TRCT_31

Chapter 31: Bao Guanren

Perhaps it was out of consideration that the dim lighting at night would be inconvenient for dining, the evening banquet started very early.

The three of them, Ji Qingzhou, had just picked a spot and sat down, and in less than five minutes, the originally fairly spacious hall was flooded with a crowd of guests offering congratulations.

In the blink of an eye, several tables were already filled with people.

Ji Qingzhou had originally wanted to keep a seat for Shen Nanqi and Jie Jianshan, but after the two entered the hall, they didn't even come over to their side—they just waved in greeting before going off with a few seemingly distinguished elders to seats in the inner courtyard.

In the end, the one seated on Ji Qingzhou's right hand was still Jie Yu'an, and the one on his left was no stranger either, it was his old acquaintance Luo Mingxuan.

After Luo Mingxuan finished boasting with his group of disreputable friends, he left his relatives and friends behind and ran off alone to Ji Qingzhou's side, squeezing onto the bench to sit down.

His mouth never seemed to rest, no sooner had he sat down than he patted Ji Qingzhou's arm and casually asked:

"When I went to your shop yesterday, why didn't you mention you were coming to the feast too? I rode the train alone this morning, and it was so boring. If I'd known you were coming, I would have come together with you."

Ji Qingzhou was just about to explain that it was because they'd had to wait until Jie Yu'an finished his acupuncture before they could decide whether to come, but before he could open his mouth, the man on his right asked in a cool voice: "What did he go to your shop for?"

"Eh, now that's a good question!"

Although there was a person between them, Luo Mingxuan's ears were sharp indeed, the moment he heard Jie Yu'an's question, he immediately craned his neck up and, beating Ji Qingzhou to it, rattled off in reply:

"What a shame, Brother Yuan, that you can't see what I look like right now, I'm not the same Luo Mingxuan as before! A couple of days ago, Brother Qingzhou here used those clever hands of his that can turn the rotten into the miraculous and gave me a complete makeover from head to toe, not only did he put together an outfit for me and style my hair, he even personally trimmed my eyebrows. After he worked his magic on me, I came out completely transformed, practically glowing with vitality. The day I got home, even my own mother almost didn't recognize me!

"I think I finally understand Pan An*'s troubles now. These past two days going out, no matter where I go, I get surrounded by people staring, and my ears are constantly filled with words like 'handsome' and 'fashionable'. I've practically gotten calluses on my ears from hearing it!

*t/n; Pan An (潘安), also known as Pan Yue, was a real historical figure from the Western Jin dynasty in China, renowned as one of the most famous handsome men in Chinese history and literature. His name became a byword for male beauty, much like how 'Adonis' functions in Western culture.

"Even my older brother asked me which immortal had blessed me with their divine powers, haha... Eh, A' You, why are you staring at me like that? Don't tell me you still haven't recognized who I am?"

Jie Yu'an, halfway through Luo Mingxuan's speech, had already turned his head to the right as if finding the noise irritating.

Although he had always known Luo Mingxuan was talkative and noisy, due to having grown up together since childhood, having heard it so much over the years he could still tolerate it.

But today, perhaps because the surrounding environment was too clamorous, the other man's voice, in order to drown out the commotion, grew increasingly loud and piercing, making his head ache and his mood irritable, unable to take in a single word.

As for Huang Youshu, who had just been called out by name, he indeed hadn't recognized Luo Mingxuan a moment ago—seeing a handsome, fashionable young man sit down so familiarly beside Mr. Ji, he had assumed it was a friend of Mr. Ji's.

It wasn't until Luo Mingxuan opened his mouth, that familiar booming voice carrying its endless stream of words reaching him, that he startled into recognizing the other's identity.

"Young Master Luo, you've changed so much compared to before, no one could possibly tell it's you."

Hearing this, Luo Mingxuan let out another smug chuckle.

At this moment, an elderly gentleman at the table across from them suddenly stretched out his hand, pointing at Luo Mingxuan and asking: "Eh, aren't you that Luo boy?"

In truth, this old gentleman had already been staring at their three fine-looking young men for quite a while. At first he'd thought they were out-of-towners, but after hearing Luo Mingxuan rattle off a great deal of chatter, he had vaguely recalled the identity of this dark-skinned young man.

But seeing the other's current appearance, he wasn't entirely certain, so he asked tentatively.

Upon hearing this, Luo Mingxuan grinned, baring his white teeth as he laughed toward the man across from him: "What, Uncle Wu, you're only just now recognizing me?"

"Yo, so it really is you. Weren't you still looking like a monkey just a while ago? How'd you turn into a different person?"

"I received guidance from a master craftsman!"

