Chapter 290: The Cultural Troupe

"At the broken pass, gazing far, the sea waves lie still; a single trail of wolf-smoke stains the cold stars. Suddenly, wild geese fly bearing tidings from the Tail and Basket constellations; the tiger brigade once more marches northward. Having gazed upon my Wu hook blade, I don my golden armor; at Jinzhou's old ramparts, I shall sever the linked encampments. I would turn into a long wind to beat the war drums; until we smash White Mountain, our troops shall not turn back." (Note: original poem by reader Xi Yang Chen Zui) "Bravo! Bravo!"

The teahouse across from the General Store roared with noise enough to shake the heavens. A crowd of tenant farmers who had just finished their farm work hurried over to the teahouse to listen to a storyteller read the military dispatches. These simple tenant farmers had found a way to make a living in Wendeng, and every time they heard news of a Wendeng Battalion victory, it filled them with elation. Moreover, the Third Tunbao had a peasant-soldier company taking part in the battle, and most households had sons in the fight, which made them feel a share of the honor.

The teahouse owner had hired a storyteller who had fled from Qingzhou as a refugee. This gentleman's luck, however, was clearly not as good as Huang Side's. After being temporarily organized, he received a household permit allowing him to work, and so he went around giving performances at the tea booths of the nearby tunbaos.

This Third Tunbao was not far from the old Wendeng camp. Many new refugees from Shandong had arrived this year, most of them scraping by with odd jobs nearby. After Dengzhou was pacified, the earlier batch of refugees got the chance to receive land allotments, and most were organized and sent off toward Dengzhou and Pingdu. The new refugees then took over the jobs they left behind, so Wendeng's commerce and population did not decline.

It was now afternoon. The current tenant farmers all had a bit of spare cash, and after finishing their farm work they came here to listen to storytelling — this was their favorite leisure activity. Today, as soon as it began, the storyteller recited the military dispatch poem "On Hearing of General Chen's Recovery of Jinzhou Guard." This seven-character verse was written by that unconventional Provincial Graduate, Chen Tingdong.

"Hearing it really lifts the spirit." Guan Xiaomei stood at the entrance of the General Store, her face full of infatuation, thinking to herself, "In the future, I want to find a battle hero like Big Brother to be my husband."

Because Guan Dadi had been awarded the First-Class White Blade Assault Medal, he became the first soldier to receive the highest battle medal. His name resounded throughout the entire Wendeng Battalion system. The Tun Chief made a rare visit to their home, and it happened to come up that at the store, a woman was going to follow her family to Dengzhou for land allocation, leaving a position vacant.

The Guan family had always been mountain folk and had no qualms whatsoever about women showing their faces in public. The Wendeng Battalion was mainly composed of refugees, and women working was already widely accepted. Guan Dasao seized the opportunity to plead with that Tun Chief, and got Guan Xiaomei that job. The monthly pay was five qian. During busy farming seasons, they would hire new refugees from the labor market at the tunbao gate, also for just five qian of silver, but that was on Guan—

Now this Guan family had produced a little brother who was brilliant at his studies and a battle hero. Everyone in the entire Third Tunbao wanted to marry into their family. Matchmakers came wave after wave. Although Guan Dasao normally paid little attention to Guan Dadi, when it came to major matters she still dared not make the decision, insisting on waiting for Guan Dadi to return and discuss it before she would dare to settle anything.

The storyteller then read through the commendations. When the tenant farmers heard the name Guan Dadi of the Third Tunbao, they once again burst into thunderous cheers. Some tenant farmers who knew Guan Dadi began discussing excitedly. It had to be said, this Guan Dadi was a bit slow in the head, and at first the neighbors had looked down on him somewhat. But this man was honest and kind by nature; whenever neighbors in the same Zongjia had trouble, he would take the initiative to go help, so later on he became very well-liked.

The storyteller's voice was completely drowned out. He did not try to shout over them, and simply picked up his teacup to take a sip, moistening his parched throat. Afterward, the cheering subsided again.

