Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 91

Li Xun chose this trail to avoid interfering with traffic on the main road. People have been sent to the front to check for any dangers already, and normally, there were no pedestrians here. However, along this route, they had to travel over two hills. The hills were actually just dirt hills that had a few trees growing on it, and there were no cliffs.

After they walk a bit more today, they will arrive at the hill. Travelling over the hill took up quite a bit of time. While Zhang Xiao'bao spoke, he hastened his pace by a little bit. According to his calculations, most people would rest on the hill at night.

He and Wang Juan didn't talk, and Li Xun and the other surrounding people also remained silent and focused on travelling. However, Han Yong'yao and Yuan Xing'yi, who were behind them, couldn't stay quiet. They moved a little farther away from the team and got together to discuss matters.

"Brother Xing'yi, I just can't figure out how the three of them were caught? Do you think they will give my name out?" Han Yong'yao rubbed his hands anxiously, hoping that Yuan Xing'yi's words could comfort him.

Yuan Xing'yi was also worried. Hearing this, he smacked his lips a few times, "They will. Those bailiffs are very skilled. I'm not afraid of this though. If they give out our names, we can just not admit it. What can they do about us? We're not from the San'shui county, would they dare to go there to arrest people?"

"Fine? The matter is severe. The Zhang and Wang manors will remember us now. If we don't handle things well, they will cause trouble for our two families later on. No, I need to send someone home and notify my family. We need to put more people on watch at night."

As Yuan Xing'yi was talking, he suddenly thought of this idea. He ignored Han Yong'yao's questions about how the Zhang and Wang manors would retaliate, and he quickly found the guard who accompanied him here. After his guard left with his orders, Yuan Xing'yi finally let out a breath of relief. He looked at Han Yong'yao, who had also just sent away a messenger, and he said,

"It's alright now. In the future, we should interact with Young Master Li more often and give him some benefits so that Young Master Li would not help them. It seems like Young Master Li is rather nice to those two manors. I wonder why he gave up on purchasing their restaurant and manor. If we have a chance, we should provoke their relationship with this matter."

Perhaps because he thought his idea was good, so after Yuan Xing'yi spoke, he laughed sinisterly. Han Yong'yao nodded rigorously, thinking that this idea was indeed good.

"When we eat later, I'm going to give the good food in my bag to Young Master Li to eat." Han Yong'yao thought of such a way to approach and please him.

Yuan Xing'yi shook his head. "That's not appropriate. Young Master Li is here to obtain something. He won't eat the food you give him. He wants to experience what it is like to survive in the wild. If you really give him food, he will get angry."

"Brother Xing'yi is right. I have not thought through it carefully. Hmm, I shouldn't give it to him." Han Yong'yao felt that he was a lot worse than Yuan Xing'yi. He felt more grateful towards him, and tried to copy him.

Li Xun continued to travel, and from time to time, he looked up at the sky. He felt that the day passed by too slowly today. He kept thinking about how Zhang Xiao'bao said that had something to discuss with him. In his opinion, it was not Zhang Xiao'bao who had something to say to him, but instead, it was the mastermind that wanted to use Zhang Xiao'bao to deliver his message.

While being tormented by this emotional state, the sky finally slowly darkened, and the team also arrived at the second hill. When the round egg-yolk-like sun setted below the mountain, the team stopped. The faster group of people had already taken out their food and started eating.

Li Xun and them also started to take things out to eat. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan took their stuff out and when others saw their items, they were all surprised and Li Xun was also a little puzzled.

He thought that Zhang Xiao'bao and Wan Juan would bring out the same fried noodles as him, but he did not expect that what the two of them took out of their backpacks was raw rice.

"Xiao'bao, you two are planning to..." Li Xun asked, pointing to the raw rice.

The two of them took out a small pot, and they placed a bowl into the pot. One item was a ladle and the other item was a steamer, but it was smaller in size compared to normal ones.

Wang Juan was in charge of adding water and steaming the rice, while Zhang Xiao'bao had to dig a hole and to pick firewood. A small foldable three-legged iron ring was placed on the fire.

While the rice was being steamed, the two of them took out pre-cut radish and beef, placed them in another pot, and poured in some oil. They fried some chopped green onion, and cooked the radish beef stew.

Everyone was dumbfounded. How could they be in the mood to cook? Under everyone's surprised gaze, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan took out two big goose eggs. It was hard to believe that they placed goose eggs in their backpacks.

"Xiao'bao, let's just eat one. One is enough for the both of us." Wang Juan looked at the goose egg in his hand, then she looked at Zhang Xiao'bao's and spoke.

"Okay, let's just eat one then." Zhang Xiao'bao put his own egg away, and took out the largest bowl in the set and then he lit up the pile of firewood. He poured oil into the bowl, and Wang Juan came over and cracked the goose egg on the side of the bowl. Crack. The egg white and yolk slipped into the bowl.

"Raw?" Several people said at the same time. They thought that the egg would either be cooked already or was salted. They didn't expect that the egg was raw.

Li Xun watched from the side. The more he thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. How come Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan didn't bring food that was convenient for travelling? They started cooking while on the road. With this done, there were lesser things in their backpacks. He couldn't help but be curious and asked,

"Xiao'bao, are there any secrets about the items you brought with you?"

