Chapter 1840 - Brotherhood

Zeng Juan gave Zhang Yu the cold shoulder, but his friend didn't take offense. He first poured two cups of herbal tea from the big clay pot, tasted it—confirming it was the unsweetened kind—nodded slightly, and placed one cup before himself and one by Zeng Juan's right hand. Then he gently opened the paper package, revealing slices of goose-yellow, tender, and fragrant tea snacks. Immediately the fragrance overflowed, making Zeng Juan glance over repeatedly, his tongue rolling and clicking against the roof of his mouth, mumbling something unintelligible.

"What is this?" Unable to resist the seduction, Zeng Juan asked while reaching out to take a piece. He sniffed it, confirmed it was the aroma of food, and was about to stuff it into his mouth.

"This is an Australian tea snack, called 'cookies.' The recipe came from the Australians—we've just tried it out."

"Mmm..." Zeng Juan's hand couldn't stop.

"The thing is, this treat is precious. Not only does it require fine white flour specially sifted, but also eggs, white sugar, and some butter—that's Mongol goods. Where do you find it in Guangzhou? We had to substitute lard. The Chief said we might consider using water buffalo milk to make butter later. Even so, it cost a fortune. The family only made ten catties as a trial. I brought this over to let a few teahouses test the waters. If it sells well, my family will have one more tea snack to offer in the future."

"Mmm mmm mmm, delicious." Hearing "high cost," Zeng Juan didn't hesitate, continuing to grab more. When saying "delicious," he even sprayed out some crumbs—which distressed him terribly. He rolled them to the edge of the table with his hand into his palm, swallowed what was in his mouth with a gulp of herbal tea, then raised his palm and tipped the crumbs into his mouth.

"How is it? Not bad, right?"

"Mmm mmm mmm, really delicious..." Before the sound of "eating" was finished, another cookie had crunched between his teeth.

"Good. This package for you was made personally by my sister Ting'er..." Zhang Yu said with deliberate emphasis. Sure enough, Zeng Juan choked, beating his chest and gulping water. Blushing, he managed: "Ayu, is Sister Ting at your house?"

"Yes, now that business has grown and we employ many people, the family is short of hands. My aunt came over to discuss things with my mother, and so Ting'er came to our house to help—"

Zeng Juan seemed to fall into some mental theater, looking dreamy and spacing out for a good while before suddenly recovering. Changing to a serious expression, he wondered: "That's not right! According to your uncle's temperament, if your family obtained the Australian secret recipe, how could he let Sister Ting help? Doesn't your family claim to 'pass recipes to daughters-in-law but not to daughters'?"

"Hehe, what's rare about this recipe?" Zhang Yu laughed. "It's all written in the books printed by the Australians. It's just that ordinary families can't find the materials, nor do they have ovens to bake."

"Such secret recipes are just printed in books for everyone to see casually?" Zeng Juan was genuinely surprised this time.

"Yes, the Australians actually don't care about such insignificant skills." Zhang Yu's words carried the envy of one crushed by a tycoon's dropped leg hair. "However, baking does take quite some effort. It requires a closed oven without open fire, and fire control must be mastered—that's the hardest part. The Australians have 'thermometers.' No matter what fuel is used, how many degrees and how many minutes—if timed well, it succeeds every time. It's difficult in our shop. Although we have ready-made closed ovens, my father baked three or four times before fumbling it out."

Zeng Juan's family made candles, so he naturally knew the importance of fire control. Maintaining the right temperature required painstaking effort—when making a certain kind of candle, only certain fuel was used: charcoal, wood, rice husk, or straw. The fire control was different and very subtle. His father had told him that when learning the business from his grandfather, he'd received quite a few "knocks on the head" over this.

Now the Australians solved it effortlessly with a thermometer.

"Mmm, some are a bit burnt." Zeng Juan smacked his lips, raising the half-bitten cookie to show Zhang Yu.

"I told my father we must buy a thermometer, even at a high price—unfortunately, there's no stock in Guangzhou now. Chief Hong said he would find a way to help us import one from Lingao."

"Sigh, ever since your family hugged that Chief Hong's thigh, you've grown more and more prosperous." Hearing these words, Zeng Juan suddenly looked dejected for a moment. But immediately, as if steeling his resolve, he picked up the "Public Basic Knowledge Manual" and resumed reading and reciting.

Zhang Yu knew Zeng Juan was interested in his cousin. He could guess seventy or eighty percent of the reason behind those confused words just now. He intended to matchmake in his heart but couldn't find suitable words. Perhaps, as Zeng Juan wished, studying the Australian exam materials well and finally passing the Australian examination would help him achieve his goal.

Thinking this, he took out a thick book from the pocket he carried.

"This is what I just bought from the Australian bookstore. I'm lending it to you."

"What idle book? I don't have time to read now..." Zeng Juan glanced at it casually and instantly widened his eyes. The cover was prominently printed with "Analysis of 200 Real Questions of Shenlun (Essay Writing)."