"Smack!" The wooden clapper gave a crisp sound. The storyteller pulled the entire audience's focus back to himself. He had been telling stories for many years in Xincheng back when he was in Shandong Prefecture, and his experience was extremely rich. But today was also the first time the protagonist was the listeners' neighbor. Recently, the business of reading military dispatches was even better than telling Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the boss also demanded he must talk about Guan Dadi. This gentleman therefore found it awkward to exaggerate Guan Dadi too outrageously.

"Speaking of this Guan Dadi, everyone in our Third Tunbao knows him. Normally he just farms at home. Why then did he go to Dengzhou? Well, that's a long story. That Jianzhou Chieftain in Liaodong wanted to come and plunder our things again. First he besieged Dalinghe in Liaodong. The Jianzhou Chieftain boasted he could stop the river's flow by throwing whips into it, but our Lord Chen would not stand for it. With a single order from Lord Chen, our Wendeng Battalion's great army of ten thousand marched out. Our Wendeng great army's spirit was like a rainbow, setting out through Shandong to strike the Jianzhou bandits, certain to make the Jianzhou bandits return in defeat."

As soon as the story began, the tenant farmers all fell silent, as if watching a blockbuster film of this era.

"That day they marched to Wuqiao, and by chance encountered Li Jiucheng and his gang. This Li Jiucheng stood eight chi tall, his face covered in a curly beard like steel needles. Back in the old forests of Liaodong, he could kill a tiger with one punch — truly ferocious beyond measure. He wielded an eighteen-chi serpent spear and wore armor forged of gold and silver. Guan Dadi looked at him..."

Hearing him speak of Guan Dadi, Guan Xiaomei grew unbearably impatient and glanced back at the store. The shopkeeper and the other clerk had both slipped away, but at this hour there were usually few customers coming to buy things. So she quietly slipped over to the teahouse entrance as well, to hear more clearly and to feel the atmosphere there up close.

The storyteller spoke very quickly, and soon reached the part inside Dengzhou City. "This Zhenhaimen Street was the most prosperous place in all Dengzhou. How could Li Jiucheng tolerate it being taken by our Wendeng Battalion? At once he rode over fiercely on a horse called Cloud Covering Snow. What is Cloud Covering Snow? It is a black body with white hooves, not one bit inferior to Lord Guan the Second's Red Hare. Lord Chen, how divinely martial he was — how could he take a mere Li Jiucheng seriously? He simply pointed to a Ferghana blood-sweat steed beside him and instructed Guan Dadi: 'On my behalf, take Li Jiucheng's head.' Guan Dadi answered with a shout, flew onto the blood-sweat steed, and wielded a Green Dragon Crescent Blade — indeed passed down from the Guan family ancestors. Seated on the horse, he looked like Lord Guan reborn. Seeing someone come out to fight, Li Jiucheng let out a weird shriek and came flying on his horse, the eighteen-chi serpent spear in his hand whirling like the wind..."

The storyteller suddenly stopped. The entire audience was dead silent. He swept his gaze across the crowd and found that most people had their mouths open waiting for the next part, some even drooling.

Satisfied, he slapped the court gavel, about to speak.

"Where has everyone gone?" A sharp woman's voice suddenly came from across the street, shattering the solemn atmosphere. The tenant farmers, who were listening with great relish, turned their heads in displeasure. It was a woman around twenty, standing at the entrance of the General Store with a face full of harsh anger, followed by a woman who looked like an assistant.

Guan Xiaomei, who had been listening intently, also turned to look and could not help but shiver. She recognized her — it was Xiao Jiahua, who managed the stores near the old Wendeng camp. After Li Ranzhu had her baby, Xiao Jiahua had even been promoted to deputy supervisor of the internal commerce system. She was always fierce toward these subordinates, her attitude even harsher than that Wang Erya.

Guan Xiaomei hurried a few steps to the entrance and braced herself, saying in a low voice, "Supervisor Xiao, I'm here, I'm here."

Xiao Jiahua sized her up coldly. "'I'm here' — where exactly? Listening to storytelling or drinking tea in the teahouse?"

"I... I saw that no one was coming to the shop..."

