TTTQF Chapter 44

A Unique Method

After being measured by the old shopkeeper for a good while, Jiang Miao is finally able to break free. The last time he took Xiao Shitou to buy clothes, they simply picked out ready-made garments, held them up to check the fit, and bought them if they seemed close enough. After all, slightly larger clothes aren’t an issue since they can wear other layers underneath.

“Do you have to get measured every time you buy clothes?” Jiang Miao asks, thinking it’s quite a hassle.

Pei Che sees his exasperation and laughs. “In the mansion, the sewing room has everyone’s measurements. Adults don’t need to be measured often, but children have to be measured once a month.”

“Oh, right, you all have your clothes made at home,” Jiang Miao says sheepishly. He doesn’t understand the world of the wealthy. Besides, in modern times, who keeps seamstresses at home? Then again, it seems that most women in ancient times could make their own clothes. Jiang Miao, who can only mend clothes, feels envious. Buying fabric is cheaper than buying ready-made clothes.

“The seamstresses at home are more skilled, but it takes a long time, so I brought you here to get some clothes quickly,” Pei Che explains, thinking Jiang Miao might be bothered. This shop is the fastest, able to produce several sets in five days, thanks to having dozens of seamstresses working together.

Before Jiang Miao can respond, someone approaches and greets Pei Che with a fist salute. “Master, the person has been found and arrested.”

Pei Che nods with satisfaction. “Very good. Where are they?”

“In a courtyard not far from here.”

Pei Che tells him to wait and then walks over to Jiang Miao. He looks at Jiang Miao’s profile and sees that the swelling has gone down, though there are still some bruises. Jiang Miao feels uncomfortable with Pei Che’s sudden closeness and moves back a bit.

“What are you doing?” he asks gruffly, trying to cover his embarrassment.

Pei Che is momentarily taken aback, then realizes his mistake. “Sorry, I just want to check your injury.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s fine. Although the physician charged a lot, the medicine is pretty good. I applied it yesterday, and the swelling has already gone down today.” Jiang Miao decides to take back his thought that the physician was a swindler. Clearly, he is a miracle worker.

“Do you want to know who sent them?” Pei Che asks.

Jiang Miao’s eyes light up. “Did you find out?”

Yesterday, when Pei Che specifically inquired about this matter, Jiang Miao was curious to see if wealthy people have the means to find out such things. Otherwise, it would be frustrating to suffer such grievances for no reason.

“Not yet,” Jiang Miao barely has time to feel disappointed before Pei Che continues, “but my people have caught the ones who fought with you yesterday.”

“Quick, take me to them. Damn it, I want to see what they were trying to do!” Jiang Miao says, rubbing his hands together, ready to vent his anger.

The sudden swear words make Pei Che pause slightly. Then he realizes that what he usually finds vulgar is surprisingly acceptable, even amusing, when Jiang Miao says it.

They follow the guard to a courtyard where the door is wide open, and sounds of muffled cries can be heard from inside, as if someone’s mouth is gagged.

Jiang Miao quickly steps inside and sees a few people tied up like chickens on the ground, all with their mouths stuffed, looking terrified and calling for help.

“Hey, it’s this guy!” Jiang Miao immediately recognizes the skinny monkey on the ground.

With a single look from Pei Che, the guard steps forward and pulls the cloth from the skinny monkey’s mouth. The man immediately begins pleading for mercy, “Spare me, sir! I don’t know how I offended you. Please let me go, and I’ll kowtow to you!”

“You have a really bad memory. Do you not remember me?” Jiang Miao crouches down in front of him and presses on his swollen cheek, making the skinny monkey yelp in pain and shout, “It’s you!”

“Yes, it’s me! Where’s that bravado you had when you wrecked my stall? Where’s all that confidence now?” Jiang Miao laughs arrogantly, looking like a petty person who’s had a moment of triumph.

To the skinny monkey, Jiang Miao appears as an uncompromising menace. This vendor has a sharp tongue and a heavy hand; they hadn’t gotten the better of him, and yet he still dared to follow them home. Is there no justice in the world?

“Please spare me! I was blind and didn’t know you had powerful connections. If I had known, I wouldn’t have dared to mess with your stall even if I had a hundred lives!” The skinny monkey immediately shows submission.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Miao becomes even angrier upon hearing this. So people without connections deserve to be bullied? These thugs prey on the weak, targeting innocent and honest folks.

