Chapter 132 Storytelling at the Teahouse

Li Asan led a fleeing farmer with a strange odor to the well to wash up. After washing several times, the thick horse manure smell on the NPC fleeing farmer finally faded somewhat. After a while, Li Asan brought the cleaned fleeing farmer to see Zhan Xiaobai.

The fleeing farmer wore a miserable expression. Upon seeing Zhan Xiaobai, he collapsed to the ground with a thump and wailed, "Village Chief, save this humble one! If the Village Chief does not save me, I cannot live on and might as well jump into the river!"

What was such a big deal that warranted life-or-death drama?

Zhan Xiaobai hurriedly helped him up and said, "Get up and speak. Whatever the matter is, I will make the decision for you. Which village did you flee from? What kind of skills do you possess?"

The fleeing farmer quickly poured out his grievances, "The Village Chief is truly a good person. This humble one was originally a farmer who cultivated tea outside Hualing Village. Over two months ago, horse bandits captured me and turned me into a slave. Those hateful horse bandits found fault with whatever work I did, beating and cursing me. I suffered from hunger, having one meal uncertain of the next, and was even locked up in the stable. Over these past two months, this humble one has lived a life worse than a pig or a dog. I beg the lord to take me in; any odd job will do. This humble one can endure extreme hardship."

A tea farmer from Hualing Village!

Zhan Xiaobai and Li Asan were instantly astonished. According to rumors, the tea farmers of Hualing Village went missing in February when horse bandits harassed the village. Little did anyone expect that they had been captured by horse bandits as forced labor and were still alive. Pitiful Hualing Village had lost a major source of income ever since the tea farmers vanished.

Zhan Xiaobai pondered for a good while, wondering how to deal with this tea farmer.

Li Asan offered his advice: "Lord, since he knows how to grow tea, we should take him in. Our village can also gain an extra source of income."

Zhan Xiaobai nodded and said, "I want to take him in as well, but we must cultivate a tea plantation of our own... and around here, only the area beside Hualing Village has wild tea groves. Furthermore, we must currently handle our relationship with Hualing Village properly. If Hualing Village learns that the tea farmer is in our hands, they will likely send people to demand him back immediately. If handled improperly, it might spark a major conflict. Other villages will also say we are too domineering, snatching away someone else's crucial talent."

Li Asan muttered inwardly: Our village has already done plenty of domineering things; one less doesn't matter, and one more won't hurt. However, he knew Zhan Xiaobai always considered matters thoroughly, so he dared not say much more.

Seeing that Zhan Xiaobai was still hesitating whether to take him in, the tea farmer cried out imploringly, "My lord, please do not abandon this humble one. I never want to endure that suffering again. I only ask for a stable place to rest my head."

Zhan Xiaobai suddenly had an idea and asked the tea farmer, "What is your skill level?"

The tea farmer hurriedly replied, "This humble one is currently an advanced tea farmer."

Zhan Xiaobai nodded and smiled, "That means you can take apprentices, right? How many apprentices can you take right now?"

"Yes, yes, what the lord says is correct. This humble one can currently take three apprentices and can impart skills in tea cultivation, tea parching, and tea brewing."

"That makes things easier." Zhan Xiaobai turned to Li Asan and said, "Asan, immediately arrange for three farmers to become apprentices to this tea farmer. In addition, send someone to Hualing Village to say that Auspicious White Village has recently recruited four tea farmers in one stroke. Deeply sympathetic to Hualing Village's misfortune of a few months ago, we wish to discuss matters with them and gift them one of the junior tea farmers. Ask them to send a few representatives to discuss cooperation."

Li Asan hurriedly arranged for the apprenticeships and dispatched messengers to Hualing Village.

The tea farmer was overjoyed, tears streaming down his face as he prostrated himself on the ground again, kowtowing heavily several times. "Thank you, Village Chief, for taking me in! This humble one can finally live a stable life."

Zhan Xiaobai was torn between laughter and tears. "Get up. From now on, you are a villager of White Village. Change this outfit of yours from head to toe so no one recognizes your previous identity."

Upon receiving the message from White Village, Hualing Village was over-joyed. Such a wonderful thing had actually happened! White Village was actually willing to gift one of the four tea farmers they had acquired to them?

An elder rejoiced: "Ever since our tea farmer went missing, we've had to rely on other production income to make a living. The vast wild tea groves right next to us have gone unused. White Village is truly lucky to have obtained four tea farmers all at once. This is wonderful; we can produce tea again."

Another elder worried: "Will they attach any conditions?"

Hualing declared: "No matter what, as long as our village can resume tea production, it represents a major source of income that can rapidly improve our financial situation. Let's go, we'll visit White Village immediately."

