Great Tang Idyll Volume 01 Chapter 68

Many thanks go to Dan for commissioning this extra chapter release! I really appreciate the support :)

Chapter 68: The Soybean Acquirement Was Attacked

Ge Ying’xi and Housekeeper Ge were really taken aback when they heard what Housekeeper Wang had just said. They thought they didn’t have a chance anymore; who would have thought that Housekeeper Wang later mentioned there were other aspects to the affair.

"Which aspects?" Housekeeper Ge asked anxiously.

This made Ge Ying’xi disappointed again. His housekeeper was incomparable to this housekeeper. At the beginning, Housekeeper Wang did not seem to be like this. Why did it seem like he changed into a different person within just a few months?

Ge Ying’xi didn’t know that this was because of economic strength. At first, the Zhang family and the Ge family were similar, so they all stood at the same level. Now, times have changed. The Zhang family is rich now, so of course their mentalities will change correspondingly. 

Housekeeper Wang wasn’t perturbed by the Ge family’s anxious questioning and he slowly spoke, “There is a river between the two of our families. A downstream part of this river suddenly became leveled. The masters of Zhang and Wang families want to build a two-storey restaurant there. The center will have an open space where water can be seen from.

We will find some people to come here to drink and write poetry. If the Ge family is also interested in joining, then contribute money and earn a share. At this time, it is drought, so it is easier to build a restaurant."

"What if it operates at loss?" Housekeeper Ge was straightforward.

Before Housekeeper Wang could speak, Ge Ying’xi said: "Then we lose money together. Housekeeper Wang, I don't know when the restaurant will be built, but count me in when the time comes."

Ge Ying’xi finally didn't dare to continue to fight against the Zhang and Wang families anymore. Now that he has a chance, he feels that even if he doesn't make money, or even loses a little, it is worth it to be able to establish a relationship with the two farms.

"Okay, Chief Ge can rest assured. When construction begins here after waiting for the spring tillage to end, the Ge family will naturally not be left out. After all, it will be more secured if the three families work together."

Housekeeper Wang answered very decently. After speaking, seeing that the two of them had no intention to leave, he continued to offer them an invitation, "Chief Ge, Housekeeper Ge, how about we go to the pond to have a look so that you have a better understanding. Who knows how long will this drought last?"

"That's a good idea." Ge Ying’xi agreed without even thinking about it. He really wanted to check it out. After all, the water taken from the Zhang and Wang families was transported in wooden barrels or tanks. If he didn’t have a look at that place, he couldn’t settle his heart. It would be best if the ponds were still full; even if summer and autumn is still dry, he wouldn’t have to worry.

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The three people walked towards one of the ponds. From time to time, on their way there, they saw Ge Farm’s farmers come to transport water. Not only was the water taken from the wells used for irrigating the fields, but it was also used for cooking. The well being dug at the Ge Farm was not complete yet.

Standing next to a pond, Ge Ying’xi was finally appeased. The pond was still full. The water in the creek might have been a bit too little, but it was still flowing. When there is no more water there, they would have to rely on the well water.

After a little chat, Ge Ying’xi and Housekeeper Ge left. The worries in their hearts were resolved. Now that they were in a partnership together, if the Zhang and Wang family had any other plans in the future, they would take him into consideration too.

Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan were still standing by the river watching the farmers work busily. Then, they realized that the number of loaches in the river was abnormally high. If they only saw one or two, then it didn’t really matter, but there were so many of them that if they weren’t caught and eaten, it would be a waste to let them die from dryness in the mud. 

"How do we catch them?" Wang Juan looked eager to try.

"Let others help catch, watch me." Zhang Xiao’bao looked at the children playing in the pond and shouted loudly, "Come here and catch loaches."

A child’s voice could easily travel far. After he hollered over, the little children crawled out of the pond one after another and all ran over here.

"Help me catch loaches and I will give tofu in exchange. Ten loaches for a large piece of tofu; when you go home, you can eat Loach With Tofu1. Catch 20 loaches and I’ll give you one liang2 of vegetable oil in exchange. That way, you will have all the ingredients. Are you in or not?"

Zhang Xiao’bao abandoned his “young master” identity at this time and discussed with the children.

The little children had nothing to do to begin with, so they all went to play in the water. When they heard that they could get so many ingredients in exchange, they all jumped to the bottom of the river. They disregarded that the mud was deep enough to reach their knees, and started the hunt. The loaches were thrown out one by one, and whoever made the throw kept count by themselves. No one played dirty and made false reports at a time like this.

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Occasionally, a child would pop out of the mud pond while screaming and slapping their leg violently with a hand. On their leg would be a leech. After a few slaps, the leech will retreat away and then curl up into a ball. 

Some little children were eager to seek revenge; they used a small wooden stick to roll the leech against the ground a couple of times, and then they stabbed the stick through the top of the leech’s head. Doing this flipped the leech inside out. Afterwards, they placed the stick on the shore and let the leech dry under the sun. Once it was dried, the leech would die; even if it was placed back into the water, it would not revive. 

 

"So this is how they kill leeches." Wang Juan saw more and more wooden sticks appear on the shore and felt that these little kids were too vicious. She was not scared, but she has never done such things before.

"Yeah, this is considered to be slow though. I used to place the leeches that I caught on the railway track. Once the train passed by, there was nothing left of the leech. If it was not a leech that was placed there, then it was a nail that I found. After waiting for the train to come by, the nail became a little sword."