As Luo Mingxuan spoke, he pointed exaggeratedly at Ji Qingzhou beside him, "There, this is the master craftsman! Mr. Ji is the foremost tailoring master in Shanghai, with a reputation that rings loud and clear in the trade. Thanks to his guidance, I underwent a complete transformation and became the handsome figure I am now!"

Hearing this, Ji Qingzhou's mouth twitched, wanting nothing more than to cover his ears and pretend he didn't know this person.

In this moment, he deeply understood the feelings of Xu Changji, who had been extravagantly praised under the guise of introduction by Luo Mingxuan at the last gathering.

The guests at the same table, hearing Luo Mingxuan's words, all believed it to be true, their gazes turning one after another toward Ji Qingzhou, wanting to take this opportunity to get acquainted with this impressive tailoring master.

Fortunately, the banquet began at that moment, with plate after plate of dishes brought to the table by the feast's helpers, putting a timely end to the topic and dissolving Ji Qingzhou's awkwardness.

As dusk arrived, the setting sun slanted in through the doors and windows into the hall.

Since most of those who had come to drink were locals, as well as friends and neighbors who knew each other well, once conversation started at the dinner table it couldn't be stopped, with many voices piling together, especially lively and clamorous.

"Eh, Luo boy, is that wang-wang dog of yours still around?" After eating for a while, the old gentleman across the table asked Luo Mingxuan in the Suzhou dialect.

"He's an old dog now, but he can still eat and run just fine, no problem keeping him another ten years!"

Luo Mingxuan, while bowing slightly to pour wine for the people around him, replied with great energy.

"He's bound to be old by now, look how big you've grown." Perhaps because of a few cups of Shaoxing wine, the old gentleman grew a little sentimental.

"I remember when you were little, every day as soon as you got out of school, you'd lead a big yellow dog running through the streets and alleys, barking 'wang-wang, wang-wang' the whole way. Later, whenever we heard that sound of yours, we'd say, the Luo family's 'wang-wang dog' has come again, heh heh..."

"Yes, yes, that's exactly why I renamed the dog, he's not called Wangwang anymore, he's called Sanwang now!"

Ji Qingzhou was just then picking the bones out of the duck meat for Jie Yu'an when, hearing this topic, he couldn't help but glance over at Jie Yu'an's stern face.

Thanks to the fact that the other man had given him a lesson on this earlier, just to mock him, otherwise he wouldn't have understood what they were talking about at all.

"You really were like a little monkey when you were small. Among the kids you used to play with, wasn't there a chubby little one, and a... eh?"

The old gentleman suddenly seemed to remember something, his eyes turning as he fixed his gaze on Jie Yu'an, asking: "Could this young man with the impaired eyes be that Bao young master from the Jie family?"

Young Master Bao?

Wasn't it Young Master Yuan?

Ji Qingzhou raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at Jie Yu'an.

He had thought the old gentleman had mistaken him for someone else, but Jie Yu'an, his expression calm, nodded and replied: "It's me, Uncle Wu."

"Oh my, so it really is you, haven't seen you in so many years. What illness did you suffer, that your eyes are covered?"

"I joined the army a few years back and was wounded. I only returned recently," Jie Yu'an summarized briefly.

"You went off to fight in the army?" The old gentleman was first surprised, then shook his head with an air of feeling moved. "Truly unexpected. Among that whole group of children, you were the one who was best at studying. You and that Luo boy—one mischievous and naughty all day long, the other quiet and gentle like a girl—who would have thought that growing up, it's you who turned out the most valiant..."

While Ji Qingzhou listened to the old gentleman's rambling words, he turned his head and quietly asked Luo Mingxuan: "He just called him Young Master Bao, right? What does that form of address mean?"

Luo Mingxuan, who hadn't really paid attention to this at all, suddenly had his memory jogged by the question. His eyes rolled around, and a sly smile appeared on his face.

He was just about to spill the story to Ji Qingzhou, but as if afraid of being caught, he stole a furtive glance at Jie Yu'an, then lowered his voice and leaned in close to say:

"It's like this—Brother Yuan, back in the day, his childhood name wasn't Yuanyuan, it was 'Yuanbao'. At least until he was about ten, that's what his family called him. Those of the same generation called him 'Brother Bao' or 'Xiao Bao,' and outsiders called him 'Young Master Bao' or 'Bao Guanren'*!

