Zuo Feifei was genuinely a little afraid of her mother bringing this up again. She turned to slip away, but Zuo Zhangshi grabbed her firmly.
“Don’t get impatient. Mr Jin is not only capable and talented, he also knows how to cherish people. Madam Xiao Bei has been to Iron Can Mountain too. You saw for yourself how good he was to her.”
Zuo Zhangshi spoke earnestly. “A fine match like this, in the half lifetime I’ve lived, I’ve only ever seen Mr Jin. If you let him go, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!”
“Mum, I really do have something urgent right now. Can we talk about this when I get home tonight?”
Zuo Feifei was truly getting scared.
“What matter could be more important than your marriage?”
Zuo Zhangshi held tight to her daughter’s sleeve and refused to let go. “Be honest with your mum. What do you think of Mr Jin? Is he good enough for you?”
“Mr Jin is naturally excellent. It’s your daughter who isn’t worthy of him…”
Zuo Feifei lowered her head, her tone rather dejected.
“My daughter is accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and song. Even the emperor would be a fitting match!”
Zuo Zhangshi continued, “Feifei, don’t worry about the mole on your face. I heard from Wan-niang that Mr Jin doesn’t believe in such superstitions. His principal wife, Madam Guan Xiaorou, you know her better than I do, she’s a night spirit, yet Mr Jin never minded in the slightest and doted on her immensely. Feifei, I beg you, just put in a bit of effort. You’ll never meet another husband as good as this in your whole life!”
“What’s the use of me putting in effort? Mr Jin simply doesn’t have that intention…”
Zuo Feifei glanced left and right, saw no one was around, then blushed and said, “Mum, I’ll tell you what’s really in my heart. I know everything you’ve said. I do want to marry Mr Jin, but I can feel it clearly. He just doesn’t have that intention.”
“Feifei, now that you’ve said that, Mum is relieved.”
Zuo Zhangshi immediately smiled. “Go to work without worry. Mum will think of something.”
“Mum, what are you planning to do?” Zuo Feifei had a bad feeling.
“None of your business. Off to work with you.”
Zuo Zhangshi waved her hand and walked straight off.
Zuo Feifei very much wanted to chase after her and ask clearly, but the accommodation for the new batch of female workers still hadn’t been sorted, so she had to turn back to the canteen.
In the schoolroom, Jin Feng called Wan Heming out and signalled the female teacher to continue the lesson.
The children below, however, were all thinking about Nezha and had clearly become distracted.
Back when the Iron Can Mountain bandits had built several courtyards, Jin Feng never demolished them afterwards. He turned them into single rooms and allocated them to the soap factory management.
The head bandit’s courtyard was not divided up. The three main rooms became the soap factory office, while the two side rooms on the left served as the factory director’s dormitory.
The two side rooms on the right Jin Feng had kept for himself. Whenever Guan Xiaorou and Wan-niang visited Iron Can Mountain, they stayed there.
At that moment several people were working in the office, so Jin Feng had no choice but to take the Wan Yuhong siblings to the bedroom.
Because of the continual rain recently and because he hadn’t been for a long time, the moment the door opened the room smelled strongly of mould.
Jin Feng frowned, but with Lub-niang not around he could only make do.
“It’s been a long time since I came. There’s no hot water in the room either, so I won’t offer you any tea.”
Jin Feng said helplessly.
“Sir, would you like some water? I’ll go to the canteen and fetch a pot!”
Without waiting for Jin Feng to reply, Wan Yuhong picked up the kettle from the table and ran out.
The moment she left, Zuo Feifei’s mother arrived.
“Sir, it’s been a while since you came to Iron Can Mountain.”
“Lately there have been a lot of matters in the village. I’ve been rather busy.”
Jin Feng smiled and stood up.
Zuo Feifei and her mother also lived in the head bandit’s courtyard, practically neighbours living opposite each other. Back when Jin Feng had spent time on Iron Can Mountain, he had even eaten a few meals at the Zuo family home.
