Great Tang Idyll Volume 02 Chapter 04
Thank you to Jesse for commissioning chapters 02, 03 and 04!
Volume 02 Chapter 04: Feeling Sleepy In The Warm Summer
It was almost noon, and the people at the
swimming pool were using the little bit of time left to finish making the pool.
No matter what, they insisted on finishing everything before eating lunch.
Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan finished their
meal at this time and left on their wooden bicycle. The people in the inner
courtyard were already accustomed to how their two little masters did things. If
they went out alone, then the place they’re going to was absolutely safe. Otherwise,
they would ask for servants to accompany them.
This saved the people in the inner
courtyard a lot of worry. Their two little masters were sensible. Whenever
there was some dangerous thing to do, they would discuss with others first. If
they did not consult others, then what they were going to do was absolutely
safe. Therefore, the people in the inner courtyard did not worry about Zhang
Xiao’bao and Wang Juan leaving this time.
They didn’t worry about their two little
masters not just because their two little masters understood the significance of matters, but more
importantly, it was because now that the Manor’s children going to and leaving
school and running around, there were people everywhere on the Manor. Furthermore,
there was the Seedling Protection Team patrolling the area and they would also help
take care of their two little masters.
"The little tadpoles are all grown up
now. I remember that when I eavesdropped on class lessons, there was a book called ‘Little Tadpoles Finding Their Mom'. At that moment, I was thinking that
if I was a tadpole, how good it would be to be able to find my mother at the
end. Let’s go. Let’s not look at the fields anymore. Let’s go to the restaurant
and have some tea. Stop forcing me to peddle by myself. This isn’t a bicycle
from the modern times. Do you want to tire me to death?"
Zhang Xiao’bao spoke while pedaling and
looking at the fields on both sides. Later, he noticed that Wang Juan wasn’t
moving and her legs were also raised up too.
This was not a bicycle with a chain, and it
doesn’t have any bearings. It just has two pedals on a wheel. If you pedaled a
circle, the wheel will rotate a circle. A person would die from exhaustion if
only one person pedaled the two-person bicycle.
"Oh, I’ll start pedaling now. Let's
sit on the first floor when we get to the restaurant. Maybe we can still see
the man and the woman and see what they will do during the meal." Wang
Juan put her foot next to the wheel and started pedaling. She controlled the
direction of the bicycle to head to the restaurant.
The children who had finished school were
also running around. Occasionally, a person saw a water snake and reached out their
hand to grab its tail. They twisted the snake's body around their arms, and
then grabbed the snake's head to make it open its mouth. Then, they placed the
snake near their robe and let the snake bite down on the cloth. Once they
pulled the snake away, the snake's fangs were pulled out. Now, it become a
threat-free snake. The child slung the snake around his shoulder and brought it
back home so his father can enjoy the snake while drinking wine.
By the time Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan pedaled
their way to the Between Clouds and Water Restaurant, there were four water
snakes hanging on their bicycles. The bored busser that was standing in front
of the restaurant saw the Young Master and Young Miss, and he hurriedly went
forward to greet them. He put away the
bicycle, and while he held the four water in his hands, he led them inside the restaurant.
"Was the four teacher’s food for today
delivered yet?" Zhang Xiao’bao asked as he walked in.
"I haven't delivered it yet. Today’s prepared
food is stir-fried meat with bean sprouts and egg with cucumber. The food will
be ready in just a bit. Young Master, what do you want to eat?"
The busser replied next to him, and the
four snakes that he hung on his arms occasionally twisted around.
"It’s not delivered yet? That's fine
too. Cook these four snakes and deliver it to them too. In the past two days,
they should be tired from working on the Three Character Classics. Just
get some tea for us; we ate already. We’ll stay on the first floor. "Zhang
Xiao’bao yawned and walked with Wang Juan towards the area near the window.
