TIPS – Chapter 95

He nudged the person next to him, his eyes warm and bright as he gestured gently: “Wife, go to sleep.”

Song Jingwei lifted his eyelids, which were indeed a little heavy with sleep, and glanced at him. He felt that this haggard face didn’t actually look too scruffy—actually, it looked fine. With that thought, he tilted his head and leaned against the stone wall of the cave, preparing to sleep.

“…” Shen Junxi silently moved him over so that his head rested on his own shoulder.

“The fire’s getting low, add some more wood.”

“Mm…”

The night passed in peace. They slept soundly until dawn. The morning air was cool and fresh, with a light mist drifting around. Tiny droplets settled on their hair, forming a fine layer of white fog.

“Eat some dried meat. We’ll set out soon,” Song Jingwei said as he got up, rubbing his neck. Perhaps he had slept too deeply in the latter half of the night—his neck had gotten sore.

A pair of warm hands reached over to his neck and began massaging it with just the right amount of pressure. Song Jingwei let go of his own hands and simply enjoyed the young man’s attentive service.

They ate a little dried meat, but had very little appetite, so they quickly wrapped up breakfast. Before leaving, they extinguished the fire, cleared away all the branches in front of the cave entrance, and also pushed aside the large stone blocking the cave. It was this cave that had sheltered them through the night—they hoped that, in the future, it might help others in need too.

“Let’s go,” Song Jingwei clapped the dust from his hands and said to the young man.

Once again, the young man took his hand, and together they set off with hope in their hearts. Even if the road ahead was full of unknowns, they had no fear.

They walked along the mountain path for about half an hour when they saw smoke rising in the distance. Those wisps of curling smoke brought smiles to their faces, and they looked up at each other, smiling in perfect sync.

“Let’s go!” Song Jingwei said. His steps grew lighter as he and the young man quickened their pace toward the cluster of households not far off.

What they saw was a tea-farming community on the far side of the Stone Cave Mountain, with around five or six households. All were long-time tea farmers, their families having grown tea for generations. Their houses were fairly close together. As Song Jingwei and Shen Junxi approached, two families noticed them.

The tea farmers looked quite surprised—normally, no one came around unless they were locals, or else they were lost.

Song Jingwei stepped forward and greeted them: “Hello, fellow villagers. May I ask if your families grow tea?”

It seemed that the man of the house had gone inside, so the woman of the house came out to speak, replying, “We all grow tea here. Are you merchants here to buy tea?”

They looked the two strangers up and down, clearly doubtful. These two looked far too young to be tea traders.

“Yes, we are merchants. We’ve come to sell tea seeds. Do you happen to have any?” Song Jingwei asked.

“We do have tea seeds,” answered one young man. His household was the only one with tea seeds. His name was Zhao Yanming, and his family had been growing tea for generations. He said to the two at the door, “Come inside and take a look. See what kind of tea seeds you need.”

Song Jingwei and Shen Junxi followed him into the house, which appeared to be in good condition—clean and tidy, and fairly spacious. Zhao Yanming invited them to sit and poured them some tea.

“My surname is Song, his is Shen. May I ask how to address you?”

Zhao Yanming sat down and replied, “I’m Zhao Yanming. My family has two kinds of tea seeds this year: one is rock tea, the other is black tea. Which one are you looking for?”

He spoke in a direct and crisp manner—clearly not new to dealing with merchants.

“What are the differences between the two? I originally came for rock tea, but I’m curious about the black tea you mentioned,” Song Jingwei asked. Although he was exhausted, he didn’t allow himself to slack off when it came to business matters.

“You’ve probably already looked into rock tea, so I won’t go into that,” Zhao Yanming said. “The black tea was something I discovered on the mountain myself. At first, it wasn’t very good, but after planting it over two years, last year’s harvest turned out quite well.”

As he spoke, he decisively brought out some of last year’s autumn tea and brewed a pot for them. “If you want to plant tea with good quality and flavor, this tea is a solid choice.”

“What about the yield?” While quality was important, yield was a key factor if one wanted to make a profit.

“Last year, I planted three mu of land. The total investment was around ten taels of silver, and after subtracting the costs, the profit was about twenty taels.”

That wasn’t a huge profit, but for a farmer, it was definitely decent—at least better than what the villagers in Tea Mountain Village were earning. The only issue was the high proportion of investment. Was that just because it was still early days?

Song Jingwei didn’t decide right away and said, “I’ll make a decision after I see the seeds…”

Just then, their stomachs both rumbled loudly, and the two looked embarrassed.

“We’ve been walking the whole way and haven’t had a single hot meal,” Song Jingwei admitted honestly. It was already a stroke of luck they had made it here safely.

The young tea farmer, who had kept a straight face until now, finally cracked a smile and said, “I’ll ask my wife to make a meal. Let’s eat first, then look at the seeds.”

“Alright.”

As Zhao Yanming left the room, the two of them exchanged an awkward glance and then both lowered their heads to drink tea. They couldn’t eat yet, but for now, they could at least drink more water to fill their stomachs a little.