“No matter how busy you are, sir, you must look after your health. I can see you’ve grown thinner since last time.”
Zuo Zhangshi said with concern, “I’ll go to the supermarket later and buy a wild hare to stew. At midday, sir, don’t go to the canteen. Come and eat at my house.”
“That will be too much trouble for you, auntie.”
Jin Feng smiled and nodded.
Cooking, like needlework, was a required skill for women in feudal times. Zuo Zhangshi’s cooking was quite good, at least far better than the canteen’s communal pot.
Having been reborn once, Jin Feng saw no reason to deny himself. When there was a private kitchen available, of course he would eat there.
“You’re far too polite, sir. If it weren’t for you, Feifei and I wouldn’t even know where we’d have ended up.”
Zuo Zhangshi said, “If you like my cooking, sir, then in future when you come to Iron Can Mountain, don’t go to the canteen any more.”
“Very well then. I won’t stand on ceremony with you, auntie. From now on when I come to Iron Can Mountain, I’ll take my meals at your house.”
Jin Feng laughed.
“That’s more like it,” Zuo Zhangshi said with a smile. “By rights, the kindness you have shown Feifei and me is greater than the sky. Feifei ought to pledge herself to you in repayment. A few meals are hardly anything.”
“Haha, you exaggerate, auntie.”
Jin Feng touched his nose, unsure how to respond.
Zuo Zhangshi was a shrewd woman. Seeing Jin Feng’s expression, she knew pushing further would backfire, so she smiled and changed the subject.
“Sir, no one has lived in this room for a long time. I expect the bedding is damp. Shall I take it out to air for you?”
“That would be fine.”
Jin Feng nodded.
He had promised the children a story, so he certainly wouldn’t be able to return tonight.
A mouldy smell in the room was bearable, but if the bedding was damp as well, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Zuo Zhangshi first opened all the windows, then carried the bedding from the bed outside.
Only then did Jin Feng breathe a sigh of relief. He pointed to a nearby stool. “Classmate Wan Heming, sit down.”
“Sir, you can call me Little Crane. That’s what my parents and my sister call me.”
Wan Heming said obediently.
“Very well. I’ll call you Little Crane from now on.”
Jin Feng asked, “Who taught you to draw diagrams?”
“My dad.”
“And gear trains?”
“My dad taught me those too.”
“What else did your dad teach you? Can you tell me?” Jin Feng probed.
“No. Dad said that apart from my own son, I must never tell anyone!” Wan Heming shook his head firmly.
In feudal times, craftsmen guarded their trade secrets fiercely. Skills were passed only to sons; even daughters were not taught.
For example, Wan Yuhong knew less than her eight-year-old brother did.
Jin Feng had not been asking in order to steal knowledge; he simply wanted to test Wan Heming. Seeing the boy unwilling to speak, he did not press him and smiled. “If you don’t want to say, we won’t talk about it. Let’s chat about something else.”
Wan Yuhong returned. Seeing the two talking, she poured water and then stood quietly to one side.
Next, Jin Feng asked Wan Heming some questions about mathematics and mechanics, and he grew increasingly fond of the child.
It was not that Wan Heming was some extraordinary genius. The mechanical knowledge he possessed was very basic, and his mathematics was even weaker than that of a third-year primary pupil in his previous life; he was not yet fluent in multiplication and division.
What truly delighted Jin Feng was that Wan Heming knew how to adapt and think for himself, applying what he had learnt.
A lack of knowledge could be remedied; Jin Feng could teach him slowly.
But the ability to think actively could not be taught. Take Man Cang, for instance: he only knew how to study by rote. Whatever Jin Feng taught him, that was all he did. He had no flexibility at all, let alone creativity.
For Xihewan to develop sustainably, the people it needed most were talents like Wan Heming.
Jin Feng thought for a moment, then asked, “Little Crane, would you be willing to take me as your master and become my third disciple?”