There were quite a few people in the
restaurant right now. Almost the entire second floor was occupied by people who
think they are well educated and wealthy. Even if there was no water below,
they occasionally recited a few poems. The people who dined on the first floor
were primarily merchants who come to buy puffed rice. Puffed rice was sold once
in the morning and once in the afternoon, and everyone can only buy one sack at
a time.
This way, some merchants who had to travel a
farther distance to get here would have to buy one sack in the morning and another
sack in the afternoon. This allowed them to transport back two sacks to sell.
Naturally, they would also have to find a place to eat lunch. The more
budget-conscious person will bring their own food to eat, and then order a bowl
of wine from the restaurant for three coins.
But those who were less stingy chose to eat
in the restaurant. The restaurant provides a kind of meal that cost ten coins.
The meal consists of a large bowl of rice, a meat dish and a vegetable dish that
were placed together on a plate with compartments, and a bowl of egg drop soup
that did not have a lot of eggs in it.
For a while, the restaurant appeared livelier.
At night, more people would come, and there will be meals that cost three cents
each. It contains a bowl of rice with stir-fried gourd slices, or noodles with
thinly sliced meat, or noodles with fried black bean sauce. These meals were designed
for people who were going to the market.
Those who have eaten this meal can pay one
coin to stay in a room that has burning wormwood that was twisted into ropes to
repel mosquitoes. Pillows and bedding were not provided, and there was only
some hay to lay on. If the person wasn’t even willing to pay a coin, then they
can stay at shared resting area at the market. The three sides were covered by curtains made of straw mats, and the remaining side was uncovered. There was no mosquito coil made of
wormwood and the people could sleep however they want.
These things related to the bazaar were all ideas suggested by Xu Si, who had already left to sell the grains. Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan didn't really care how he managed the place. Right now, Er’gou was there to help run the place.
"Unfortunately, there’s no dirt-cheap
simple lunch boxes. Otherwise, we will be able to sell the meals to more
places. Xu Si is really good. He runs the bazaar so well. In the past two
months, the bazaar actually earned five taels and four qian1 of
silver."
Zhang Xiao’bao sat on the chair next to the
window and spoke as he looked out with his chin raised up.
Wang Juan waved to a waiter. The waiter was
used to this already, and he brought over two special tall chairs. He replaced
the Young Master and Young Miss’ chairs with the taller chairs so that the two
of them could sit more comfortably.
Sitting on the tall chair, Wang Juan pulled
away the window curtain so that she could see outside more clearly, "Xu Si
is indeed really good; Ge Ying’xi from the Ge Manor must be in immense regret
now. We’re the ones with the power to set the prices. In two months, only five
taels of silver were earned, but that’s not including the value of the items we
have in stock. If that money was included, then we earned at least 20 taels of silver.
When more people come to trade in the
future, our profit will not be just 20 taels. Quite a bit of money will also be
earned each month when the people from the bazaar come to the restaurant to
dine. We said he was worth one hundred taels of silver, and he was indeed worth
one hundred taels. Ge Ying’xi sold him for just a few taels of silver; he must be
regretting it so much. "
During the time they talked to each other, the
tea was served. The tea was not prepared like how it was prepared here without
salt and ginger. Zhang Xiao’bao taught people how to make it. Even though he
had not done it himself before, but he knew how to talk eloquently. As an international
con-man, it was inevitable that he had to interact with some people from the upper-class
and talk about art or about tea ceremony. He had no choice but to learn.
The tea leaves used were stolen from other
places by people sent out before the Qing’ming Festival2 came. It
was indeed stolen, and in particular, the newly sprouted top leaves were
stolen. Those who were not caught would leave some money in an obvious place in
the tea yard. More money would have to be paid if the person was caught. Up to
now, no one has been arrested yet.
The tea placed in front of Zhang Xiao’bao
and Wang Juan was Xin’yang Mao’jian tea; it was mainly because the area where the
tea plant was grown was relatively close. It was in He’nan, so people can be
sent there to steal tea leaves. If it was Xi’hu Dragon Well tea, then it would be very
far away.
