xymnovel Chapter 93 Banxia Receives a Letter
Chapter 93 Banxia Receives a Letter
Chapter 93 Banxia Receives a Letter
"I am an apprentice of the Wang family, the estate outside the city."
Zhou Xia took out the small, rough porcelain wine jar from the cloth bag and handed it over with both hands, saying, "My master asked me to bring this jar of pine wine for the boss to try."
The master said this is a new product and hasn't been priced yet. He asked the boss to try it and give him an answer.
Boss Sun took the wine jar, and his eyes immediately changed.
He wasn't in a hurry to open the jar; he's a professional when it comes to wine.
He first turned the jar over and over to examine it, then gently tapped the jar wall with his finger and listened to the echo. Next, he held it up to the window and looked at the clay seal on the jar mouth against the light.
Finally, he carefully opened the seal and brought it close to his nose to smell it.
Upon smelling it, my eyes immediately narrowed.
He then took another sniff, this time bringing his entire nose to the mouth of the jar and inhaling more slowly.
After all the procedures were completed, he put down the jar, took out a clean little wine cup from under the counter, and poured a shallow amount into the bottom of the cup.
The wine was clear and bright, with a slight amber hue in the sunlight.
He picked up the wine cup, but didn't rush to drink. He first swirled it to see if the wine would cling to the side of the cup.
Then he took a small sip, swirled it around in his mouth a couple of times, and slowly swallowed it.
After swallowing, he didn't say anything, but took a second sip.
The second sip was larger than the first.
He put down his wine cup, remained silent for a while, and then looked into Zhou Xia's eyes.
"Your master said this wine hasn't been priced yet?"
"Yes. Master said to let the boss taste it and give me an answer."
Boss Sun carefully placed the wine jars on the wooden shelf behind the counter, alongside those expensive wine jars with red paper labels.
He took a small piece of silver from the money box, placed it on the counter, and pushed it over.
"Please give me a message to the owner," he paused, "I'll take as much of this wine as he has. He can set the price; I won't haggle."
Zhou Xia carefully put away the loose silver and silently memorized the sentence.
He led the donkey cart out of the tavern. The sun on the street was already scorching, and the bluestone pavement was burning hot under his feet.
He wasn't in a hurry to go back. Following his master's instructions, he led the donkey into a quiet alley and found Chen's General Store.
The shop was small, and the signboard hanging on the facade had faded from the wind and sun, and the characters were almost unrecognizable.
As soon as Zhou Xia entered, she saw an old man in his fifties dozing off in a bamboo chair behind the counter, a palm-leaf fan covering his face, his belly rising and falling with his breathing.
A tabby cat was lying on the counter. When it saw someone come in, it only raised its eyelids slightly before burying its head in its front paws again.
"Uncle Chen," Zhou Xia called out. He had met this man before when he accompanied his master.
Old Chen took the palm-leaf fan off his face and blinked twice.
He stared at Zhou Xia for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh: "Oh! It's you! The young man who helped carry the medicinal herbs behind Master Wang last time!"
"Yes, my surname is Zhou. My master asked me to buy a pound of tea, the same kind of wild tea I bought last time."
"Wild tea, yes, yes, yes. Is the owner almost finished with his wild tea? When he bought it last time, I told him that this tea is only produced in small quantities, just a few pounds a year, and that I should buy more to store so I wouldn't have to come back later. But he wouldn't listen and insisted that I should buy more only after I finished it."
As Old Chen rambled on, he turned around, took a tea canister from the shelf, weighed it on a small scale, and poured it into a burlap bag. Although his hands moved nimbly, his mouth didn't stop either. "Has Master Wang been busy lately? You should tell him to take care of his health. How can he possibly finish all his work?"
Last time, someone from the county government told me that the rice on his farm was much thicker than everyone else's. Is that true? I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet. I'll have to go and see it when I have time next time.
"It's true," Zhou Xia said. "Master said that the ears of grain will start to sprout in another month or so."
"Tsk tsk tsk." Old Chen shook his head repeatedly, it was unclear whether he was lamenting the rice or something else. "Can the manor owner manage to keep up?"
But now that you're here too, it shouldn't be a big problem. You can help out with the chores too.
"I can help a little," Zhou Xia answered honestly.
Old Chen handed over the tea bag, then pulled out a small cloth bag from under the counter: "This is this year's new Sichuan peppercorns, very numbing, and fragrant when stir-fried. It's much better than last year's. Take it back and let the owner try it. Just say it's a gift from Old Chen, no money required."
The peppercorn bag wasn't big; it was sewn from coarse blue cloth with fine stitches, and it felt heavy in the hand.
Zhou Xia thanked him, carefully put away the tea bag and pepper bag, and paid for the tea.
Old Chen leaned against the door frame, watching the donkey cart turn out of the alley before slowly returning to the shop.
On her way back from the pharmacy, Zhou Xia went to the pharmacy again.
Manager Zhou has returned and is sitting behind the counter flipping through an old prescription book.
He took the eggs, picked one up and held it up to the sun, then gently shook it. He heard the yolk rattling inside the shell and nodded in satisfaction.
"The chickens at Master Wang's farm are well-raised, and the eggs are good too. You look much better than when you first came to Lantian."
Manager Zhou had taken a liking to the young man the first time they met; he was hardworking, diligent, and reliable.
He collected the eggs, counted out the copper coins, and then took two loquats from the counter and handed them to Zhou Xia, saying, "They grew in my own yard, and they're very sweet. Take them home and try them."
Zhou Xia drove the donkey cart out of the city gate.
The afternoon sun was no longer as harsh as at noon, and the wind blew from the rice paddies, carrying the fresh, slightly bitter scent of rice leaves.
He gathered the copper coins and silver coins he had collected in his cloth bag, then touched the steamed buns and loquats in his arms. He mentally reviewed what Boss Sun, Boss Madam, the manager, and Manager Zhou had all said, thinking about how to tell his master when he got back.
Upon arriving at the farm, he tied the donkey back to the shed, took down the empty basket, and placed copper coins, broken silver, steamed cakes, and loquats together on the stone table.
Wang Zhihuan was squatting next to the chicken coop repairing the bamboo fence, with a few bamboo strips in his mouth and a piece of wire in his hand, without even raising his head.
"How did it go? Did you get it done? Did they ask you to pass on any messages?"
"Master, everything is taken care of. The shop owner said that from now on, all the vegetables will be ordered from us. The magistrate said that the quantity was two jin too much, so he paid extra."
The pharmacy owner, Mr. Zhou, said, "Our eggs are bigger than others." The tavern owner, Mr. Sun, said, "He wants as much pine nut wine as he wants; the price is set by our master, and he won't haggle."
He paused, then pushed the steamed buns and loquats forward: "These are steamed buns given by the landlady, and these are loquats given by Manager Zhou."
Wang Zhihuan put down the wire, stood up, and patted the dirt off his hands.
He first looked at the steamed buns, then at the loquats, then gathered the copper coins and silver coins together and counted them, comparing them with the amount calculated on the slip of paper; they were exactly the same.
"There's also tea." Zhou Xia took out tea bags and peppercorn packets from the cloth bag. "Uncle Chen also gave me a packet of new peppercorns, saying it's this year's harvest. He also told me to tell you to take care of yourself; how can you possibly finish all the work?"
>