162 Opening a Teahouse (1/2)
Yin Zi enlightened the gloomy Xiang Qing, saying, ”You've already missed the best time to eat that cat. How about following the rules of animals? When two strong creatures encounter each other, the stronger one will suppress the weaker one and directly just eat them.”
”That's absurd. Such a shameless thing... How... How could they do that?! That's ****!” Xiang Qing stammered.
I came out from behind the house and said seriously, ”For felines, it's always the female who selects her mate. A male must display his strength. Mating only occurs after we fight and if the male overpowers the female! So, you'll have to work hard.”
”But.. right now, we are not animals.” Xiang Qing endeavored to uphold his perspective.
”You used to hold me down to do that! You even bit my neck!” I rubbed the back of my neck and somewhat despondently said, ”Having my neck bitten as a human hurts a lot more than as a cat...”
”Wouldn't it be fine if you just didn't resist?” Xiang Qing was mulling over possible solutions for this predicament.
”But...” I lowered my head and explained in embarrassment, ”I can't help but want to resist... I can't control my actions.”'
Yin Zi explained, ”The problem is that this is instinctive for a cat. It's very hard for her to control it.”
”Nonsense!” Xiang Qing rebuked. ”Last time, you said you wouldn't bite me!”
”Yes, I won't bite you, but it'll be a struggle...” I looked at his dissatisfied expression and thought of a method to satisfy both of us. ”How about I eat you? If you're on the bottom, you should be able to prevent yourself from resisting, right?
”No!” His face clouded over. ”You absolutely must be on the bottom.”
Why? You can't even do it yourself, yet you demand me to do it... you're truly too much.
Starting from that day, Xiang Qing would wake up before the sun rose and leave to train in the woods for an hour. Then, he would return to help me with laundry. Afterwards, he'd either go elsewhere to carry out tasks or visit Maoshan to receive tasks. Work in the field. Do housework. Once dinner was finished, he continued to train and would not be back until late at night. Even during his break times, he wouldn't stop. Diligent. Thus, his skills made great progress.
I couldn't figure out why he was suddenly exerting so much effort. Yin Zi said that Xiang Qing's hard work was all for the sake of a successful bridal night. I should be glad to have much a considerate and tender husband.
[1] ”陪练”is sparring, but in this case, it's closer to scuffling.
She found all kinds of ropes and tied me to the bed. Then, she applied pressure to my body, and I tried my very best to restrain my feline instincts of resisting and not break the ropes bound around my wrists. Xiao Cha got injured because of me.
Yin Zi called us both idiots and urged me to be careful, lest I exert too much strength and accidentally kill her.
Just like that, I trained and trained fervently. Another month passed. The rainy season ended, and the weather slowly began to become warmer. The village was located in a north-south clearing near the main path, but next to it was a tremendously vast forest. It was very easy to get lost in there, so the majority of travelers[2] tend to take the long way around.
[2] ”行人” literally means ”pedestrian,” but since that takes on too much of a modern vibe, I decided to replace it with ”traveler.” The main focus is that these people travel on foot.
The nearest inn or town from either sides of the village was at least 30 miles away, so occasionally, a traveler would stop by at our village to ask for a place to spend the night. Our home also happened to be the first residence in the front of the village. We get requests for water and shelter quite often. The village's rules prohibited rejection of these passersby, so we perennially kept bucket of water under a large tree in front of our home for the passersby to help themselves. We even placed a long stool for them to rest on.
Xiao Cha would not give up on her aspirations to do business. She once again thought of something and suggested that since we were located in such a convenient place, why don't we open a teahouse for the travelers? Especially the wealthy ones―we can sell them some snacks and tea, and earn extra money.
Xiang Qing strongly opposed, saying that most of the travelers were poor, so there was no need to earn the little money they had. Yin Zi, however, was very supportive of Xiao Cha's suggestion. He said that that stupid brat was idle every day, so giving her something to do wouldn't be too bad of an idea.
After a long discussion, it was decided that the teahouse would be opened next to our own field, so we can farm and do business at the same time. The tea and snacks would be more refined and expensive, mainly for the customers with money, and we'd just earn what we could. It was mainly for the purpose of curing our own boredom and leisure.
The capital that Yin Zi gave was very little. Although the teahouse was nothing more than a plaything, Xiao Cha was still very excited and exhibited unprecedented enthusiasm by personally going with Xiang Qing to build the hut that would later become the teahouse. She used logs to cut out tables and chairs and even added flowers and made things like wind chimes to decorate the entire hut with. Her ability to make the place have a kind of sophisticated and elegant aesthetic roused our approval. Furthermore, she bought a pipa to play some songs to entertain everyone with. I couldn't discern it, but Xiang Qing said that she played very well. However, Yin Zi didn't ike listening to it and whenever he heard it, he would immediately leave. Gradually, Xiao Cha also lost interest in playing.
The small business opened very quickly. Xiao Cha had to work extra, since the idea was hers. In this aspect, she was not regretful and had no complaints. Every day, she wholeheartedly brewed tea and also baked sweets. Too bad that the stuff she made was inedible. Subsequently, Yin Zi couldn't stand seeing her waste money anymore, so he flew to a town that was further away and purchased some cheap breads: baozi, mantou, and shaobing. He boiled a large pot of porridge and allowed Luo Luo to contribute with two jars of pickles and we sold them, just like that.