Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The next day, Shen Yuan went to work wearing his new clothes and new straw sandals.

Wang Sanhu praised Shen Yuan, saying he looked sharp in his new outfit.

Delighted, Shen Yuan spun around in front of him to show it off, his tone full of pride. "Right? I thought it would look good too. Auntie Ping is really skilled; she did a great job with the clothes."

"My mom’s got skills, and Shen Da, you’re good-looking too. Anyway, the clothes I wear are all made by my mom, but they don't look as good on me as they do on you."

"Oh my! Our Brother Sanhu has learned how to compliment people now!" Shen Yuan teased, laughing.

Only when Wang Sanhu’s dark face turned red from the laughter and he hung his head in embarrassment, too shy to speak, did Shen Yuan ease up and start teasing again. "Is Brother Sanhu getting shy? Why aren't you talking?"

Seeing Shen Yuan circling around in front of him, Wang Sanhu scratched his head. "Look at you, why did you have to say it out loud? It's so embarrassing."

"Hahaha!" Shen Yuan laughed heartily. "Why hide your feelings? Laugh when you want to laugh, cry when you want to cry—isn't that freeing!"

Wang Sanhu looked at Shen Yuan skeptically.

What kind of person could live so freely?

They were born from humble roots. Often, they couldn't even manage a laugh.

Opening their eyes each day was just to toil for that bite of food, working themselves to the bone and still not filling their bellies.

"Shen Da, you're really good like this," Wang Sanhu said sincerely.

Shen Yuan blinked, looking at Wang Sanhu without saying anything.

He had long known that to live well in a place like Wu Country, following the rules would only lead to being bullied; one had to find another way.

This era was special, different from his previous life. To maintain an ordinary, warm life, one either needed money or power.

Otherwise, even a small tax could crush a person, making life unbearable.

...

Today was Shen Yuan's first time working in the main hall. The other tea server was named Fang Zaoshang—named so because he was born in the morning.

He was a servant of the Ji family. Since Shen Yuan was introduced by Ji Ping'an, his status was special. When showing Shen Yuan how to serve tea and letting him learn, Fang Zaoshang was patient and meticulous.

He was naturally easy to get along with, and Shen Yuan learned quickly, so the two soon became more familiar.

Previously, one worked in the front and the other in the back, only briefly meeting during meals, with no other time to communicate.

There weren't many tea guests in the morning.

It wasn't too busy. After serving tea a few times, Shen Yuan and Fang Zaoshang stood by the staircase landing, keeping an eye on both the tea guests in the main hall and those outside the door.

If there were guests in the private rooms, they also had to pay some attention upstairs.

Originally, the tea house had two tea servers: Fang Zaoshang was responsible for the main hall, and another was responsible for the private rooms.

However, that other server was transferred elsewhere to be a manager because he was too good at his job. The people sent afterward weren't as good as him, and several were replaced. Previously, the manager, Ji Xingwang, had to step in. Later, they couldn't find a suitable person until the young master from the mansion sent word recommending a youth named Shen Yuan.

Today was Shen Yuan's first day as a tea server. Although Ji Xingwang knew Shen Yuan was likable—even he himself liked and had high hopes for Shen Yuan—his opinion didn't represent that of the tea guests, and one couldn't treat the guests the same way they treated each other.

He was still a bit uneasy and planned to have Shen Yuan follow behind him to learn for a while when guests arrived in the private rooms, to see how things went.

If it really didn't work out, they would still have to replace him.

After two days, everyone at the tea house knew about Shen Yuan's family situation.

Considering he was alone raising four younger siblings, with one still in swaddling clothes requiring even more money and effort to care for—Ji Xingwang, though a servant, also had a family to support and knew the hardships involved. If they really had to replace him, Shen Yuan could work with Fang Zaoshang in the main hall. They were short-handed anyway, and since he was introduced by the young master, the Family Head wouldn't say anything.

Thinking this, Ji Xingwang entered the main hall.

Seeing Shen Yuan clean and neatly dressed brightened his heart considerably.