*t/n; Guanren (官人) is an old-fashioned, somewhat archaic term of address. In historical/period contexts, it was used as a respectful way to address an official or a man of status, literally something like 'official' by virtue of rank, extended more broadly to mean 'lord' or 'sir'. In the context of 'Bao Guanren,' it functions as a respectful honorific roughly equivalent to 'Young Master Bao' or 'Sir Bao,' reinforcing his status as someone from a family of standing, addressed formally by those outside his social circle. Besides that usage, 'Guanren' was also commonly used by wives to address their husbands in classical fiction and period dramas, carrying a similar connotation of 'my lord' or 'husband'.

"Later, I'm not sure exactly why, maybe because he grew up and wanted to save face, or maybe because he'd read "Dream of the Red Chamber" around then and found 'Bao-gege' and the like too embarrassing, he wouldn't let anyone call him that anymore. Whoever called him 'Brother Bao' once, he could give them the cold shoulder for three days straight.

"So I figured, if he doesn't want people calling him Brother Bao, then I'd just call him Brother Yuan instead, that should be fine, right? Then after a while of calling him that, his family started switching over to calling him Yuanyuan too... Ah, this was all ten years ago, if you hadn't brought it up, I would've completely forgotten he had this embarrassing past..."

"Oh... so that's how it is... I thought it was because his name was pronounced quickly like 'Jieyuan,'* and that's why you all called him that."

*t/n; 'Jieyuan' (解元) is actually a historical title, it refers to the person who placed first in the provincial-level imperial examinations during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It's a prestigious scholarly title, roughly like saying 'top scholar of the province'.

For a moment, a feeling welled up in Ji Qingzhou's heart as if he'd discovered the embarrassing past of an old rival—both startled and amused, mixed with a thread of strange excitement.

"That's a way of looking at it I hadn't thought of before." Luo Mingxuan also wore an expression as if he'd discovered a new continent.

Ji Qingzhou couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting, and was just about to exchange a few more words about a certain someone's embarrassing past, when the person beside him bumped his arm.

He snapped back to attention, turned, and asked: "What's wrong?"

Jie Yu'an said nothing, only lightly tapped the rim of his bowl with his chopsticks.

"You want me to add food to your bowl?"

Ji Qingzhou straightened up and swept his eyes over the dishes on the table, saying: "There's chicken, duck, fish, shrimp, and also bird's nest, pigeon eggs..."

"What would you like to eat, Bao Guanren?"

He deliberately said the last three words softly and slowly, carrying a heavy note of teasing.

Jie Yu'an's expression involuntarily stiffened for a moment, then he lowered his voice and said: "Don't listen to his nonsense."

"It doesn't seem like nonsense to me, though?"

Ji Qingzhou let out a few soft laughs, stretched out his arm and scooped up two pigeon eggs with a spoon, peeled the shells, and placed them in his bowl, "Are you really that bothered by it, Bao-gege?"

Jie Yu'an, appearing perfectly calm and composed, used his chopsticks to pick up a few strands of radish from his bowl and put them in his mouth, as if he hadn't heard, offering no response—though the shaded curve of his ear had turned slightly red.

Seeing him stay silent, Ji Qingzhou found it uninteresting, smiled, and let the matter drop without teasing him further about it.

He then reached out again and picked up two pieces of poached shrimp and placed them in the bowl, eating one himself, and after peeling the shell off the other and dipping it lightly in sauce, placed it in Jie Yu'an's bowl.

As dusk drew near, the groom came around to offer a toast, after which the banquet came to an end amid a hall full of laughter and cheer.

In the blink of an eye, the sky had nearly turned dark, and Ji Qingzhou, together with Jie Yu'an and Huang Youshu, returned first to the Jie family residence on Xizhong Street.

As the spot where he had crossed over and first appeared, Ji Qingzhou's memory of this Western-style house's decor and furnishings was quite deep, stirring up considerable feeling.

Going up the stairs along the wine-red wooden flooring, passing through the pair of bronze doors inlaid with stained glass, walking straight ahead to the end, a turn to the right led to Jie Yu'an's room.

Which was to say, room '206' of the modern homestay.

The room wasn't locked. Huang Youshu, carrying the luggage and walking ahead, had just reached out his hand to grasp the door handle when Ji Qingzhou glanced at the bright moonlight outside the window and called out to stop him: "Wait, let me do it!"

Huang Youshu withdrew his hand with a puzzled look, glanced at him, and without asking further questions, stepped back two paces to yield the spot.

Ji Qingzhou let go of Jie Yu'an's arm, took a light breath, stepped forward, gripped the door handle, and turned it open.

With a soft click, he pushed the door open and walked into the dim room.

He waited a few seconds—sure enough, nothing happened, haha.

Ji Qingzhou sighed inwardly, turned back to switch on the light, then took hold of Jie Yu'an's arm and led him into the room.

