Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 17

Volume 02 Chapter 17: The Competition Proceeded When The Rain Stopped

Zhang Xiao'bao stood in front of the window to watch the rain outside. The rain didn't seem heavy at all, but it never seemed to stop. He muttered, "There's no water shortage here anymore, but I'm unsure about the places where the harvest seasons begin earlier. The harvest season is about to start over there. The grains in their fields won't even need to be collected; it will sprout and has to be planted. "

"That shouldn't happen, I think? If that's the case, this year's grain prices will rise a lot. Some places aren't experiencing a drought; likewise, it can't be that it's raining everywhere in the country right now. The drought-stricken areas will already have a low harvest, so there's no huge difference if more is lost. When the time comes, the Imperial Court will help them out. This Li Long'ji person is quite good during the early days of his reign."

Right now, Wang Juan also felt tired of the endless rain. This was mainly because of the humidity in the house and because she couldn't go to the outdoor swimming pool. It was fine to stay in the house and do nothing, but if she wanted to read a book, she would have to light up the inside of the room.

Zhang Xiao'bao felt that his worries were indeed a bit unreasonable and excessive. Grain shortage has nothing to do with the Zhang and Wang manors and there will always be other people that will handle the problem. He can't possibly sell some of his harvested grains without making any profit. He already achieved his goal of getting some work credit for his family so there was no longer any need to worry about this problem anymore.

He did not plan to buy the grains at low prices and deliberately price gorge during this crisis since not a lot of money can be earned. It was not the same case as when he sent grains during the drought because the amount of grains was not a lot-- it was under twenty thousand catties. If he wanted to take advantage of the situation to earn a fortune, then he needs tens of thousands tons of grain. That would easily catch other people's attention since the amount was too great. If he did this, then his family would lose their achievement and have their stable lives disrupted.

"Xiao'bao, how about you go outside with an umbrella and catch some fishes? It's easier to catch them right now. Once I heard someone say when you go fishing when it's raining, the chance that the fish bites the bait is higher."

Wang Juan was a little irritated by the weather. She noticed that Zhang Xiao'bao was silent, so she proposed this idea to him.

"That depends on the kind of fish. I'm not going to go. If I want to catch fish, then I'll catch the fishes in our family's ponds. It has been raining for two days already, so the ground should be moistened. This is the perfect time to get people to connect those six ponds now. Digging into the ground should be easy. "

Zhang Xiaobao didn't want to catch fish. He and Wang Juan were only able to drag a very small net and they weren't able to throw the net out that far either. They had no idea how long it would take to catch any fishes if they stayed on the shore. They couldn't even consider fishing with a pole because if they encountered a slightly larger fish, the fish can drag the two of them into the water.

"That's good too. We should check how many straw capes1 and straw hats are left at the store, and then give them to the residents so they can dig the trenches in the rain. We will take care of their food and pay each person three coins. Get the doctors in the Manor to make some medicinal soup; we can't let them catch a cold."

Wang Juan agreed with Zhang Xiao'bao's words and immediately arranged it. The residents had nothing to do at home so as soon as they heard that there was work to do, each families' laborers came out with tools. They didn't care much about the meals and the pay since doing work for their master was the wish they had in their hearts.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan didn't stay in the house anymore. Shi'liu accompanied them and she held up a large umbrella. They ran to the small river in front of the yard to watch the water level slowly rise.

The number of guests at the Between the Water and Clouds Restaurant have decreased by a lot. The only people that stayed at the restaurant were some travellers who were unwilling to travel home in the rain. The market was unaffected and the number of people who went to the bazaar was actually more than usual.

Those people mainly came here to sell vegetables. The vegetables were fine with being drenched by rain; in fact, after the vegetables got wet, they looked fresher. The price set by Er'gou was slightly raised, but the price of fruits has been lowered. At this time, the fruits that were usually sweet were not sweet anymore.

When the evening came, the rain finally became heavier. Even though the booming loud thunder sounded, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were not at all disturbed by the large noise, and they still got up to study. Shi'liu sat at the doorway instead of sleeping today. She yawned and watched the two young children studying there. From time to time, she was frightened by the thunder, but when she saw that the lights inside and outside the house were still on, she calmed down.

In the yard of the Between The Water And Cloud Restaurant, the four evacuees did not go to sleep either. Xiao'man kept crying, so his sister had to hold him in her arms. While she was trying to memorize the stuff she learned, she tried to coax her younger brother. Their parents were talking quietly amongst themselves.

Just like what Wang Juan said, it did not rain everywhere. Not a single drop of rain fell in the He'nan Division. Xiao'hong and Ying'tao sat near the window and they were busy with bookkeeping. Quite a large number of eggs were collected in these past few days. A portion of the eggs were pickled, and another portion of the eggs were directly traded for other items. They tried their best to not keep the eggs since there was no place to store them.

Yao Chong has sent two reports in a row, but even until now, not a single reply was received. He was unsure how long the matter at hand would be delayed. He had already planned to leave early tomorrow morning, and Magistrate Cheng had also arranged people to pack things up and prepare to leave at dawn the next day. After all, the San'shui County still needed a magistrate.

