Chapter 132: Romance

Although Mei Yan’er was young, she was an old hand in the world of pleasure, having grown up in a brothel. She had seen all sorts of people on West Lake.

This particular business was introduced by Cai Shi. Although Cai Shi was not an old acquaintance, he had often come to the lake to charter flower boats for his master in the past; he had simply changed employers. Cai Shi was a reliable local resident and would certainly not introduce notorious criminals to do business with them. She speculated: they were probably sea merchants who had been trading at sea. It was likely their first time in the dazzling world of Hangzhou, and they had some money in their pockets.

Seeing that the other masters, except for Master Zhao who just smiled at her and her “mother,” showed no interest in her at all, Mei Yan’er was quite surprised. With her skills, a single glance and a few words after she came out should have made any man reveal a greedy expression. These men didn’t even seem to want to look at her twice. This made Mei Yan’er a little disappointed, but she attributed it to it being their first time in such a place and being overly reserved. She immediately employed her wiles, determined to first win over Master Mei—the one paying, Master Zhao, had specifically instructed her to serve Master Mei well.

“Oh, why isn’t Master Mei speaking? Could it be that he’s angry?” Mei Yan’er’s dimples danced as she leaned closer. Her voice was clear and crisp, very pleasant to hear.

“No, no.”

“Master Mei, please have some tea!” She offered the covered bowl of tea to Mei Lin, then personally picked up a few shelled pine nuts and brought them to his lips.

Mei Lin couldn’t refuse. He couldn’t act indifferent, as this woman had been specially brought by Zhao Yingong to entertain him. The earlier encounter had already shattered his illusions. However, Mei Lin still clung to the idea that “these are not the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, just common rouge and powder.”

Seeing Mei Yan’er personally bring the pine nuts to his mouth, he couldn’t maintain his pretense of modesty any longer. If he did, he would inevitably be ridiculed by the other sharp-tongued Yuanen as “worse than a beast.” He reached out and took the pine nuts. He saw Mei Yan’er’s thin gauze sleeve slightly retracted, revealing a wrist as white as snow. His heart skipped a beat, and he couldn’t help but carefully examine the woman before him. He saw that her sleeves were made of extremely fine gauze, and her arms were like white lotus roots. Her neck was snow-white… but her chest was flat, with no discernible curves.

Mei Lin put the pine nuts in his mouth. The pine nuts themselves were nothing special, but they carried a sweet, cloying scent of perfume, which made his heart flutter slightly.

“What’s your name?”

“My pet name is Mei Yan’er.”

“Which characters?”

“The ‘Mei’ from ‘a glance back that brings a hundred charms,’ and the ‘Yan’ from ‘the six palaces’ powdered beauties lose their color.’”

“What elegant speech!” Mei Lin asked again, “Have you studied?”

“What books can people like us read? I just picked up a few phrases randomly while learning songs from my mother,” she said with a slightly sad smile.

Mei Lin didn’t know this was a common trick of famous courtesans and was immediately filled with pity. He couldn’t help but take her small hand. Mei Yan’er knew she had made progress, but she gently withdrew her hand.

Although she withdrew her hand, her movement was extremely slow, as if she was reluctant to do so, making the customer feel that she was full of affection while also allowing him to fully appreciate her soft, small hand.

Mei Lin, unaware of these little tricks of the trade, only felt that Mei Yan’er’s hand was soft, smooth, and boneless. He wished he could hold it a little longer.

Mei Yan’er was an old hand at this. After giving a small favor, she immediately withdrew it. She then took a small red and white pastry from the platter and brought it to Mei Lin’s mouth.

“Master, this is ‘boned abalone screw.’”

This time, Mei Lin didn’t hesitate and ate it in one bite. A milky fragrance filled his nostrils, and it was sweet and delicious, with a taste somewhat like a Western pastry. In the old world, small Western pastries with heavy sugar and cream were a dime a dozen and nothing special. But it had been a long time since D-Day, so he enjoyed it very much and nodded repeatedly.

“This ‘boned abalone screw’ was made by Mei Yan’er herself. It’s very difficult to make. Master is in for a treat today,” Mei Niang chimed in from the side, seeing that Master Mei was getting into the swing of things. It was unclear if she was telling the truth.

“Mother, you’re exaggerating. What’s so difficult about this little pastry?” Mei Yan’er said with a teasing smile, then offered Mei Lin other fruits to eat.

“This ‘boned abalone screw’ is a famous product of Suzhou. Speaking of ‘The Plum in the Golden Vase’—” Zhao Yingong remembered this pastry vividly from when he read the novel. In Ximen Qing’s mansion, only Li Ping’er knew how to make it. After Li Ping’er died, Zheng Aiyue’er won Ximen Qing’s favor with it.

In “The Plum in the Golden Vase,” “boned abalone screw” is mentioned many times, always with praise. It was a very precious pastry at the time. Only wealthy and discerning families would make it, and the best “boned abalone screw” was universally acknowledged to come from Suzhou.

“…I just never knew what was so special about the Suzhou ‘abalone screw’?” Zhao Yingong said, his mouth watering. He had already eaten one from the table and felt it was nothing more than very milky, which was not unusual for transmigrators accustomed to dairy products.

