Then the first thing he did after leaving the army was get married, even had a daughter, but having a wife and daughter still wasn’t enough for him—he still wanted to get himself a concubine. Turns out his wife’s not a pushover either, got brothers and an inco, totally confident, so the two of them are fighting and arguing all day at ho. Last year, Piao Sanlang and Pan Silang both wrote about it in their letters, making fun of him rcilessly.
This had always been one of their group’s regular entertainnts in the old days—Wan Cilang would ramble on every night about how much he missed won, and the other three would sit on the side teasing and laughing at him for fun.
Piao Sanlang started talking about Pan Silang’s latest run of bad luck, and then asked with concern, "Big Brother Taichiro, how’s Stone Bodhisattva doing?"
"Stone Bodhisattva’s still the sa, still being his Flag Captain," Guotai Lang had ntioned this in a previous letter, but he sighed, "But I heard right before I left that he’s about to get promoted, probably going to be Deputy Company Commander or sothing!"
He never expected, out of the five of them, that the one doing the best would actually be the slow-witted Stone Bodhisattva. He joined the latest but has climbed up one step a year, and now he’s almost a senior officer in the Wanjin Army, close to being soone who could sit tight in one place and run things on his own.
But he couldn’t bring himself to complain about it—Wanjin’s all a bunch of peasants now, always been about the capable rising and the incapable stepping aside, no connections even if you wanted to use them. Stone Bodhisattva dares to fight and kill, always charging in front, has military rits to his na, and even though he’s a bit dull, he often goes straight to the heart of things and pulls off surprise wins in exercises. He genuinely respects him for that.
At least in the exercises, he genuinely respects him.
Guotai Lang couldn’t help but sigh, thinking that if he had a brain like Stone Bodhisattva’s, even if he failed the tests, he probably wouldn’t have been shunted off to the administration system. But Piao Sanlang wasn’t interested in Stone Bodhisattva’s career, and imdiately asked, "That’s not what I’m asking. I an... how’s he and that widow?"
"Oh, the widow!" That topic was sothing the four of them used to chat about all the ti too, so Guotai Lang perked up imdiately, "Last year Stone Bodhisattva gave her so money to open a shop, and whenever he’s on leave he goes over to help out. If you ask , those two are basically together now."
"So they really did get together?"
"Pretty sure!"
"She’s a good few years older than Stone Bodhisattva, right?"
"Stone Bodhisattva’s still a rookie—if a woman’s made up her mind, the guy’s got no chance."
"True enough!"
Guotai Lang and Piao Sanlang spent a while analyzing whether Stone Bodhisattva and that widow were just a fleeting thing, then Guotai Lang asked with concern, "What about you? Third brother, you got any plans these days? Found a girl you like?"
Piao Sanlang shook his head, "I’m not thinking about marriage yet. I... quit my job."
"Quit your job?" Guotai Lang was shocked, quickly asking, "Why give up a good thing all of a sudden?"
Working at the village office was a proper job, living on the "Emperor’s grain," solid work that beat farming any day—a lot of people would kill for it, so Guotai Lang didn’t get it. But Piao Sanlang sighed, "I don’t really like patrolling rivers all day, settling disputes. I still want to... want to do business. Before, I couldn’t get away, but this year nothing much is going on, so I just quit."
"You plan to sell candles, right?" Guotai Lang nodded knowingly. Just like Wan Cilang always scrimped for a wife, Piao Sanlang had been saving up for business ever since he joined the army. Back then, Tong Wulang had even boasted he’d join in—but Tong Wulang was transferred to the Cannon Soldiers, then took an arrow from an Imagawa family Samurai in the New Wanjin defensive battle, right through the left eye, and died early.
"Yeah, I’m planning on making lacquered wax. The workshops’ demand for wax is just getting bigger these past two years—I think there’s money in it." Piao Sanlang wasn’t jumping into the business blind; he answered with confidence, "Give it a few more days and I’m heading to New Wanjin, going to set up a little workshop there. Rember Gui Zhizhu from the Third Little Flag? He retired and went to the Iron Workshop. The Iron Workshop now needs wax for casting, but there’s never enough wax. He said I can sell directly to them."
He’d been planning this for a long ti. When he first got out of the army, he wanted to work as a "civil servant," earn so money and get a feel for things, since he’d been stuck in the barracks for years and didn’t know much about the outside world. But then Chita Peninsula kept getting hit with natural disasters—floods and storms, two years in a row. Even if he didn’t like the job, he felt bad about quitting.
It’d feel just like being a deserter. In the Wanjin Army, deserters were the most despised. Even after demobbing, his pride couldn’t take it. Plus, Harano had paid to buy him, kept him fed and strong, taught him to read and do sums, and—true to his word—set him free after service. He didn’t want to leave in hard tis; that’d be shalessly ungrateful.
Guotai Lang hadn’t thought about any of that, just felt a bit sad—they were the closest out of the five, but he’d ended up going south while Piao Sanlang was heading north, so it looked like they still wouldn’t be seeing each other much in the future.
But since Piao Sanlang wanted to "chase his dream," as the eldest brother of the group, he of course supported him, and imdiately asked, "You got enough money?"
If he didn’t, he could chip in or invest. He’d saved up a lot after five, six years in the army, though he’d let go of his own "dream"—he wasn’t thinking about buying land anymore, just planned to work as a "civil servant" for life.
"I’ve got enough!"
Piao Sanlang had also saved up a pile while serving. Wan Cilang and Pan Silang too; if Wan Cilang hadn’t, he wouldn’t be able to raise hell about getting a concubine. He didn’t need start-up money—full of confidence, he said, "If not, I’ll just go to Lord Nozawa in New Wanjin for a loan. He promised us back then, if we wanted to do business, he’d lend us money without interest, and he’s always true to his word."
"Lord Nozawa really is a good man, he’d definitely keep his word..." Guotai Lang said from the heart.
To him, Harano was the perfect lord. These past years, with floods and famine, Harano had worked hard at disaster relief, saved countless lives, and given the retired soldiers all sorts of care—jobs, special benefits—almost like he was worried they’d starve. It felt like those years of risking their lives for him were totally worth it!
If it were the Samurai clans instead, they’d never care about the lives of commoners—in fact, when disaster struck, those Samurai lords would just squeeze them harder, trying every trick to cover their own losses.
Honestly, it’s just that Harano thought he wasn’t good enough and didn’t want him anymore—if Harano had, he wouldn’t have minded fighting a few more years for Wanjin.
"You’re right, Lord Nozawa really is a good man!" Piao Sanlang echoed sincerely. In a way, Harano had changed his life, given him a future and the capital to chase his dreams—even just having enough to eat was a blessing he’d never imagined before.
He raised his cup directly: "To Lord Nozawa, to Wanjin!"
The two Wanjin n clinked glasses and drained them, truly hoping that Wanjin would thrive for years to co.
Only if Wanjin keeps getting better can Wanjin people like them get a better life!
Only then can they really live like human beings!
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