Only those businessmen who brought grains over here to reap some benefits didn't have any intentions to leave. Deep down in their hearts, they resented Xiao'hong and Ying'tao because not only did they bring so much grains to give out for free, they also used those eggs to trade for more grains from the surrounding areas so that they can lower the grain prices here.

The businessmen who arrived here much earlier to sell grains did indeed earn a large sum of money. These people wanted to earn even more money, so they took the money they earned to buy more grains. However, when they returned back to here, the locals no longer fought like crazy to buy grains. Almost all of the local government offices have posted notices saying that a large amount of grain will be shipped in soon, so there was no need to buy grains at high prices anymore.

Er'niu was not like those people. He followed his Young Master's instructions and sold all of the grains he had in possession. Then, he rushed to travel to Shandong. He had a lot of tasks to complete, so he did not make any delays. In addition to transporting rocks, he also had to go to the seaside just to buy seaweed. After he finishes using up all of his money, and the seaweed has dried, he will bring everything back to the Manor.

*

Two days passed by quietly. While the children were waiting with anticipation, the sun finally came out one morning. Perhaps the heavens knew that the children were anxious. There was a thunderstorm last night, and before dawn, it turned into a clear sky.

The Zhang and Wang Manors' young children that were of the appropriate age were all ready for the competition. Each child had a Rubik's Cube in their hands, which was a lot of Rubik's Cubes when added together. There were fifty-five people. Even some families that did not have any children at home came to watch the excitement. For families that did have a few kids, they of course led their children here to participate in the competition.

In addition to those kids, there was also Li Xun, the childe of the Li family. His team of people was the most spectacular looking. Including the children that were not part of the manors but had heard about the competition, there were more than 80 people. In particular, the two children of the scholar' that frequented the restaurant to talk about poetry were also there.

The father of these two children may not be good enough for the Imperial Examination, but he was good enough to teach them. They started learning calligraphy from the age of three and four. The children were now eleven and twelve, so their skills were pretty good after practicing for all these years.

The appearance of all of these unfamiliar children gave the children on the manor a lot of pressure. They felt that the title of first place had just feld away from their sight.

When Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan learned about this situation, they had a discussion. At the end, they decided that they could absolutely not make any remedial measures or comfort the children. It would be good for the manors' children to see how good others were, so that they won't have the misconception that they were better than others just because they knew a few words.

After seeing the gap, they will be more motivated to study harder. If a few children ended up feeling too defeated, then their mindset could be fixed through some persuasion. The person the two of them looked forward to the most was Liu'er. They wanted to see what she would be able to do this time.

The competition was just about to begin. The venue was chosen in the open space in front of the Between The Water And Clouds restaurant. People had already covered the place with sand, and neatly arranged the tables and chairs. The four treasures of the study2 were placed on the tables.

The little children all sat in the chairs while looking around from time to time. They appeared a little bit nervous. Many people were around watching; there were the residents of the manor, the adults who came with their children from outside the manor, and those bored scholars' who sat down beside the window of the restaurant.

The first contest was the Rubik's Cube. Originally it was supposed to be calligraphy, but Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were afraid that once the manors' children lost, they would no longer have the confidence to show off their true strength. They didn't expect them to win first place; it was enough for them to show the best side of themselves.

Zhang Xiao'bao was carried by the two maids in the yard so that he could look down from the roof of the second floor. Ropes were also tied to their bodies because they were scared of accidentally dropping their little masters. Today, the roof was not open to the public.

"Xiao'bao, I heard that were two children from outside the manor that was good with calligraphy. Do you think Li Xun would lose to them? If Li Xun didn't win even once and ended up hating this competition, then we might have foiled our own plans. "

Wang Juan was watching the situation below, and then she turned her head and gave Zhang Xiao'bao a look. She moved her lips as she asked Zhang Xiao'bao.

"Probably not? No matter what, he was educated in that kind of environment, and the teacher that was found to teach him is better than any other teachers out there. Calligraphy not only requires practice, but also comprehension. He is definitely more mature than some children of the same age."

Zhang Xiao'bao was actually a little worried. What if Li Xun was a really competitive person, but he failed to give his best performance during the competition and ended up losing? Then, things will be troubling, and the future plans need to be adjusted accordingly, but doing so would lower its effectiveness.

While they were talking here, the competition on the other side was about to start. All of the children's cubes have been collected, and the cubes were jumbled up in the same way by designated people. Afterwards, the cubes were given back to everyone. Following the instruction to begin, the little children all worked hard to rotate the Rubik's Cube in their hands.

Some children are anxious, and the harder they work, the slower they were. Li Xun appeared to be more calm compared to other children. When he got the Rubik's Cube, he glanced at the others first. He felt that he could win the game. After inspecting the Rubik's cube with the person his family found for him, they easily solved two faces. He doubted that anyone else was also as good as him.

Two hands were playing with the Rubik's Cube and each movement was made just the right amount of strength. Just when he solved two faces, a little girl shouted out. "I'm done. "

Translator's Notes

1. Straw capes

This is a traditional Chinese raincoat that is made from rice straws.

2. Four treasures of the study

This refers to the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.