Chapter Ten: The World's Best Wine, Erguotou

  "How about it, does it look like we can really get the goods?" The man's eyes lit up: "Actually, in this rural area, officials rarely come."

  This morning prohibits private brewing of wine among civilians, but some temples and palaces are exceptions and can brew a portion of wine for their own use.

  Wen Fei muttered to himself, rummaged through his pockets for a long time, and finally pulled out a small bottle of Erguotou: "This..."

  "That man's eyes lit up: 'What kind of wine is this? How can it be so crystal clear? It's actually packaged in a crystal bottle, could it be a famous wine that only exists in Tokyo? Is it Mei Shou wine or Yu Suo wine?'"

  Tokyo city? Wen Fei was startled and jumped up, did we run to ancient Japan or something? Doesn't seem like it, I've heard that ancient Japan was pretty messed up...

  "Yes, Tokyo City," the man's face showed a look of yearning: "Tokyo, Bianliang..."

  That man just said we are in Great Song and also mentioned Western Xia, it seems like now should be during Northern Song Dynasty.

  Wen Fei is still a little white, but he should have guessed the era. It turns out that it's now the Northern Song Dynasty, and I don't know if Su Dongpo is still alive? If I can cheat a letter from Su Da Hu Zi back, I'll be rich! Just in time to ask the era: "I heard Su Da Hu Zi likes to drink wine, is there good wine? I wonder how Su Da Hu Zi is doing now?"

  "Su Xian? Alas, what a pity! The Emperor had just ascended to the throne when Su Xian passed away. And now, the Emperor has issued an edict prohibiting the circulation of Su Dongpo's writings. But such things can't be banned, and even in the depths of the palace, the Emperor secretly reads Su Xian's poems and admires his calligraphy." The man spoke absent-mindedly, fiddling with the wine bottle in his hand, trying to open it.

  After a long time, the bottle was finally opened, and a fragrance of wine floated out, making people feel drunk. Of course, Wen Fei himself had no feeling.

  "Good wine, good wine. Such a fragrant wine!" A voice suddenly rang out, startling Wen Fei, who only then discovered that this pigsty-like shack was actually inhabited by someone else.

  That man casually combed his long white hair and walked over after kicking off his shoes. The man then smiled and said, "Master, you've finally woken up!"

  "Nonsense, with such a fragrant wine, how could I not wake up?" The one called Shifu said: "Although this Taoist is fake, the good wine is real."

  The man was shocked: "This is a fake Taoist priest?"

  He didn't even bother to speak, and snatched the wine away: "Smells like good wine, but who knows how it tastes?" He took a small sip, and his face scrunched up in distaste. After a long while, he finally relaxed: "Indeed, this is good wine... not inferior to the famous wines of Tokyo. Changgeng, give him 500 coins and send him on his way!"

  The man responded with a single word: "Sorry, Taoist priest... fake Taoist priest. My master asks you to leave..."

  Wen Fei was shocked: "Didn't you just say you were going to teach me the Taoist way?"

  That Chang Geng suddenly became embarrassed, hastily waved his hand, and sneaked a peek at his master, shifting the blame by saying: "I never said I'd teach you any Daoist techniques!"

  Wen Fei felt a great sense of frustration. This man just now seemed to be in the tone of teaching himself the Tao, how did he change his words now? Is it because I didn't pay him?

  Wen Fei only then saw clearly, Zhang Geng although covered in dirt and with a full beard, was actually quite young, at most in his teens. Suddenly his eyes lit up: "So you're Zhang Geng, ask your master if he wants to drink more wine? Is he just planning on drinking once?"

  Gao Changgeng rubbed his head, laughing: "My name is Gao Changgeng, second in line, also known as Gao Erlang. Master, what do you say? Do you still want to drink this wine later?"

  Ge Erlang's master took a sip of wine, lifted his leg and shook it back and forth, looking carefree like an immortal. He said: "Such good wine is enough to drink once. If I drink every day, where would I get so much money?"

  Kato Ichiro thought for a moment, then casually handed over half a copper coin to Wen Fei and said: "Take it, fake Taoist priest, this is worth more than your pile of junk!"

  Wen Fei muttered to himself, and he figured it out. This master-apprentice pair didn't seem like ordinary people. Also, if they were just ordinary villagers, how could they know so much about Su Dongpo? At that time, news was blocked, and some people spent their whole lives not knowing the emperor had changed. It wasn't an era of information explosion like later generations.

  His eyes wandered around and saw that there were many wooden barrels in the shed, some of which were still semi-finished. It seems that this master-apprentice pair relied on this to make a living.

  In ancient times, there was definitely no such thing as plastic. Ordinary people used wooden buckets and basins, which were made from wood planks that had been split into blocks, then joined together in a circular shape and finally bound with hoops. It's really impressive that these wooden buckets made from so many planks wouldn't leak water at all.

  "I wonder how much this wooden barrel sells for?" Wen Fei's eyes flickered. Just by looking at the craftsmanship of the barrel, it's clear that the price won't be low. When the time comes, I'll bring some plastic ones from modern times and snatch away all your business, you master-apprentice duo!

  "It's not expensive, just one yuan. But are you going to buy a whole set?" Ge Er Lang saw Wen Fei's eyes darting around and became vigilant, so he quoted a slightly higher price.

  Wen Fei's eyes lit up: "One guan of money, how much is that in copper coins? It should be a thousand pieces, right? Haha, this time I'm finally going to get rich." He didn't even think about how much an iron pot would sell for, one guan of money, who would buy it?

  Unfortunately, Wen Fei was already blinded by greed and didn't notice the huge flaw at all. He just thought to himself: "I can sell this plastic basin for 100 yuan, that's enough for me to make a profit. When the time comes, it will be much cheaper than yours. I'll starve this old man to death! It's so cold outside and he still dares to drive me away!"

  Wen Fei slowly walked out the door, which was slammed shut behind him with a loud "bang". He could still hear his master's voice from inside: "That fake Taoist priest has an unrighteous gaze, one look and you can tell he's got an evil heart..."

  Damn it, old fart. Wen Fei cursed in his heart, this time I won't make money, but I'll still ruin your business.

  Back in his modern home, Wen Fei was deep in thought. It seemed that going to ancient times required meditation, but returning only needed a thought. This was much better, at least when encountering danger in ancient times, such as being held by robbers with knives to the throat, he didn't have to foolishly go meditate. This was an added safety guarantee!

  I don't even know what this thing is or where it came from. It's actually quite humanized. Wen Fei sighed and got out of bed, looking at the half copper coin he had obtained after crossing over to the past. Suddenly, he remembered that copper coins were valuable at this time!

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