"Ahem...I'm sorry, little brother, this...this inkstone is really rare in the world. I...I was a little excited just now-"
"I dare to ask... I dare to ask my little brother, how much does this inkstone cost?"
Huang Xiang swallowed his saliva and looked nervously at the man sitting on the ground.
Well - he could tell that the other person was a young man through his voice. Of course, as always, he still couldn't see his face.
But... with such a top-quality inkstone, this person's identity may be extraordinary. It is reasonable for the other party not to reveal his identity. Huang Xiang will not ask any questions.
He was just worried that the price of the other party's inkstone was too high, and he...himself...
Huang Xiang touched his pocket and felt the shrunken money bag. He couldn't help but regret a little - if he had known earlier, he shouldn't have bought so many ownerless copybooks. He studied them all day long, and the cost was huge. Now, now
He had six or seven taels of silver in his body. If the inkstone was too expensive, he would have no choice but to pass it by.
Hearing Huang Xiang's question, before the stall owner said anything, the disappointed scholars next to him had already rushed to answer:
"Don't think about it. Someone just paid a hundred taels of silver to buy this inkstone, but the stall owner still refused to sell it. No matter how we asked, he just kept sitting here, saying that we were not the people he was looking for -
- Let me see, I guess this one hundred taels of silver will not be able to attract people's attention - you can't even take out the five taels of silver, so you'd better go to bed as soon as possible!"
Everyone was very disappointed, but being able to seize the opportunity to mock the emperor made their mood improve a lot.
When everyone said this, Huang Xiang was really shocked.
It's not because others ridiculed him, he didn't really care about it.
It's because I heard someone say that he couldn't even buy this inkstone even after spending a hundred taels of silver... Then let's forget about his withered pocket.
"This...this price...can we still discuss it?"
Who would have thought that Huang Xiang not only did not leave in despair, but also calmly tried to bargain with the stall owner.
This was good, Huang Xiang's operation made the surrounding literati burst into laughter, and it seemed that they had suddenly forgotten the disappointment of not buying the inkstone just now.
No one would laugh at the overpriced price of this stall owner. Everyone could see that the inkstone was of the highest quality. In fact, there were countless people in the stall who were so greedy that they were drooling over the inkstone - they wanted to buy a top-quality inkstone.
To be honest, one hundred taels of inkstone is not a high price.
However…
The next moment, everyone could no longer laugh.
Because the stall owner spoke.
"May I ask, are you the master Huang Xiang who is rumored to have written the "Wenwu Tie" and "Ji Jiu Zhang"?"
"Well…"
When asked this question, not only the people around him were dumbfounded, but even Huang Xiang himself became a little nervous.
"No... I dare not call you a master, but... the two works I mentioned are indeed my own works."
"They said... you are not even willing to give your daughter a copybook when she gets married. Is that true?"
Huh? Why do you ask about such a thing?
Huang Xiang frowned, thought for a while, and seemed to recall the past.
After a moment, he shook his head, not affirming, but not denying either. He just said:
"Brother, you have heard what others have said. This matter is basically known to everyone. What is the meaning of what I say now?"
Huang Xiang clearly felt that the man under the cloak was smiling. Although he couldn't see his smiling face, he must be smiling.
"No, no, no...Rumors only stop with the wise. Public opinion can always influence the facts. This kind of thing is just a matter of falsehood. It is better to meet the person involved and listen to the person's side of the story."
"How about it, Master, would you like to talk to me about this matter? I'm quite interested -"
Hearing what the other party said, Huang Xiang was actually very reluctant to talk about his old injuries with others, just because his daughter was now living a prosperous life and no longer had to be as useless as his impoverished father, so he had no reason to worry.
.
He is alone and doesn't care about other people's opinions. He just wants to live happily and happily——
So when Huang Xiang heard someone inquiring about his past, his first reaction was to refuse.
But... before he could speak, the other party said again:
"Of course, I won't listen to this story in vain, Master. If you are willing to let me know a little bit about it, this inkstone will be just a small token of your kindness."
With that said, the other party stuffed the inkstone into Huang Xiang's arms, lifted the hood of his cloak, and revealed a rather delicate and handsome man's face.
Sure enough, the other person was laughing.
Huang Xiang was a little confused. Of course, the most confused person was the group of people around him who were waiting to see the joke.
"No, no, no... little brother! You... don't make any mistake. The inkstone in your hand can be sold for hundreds of taels. You may really not know the value of your inkstone, that's why you are like this.
Can you give it to others easily?"
"Yes... yes! Brother! If you are short of money, I can help you lead to some rich people in Kuaiji - they... they can definitely give you a satisfactory offer. I... I only need an introduction fee of ten taels.
!No more, no less, just ten taels!”
"Don't... don't listen to his nonsense! Brother! Calm down. This Huang Xiang is a person with very bad behavior and character. Don't be fooled by his reputation! He has no money and no character.
, my daughter will sever ties with him... Such a person... How can you let such a person take such a big advantage?"
Everyone was obviously panicked.
Some are incoherent, some are blushing, helping to introduce buyers, some are unbalanced and want to prevent Huang Xiang from getting this inkstone, you name it.
Dudu Huangxiang couldn't even utter a word of rebuttal - after all, he couldn't figure out how the other party could give up such an inkstone just because he wanted to hear his story.
He subconsciously wanted to refuse, but the other party spoke first:
"I have received your concern, but in the final analysis, whether or not to sell this inkstone is just my personal wish. I said before that I am waiting for someone, and now Master Huangxiang is the person I am looking for.
I will leave with the master now. I appreciate your kindness and please come back today."
While the emperor elephant was still in a daze, the young man pulled the emperor elephant and ran straight out of the crowd, leaving a group of dumbfounded onlookers standing there, unable to let go for a long time.
——
It wasn't until they walked out of the alleyway and reached a relatively sparsely populated place that the two of them slowed down.
It seemed that the emperor elephant had not exercised so much for a long time, and he was out of breath after walking for such a long distance.
Finally seeing that he seemed a little uncomfortable, the man decided to stop and take a rest.
"Brother...brother...let's...let's take a break...I can't really walk with my old bones."
"It's okay, sir, just go and have a rest. Oh, by the way, I forgot to introduce you - my name is Zhantang, and I am a traveling businessman. This inkstone is a stepping stone to make friends with me. Master, just keep it."
