“Is this really necessary?” My sister Ha asks me while sorting, counting and storing my money in a nice wooden box. Xi sits beside her and are himself hard at work. “Well, I am becoming increasingly worried about people breaking in and stealing my money,” I tell them while filling yet another bag with twenty dima. “We have about one thousand dima here sister, that is more than our entire village is worth.” She looks at all the money and sigh. A thousand dima equals sixty thousand shekels and is enough to pay taxes in the village for the next three years. After my introduction to Mane, I hit paydirt with all the old families in the city. Most of the old and frail and desperate for anything that could help for a decent sum of money. I kept up my practice at the market with three or four clients every day earning six or seven dima. Other than that I had one client in the morning and two after dinner paying almost a twenty dima each day. It seems that when one steps just one step up the amount of money gets added another zero. It is strange and makes little sense other than a way to keep the classes below down. Either that or I have destroyed the cities economy and this does not seem probable either. Something is causing the difference, but I don’t know what.

“Yes, it is so much,” Xi says to me and looks at the marks in his book. One slash for every ten dima grouped in five. “It is bad to pay money to store it.” I smile at him and shake my head. “Better to have almost all than to have none,” I tell him and he shrugs. “But we brought Xi to defend us against bandits and such.” My sister whines and I get a small itch of irritation. “Yes, partly. But such is no longer the case. He cannot defend us against the quality or quantity such amount of money can attract. Neither can he spend all day with it. No, it is better to get it protected by nobility and with a contract.” I say and smile at them.

In many ways, it seems my status has been elevated, but mostly it is a favour for clients. There is no banking system for the lower classes, it seems to just don’t make sense for large organizations to care. For the nobility, there is a kind of banking system, families or offices that take in money one place against a contract and where I can take it out in another branch. It is my great fortune to be acquainted with an old gentleman in just such a business. There are all sorts, but retiring to Mao seems to me to be a boring choice. Especially when there must be so many other possibilities for him.

The gentleman's name is Tiong Nama Giuan and from all gossip and reports I have managed to gather he is kind of a big deal in the area. I have worked with him a lot over the last month with thrice-weekly sessions. His body seems to have begun kind of freezing up and he could not move a lot of his muscles. Now he has somewhat full mobility and can move, I think he is my greatest fan in the city. He is what I can understand to be a noble of the empire, different somehow from being a noble of the land. How I just don’t know. He does have access to the banking network and has gracefully allowed me to give access to the network similar to a bank through him.

“Ah, my fifth favourite person in the world, I greet thee.” He says with both humour and respect. I bow low back and greet him. Xi and Ha bow even lower, nearly kneeling. “Good, good boy come over here and get this over with so we can get to the fun part.” The banking is done swiftly and mostly by Tiongs retainers. I sign and get my own copy. “Good, done,” Tiong says and smile before undressing and laying down without regard for anyone else or the fact that we are in his great hall. “You are too impatient Tiong,” I tell him and smile when I see Ha already moving to prepare the oils. I hand my own clothes to Xi and begin working on Tiongs body.

“My grandson Tiong is passing through later in the month on his way to the capitol. If you wait around I will tell him that you can follow along with him.” Tiong tells me after I am done and while we are recuperating in his fabulous garden. Some very nice maids have served us tea and snacks. “That would be very gracious of you,” I tell him and bow slightly to him. “The spoiled little brat would well take you with him, he is on his way to see my daughter in the regional capital,” Tiong says and spits. I don’t actually know why he does not like his grandson, but that is the case. “We would be honoured and I am sure the road will be safer with him along,” I say as to not disrespect anyone. Tiong might not like the little lord, but on one hand, I might, on the other Tiong, can disrespect family, I can’t disrespect him. “I think you would enjoy it, he is a smart little bugger.”

With this our departure is delayed by a couple of weeks. This enables me to earn even more money. I tell my clients that I have gotten an offer to accommodating someone to the capital. At the end of the first week of us waiting for the village, the priest arrives in town.

“I was not expecting to catch up with you so soon,” Tun tells us as we settle into the bar at the inn. “Well stuff happens and we were delayed I tell him.” I turn around to order food and drink while Xi fills him in on what has happened. “This is wonderful and will probably speed up our time in Nassan.” Tun manages to get out between gulps of drink the waitress brought him. “I really look forward to the travel.”

Tun settles in quick and borrowing some money from me at an atrocious interest he goes to town looking for girls and a good time. We hardly see him in the week leading up to when Tiongs grandson arrives. He is older than I would have thought. He looks like he is about twenty or twenty-five from how Tiong described him I imagined that he would be more like thirteen or eighteen. When we are called over and introduced it becomes clear that the relationship is not a happy one.

“Greetings esteemed healer.” Tiong greets me with far more respect than earlier and a deeper bow. I try to greet him back with even more respect and a deeper bow, but the change tips me a bit off and I do not manage it perfectly. “Allow me to introduce my grandson Tiong Buang Nuin.” We greet and smile at each other. “My grandson has at his grandfather's order graciously allowed you to accompany him too Nassan,” Tiong says and I get to see a scowl on the man's face. He does not look too happy to have more hangers-on from his grandfather, but accept and bring us along. It is especially when we are leaving and I hear the man half whisper to his grandfather that his displeasure becomes clear. “another healer?” He complains to my grandfather whom to my kind of horror spits on the floor and tells the man to “Not be a bitch and don't scoff before having tried.” Tiong the second seems to be kind of a hard nut to crack and being that he is Tiong the elder's grandson and powerful in his own right, a nut I have to crack.