Zeng Juan's reading and reciting enterprise was interrupted by surprise once again. "You... you... you brat really have money! This book sells for twelve yuan! My father can't save twelve silver dollars working hard for an entire year!" He suddenly fell silent and looked at Zhang Yu with doubtful eyes. "You're lending this book to me?"

"I have no use if I don't lend it to you—I'm not planning to take the civil service exam. Business at home can't spare me." Zhang Yu spoke with the tone of a new business elite.

"But this is too expensive. I'm ashamed to accept it, ashamed to accept..."

"I'm lending it to you, not giving it." Zhang Yu emphasized the word "lending." "As for money, don't worry. The 'single soldier energy bar' my family trial-produced last time passed appraisal. The Fubo Army Joint Logistics signed a big order. The Australians are going to install machinery for my family and build a new factory specifically to produce this product. The prepaid deposit has already arrived. Buying a book is nothing."

"Twelve yuan for a book is nothing..." Zeng Juan muttered several times, smiling bitterly. "Just this 'Public Basic Knowledge Manual' and an exam syllabus cost six silver dollars, forcing me to seek a student loan from Delong. Now I have to work reading newspapers at this reading point every day to pay off the debt! Your family—let me calculate—besides Chen Liji, you're the second ones the Australians have invested capital to set up a factory for, aren't you? Why do you have such good fortune?"

Zhang Yu himself often marveled that if he hadn't risked it back then and connected with... the Australians first, he didn't know what situation his small tea snack shop would be in now.

"Ajuan, as soon as this summer passes, the Australians' first Enke—the special civil service examination—will be held. Work hard. Take the book and study it well." Zhang Yu spoke in a very sincere tone. "We are good brothers."

Zeng Juan looked at Zhang Yu silently, his lower lip trembling, unable to find words. Expressions of thanks seemed so pale and powerless in this moment.

"Indeed—let us encourage each other, as gentlemen!" Zeng Juan answered with force, spoke no more, and turned his head to continue gnawing on that "Public Basic Knowledge Manual" which he couldn't fully understand and could only memorize by rote.

Zhang Yu didn't disturb him anymore. He lifted the curtain and walked out. In the front, the tea guests who hadn't dispersed were enthusiastically discussing the content Zeng Juan had read earlier. Those who were literate had spread the Yangcheng Express on tables, pointing and gesturing.

"What kind of thing is this 'electrician'? Isn't it the Duke of Thunder and Mother of Lightning? Why 'Electric-Duke' now? Some new Australian trick?"

"This is the gong of 'craftsman,' not the gong of 'male/female,'" a literate person explained. "Does the thunder and lightning in the sky also use craftsmen?"

"What exactly is the deal with Portugal and Spain? Why does the King of Spain control Portugal? Speaking of which, didn't the Zeng kid say last time that this Spain is the Franks? But he also said there's a France north of Spain that doesn't get along with the Franks! These Western countries feel all jumbled up."

"What's there to report about a few foals born on that Jeju Island? Sending a special dispatch for this!"

"You're ignorant. Horses carry pregnancies longer than humans—twelve months. And it's not a few horses but more than two hundred foals born in this wave of late spring and early summer, and all survived. Do you know the market price of horses?"

"Why hasn't this Mao Family Inn case been solved until now? This group of Australian police, I'd say, are also nothing special!" A tea guest boasted shamelessly. "They're quite adept at catching people for littering and spitting and collecting fines..."

...

Amid the noise, Zhang Yu spotted bold red characters on the front page laid aside: "Guangzhou Special Municipality Advanced Worker Commendation Conference Held Today." Just as he wanted to look more closely, several familiar customers from the past noticed him and called out.

"Ayu! A rare guest!"

"Come, come, come over and drink tea with us!"

"Ajuan is studying again—tell us about the things in this newspaper."

"Exactly—you're familiar with the Australians; you must know more clearly than him."

...

Running business with his father these days had greatly improved Zhang Yu's social skills. Doing business required cultivating popularity. He immediately cupped his hands in greeting with a smile, circled around to acknowledge people, and sat down.

What the tea guests cared about most was still the recent Mao Family Inn major case.

"Ayu, tell us—what exactly is the trick in this Mao Family Inn case? It's stirred up wind and clouds all over the city, yet there's still no clear news. This gang of people—they offend heaven and reason. The Australians caught them but don't interrogate them or execute them by slicing. Just holding them like this?"

"This gang of flower-patters truly deserves ten thousand deaths! I heard people say they're also engaged in some kind of sorcery?"

"That's right, truly practicing sorcery!" A tea guest lowered his voice, affecting mystery. "I heard Lord Liu—Mayor Liu Xiang—fell victim to it and was almost bedridden. Later, a Daoist priest was invited from Lingao to perform an exorcism."

"It's said they also subdued a little ghost—an imp. My second aunt's third brother's cousin's brother-in-law is a cleaner in the city government. He said so."

"I heard Daoist Zhang from the Five Immortals Temple say that this gang of demons wants to break Guangzhou's fengshui! Ruin the local dragon vein."

"Where does Guangzhou have any dragon vein? That Daoist Zhang of yours doesn't even have a Daoist certificate."

...

(End of Chapter)