"Secrets? No. Juan'juan and I came here in a hurry. We came over from Little Luo'shui. How could we possibly prepare other things? We could only bring some random items. Do you want to eat radish and beef stew with us later? It has our special seasoning in it. I like dipping this beef in garlic sauce, but Juan'juan refuses to do so."

Zhang Xiao'bao explained to Li Xun. He and Wang Juan were actually here to cause trouble for Han Yong'yao and Yuan Xing'yi. They weren't planning to actually survive in the wild, so they planned to enjoy the process as much as possible.

Li Xun naturally didn't believe his words. How could there be nothing at Little Luo'shui? Hearing Zhang Xiao'bao say this, Li Xun could only keep the words in his heart and wait to see what the two of them would eat when they ran out of food. Will they try to eat that stuff everyday from now on?

As the food was stewed in the pot, Zhang Xiao'bao's thirteen spice mix was added. After a while, its fragrance floated everywhere in the air. The fragrance of the rice also spreaded. This made those who could only eat fried noodles or reheated food secretly swallow their drool. It would be great to even have a sip of the stew.

Li Xun thought for a while, and finally decided to eat some of Zhang Xiao'bao's and Wang Juan's food. He said, "Serve me some later. Give me less meat and more soup. You two can't finish the rice, right? Get me some too. I'll add it into the soup. Is this... cucumber?"

While Li Xun spoke, Zhang Xiao'bao took out two cucumbers from his bag. He flipped an iron bowl upside down, and then pulled out a small kitchen knife. Smack smack. He began smashing the cucumber flat with the knife. Wang Juan also handed him a few cloves of garlic.

Hearing Li Xun's words, Zhang Xiao'bao replied back but he didn't stop working, "Yeah, cucumber. We're making garlic with smashed cucumber to eat. We will share some with you later. Unless the cucumbers are brought over from elsewhere, most people won't have the chance to eat cucumbers."

"I know. It looks like your house has an auspicious omen again this year, right? When winter comes, give me some and I can help you sell it. What do you think?"

Li Xun knew about their cucumbers. It had nothing to do with auspicious omens--- it was just the Zhang manor's method for growing cucumbers. He made this guess last year, and he even wanted to come over to steal their method, but he was stopped by his father. He father told him that they could not interfere with people's money making methods. They should be content with being able to eat it. The Zhang manor counted on cucumbers to earn more money.

Later, he heard people say that the Zhang Manor had been prepared for this long ago. As long as someone else goes there, the people in the manor will destroy the place. This dispelled his idea. Now that he was more familiar with Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan, he felt even more embarrassed to ask for their method, so he could only buy some.

Zhang Xiao'bao brushed his hands clean. Then, he placed the cucumber and garlic in the bowl and sprinkled in some salt. While he tossed them together, he said, "We don't need to sell it. This year, my family has grown a lot of cucumbers, so we have enough to eat until next year. We planted them at different times. When we get back, I'll get someone to give you some. You could offer them to your elders. You can also learn about the cultivation technique and then tell your father. This is a good way to help the commoners."

"Yeah, my father said to give it out. We didn't give it last year because the technique was discovered very suddenly, so we didn't know how effective it was. It was an auspicious omen. This year, we have a good grasp of the technique so we have no worries anymore. Actually, that person in my house said that we won't be able to keep it for ourselves anymore, so if we give it out, we would even gain some benefits in return. If we don't hand it over, and try to sell it, how would we dare to call it an auspicious omen?"

Zhang Xiao'bao said helplessly. Once the technique was given out, it could be used to grow other plants, not just cucumbers alone. How much money would they lose?

But this thing was like a bomb. With the arrival of the new county magistrate, Little Luo'shui's income was so high that the Zhang and Wang manors were being targeted.

Li Xun pondered for a while, "Understood. Earlier, you said that you have something to discuss with me. This was it? What benefits does your family want? Promote your father's and Wang Juan's father's ranking?"

"No. Even with promotions, it's still an empty title. It's enough to have a seventh-rank official title. We'll think about what to do for Juan'juan's father later. My father should not be promoted. If his ranking is too high, it would be hard to make arrangements for him in the future. It is enough for you to help my father build a reputation. This technique should be called Yong'cheng Planting Technique."

Zhang Xiao'bao didn't want to ask for an official title for his father right now. If his father really did get promoted, then how will his ranking be arranged after he writes the imperial examination? If he becomes a sixth-rank official now, will he then be directly assigned to be the county magistrate? Then that means he would be the magistrate of Chang'an in the capital county. It was better to use this cultivation technique to gain some reputation. Later, they will promote this to everyone, and Magistrate Cheng can help too. It would be easier to post some ads too.

Li Xun didn't know that this was the result of the discussion between Zhang Xiao'bao' and Wang Juan, and he thought these ideas belonged to the Zhang manor's mastermind.

"Young Master Li, this was not what I wanted to discuss. It's something else. We plan to build some restaurants next to Between The Water And Clouds. We will tell you about the detailed plan later. The other thing is that we need your help." Zhang Xiao'bao continued.