Plum wine (Part one)

After the rain, the skies cleared, and the mountain woods seemed renewed.

Steamed by several June rains, the green plums on the branches had ripened fully, each plump as a girl in a pleasure house beckoning to a guest. Yet few travelers passed through the mountains, and their charms were squandered, only to fall and be trodden into mud.

"Do you really intend to become the gang leader?"

"In this age, heroes rise on every side. Dominion over the jianghu is something men aspire to. What is strange about that?"

Li Yu raised his oil-paper umbrella against the lingering rain dripping from the woods. Following the little path, the two entered a plum grove. After countless twists and turns, they were already more than ten li from the Fish-Dragon Gang's base behind them.

Qin Xiu laughed. "Dominion over the jianghu? Commanding a little gang of fewer than thirty people? I doubt even Northern Qiao Feng and Southern Murong would dare make such a boast."

Li Yu lowered the oil-paper umbrella and pushed aside a plum branch. "A nine-story tower begins with a basket of earth. The road through the jianghu is long; setting out first does not mean winning."

Relying on the veil hanging from her hat to conceal her, she walked beside him and said softly, "Living secluded in a mountain valley, contending with no one, keeping yourself apart-is there anything wrong with a life like that?"

"It is a fine life. But in the jianghu, who can avoid debts of gratitude and grudges? Once you have those, you are already caught in this storm. There is no escaping it. Otherwise... Miss Qin, why would you be here on the shores of Lake Tai?"

"You are right."

Qin Xiu seemed to remember something, and her expression dimmed.

The plum grove grew denser, tangled branches barring their way. Ripe plums knocked loose fell in clusters, landing lightly on the oil-paper umbrella. Their juice stained it with purple-red speckles. With a clattering patter, it was like a true shower of plum rain.

Li Yu said nothing, merely tilting the oil-paper umbrella toward her left shoulder.

Qin Xiu looked up. Through the light, she could just see a thousand "peach blossoms" blooming at once across the umbrella. Her gaze lowered slightly to the profile of the man holding it. A face and peach blossoms lent each other their rosy glow-no scene could have suited those words better.

She gently lowered her head, her eyes brightening a little beneath the black veil.

"We finally made it out!"

Li Yu folded the oil-paper umbrella. The two stood on a mountain ridge, looking down at the little road below. At its end, a wine banner hung from a flagpole. According to Fu Rong, this was one of the three largest wineries in Suzhou.

The Li Family Winery.

The plum trees planted along the wall were lush and green as jade. They had likely weathered several decades of spring and autumn. Their branches and leaves grew neatly, straying neither to one side nor the other, and must have been trimmed often. Two strings of bright red lanterns hung high from the flagpole outside the gates.

Seeing a couplet on the lanterns, Qin Xiu slowly read it aloud:

"Liu Lian asks whose wine is best; Li Bai replies, 'This place is fine...'"

Though this was no official road, countless wheel ruts marked it, seemingly proving the lantern couplet true. Before the pair drew near, three ox carts passed them, laden with red-clay-sealed wine jars and heading toward Gusu City.

The fragrance of wine spread everywhere, leaving the air steeped in intoxication.

Li Yu took a sniff and laughed. "Quite a boast, and quite a scent of wine to match."

Qin Xiu looked at him curiously. "Just what sort of inner cultivation method do you practice, that you need wine to restore your internal power?"

Li Yu laughed. "No school, no sect-the only one of its kind beneath heaven or upon earth!"

Li Yang had just seen a guest out and was about to turn back when he spotted two people striding along the road. Both had an uncommon bearing, swords at their waists, and the dress of jianghu travelers. His gaze sharpened slightly. When they reached the winery, he cupped his hands in greeting.

"What brings you here?"

Li Yu stopped outside the main gates and looked at the winery owner, a man of about thirty. He smiled. "We followed the fragrance of wine."

"You have come to buy wine?"

Li Yu smiled faintly. "We have come seeking truly fine wine. I only wonder whether this will be another wasted trip."

Catching his meaning, Qin Xiu's lovely eyes shifted. She pointed at the two strings of bright red lanterns. "If you dare display a couplet like that yet enjoy an empty reputation, wouldn't you make Liu Lian shake his head and Li Bai hide his face in his sleeve, bringing shame upon the sages?"

