“Gege! Tell my fortune next!” A man was pushing his way to the front of the crowd. Everything had gone without a hitch. Nikola had gotten his announcement and granny Nuo Nuying had already sold all her steamed buns. She was inside showing the customers the various items for sale. But all they wanted was a glimpse in the future.

“You’ll stub your toe on your table and fall and break your wife’s favorite porcelain tea pot today.” Said Nikola to the man and watched as he backed away from him mumbling how he was going to be careful. A woman elbowed her way to the front.

“Excuse me! I am an actual customer! Gege, do you have kitchen knives?” Nikola was relieved to meet his first customer and immediately showed her what he had.

“What is this?” She said and Nikola already knew she would try to haggle. “The blades are of a much finer quality.” She said, pointing at the weapon rack that had attracted some men whose wives were trying to steer them towards the jewelry he had made.

“Madam, these knives are left over from trader Hua. They cut just fine; I can assure you. I sharpened them just this morning.” With magic for less than a minute, but miss haggle didn’t need to know that.

“Well, you want to get rid of them then? I’d take two for the price of one!” She looked proud of herself when she said it. Nikola blinked. Her future husband was in this very crowd. Her soulmate, in fact. Nikola placed his hand on his forehead and pretended to stumble back. The woman reached out a hand over the counter to steady him.

“Something special is going to happen to you today, Madam. You will meet your soulmate in this very shop.” Exited whispers were heard and the man Nikola had identified as the soulmate looked saddened. He begun to look at the door but his gaze kept shifting towards the woman.

“Really? Who is it! I’ll buy three knives for the price of two!” Darn, but this woman didn’t give up easily!

“You’ll buy three knives for the price of three and I will give you a paper crane as a gift and tell you who your soulmate is.” He said in his best this is a deal you can’t miss voice. The woman looked at the crowd as if she was considering searching for her soulmate by herself. Then she raised two fingers.

“You give me two cranes, one for the soulmate and one for me. I am allowing you to give me a wedding present here, young man. I don’t do that for just anyone.”

Nikola sighed. He hadn’t expected to make any money from the cranes anyway but this woman seemed dead set on getting a deal out of him. People begun to eye the cranes and other paper figurines that were lining the shelves. They’d make good toys for their spawn. And the people knew it.

“Deal. You, the man with the blue robe and the silver chain around your neck. Step up and meet your soulmate.” The sad man brightened and he went to the woman who was eyeing him with suspicion.

“You? But you just moved to the village!”

“Shi Chuntao, don’t be unfair. If the oracle says we are soulmates then we are soulmates. When do you want to get married?” Nikola looked at the woman who had her eyes set on the jewelry section of the shop.

“I got you a gift but where is mine, huh? What a poor soulmate you are!”

The man followed her gaze and groaned but Nikola grinned. Perhaps it was worth giving away two cranes if he got to sell some of his jewelry. He moved to the more expensive stuff, seeing as the man wore silks, and put them near Shi Chuntao.

“What would you like for a gift? Your soulmate would surely pick you the most delicate jewel or he isn’t your soulmate at all! By the way the three knives are nonrefundable.”

The woman grumbled at that and fished out her purse to pay and then received her purchase. Nikola wrapped her three of his best knives and then elbowed his way to the paper figurine display and picked two cranes. He hadn’t had time to paint them but they were still elegant. And it was a good practice for his magic to make these things in bulk.

After he gave the woman the cranes, she handed one to her soulmates who was trying to decided which of the ornaments was the cheapest. He picked one with an ivory locket and Nikola happily told him the price: ten gold pieces. The man paled and he placed the medallion back in it’s cushion.

Nikola should feel guilty for practically robbing these people. All these jewels were made with materials produced with magic and mud. But if he sold for cheaper then he would be accused of selling fakes. And while he was indeed doing so the materials looked real enough. The man picked a silver chain with a peach blossom. A cheap little thing Nikola had made to practice making delicate details. He pointed it and Shi Chuntao snorted.

“You miser!” She said, preparing to leave with her purchase. Nikola’s eyebrows rose. Was this woman going to pass over her own soulmate over money? The man in his panic dropped the chain and picked up the nearest jewel and immediately regrated it when Shi Chuntao squealed.