That very day, the village chief and elders of Hualing Village personally visited White Village to discuss the gifting of the NPC tea farmer and matters of cooperation. For a moment, it never crossed their minds that it was their own missing tea farmer who ended up in White Village's hands.

Elder Jianba negotiated with them. Of course, the tea farmer could not be given away for free. White Village put forward a condition: fifty percent of Hualing Village's tea yield would belong to White Village. Hualing Village was caught in a difficult dilemma. White Village had gifted them a talent, so they certainly owed a debt of gratitude. However, taking away fifty percent of the tea yield was a bit too steep; it had to be lowered.

White Village made a concession, and an agreement was finally reached: sixty percent for Hualing Village and forty percent for White Village. In addition, a small portion of the wild tea trees outside Hualing Village would be transplanted for cultivation inside White Village.

Furthermore, since tea was a scarce commodity, rare even throughout the entire Liangzhou province, White Village and Hualing Village would forge a commercial agreement to jointly control the tea market within Wuwei Commandery and even Liangzhou, boosting tea profits and sharing the benefits equally.

With no objections from either side, the commercial cooperation agreement was signed. Afterward, Zhan Xiaobai, Jianba, Qiushui, and others sat down with Hualing Village Chief Hualing and several elders in the council hall to discuss a far more important matter—forging an alliance.

Hualing and the elders were extremely excited. Because Daqi Village sat between Hualing Village and White Village, their previous contact with White Village had been limited, leaving them without a deep understanding of White Village's conduct.

They never expected White Village to be so magnanimous, gifting a precious NPC tea farmer right off the bat and willingly cooperating to control the tea market. If both sides could take things a step further and form an alliance, it would naturally be for the best.

Hualing smiled and said, "Village Chief White has always been the leader among the villages. Since you have proposed an alliance with Hualing Village, our village is naturally more than willing. In the future, whenever Hualing Village is needed—whether for warfare or financial support—Village Chief White need only give the word, and Hualing Village will undoubtedly exert its utmost strength."

Zhan Xiaobai laughed heartily, "Haha, Brother Hualing is a man of his word. Then let us formally form an alliance."

In just a single day, White Village lightning-fast allied with Hualing Village. This system announcement was officially broadcast throughout Wuwei Commandery.

To date, White Village had established three allied villages. Wutong Village was a fraternal ally, completely integrated. Hubao Village was a trade ally, limited strictly to commerce. Hualing Village was a partnership ally, supporting one another in trade, military force, and other aspects.

The alliance between the two villages caused quite a stir and sparked speculation among neighboring settlements.

The most uneasy among them was Daqi Village. Daqi anxiously speculated whether White Village and Hualing Village had reached some agreement and were plotting against Daqi Village, which was sandwiched right between them. Because Daqi Village's relations with both Hualing Village and White Village were mediocre at best, this possibility seemed quite high. He hastily dispatched numerous scouts to gather intelligence on both villages.

Next was Hubao Village. Black Tiger, Tianbao, and the others deliberated for a long time without figuring out Zhan Xiaobai's and Hualing's purpose in forming an alliance. It presumably wasn't aimed at Hubao Village, as Hualing Village was quite a distance away. If Hualing Village were to mobilize a large military force for a distant expedition, it would surely provoke a violent backlash from Daqi Village.

The cooperation between White Village and Hualing Village proceeded methodically.

A portion of the wild tea trees was transplanted into White Village's newly constructed tea plantation, where the tea farmer and his apprentices could cultivate tea within the village. Because they were transplanted as whole mature trees, tea could be harvested in the shortest possible time.

Zhan Xiaobai conducted his first inspection of the tea plantation.

Having replanted the tea trees, the tea farmer was moved to tears, expressing endless gratitude to Zhan Xiaobai.

Zhan Xiaobai smiled, shook his head, and recalled something. "Right, how did you escape from the horse bandits? Weren't they guarding you?"

Hearing Zhan Xiaobai's inquiry, the tea farmer hurriedly replied, "They were afraid this humble one would escape, so the guard was originally very strict. However, in recent days, the horse bandits have been fighting the Qiang people every day. They seized a lot of loot from the Qiang—such as cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, grain, and fodder. The horse bandits were short-handed, and even the last guard watching me was reassigned. Sometimes their camp was completely deserted. This humble one seized the opportunity and fled by night."

"Oh?"

Pei Yuanshao's band of horse bandits plundered Qiang tribal wealth every day? Truly formidable.

Zhan Xiaobai asked, "Do you know how many men they currently have?"

The tea farmer shook his head, "I don't know, but their numbers seemed to have grown quite a bit recently. Every day they have to slaughter several pigs and sheep just to have enough to eat."

Zhan Xiaobai nodded. It seemed Pei Yuanshao had absorbed some other horse bandits from somewhere and expanded his forces once more. He would look for an opportunity to see if he could acquire some draft cattle from them.

