Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 257 - 254: Great Tang People Who Love Spring Outings

Chapter 257: Chapter 254: Great Tang People Who Love Spring Outings

Spring is a busy season for farmers, working from dawn till dusk, sweating under the sun; it’s the most exhausting season.

But for the aristocracy who exploit the hardworking masses, and city folks without fields, spring is a very comfortable season.

The so-called bright sunshine, gentle breeze, pleasant temperatures, flourishing mountain flowers, it’s the perfect time for spring outings.

In the Great Tang, there are no homebodies; everyone loves sports, especially outdoor activities like polo, soccer, and hunting, popular among both nobles and commoners.

Tang people would even sing and dance at banquets, so when spring arrives, naturally, the whole family goes out for a spring outing, singing and dancing.

The noble ladies of the town have sent several invitations to Lin Wanwan, inviting her to join their outings, but Lin Wanwan is a rural woman rooted in the countryside; she has no time.

She has to teach everyone how to scientifically grow cotton, distribute sweet potato and corn seedlings, sell melon seedlings, and teach everyone how to raise chickens and ducks, and even give lessons to the children—truly busy beyond measure.

When everything finally settled down, Lin Wanwan could make time to maintain her social connections.

In modern times, she could live as a recluse, just closing the door and living her own life, but in the Great Tang, that’s absolutely not possible; the social system doesn’t allow it. A wealthy recluse could very likely be devoured by powerful lords.

Since she doesn’t want to rebel, she can’t beat them, so she has to join them.

Thus, Lin Wanwan bought a batch of invitations from a modern boutique and began sending invites for a group outing. Even if her calligraphy is no more than average, the exquisite industrialized invitation still impresses the recipients.

The invitation, with a faint scent and embossed floral designs, further elevated the evaluation of the Le’an Village Lady.

Mao County is rich in mountains, water, and temples; people’s outings are nothing more than viewing mountains, water, and praying to Buddha.

Looking at the undulating mountains around Lin Family Manor, Lin Wanwan thought, why bother going far? She might as well develop a good spot for spring outings nearby.

It doesn’t need to be the popular Houtao Mountain, just a place slightly away, but not too far, at Outer Tour Mountain.

Using modern maps, Lin Wanwan picked a small, modest peak, changed into foreign attire and convenient boots, and set off for exploration; it took less than half an hour to reach the flat plateau at the peak.

Here it’s smooth and open; if you climb further, it’s only a ten-minute path to the truly steep summit.

There is no time this year to develop a convenient mountain road for carriages, but setting up a few temporary carriage depots with tents at the foot isn’t hard.

Then she invited Wang Dulei from Wanghai Town, who was accustomed to cooperating with her, to bring enough manpower. Building two pavilions on the plateaus wasn’t difficult either.

All this preparation took just five days; under the lure of money, all was completed seamlessly; infrastructure mania is truly ingrained in Huaxia people’s genes since ancient times.

On the day of the spring outing, Lin Wanwan left with her entire family, leaving the mute girl Ajing and the ailing Granny Sun to watch the house.

The temporary carriage service "staff" at the foot were local women from nearby villages, spontaneously bringing teenage boys who couldn’t work in the fields to earn some extra money.

The ladies from the Zhang Family, Shi Family, Wang Family, Fang Family, and Fan Family arrived one after another, either on horseback or by carriage.

At the foot, nothing seemed special, but upon climbing to the top plateau, a spring outing tableau of flowers and brocade caught the eye.

The open wilderness, lush grass, two brand new pavilions with white curtains fluttering, and a row of uniform felt tents nestled against trees and stones.

In the middle stood an oddly-shaped large cloth canopy (a modern Oxford cloth sunshade canopy), beneath which were white-clad food corsairs, long tables covered with white cloth arranged in a triangular pattern, filled with various pastries and fruits, mostly in glassware.

A hundred or so children in black and red uniforms ran around the wilderness, darting in and out of tents, with songs, laughter, and shouts ringing continuously.

Though spring outings happen every year, such an elaborate one was the first, it’s like booking the entire place!

Just the carpets covering the ground, the white cloth on tables, and the white curtains hanging in the pavilion were already awe-inspiring, not to mention the many unheard-of new pastries and dazzling glassware!

In past years, everyone loved camping at Ta Mountain by the creek in spring outings, gathering regardless of rank.

Noble ladies liked using thick curtains to separate themselves from common areas; literati and scholars enjoyed sitting on the ground, using semi-obscure screens to outline scenes for poetry and swordplay; many merchants and commoners would drive ox carts with tents to find corners to set up camp, singing, dancing, and enjoying spring and people, all about participation.

The spring outing season for Tang people was almost akin to a matchmaking season, just slightly less lively than the Lantern Festival.

The key is the city-wide Lantern Festival lasts only three days and nights, while spring outings could extend from February to May.

Every windy, sunny day sees people calling their children out for spring outings in groups.

This group had already been on several outings this year, so their excitement for this invite was not high.

After all, the allure of spring outings was not just the scenery, but also the people.

Though Ta Mountain’s outing spot was a motley mix, there were many people, suitable for gaining fame and matchmaking. People watched others watching themselves on the bridge during the outing.

But Lin Wanwan’s outing was somewhat unconventional, set in a remote—oh no, a fresh and peaceful place, with only a few invited ladies, instead of a single youthful noble lad, reducing the matchmaking function.

Let’s see how the Le’an Village Lady makes it interesting.

Lin Wanwan isn’t particularly skilled in organizing such events, but no worries, she has money! She found a planning company in modern times and had them propose a retro spring outing plan to get everything sorted.

Spring outings, aren’t banquets with many rules; they are about coming as you please and enjoying yourself.

Lin Wanwan thought if she could promote the Outer Tour Mountain area this time, letting it become a popular spot for spring and autumn outings for all of Mao County, villages near the foot could fully capitalize on proximity to a tourist spot. Just selling snacks and watching carriages could supplement quite a bit income.

Tang people loved following the noble trends, especially ladies, from clothing styles to makeup and hairstyles; if they had the means, they would follow suit.

Nobles followed court trends, commoners followed nobles, layer after layer.

Just like during Li Zhi’s reign, when the court favored chest-baring outfits, commoners swarmed to bare it all; what’s favored above is exaggerated below.

Until Li Zhi had to decree against excessive exposure, akin to modern authorities regulating novel content, truly worrying about the moral climate.