c6 (1/2)

I know Meng Jue is impossible to figure out, and that’s just the way he is as a character and the way Tong Hua chooses to let his actions shed light on his motives rather than simply telling us. I can say that even until the very end of the novel, I’m not always certain whether some of his actions were calculated or a fly by response. Yun Ge, on the other hand, simply “is”. She exists, she is who she is, and nothing she ever says or does makes me think twice. I find almost every single character in Yun Zhong Ge more interesting than Yun Ge for that reason alone. She’s cute and perky, but that’s not much at this stage to make me wonder why every guy appears to like her. But then again, all the guys around her are pretty messed up so perhaps her normalcy is like a beacon of light to them.

Chapter 6: Snow In The Palm

The newly made wine is clear and there is a hint of green in the amber color. The taste is fresh and crisp, leaving a lingering aftertaste. When Uncle Chang saw the color he was already excited, but after he had a sip he was speechless.

The girls asked what he thought since he was silent for some time “I need to raise the price. Double, no, triple, no, quintuple! Five times the price!” Yun Ge and Xu Ping held each other’s hand and screamed in happiness. They were exhausted, one mixing the ingredients, the other making the wine. After much hard work, getting validation made them thrilled.

Uncle Chang wanted to sell it immediately, but Liu Bing Yi suggested giving away one cup with every one of Yun Ge’s meals for the next month. Afterwards Uncle Chang can sell it, and Liu Bing Yi doubled even the price Uncle Chang set.

Uncle Chang thought Liu Bing Yi knew nothing about these things, telling the girls the price was already sky high. Any higher and it would be the price for the wine sent to the Palace, and why would people buy their wine when they could buy Palace wine. But Xu Ping Jun and Yun Ge only listened to Liu Bing Yi. Xu Ping Jun said “Uncle Chang, if you won’t agree, we’ll sell it ourselves.”

Her one word shut Uncle Chang up. Within the month, word of that one cup of wine spread through all the rich homes of Chang An, but even with money no one knew how to buy it. People hate waiting and are curious by nature, so they spend whatever they can to reserve a meal from Yun Ge to drink the wine, then all praising it to the sky.

In the praise of many, Zhu Ye Qing hasn’t even gone on sale and already it’s renowned in all of Chang An.

………………………………………..

A bamboo plaque with the words “Zhu Ye Qing, the gentlemen of wine, the wine for gentlemen” is carved on it. The words are flowing like the clouds and the water.

“In the elegance there is a kind of strong beauty. The movements are all over each character. Good calligraphy! Good calligraphy!” Yun Ge sighed in praise “Who wrote it? I was just telling Xu Ping Jun that we needed to find someone talented to write the letters for tomorrow when we sell the Zhu Ye Qing. Too bad Meng Jue isn’t here, and we don’t know any talented writers.”

Liu Bing Yi didn’t answer and just smiled “If you think it looks good to use that is enough.” Xu Ping Jun was busy and looked over with a smile “I know! Bing Yi wrote it. A few days ago I saw him writing inside. I can’t read but I memorized the shape of the characters. Plus I counted, eleven characters total, just like what he wrote.”

Yun Ge laughed “Big brother, you were hoping to keep this from Xu jiejie, but she always figures it out.” Liu Bing Yi laughed “Ping Jun, you better not call yourself “stupid” anymore in front of me. If you’re any “stupider” then my supposedly “smart” person has nowhere to go.” Xu Ping Jun made a face at him and went back outside.

Since Yun Ge was known as the “Elegant Chef”, Liu Bing Yi suggested they make the entire wine selling operation as elegant as possible. In the store they placed ink pads, brushes, and paper. if someone who was truly talented, or was well-known, was willing to write a script of beautiful calligraphy, they would get their meal for free.