Shen Junxi gestured, “You’re planning to plant two types of tea trees?”

“Not necessarily.” According to what Zhao Yanming had said, his black tea wasn’t fully stable yet and wasn’t suitable for large-scale planting. After thinking it over, Song Jingwei replied, “If the quality is really good, we can plant a small amount. We could process it into premium tea for sale, use it as a gift, or drink it ourselves.” In any case, as long as it’s grown, there will be plenty of uses for it.

“Mm.” Shen Junxi didn’t fully understand these things, but listening to him talk, he just felt that his wife was someone with a clear head and solid ideas.

“Making money is no easy task. Just take growing crops, for example—not only do you have to grow your product well, you also have to consider sales channels and a bunch of other factors. As for selling… there are just too many things that require effort.” Song Jingwei turned to look at the young man and said, “You’re not that young anymore—you need to learn how to deal with people and social affairs. I can’t help you forever.” After all, these businesses would eventually be managed by the young man. How could it work if he didn’t know how to handle them?

“…” Shen Junxi nodded, but there was a hint of unwillingness on his face. He gestured, “You’re not that good at social niceties either.” To be honest, sometimes he could be outright headstrong, with no concept of compromise. But… Shen Junxi didn’t dare say that out loud. He actually found this kind of wife quite adorable.

“Use your strengths where they matter most. What you’re seeing is me choosing not to be slick and smooth where I don’t need to be.” Of course, Song Jingwei knew what the young man was thinking—he just thought he was aloof and proud, cold and indifferent to most people. So he said plainly, “That’s my leverage. There are some people I don’t need to show courtesy to, but there are others I absolutely must.”

“…” The young man blinked at him.

“For example, if I don’t show you any respect, what can you do about it?” Song Jingwei looked directly at the young man.

“…” Shen Junxi seriously thought about it. If Song Jingwei didn’t show him respect… what could he do? He shook his head. Nothing. There was nothing he could do—completely helpless.

“Exactly.” Song Jingwei smiled, amused by the young man’s dazed reaction. He said, “There’s a saying—‘speak like a man to people, speak like a ghost to ghosts.’ In some situations, that’s truly wise advice.” He hoped the young man could learn something from him—whether good or bad, it didn’t matter. The most important thing was that in the future, no one would bully him again. He had to become strong and capable, and firmly support a household on his own.

“Mm.” Even though he couldn’t quite accept that “wise advice” yet, Shen Junxi didn’t reject his wife’s words. The fact that Song Jingwei was willing to talk about this with him showed that he cared.

At noon, after having a full meal at the tea farmer’s home, they rested for a while.

Suddenly, Song Jingwei asked, “Brother Zhao, since you’ve lived here for a while, have you ever heard of a place called ‘Stele Forest’?”

Zhao Yanming was startled. “How do you know about Stele Forest?” Judging from their accents, it was clear the two of them were outsiders. How could an outsider know about Stele Forest?

“To be honest, we got lost earlier and stumbled upon it by accident,” Song Jingwei replied, not mentioning that they’d fallen off a cliff.

“So that’s what happened… well, you could say you’re lucky.” Zhao Yanming said with a shiver, “That place used to be a mass grave long ago. They say there are man-eating beasts there. Usually, once people go in, they don’t come out.” The fact that these two outsiders made it out of Stele Forest was nothing short of incredible.

“Oh? But we ran into a hunter while we were there. Have you ever heard of one?” Song Jingwei asked again.

“A hunter?” Zhao Yanming shook his head. “Never heard of that.”

Song Jingwei nodded. That made sense. This place was at least a full day’s journey from Stele Forest. Tea farmers who lived safely over here would hardly have any reason to go near that place.

“Let’s head to the tea fields.” After resting a bit, they headed out together toward Zhao Yanming’s tea fields.

They arrived at a vast stretch of land, covered with rows and rows of tea trees as far as the eye could see. Zhao Yanming introduced, “The patch ahead consists of two-year-old saplings. What age are you looking for?”

Song Jingwei considered it—his plot of land needed to be productive as soon as possible, so three- or four-year-old saplings would be ideal. That way, they could be topped next year, and a full harvest could be expected the year after. He asked, “For about a hundred mu of land, how many tea trees can be planted?”

Zhao Yanming did a quick mental calculation and replied, “Depends on the type of tea. For rock tea, you can plant densely—about a hundred trees per mu. Black tea is more delicate, so eighty per mu is the maximum.” Learning that Song Jingwei had such a large area of land, he suggested, “I think you should go with eighty mu of rock tea and twenty mu of black tea. I promise my black tea won’t disappoint—it’ll only get better and better in the future.”

Song Jingwei nodded. “Do you have enough three- or four-year-old rock tea saplings for eighty mu?”

“Three to four years? I don’t usually sell saplings of that age, and they’re expensive,” Zhao Yanming said. He suggested, “You’d be better off buying two-year-old ones. Just plant them for two more years, and they’ll be ready for harvest.”