"Which rule in the General Store regulations says that when no one is buying things, the clerks can go listen to storytelling?"

Xiao Jiahua's voice was very loud; even the people listening to storytelling in the teahouse across the way could hear. Being scolded in front of so many people, Guan Xiaomei could only stand there awkwardly with her head lowered, her face flushed bright red, her hands ceaselessly twisting the hem of her clothes.

A neighbor of the Guan family over there could not bear to watch and came over to plead, "This elder sister..."

Xiao Jiahua glanced at him, saw he was covered in mud and barefoot, clearly just back from the fields, and shouted with a face full of disgust, "Who's your elder sister? Don't try to cozy up."

That neighbor was rebuffed. Seeing that Xiao Jiahua was dressed unusually well, he guessed she was some kind of official. Wang Erya and Li Ranzhu of Wendeng were both famously formidable — what ordinary man would dare provoke them? This neighbor did not know exactly who this woman was, and his confidence shrank considerably. Stammering, he said, "This... this Guan Xiaomei is always diligent in her work. All us neighbors have seen it. Besides, her brother is Guan Dadi, who this time won the First-Class White Blade..."

"I don't care who her brother is. Just because of one medal, you have to bring it up? Never mind you tenant farmers — even the family members of officers who came in the seventh year of Tianqi, I deal with them all the same. Even if we were speaking before Lord Chen and Mr. Liu, I wouldn't be afraid of anyone."

As soon as the names Lord Chen and Mr. Liu came out, that neighbor immediately slunk back into the teahouse. The other neighbors who had been itching to speak up also instantly fell silent, all turning their faces away and pretending not to see.

Having routed the enemy in a few sentences, with all the tenant farmers now afraid of her, Xiao Jiahua felt very satisfied. She then turned around and asked with a dark expression, "Where has the shopkeeper gone?"

Guan Xiaomei said quietly, "I'm not sure either. She was just here a moment ago."

Xiao Jiahua had also risen from the bottom and knew the tricks of these women in the stores very well. "Did she go home to buy groceries and look after her child? Is this how you all perform your duties?"

"N-no, she didn't."

Xiao Jiahua's pitch suddenly rose. "You dare say no? You get five qian a month in pay — you think it's that easy to earn? The new refugees work themselves to death and can't earn that much. Over in Dengzhou, there are women waiting to be placed, most of whom can read and do arithmetic, and right now they're just sitting idle, or doing manual labor just like the men. You people are hogging the latrine without shitting, and you still have the nerve to go listen to storytelling."

"Wuu..." Guan Xiaomei began to cry in grievance, tears falling like beads, the hem of her clothes nearly twisted to shreds. She knew herself she had broken the rules; she just could not bear Xiao Jiahua criticizing her in front of so many people.

"Cry? You have the nerve to cry? Your entire year's bonus is canceled, and three months' pay docked." Seeing Guan Xiaomei cry, Xiao Jiahua felt a surge of inexplicable pleasure. She looked at the roster and said to the assistant behind her, "Demote the shopkeeper to clerk. The clerk who isn't here — dismiss her directly."

The assistant asked, "Where do we transfer a new shopkeeper from?"

"First transfer one from Weihai, then request some female instructors from Dengzhou, for later." Xiao Jiahua said calmly. Liu Minyou had written a letter asking her to find a way to place some women in the various General Stores. She had racked her brains to come up with this method. These days she had been inspecting stores everywhere, firing anyone caught violating the rules. So far she had already dismissed twenty clerks, over ten warehouse keepers, and more than thirty garment workers.

She had looked at the roster for all these people. Most came from families that had land or where the men had jobs, so they did not take their work very seriously. Firing them would not affect their family's livelihood. It was the perfect opportunity to clear them out and also fulfill the task Mr. Liu had assigned. She had also promised that all new stores in Dengzhou and Pingdu would use these women. The remaining four hundred women could basically all be placed. Mr. Liu would surely praise her performance greatly — she could not help feeling smug at the thought.

