Thirty-Nine Years Here

From the 19th year of Shengyuan of the State of Qi to the second year of Tai'an of the Liang State, during this thirty-nine years, some talented people came to the capital and drunkenly sang "The court is full of civil and military little faces, the elders of the three dynasties are the treacherous ministers"; there were swordsmen walking on horses, magical powers of the sky and the earth, singing loudly "All the dragons in the world should subdue"; there were eight kings competing for deer, there was "the snow horse determines the copper grain policy", there was the Three Grain War, there were old ministers usurping the throne, there were new ministers reforming... In the second year of Tai'an, Wang Kechi carried a green plum down the mountain and found a wine shop in Qingzhou. He called the waiter to cut the green plum. The Ru kiln bowl was cracked with patterns and the four-petal green plum was like a flower. He also warmed a bowl of rice wine. His temples were all white and he refused to speak. The storyteller squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "Don't be impatient, readers. Let me tell you something in detail. There was once a giant rat in Youzhou. He had a strange face, eyes like slits, a beard hanging down his shoulders, and a big belly. This man is the ancestor of our world's grain merchants - Zhang Youshu." Wang Kechi sat, sat, listened, listened, and suddenly burst into tears. Thirty-nine years have passed, and things have been better and more generous and tragic.