Great Tang Idyll

Thank you to Jesse for commissioning chapters 02, 03 and 04!

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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.

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"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.

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"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.

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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 qian¹of 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.

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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?

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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

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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.