Uncle Chang was aghast at the thought, since there were many talented scholars in Chang An who could write well, then he’d go broke. Yun Ge laughed and explained that the well-known people wouldn’t need to do this to get a free meal, and the poor but talented person could one day be powerful and famous and then his writing would be priceless. If the famous person was willing to eat here, treating them for free is good for Qi Li Xiang’s name recognition and help them compete with the hundred year old already famous Yi Ping Ju.

Uncle Chang agreed and went off to prepare. Yun Ge watched Liu Bing Yi silently drinking his tea and she turned to look at the bamboo plaque. Such letters, what kind of depth must it take to write like that? This seemingly downtrodden hooligan who dog and c.o.c.k fights and gambles daily, what happened to him that he now just wastes his life away?

The greatest sorrow is the death of the will. Was he really planning to do nothing for the rest of his life?

Xu Ping Jun said tentatively “Bing Yi, I always felt you were so smart, and now it appears you’ve got a business mind and even Uncle Chang agrees with your idea. Why don’t you seriously consider it and maybe you can start a business. Or maybe……..you can open your own restaurant. Our wine will sell well and Yun Ge and I can be the chefs. Whether it succeeds or not, its better than doing nothing like now.”

Yun Ge sighed inside, this is not going well. Liu Bing Yi put down his cup and walked out “You guys get back to working, let this person who does nothing get out of your way.” Xu Ping Jun chased after him with tears in her eyes “Bing Yi, you don’t any plans for the future? A man needs to have a family and a career. You can dog and c.o.c.k fight for the rest of your life? Can you hang out with those hooligans forever? I know I’m stupid, and I can’t say this the right way, but inside my heart……”

Bing Yi stopped and turned back to Xu Ping Jun, with warmth in the still deep and dark depths of his eyes “Ping Jun, this is who I am. This is who I’ll be for the rest of my life. You don’t need to worry about me.” He finished and walked out without looking back at Xu Ping Jun. Liu Bing Yi’s figure was already in the crowd but one could spot him immediately still. He was like an eagle with his wings clipped and forced to be on the ground, but even if he couldn’t fly he was still an eagle.

Yun Ge looked at departing figure and then sat down, pretending she couldn’t hear Xu Ping Jun sobbing. She said loudly “Xu jiejie, want to drink with me?” Xu Ping Jun walked over and grabbed the wine without a word and started chugging, Yun Ge watched her without saying anything. In moments Xu Ping Jun’s face was red “My mom is forcing me to get married. The Ouhou family has sent people to speed it along and this time even my dad can’t drag it out any longer.”

Yun Ge said “Ah!” and the sat up straight “When did you get engaged? How come I don’t know this?” Xu Ping Jun retorted “You didn’t ask me, and why would I tell people I am engaged?”

“But……but…..aren’t you and big brother…….” Xu Ping Jun pointed at her own nose “Silly girl, are you trying to ask if I like big brother?” Yun Ge nodded and Xu Ping Jun hit herself on the head “You’re so stupid, you’re so stupid, in truth he doesn’t need me to do all this for him. What family order, what matchmaking rules, it’s all bulls.h.i.+t. But I know it’s bulls.h.i.+t and I still do it. I’m so stupid, thinking that if I work hard my parents wouldn’t want to let me go….”

Yun Ge grabbed Xu Ping Jun’s hand “Yun Ge, even you are being mean to me…..” and then Xu Ping Jun was sobbing. “Xu jiejie, if you don’t want to, let’s think of a plan together, don’t cry, don’t cry…..” Xu Ping Jun cried on Yun Ge’s s.h.i.+elder and her normal spicy tart-tongued self was gone. Yun Ge let her cry all she wanted for now.

Xu Ping Jun cried for some time before stopping and forcing a smile “Yun Ge, big sister is drunk, please don’t laugh at me….” “Xu jiejie, you once asked me why I came to Chang An. I said it was for fun, but in truth I was running from an arranged marriage. When I left the house you don’t know how many times I cried.”