Li Yu inwardly raised a thumb. When it came to needling people, Miss Qin was the one to watch.

"Hahahaha!"

Li Yang looked toward the orderly plum grove outside the walls. Rather than becoming angry, he laughed, pride showing between his brows. "The Li Family Winery has been in business for three generations. We have never lacked truly fine wine, only those who know its worth."

Li Yu said, "Everyone says thousand-li horses are common, but Bole is rare. As I see it, the opposite is true."

Li Yang studied the young man. Not yet twenty, handsome, and fond of wild boasts. Fine wine needed time to settle; it could be neither too old nor too harsh. It had to be just right.

People were the same.

He did not quite believe a young man like this could appreciate truly fine wine. Still, their exchange had stirred his competitive spirit, and he resolved to lead them inside and show them something of the world!

"Please."

Passed down through three generations, the winery occupied several mu, with five successive courtyards and buildings packed like scales. Guards, young servants, winemakers, and laborers numbered over two hundred in all. Every task had someone assigned to it, and everything ran in perfect order.

"Please take a look."

Li Yang stepped over the threshold into the final courtyard. Square, deep, and enclosed by high walls, it resembled a fortified tower and was also the most heavily guarded part of the winery. Pointing at the three rows of stone-block buildings to the east, south, and west, he smiled proudly.

"These are the wine cellars of three generations of the Li family!"

The rows of stone buildings were built halfway underground, with only about a zhang showing above the surface.

Judging by their age, the northern cellar was the oldest.

"Not bad, not bad..."

Li Yu waved his folding fan and nodded slightly.

"The wine in the eastern storehouse is sealed with red clay. I oversaw its brewing after taking over the winery ten years ago. Three thousand jars remain. The Drunken Immortal Abode, Wondrous Sound House, Pleasant Red House, Beautiful Spring House-every establishment of standing in Gusu City sells my wine. I wonder whether you two would consider it fine?"

Li Yang waved a hand. A servant fetched the key, undid the lock, and had someone lead them inside... Let them see something of the world, and they would never again rashly call themselves heroes of the wine kingdom!

Only a short while passed.

The two emerged from the eastern storehouse.

Li Yu fanned himself with his folding fan and shook his head slightly, not a trace of astonishment on his face.

"They know nothing about wine..."

Li Yang stood where he was, his expression shifting slightly as though he had taken a heavy punch to the chest. Suppressing his anger, he turned west.

"The wine in this cellar is sealed with yellow clay and was brewed by my father twenty years ago. A thousand jars remain. The Liangzhe Circuit offices, the Wang Clan, the Murong Clan... all send people here especially to buy it at every festival!"

This time, a quarter of an hour passed.

The two walked slowly out.

Li Yu waved his folding fan, nodding and then shaking his head, a measure of regret on his face.

"They definitely know nothing about wine!"

Li Yang's face flushed red with anger. Insulting him was one thing, but now they had dragged his father into it. Before either could speak, he said coldly, "You are deliberately finding fault. The Li family does not have the wine you seek!"

Li Yu smiled. In fairness, both the eastern and western storehouses had much to recommend them.

But among those thousands of jars, not one qualified as "ten-year-aged wine."

The wine worm coiled within his dantian showed little interest.

In Lingzhou, he had visited only a dozen or so inns and restaurants before buying five jin of "Bow-Shaped Moon" from an old inn about to close for good. He had thought it expensive then. Looking back now, it had been a fortunate coincidence.

"What a pity..."

"To lure Guo Yanzhi and Cui Jingui to their deaths, I drank less than two jin altogether. Most of it went as an offering to the Iron Spear General."

Li Yang said loudly, "Please leave at once!"

Qin Xiu rested her hand on her sword hilt and sneered. "Why the bluster? Such a large winery, yet not one jar of fine wine, and now you want to drive your guests away?"

Li Yang said angrily, "Those who know nothing about wine are no guests of my winery."

Those words sounded familiar.

Li Yu smiled and cupped his hands. "Master Li, could we take another look at the northern wine storehouse?"

"Absolutely not..."

"Why not?"

The voice, however, came from behind them.