Chapter 2063 - Words Through the Wall

"I quite like this Gervas," Nan Wan'er remarked, turning her cup thoughtfully between her fingers. "It's refreshing, with that peculiar fizz. Not too sweet, not too sour."

Zeng Juan smiled. "It's easier to drink than grain wine, certainly. No headaches, no hangovers afterward. Perfect for us."

"Do you remember the first time we tried it?"

"How could I forget? You spat it out immediately—said it tasted like something had spoiled."

Nan Wan'er laughed softly, the memory flickering across her features. "I've grown accustomed to it since. Strange how tastes change, isn't it?"

Their conversation drifted toward lighter waters: the latest styles in cloth from the cooperative shops, which markets had the freshest vegetables, the gossip surrounding a certain widow who had allegedly taken up with a former salt merchant. The small, comfortable realm of women's talk—a refuge from weightier concerns.

But their booth was positioned near the inner wall, and the partition proved thinner than aesthetics suggested. Soon, fragments of conversation from the adjacent room began seeping through the lacquered wood.

"...the Chu fellow—that Chu Xiaoran. Have you heard?"

Zeng Juan's ears pricked. She recognized neither voice, but the tone carried an urgent, almost conspiratorial edge. Without intending to eavesdrop, she found herself listening.

"What about him?"

"Tax evasion, they're saying. Or worse—counterfeit currency. There's a case being built against him. The Finance Bureau has sent investigators."

"Counterfeit currency? In Guangzhou? Under the Australians' very noses?"

"That's precisely the point, isn't it? Someone's grown bold. Too bold. My brother-in-law works at the harbor office—he heard it from one of the patrol officers. They've been circling Papermaker's Street for weeks now."

Zeng Juan's hand, reaching for another candied date, froze mid-air. Papermaker's Street?

Nan Wan'er must have noticed her expression, for she lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. "Sister Zeng? What is it?"

Zeng Juan shook her head almost imperceptibly, her gesture minute enough to avoid drawing attention. "Nothing. Just... a coincidence."

The conversation next door continued, a murmuring stream of half-truths and speculation. Something about a paper shop, a suspicious merchant, perhaps some larger network lurking beneath the surface. Names she did not recognize, places she had never visited. Yet the weight of it settled on her chest like a millstone.

She took a deliberate sip of tea, letting the heat steady her fraying nerves.

Papermaker's Street. Counterfeit currency.

What had she heard? What did she truly know?

Nothing provable. Nothing that should concern a woman dining quietly with a friend, overhearing idle gossip through a poorly-insulated partition.

And yet—

"Shall we go?" Nan Wan'er asked gently, her perceptiveness evident in the subtle concern creasing her brow.

"Yes," Zeng Juan said, rising with deliberate composure. "Yes, let's. I've rather lost my appetite."

They settled their bill—paid in the new Australian paper currency, naturally—and stepped out into the cooling evening air. The lanterns along the street were just being lit, their warm glow painting geometric patterns across the cobblestones, a counterpoint to the gathering dusk.

Zeng Juan walked in silence, her mind churning like a water-wheel in flood season.

Nan Wan'er, ever perceptive, did not press her with questions.

At the corner, where their paths would diverge, Zeng Juan finally spoke. "Wan'er... if you ever hear anything—anything—about counterfeit currency, tax stamps, ongoing investigations... will you tell me? Quietly?"

Nan Wan'er studied her face for a long moment, her gaze searching. Then she nodded, solemn as a contract sealed.

"Of course, Sister Zeng. Of course."

They parted ways at the next crossing, each disappearing into the labyrinth of Guangzhou's twilight streets. Above them, the first stars began to emerge—indifferent witnesses to the currents swirling beneath the city's placid surface.

(End of Chapter)