Great Tang Idyll - Volume 4 Chapter 44

When the sun rises, a sun shower passes, and a beautiful rainbow appears in the sky.

Such a beautiful sight makes many people happy, but it also brings unhappiness to others.

Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan are among the unhappy ones. It isn’t because the rainbow isn’t beautiful or because the air isn’t fresh after the rain. The real problem is the sun shower. The cabbages they have planted are already three inches tall. They plan to pick some and plant them today, leaving a few for eating, so the dense cabbages will have enough space to grow.

After the sun shower, the two of them get busy. They need to prepare lime water and think of other ways to deal with the aphids. Lime water alone can’t guarantee they will completely kill or prevent the pests.

“I hear garlic juice works well. Why don’t we mix some garlic with lime water and spray it on the cabbages?” Zhang Xiaobao suggests. The sauerkraut they made last year hasn’t been eaten yet. It has been rinsed with water to prevent it from going bad. It tastes good when fried with fat meat.

The cabbages in the field can’t be abandoned. They have a high yield and can be prepared in many ways. Stir-frying them with carrots is a relatively good dish.

Wang Juan waves her hand. “No, garlic is too expensive. Let’s try something else. I hear leeks are also effective. Why not sacrifice a few acres of leeks and mix leek juice with lime water to stop the aphids?”

“Then we’ll sacrifice the leeks. One mu of land should be enough. Let’s dig them up with the roots. If we cut them in the rain, they’ll rot easily.” For the sake of the cabbages, Zhang Xiaobao reluctantly agrees to give up some of the leeks.

“Don’t dig them up. What if they don’t rot? The rotten roots must be caused by germs in the rainwater that got into the leeks. Just sprinkle some lime water on them. After cutting, cover them to keep them out of the light.”

Wang Juan still hopes the leeks will grow in batches. She likes to eat leek greens, much like she enjoys garlic sprouts. As she speaks, she grabs two leek sickles, one for each of them, and pulls Zhang Xiaobao outside to harvest the leeks.

Liu Shaoqing is also in a bad mood. He is filled with regret. Why does he write that note so foolishly? Why doesn’t he think it through before sending it? He fears he has been discovered.

Where can he get two hundred jars of shrimp paste? The person sent out last night comes back with news that the Zhang family is also catching shrimp. It seems the Zhang family wants to make shrimp paste and use this to trick him.

After buying the jars at a high price, he still needs to buy salt. Otherwise, he can’t arrange for people to boil sea water and dry the salt like they do in the salt fields. If it were in the past, how much salt would he have gotten? As soon as Zhang Zhong arrives, he takes control of the salt supply, with people in the state being given salt monthly.

If he wants more food, he has to buy it. Otherwise, he can try boiling seawater himself—but no one can go to the salt fields to do it.

“Someone come here.” Liu Shaoqing finally decides to boil the salt himself. He assigns a few people to boil the salt, trying to save as much as possible.

Someone has been waiting outside. When he hears Liu Shaoqing’s call, he hurries inside, walking lightly to avoid upsetting the master and having him take his anger out on him.

“How’s the shrimp catching going? Assign more people to cook salt,” Liu Shaoqing says, staring at the servant who comes in.

The servant tries his best to remain calm. “Master, the shrimpers are still working. The rafts can’t go too far, so they haven’t caught many shrimp. I estimate they’ll catch about five jars. In twenty days, once they’re more familiar with the work, they’ll be able to catch enough for two hundred jars. Master, don’t worry. It’s mainly the servants from those three families who aren’t working hard. I’ll have them cook salt in a bit. Do you have any other instructions?”

“I’m relieved? What do I have to be relieved about? Twenty days? Can we make shrimp paste in the remaining ten days? You’re not working hard, are you? Fine, send them over quickly. No lunch today. We’re going shrimp catching. Whoever catches enough shrimp to make one jar of shrimp paste by nightfall gets a meal.”

Liu Shaoqing shouts, lifting his tea bowl, ready to drop it—but it stops mid-air. In the end, he can’t bear to waste it. A bowl like that costs five or six cents each.

He glances at the servant standing in fear and waves his hand. “Go down and do as I say.”

“Yes, master. I’ll leave right away.” The servant quickly leaves, breathing a sigh of relief once he is out the door. He is terrified.

Liu Shaoqing is furious. He is angry at Zhang Zhong, himself, and the other three men. Zhang Zhong has caught him off guard, but Cao Herui and the others only offer a small amount of money at the critical moment. It seems they are trying to stay out of it.