“There’s a simple way for me to spare you. Just tell me who sent you to cause trouble,” Jiang Miao says, not wanting to waste any more time on him. It’s clear these people are intentionally looking for trouble.

The skinny monkey’s eyes dart around as he tries to concoct a story, but before he can think of one, Jiang Miao slaps him right on his sore spot. Seeing Jiang Miao’s smirk and the menacing looks from the surrounding guards, the skinny monkey has no choice but to tell the truth..

It turns out that the one who hires them to cause trouble is none other than Lu Feng, the head manager of the tea house. However, his intention is not to have them destroy the stall but to extort Jiang Miao multiple times until he is too scared to set up his stall there again.

But they hadn’t expected Jiang Miao to be such a tough nut to crack. First, he disrupts their scheme with just a few words, then threatens to report them to the authorities, and finally, he silently hurls objects at them. Not only do they fail to extort anything, but each of them ends up having to pay for their own medicinal ointments.

Jiang Miao is both surprised and a bit frustrated. “I’ve already moved my stall far away, and he’s still holding a grudge?” He can understand not wanting to have his employees run errands, as it’s a business, after all. But sending people to cause trouble even after he’s moved so far away seems excessively petty.

“Who told you to set up here? Many old customers from Dingfeng Teahouse come to Changshun Teahouse,” the skinny monkey explains.

Jiang Miao is even more confused. “What do his customers leaving have to do with me?”

“This place is closer to your bun stall, so the buns are still warm when bought. Also, Changshun Teahouse recently started offering many new herbal teas, so customers prefer coming here,” the skinny monkey explains. Since he has been asked to do this, he needs to understand the reason behind it.

… Well, it seems Jiang Miao is being blamed for something out of his control. But looking at the owner of Changshun Teahouse, it’s clear he’s a savvy businessman who knows how to adapt to the situation. Even without Jiang Miao’s fried buns, in a couple of years, Dingfeng Teahouse might lose all its customers to Changshun Teahouse.

Jiang Miao stands up, dusts off his hands, and ignores the skinny monkey’s pleas for mercy as he walks out. He speaks to Pei Che, who is waiting outside, “You heard all that, right? In this situation, can the head manager be punished?”

“Handling a case requires both witnesses and evidence. If these people can’t provide solid evidence, the head manager could accuse them of false accusations,” Pei Che explains.

“What about those guys inside?”

“I will have my men escort them to the authorities shortly. We’ll see if they can incriminate the head manager. If they can’t, they’ll be sentenced to a month of hard labor outside the city for causing a public disturbance. It’s usually tasks like clearing river channels or dredging,” Pei Che says.

Jiang Miao is pleased upon hearing this. With the current cold weather, dredging the river and cleaning the silt at the bottom is no simple task. Could these individuals who endure such hardship let the head manager have an easy life?

Seeing Jiang Miao’s cheerful demeanor, Pei Che can’t help but smile too. He glances at the sky and says to Jiang Miao, “It’s getting late. How about we find a restaurant and have dinner?”

“Alright, since you helped me out today, I’ll treat you to a nice meal,” Jiang Miao says generously. If he had come alone, he might have had to suffer this loss in silence.

Pei Che doesn’t comment, but he has no intention of letting Jiang Miao foot the bill.

Jiang Miao brings Pei Che to a restaurant and specifically requests a private room to avoid others staring at Pei Che as they had when they entered.

“What would you like to eat?” Jiang Miao asks, looking at the menu hanging inside the private room.

Noticing Jiang Miao’s gaze shifting between several items on the menu, Pei Che says, “Since it’s my first time here, I don’t know what’s good. Why don’t you choose?”

“Manager Wang recommended their deboned chicken and salted osmanthus duck to me before,” Jiang Miao says. He has been curious about these dishes since Manager Wang mentioned them, but ancient restaurants are not like modern eateries, where one can come in casually. Today, since he is treating, he decides to be generous.

“Let’s go with those.”

“Alright!” Jiang Miao responds cheerfully, then turns to the waiter, “Waiter, please bring us the deboned chicken, salted osmanthus duck, braised cabbage, and jade white soup. Also, a pot of good wine.”

