Chapter 53: Selling Wine at the Counter (Part 2) [Seeking First Subscription]

Upon hearing the first sentence, the boy showed a slight look of surprise, and his moist and affectionate peach blossom eyes widened even more.

Not only him, but Chu Yao on the side also changed his expression.

Beneath the calm surface, an undercurrent of turbulent energy seems to be brewing and gathering strength.

Ignoring their reactions, Shen Tang focused her gaze on the mouth of the wine jar, concentrating intently as she slowly uttered the next sentence.

"What can dispel sorrow? Only wine!"

As the words fell, a surge of pent-up literary energy welled up within him, the only sounds the gentle murmur of flowing water, the only scent the exquisite aroma of fine wine. Shen Tang moved his right hand away; the jar was no longer empty, but filled with clear, turquoise liquor. The young man couldn't help but sniff, his amorous peach blossom eyes shining even brighter, and exclaimed, "Excellent wine!"

The passersby, unaware of the truth, only knew that the young man had paid the money and then shouted "good wine," and sighed a few times—these days, doing business is becoming increasingly unscrupulous. This young man is handsome and good-looking; what job wouldn't he do? He's acting as a shameless bar tout.

The next scene left everyone stunned.

The boy grabbed the wine jar impatiently, tilted his head back and drank it down, not caring at all that the wine splashed onto his clothes.

This jar of Dukang wine didn't seem to be newly brewed; the liquid was clear and bright, with a lingering, sweet aftertaste and a rich, enticing aroma. Even a young man who had tasted many fine wines couldn't help but be delighted upon seeing it. He drank it sip after sip, never satisfied, and soon finished the entire jar.

"Huh? You're done drinking?"

He smacked his lips, seemingly still savoring the taste, shook the empty wine jar, and squinted closer, as if he couldn't believe he'd finished it all in one go—he'd clearly just tasted it. He reached for his purse at his waist and pulled out a silver ingot, twice the size of the loose silver coins he'd previously held.

He readily agreed, "Young lady, two jars!"

After speaking, he paused for a moment, a blush of embarrassment and intoxication spreading down his neck to his fair, clean face, quickly turning a rosy pink. He bowed his head and repeatedly apologized to Shen Tang, "I'm so sorry, my lord, please don't be offended. It wasn't that I intentionally admitted my mistake..."

Because Shen Tang remained seated and didn't reveal her signature Wenxin flower at her waist, the young man prejudicially judged her gender by her face, assuming she was a spirited young woman selling wine at a counter. As for the unheard-of method of brewing wine with Wenxin, he didn't react much.

Words of power are wondrous; if they can conjure warhorses and weapons, brewing wine is hardly surprising. To the young man, these are all trivial matters, but mistaking someone's gender is a serious matter!

He was afraid that if he apologized even a second too late, the young man would become enraged, grab a wine jar, jump up, and smash it on his head.

Will he get beaten or not?

Sigh, it's a dilemma.

Shen Tang: "..."

If this weren't a major client with a charming and endearing face, she would have advised the person to pluck out their eyes and wash them thoroughly. How blind must someone be to firmly believe she's a man? However, since she wasn't the only one who was blind, she tolerated it.

Shen Tang said curtly, "No need to apologize."

The young man immediately put on a smile again, full of energy and extremely friendly. He even clasped his hands in greeting to Shen Tang: "Young master, you are very generous. My name is Qu Dian Zhai Le, courtesy name Xiao Fang. May I ask your name? Your wine is really tempting. I would like to make friends with you."

Qu Dian?

Where is this?

Shen Tang couldn't help but turn her gaze to Chu Yao.

Chu Yao had been silent for a while, seemingly preoccupied with something, and only snapped out of his reverie when his eyes met Shen Tang's.

He said, "Qu Dian is in Shen Kingdom."

Shen Tang was full of questions: "Where is the State of Shen?"

Chu Yao: "..."

Faced with this situation, the boy was not embarrassed. Instead, he smiled and answered quickly, "Shen Kingdom is in the southeast, and Qu Dian is north of Shen Kingdom."

Shen Tang: "..."

The State of Shen was located in the southeast of the mainland.

Xiaocheng, where we are currently located, is in the northwest of mainland China.

The two places are far apart, how did this boy get here?

