The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 713 Errands
Jia Huan glanced at Baochai and saw that her eyes were slightly red and her eyelashes were wet, obviously she had just been crying. His heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't care less about talking to Xue Pan about serious matters. He asked with concern, "Sister Bao, who has upset you?"

Xue Baochai's cheeks flushed instantly, but her heart felt as sweet as if she had eaten honey. She gently shook her head and denied it, saying, "Who has ever provoked me?"

Seeing Jia Huan's concern for his sister, Xue Pan felt relieved. He had been worried that Jia Huan might favor Lin Daiyu and that his sister might suffer some injustice, but now it seemed that this was not the case. So he grinned and said, "It's all my fault. I said some pointless things and made my sister cry. Brother-in-law, you can beat me up to avenge my sister."

Xue Baochai spat, "Huan-di, don't listen to his nonsense. He's just feeling sentimental because of the scenery."

Upon hearing this, Jia Huan vaguely guessed the reason and smiled, "Sister Bao, are you worried about Brother Pan's future?"

Xue Baochai lowered her head and remained silent. Her elder brother was a wanted criminal by the imperial court. Jia Huan had already risked his life to help her brother escape to Chang'an and hide his identity. How could she possibly ask Jia Huan to help clear her brother's name?
"I'm doing fine now, I have nothing to worry about," Xue Pan said with an awkward smile. But looking at his weathered face, he was clearly only in his twenties, but he looked like a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. No matter how well he said he was doing, no one would believe him.

Jia Huan asked seriously, "Does elder brother really want to be a jade merchant for the rest of his life?"

Xue Pan stammered, "Being a jade merchant isn't so bad. I'm used to it now anyway. Brother Huan, don't be fooled by how hard this business is. It's really lucrative. If I'm lucky, I can earn a hundred or two hundred taels a year. Once I've saved enough money, I'll buy a dozen acres of land on the outskirts of Chang'an and live a contented life as a country bumpkin."

Hearing this, Xue Baochai felt a pang of sadness. Back then, a mere one or two hundred taels of silver wasn't even enough for her elder brother to have a single night of drinking and carousing. Now, after a year of hard work braving wind and snow, sun and rain, he still had to rely on good luck to earn it.

Jia Huan nodded and said, "Earning one or two hundred taels a year is indeed a lot, better than most ordinary people, but what if you're unlucky?"

Xue Pan smiled bitterly: "If you're unlucky, you'll lose everything. Not only will you not make any money, you'll also lose money. In the first year, I had no experience and lost more than three hundred taels of silver. If it weren't for Brother Huan leaving me a thousand taels of silver for protection, I would have starved to death on the streets of Chang'an in the first year."

Xue Baochai's heart tightened, and she said softly, "Brother, although the jade business is profitable, it is also extremely risky. Like this time, if it weren't for Huandi, you would probably have lost your life. You should stay in Chang'an and do some small business. You can earn less, but you don't have to risk your life."

Xue Pan chuckled and said, "That's true, but Chang'an is a city teeming with all sorts of people. All businesses are owned by someone else, so you can't just do it casually. Even those who work on the river have their own gangs. If you don't pay your respects and offer sacrifices, they'll knock your teeth out. In the first few months after I arrived in Chang'an, I really suffered a lot. I didn't make any money, and I even got beaten up."

Ying'er exclaimed in surprise, "Is there no law anymore? Why didn't you report this to the authorities, sir?"

Xue Pan rolled his eyes and said, "As a wanted criminal, I'd rather avoid any government office than report to the authorities. Would I dare to do that? Do you want to die? Besides, reporting to the authorities is useless. Back in the day, I was a bully who relied on my power. I know all too well what's going on."

Ying'er stuck out her tongue.

Xue Pan continued, "Later I discovered that the jade business is profitable, and the industry has high barriers to entry. Not only do you need capital and a keen eye, but you also have to take great risks to purchase jade in the Western Regions. The competition is relatively small, so I gritted my teeth and started doing this business. Now I have quite a bit of experience. If I were suddenly asked to change careers, I don't know what I would do."

Jia Huan smiled and said, "There is a good job available now. I wonder if Brother Pan would be interested?"

Xue Baochai's beautiful eyes lit up. She pursed her lips and looked at Jia Huan hopefully. She really didn't want her elder brother to risk doing this kind of work again. Xue Pan rubbed his hands and asked, "What kind of job?"

Jia Huan said, “I was ordered to manage the Western Regions recently. The court has also established the Hami Guard and appointed Chu Sheng as its commander. It is inevitable that Hami will be formally incorporated into the territory of the Great Jin in the future. However, Hami is too far from Jiayuguan and the route is full of Gobi Desert, making transportation extremely inconvenient. Moreover, most of the people here are uncivilized, so it will not be easy to govern them well.”

"The most important task now is transportation. With convenient transportation, everything else will follow. Therefore, I plan to build a post road from Jiayuguan to Hami, with several post towns along the way. Brother Pan happens to be familiar with the road, so why don't you be in charge of selecting the sites and building them? Once the first post town is completed, if Brother Pan is interested, he can serve as its first postmaster."

Xue Baochai covered her mouth in surprise. Although the postmaster was a low-ranking official, he was still an official, and he was a thousand times better than the jade merchant.
Xue Pan, his face flushed with excitement, stammered, "I...can I do it?"

Jia Huan smiled and said, "It would have been absolutely impossible before, but now, Brother Pan is definitely up to the task. He can endure hardship and has plenty of courage!"

Xue Pan was both surprised and delighted. He scratched his head and chuckled to himself until Ying'er reminded him. Then he patted his chest and said, "Brother-in-law, don't worry, I'll take on this job. I'll leave everything to you, brother. Hehe, I don't want this piece of junk anymore!"

Xue Pan casually tossed aside the chain pouch he was carrying on his back; it was the thing he usually used to store jade.

Jia Huan smiled and said, "I'll arrange about ten people for you to use later. Once you've chosen a location to build the post station, report it to me. If it's feasible, we'll start construction immediately. Once the post road is built, everything will be much easier."

Xue Pan jumped up excitedly and said, "Okay, I'll get on it right away!"

Jia Huan laughed and said, "There's no rush in a day or two. Brother Pan has just returned from a life-or-death experience, so he should rest for a few days first. However, your identity cannot be revealed for the time being, so please remember that."

"Got it, hehe, good brother-in-law, you and your sister have a while, I'm off now." Xue Pan said and ran off happily.

Xue Baochai lowered her head, her hands pressing down on the hem of her clothes, even her neck was covered with a layer of pink blush. Her gentle and dignified shyness was truly breathtaking, making Jia's heart itch with desire.

After a few seconds of silence, they both said almost simultaneously, "Sister Bao (Brother Huan)!"

Jia Huan's heart skipped a beat. Baochai looked so beautiful as she raised her almond-shaped eyes to look at him. He smiled and said, "Baochai, you go first!"

Xue Baochai looked at Jia Huan with tender eyes and said softly, "Brother Huan, thank you!" Suddenly she leaned closer and breathed sweetly, her cherry lips lightly touching Jia Huan's cheek.

Jia Huan was instantly intoxicated, as if he had drunk several kilograms of fine wine. This was the first time that Sister Bao had taken the initiative to kiss him. Hehe, it was truly a rare occasion!
(End of this chapter)