The waiter notes down the order and leaves. Seeing Pei Che staring at him, Jiang Miao thinks he might be concerned that he hasn’t ordered enough and says, “It’s not that I’m being stingy. Three dishes and a soup are plenty for the two of us. It would be a shame to waste food.”

Pei Che hadn’t considered this; meals at the Duke’s mansion are always structured with six to eight dishes per meal, and he had never thought about what happened to the leftovers.

Thinking of Jiang Miao’s financial situation, Pei Che nods and says, “These are enough.”

Soon, the dishes are served. Jiang Miao urges Pei Che to try first, but when he picks up his chopsticks, Jiang Miao can’t wait and immediately puts a piece of osmanthus duck in his mouth.

“Hmm, it’s too salty,” Jiang Miao says, his happy expression dimming slightly. As expected, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

“What’s wrong?” Pei Che asks gently.

“Ah, this duck is too salty; it overwhelms the other flavors. And it’s a bit too fatty for this dish,” Jiang Miao explains. He has tasted a more authentic version prepared by a master chef in modern times, which far exceeds this restaurant’s offering.

“Then try this dish, it’s still quite tasty,” Pei Che points to the deboned chicken.

Jiang Miao takes a bite and finds the taste satisfactory, “It’s just that the knife work could be better.” Debonded chicken is sliced into fine strips after removing the bones, but the ones on the plate are almost like strings.

He samples the remaining two dishes and concludes that only the soup is truly satisfying.

Watching him critique each dish, Pei Che can’t help but smile. “I thought you only knew how to make buns, but it seems you’re knowledgeable about other dishes too.” Jiang Miao speaks with authority, clearly having tasted better dishes before, which is strange.

“Of course! How can a good cook only know how to make buns? I know quite a few dishes!” Jiang Miao exclaims. However, he lacks the capital to open a restaurant and doesn’t want to work in a tavern. Comparatively, being a bun maker and small business owner suits him better.

“I wonder who Ah Miao apprenticed under?” Pei Che asks calmly.

Jiang Miao pauses, suddenly aware of his situation, and quickly laughs it off. “I’ve had a big appetite since I was young, learned a bit from the master chef in the village, and picked up some skills at restaurants in the city. Actually, I don’t know much; I’m just bragging.”

“Don’t be nervous, Ah Miao. I’m not prying,” Pei Che apologizes, pouring him a drink. “It’s just that my younger brother, Mu’er, really likes the buns you make. If you know how to make anything else, I could buy some for him to take back.”

Jiang Miao breathes a sigh of relief, recalling the child he had seen last time. “Buy something? Next time, just bring him over to eat directly. By the way, which academy is your brother studying at? Next time, I’ll find a day when both he and Xiao Shitou can rest, and I’ll make something different for them to try.”

Pei Che sighs softly at the words. “Mu’er has a condition akin to the soul wandering from the body, and he hasn’t learned to read or write yet.” It isn’t something meant to be disclosed to outsiders, but given his close connection with Jiang Miao now, how could he make others believe their relationship if he didn’t clarify their family situation?

“Soul wandering from the body?” Jiang Miao repeats to himself, finding it somewhat mystical. “Did the physician say that?”

“He was bright and clever as a child, but after a great tragedy and a shock, he stopped speaking. He doesn’t react when others talk to him, just trapped in his own thoughts. He spends all day inside and sometimes even hides in cabinets. I’ve consulted many renowned physicians, but none could cure him. Then one person said they had seen a similar case and called it

‘Wandering Soul Syndrome,'” Pei Che says, having never spoken about this before, but now, with someone earnestly listening across from him, he finds himself divulging it.

Jiang Miao has experienced being scared as a child too, having had a fever for several nights in a row until his grandmother took him out to “call his soul,” which miraculously cured him. He can’t explain such phenomena, but Mu’er’s condition sounds more like self-isolation than the soul wandering from the body.

“Isn’t it said that mental ailments require mental remedies?” Jiang Miao comforts, “I think you should spend more time with him, take him out more often. Don’t let him stay alone like that; it could make even a healthy person sick. Maybe after some time, he’ll get better.”

Pei Che’s heart stirs, thinking of Jiang Miao’s younger brother. He has raised Xiao Shitou to be obedient and adorable; surely there is a unique approach. Perhaps if he takes Mu’er out a few times, he could also learn a thing or two?

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