Great Tang Idyll Volume 02 Chapter 78
Shout out to Yaro for commissioning this chapter!
Chapter 78: Since Ancient Times, Where Was The Heart of The People Located?
This man felt a little unconvinced after listening to the waiter speak. When he was about to continue speaking, the woman next to him said to him, "My husband, don't talk anymore. If my guess is correct, one of those two likeable children should be Wang Juan, and the other Zhang Xiao'bao."
"My wife, is what you said true? How do you know?" The person who was arguing just now quieted down and asked the woman next to him in a low voice.
"My husband, you’re always busy with significant matters all day, how could you know about such small details? I heard people say that each of the two Zhang and Wang families in Tu’qiao Village has a child, one is a boy and the other is a girl. From the moment they opened their eyes and saw each other, they insisted on sticking close together. According to what some people say, they are good playmates and childhood sweethearts.
From then on, the two children, the boy and the girl, were inseparable. Whenever they go out, they always go with each other. The two children are particularly sensible and never cause trouble for their family. They are not like other children when they meet outsiders; they always smile first. As long as it is a place managed by their families, whether it was the shopkeeper or the waiter, they would be able to remember their appearance.
My husband, you have been here several times, so you should know that the waiter never called anyone else Young Master and Young Miss before. Regardless of how old the person is, the honorifics used were the same. You must have heard that the waiter called them Young Master and Young Miss earlier, and he used a different respectful tone. Even the charcoal they use is special.
I think that the two children are the little masters of the two Zhang and Wang manors. If you don’t believe me, then stand up and walk over to see if anyone would stop you. "
The woman spoke in an orderly manner, but the man didn't know how resourceful the woman beside him was, so he really stood up and walked over there.
With a swoosh sound, eight people from two nearby tables stood up. Four of them wore tight-fitting blue robes, two of them seemed to be scholars, and the other two were dressed in bailiff clothing.
As the eight people stood up, the waiter who had just spoken earlier also made an "ah" sound and stood in front of the table where Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were at. The moment he shouted out, two other waiters immediately came in. One blocked the path and the other stood in front of the man who wanted to come over.
"Sir, what would you like?" The waiter who stood in front of him put away his smiling face and asked with caution.
"Nothing. I think those two children are good so I want to talk to them." This man was not a fool. He noticed that something was wrong about the looks of the people around him. It seemed that the two children were like what his wife said--they were indeed the young masters of the two manors.
He had also glanced at the eight people. In less than a quarter of an hour after the two children arrived, the two bailiffs had their hands placed on the hilt of their swords.
"Sir, if you really want to talk to them, then I need to do a body search on you. Please forgive me." The waiter looked at Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan, and when he saw the two masters nodded, he continued.
This man was even more curious now. Normally, who would dare conduct a body search? Well, unless the shop doesn’t want to stay open anymore. At this moment, he looked at the waiter’s gaze. Seeing that the waiter did not intend to give in, he had no choice but to agree, "Okay, search me. Once you’re done, I can go over there right? Ha. Ha. You care a lot about those kids, huh."
The waiter didn’t bother with being courteous; he went over and searched his body. He found a bit of silver pieces and a string of copper coins from this person. He then went to the front of the woman to block her and said, "Sir, please."
"This brother wants to go over and see? I plan to go too, why don't we go together?" A bailiff on the side suddenly spoke at this time. He took two steps forward, and stood right next to the man.
"Uncle Song, you are here too. I wonder how that little brother of mine is doing? Does he cry all day long?" Wang Juan stood up at this time and greeted the bailiff.
As soon as he heard Wang Juan's words, the bailiff revealed a smile on his face, and replied, "Everything is well. That kid cries all day long, and the commotion he creates is not small at all. He’s obviously a mischievous one. I have no idea how I’ll manage later on. The two of us came here to patrol and happened to see you two. How is your family?"
"Mmm, thank you for showing concern, Uncle Song. Actually, my little brother does not cry for no reason. He is either hungry, or feels uncomfortable with the temperature, or wants to pee. You just have to observe him more. The most important thing is to make him a small bed and place it in the corner, not next to the window, but next to the door.
Add warm colors to the walls on both sides. Oh, the red cloth, make it thicker too, and there shouldn’t be too much empty space around his bed. Put random stuff around him, even placing bags around him would work. That way, he won't cry that much anymore.
That's right, Xiao'bao, it's your turn. Didn’t always let me talk. You know much more about this, what else should be done? Come up with ideas. "
Wang Juan gave suggestions while smiling, but as she talked, she noticed that Zhang Xiao'bao had been silent the entire time. She touched him with her hand.
Zhang Xiao'bao had no choice but to speak up, "The other thing is to hold him often, especially when sleeping. He should sleep between his parents. Put up a curtain at the foot of the bed, and place an extra pillow at his head. This way, he won’t cry anymore unless he is hungry or has peed."
