Ye Xiaoxian also saw them. The young man was around eighteen or nineteen years old. He had a tall and slender figure and looked like a rich youth with a nice family background. When the young man saw Lord Liu, he also bowed properly.
Judging from his behavior, he must be a very cultured man.
Ye Xiaoxian then said, “I think he looks very nice.”
“It’s only the first impression which isn’t bad but let’s observe more.”
“Do you know his name?” asked Ye Xiaoxian,
“His name is Jia Zhenbo, from a major business family. He also has an elder uncle in the provincial city as a, a…anyway he is a small official. Compared with our family we’re considered to be fairly well-matched.”
…
Jia Zhenbo had come with his pa. When they arrived on the second floor of the tea house the father and son were sitting on one side and Lord Liu sat on the other. Jia Zhenbo happened to sit right by the window, so Ye Xiaoxian and Liu Qianqian could see him clearly.
Most of the time it was the two fathers who were talking while Jia Zhenbo was listening beside them. Occasionally Lord Liu would ask him some questions and Jia Zhenbo would then answer.
Although they could not hear what Jia Zhenbo was saying, Ye Xiaoxian still found that this young man behaved very well as was not pretentious or self-important. He never interrupted anyone else and looked very scholarly and refined.
She asked Liu Qianqian quietly, “What do you think?”
Liu Qianqian actually quite liked him. She said, “He’s good-looking and has a nice bearing. I just don’t know if he’s a man of integrity, nor do I know how to test him.”
“We can test him soon.”
“How?” asked Liu Qianqian curiously.
“Now it’s time for my Baoshan to take action.”
Liu Qianqian still felt confused, wondering if Xiao Baoshan could also test whether a person has integrity or not.
“Do you have a sliver coin?” Ye Xiaoxian asked Liu Qianqian.
“What for?”
“Hurry up and give it to me. You’ll know soon!” said Ye Xiaoxian in a mysterious tone.
Liu Qianqian could only fish out a silver coin and said, “Well, do whatever you want.”
Ye Xiaoxian gave the silver coin to Xiao Baoshan and whispered something at his ear. Xiao Baoshan understood and then gently flipped his finger, and then the silver coin actually landed stably beside Jia Zhenbo.
Ye Xiaoxian knew Xiao Baoshan’s skills well. He knew the lightness kung fu and that he was able slip into Fang Shanding’s room late at night, so he surely could manage such a small trick.
However, it shocked Liu Qianqian. “Amazing! Baoshan, your skill is…”
She had not finished talking when Ye Xiaoxian dragged her down. “Hide!”
Jia Zhenbo, who was across the street from them, suddenly found a silver coin by the window. He felt very confused, so he looked around and wanted to find out who had dropped the silver. He first asked Lord Liu and his father but neither of them claimed it to be theirs. Jia Zhenbo then looked downstairs. Could it be that someone downstairs had flipped it up? But there was no one behaving in such a way downstairs and nobody was looking for any silver.
The teahouse across the road?
No way. There was a street in between and nobody could throw a silver that far.
Jia Zhenbo then put the silver back where he found it, thinking that if someone came to look for it, he would return it to them.
When they saw Jia Zhenbo’s behavior clearly, Ye Xiaoxian then whispered to Liu Qianqian, “It seems he did not keep the silver for himself. That shows that he is an honest man.”
Liu Qianqian, however, said in a complicated tone, “My silver has gone just like that.”
Ye Xiaoxian comforted her. “You can observe a man’s character by spending just a silver coin. It’s worth it.”
Lord Liu and Jia Zhenbo talked for around an hour. They must have thought that was enough, so the two parties bid goodbye to each other.
Before leaving, Lord Liu looked at the silver coin by the window and said, “Has no one come to claim this silver coin? If so, Zhenbo, why don’t you take it.”