Fatty Tactics

Chapter 2: Scarlet Heart

The gathering and departure of Li Yuan and the others was just a small episode in the fat man's wandering life.

But this also made the fat man realize the gap between himself and them. —Most importantly, he needed a set of clothes, or rather, an identity suitable for this era.

He walked stealthily along the main road, and after about five or six miles, he finally saw a farmer driving his oxen to work.

However, he had no time to appreciate the "Farming Picture" in front of him. As he was planning how to approach the farmer, the sky suddenly darkened. This was not only because the sun had set, but also because thick clouds were slowly spreading across the sky, giving the impression of a dark cloud looming over the city. A cold wind rose, and there was a hint of an impending rainstorm.

The fat man felt lost, but the farmer had already driven the cattle away. Finally, the fat man mustered his courage and, just as the heavy rain was pouring down on him, knocked on the wooden gate of a small courtyard.

"Have you seen it yet?" The person who answered the door was a middle-aged woman, and her first question was this strange one.

"Is there any jade?" The fat man pondered the meaning of these words, and for a moment he thought of the first meeting between Baoyu and Daiyu in "Dream of the Red Chamber." "Is there any jade?"

Fortunately, the peasant woman wasn't Jia Baoyu, and the fat man wasn't Lin Daiyu. For a moment, he couldn't figure out what they meant by asking him, but considering that he had already thrown away his javelins, bow, and arrows, he should seem harmless.

"Appearance? What's that?" the fat man muttered to himself, searching his mind for more ancient terms than the irrelevant dialogues in *Dream of the Red Chamber*. "Appearance" means physical appearance; "read" means to peruse or review. Were they asking about a temporary residence permit? Did they need temporary residence permits in ancient times?

The fat man's guess was pretty accurate; the "appearance verification" system was indeed a unique product of this era. However, the appearance verification system wasn't inherently evil; it was created simply for the convenience of population statistics. Furthermore, people wouldn't use this appearance verification to prove their urban residency status, nor would they be able to purchase controlled knives under their real names because of it.

"Come in quickly, the rain is about to start and it won't stop anytime soon." Seeing that the fat man seemed not to have heard of Maoyue, the peasant woman softened her heart and let him into the yard. Several children were chattering behind the door, but the fat man could hear them clearly. It turned out that the children were discussing whether "this beggar might kidnap children."

The fat man smiled helplessly. He had once uttered such a statement himself when he was very young. His grandmother had warned him, and he, in turn, had warned his sister. The fat man lowered his head and entered the thatched hut. Just as he hesitated whether to continue standing or kneel or sit cross-legged on the straw mat on the ground, he heard the owners of the house return. The whispers of the couple at the door made him shudder.

Naturally, their intimate conversations as a couple would begin with "where are you from?" Of course, the fat man couldn't pretend to be profound and say something like "where you come from, where you're going." He never imagined the problem was so serious, and his worries deepened.

"No inspection certificate? You still let us in without one? The government comes to check from time to time. If they find out, we'll be forced into labor, and who knows, we might even end up in jail." This was the male homeowner's complaint.

"Why don't we get him some dry food and send him off quickly? But it looks like it's going to rain." The young woman seemed a bit apprehensive, clearly afraid that the fat man might suddenly become angry.

"Alright, since we're here, let's make the best of it. We'll send him away first thing tomorrow morning." The fat man almost laughed when he heard this. This "since we're here, let's make the best of it" was used... But, hey, what is this "appearance and residence permit"? If people really need ID cards and temporary residence permits in ancient times, how am I going to get by in the future?

The fat man once lost his ID card while traveling. Luckily, he had some money at the time, so he had to stay in a shady hotel and spend the equivalent of a plane ticket but twenty times the travel time to take an unlicensed taxi home. That painful experience left him deeply disappointed with the ID card system. Of course, some people don't need ID cards or temporary residence permits, such as criminals, servants of the powerful, or celebrities. For them, their only way out is probably to strive to become a celebrity, perhaps gain power, or become extremely wealthy.

"This... isn't that unfair? We have no grudge against him." The fat man heard the hostess say this again, and thought that he had probably missed eavesdropping on something, but thinking that they wouldn't harm him, the tension in his heart eased a little.

"Alright, I understand. Just watch your step." After saying that, the man had already wiped his face with the woman's help and changed into clean clothes. When the fat man saw him, the man who came into the house really seemed like a kind, honest, and law-abiding person. What oppresses people and leads them astray from their conscience is nothing more than certain systems.

