Chapter 390 - 364: Exchanging Copper

Chapter 390: Chapter 364: Exchanging Copper

"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO..."

It was 5:45 AM, and the sky was still dark.

Three crows of the rooster startled Chen Pi from his sleep.

His eyes shot open. He was groggy for a moment, then cocked his ear to listen for any sounds outside.

He smacked his dry lips and kicked the blanket-wrapped figure beside him. "You lazy hag, it’s already morning and you’re still sleeping? Get up! If you’re late for work at the Textile Workshop and they dock your pay, don’t expect me to go begging for you."

The person under the blankets mumbled drowsily, "The Master and Mistress have been running off their feet lately. They don’t have time to watch us workers every single day. I’ll just doze a little longer, it won’t matter if I’m a bit late..."

"Bullshit! Have you forgotten how well the Master and Mistress treat our family? Huh?"

The moment Chen Pi heard that, his temper flared.

He shot up, tore away the cotton quilt, and a rush of cold air made his wife yelp.

Chen Pi, bare to the waist, cursed, "Hurry up and get your ass out of bed to make breakfast. I have to eat and then get to the market for business, so stop dawdling!"

Seeing he was genuinely angry, his wife didn’t dare stay in bed. Muttering resentfully, "What’s gotten into you so early in the morning?" she threw on a padded jacket, slipped her feet into tattered cloth shoes that exposed her toes, and shuffled toward the kitchen.

Chen Pi snorted twice, then got up in a huff.

The Chen Family Mansion had a limited number of rooms. Moreover, Chen Li didn’t require the local servants from Lingxi to live on-site. Most of them still resided in their own homes, only sleeping in the mansion’s communal bunkhouse when it was their turn for duty.

Chen Pi had now been promoted to Steward. While he no longer had to sleep in the bunkhouse, years of habit were hard to break, and he still arrived at the mansion early each day to see to his duties.

Today, however, he had a special errand and didn’t need to report for the morning roll call.

He dug out a set of semi-old cotton clothes from the bottom of his trunk, a gift from the young master the previous year. Though it had two patches, it was clean and well-starched.

Once he was properly dressed, he walked to the door of the side room and knocked loudly. BANG BANG BANG.

"Dalin! It’s morning! Are you up?"

There was no response from within.

"Has this little brat learned his mother’s laziness too?" Chen Pi muttered, pushing the door open and walking right in.

The bed inside was neatly made, and the room was empty.

’Huh? Where’d he run off to this early? Did he go to practice his Martial Arts?’

Puzzled, he turned and went back to the main hall.

By now, the water in the kitchen was boiling. His wife poured it over yesterday’s leftover cold rice to heat it up, then placed a small dish of pickled vegetables on the table.

Chen Pi sat down and began to shovel the hot rice porridge into his mouth, eating it with the pickles.

As he was eating, a teenage boy burst in from outside in a flurry of motion. It was his eldest son, Chen Dalin.

According to the Chen Family’s genealogical records, Chen Pi was of the Zheng generation, so his son should have been of the Shou generation and named Chen Shoulin.

But Chen Pi, feeling his own status was too low, had proactively changed his son’s name to Chen Dalin to avoid any overlap with the naming conventions of the master’s family.

"Father, Mother, you’re up."

"Dalin, you’re back? Quick, come have something to eat," Chen Pi called out.

"Father, I’ve already eaten."

"You have? Where?" Chen Pi asked, surprised.

"Since I’m going to the market with you today, I had to go ask Instructor Liu for leave first. Instructor Liu is an early riser, so I went over before dawn. I happened to catch him at breakfast, and he had me join him," Chen Dalin explained.

Chen Pi listened and nodded, asking no more questions. He simply focused on finishing the last few mouthfuls of rice in his bowl.

Yesterday, the master, Chen Li, had specifically summoned him and given him an order: when he went to the market today, he was to withdraw two hundred taels of silver from the accountant and exchange it for copper coins.

If anyone was unwilling to make the trade, he was authorized to offer a slightly better price.

This errand had left Chen Pi feeling uneasy. He hadn’t slept soundly all night.

’What could the master possibly want with so many copper coins?’

At the current market rate, one tael of decent-quality silver could be exchanged for six hundred Wen Coins at a money-changer or a large shop—sometimes a few more.

’Two hundred taels of silver... how many copper coins would that be?’

He tried to calculate it on his fingers.

He counted for what felt like an eternity, nearly spraining his fingers, before he managed to arrive at a rough estimate.

’Wouldn’t that weigh over a thousand pounds?’

’Why would the master want so many heavy copper coins?’

’To cast bronze-ware?’

But everyone knew the quality of the copper coins minted by the Court. They were flimsy, mixed with who-knows-what. If you were to melt them down and sell the copper by weight, it would likely be worth less than the original silver.

As far as Chen Pi was concerned, it was a patently unprofitable transaction.

But since the master had given the order, he must have his reasons. Chen Pi’s job was simply to obey.

Still, carrying such a large sum of money made him nervous. After mulling it over, he decided to bring his eldest son along for support.

Dalin had been studying fist and foot techniques with Instructor Liu for two years. He’d even heard Instructor Liu praise his son, saying he trained diligently and had already reached the level of Huajin.

Chen Pi didn’t understand the first thing about Martial Arts.

But he had seen it with his own eyes. Before the new year, a petty thief had snuck into the village to pilfer some goods, and Dalin had taken him down in just a few moves.

Having his son by his side would, at the very least, provide some backup.

After breakfast, Chen Pi took his son to the Chen Mansion’s accounts office.

The accounts office was previously managed by Aunt Liu, assisted by two literate apprentices.

Aunt Liu was not in Lingxi at the moment, so the apprentices were temporarily in charge.

The Chen Family’s rules had grown stricter by the day, so the two apprentices didn’t dare act on their own authority. They followed procedure, writing out a chit for the withdrawal of two hundred taels of silver and telling Chen Pi to get it signed by the master or mistress.

Chen Pi waited outside the study for a moment. He only entered when Chen Li called for him, and he presented the chit.

Chen Li glanced at it, picked up a brush to sign his name, and handed it back with a specific instruction. "Remember, when you’re exchanging the money, don’t pick the new, pristine coins. Specifically seek out the old ones with worn-down edges, the kind that look like they’ve passed through many hands. It’s best if they’re the ones currently circulating at the market. Don’t take any that have been stashed away at home, out of circulation. As for the price, you can offer slightly more than the market rate. The important thing is to get the full amount."