“He’s the one! He is truly the one!” She said, bouncing on her feet as her eyes were locked at the silver jade necklace. “How much is it?” She asked and Nikola winced. The Chinese valued jade above even gold. And this was top quality jade, he had checked it for how well the light passed through it and it was the perfect green color. This was his best piece.

“A hundred gold coins.” The man looked positively sick now as Shi Chuntao hugged him to her bosom. He didn’t seem to notice as he kept repeating the price over and over.

“But you don’t have to pay for it all now.” Said Nikola, taking pity on the man. “You can pay for it on neat instalments of ten gold coins for ten months. Or five gold coins for twenty months.”

“Can I pay a coin a month?” Asked the man and then his eyes shone. “Or a coin a year.” Nikola’s right eye twitched. The nerve of this man.

“No, five coins per month is the lowest I’ll go.” He spoke. It was not like he was charging interest. The man should be grateful!

“You buy me this and my wedding silks and I’ll move into your house today. And we’ll get married tomorrow!” Said the woman and some begun to say how improper that suggestion was. But the man must really love Shi Chuntao, as all soulmates did, and so he shook Nikola’s hand on the five coins per month arrangement. As the two soulmates left with their purchases a man who was eyeing the blades approached holding a saber.

“Gege, can I buy this with smaller payments too?” Nikola looked at the silver incrusted saber. One of his masterworks. He didn’t see any problem with the man paying little by little bar one. This was no ornament. The man was going to use the weapon and who was going to pay Nikola if he got himself killed? Granted there were no more bandits in the area but there were wild animals and some of the people had told him that there was a fox spirit wandering the area.

“Well…” Said Nikola and the man noted his hesitation.

“I won’t get myself killed, Gege. And even if I do, I will leave it in my will that you get paid. I have my pride. You won’t get cheated.”

“This is master Wang, Gege.” Said an old grandpa near the counter. “He is a weapon’s trainer and has many wealthy clients. He hasn’t seen any danger in years.”

“Yes, be a good man, Gege…”

“You let that other one buy on lease. What if he has a heart attack?”

“You have a son, yes? You can send him to master Wang to train for free. Right, master Wang?” The man was nodding at the last one. Nikola didn’t need someone to train Chen Zhaohui. He could do it himself or have Azazel do it in his free time. But maybe there would be children his son’s age there training alongside him. It would be good if his son made some friends.

“Master Wang, do you have students my son’s age? He is eight years old.” The man nodded.

“I have the magistrate’s younger son under my tutelage. As well as the son of a noble from two villages away who even lives with me. They are both good children. Respectful and kind. Your son will find himself in good company.”

Nikola nodded at that. While he would have preferred for his son to be around children around his social standing at least the boys were around his age. “Fine then. I will lower the price by twenty gold coins and let you pay in instalments of five gold coins per month. You will be paying for six months.” Which was enough time for Nikola to make a profit. Master Wang nodded and placed ten golden coins on the counter.

“For the first two months. See you in two months, trader Nikola.” Then he took his new saber and exited the shop as Nikola pocketed the money. A small girl with pigtails was holding up two paper cats. They were as big as milk jugs and were in a position ready to leap.

“Can I buy these for my brother and I, trader Nikola?” She said in the sweetest voice he had ever heard and he wanted to gift them to her on the spot. But then people will begin to haggle more with him and demand free stuff. It was bad enough he had given away the cranes.

“A copper each, dear.” He told the girl. He wasn’t really certain on the value of things, seeing as he spends for food and clothes only, but if granny Nuo Nuying deemed it fit to sell her steamed buns for a copper then he could sell his paper figurines for that much too. The girl placed two coppers on the counter and bounced towards a little boy who looked like new year has come early. Nikola watched the picture for a time, a small smile playing on his lips, when a woman came forward with a pan.

“I’ll buy two, but I can’t see a second one.” Nikola looked around and indeed there were no other pans. He would have to fix this after his lessons in the school.

“Perhaps Madam would like to buy something else? This pan seems to be the last one.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed as if Nikola had told her he will be taking her firstborn. “I know your kind, trader. You say it’s your last one but you must be keeping the rest in the back. So that you will always have a last one in stock.”

