Great Tang Idyll Volume 02 Chapter 08
Many thanks go to Jesse for commissioning chapters 08-12!
Volume 02 Chapter 08 A Bit Of Warmth In The Heart
Vast green hills and lush green grass. Flying birds soar high with their wings spread wide. The jade-like pond reflected light off of its crystalline surface. Chatter and laughter upstairs; lifting wine up and drinking from goblets. The wind blew and the bells chimed; faintly resonating throughout. The clouds covered the bright sun. Long flute notes sounded from afar. A sudden brief glance. People fleeing the disasters, staggering every step they take. Only then does one know that the country is dying. Water and clouds were on the side, but this was not heaven.
On the rooftop of the Between The Water And Cloud Restaurant, the young childe dressed in extravagant clothes was standing in the center of all the noise. While enjoying the surrounding scenery, a flute note sounded and he saw that there were evacuees over there. A person was holding his wife’s hand and carrying his child while playing the flute and begging for money. The young childe finally woke up from the whimsical trance and he was reminded of the many places that were suffering from the droughts and locust plagues. His mood turned bad.
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"Why hasn't Li Cheng bought this restaurant yet? Get a person to go check." The young childe’s mood was ruined. He couldn't bear to look at the family for too long, so he vented his anger on others.
The man hurried downstairs, then after a while, he came back. He whispered to the young childe, “Li Cheng has left. I heard from the manager that this restaurant has three owners, and the restaurant can only be sold if all three of them agree, so Li Cheng went to find the three owners."
"Okay. Let's leave, I don't want to eat here anymore. How could those officials let the evacuees flee to this place, do those officials only care about eating and not about working? They should be killed. What a killjoy." The child dressed in brocade spoke impatiently. He turned around and went down the stairs. The people around him immediately followed behind.
The money for going to the rooftop was given, but the money for the meal was not paid yet and they had actually ordered a lot of different dishes. However, the manager didn’t dare to stop them from leaving. Ever since he saw those gold pieces, he knew that they were not ordinary people. He ordered the waiter to see them off. They planned to ask the person who is going to come retrieve the gold pieces to pay for the meal too. They will take how much that person is willing to pay; if the person didn’t pay the full price, then they will just have to accept it.
Two waiters went to clean up the rooftop. They noticed that the food was barely touched, and quite a bit of wine was drunken. Both of them sighed and thought about how wasteful rich people were. The two waiters kept the dishes that were not easily perishable and saved it for dinner. They looked at the dishes that won’t last a long time and they shook their heads. They ate a few bites from it and threw it away.
They didn’t dare to resell these dishes to others like how some other small shops would do. The Master family had issued a strict order about this at the beginning. They weren’t allowed to earn this dirty money. While they were fretting how wasteful this was, they heard the sound of a flute coming from below. They lifted their heads to have a look and they saw a family of four that had fled to this place. The youngest child was carried by the man and the woman held the hand of a little girl that was about six or seven years old. They were dressed in ragged clothes and looked very pitiful.
The two waiters glanced at each other and they finally knew what to do with all of these food and the big steamed buns that were still untouched since it was just served. They disregarded the other dishes and placed the quickly perishable items into a carrying tray and brought the steamed buns along with them. They also brought three pairs of chopsticks and a spoon, and they quickly made their way downstairs to greet those four people. Despite their speed, not a single drop of the soup splashed onto the tray.
As soon as the young childe walked out the door with the group of people, he noticed that someone walked past him and he could smell the delicious fragrance of food. He scanned the place with his eyes and he saw two waiters running while carrying trays of food. The dishes looked extremely familiar. His memory was good so he still remembered some of the dishes' names: sea oyster and winter melon soup, young bamboo shoot salad, steamed beef bone marrow, shrimp with tofu. There were only three dishes and one soup.
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"Those are the dishes we just ordered. These dishes can't last a long time. Do they want to sell the dishes to those four people?" A servant standing beside him also had a clear look at the dishes and said to the childe.
“Scram. Are you a fool? Do those four people even have money to buy food? If I knew about this earlier, I would give them the food myself. At least I'll be thanked. If my father heard about it, he would even praise me. This Between The Water And Clouds Restaurant is pretty good."
The childe glared at the person behind him. He kind of regretted that he didn't give the food to those people himself.
"They are indeed pretty good. You are so amazing, you knew what was going just at a glance. The people in the restaurant are quite kind-hearted." After being scolded, this person quickly continued to flatter him.
"Get away from me. You need to learn more from Li Cheng in the future. What does being kind or not have to do with me? The people who have been affected by the disaster will be taken care of by the government. What I meant was that the restaurant did not keep the untouched leftovers to resell to others. Otherwise, if they did resell it, how would they be able to give to the evacuees? They would have to force them to buy it." The childe glared at this person again.
This person said the wrong thing twice in a row, so he was now scared of making any other comments. He said to the childe, "Let's go back. You said you like the pond here, so let's dig one too. It will be bigger than theirs."
"Wait, let's keep watching, then I'll be able to tell my father more about what I saw here. If I don't know how to answer my father's questions, I'll definitely be scolded by him. If that happens, you will be beaten with a stick too."
"Yes, yes, you're right. Let's keep looking. I don't want to be beaten." When the person heard that he might be beaten, he trembled and continued to agree with the childe.