Cao Herui is in a better mood. He stays home, avoiding the four of them. The main reason is it is difficult to face Liu Shaoqing. After all, he and the others have backed down on this matter and haven’t intended to reconcile. At least they haven’t written a joint document.

The rainbow in the sky is visible from his window. It is beautiful. People say that if you can find the end of the rainbow, you can reach heaven, but no one has ever found it. Perhaps the person who does is no longer in this world.

“Master, master, a steward from the Zhang family is here, and he wants to discuss business with you,” a servant reports quickly, interrupting Cao Herui’s thoughts.

Cao Herui immediately shudders, looking at the servant. “Is he a two-star errand boy?”

He has been frightened by Liu Shaoqing’s incident and is now extremely wary of anyone who comes to him. The servant shakes his head slightly and replies, “It’s not a two-star, it’s a five-star. Master, should we turn him away?”

“Well… let him in. Let’s see what he wants. This time, I won’t be tricked,” Cao Herui says, hesitating for a moment but ultimately deciding to meet with him.

The servants quickly bring the Zhang family members over. Cao Herui doesn’t greet them in the living room. Instead, he stands outside in the small courtyard, intending to send them away after listening. He doesn’t want to be tricked.

“Master Cao, my master asks me to come and discuss something with you. The fishing company is a little short-handed, and we would like to ask your family’s servants to help out. They would be paid like ordinary workers, and there’s no need to sign any documents. They can stop working at any time.” Wuxing Zashi stands before Cao Herui, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Cao Herui doesn’t immediately agree. He needs to think things through. He doesn’t think Zhang Zhong would be this kind-hearted, but there doesn’t seem to be any trickery involved—no documents to sign, and they can quit at any time. At worst, he will just back out.

No, things can’t be that simple. If they are, Liu Shaoqing wouldn’t have been fooled. There has to be something Cao Herui hasn’t considered.

An idea suddenly flashes through his mind. He sneers and says to the visitor, “My servants are busy with important tasks and there’s no manpower. Are you trying to sow discord among the four of us? What will happen to the shrimp if we pull people away?”

“Master Cao, you misunderstand. No one is trying to cause discord. We really are short-handed. If you agree, we’ll compensate those who help with shrimp and pay them in shrimp suitable for making shrimp paste. Then it will be easier for you.”

The Zhang family’s representative remains calm as he explains.

“Are you really offering me shrimp? And will they be provided meals like the others? And they can leave whenever they want?” Cao Herui asks, finally tempted. With such conditions, he can’t imagine what could go wrong. It seems impossible for them to be trying to cheat him. Still, something feels off.

The Zhang family nods. “What Lord Cao said is correct. Not only that, but we will also provide new clothes for those working with us.”

“No other requests?” Cao Herui asks again.

“No, absolutely none. If you don’t believe me, I can go find others and see if they can spare thirty people,” the steward replies, standing firm.

This time, the Zhang family member doesn’t turn to leave after speaking but stands there, waiting for Cao Herui’s response.

Cao Herui has to think it over. He stares at the man from the Zhang family, deep in thought. Finally, he grits his teeth and says, “Alright, I’ll transfer some people over. They will need shrimp, three meals a day, new clothes, and a written contract.”

The Zhang family doesn’t object. They both write up a document, emphasizing that the workers can leave at any time.

“Master, if possible, I hope your people can arrive this afternoon. I’ll take my leave now.” The Zhang family member collects the document, says something to Cao Herui, and turns to leave.

Once the Zhang family members have gone, Cao Herui remains standing, deep in thought. He can’t figure it out. He turns to his servant, who is standing nearby, and asks, “Do you think there’s some conspiracy behind this?”

The servant can’t figure it out either. He envies the thirty workers who can get through this. He thinks hard and replies, “Master, I can’t think of anything either. Maybe Zhang Zhong suddenly became kind? But I don’t think so. It doesn’t matter. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just leave.”

“Well, that’s all we can do,” Cao Herui mutters. “Send someone to call our people back immediately and have them go to the Zhang family to help. It’s almost noon, so hurry up. Don’t eat there, though. Let them eat at Zhang’s place. I’ve heard the food is good there. Let them eat as much as they want. The more they eat, the better.”

When Cao Herui can’t figure it out, he simply treats it as a game with the Zhang family. With the written receipt in hand, he isn’t worried about being deceived.

The servant quickly runs off. There aren’t many people available, so he usually has to do things himself.

As Cao Herui watches his servant leave, he turns back into the house, muttering to himself, “What is really going on? Are they really not trying to plot against me? There’s no need to trade, and no reason to worry that the servants will be trapped after finishing their work. Why does it still feel off?”