Some of the people were yelling their agreement but plenty more were berating the woman. Nikola stepped aside and showed the woman his storage room.

“Take a look inside then. Next!”

The woman rushed into the storage room brandishing the pan she was holding like a weapon. Then she came back and with the thickest face Nikola had ever seen someone display she took the candle from the counter and the shop was bathed in darkness.

“How are we supposed to browse?”

“Young man, take out another candle already!”

“And you call this a big opening?”

Nikola had to get in the storage room to get a fire from the woman’s candle but then he was soon back with his new one. Maybe he should invest in more candles? Right now, the light inside was coming from a candle and the open door. He missed having the whole room bathed in magic. The woman gave out a war cry and Nikola wondered if he indeed had a pan in there but then she came out with a silver mirror.

“Why is this not on display, eh? Are we too lowly for it?” She would haggle, Nikola felt it. What was with these people and haggling?

“Of course not, good woman. There is just not enough space to…”

“Are you interrupting me? You are! What a thick face you have, you cheap trader! I demand you lower this item’s price by half!” Nikola didn’t know how much a mirror like this would cost. But then again neither did this woman. He grinned. The mirror was of pure silver, apart from the glass itself. If he said two gold coins then she would demand he lowered further to one. So, he said five instead, the mirror was rather small, after all. More of a compact one for make-up.

“I’ll take it.” She said and she was back in the storage room.

“Madam, I really don’t have a second pan.” He yelled after her.

“Oh, I know. But you hide all the good stuff in here. Shame on you!” As if this was a magic word many people begun to push towards the storage room. Nikola closed the little door and locked the mean lady inside. She didn’t seem to be bothered thou.

“Everyone, I know my inventory well. Just tell me what you want and if it’s here or in the storage room I will get it for you.”

“Silver hair pins for my wife, good Gege!” Screamed someone from the back of the crowd. Nikola did have them but they were in the storage room. He turned towards granny Nuo Nuying and she understood him without a word.

“You all stay where you are now! This is not a bazaar! You can’t rummage around like wild boars!” Nikola was very grateful for the old lady then as she stood guard and no one was trying to get pass her and her trusty ladle. Nikola went inside the storage room only to see the annoying woman he had locked inside hold a pair of silver hairpins.

“They’re mine!” Said the dragon in human form, ready to protect her hoard. Nikola wouldn’t be surprised if she begun to nest in this room.

“Can you pay for them?” He said, eyeing her. She had heavy make-up on and wore silks so he was dreading the yes. But much to his satisfaction she lowered her gaze.

“I can pay you for them next month. You fleeced me with the mirror.”

“Madam if you can’t pay for anything more than the pan and the mirror kindly vacate my storage room. And give me the hairpins.”

“I am the magistrate’s wife!” She said as if she expected for Nikola to grovel at her feet.

“And I saved your son just this morning, Madam Wu.” The woman regarded him as if he was an insect but when he reached out his hand, she placed the hairpins in it.

“Your husband did.” Then she stomped on his foot hard and ran off to the front of the store. Nikola wanted to curse at her but then again that was what she wanted him to do. He put on a fake smile and exited with his prize in his hand. He placed the hairpins just out of the woman’s reach, just in case, and then packed her two purchases in a bag. She was quick to exit and climb in a litter, getting her mirror out and murmuring about what a good deal she had made. Nikola vowed to let granny deal with this harpy the next time she comes back. Then he bagged the hairpins and passed them down the crowd to the now calmer man.

“Next!” He yelled and a porcelain vase was placed on the counter. A leftover from trader Hua.

“I’ll buy it!” Said a young man. Nikola waited for him to continue but when nothing happened, he blinked.

“Do repeat that.” Was the man going to attempt to haggle with him right as he was packaging the vase?

“I’ll buy it! I’ll pay right away. I’m from the next village over and I won’t be able to come during the winter. How much is it?” Nikola could cry right now, so happy he was. What a kind soul!

“Two gold pieces!” Snapped granny Nuo Nuying and Nikola looked at her. She shrugged. “I’ve seen this vase in the shop before. You sell too cheaply, Niki. If you want to make a profit then start charging for the craftsmanship too, not just the materials!” Nikola would have sold it for fifty silver. But then the man was taking out two gold coins and looking at him expectantly.