Zhang Xiao’bao recalled the days when he wandered the streets. During those days, he learned a lot from other children.

"Actually, the leeches will naturally shrivel away if you sprinkle some salt on them." Wang Juan felt that this method of slapping their legs would be painful for the children, so she told them this while staying on the sides. Her actual intention was to get Zhang Xiao’bao to order people to bring salt over.

Zhang Xiao’bao didn’t move at all. "Even if you brought salt, they would still slap with their hands. Not because they think that salt is expensive, but they think the most reassuring way to kill the leeches is with their hands. This is the offensive mentality; the desire for control also plays a part."

"For example?" Wang Juan asked.

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"From a young age, children have always liked to play with guns. If there were no guns, they would play with knives. If guns and knives were placed together, most children would choose guns. Guns have a sense of security and can be shot from a remote distance. The same goes for remote-controlled cars. One type is wired and the other type is wireless; most will choose wireless even if the wired one has a 100 meter distance and the wireless one only has up to 50 meters.

This is because the wireless one is more flexible to control and has no attachments to it. This is the safest, and this sense of security is controlled by the player themselves. If they wanted to attack, then they attacked, and if they wanted to retreat, they retreated. "

Zhang Xiao’bao gave an example.

"Now that you have said that, I understand it. For example, when I went to school, the boys liked to play a game called “land, sea and sky”. Two big concentric circles were drawn; the innermost circle was land, the outer ring was water, and the remaining space outside was the sky. They played rock-paper-and-scissor to decide who got to choose first. Most children chose the sky. The sea was the least popular choice because they had to face enemies from two sides and there was no sense of security.

It occurred to me, it was like this too when we arranged people to do night patrols and kept the lights on. However, I don’t think this is enough. In the future, when there are more male servants, I will divide them into over, covert, fixed, and mobile guard posts. This way, the whole farm will be more peaceful; the farmers can sleep more well and the guards will feel more safe."

Wang Juan was talking and then started to discuss the future for security control work. At this time, the children were pretty much done with catching loaches. They climbed up one after another, and skewered the loaches that were thrown on the shore with tree branches. After placing the skewers in front of Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan, everyone began to report how many loaches they had caught.

Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan didn’t count them over. They instructed people to go back to retrieve tofu and vegetable oil. With so many loaches, they could make a few different dishes and eat for two or three days. After the children received their ingredients, they happily ran back to their homes. Once they put it away, the children came back and jumped down into the pond again. This time, it was so that their own families could eat Loaches With Tofu. 

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Wang Juan and Zhang Xiao’bao started to walk back. It was a given that other people carried the loaches for them. Even if they were able to carry them, no one would let them.

As soon as the two entered the yard, they saw Song Jing’gong waiting there even though he shouldn't be back today yet. 

"Young Master, it is not good. Someone is buying a large amount of soybeans. Today, after I got my share of money from Zhou Xi’hu, I intended to buy some soybeans. But even after going to several grain shops, they said that they were all sold out. I didn't believe it so I went to have a look, and it turned out to be actually empty.

The salesclerk told me that some people came to the store and directly asked how much soybeans there were in stock. As long as there were soybeans, regardless of how much, they bought all of it. I went shopping for half a day and I still didn’t manage to buy even half a kilogram of soybeans. Our vegetable oil depends on soybeans though.

The soybeans in the entire county have been bought by those people. By the time more is transported here, the price won’t be as low as it is now. I think someone has discovered that our vegetable oil is made from soybeans. "

As soon as Song Jing’gong saw Zhang Xiao’bao, he informed him of the situation with an anxious expression on his face.

Zhang Xiao’bao thought for a while, "Vegetable oil has a beany taste and we keep buying soybeans so it won’t be hard for others know. I think these people are targeting us. But we have been selling vegetable oil for so long already, so why are they only making a move now? Could it be because of the drought?"

"Maybe. They want to stockpile and after waiting for the price of soybeans to rise, they will try to sell the soybeans to us. That way, they will make a lot of money. However, I keep having a feeling that it’s not that simple. This is my intuition." Wang Juan stood on the side and tried to help analyze the situation.

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"What have we been doing recently? Let’s not rush. Let’s go back into the house, and make a list to see what our main income sources and new outputs are during this period. Then, we can make a judgment."

For the time being, Zhang Xiao’bao couldn't figure out these people’s intentions. So be it that they acquired the soybeans; at most, they will stop selling soybean oil. They don't know how to make soybean oil from the soybeans anyway. Most rapeseed oil was extracted with the use of heat; it was the same when rendering lard too. 

Song Jing’gong went to find a place to rest, while Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan went back to the house and began to calculate the main source of income during this period.

After doing some calculations, they found that there weren’t significant differences compared to before. Then, what remained was to look at their new outputs.

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Translator's Notes

1. Loaches With Tofu 泥鳅钻豆腐

The name of the dish literally means “loaches buried into tofu”. It is made by forcing loachs to dig and bury their heads into a large piece of tofu. This was done by placing the loaches and a piece of tofu in a wok, and slowly increasing the temperature. The loaches will then try to hide in the tofu to avoid the high temperature. Afterwards, soup stock and other flavoring ingredients are added, and it is steamed all together.

2. Liang 两

A unit for weight measurement. 16 liang makes up one catty, while one catty has been standardized to be 500 g. It has now been standardized that one liang is 50 grams. 

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