“You don’t like that person?” Yun Ge replied “I never even saw him. People came to ask for marriage before but my parents always rejected it immediately. This time they didn’t and I….I was really upset so I ran away.” Xu Ping Jun sighed “Yours was someone asking for marriage, your parents didn’t even agree yet. I’m different than you, my engagement with the Ouhou family has been since I was young. All our birth days and times have even been matched. Run away? If Bing Yi was willing to run with me, I would elope with him. But would he?”

Yun Ge thought about Liu Bing Yi saying “you don’t need to worry about me” and couldn’t say anything to rea.s.sure Xu Ping Jun.” Xu Ping Jun drank and said “Since I was born, my mom saw me as worthless. Soon after my father committed an offense and was punished. My mom became a living widow and sees me as bad luck. They engaged me to the Ouhou family but I am not happy about it. So my mom treats me poorly. Thank G.o.d I can bring in money otherwise my mom…….” and she couldn’t continue anymore.

Xu Ping Jun is normally so tough that she is always smiling in front of others despite her family situation. This is the first time Yun Ge has seen her like this and it made her heart ache. She grabbed Xu Ping Jun’s hand. Xu Ping Jun rubbed Yun Ge’s head “Don’t worry about me. Since I was a kid, I worked hard for what I wanted. I’m just a weed, and a weed can only rely on itself to grow. Regardless of how heavy a rock is, a weed will always find a crack to grow out from………”

Xu Ping Jun walked into the back while Yun Ge started drinking by herself. She thought to herself – Xu jiejie has nothing and her only wish is to be with big brother. This wine is much better than the wine they drank when sending Meng Jue off, but Yun Ge felt like it tasted bitter.

Yun Ge’s poetic talents are like half a bucket of water. But even if she has never eaten pork, she’s at least heard a pig snort. Since she was a kid, her mom and Second Brother coaxed and forced her to learn quite a lot. Second Brother found all sorts of famous writings and taught her day in and day out. Yun Ge’s skill, while it can’t hold a candle to Second Brother, at least she’s good enough to judge calligraphy and painting.

Because Yun Ge has a good eye, the paintings and writings selected by her to merit a free drink are all very unique. The selection process is very entertaining and intellectually stimulating for everyone involved, and soon the scholars are all clamoring to leave a painting or writing on the bamboo plaque of Zhu Ye Qing. Yun Ge remembered Meng Jue’s suggestion that it’s best if few people knew the ident.i.ty of the Elegant Chef, so the selection was always done behind a curtain. Soon Zhu Ye Qing’s fame has spread far and wide.

“Zhu Ye Qing, the gentlemen of wine, the wine for gentlemen” has become Chang An’s most popular phrase, and drinking the wine isn’t just about showing off wealth and power, but also about a validation of talent. Because Yun Ge and Xu Ping Jun live outside Chang An in Shao Ling Yuan, every day they have to rush into Chang An to work at Qi Li Xiang. Today when they arrive at the city gates, they discovered it was locked and no one was allowed in.

Xu Ping Jun asked around and heard that the vengeful ghost of Crown Prince Wei came haunting to ask the Emperor to overturn his case. It caused the entire city to be locked down and no one was allowed in or out without specific permission. Since they can’t run their business, they give themselves the day off and go to the countryside to play.

Xu Ping Jun was grumbling but Yun Ge was happy as a lark, chattering non stop the entire way and kept asking Xu Ping Jun to tell her stories and legends in Chang An. Yun Ge is great listener, always paying attention and making noises to correspond to what happened. It made Xu Ping Jun felt like she was even better than a professional storyteller. She got more and more into it, and with the beautiful surroundings, the trees and birds, she let go of her annoyance with not being able to earn money today.

Xu Ping Jun’s story somehow got to the most beautiful woman in the world Consort Li, whose story about shaking an entire empire caused these two girls to sigh. Yun Ge kept asking “Was Consort Li really that beautiful she could cause the city walls to crumble?” Xu Ping Jun answered “Of course. The old Emperor had many concubines, but when he died he requested that Consort Li, who died long before he died, to be buried with him. The old Emperor even posthumously made her an Empress, this goes to show how much the Emperor could never forget her.”