“But I want a harvest by next year. If you don’t have enough three- or four-year-old saplings, you can give me some two-year-old ones instead. Price is not an issue,” said Song Jingwei.

“Well…” Zhao Yanming hesitated. Generally, saplings that are three to four years old are close to maturity and not easy to cultivate with such care. However, since the other party said money wasn’t a problem, he began to consider it.

“Think it over,” Song Jingwei said calmly.

After a brief moment of thought, Zhao Yanming quoted a suitable price. It wasn’t excessively high, but he said, “I can only sell you three thousand four-year-old saplings. If you plant them properly, you’ll be able to start pruning them by next spring.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll give you four thousand three-year-old saplings, one thousand two-year-old ones. And you should take two thousand black tea saplings as well. I promise you won’t be disappointed.” Zhao Yanming hadn’t forgotten to recommend his black tea.

Song Jingwei had to admit that the black tea had a really pleasant taste. His only concern was that it might be hard to grow and might not yield much. But Zhao Yanming repeatedly assured him there’d be no issue, so he accepted the two thousand plants.

“Then it’s settled. Do you have people here who specialize in digging up tea saplings?”

“Yes, we do.” Having sold tea saplings for years, they had a group of experienced workers. Zhao Yanming said, “I’ll head out and call them over now.” Those were all temporary laborers, usually out looking for jobs when they weren’t working.

“Perfect, we’ll go out with you too,” said Song Jingwei.

That afternoon, the two of them rode out together with Zhao Yanming in his family’s ox cart.

On the way, Song Jingwei asked, “By the way, does your town have an official yamen office?”

Zhao Yanming shook his head. This wasn’t some bustling large town, so naturally, it didn’t have a yamen. But he added, “There are official stewards in the town,” referring to those responsible for handling day-to-day town affairs, under the leadership of a chief. They weren’t directly under the imperial court, and their wages weren’t paid by the state either. Essentially, they were hired by the county office and paid from there.

“What about the efficiency of these stewards? Are they fair?” asked Song Jingwei.

“Of course they are. Our county magistrate is a good man,” Zhao Yanming replied.

“Good to hear.”

Once they arrived in town, Song Jingwei didn’t rush to find transportation for the tea saplings. Instead, he took Shen Junxi to the office where the stewards gathered. When they came out, they were followed by a group of burly men with blue cloth bands tied around their arms. All were tall, sturdy men with stern expressions. As they marched through the streets, their presence was so intimidating that townsfolk instinctively avoided them.

The man leading the group spoke to Song Jingwei: “Official Zhang was just here in our town not long ago. Who would’ve thought something like this would happen right after he left? It’s shameful.” When the two young men had shown up earlier with a personal letter from the neighboring county magistrate, the whole office had been thrown into a panic. Upon learning that such a crime had occurred in their town, they became even more alarmed.

Fortunately, nothing truly terrible had happened to the two—otherwise, the consequences would’ve been far worse.

“I didn’t expect it either,” Song Jingwei said grimly. “When we first arrived, we thought this place had honest, kind people and a vibrant culture. We even intended to visit the spots recommended by Lord Zhang. Who could’ve imagined we’d end up facing danger and nearly lose both our lives and our property?”

The man quickly smiled apologetically. “Luckily, you’re blessed, young master. People like you don’t fall victim so easily.” From the way Song Jingwei looked—his striking features, refined demeanor, and aura of wealth—it was obvious he wasn’t a common person. The man wouldn’t dare offend someone like him.

“Hmph! People who act out of greed and plot to rob others must be properly punished—otherwise, others will fall into the same trap. It would also damage the town’s reputation. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, yes!” the man replied quickly.

With great momentum, the group headed to the inn where Song Jingwei and Shen Junxi had stayed. The inn was fairly average by Shiku Town standards and didn’t have the best reputation. Back then, they’d chosen it simply because they were exhausted, it was getting dark, and it was the first place they saw upon entering the town.

“Innkeeper! Come out!” The leading man dropped his deferential tone, storming into the lobby and shouting. His demeanor now resembled that of a local thug more than an official.

“Oh my, what brings the stewards to my humble inn today?” A short, plump middle-aged man came out from behind the counter—the innkeeper. The moment he saw a whole group of town officials storm into his inn, his mind started racing: What did I do? Did I get caught doing something shady?

“Cut the nonsense! Call out all your staff right now! The lords are here to arrest someone!” the man roared, ordering his subordinates to fetch everyone. At the same time, he glanced at Song Jingwei to gauge his expression.

Song Jingwei said, “I remember the one we’re looking for had a mole on his face. Looked around twenty-five or twenty-six years old.”

As soon as he said that, the inn staff knew exactly who he meant. One of the other workers immediately exclaimed, “I know! I know! He’s talking about Cao Dazhi!”

“Where is he?” The steward leader grabbed the worker by the collar and asked menacingly.