The Cenling Weighing Station opened for business, and the first load came from the Ye family of Yepo Village. Luo Gengnian wrote down Grade Three, Medium Oranges. Apprentice weighman Ye Chengdou checked the load in front of everyone: he counted sixteen pairs of leaf veins, squeezed the fruit, scraped its oily rind, and lit it to smell the smoke. His four tests determined that it was Grade Two, Premium Oranges. He refused to alter the form, sealed three samples, and kept one for a reweighing six days later. The advance payments from fifty-seven households hung in the balance. That night, Luo Gengnian took ink and pressured him to change the grade to Grade Three, Medium Oranges. Ye Chengdou opened his grandfather’s old ledger to the first page, where four words were written: Cenling reweighing.