"Is this still your first time staying here?"

Ji Qingzhou led him to sit on the sofa by the window, taking off his coat and draping it over the back of the sofa chair while chatting casually: "I heard from Auntie that this house was only finished being built last year."

Jie Yu'an leaned his cane against the armrest of the sofa and gave an "Mm" in response.

"Then let me describe the layout of the room to you, so you can draw a map of it in your head."

Ji Qingzhou sat down on another sofa, leaning back lazily against the chair as he explained: "This is a bedroom facing south, with the washroom included, the area is roughly three by two zhang. The sofa you're sitting on is on the west side of the room, with your back to the window. Along the east wall is the bed, and against the west wall there's a large wardrobe, with the bathroom door next to the wardrobe..."

As Ji Qingzhou's voice continued explaining, Huang Youshu set down the leather suitcase with the luggage, tidied up the room a little, then said to Ji Qingzhou: "Young Master, Mr. Ji, I'll head out now. Call me if you need anything."

Ji Qingzhou nodded: "Go rest early, you've had a tiring day too."

After Huang Youshu left, the two of them sat chatting on the sofa for a while longer, after which Ji Qingzhou, as usual, prepared bathwater and a change of clothes for Jie Yu'an.

While Jie Yu'an was bathing, he sat on the sofa, took out a notebook and pencil, and began sketching again.

He had said he'd design the evening gowns for Shen Nanqi and Lu Xueying within a week, but now three days had already passed, and he had only finished designing Shen Nanqi's gown—he didn't even have much of an idea for Lu Xueying's two outfits.

After sketching away on the paper for a while, Ji Qingzhou suddenly frowned and stopped his pencil, then, somewhat irritably, tore off the page, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it aside.

Holding the pencil and frowning in thought for a moment, he suddenly raised his eyes again and looked over at the paper ball that had been thrown all the way to the side of the washroom door. He stared at it for three seconds, then sighed helplessly, got up, walked over, picked up the paper ball, and threw it into the trash can.

Just at that moment, the wooden door of the washroom opened, and Jie Yu'an came out carrying with him the damp warmth of bathwater, holding in his hand something like a black silk scarf, asking in confusion: "What is this? It was tucked inside my pajamas."

Ji Qingzhou, in an irritable mood, was just about to give a casual, offhand "I don't know," but as his eyes swept over, he couldn't help but freeze, recognizing the object.

Before an answer came in time, Jie Yu'an pinched the smooth, slightly elastic, thin fabric in his hand again, trying to figure out what it was for.

Seeing this, Ji Qingzhou, rarely embarrassed, hurriedly reached out and snatched it from his hand, saying: "This is my underwear. It must have gotten mixed in by accident while packing the clothes."

Jie Yu'an was slightly stunned for a moment, his first reaction being: "This small?"

"What kind of talk is that!" Ji Qingzhou reflexively scolded, "Watch your words!"

Facing Jie Yu'an's somewhat puzzled expression, after a few seconds, he calmed down and said: "The most important thing about underwear is the privacy created by fitting closely to the body, only by wrapping snugly and securely does it remain dignified.

"Not like you, wandering around all day in those thin boxer shorts, what's the difference between that and having nothing on at all? Aren't you worried about the draft down there?"

What Jie Yu'an wore against his skin were indeed all loose, straight-cut boxer-style trousers—some long, some short, some made of silk and some of cotton.

This era had not yet produced the concept that truly corresponded to the term 'underwear,' and even though he argued back in this way, he didn't feel there was anything strange about what he himself wore.

It was Ji Qingzhou's underwear, judging by the feel of it he had just touched, that struck him as odd—as a pair of 'pants,' it didn't even have leg tubes; it could only be described as a scrap of cloth pieced together from two narrow strips of fabric.

Imagining how that narrow, thin piece of fabric would cling tightly to the body, with something like a supporting pocket designed at the crotch area for holding that particular part—it couldn't be said to be impractical, and it did offer a certain degree of protection, but it was truly too far ahead of its time, too unrestrained in form, and not something he could accept.

In the span of just a few dozen seconds, his impression of Ji Qingzhou had changed.

"Do you usually wear this sort of thing?"

"Yeah, what's with that expression?"

"Your way of thinking truly opens my eyes," Jie Yu'an spoke as if calm and composed, yet as he stepped forward with his right foot, he simultaneously extended his right hand, the one holding the cane.

He walked two steps with the same-side hand and foot moving together before correcting himself, then said in a deep voice, emphasizing: "Put it away properly. Don't let anyone else see it."

Ji Qingzhou casually stuffed the underwear into his pants pocket, silently cursing him as old-fashioned in his heart.

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