"Open the window!"
Because of the weather and their private discussion, they had kept the doors and windows shut. After a while, the room grew so stuffy that they could barely breathe.
After Yu Lü and Fang Xi finished discussing what they had learned that day, Fang Xi felt a tightness in his chest. He spoke, then opened the window and looked outside. The rain had almost stopped, leaving only scattered drops that drifted in on the breeze like mist, bringing a faint chill.
"Waiter, are you there?" Fang Xi opened the door and called out.
Poor guests stayed in the communal quarters at the back; only wealthy patrons lodged upstairs. At his call, the waiter hurried over, his eyes narrowing into smiling slits. "What can I do for you, sir?"
"Prepare some food and wine for us to have shortly. Bring a jug of wine..."
"Would a jug of Southern Spring Vintage Wine do?"
"Yes, just one jug. We have business tomorrow and can't drink too much. Understood?"
"Certainly!" the waiter answered. "The kitchen will need a little time. I'll bring you a pot of tea first."
The waiter brought the tea. After they tipped and dismissed him, they closed the door again and sat facing each other, sipping their tea. They ought to have been hungry, yet neither had any appetite. Clearly, the meager results of the day had dealt them quite a blow.
"What should we do next? Keep investigating here in the county town, or try somewhere else?" Fang Xi asked. "We've already visited several rice shops in town. If we investigate more rice shops tomorrow, we'll probably come away empty-handed again. I don't think the key lies in the shops, but in their supply channels."
Fang Xi merely lacked experience, not brains. What man who