The previous two days, Shen Yuan had really looked like a little beggar by the roadside, pitiful to see.

Today, with a simple tidy-up, he looked somewhat handsome, though still too thin.

Passing the staircase corner, he called Shen Yuan to go upstairs with him to familiarize him with the private rooms.

This was Shen Yuan's first time on the second floor of the tea house.

Shen Yuan thought the private rooms would be noticeably different from the main hall, at least having more calligraphy, paintings, screens, or floral decorations.

But they weren't.

Upstairs was also bare. The tables and chairs were just made of better materials, and the dedicated tea sets stored in small cabinets were porcelain, not pottery or bronze.

After showing Shen Yuan where the tea sets dedicated to the private rooms were kept, Ji Xingwang explained in detail: "Tea sets made of gold or silver are only used when Officials, the Family Head, the Madam, or the young masters and ladies come. Those are kept in the dedicated storeroom in the backyard, which you saw yesterday."

Shen Yuan thought for a moment upon hearing this.

He had seen it yesterday.

The materials were expensive, but the finished products felt simple and unadorned. There were no decorative patterns on them; they were just ordinary cup shapes.

Come to think of it, the porcelain tea sets also seemed to have very plain colors. The pottery ones had some simple line patterns painted on them, looking very much like cultural relics he had seen in museums in his previous life.

The decorations on the bronze tea sets were also simple, composed of basic lines arranged and combined.

All six private rooms on the second floor had no hanging paintings, and the table edges had no exquisite carvings. The only thing that could be called decoration was the bamboo blinds by the windows.

The overall style, generously put, was simple and classic; less generously, it was ordinary and plain to the point of not looking like what a private room should be.

They were just called private rooms in name.

"Manager, why don't we hang calligraphy, paintings, or arrange flowers in the private rooms?" Shen Yuan was genuinely curious. The current private rooms were too drab, offering only a bit more privacy than the main hall downstairs and using slightly higher-end materials for the tableware—everything else was the same.

Ji Xingwang looked at Shen Yuan strangely. "You dare to think of that? Those are all family heirlooms of the scholar-official families. Who would dare hang them casually in a public tea house?"

Those are treasures passed down through generations!

Shen Yuan was also puzzled. "It doesn't have to be famous paintings. We could find someone who can paint to do some flower-and-bird or landscape paintings; those would be nice too."

Ji Xingwang sized up Shen Yuan. "Xiao Yuan, did you catch a chill and develop a fever after your bath? Those who can paint are all masters, born into scholar-official families, noble beyond words. Painting for our little tea house? Even if the Family Head made the request, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to ask for such a thing."

Shen Yuan: ...

After a moment's thought, Shen Yuan ventured, "What about the qin and chess? Playing the qin for entertainment or having chess matches would add some amusement to the teahouse."

They couldn’t just sit around drinking tea and chatting all day, after all.

Ji Xingwang was now convinced that Shen Yuan was feverish and his mind had gotten muddled. "All of these require hereditary skills. The younger generations in a clan can only learn them if their ancestors knew them. If someone from another influential family wants to learn, they have to trade their own family’s knowledge for it."

"The young master knows how to play the qin. If you can persuade him to come to the teahouse and play for the guests, then I, the manager, won't say another word about it."

Shen Yuan knew that the "young master" he referred to was Ji Ping'an.

He could already imagine what Ji Ping'an would say to him.

"Didn’t I tell you not to cozy up to me? You want me to play the qin to entertain people? Have you lost your mind?"

Shen Yuan paused, then tentatively asked again, "What about opera and dance? Those should be possible, right?"

Ji Xingwang repeated the same line, "They require family traditions."

Shen Yuan fell silent.

Remembering when he had bought cloth before, even silk fabrics had to be traded from neighboring countries. The Wu Kingdom itself only produced coarse cloth.

As for jewelry, there was a shop diagonally across from the teahouse where the shop assistant would call out from the doorway about fine jewelry that had just arrived from the Westmoon Country.

