Chen Xi and the same class candidate went out for dinner. Zhou didn't want to agree, but she thought again that although Chen Xi took the exam for the mansion, the Shen family was considered an "outsider" in this mansion city, so it would be beneficial to let Chen Xi have more contact with scholars in the mansion city.

More importantly, Hui Niang said in her ears that Su Tong's knowledge and cultivation are very good, so that Chen Xi can walk with Su Tong more.

"You can't delay it too late. You must come back before nightfall. You must not drink alcohol, and you must not eat too much. You can keep food for you at home."

Zhou gave Chen Xi a sincere instructor, and finally asked Xiu'er to accompany Chen Xi to see which restaurant it was. If she came back late at night, she would send Xiu'er to pick her up.

When he arrived at the restaurant and sent Xiu'er away, Su Tong sighed slightly, "Brother Shen, Lingtang's care for you is really meticulous."

Su Tong's mother died six years ago, and his father died three years ago. Now he is the leader of the Su family. It is no wonder that he feels so emotional.

After entering the wine shop, I went straight to the second floor. The huge attic was empty, with only a table of guests.

There are two types of round tables and square tables on the upper floor of the restaurant. There are more people who are suitable for banquets. There are six candidates for this banquet, including Su Tong and Shen Xi, a total of eight. They report their names and greet each other. In fact, many of them have known or heard of them after the exam. They are all among the top in this palace examination, and the worst score is also the top twenty.

Because the sun is very high, this period is not the time for the banquet, but if you know that Chen Xi cannot come out for too long, the candidates who are working in the hall asked the banquet to start in advance. After the seat was settled, the store started serving wine and food. Because Chen Xi could not drink, he specially prepared tea for him.

"Mr. Chen's talent is really admirable. I wonder if you plan to take the college entrance examination next year?" asked the candidate named Zheng enthusiastically.

Chen Xi thought about it and said that this question was difficult to answer. He is still young now. Even if he passed the county and government examinations at the age of ten, he may not have to take the college examination in the second year. According to common sense, you can accumulate knowledge before taking the exam. In the imperial examination, many times, even if you are talented, you must pay attention to "qualifications". Even if you are good at taking the exam, you are ranked among the top when you are absent. After Kaifeng, the examiner finds that you are not suitable for admission, and he will still beat you down. After all, not every examiner dares to accept a ten-year-old child under external pressure.

Just like this time, the prefect of Tingzhou, Gaoming City, he admired Chen Xi's talent and knowledge. He personally ordered the head of Chen Xi's case, but almost caused a big mess, which affected his black hat.

The occurrence of this incident will inevitably affect Chen Xi's participation in the hospital examination.

Chen Xi shook his head: "It's not decided yet. If you have a chance, you still have to try it out."

Some of the people's expressions were relieved and some were unnatural. The main reason was that the people who hosted Chen Xi and Su Tong today had their own ulterior motives.

Some people want to curry favor with Chen Xi and Su Tong, knowing that their knowledge will definitely make a difference in the future. It is like a venture capitalist. They spend money to treat guests to dinner first and communicate more in the future. Even if they are friends, if they can enter the officialdom through the imperial examination, their investment will be successful, and they can visit these two people and become officials or staff members. No matter how bad they are, they will have a friend who is an official.

Some people are worried about their college entrance examinations next year, after all, they have a strong opponent. If Chen Xi passes the exam, he may be just enough to defeat him.

The wine and dishes were served, the dishes were mixed with meat and vegetables, and the eight dishes were quite rich. Someone got up to toast: "It is rare that we will gather today. I will personally respect you all, especially Mr. Su and Mr. Shen, and congratulate them on their excellent results in this examination."

Su Tong said humbly: "Young Master Hu should respect Brother Shen. He is the leader of the case. My third place is not worth mentioning. It is no different from the top ten."

The top ten candidates in the provincial examination must be given the seat number in the college examination. Whether they have taken the first exam or the tenth exam, the effect is actually the same. After all, the first exam is not eligible for the first exam.

To raise the seat number means moving the position closer to the examiner and let the examiner stare at you during the exam. The official statement is that you have a higher chance of admission, but in the case of a name missed, this will not help the candidates' admission. Instead, it is easy to perform abnormally on the spot because of the nervousness of the examiner.

Chen Xi used tea instead of wine and drank a cup with everyone. At this time, these candidates actually prepared a "entertainment program" and found an old artist in the martial arts world who played Sanxian to perform.

This old artist is a "blind man". He has no sunglasses these days. Although this old man has his eyes open, his eyes are all white, which should be a "cataract". In the years when there is no surgery, cataracts are considered an incurable disease.

The old man was holding the Sanxian and playing "cry" and "cry". Chen Xi felt a little uncomfortable when he heard it. The pitch was really bad, but it was a little tuned, without a pleasant feeling. Chen Xi knew that the ancient Sanxian was different from the modern Sanxian in later generations. There were only a few notes and even fewer music scores.

But the candidates present were very interested in listening.