Seemingly understanding the doubt in Shen Tang's eyes, the boy chuckled and scratched his head, saying, "I made an appointment with a friend to travel and study together. If it's a study tour, what's the point of just wandering around in one place? I just didn't expect that we would end up here."

Shen Tang: "..."

You and your friend have traveled quite a distance! One of you is in the northwest of the mainland, and the other is in the southeast. Even if you flew between the two points, it would take a long time. There are still wars going on in the countries along the way. You've really traveled a lot!

"My name is Chen Tang, courtesy name Youli."

Shen Tang awkwardly imitated the young man's fist salute, without mentioning her place of origin, simply because she didn't know where the original owner's place of origin was either.

Zhai Le: "Nice to meet you!"

Having made two jars of Dukang wine using the same method, the young Zhai Le happily carried one in each arm and jogged slowly in the direction he had previously looked. Shen Tang watched closely, only to see him meet up with another young man, half a head taller, and hand him one of the jars of wine.

The young man dressed similarly to Zhai Le, and even shared some resemblance in his features, but possessed a colder demeanor. Unlike Zhai Le's unrestrained and carefree nature, he appeared cleaner and more presentable, while Zhai Le was barefoot in straw sandals, his hair casually tied with a red rope.

"Want a drink or not?"

The young man asked, "You dare to drink any kind of alcohol?"

Zhai Le said with dissatisfaction, "Didn't you make a bet with me before? Look, I won the bet, so why don't you dare to drink it? Let alone such good Dukang wine, we couldn't even get a bowl of clear wine before entering Xiaocheng. You really don't want to drink it? If you don't drink it, I'll just drink it all by myself."

The young man snorted, snatched a jar from Zhai Le's hand, and cast a detached glance at Shen Tang, neither dodging nor yielding.

Shen Tang: "..."

She sells wine at clearly marked prices, without shortchanging customers or selling counterfeit wine. Why are you looking at her like that?

He was around twenty years old, two or three years older than Zhai Le.

He briefly met Shen Tang's gaze before looking away, then unceremoniously grabbed Zhai Le by the collar and dragged him into the teahouse.

You can still faintly hear Zhai Le shouting, "Let's talk this out, brother, don't drag me into this. Don't I have any dignity?"

Before they entered the teahouse, Shen Tang glanced briefly at his waist—sure enough, this man also wore an accessory, a jade-green monogram with a floral design. She wondered what grade of the monogram it was; no wonder he dared to travel from the southeast to the northwest.

One is skilled in literature, the other in martial arts; both are capable fighters.

With the help of the young man who solicited the wine, passersby were also attracted by Shen Tang's trick and came to buy wine one after another. However, they were not as extravagant as Zhai Le, who would buy a whole jar at once. At most, they would buy an ounce or two to try it out. Business was not great, but it was definitely not bad either.

Shen Tang patted the Wenxin Hua monogram on her waist, smiling broadly. It seemed that she wasn't always unlucky.

Getting something for free is definitely the best thing ever.

Looking at her slightly better purse, and adding the money she'd earned from selling paintings, Shen Tang mentally calculated that it should be enough to buy a few bolts of fine cloth and make a few clean new outfits. Autumn comes early to Xiaocheng; the height of summer is over, and the weather should be turning cool soon.

"Sir, let's go buy some fabric."

Having bought cloth and made two jars of Dukang wine, he returned home laden with his purchases. Back in his familiar courtyard, he had barely opened the gate when he saw Qishan sitting on the porch, lost in thought, looking preoccupied.

She called out, "Yuanliang, are there any extra rooms here?"

Qi Shan finally came to her senses.

"You've finally come back..."

He paused for a moment.

He immediately noticed Chu Yao standing behind Shen Tang. Coincidentally, Chu Yao was also looking at him, and their gazes clashed in the air.

This is the second of five updates today; there will be three more updates during the day.

_(:з」∠)_ There's a splash screen event when it goes on sale, it should be on the 3rd.

The event has three tasks: first, 2,000 subscriptions (the number of subscriptions for the first chapter); 1,000 monthly votes (one extra chapter for every 100 monthly votes); and one Alliance Master's reward (this one doesn't matter, just do what you feel like).

P.S.: Not all the characters who have appeared so far are on Tang Zhu's side. For example, there's that courtesan, and Zhai Le and another person, one of whom is a future warlord. But he's still a young man and knows how to make friends.

(End of this chapter)