"You must be lying again..."
"It's the New Year—no lies."
"Really?"
Xiao Jin Yu nodded earnestly.
Chu Chu's eyes curved into happy crescents. "You're so wonderful!"
"You too..."
Chu Chu ran to the kitchen to help clean up after the New Year's Eve feast. Xiao Jin Yu wheeled himself into the house alone, only to be frozen in his tracks the moment he entered by Grandpa Chu's stern glare from where he sat upright in the living room.
Grandpa Chu raised his walking stick to point at two large baskets piled in the corner. "What's the meaning of bringing all this stuff?"
Chu He and the guard stood side-by-side against the wall next to the baskets, spines ramrod straight but heads drooping to stare at their toes, like children caught stealing peaches from a tree and made to stand in punishment.
Xiao Jin Yu paused briefly, mentally drafting his response before speaking. "I came in haste previously and failed to prepare New Year gifts. Today I've specially brought them to make up for my oversight. I apologize for any disrespect, Grandfather."
Not even court deliberations required such careful wording...
Grandpa Chu thumped his cane hard on the floor. "Even if no one wants my Chu girl, the Chu family won't take a son-in-law like you! Take your things and get out!"
The guard jolted and snapped his head up, but Xiao Jin Yu's timely glance kept him frozen in place.
"Grandfather, please calm your anger..." He couldn't possibly figure out what had gone wrong even if given until next year. Steadying himself, Xiao Jin Yu continued, "This junior is dull-witted and unaware how I've offended. I beg your guidance."
Grandpa Chu's beard quivered with emotion. "I told Chu girl long ago—better marry a night soil collector than some high official! If not for your clear speech and genuine intention to marry her, I'd have kicked you out already! And now you show your true colors after just a few days of pretending, ah... Yesterday your pig feeding was disgraceful, so after some criticism you come bearing gifts? Two jars of liquor wasn't enough—you had to bring all these packages too... You're just like those officials, eating imperial salary while embezzling commoners' money, corrupting your very bones! If Chu girl married you, she'd share your retribution!"
Though thoroughly scolded, Xiao Jin Yu finally grasped the source of Grandpa Chu's fury.
No wonder Chu Chu had asked him to propose as a tea merchant...
Straightening his posture, Xiao Jin Yu bowed with clasped hands. "Grandfather, if I may explain... Though I serve as capital official, I hold no rank or grade, nor do I receive graded salary. Household expenses rely firstly on ancestral inheritance, secondly on profits from several commercial firms. I've never engaged in gift exchanges... Having lost both parents young, I never learned proper respect for elders. I beg your forgiveness for any offense."
Grandpa Chu stared blankly for a long moment, chest heaving as anger solidified on his face. "What... what're you saying?!"
"..."
Chu He hurriedly explained, "Grandpa, he means the court doesn't pay him for being an official—he works for free. His family lives off business, blessed by ancestors, all self-earned, not embezzled... His parents died early, nobody taught him, he doesn't know how to show you respect. Quite pitiful really..."
Grandpa Chu's face flushed with embarrassment. He thumped his cane and shot Chu He a glare. "None of your business!"
Chu He shrank back in fear.
"This junior... meant exactly that."
"Hammerhead! Running your tongue wild—since when... since when do officials work without pay?!"
Xiao Jin Yu lightly patted his completely numb legs. "Then have you ever seen an official like this?"
Grandpa Chu choked on his words.Xiao Jinyu offered a faint smile. "I'm grateful the imperial court didn't discard me and granted me an official post. How could I dare act recklessly?"
Grandpa Chu felt an inexplicable pang in his heart, his face growing warm. He kept twisting his beard, forcing a stern expression. "As long... as long as you're not a corrupt official. Don't waste money like this in the future - not even what you've earned yourself... That's hard-earned money, it should be used properly."
"Yes."
"From now on... correct your mistakes when you make them. Don't try to cover things up with gifts anymore."
"Yes."
"After the New Year, properly learn how to raise pigs from Chu He."
"...Yes."
"I... I'll go check how that medicated wine is coming along..."
"Take care on your way."
Grandpa Chu leaned on his cane and quickly disappeared into the house. Xiao Jinyu slumped weakly against the chair back, closing his eyes as he heaved a deep sigh. Only then did he realize he was covered in cold sweat, his entire back soaked through.
It felt like he'd fought a battle - and barely won at that...
Chu He quietly approached, speaking apologetically in a small voice, "I was so happy earlier I forgot to tell you... Grandpa's just like this. He hates high officials so much it makes his teeth itch - he'd love to grab them by the neck and bite them one by one."
Xiao Jinyu suddenly felt his Adam's apple tighten involuntarily. He unconsciously raised a hand to touch it, frowning slightly as he opened his eyes. "Why?"
"Why bite the neck?"
"...Why does he hate high officials?"
Chu He gave an embarrassed, simple-minded laugh. "Oh... because of Grandma. Grandma was originally the daughter of a wealthy family in the county. Her family offended an official because of their business dealings and ended up in court. That official sent lots of gifts to the magistrate, so the magistrate convicted Grandma's family and confiscated their house and everything..."
Chu He clenched his fist as he spoke. "Grandma's family refused to accept it and appealed all the way up. Wherever they appealed, that official would send gifts there too. They lost every case and got beaten everywhere they went. Finally, when they appealed to the capital, that high official had all five members of Grandma's family beaten to death. Only Grandma survived..."
"Grandma was about my age back then. Though beaten until her skin split and flesh tore, she stubbornly used an old bed board to drag all her family's bodies back from the capital. She knelt at my great-grandfather's door begging for a few coffins... My great-grandfather saw she hadn't eaten for days, was covered in wounds, and was nearly dead himself, so he helped her bury her family and took her in..." Chu He scratched his head with a simple smile. "And then Grandma became my grandma."
"Do you know who the capital official was who presided over the case back then?"
Chu He shook his head. "This is all what Grandpa and my father told me... It's the New Year, let's not bring this up. Every time it's mentioned, Grandma ends up crying... When she heard you say you were a high official from the capital that day, Grandma hid in her room and cried for a long time..."
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