After hearing this, Su Tong applauded and rewarded the old man who played the Sanxian several copper plates. The old man touched and put the copper plates in his arms and was about to go downstairs. Su Tong looked at Chen Xi: "Brother Shen may not come out often. I don't know the beauty of the sound of the strings. Why don't you let the old man come back and play yi again?"

Chen Xi waved his hand quickly: "No need, I can't do anything except study. I can't appreciate this kind of elegant voice."

Su Tong smiled and said, "It seems that Brother Shen doesn't like Quxian. Then, I'll ask you to a good place next time and find someone to play the piano music for you. Brother Shen should be able to appreciate it, right?"

All adult candidates present, and their families are from good backgrounds. After hearing Su Tong's words, they all showed a knowing smile on their faces. It seemed that the children bullying Chen Xi did not understand and deliberately refused to explain, but Chen Xi knew that these people were talking about Jiaofangsi.

A scholar said, "Why wait for next time? Today we rarely get together, it's okay."

The candidate named Zheng agreed: "This proposal is very good, but it is said that the banquet at this restaurant is not as fragrant as the banquet at that place. Today I will come out and make up each other for money. It should be enough, why don't the banquet be moved here?"

Su Tong smiled and said, "It's just what I want."

As he said that, he stood up and wanted to leave.

Chen Xi quickly said, "Everyone, where are you going? I won't eat the wine and food on this table?"

Su Tong: "It's okay, it's okay, it's not a lot of money to spend like this. Brother Shen follows us to a good place. It's not too early or too late to go there at this time. We went there, and there was no disturbance from others. You can take a look haha, Brother Shen, don't worry, we took you to a very elegant place, and you are also the best piano music in this city. Keeping it makes you happy."

Someone next to him smiled and said, "Young Master Chen is still young, how can you understand the beauty of it? At most, you can just have a lot of fun."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Chen Xi was so angry that he came. You said you asked me to come out for a meal. I agreed. You were fine. You actually wanted to take me to a place of love and mist. Isn’t this bullying my child and know nothing?

When he went out to play with Shen Yongzhuo, he had seen two girls on the second floor of the Jiaofangsi, which left a deep impression on him. Chen Xi really wanted to see what the Jiaofangsi looked like, whether it was as described by the poet Moke. In the small building, flowers were filled with flowers and singing every night, and the girls were all beautiful like fairies.

I was determined to see it, but I felt that these people were not motivated, so Chen Xi still struggled a little: "My mother said, let me go back after dinner and breakfast, and I can't go back until after nightfall."

Su Tong smiled and said, "Please rest assured that Mr. Chen must return before dark. Today is just to go to a banquet and listen to the music of the piano. If there are singing and dancing, I will not mention it, before nightfall, I will personally send Mr. Chen back to my house."

Chen Xi nodded then, with a little nervousness in his heart, followed Su Tong and others downstairs.

At this time, there was a dispute downstairs, but the old artist who played Sanxian just now was making a fuss with the shopkeeper of the restaurant for yi pen money.

Chen Xi listened carefully and knew roughly what was going on. It turned out that according to the rules, all the artists who came to perform to entertain the restaurant must share the money with the restaurant no matter how much reward they received, otherwise the store owner would not allow them to come in to make a business.

The share of the account is divided by 28% of the share, which is reasonable. The restaurant only charges 20%, but it can introduce business to these artists in the world.

"These few cents are, but when I was playing outside, a kind-hearted person who passed by gave me, the shopkeeper, you can't even share this."

The old artist seemed a bit miserable.

But Chen Xi always felt that this man's pitiful appearance was pretending, because Chen Xi noticed just now that when the old man was playing the Sanxian, he heard a strange noise outside. He did not subconsciously prick up his ears and listen, but turned his head over.

Chen Xi suspected that the old man's "cataract" was also disguised.

"Old Xu, don't think I don't know your tricks. You used to have less money to collect money? You have almost offended all the wine shops and teahouses on this street. If you don't pay more money today, don't go to my shop to do business in the future!"

The shopkeeper of the restaurant is very twisted and the money is not compatible.

At this time, Su Tong went downstairs, asked about the situation, explained with a smile, and told the number of rewards just now. The shopkeeper of the restaurant realized that the old artist named "Lao Xutou" had not kept it privately, so he gave up in disappointment.

Old Xu said dissatisfiedly: "I said I didn't hide it myself, but I insisted on wronging me. Life is really difficult."

This was clearly for Su Tong and others to listen to. This trick was very effective in pretending to be pitiful. Su Tong took out two copper plates from his arms and sent them to his hands. Although Lao Xu's head did not move his eyes, he accurately took the copper plates in his hand.

Chen Xi was even more convinced that this old man Xu was pretending to be blind.

However, it is difficult for him to expose such a thing. Although this old man Xu is a bit like a liar, at least he is making a living by his ability. It is best not to slap in the face in front of him. It is rare to be confused.

However, just as Shen Xi walked down the stairs, Old Xu suddenly grabbed his arm, and both hands came up to fumble on his palms at the same time, muttering:

"Oh, I seem to have met a noble man. This is a natural palmistry. It is a rare encounter in a thousand years. In the future, I will definitely be a talent for generals and ministers." To be continued.
Chapter completed!