“I didn’t expect Master Zhao to be so well-versed in the art of food and drink,” Mei Yan’er said, covering her mouth with her fan.

This hit Zhao Yingong’s sweet spot. He snapped his gold-inlaid fan shut and smiled. “There’s nothing magical about it. It just requires good cheese. The first rule of cheese is that it must be fresh…”

Zhou Dongtian watched Zhao Yingong talk eloquently and was surprised, thinking that this person, who always boasted of being a descendant of the Zhao Song imperial family, was indeed very knowledgeable about matters of enjoyment.

With this thought, he took a preserved fruit wrapped in a small leaf from the platter and put it in his mouth. It turned out to be a honey-preserved plum wrapped in a dried mint leaf. It was sweet and cool in his mouth. He had eaten honey-preserved plums before, but this was the first time he had encountered one so exquisitely and creatively made. The dried mint leaf, in particular, not only prevented the honey from sticking to his hands but also added a refreshing coolness, which was much better than in the old world.

He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Excellent! This is the first time I’ve eaten this.”

Mei Niang quickly said, “This is also from Suzhou, called ‘clothed plum.’ It’s very good for clearing phlegm, reducing internal heat, and freshening the breath. If Master likes it, please have a few more.”

This round of conversation enlivened the atmosphere in the cabin considerably. Mei Niang, being a very astute person, immediately realized that these masters were probably used to simple food and had not eaten many exquisite fruits and pastries. She then introduced the snacks on the platter one by one: hawthorn cakes, mandarin orange cakes, preserved olives, pine nut candy… all sorts of things. Some still existed in the old world, while others had long since disappeared. The men felt their eyes were opened. They all took some to taste and occasionally commented on them. The atmosphere in the cabin became much more relaxed.

Now Mei Niang was even more certain that this group were sea merchants who had made a fortune and come to Hangzhou to see the world. Finding out that the host, Master Zhao, was from Guangdong seemed to confirm her guess. She was determined to make a lot of money from them and establish a long-term business relationship. She gave her daughter a look, signaling her to secure Master Mei.

Mei Yan’er used all her tricks to win over Mei Lin, and Mei Lin gradually began to relax.

Zhao Yingong saw that he was getting into the swing of things, and that it would be a bit of a mood killer for him and the others to stay. He stood up and said, “Let’s go to the terrace and enjoy the view.”

“Wait, wait!” Mei Lin said, waving his hand. “I want to go too.”

“You just sit for a moment,” Zhao Yingong said, closing his fan. “Don’t waste this beautiful spring day.”

On the terrace, a cool breeze blew from the lake, and the Yuanen felt their chests lighten. Although the cabin was comfortable, the mixture of the women’s perfume and incense made the air feel stuffy.

Xu Ke looked at the various large and small pleasure boats on the lake, and his professional instincts were triggered. As a naval intelligence officer, he had a keen interest in anything that could float on water, especially on West Lake, where all kinds of boats competed in splendor.

Zhao Yingong, however, was deep in thought. He had already obtained letters of introduction to Sun Yuanhua and Xu Guangqi from the Hangzhou church. He had specifically telegraphed Lin’gao about this, asking them to make arrangements as soon as possible to send people to Shandong and Beijing to establish some footholds for Operation Engine. The religious case personally planned by the Taoist priest was also about to be launched. If he could gain greater trust from the Hangzhou church in this case, he would be able to get more support and protection from the Christian ministers…

Zhou Dongtian gazed at the verdant mountains by the lake and said in a low voice:

“What if Old Mei really gets his soul stolen by that girl?”

“It’s no big deal. It’s just a matter of spending a few taels of silver,” Zhao Yingong said. “Can’t we afford it?”

Zhou Dongtian smiled wryly. “This is public funds. Don’t end up like Chang Shide.”

“It’s fine,” Zhao Yingong said, but he didn’t explain how it was fine. Just as Zhou Dongtian was about to ask, the painted boat suddenly rocked violently. A lavishly decorated multi-story boat was passing by, brushing against their side. On the upper deck, several scholar-like figures were drinking and laughing with a few beautiful women. A burst of laughter drifted over on the lake breeze.

Zhou Dongtian couldn’t help but frown and let out a heavy “humph.”

Cai Shi said in a low voice, “That’s Master Zhang’s boat.”

“Which Master Zhang?”

“Master Zhang Dai.”

“So it’s him!” Zhao Yingong said.

The name Zhang Dai immediately made the Yuanen on the terrace exchange glances. This late Ming figure was very famous. His ancestral home was in Shaoxing, but he had lived in Hangzhou for a long time, making him half a Hangzhou native. His family had been officials for generations: his great-great-grandfather had been the Deputy Surveillance Commissioner of Yunnan, his great-grandfather had been a Reader in the Hanlin Academy and a Left Admonisher in the Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction, his grandfather had been the Vice Prefect of Guangxi, and his father had been the Right Administrator of the Prince of Lu’s establishment. They were a famous gentry family in Shaoxing.

The Zhang family was not only a family of officials but also a highly cultured scholarly family. Several generations of the family were skilled in poetry and prose, had written works, and had a deep knowledge of drama, antiques, epigraphy, and calligraphy.