“I want it wrapped with a red silk band. It’s for my wife.”

“That would be a silver piece.” Said granny and the man took out another coin and placed it right next to the two other ones. Nikola took out silk in a daze and he cut a fine ribbon and he wrapped it around the vase, making a bow with a rose in the middle, his fingers working fast as the customers ah’ed and oh’ed.

“Here you go.” He said and a child placed a paper palace on the counter.

“A silver coin!” Said granny Nuo Nuying and the child looked ready to burst into tears. Nikola grabbed the old woman’s hand and dragged her to the storage room, leaving a spell to make people unwilling to steal from him.

“Granny, it’s just a paper palace. I can’t charge this kid more than a copper!”

“Just a paper palace?” Asked Nuo Nuying, grabbing some of his hair and tugging at it. “It’s a masterpiece! Where else in the whole land is this girl going to find something like this for a silver coin? You could get rich making these for nobles to place in their herbal gardens. You have no business sense!”

Now this wasn’t fair, Nikola thought to himself. He had sold plenty of stuff today. Sure, he had made some deals but he didn’t need the things he made. And he made them so quickly too. If he didn’t sell them then he would need to throw them away. People would start to ask questions when they begun to find jade in his trash!

“Granny, I am running out of space to store everything. I will need to make a pocket dimension for all the trash I make. Why shouldn’t these people take what they like and leave me some money in exchange?”

“Are there any caravans coming into the village?” Asked the old woman and Nikola shook his head. Oh…well that really was a problem. As far as everyone knew he had trader Hua’s old materials to draw on. He could explain the abundance in his shop for a week like this but what about a month from now?

“The next caravan won’t be coming in until the snows melt. And they haven’t even fallen yet.” Said the granny and Nikola paled. So, he would only be able to explain new paper figurines and maybe some iron knickknacks if he made a deal with the local blacksmith to sell him some of his ore. “You have to be more careful than that! And people would expect you to make a killing so you can pay the caravanners. But when the caravan comes you will have plenty to sell it and no one will ask if you bought materials for new crafts. They’ll just assume.”

“What would I have done without you, granny?” He asked and the woman poked his nose.

“You would have gotten exposed, that’s what. Now go out there and let that girl know she won’t be getting a handout. And once you make all these people leave, I’ll make you an inventory of everything and think up new prices.”

The little girl ended up buying the palace for a silver coin. Nikola felt bad about it but granny patted his back to reassure him and soon he was tending to the next customer. Two spears, one axe, a porcelain tea set and more jewelry, albeit silver ones, than Nikola had cared to count later and the shop closed it’s doors to it’s customers. Nikola left granny to make inventory and he went to the school where people were trying to make him talk on different topics all at once. He got off easy with the promise that he would talk to his uncle Basil for his possible help in the construction of the greenhouses.

Somehow word had gotten out that Basil of Troy worked as fast as ten blacksmiths. Many people had gone to the forge today on their way to the shop and Azazel had even taken a few commissions. Some of them were so happy, a grain trader among them, that they had made deals with Bjorn. To hear his grandson say it he had already sold ten barrels of mead and he didn’t even have a jar of honey to his name.

Exhausted and hungry, for they have decided to have dinner when Nikola came back from the school, Nikola begun to prepare the evening meal. He had roped Azazel into helping and soon there was soup into bowls waiting for the family to sit down and eat.

“How was your day today, my Emerald?” Asked Wei Caihong. Nikola remembered the magistrate’s wife and begun to describe her behavior in detail, using magic to produce her voice. Chen Zhaohui was soon giggling imagining an old lady stomping on his mama’s foot.

“You think it’s funny, do you?” Said Nikola still using the woman’s voice. “Well, I am the former magistrate’s husband!” He put on his best outraged face and Chen Zhaohui fell on the floor giggling.

“Ok, it’s time for bed.” Said Wei Caihong as he got up and picked up his son, ready to give him a bath. Azazel had made them two more bathing barrels, as he refused to have to share. He did want to share his with Bjorn. The angel winked at his soulmate and placed an arm around his broad shoulders.

“We can have a bath too, sweetheart.”

“In front of the kid?” Asked Bjorn scandalized and Azazel’s smile widened.

