Chapter 158 — The Coming-of-Age Ceremony

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..."

Old Master Cui had only stopped working the fields in the last few years. Among farming folk, the usual exchange of gifts was a couple of feet of blue or red cloth—what good ideas could he have? He thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you go ask your aunt?"

Cui the Elder scratched his head. "I already asked. Aunt said there's no need for all that trouble—two pairs of shoes and socks would be enough."

.

Just then Cui Min came in.

Old Master Cui quickly pulled Cui Min onto the kang to sit and asked him, "You tell us. When people in the capital run into this sort of thing, what do they give?"

Cui Min laughed. "No wonder there are no small households in the capital."

"That's true enough." Old Master Cui laughed despite himself.

Cui Min said to Cui the Elder, "I think you'd do best, Elder Brother, to just let the stewards each give their own... You can't very well steal everyone else's thunder, can you?"

Cui the Elder nodded. "That's the way of it." His gaze toward Cui Min grew ever more eager.

Cui Min coughed, embarrassed. Only then did he say, "What Aunt said makes sense too. Our family might as well make a few pairs of shoes and socks, and give a couple of rare trinkets as well."

"What rare trinkets?" Old Master Cui and Cui the Elder fixed their shining eyes on Cui Min.

Cui Min went back to his room and brought out a brocade box. "This is something I picked up from the Ji family's shop. It's called a kaleidoscope..." Then he took it out and demonstrated it for them.

Old Master Cui's eyes went wide and fixed. He asked, "How much silver did this cost?"

"Thirty taels," Cui Min said.

Fan Wenshu had picked up a lotus-patterned jadeite brush washer in an antique shop in the capital for thirty taels of silver, and Cui Min had prepared this gift for Dou Yan in the same spirit.

Old Master Cui gave a start. "So expensive!" But he clutched the thing in his hand and would not let go, and impatiently called out for "Cui the Fourth's wife," summoning Tuo Niang.

"You take this and give it away." Old Master Cui stuffed it into Tuo Niang's hands, brocade box and all. "This is our family's gift for the Fourth Young Miss's coming-of-age. You take your sisters-in-law and younger sisters-in-law and help the Fourth Young Miss make two outfits. Ask your mother for the silver. When the time comes, you and your eldest sister-in-law take Cui Jiu's wife with you into the city to pay your respects to the Fourth Young Miss."

Cui Jiu's father-in-law had once served for several years as a gatekeeper at the county yamen, and Cui Jiu's wife counted as a woman of some experience in the Cui household. That was why Old Master Cui had her go along to congratulate Dou Yan.

Cui the Elder and Cui Min had never dreamed that Old Master Cui would cut the ground out from under them midway. They were dumbstruck, and it was a good while before they came to their senses—but by then Tuo Niang had already neatly packed the thing away.

"Grandfather..." Cui Min looked as if he wanted to weep but had no tears.

Old Master Cui, however, sat there serene as a sage. "It's only thirty taels of silver, isn't it? You can ask your grandmother for it later. You young fellows can just make a trip to the prefectural city tomorrow." Then he waved a great hand and ordered Tuo Niang, "Quick, set the table! The ones coming back from the fields should be here soon."

What could Cui the Elder and Cui Min say? They hastily bolted a few mouthfuls of food, then hurried through the night to the prefectural city. They barely managed to buy a pair of glass bowls and a tortoiseshell incense burner the size of a palm before the Ji family's shop closed for the New Year, and only then did the two of them breathe easy.

When the ninth day of the first month came, Cui the Elder and Cui Min drove the carriage, bringing Cui the Elder's wife, Tuo Niang, and Cui Jiu's wife to the county town.

On the road, they saw several fine black-lacquered carriages with flat tops and even fronts.

Cui Jiu's wife had lived in the city for several years and wondered aloud, "Why are there so many carriages today?"

Such carriages were not the sort just anyone could afford to ride.