This time, the childe completely ignored him, and he walked towards that direction. By the time he got closer, the family of four had already understood the two waiters' intention. They kneeled on the floor and tried to kowtow, but the two waiters stopped them.
One of the waiters noticed that the childe has came back with his group of people, so he quickly said, "Don't thank us. We were told by this young childe here to make these dishes just for you. Look, the dishes are freshly made.
After the waiter said, the four of them turned their heads and looked at the group of people. It was obvious that the young man belonged to a wealthy family. They didn't think about anything else and turned around to kneel to those people. They started kowtowing even from a far distance, and they expressed their gratitude.
This young man originally just wanted to have a look at the situation over here, so that he could answer his family's questions. Seeing what was happening and hearing them express their gratitude, he suddenly felt better again. He got people to help those people stand back up and then he said,
"You don't need to do that, you really don't. It's all because of the natural disasters. Stand up, stand up. Eat some food first. Look at these children, they must be starving. Waiter, get the kitchen to prepare a portion of snow fungus and bird's nest soup. Put it on my tab again."
"You are so benevolent. I'll go right now. When we were upstairs earlier, if you didn't mention it, we wouldn't have known that there were evacuees coming here." The waiter naturally knew what to say and what not to say at this time. After saying this, he ran to the kitchen.
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The family of four were helped up. They found a rock and placed the food on the rock and ate under everyone’s watch. The child that was carried on the father's back was too young and could only eat soft things, so the soup and bone marrow were given to him. The little girl was the most sensible; she waited for her parents to eat first. While she was eating the steam bun, she took care of her younger brother. She chewed on the bun as she shyly smiled at the childe.
Others didn’t feel much when they saw this since they already knew about the hardships in the world so they were desensitized already. The childe was the only one that had seen this kind of thing for the first time. Seeing the four people eating, he didn’t know what to say. In particular, when that girl, who still had mud on her face, smiled at him, he suddenly felt a little guilty.
When the girl wiped her brother's mouth with her sleeve, he felt a little envious. At that moment, he felt that he was not as happy as the kid. He watched the kid smile after taking two bite, and his drool and food fell out of his mouth again; this made him smile too.
"Let's go back first. If it's too late, the butler might tell Prin-- the master, and I'll be beaten." The man spoke again at this time.
The young childe's smiling face immediately turned gloomy. He stared at this person and said, "You don't need to be beaten by others. When we go back, I will teach you what to say and what to do. Twenty hits. I won't forget."
After being disturbed, the childe didn't continue thinking about those things, and he said to the other waiter that was still here, "Once they're done eating lunch, what are they going to do about dinner? Go get some plain steam buns."
The waiter left to go get the steams buns. The young childe continued, "After they're done eating dinner, what are they going to do tomorrow? Give them so many to start a small business."
While talking, he was about to take out some money, but he suddenly remembered that he only had gold pieces and the gold pieces were kept by his servant. Even the restaurant didn't dare to spend it, not to mention the four evacuees. He looked at the surrounding people, and they immediately searched their own bodies for money. Some managed to find a few silver beads, and some found a few coins.
The four people turned away when they saw the silvers. It wasn't because the silver couldn't be used, but it was because they were scared that someone would prey on them. They could only take the coins. The father kneeled and kowtowed saying that he can't take the money. Although the grown ups might be able to survive the hardship, the children might not.
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"Young childe, I have some money too." The person who was going to be beaten later took out a string with seventy to eighty coins. The coins were the standard kai’yuan tong’bao1. The coins were not light. Who knows why he would carry around all that money for no reason.
When the childe saw the coins, he was happy. He took them and gave them to the four people in front of him. He glanced at the person who was going to be beaten and nodded. Since the childe didn't say he spared from a beating, he had to give another idea so he said,
"Young childe, you can tell them that they don’t have to go too far to do business. At night, there will be a bazaar. The prices of all kinds of things are fair. They are not allowed to buy in large quantities so they can only buy a little at a time. When the sun rises, they can walk about 20 li2 away and try to sell the items. They might be able to earn about eight to ten coins, and this should be enough for them to buy food. They can also save some of the money, and buy a small hut to live in when it gets cold."
When he spoke, his voice was not quiet. Not only did the childe hear him, but the four people heard him too, and they knelt down to kowtow again. Fortunately, the man knew who to bow to. If he knelt down to the person who came up with the idea, then he would have harmed the person.
The child got someone to help the man up, and then he praised the idea, "Good. This idea is not bad. You don't have to be beaten anymore. When we go back, you will be awarded five taels of silver."
"Benefactor, tell us what your name is. We will remember your name for the rest of our lives. If we survive, we will work hard for you--- as hardworking as horses and cows." The man cried appreciatively as he asked for their benefactor's name.
"Umm...My..My...My surname is Li and my name is Wang'xun. You don't have to remember it. Live well. If you really can't find food, then go eat at the Between The Water And Clouds Restaurant, and add it to my tab."
Translator’s Notes
Kai’yuan Tong’Bao
This was the main type of coin issued during the Tang Dynasty. As opposed to previous coins, this coin had a prescribed coinage alloy (83% copper, 15% lead and 2% tin) and its production was more highly regulated.
20 li
This is about 10 km
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