Chapter 158 — The Coming-of-Age Ceremony
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Leaving aside Cui Jiu's wife and her little schemes, Cui Min came out of the kitchen.
Granny Cui's father—the old master of the Cui family—was still alive, and none of the brothers had divided the household. By the time it came to the grandsons, they were called simply by birth order: the eldest, the second, and so on. When the eldest and the second were born, the Cui family could barely keep themselves fed, and none of them had ever been to school. It was only when the family's fortunes gradually improved and they had to sign land deeds and affix their fingerprints as guarantors that they discovered the character for "young master" was really too hard to write, so they simply called them Cui the Elder and Cui the Second.
Counting down through the cousins, by the time Cui Min was old enough to begin his lessons at the village school twenty li from home, his formal name was simply Thirteen.
Seeing Cui the Elder, Cui Min was quite surprised.
Ever since Cui the Elder had begun managing the fields and estates for Dou Yan, his whole family had moved out to live on the estate, and he never came back except for festivals and the New Year. The winter accounting was long over, and the Little New Year was still more than ten days away... He could not help asking, "Elder Brother, what brings you home today?"
Cui the Elder grinned. "Isn't the Fourth Young Miss's coming-of-age ceremony coming up? I've come back to talk it over with Grandfather, to see what our estate ought to give." He held up a big black carp about two feet long and directed Cui Min, "Take it to the kitchen and steam it to go with Grandfather's wine. You come have a cup or two with us as well."
Dou Chu had twelve estates in all, every one of them under Cui the Elder's management. When her coming-of-age drew near, the stewards of the estates heard that the managers of her shops were all thinking of giving her coming-of-age gifts, and at once they could not sit still. They came one after another to find Cui the Elder: "We serve under the Fourth Young Miss just as they do—there's no reason those shop managers should give gifts and we shouldn't."
Cui the Elder thought this made sense, but he had never been one to have ideas of his own in such matters, so his wife gave him some advice: "Go back and ask the old master—and Cui Min is at home too." That was why he had hurried back, and why he had told Cui Min to join him for a drink.
Cui Min did not yet know that their schemes had landed on him again. He was only thinking that before returning to Zhending, Fan Wenshu had dragged him through every antique shop in the capital, and his feet seemed to be starting to ache faintly again. He could not help muttering, "Why is it that wherever I go, this is all anyone talks about?"
Cui the Elder had not caught it clearly and thought Cui Min was unwilling to be ordered about. His face darkened and he cuffed him on the head: "What? Two years in the capital and you've got your tail up? Can't even take an order from your elder brother? Get moving!"
"No, no!" A farmer's hands are strong whenever they land, and Cui Min, grimacing and baring his teeth from the blow, hurried to take the carp. "I'm going, I'm going."
Watching Cui Min's retreating back, Cui the Elder showed a simple, honest smile, then turned and went to the main room where Old Master Cui lived.
Old Master Cui drew on his copper pipe with the white jade mouthpiece, and after a long while said, "What did those stewards say?"
"A bit of everything!" Cui the Elder said helplessly. "Some say to change twenty taels of silver at the silversmith's and have a set of hair ornaments made. Others say it would be best to buy some antiques, calligraphy, or paintings. And still others say we might as well each give our own and just go together..."