Chapter 76 - 75: The Second Round
Chapter 76: Chapter 75: The Second Round
"Yes, that makes sense." Hall Master Zheng smiled faintly and stroked his beard.
"Master, that’s not all. Junior Brother Zhang also came up with some kind of tea grading system..."
He then mentioned another newly learned term: product grading.
Standardization.
Chen Tong still didn’t fully understand. Business was business. Someone pays, you give them the goods.
’What’s all this about grading?’
’What standards? What free samples?’
’Why does it have to be so complicated? He didn’t understand any of it. It seemed he really wasn’t cut out for business.’
"Hah, it seems Fang Hu really has taken on a fine disciple. I’ve made my decision. From now on, the Martial Arts Hall will give that boy, Fang Yue, an extra portion of Secret Medicine every month until he achieves Great Success in Marrow Transformation."
Hall Master Zheng took a deep breath. He had weathered many storms in his time.
His perspective on matters was far more profound than Chen Tong’s.
Although he didn’t understand these new terms either, he could clearly see a massive business opportunity within them.
The White Tiger Boxing Hall naturally couldn’t handle such a large enterprise on its own, but in the future, anyone who entered the roasted tea business would have to mention their White Tiger Tea House.
It was like when the Grand Ancestor of Great Wei unified the world and established the realms of Martial Dao cultivation.
From then on, any who cultivated the Martial Dao had to pay homage to the name of this Grand Ancestor of Great Wei.
Even now, his reputation among the common people was still as radiant as the sun and moon in the sky.
"Ah, Master, are you really going to do this?"
Chen Tong was shocked. A portion of Secret Medicine every month wasn’t a huge expense. Even over a year, it would only cost the Martial Arts Hall a few hundred taels of silver.
But a portion every month, all the way until he achieved Great Success in Marrow Transformation...
Everyone knew that Marrow Transformation was difficult to achieve, taking at least ten years or more.
A rough calculation showed it could easily cost upwards of ten thousand taels of silver.
For the Martial Arts Hall to bear this cost was enough to show just how highly his master now regarded Fang Yue.
"I told you to do it, so go do it. Has my word lost its authority?!"
Hall Master Zheng’s expression turned stern.
"Yes, Master." Chen Tong immediately and hastily agreed.
~~~~~~
At the tavern.
A corner table by the window in the main hall.
"Sirs, our boss says this meal is on him today. Please, eat and drink your fill."
The waiter said respectfully to the two after serving all the food and wine Fang Yue and Chubby had ordered.
"Hmph, are you looking down on me? I said this meal was my treat, so it’s my treat. There’s no need for your boss to pay."
Chubby was the first to object. He had declared he was treating them today, so he had to be the one to pay.
If the tavern owner paid, then what would that make of today’s gathering?
"Sir, please don’t make things difficult for this humble one. Our boss said it’s clear you two are destined to pass the examinations. After you become Scholars tomorrow, he hopes you’ll grace our humble establishment with a piece of your calligraphy."
The waiter said with an apologetic smile, bowing with his hands clasped as he pleaded with Fang Yue and the other.
Of course, Chubby refused. In his own words, anyone who dared to fight him for the bill was looking down on him.
"Forget it, forget it. Since the establishment is so sincere, let’s just leave it at that," Fang Yue said, quickly stopping Bai Xingqiu.
’If this fatty keeps making a scene, are we even going to get to eat this meal?’
’Besides, the food is getting cold.’
"Hmph, fine. We’ll leave it at that for today. I’ll grant that your boss has good judgment. The two of us will definitely pass this year’s examination," Chubby said smugly.
Only then did the waiter depart.
But after a moment, he returned with a pot of tea.
"Oh, right. Here is a pot of new tea that just arrived today. Our shopkeeper asked me to bring you a pot."
Hearing that it was good tea, Chubby immediately poured himself a cup and took a large swig, downing it like an ox.
"Mm, this really is good tea! It’s even better than the tea I bought from Huang’s Tea House a few days ago!"
"Whose tea is this? When I go back to the Prefecture City, I have to bring some with me to open my old man’s eyes."
After taking a sip, Bai Xingqiu’s eyes narrowed in pleasure.
He had thought the tea from Huang’s was already quite good, but he never expected today’s tea to be even better.
But... it felt like he had tasted this tea somewhere before.
Bai Xingqiu then looked at Fang Yue again.
"Fang, this tea...?"