Because Zhang Xiao'bao was an orphan, he had intentionally studied this aspect before. No matter how young the child is, the child would need a stable environment; that is to make the space the child can see as small as possible, but also have warm colors, and the child’s parents by their side. This would allow the child to feel like they are always in a safe place.
In particular, the span of the space was the most important thing. Children usually aren’t aware of height. They would not be scared of climbing down from a spot that is tens of meters up high. They have no concept of height, but the size of their surrounding environment was the most intuitive to them.
In particular, at night, the moment they cannot see their surroundings, they would be afraid. In the dark, even if their body temperature drops by two degrees, he will wake up immediately and cry for protection.
Oftentimes, the parents don’t understand what’s going on and would just hum to coax their child, which is not very effective. The most correct way is to hold the child in their arms. The child will usually fall asleep again within a few seconds.
Adults were accustomed to this kind of thing, and they were unable to change their habits, unless they train themselves like him or Wang Juan, so that they can adjust their body through psychological cues. Those in the inner courtyard of the manor were able to sleep peacefully because there were always people patrolling in the main courtyard at night.
Bailiff Song nodded keenly while he listened to Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan’s words. If anyone else told him this, he would doubt their words. He always trusted these two children’s words. He had heard people say that when they were almost one year old, two two kids never cried before. They were not alarmed when the servants in the Zhang and Wang manor woke up to relieve themselves. The surrounding guards were always there to protect them.
"Okay, I'll arrange that when I go back. What should he eat on a daily basis? Only milk? Oh, thanks to Manor, my wife has been able to produce enough milk for him."
The bailiff asked Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan for advice, and at the same time, he was very grateful. His wife was able to produce enough milk because their manors gave them a lot of gifts. The small restaurant in the county basically gave his family a portion of milky white fish soup with vegetables and no salt added everyday. Also, a pork knuckle was delivered to them every three days.
He was unable to repay this kind of considerate care. Today, he happened to hear from a freight carrier today that the two of them were coming here, so he told his partner in advance to come here together and wait.
Wang Juan imagined the little boy’s playful appearance, and said, “You can also get him to drink more fruit juice. Don’t use fruits that are too sour; choose sweet ones and he will love drinking it. If there is no juice, then feed him some rice porridge. It’s best to add in some sugar. Oh, we have forgotten about that. We oughta send someone to give sugar for him to eat. We will arrange that later."
Wang Juan was right. Children like to eat sugar, not because it is sweet, but because their genes dictate it. No matter what kind of food, when the body absorbs it in the end, it will be in the form of sugar. When children are not as sensible yet, they are influenced by genes and would like to eat sugar, which is needed for survival.
Another thing was that children were not afraid to eat fishy or greasy things. If you give him a piece of fatty meat, as long as he can chew it, he will also like eating it. Some adults don’t want to eat fish because it was too fishy tasting, while children are not afraid due to their natural survival instinct.
Zhang Xiao'bao also added at this time, "When he gets older, let him eat rice mixed with sugar. Don't add any salt; he will also like it. The rice here will have to be cooked until it’s mushy, otherwise it would be too hard."
When Zhang Xiao'bao said this, he thought of his Dean Grandfather. At the beginning, when some children were sent in, they were fed with food like that and now his younger brothers and sisters have all grown up.
"Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. This brother here, don't you want to talk? Sit, sit here, I'll stand."
Bailiff Song firmly made a mental note of what Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan said. He gestured to the man next to him to sit in a spot that was opposite to Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan.
At this time, this person finally believed that the two children in front of him were definitely the young masters of the two Zhang and Wang manors. He had already heard that the people in the Administrative Office treated their families well, but he never thought it would be this well.
"Hmm, uhh...little boy, little girl, what do you want to eat? My treat.." The man sat down, looked at the bailiff next to him, and said in a trembling voice.
"Nothing much. We’re just going to grill some garlic. It's raining heavily and it’s cold outside, so we’re afraid of getting sick. It's good to eat some garlic. Waiter, add a dish of fish to each table."
Wang Juan picked up the pressed translucent fish, put it on the grill and brushed a layer of oil onto it. After slightly grilling both sides, she gave a part of it to Zhang Xiao'bao and placed the remaining part on her own plate. Then she spoke to this person, and later the waiter.
The man looked at the thing that Wang Juan grilled, which should be called fish fillet but was not quite like fish fillet, and asked, "Little girl, are you not going to add some spicy sauce to it?"
"No. If you put spicy sauce on it, then it will only taste like spicy sauce. The original flavor tastes the best. Uncle, oh, elder brother, have a taste of this. Uncle Song, take a few of these fish back home later and give it to the little brother and let him chew on it."
Wang Juan continued speaking again.
The expenses the Zhang and Wang manors must pay to maintain their power must be pretty big for their manors.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but considering the sheer profit these actions bring in. It would be justified, their reputation for generosity is rightly deserved and they are treated extremely well for it.
DeleteTheir reputation for intelligence is at it's peak, and each of their actions leaves one guessing what they are doing. This builds a strong aura as they talked about last chapter.
It also gives them an economic edge since everyone wants what they have, and will have.