Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 21

Volume 02 Chapter 21: Disputes Arose in a Harmonious Family

Wang Juan still didn't fully understand what Zhang Xiao'bao said. Normally, at a time like this, the people from the Between The Water and Clouds Restaurant should come over for a discussion, but it seems like Zhang Xiao'bao's had other plans.

"How does this help us? We can't just stir things up like this? Do we really have to buy that many brushes and that much ink? We won't be able to use them all."

"How could that be possible? I plan to buy only one batch. We will buy some from several stores, and then later, we will return the products. We'll tell them that the scholars there felt that these stores' brushes and ink weren't that good and were much worse than the ones bought from outside of San'shui county. The stuff at the Little Luo'shui needs to be bought from places outside."

"Why?"

At this point, they will be very angry. Then, send people from the Between The Water And Clouds Restaurant to discuss making purchases. They will mention that there will be a lot of scholars partaking in a competition at the restaurant and the restaurant has decided to buy their stationeries. A person from another similar store that is from outside the county will join in too. This person is actually an actor' that is in the cahoots with us.

When the right time comes, the actor' will not only offer to give products for free, but also pay the restaurant to use their products so that San'shui County's scholars can know which store sells good products. What do you think the local businesses will do? "

Zhang Xiao'bao outlined his entire plan and Wang Juan nodded vigorously. She stretched out her thumb.

"Awesome. Don't you find that tiring? Just for this kind of thing, we have to make several purchases and find people to cooperate with us. Is it worth it? What are we going to do with all those purchased items?"

Wang Juan admitted that Zhang Xiao'bao's plan was indeed quite perfect. It first messes with the harmony of the local businesses and then it also gives some recognition to the store at the Little Luo'shui. Of course, they wouldn't be able to refund the things they bought unless they discuss this with the store at the time of purchase. However, doing so would raise their suspicion.

The appearance of the actor' near the end was the most powerful move. With this move, the situation was not only a matter of pride, but it was also a matter of future business trades. No matter how Wang Juan thought about it, she felt that it was a bit uneconomical to devise such a plan just to get a few sets of the Four Treasures of the Study.

Zhang Xiao'bao really couldn't understand why Wang Juan didn't think more about it, so he had to continue to explain, "This is not as simple as getting their products once. People now don't have the practice of sponsoring others. Whenever another activity is organized, others will follow the way things proceeded this time.

"Oh, you should've said that earlier. I get it now. This is such a trivial matter. You can arrange it by yourself. Now, let's put the trivial stuff aside and discuss the important stuff. Let's talk about that person who's going to be prince in the future. What are we going to do with him?"

Wang Juan felt that she was a bit slow thinking in this matter, and she unreasonably classified this matter as a trivial matter and began to change the subject.

"Let's see what he's planning to do first. It's good enough for our manors to just cooperate with him. Let's go swimming. We can order others to deal with the trivial stuff whenever we have the time." Zhang Xiao'bao was't petty enough to fight with Wang Juan over this matter. There was no reason for him to make things hard for himself.

When the day was about to get dark, the two of them ran to the swimming pool. They took a quick dip and immediately got out--- it was like a quick shower for them.

*

The children from the Zhang Wang and Ge manors that received medals after participating in the competition had a good dinner that night. Even though the little medal was worthless, it was impressive in the eyes of the adults at home. The pine flower eggs that were brought back were stored away for the children to eat later on. The adults took a bite and didn't eat more of it.

Today, a few outsiders bought a lot of pine flower eggs before they went back. The peeled ones were either five coins each or ten coins each. It was unknown what the egg was like on the inside if it was unpeeled, so the unpeeled ones were seven coins each. The buyer was lucky if they ended up with a good one, but if it was not a good one, then it would be a loss.

After the adults of the three manors learned of the price, they were reluctant to eat the pine flower eggs that their children had won back. Some of the more sensible children noticed that their parents didn't eat the eggs, so the children didn't eat them too. In the end, nobody in the family of five ate any of the pine flower eggs.

When the children from Zhang and Wang manors came back from the competition, they received additional rewards from the master's family. This time around, they were directly given money--- each person was given ten coins to bring back home for their family. This idea was proposed by Wang Juan. She was touched by the never-giving up spirit of these children.

After the children's competition was over, it was not just Liu'er who won in the end. She naturally got a lot of prizes, money, and she was also given the big trophy. The greater victory was that the organized actions of the Zhang and Wang manors' children surprised the middle-aged man who followed Li Xun to the competition.