"Brother, you've gone to so much trouble. I'm a scholar traveling around, and since I missed my lodging and it looks like it's going to rain, I've come here to ask for lodging. A woodshed or something will do." The fat man clasped his hands and bowed, and although he didn't know what etiquette to use, this "hybrid" he had learned from movies and TV shows at least made people feel some sincerity.

"This... there's no need to rush. Everyone has their difficulties when they're traveling." The host entered the room and hurriedly waved for the fat man to sit down, while he himself took the seat of honor. The fat man followed suit and finally the seating arrangement was complete.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two chatted idly about trivial matters, starting with the weather, then moving on to the harvest, then to taxes, their current lives, and their dreams for the future. Through these subtle hints, the fat man finally learned that he was currently in the fourth year of the Renshou era of the Sui Dynasty, when Emperor Wen, Yang Jian, was still in power. Of course, that wouldn't last long.

Soon the food arrived, including dried wild game, fresh seasonal vegetables, and surprisingly, wine. Of course, strictly speaking, it was unfiltered and undistilled liquor extracted from the lees, with a low alcohol content and a sour taste. If the host hadn't deliberately called it wine, the fat man would have thought it was cheap vinegar.

Until the Song Dynasty, people in ancient times were unaware of distillation technology. This explains the opening line of *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, "A pot of turbid wine brings joy to our meeting." Ancient people either drank the lees of wine or waited while drinking, watching the women serving them filter the wine with thatch, a process that could drive anyone mad with impatience. —The ancient practice of using thatch to distill wine has historical precedent. During the Warring States period, because the State of Chu refused to pay tribute with thatch, the other feudal lords wanted to attack Chu on behalf of the Zhou Dynasty.

However, in ordinary households, being able to drink wine was already considered an unusual form of hospitality. Previously, Fatty had read articles about the average individual grain possession. In his own era, considered a time of "basic subsistence," the average individual possession was over 800 jin (approximately 400 kg), while in the Sui and Tang dynasties it was over 1300 jin (approximately 650 kg). However, average figures from any era don't tell us much, because the vast majority of grain was invariably stored in the granaries of government offices or wealthy households. Don't believe the claim that China has the world's second-largest GDP, and don't assume that increased average wealth will make the poor rich. National wealth and individual poverty have always existed in this country.

The rain kept falling, and the atmosphere wasn't very harmonious...

After a hearty meal, the fat man finally excused himself and left the table. Indeed, kneeling for more than an hour had made his legs numb. Fortunately, the person at the head of the table was also half drunk, and his initial concern about the fat man's identity had long since vanished with the few ounces of yellow wine.

The fat man enjoyed a comfortable hot bath under the housewife's hospitality and put on farm clothes. Although the clothes had one or two patches, they were already quite rare. If he had a choice, he would definitely refuse their gift. However, if he left still wearing his old clothes, he would likely be arrested as a vagrant or a spy.

As an unregistered resident without even a proper identity check, who knows when someone might steal my identity? That way, I wouldn't have to live in constant fear, but what if my son is still alive?

Thinking of his son, the fat man finally regained his confidence in the future; perhaps he didn't know how to find his son, but he still had one path to take, which was to make some noise in this world and let his son come looking for him.

"Forces are reciprocal," the fat man thought of Newton's laws.

The fat man grew more and more excited, tossing and turning until he finally drifted off to sleep at cockcrow, only to wake up from a nightmare at the c***k of dawn. He quietly got up, tidied his things, and gently pushed open the door, only to find the courtyard gate already open, with a peasant woman carrying water back home in the distance.

"Thank you for your hospitality, I will definitely repay you."

The fat man bowed to the peasant woman, and without waiting for her to reply, walked past her with tears in his eyes, just like Jia Yucun after receiving Zhen Shiyin's help. Now, he finally had a set of clothes suitable for this era, indirectly proving that he possessed an identity in this era, at least in his subconscious.

"Great Sui Dynasty, here I come!"

As the fat man left the farm and headed towards Huayin on the official road, he became somewhat spirited. However, he did not realize that to be a standard citizen, one should possess at least two things: "land" and "culture".

Without his own land, he can only ever be a temporary resident; and if he cannot integrate into the mainstream culture of society, he will remain just a time traveler, a passerby.