The tea was poured out, and each person
held a cup in their hand and drank the tea slowly, or drank all of it in one
go, or sipped a bit and felt that it was too cold so they dumped it and poured out
another cup.
"Can't you think of a way to get some
Tie’guan’yin tea and Pu'er tea? I don't like to drink green tea." After
taking a few sips, Wang Juan felt that the tea was slightly bitter tasting and
lacked a hint of sweetness. So, she asked Zhang Xiao’bao to find a way.
Zhang Xiao’bao didn’t have any good ideas. One
of those two teas is fully fermented and the other is partially fermented.
Girls prefer to drink those types of teas since it can help with weight loss.
After thinking about it, he said, "It's better to drink flower teas like chrysanthemum
tea or jasmine tea. Or how about we ferment this Xin’yang Mao’jian tea leaves,
what do you think?"
"Can this even be fermented?"
Wang Juan asked while laughing.
"Yes. Why can't it be fermented? Do
you know how Pu'er was made? It was picked and carried away in a basket, and
while it was carried, it rained and the tea leaves got wet. The tea leaves were
still carried, and it eventually dried up. After it got wet again, it was
allowed to dry again, so the leaves began to ferment. A person who ate too much
meat drank tea made from those tea leaves and found out that the tea was good
for the gastrointestinal tract, aids digestion, and cleans the intestines and
stomach."
Wang Juan was stunned by Zhang Xiao’bao’s explanation,
"Really? Were the teas that I drank before also had its tea leaves soaked
in rain?"
"It doesn't matter what you drank. The
important thing is that this method allows for tea leaves to be fermented. It's
not just rain---the person who carries the tea also contributes their sweat. The
taste is really unusual. Think about, if you carry such heavy tea leaves while travelling
through the mountains with a walking cane, you will have to frequently stop to
take a rest. Would it be possible to not be dripping in sweat?
Zhang Xiao’bao was better than Wang Juan
when it came to talking about these kinds of things. He only heard about this
since he often drank tea with people. In
addition to using horses and mules for transportation on the Ancient Tea Horse Road3,
a lot was transported on people’s backs. Along that network of caravan paths,
there were areas with mudslides, heavy rainstorms, landslides, all sorts of
situations that could occur.
During the discussion at the tea tasting
session, that person said that this was what they wanted to taste---the more
effort placed in the production of the tea, the more well it tasted. Therefore,
Zhang Xiao’bao felt very comfortable after cheating the person 160 million. The
more pained that person was, the more comfortable Zhang Xiao’bao felt when he spent
that money.
"Don't tell me. I won't drink that
kind of tea anymore. It's nauseating. Did you say all of that deliberately?"
Wang Juan felt nauseated after listening to Zhang Xiao’bao. She didn’t even
want to touch the tea in front of her right now.
"Young Master, Young Miss, those two
people are here." A waiter came to Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan and
reported in a low voice. The two people he mentioned were of course that man
and woman who came to collect information.
"Oh? They’re here? Good. Later, tell
them that there is no space on the second floor. Let them eat on the first
floor. If they don’t want to eat, then so be it. When they order food, bring
out that menu--- the golden menu. Go on. Don't come over to use anymore."
As soon as Zhang Xiao’bao heard the news,
he became energetic. He gave the waiter some instructions, and then he started
to pay attention to the entrance of the restaurant.
Translator's Notes
1. four qian is roughly 20 grams.
2. It was common for tea leaves to be
picked before the Qing’ming Festival, which falls on a day between April 1-4, depending
on the Chinese calender.
3. Ancient Tea Horse Road was a network of caravan paths that winds through the mountains of Si'chuan. Yun'nan, and Tibet.
What I want to know was how exactly ZXB and WJ got those four snakes...
ReplyDeletethe only thing that makes sense is, the snakes was given by the children
Deletelooks like the author forgot to write details about it