When they returned back to the manor that day, he told Li Xun about his opinion of the situation. He was a teacher hired by Li Xun's family. Li Xun was stunned after listening to his teacher talk. He didn't expect such a simple thing entailed so many complex concepts. After hearing about it, he immediately ordered a school to be set up on his own manor and a teacher to be found to teach the manor's children.

He didn't believe that his own manor was inferior to the Zhang and Wang manors. Wasn't it just giving the residents things? If other people were able to give things away, then he was able too. In fact, he can give away things there were even better in quality. Next time when there's a chance, another competition should be held to see which manor's residents were better.

Once this order was made, Li Xun began to get busy with the tasks involved with training the "motherland's" children. This was a challenge for him and it was also a way for him to please his family. He wrote each letter by hand and then he ordered his servants to send the letters to families that had a decent amount of wealth.

He also ordered people to post notices throughout the San'shui County. After the families with children knew about this, they sent their children to stay at the courtyards behind the Between the Water and Clouds Restaurant so that they could sign up when the time comes.

By now, Li Xun had already treated the Between the Water and Clouds Restaurant as his own place. When he met Father Zhang today, he did not forget to mention the idea of buying the restaurant. However, Father Zhang declined by saying that it was difficult for him to make a decision without other owners present. How could he sell his son's and his daughter-in-law's creation?

Housekeeper Zhang didn't expect that money could be earned from coming up with these kinds of questions. He went back happily and told Zhang Xiao'bao this, but to his surprise, Zhang Xiao'bao outright refused to sell the questions. He and Wang Juan spent the entire morning writing, and they wrote hundreds of questions that were more appropriate for an adult's level of intelligence. Zhang Xiao'bao asked Housekeeper Zhang to bring the questions back to the restaurant, but he had to keep this a secret. Each question was placed in a separate envelope.

The words "Between the Water and Clouds Restaurant Intelligence Questions" was written on the envelope, and the words "Between the Water and Clouds" were also written at the bottom on the paper inside.

This was Zhang Xiao'bao's and Wang Juan's plan. How much money can be earned from selling the questions? In the future, if everyone still likes to play this kind of game and were able to come up with questions on their own, then as long as someone talks about intelligence puzzles, the first thing others will think of is Between the Water and Clouds. The company's brand is incorporated into the people's culture, and that's the true victory.

On the afternoon of the second day, the people Zhang Xiao'bao sent out to mess with the business' relationships rushed to the places. This time it was chaotic. Usually, the competition between the businesses was fierce. On the outside, they appeared to be friendly to each other, but on the inside, they never ceased to compete with each other. After this delicate relationship was disturbed by others, the businesses' true faces finally surfaced.

After Zhang Xiao'bao was done arranging this kind of wicked affair, he selectively ignored the conflicts that might arise between the businesses in the San'shui County. He and Wang Juan were in the middle of worrying.

They had no idea what Wang Juan's father was thinking. When he knew that many children would participate in the wilderness survival game, he also signed up his daughter and son-in-law. Who let Li Xun change the rules such that five to eight year olds can participate?

According to Zhang Xiao'bao's and Wang Juan's original plan, only children of the ages between eight and twelve, so Wang Juan's father would never sign up his two children.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juanxiao were a little bigger than the other babies when they were born. Zhang Xiao'bao was eight and a half catties, and Wang Juan was a little lighter, eight catties and six taels. These two chubby children were well liked by the family the moment they were born. Luckily, their mothers' luck and health were good, so there were no accidents during labor.

Because they were the little masters of their manors, and Madam Zhang Wang provided them with enough milk, they ended up being much larger than other children. After they arrived here, and after going through a year of exercise, and eating and drinking an immense amount, they looked like they were four years old. In fact, there were some five or six-year-old children who were not as large in size as the two of them.

Even after he had returned home, he was still arguing with his wife. It did not take long for Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan to hear about these two pieces of news: their names have been added, and Wang Juan's parents were not very peaceful at home.

The two had to discuss and decide whether they should go or not. It was okay to play around on the grassland, but it was not interesting. It was supposed to be a survival game, but what kind of dangers are there on a pasture? Furthermore, at night, they would be fed a good meal made by adults. If this was called survival in the wild, then what should the things the two of them did before be called?

"It's so worrying. What was my dad thinking? Why did he sign us up? There is not something a notable family would do. Do we even need to compare ourselves to others?" Wang Juan's biggest worry was whether his parents would fight or not.

"Your family was never a notable one to begin with. Your father's idea is actually not wrong. I heard that your grandpa also supports him. What kind of mindset is this? It should be the mindset of minor peasants? A little selfish, a little utilitarian, a little bit prideful, and slightly scared of being looked down upon by others, a bit..."