"It’s the new tea from the Boxing Hall’s tea house. They’ve sent some to all the major taverns and teahouses," Fang Yue said, not hiding anything as he explained the tea’s origin.
Even Fang Yue was surprised. ’Zhang Boyang is really efficient.’
’He’s already distributed the tea throughout the entire city today. All the major taverns and teahouses must have had a taste by now.’
’This is so much better than the rumor-like advertisements from Huang’s Tea House spreading through back alleys.’
’Besides, as long as the roasted tea grading system established by the White Tiger Tea House can be successfully implemented, this business will be as solid as a mountain.’
"Hehe, Fang, you’ve really kept me in the dark. No, you have to get me three jin... no, thirty jin of this tea."
Bai Xingqiu laughed heartily. He was already thinking that since he was heading back to the Prefecture City, he could discuss doing this business with his old man.
’After all, a small, local power like the White Tiger Boxing Hall would never be able to expand its business into the Prefecture City.’
That would naturally be no problem.
Although supplies were tight right now, especially for the Grade B tea, which had only been rushed into production in the last few days.
The quantity was naturally even smaller, but since Chubby had asked, it was of course no problem.
He had taken quite a bit of advantage of the other man over the past two months.
"Excellent, excellent! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you, my good brother."
Chubby laughed loudly and was about to call the waiter over for a few more jars of wine, declaring he wouldn’t go home until he was drunk.
Fang Yue’s face instantly darkened. This guy really never learned his lesson.
’The exam is tomorrow, and he wants to drink until he’s smashed?’
’If he actually gets drunk, what’s he going to do tomorrow?’
Fang Yue could only refuse repeatedly, and he soon returned to his room to practice his calligraphy.
~~~~~~
「Early the next morning.」
After getting up and having breakfast, Fang Yue and Bai Xingqiu headed toward the examination grounds together.
Along the way, as they passed by the banks of the Jade River.
They actually saw a few Martial Artists who looked drunk, their faces still bearing lipstick marks.
Well, some people really had spent the night carousing.
’In that state, can they really get a good score today?’
’These people have no sense of priority. Of all times, they chose now to be so... busy!’
Perhaps these people weren’t confident and had just decided to give up completely.
The Martial Examination for the title of Martial Scholar only accepted the top ten.
Even if their earlier scores were poor, they still had one last chance to change their fate during the combat trials.
However, based on past experience, unless they got incredibly lucky, those with poor initial scores would find it very difficult to defeat the higher-ranked candidates in the final challenge round.
This was because their better scores often meant they were genuinely stronger.
If they weren’t confident, who would dare to go up and issue a challenge?
One careless mistake could get you crippled, and wouldn’t your whole life be ruined?
And so, they gave up completely.
Yesterday, when Chubby asked him to go out, it was probably because he was used to giving up too.
Fang Yue shook his head and soon arrived at the examination’s training grounds with Chubby.
Today, the process began again with a roll call and identity verification.
Then, they received their examination numbers for the day and were led by the proctoring soldiers to the area for the Military Strategy test.
Along the way, they passed by the area where the civil examinations were being held.
It was actually the first time most of the Martial Artists had seen the civil examination grounds.
Naturally, some of them were boisterous, and the noisy chatter woke some of the still-sleeping Civil Scholars, who got up cursing.
The Martial Artists, of course, had bad tempers and immediately retorted with a few insults.
The other party was no pushover either and immediately started trading insults.
Naturally, the soldiers in charge of maintaining order came and took the two noisy individuals—a Martial Artist and a Scholar—away.
Their imperial examinations for the year were, of course, nullified.
With this pair serving as an example, the examination grounds instantly quieted down.
Following the soldier, Fang Yue arrived at his assigned cubicle.
Perhaps by coincidence, diagonally across from him was none other than Liu Chuanzhi.
And the fellow’s cubicle was very close to the legendary "Stink Stall."
Fortunately, Fang Yue was still five or six zhang away from it.
Despite this, some of the smell still drifted over.
Luckily, Fang Yue was mentally tough.
Having grown up in the countryside, his tolerance was very high.
Liu Chuanzhi, however, was not so lucky.
The guy looked pale and green, as if he hadn’t eaten or slept well.
’Tsk tsk, that guy is really unlucky!’
Fang Yue smiled faintly. In his previous life, he had read plenty of novels about the imperial examinations, and they all said that next to the Stink Stall, even the God of Literature himself would have to throw up.
’In poor condition, how could anyone possibly do well on the exam?’