Xiao Jiahua had won a complete victory today and prepared to discipline Guan Xiaomei a bit more. Lifting her chin, she said to Guan Xiaomei, "You at least live nearby, so this time I'm only docking your monthly pay. If this happens again, get lost and go home. Don't think you can slack off just because you have a combat-soldier brother. In this Wendeng Battalion, officers are a dime a dozen..."

"Don't you dare talk about my big brother!" Guan Xiaomei suddenly raised her head, her face still streaked with tears, and shrieked somewhat hysterically, "Screw your mother, Xiao Jiahua! My second brother died at Luanzhou, and my big brother has gone to fight the Tatars! If you want to punish me, then punish me, but you are not allowed to talk about them! I'm done with this damn store!" Having lived in the mountains for years, she had a very fierce temperament — even the most favored Guan Xiaodi normally dared not provoke her. Now, pushed by Xiao Jiahua, in her fury she threw all caution to the wind, tore off her apron, and hurled it at Xiao Jiahua's face.

Xiao Jiahua flung it aside, so furious that smoke seemed to pour from her seven orifices. Pointing at Guan Xiaomei, she cursed, "You dare call yourself 'laozi'? How can you be so ill-bred!"

Guan Xiaomei put her hands on her hips. "Laozi is ill-bred! Today, Xiao Jiahua, do you want to try me? Laozi alone can take on the two of you."

The onlookers in the teahouse were all dumbstruck, never expecting this pretty Guan Xiaomei to have such formidable combat strength. Still, they were happy to see this arrogant Xiao Jiahua meet her match, and laughter kept breaking out from the crowd.

Xiao Jiahua's assistant was a big, burly matron. She shouted loudly in rebuke and was really about to step forward and start a fight.

Xiao Jiahua swallowed her anger, held back the assistant, and nodded at Guan Xiaomei, saying, "Fine, Guan Xiaomei, this old lady will remember you. One day I'll deal with you."

Guan Xiaomei said disdainfully, "Suit yourself." She tossed her head and swaggered past Xiao Jiahua and away.

The assistant said to Xiao Jiahua, "Supervisor Xiao, the two of us against her alone — we can win."

Xiao Jiahua cursed, "Bah! I'm a supervisor. Getting into a fight with a little girl like her — if word got out, I'd be laughed to death. Dock her pay for this month, don't give it to her. Hmph, give this Tun Chief's store a zero on its performance evaluation. All three of them are fired. Send a report to Mr. Liu. Make this store a whatchamacallit?"

"It's called a typical case."

"Right, a typical case. Let's see her be so smug."

Xiao Jiahua turned her head and saw the crowd of farmers across the way still staring at her dumbly. She gave a dry cough and prepared to leave. Just then, a tenant farmer at the street corner shouted, "Everyone, hurry! The Jianzhou bandits captured at Jinzhou are being paraded past outside! Everyone, hurry and beat the Jianzhou bandits!"

"Kill the Jianzhou bandits!" "Kill the Jianzhou bandits!" The tenant farmers were just feeling bored. Hearing now that there were Jianzhou bandits to beat — no risk and a chance to show their valor — they grabbed their farm tools in a chaotic swarm and surged out. In the blink of an eye, the teahouse was left with only one storyteller, gaping speechlessly.

Guan Xiaomei had not gone far. Hearing the noise, she also hurriedly ran out of the tun. The roadside was boiling with voices. Many farm tools were waving about over there, and quite a few clods of earth and vegetable leaves were flying — clearly the farmers were using hidden projectiles to strike the captives.

She tried twice to squeeze in but failed both times. She could only hear someone like a training officer inside loudly proclaiming and humiliating those Jianzhou bandits. She had never seen what Jianzhou bandits looked like — were they covered in hair all over, as the storyteller said? Growing anxious, she circled around to the back, but there were also many people there.

She had no choice but to go further back. There were fewer people here. She squeezed in to look, but there were no Jianzhou bandits here — it was two training officers wearing armbands with the character 'Jiao' (Instruction). One of them was shouting loudly, "The Cultural Troupe is recruiting male and female members! Monthly pay one tael! Must have a loud voice, those who can sing and dance are preferred..."

"Monthly pay one tael." Guan Xiaomei licked her lips.