Chapter 28- A Gentleman Can Wait Ten Years for Vengeance

Time came unstuck once again. Tian had sat with Brother Wong and worked through the astrological calculations, finding the right day and time to start cultivating Imperial Heavenly Swallows. Then it was just a matter of waiting. It was only a couple of weeks. And since he was waiting, he might as well work.

Tian tallied it up- he had his usual cultivation, but that was no stress. Then there was studying Imperial Heavenly Swallows, which was tiring. Then there was practicing martial arts which was fun and joyful but tired him out physically. And then there was his work as an orderly in the hospital, doing all the menial work and assisting the doctors with whatever they needed. The biggest thing he struggled with was studying medicine.

Watching brothers and sisters die, having to move past those who he couldn’t save because of his inadequate skills, haunted Tian. He had been given manuals to study, and there were doctors willing to test his learning. If he didn’t take advantage ruthlessly, he was letting down his Seniors’ good intentions, the brothers and sisters who would be counting on him, and he would be letting down himself.

His memory had always been good, and Grandpa Jun had been training him to make it better since he was six. Tian learned, impressing every word and picture into his mind like he was engraving copper plates. It just took time, and a hell of a lot of work. The work built stress.

To relax, he stepped up his usual practice of visiting his friends and acquaintances with tea and wine. The wine had become a major expense for him, but he felt it was worth it. He didn’t drink it, but he could see the pleasure it brought Sister Li or Brother Zhang, or even the brothers from West Town. Even Auntie Wu would accept an occasional jar, though she preferred tea.

The tea was a different problem entirely. Cheap tea leaves were easily available on base, in almost any quantity desired. Unfortunately, the ones supplied to the Outer Court were rough, bitter, and not nearly up to the standards of even the newest tea aficionado. Better tea had to be secured through connections, and Tian didn’t have any useful ones. The problem made him sigh a lot.

He was sighing as he placed a white stone down on the Go board.

“I don’t think your move is that bad, Brother Tian.”

“Mmm? But I’m surrounding three of your pieces, right? That makes it a good move.”

“Yes, but…” Brother Long let his black stone hit the wooden go board with a sharp clack, “You missed my column advancing over here, cutting off nearly a quarter of the board.”

“Ah. So I did. Somehow I keep forgetting it’s not just about surrounding the stones, but territory too.”

“Go is a game of grand strategy. It is studied by marshals and emperors in the mortal world, by sect leaders and grand elders in the immortal world. There is a reason why the sages consider it one of the four arts, while a game of battlefield tactics like chess is relegated to the commoners.” Brother Long sounded inexplicably smug about that. Tian couldn’t imagine why. From Tian’s perspective, Brother Long was one of those commoners too. Maybe he considered himself a sage?

“Maybe that’s why I am so slow at this. I tend to think very tactically, when I bother to scheme at all.” Tian half smiled, then sighed again. “But that’s not it. I’m almost out of my good tea, and I don’t know where to get more. Finding Autumn Fire tea last time relied on getting lucky. Now I just don’t know what to do.”

Brother Long gave him a funny look. Tian put a piece on the board. Brother Long snapped down another with just a glance at the overall situation. They played in silence for a few more minutes. Then Brother Long smacked his forehead and started laughing.

“Sorry, I forgot what you are like. Force of habit growing up in my family.”

“Brother Long?”

“Brother Tian, you know I come from the Long family, don’t you?”

“Yes? It is your name.”

Brother Long seemed to stumble for a moment, which Tian reckoned was a neat trick for someone sitting down. “No, I mean the Long family. The Four Treasures Trading Company Long family.”

“Sorry, never heard of them. I know you have a connection to a True Disciple parts supplier, but other than that, I don’t know anything about your background.”

The gentle looking Long seemed torn between laughing and crying. “We do a little more than that. Or as part of that. We are a merchant house, Brother Tian.”

Tian nodded. There was a pause again. Then Brother Long opted to just laugh. “I can get you tea. How much do you want, what do you want, and how much can you spend?”

“You can? How about wine?”

“As long as the tea and wine aren’t too precious, they can be found and purchased. And, no offence, but until the Treasure Weighing Magistrates make their determination, I don’t think you have enough spirit crystals for “precious.”

Tian nodded. He had earned a few extra spirit crystals putting in off-the-books overtime at the hospital, but the doctors had been good about not pushing it. These days it was Tian asking, rather than the battlefield demanding. He pulled out ten of his carefully hoarded spirit crystals and pushed them into Brother Long’s hands.

“How much decent quality wine and tea can I get for this? I don’t care if the wine is all the same sort, but a selection of different teas with instructions on how to brew them would be best.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I have no idea, I’m not a merchant. I’ll send a message and arrange a delivery. An order this small is, cough. That is, Brother Tian, you can consider this a very minor matter. I am happy to help. Though are you sure you want to simply entrust me with your spirit crystals?”