few children sat in front of a cosmetics stall, playing with a button that they had just picked up earlier. Sometimes, they would lift their dirty faces to scrutinize the Jiang Ruan trio curiously before enthusiastically returning their attentions to their own play.

Contrary to what one might expect, there was a peddler selling plum blossoms. At his stall, he displayed a few large, chipped earthen vases with a few stalks of almost wilting plum blossoms. His eyes brightened as he saw Jiang Ruan and her maids. He hawked hastily, “Beautiful plum blossoms, does Miss want one? When it is placed in a room, it will look very pretty. It’s also fragrant!”

“How much are these plum blossoms?” Lian Qiao asked.

The peddler spread his palms, “They are not expensive, five bronze coins.”

“So expensive,” Lian Qiao spoke in surprise, “We don’t want them anymore.”

“Ai, ai, ai,” Upon seeing this, the peddler quickly said, “Forget about it, just three bronze coins will do. The price cannot be lower. The children in my family are still waiting for a warm bowl of rice.”

Lian Qiao wanted to reduce it further when Jiang Ruan had already opened her mouth, “I want everything that you have.”

Bai Zhi was startled and spoke up in slight disagreement, “Miss,  money is tight now-”

Jiang Ruan shook her head, “Do according to what I say. There is a need for them later.”

Bai Zhi no longer said anything. She poured most of the bronze coins from her personal cloth pouch into her hand, and handed them over to the peddler. The peddler did not expect to close this business deal so successfully. Normally, travellers on East Street were penniless. They were not likely to spend any money on flowers. Yet, he had an unforeseen gain today. Therefore, he might as well push the vase containing the plum blossoms into Lian Qiao’s arms, “It’s the New Year now. Miss, you should also invite some good omens. I will regard this porcelain vase as a gift to you.” After he finished speaking, he packed up his stall and left.

Holding the porcelain vase containing the plum blossoms in her hands, Lian Qiao finally could not help but ask, “What does Miss need these plum blossoms for? Although they are pretty, we will not be able to use everything that we bought. Moreover, the flowers are going to wilt in a few days. It is more realistic to eat a few spring pancakes.”

“These flowers are not meant to be looked at,” Jiang Ruan spoke as she walked forward, “They are to be gifted.”

“Gifted?” Lian Qiao looked at her curiously. “Gifted to whom?”

Yet, Jiang Ruan had stopped speaking. They walked and walked, and reached the West Street Market. The West Street Market was the most lively place on the street. Compared to East Street, it was the place where most of the crooks and honest folk mingled together. There were people of various ranks and status. Precisely because of this, regardless of what happened in this place, it wasn’t surprising. However, nothing could surpass the most common crime of one’s belongings being stolen by the pickpockets.

And at the moment, one of them was happening.

The trio had just walked to the market entrance, when they saw an extremely thick crowd making an incomprehensible clamour from within. Lian Qiao watched Jiang Ruan halt her footsteps and thought for a moment before delivering a few sentences into Bai Zhi’s ear. The duo pushed against the crowd to open a path for Jiang Ruan.

As soon as the trio reached the inner circle of the crowd, they were able to see the situation clearly. In the middle of the circle, they saw two people engaged in a confrontation. One of them was an old person with white beard and hair. At this moment, his face was flushed with anger, with veins popping out in a towering rage. The other party was a young girl of either seven or eight, whose head was lowered with tears filling her eyes.

Lian Qiao patted the person beside her on the shoulders and quietly spoke a few words. Then, she turned to Jiang Ruan, “Apparently, this old man claimed that the young lady stole his money. She said she did not steal and began to cry anxiously.”

Surrounded by the crowd, the young girl stood with an extremely pale expression. Her hand gripped the money with her eyes widening in utter helplessness. She looked at the old man, who could not restrain his anger. He wore a long, brown, hemp-lined robe and was angry to the point of a trembling moustache. His booming voice came to a near roar, “As a young lady, you have already learned this ploy to steal at such a young age. How uneducated you are!”

Someone could not watch the situation any longer, and opened his mouth to put a stop to it, “Old man, why do you have to speak such unpleasant words? You are being so forcefully aggressive towards a young girl. Don’t tell me that after living for so many years, you are willing to use your seniority to bully the young? You are not ashamed at all!”

“You-” The old man was so angry that he could not speak.

“Besides, how can you prove that she stole your money?” The person was unrelenting, “You are claiming that mere young girl of seven or eight is capable of stealing your money. Is it because you are too careless or that this girl possesses remarkable abilities? Bah, perhaps, you are the one who intends on cheating this young lady out of her money!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the onlookers agreed immediately, “Yes, yes. How can a young girl like this have the capability to steal things?” “He did not even have any forethought before he lied.” “It is obvious that he wants to cheat the young lady’s money!”

One by one, the onlookers started to discuss the confrontation. They collectively blamed the old man, as if he was the main culprit. The old man’s beard quivered, and his face reddened as if it could spill blood. Yet, he could not say a word. His lips just trembled as he breathed deeply.

“How pitiful,” Lian Qiao lamented.

Jiang Ruan eyed her, “You also believe that he wanted to steal other people’s money?”

“Of course not,” Lian Qiao spoke, “She can deceive others, but she cannot deceive me. In the past, I have seen a lot of these girls in the village. Clearly, she is lying. Bai Zhi, am I right?”

Bai Zhi nodded her head slightly.

Lian Qiao said, “Today, this old man is out of luck. How pitiful.”

An unusual glint flitted past Jiang Ruan’s eyes.

In reality, just as Lian Qiao mentioned, the young girl was unskilled in the art of deceit. Within the crowd, it wasn’t that there wasn’t anyone who couldn’t detect the true nature of her ploy. It’s just that West street, in and of itself, was a place where the poorer folk gathered and they bore a very large prejudice against outsiders and excluded those who came from foreign lands. To the people here, this old man was nothing more than a stranger, and strangers should be held in check. So today, this little girl would bag a definite win and this old man was destined to bear the crime of a swindler.

Then, what can she do?

Jiang Ruan paused for a while, gently pushing away Bai Zhi, who was protecting her with part of her body. Bai Zhi was startled. Seeing Jiang Ruan’s movement, she hurriedly spoke to stop her, “Miss, you cannot. It is best that we do not interfere.”

The truth was not important, but the attitude of the onlookers was. Even if her lady stepped forward to mediate, she would only be regarded as an undiscriminating outsider and hence, she would be attacked alongside the old man. As for the old man, let him be. He would only lose some face. But her lady was a daughter from a prestigious family. Even if she was now tied to the residence, her identity was not something that could be changed.

Jiang Ruan shook her head gently, “Bai Zhi, move away.” Bai Zhi was startled, but Jiang Ruan had already moved forward a few steps, exposed to the crowd’s sight.

She spoke gently, “Old man, you do not need to be anxious. This world is not composed of black and white. Although it cannot be explained clearly at this moment, the truth will eventually be revealed. Why do you hurt your own body with such foul words? Doesn’t the loss outweigh the gain?”