One Lamp Shines Long, and Late-Blooming Begonias Flourish

I asked Pei Cong, the young heir, to lend me two taels of silver so I could visit Huichun Hall and get my chronic chill checked out. He was on his way to the Princess Royal's residence to admire the plum blossoms, and had just draped a fox-fur coat over his shoulders. Without even looking at me, he picked up an orange from the fruit bowl and tossed it into my arms. "You've been taking ginseng pills from the manor for three years. Is that still not enough? Doctors out there ask for two taels just to open their mouths. What they have to say may not be worth as much as my ginseng." His red-wheeled carriage rolled over the snow and out through the marquis's manor gates. The orange was frozen as hard as a stone. I peeled it under the covered walkway and popped a segment into my mouth. It was so sour that tears streamed down my face. I hadn't borrowed the two taels, but at least I'd gotten an orange for free,