“Oh, you want us to have that kind of bath, is it? Well, I’m game.” Nikola shook his head as he left a blushing Bjorn to deal with his husband and to try to talk him out of a kinky bath. The two would have to wait for one, thou. Nikola refused to share the bathing room with his own grandson and his horny angel of a husband. And he was in need of that kind of bath himself.

“Papa, mama won’t tell me any more stories, will he?” Asked his son and Nikola hid behind the door so he could listen in.

“No, son. I won’t let him.” Well, Nikola had expected to be defended. But it was good that Wei Caihong would put Chen Zhaohui before him. Maria had done much the same for all their children too. He heard water splashing and then silence. Entering inside he saw Wei Caihong washing their son’s hair. He went next to his family and made water bubbles dance in the air, amused when Chen Zhaohui attempted to catch them all. Yet, even when he caught one it didn’t pop. Nikola watched as the bubbles rose to the ceiling and then pop. His son pouted at him.

“No fair, mama!” Nikola flicked his nose. He didn’t want to hear stories? Well, then he’ll sing instead. He sang a translated tale of a wolf a goat and her seven little kids. Chen Zhaohui begun to clap, although Wei Caihong was looking around as if he expected a wolf to appear out of nowhere. Just as Nikola finished the song with the huntsman taring out the kids from the wolf’s stomach and replacing them with stones as the beast slept Wei Caihong rinsed their son and got him out of the barrel. Nikola sang the last verse with the wolf sinking to the bottom of the river and their son yawned.

“That was a nice song, mama. A pity for the wolf, thou.” Nikola dried the boy’s hair quickly as Wei Caihong couldn’t do that and begun to help him put on his robe.

“See? My stories are not all that bad. This is an old Atlantean tale. I grew up with it.” And he was sure there was no demon laying taboos on it. Otherwise, he would have long since been eaten, so often had he heard this song. “Run off now. Papa and I need some time to ourselves.”

“But you will both still come to tuck me in, right?” Said the boy and he received a hug from both of his parents as a response.

“Do you doubt us?” Asked Wei Caihong as he nudged his son towards the door. The boy ran off and Nikola leaned into Wei Caihong, exposing his neck.

“You are long overdue for a feeding, my Ebony.” Wei Caihong kissed the skin and then he sunk his fangs into it. He drank as Nikola hummed the children’s tale tune. Wei Caihong’s attention was diverted to their bathing barrel which was filling in with water and had steam coming out of it. At the same time their son’s barrel was emptying and cleaning itself.

Wei Caihong tore out his fangs and turned his husband so that he could look at him. “How do you do this? Most of the spells you do should require you to say at least something and yet you don’t even spare them a glance.” Nikola winked at him and leaned in for a kiss. He licked at his own blood from Wei Caihong’s lips.

“It takes practice but once you do something enough times you can do it without thinking about it. You can start with the ice creating spell. It seems to be the easiest you can do.”

“Well, as you wish.” Then Wei Caihong got a thoughtful look. Nikola cupped his face and placed his forehead next to his.

“What is on your mind?” He asked, nuzzling their noses together.

“You’re my soulmate.” Said Wei Caihong as he begun to disrobe Nikola. “My one and only.” He was placing a kiss over every exposed part of skin he could. They didn’t make it to the barrel, instead making love on the floor with their robes as blankets. Once they did stumble inside of the barrel they were exhausted and they only had cleaning themselves on their mind.

During the bath Wei Caihong froze the water in the barrel and then Nikola, shaking and glaring, heated it up again. They had goose bums all over their skin and Wei Caihong was laughing. He didn’t seem to feel the cold as keenly as Nikola did.

They tucked their son in bed after that and then went by the bathing room only to hear moaning coming from there. Nikola grinned as he stirred his husband to their bedroom.

“They’ve made up.” Said Wei Caihong in amazement. He had thought that Bjorn’s tale was a tragic one and yet he had made up with his husband after all.

“For the same reason why you put up with all of my shit.” Said Nikola as he snuggled into Wei Caihong’s arms. “That’s what soulmates do for each other. Oh, they may never forget, but they forgive.” Wei Caihong mused over these words as he kissed the top of Nikola’s hair. There was indeed forgiveness on both sides of their relationship. And that made the noble content.