Out of curiosity, Shen Yuan had stood at the doorway and taken a look.

It wasn’t particularly impressive.

But compared to the crude Wu-made jewelry found elsewhere, the Westmoon pieces were certainly better looking.

Craftsmanship, too, was a family tradition. Skills were kept within families and never shared.

So, a carpenter’s descendants could only become carpenters, a cook’s descendants could only become cooks, and a farmer’s descendants could only farm the land.

He thought back to that time in front of the healer's clinic, when the onlookers were worked up and rushed forward to beat the beggars. He also recalled how Wang Sanhu had mentioned in passing that the villagers had beaten to death a masked man who went to Xu Dagui’s house.

To some extent, the folk customs of the Wu Kingdom were volatile and rough. If not for the strong authority suppressing them, things would likely have descended into chaos long ago.

Combined with what he heard today from Manager Ji, it meant this was a country with fierce folk customs. It was also a place where the arts—poetry, calligraphy, music, painting, even fine clothing and jewelry—were practically nonexistent for common people.

It wasn’t that they were completely absent, but rather that they were monopolized by the upper class, and none of it reached the common people.

The neighboring countries were the same. Some were better than Wu in certain aspects, but compared to the country from his previous life with its thousands of years of history and culture, they fell far short.

The more Shen Yuan thought about it, the more excited he became.

He knew what he needed to do to achieve his goals!

Who said he wasn’t standing on the shoulders of giants?

He was practically standing on their heads!

What did it matter if cultural entertainment was scarce? In his previous life, he had been in the entertainment industry, learning a skill for every role he played. Although they were only basic versions, bringing them out here for the general public would be more than sufficient!

Perfect match! Easy as pie!

Shen Yuan’s eyes practically glowed with excitement. If he really succeeded, not only could he repay the grain he owed the villagers, but he could also give his younger siblings a better life in no time!

This matter should be done sooner rather than later. Otherwise, when the yamen collected the summer taxes in the fifth and sixth months, the money in his hands might not be enough.

After all, every time taxes were collected here, there would be one or two odd extra levies. Last year’s summer tax even included a "yamen weapon maintenance tax."

It was said that the yamen sent constables to suppress bandits and robbers, and their blades were heavily damaged. But since it was for the sake of the people, the maintenance costs also had to be covered by the people, with each person charged five wen. Besides that, there were also taxes for soap boot wear and tear, food rations for the constables, and an "officials’ mental labor tax"...

Each one was more outrageous than the last, with additional charges of three to six wen each. Added together, it was no small sum for ordinary folks.

To put it bluntly, it was just an excuse to extort money. The officials were all corrupt beyond measure.

Shen Yuan followed Ji Xingwang to familiarize himself with the private rooms upstairs, all the while thinking about what kind of entertainment venture he could start to make a living.

First, qin, chess, calligraphy, painting, opera, and dance—these were all things he couldn’t pursue for now.

Knowledge was locked away by the upper class. If a country bumpkin like him with no foundation were to display it, he’d either be killed or robbed.

Those things were too grand. Even asking Ji Ping'an for help wouldn’t work; he couldn’t protect him.

Shen Yuan followed Ji Xingwang downstairs, the wooden stairs creaking with each step. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

Ah! He could write novels!

But given that he was currently illiterate, he could only do it in a colloquial, oral form. In simple terms, he could tell stories to others—more professionally, he could become a storyteller.

There wasn’t even a storyteller here. Shen Yuan felt this would definitely attract people!

A teahouse was the perfect place for storytelling. With the Ji family’s protection, he’d be safe. Besides, storytelling wasn’t something that could be locked away in high towers and passed down through generations. The potential for wealth was high! The risk was low, low, low, low, low!

Ji Xingwang noticed Shen Yuan hadn’t followed him down and turned to ask, "What are you daydreaming about?"

Shen Yuan’s eyes shone brilliantly. "Manager, I have an idea!"

Author’s Note:

Some details in the previous chapters have been revised. If there are inconsistencies in this chapter, please follow the current content. [Rainbow fart]

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