The two girls sighed about how beautiful women are just doomed to a short life, how could she have died so early? They laughed as they discussed whether the current Emperor was someone who was very devoted and true to his love. Xu Ping Jun looked at Yun Ge “Yun Ge, you can go be a concubine! Be a witchy little concubine and tempt the Emperor so much you could be immortalized in legend and in the future the girls will talk about you.”

Yun Ge nodded her head and jokingly said “Then big sister should go be an Empress. You will surely be remembered as an wise and loving mother to people, leaving your name in legend.”

[OMG, seriously? The irony and foreshadowing, it is so thick. I can’t even……]

With their crazy talk, both girls suddenly started laughing out loud. Yun Ge pointed at the doves and said “Only envy the paired up doves and not the fairies.” Xu Ping Jun was silent for a moment and then said a line she heard in the restaurant from a poet “Only wanting one person to grow old with.” They looked at each other and then said “Your wish will definitely come true!” They said it, and then both turned bright red, and then they started laughing again.

The two of them held hands and climbed up a little hill. On top of the hill were soldiers and the roads were blocked. “Why is it also under tight watch here?” Yun Ge wondered. Xu Ping Jun sighed “Still Crown Prince Wei’s dead spirit wreaking havoc, of course. In front of us is the burial place of Crown Prince Wei, and his three sons and one daughter.” Yun Ge craned her neck but couldn’t see the so-called burial. When a soldier looked over, Xu Ping Jun pulled Yun Ge away “Don’t look, Crown Prince Wei may have been dead for over ten years, but he is still a taboo topic in Chang An. Don’t get in unnecessary trouble.”

“That dead vengeful spirit must be fake, if it was the real spirit he’d have gone directly into the Palace to find the Emperor. Why wait outside the city gates? This is just making everyone’s lives difficult. And isn’t the Emperor just eighteen or nineteen years old now? When Crown Prince Wei was killed, he was just a kid. Even if he was a genius he still could’t have taken part in setting up Crown Prince Wei!”

“Who knows. Us common people don’t understand and don’t need to understand the mess of the imperial family. Even if we hate our family members it would never arise to killing a family member. But look at the old Emperor, he killed his son, grandchildren, and even their spouses. The entire family was wiped out. No wonder people say Crown Prince Wei’s vengeful spirit won’t leave Chang An. How can he rest in peace?”

After playing all day and eating out, they didn’t get home until it was late out. When Xu Ping Jun got home, her mom welcomed her with an unusual smiling face, while Xu Ping Jun walked in with a poker face. Yun Ge signed, bowed to Xu Ping Jun’s mom, and went to her own room. Since Meng Jue left, Yun Ge rented a room next to Xu Ping Jun and Liu Bing Yi. Now they are neighbors and can take care of each other. When she pa.s.sed Liu Bing Yi’s room, she saw him sitting in the dark brooding.

She walked inside and sat down next to him. Liu Bing Yi raised his head and smiled at her, it was the same smile as usual, but Yun Ge felt that the smile was filled with despair. “Big brother, Xu jiejie is getting married.”

“The man is from a good family, and is a decent person. Ping Jun marries him and they can support each other, her life will be better than it is now.” “Big brother, you…..you never……” “I always saw her like a younger sister.” Yun Ge sighed. Initially she thought they liked each other, but if it was like this, then can she tell him now about their promise to marry each other? At least she should ask if he remembers her embroidered shoe? But maybe Xu jiejie……

As Yun Ge was still thinking, Liu Bing Yi looked far away and said “I don’t have the right, and the energy, to think about such things between a man and a woman.” Yun Ge lowered her head. He forgot already, so why even bother telling him? It will only give him more worry, and to Xu jiejie as well. Yun Ge lowered her head and was in a daze, while Liu Bing Yi silently stared at Yun Ge.