Leaving the tea plantation and estimating that tea production would begin before long, Zhan Xiaobai arranged for some farmers to construct a basic civic building next to the tavern—a teahouse.

Intermediate Teahouse: Ten to thirty visiting NPCs appear daily to drink tea, spending one to thirty copper coins—the higher the grade of the tea, the higher the cost. A storyteller has a ten percent chance of appearing to narrate stories and biographies within the teahouse. Can boost villager morale.

As soon as the teahouse was completed, Zhan Xiaobai, Li Asan, Jianba, and many curious players became the teahouse's very first patrons, drinking the lowest-grade tea available.

One of the tea farmer's junior apprentices served as the tea waiter, brewing tea and greeting guests. As for cups, porcelain was far too expensive, so they used uniform bamboo teacups and bamboo pots. The tables and chairs were likewise crafted entirely from wood.

The tea waiter filled cups for everyone one by one.

Low-grade Green Tea: +5% stamina recovery rate, duration: one pot of tea.

Zhan Xiaobai raised his teacup and smiled at the players, "Drinking alcohol is too expensive, but the attributes of this tea look quite good. It seems we will all be switching to drinking tea from now on. Today marks the grand opening of White Village's teahouse, so all tea is completely free. Please make yourselves at home. From now on, the tea here will also be sold cheaply, giving everyone a great place to recover stamina. I'll substitute tea for wine and toast everyone here."

The players burst into hearty laughter. "Haha, we must thank Village Chief White!" "If it's free every day, I'll patronize the place daily!" "Even without wine, tea will do!"

Jianba took a sip of tea and smiled, "This tea can accelerate stamina recovery; not bad. Originally, I was worried about breaking into the player market, but with this attribute, sales won't be a problem. It's just that a five percent boost is a bit meager; we'll need to develop higher-grade tea eventually."

Zhan Xiaobai smiled and said, "Jianba, when our village merchants go out on trade runs, have them keep an eye out for tea seeds or wild tea plants. Even if we acquire them at a high price, it will definitely be worth it."

Jianba nodded.

While everyone upstairs was chatting casually, a middle-aged NPC dressed in a singing-grey cloth tunic and holding a paper fan ascended to the teahouse. Seeing it packed to the brim with people, a look of delight crossed his face. He approached, bowed to the crowd, and spoke with radiant spirit, "Esteemed patrons, I am Fu Dayuan, a storyteller. Since everyone has time to spare, how about listening to a tale from this humble one?"

On the very first day of business, an NPC storyteller had shown up!

The players were overjoyed. "Good! We were just idling around, so give us a story."

Fu Dayuan the storyteller began, "Let us speak of our Great Han Celestial Dynasty. In the past, there was Exalted Emperor Liu Bang, whose divine prowess shook the world, establishing an unparalleled legacy; later, there was Emperor Wu Liu彻 with the rule of Wen and Jing, while Wei Qing and Huo Qubing launched far expeditions against the Xiongnu, marching their horses across the Qilian Mountains and sealing titles at Langjuxu. After Wang Mang usurped the Han, there arose Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, who revived our Great Han Celestial Dynasty up to the ascension of Emperor Ling. Among them, heroes and chivalrous figures are too numerous to recount. Why not let this humble one narrate the tale of the famed Fubo General of the Guangwu Emperor era—Ma Yuan?"

Though a few players might not have known Ma Yuan's origins, mentioning Ma Teng or Ma Chao meant every player knew them. This Ma Yuan was precisely the most famous ancestor of the Liangzhou Ma clan. The might and prestige of the Ma clan in Liangzhou stemmed largely from Ma Yuan. Without Ma Yuan, there would have been no powerful Ma family warlord faction that carved out a domain in Liangzhou during the Three Kingdoms period.

Hearing him speak of Ma Yuan, the players quieted down, listening with rapt attention.

"General Ma Yuan's ancestor was Zhao She, the renowned military general of the Zhao state during the Warring States period. Zhao She was conferred the title 'Lord of Mafu' for his meritorious service, and ever since, Zhao She's descendants adopted Ma as their surname. The Ma clan produced loyal and virtuous talents generation after generation; Ma Yuan's brothers all held high official posts earning two thousand piculs of grain. Back in the day, Ma Yuan served as a commandery garrison inspector, once tasked with escorting prisoners..."

Fu Dayuan's storytelling captivated the players so thoroughly that they nearly burst the teahouse at the seams. Not just players, but even NPC villagers ran over to listen, all craning their necks and exclaiming in admiration, "Ah, wonderful, simply amazing!"

Zhan Xiaobai felt a surge of secret admiration. This NPC storyteller was truly impressive; he wondered if he could recruit him to boost villager morale every single day.