Chapter 6: Nine beautiful tunes, ants threading a thread
According to Shen Tang's original thinking, although he is a Taoist priest, he is also a new Taoist priest in the 21st century. Coupled with the teachings of the old Taoist priests and his experience in the world, it was natural for him to make some money in the Song Dynasty a thousand years ago. Something that can be easily captured.
However, as the steps progressed, Shen Tang was surprised to find that if he was given a certain amount of time, this matter would not be difficult. But if he was eager to earn a certain amount of money, it was impossible to start.
Do you want to be reduced to performing on the street? After all, this is probably the only thing that can be done without too much capital.
Just when Shen Tang was frowning and thinking, the crowd around him suddenly surged.
Shen Tang was startled, and then he heard a passerby say excitedly: "The Baijinlou golden ball is out again. Today is the twelfth day, and the reward is as high as sixty taels. I don't know. In the end, whoever is lucky will be able to get this incredible wealth."
As for other things, Shen Tang naturally didn't want to pay attention to them. But when it came to money, especially a large amount of money, Shen Tang was naturally very interested. Therefore, he just followed the flow of people and swarmed towards the front.
Listening to the gossip of the people around him, Shen Tang already roughly understood what was going on before he reached his destination.
The Baijin Building is a gold and silver jewelry shop that has just been open for more than ten days.
On the first day Baijinlou opened, a table was placed at the door. On the table, there was a ball the size of a fist. There were two symmetrical round holes the size of millet on the ball, and this bet was to The silk thread goes through one round hole and comes out of the other round hole.
Naturally, the bet is not that simple. The mystery lies in the fact that it is not a straight line between the two holes. As for how complicated it is, it is not humane.
Baijin Building is a four-story wooden building that stands out even in the prosperous Shanyin County. The wooden building is painted brightly, and with the red lanterns hung layer by layer, even if it is white The day also looked extremely festive.
At this moment, many people had gathered in front of the wooden building to watch the excitement, and in the middle of the crowd, on a mahogany table, there was indeed a bright yellow ball. An old man in a long gown was standing in front of the wooden table with a smile.
"Everyone, our Nine-Tune Exquisite Bet continues. Today is the twelfth day. According to the rule of increasing five taels of silver every day, it has now accumulated to sixty taels. As long as someone can pass through, sixty taels of silver will be given to you! "
Silver was the hard currency of the Song Dynasty, but among the common people, they mostly used copper coins or even iron coins, such as Jiaozi. One tael of silver is equivalent to one thousand copper coins. For ordinary families, it is not a problem to use it for three or two months. .
As for sixty taels of silver, it can be imagined that in the eyes of most people, it is absolutely an astronomical figure.
Therefore, although no one can succeed on the 12th day, it still attracts countless people to watch the excitement every day.
"Shopkeeper Yao, are you just pretending? I heard that the most famous embroiderer from Shanyin came to try yesterday, but she didn't succeed. Isn't it impossible for your round ball to pass through?"
When someone questioned, the shopkeeper was not annoyed. He just smiled and said: "I can only guarantee that the two holes are definitely connected, and it must be somewhat difficult. Otherwise, wouldn't the white money of our Baijin Building be worth it?" For free?"
For a moment, some people in the crowd questioned whether the ball could really be worn, and some people supported Baijinlou. After all, how could it be too easy to pay dozens of taels of silver? In short, the scene was extremely lively.
There were also people who didn't give up and gave it a try. However, no matter how careful they were and how much they sweated, it was inevitable that they would fail.
Among the crowd, Shen Tang's eyes flickered. Then, he quietly walked out of the crowd. Such little tricks, the tricks of the previous life were far more powerful than this shopkeeper's.
Just when it was time for tea, Shen Tang turned around again. He squeezed through the crowd and came to the table.
He raised his hand to the shopkeeper and said, "Let me give it a try."
"Brother, please!" the shopkeeper said in a confident tone, and handed the thin silk thread prepared next to Shen Tang's hand.
Before Shen Tang, no one knew how many people had tried. Therefore, no matter the shopkeeper or the people around him, no one thought Shen Tang could succeed. Until Shen Tang opened his palm and revealed two ants, everyone was shocked. His face just showed a bit of curiosity.
"Using ants to drill holes? Many people have tried this method, but it doesn't work." Someone said with experience.
Shopkeeper Yao also smiled. The charm of money has always been like this. Although ants threading threads is magical, it is not something that no one has thought of. Seeing Shen Tang carefully wrapping the silk thread around the little ant, shopkeeper Yao chuckled.
He put the small ant into one of the holes and then blocked the hole. Shen Tang's other hand carefully held another large ant and hung it at the entrance of the hole on the other side.
"Haha, this guy is using ants to lure ants. Is he stupid? Are these two ants the same family?"
"It's not even a family, you have to be able to smell the other one..."
The mocking laughter made everyone burst into laughter, but no one tried to stop Shen Tang. After all, aren’t we here just to watch the fun?
In fact, these people don't know that there is a queen in every ant nest, and the worker ants can smell the queen's scent and find her. This is the method Shen Tang used.
Sure enough, after a stick of incense, an ant's head was carefully crawling out of the hole where the queen was.
After releasing the ants and grabbing the two ends of the thread, Shen Tang easily lifted the ball.
"Wow!"
After a period of deathly silence, there was a loud noise. If Shen Tang had used an extremely complicated method, everyone would have been more accepting of it. However, such a 'stupid' method had not been thought of before and he had missed it. Sixty taels of silver is simply unacceptable.
Especially those who have used the 'ant' method before, they are even more likely to blow their heads off. I think if I had caught one more ant...
Seeing Shen Tang's success, shopkeeper Yao was stunned for a while, but then his face regained its composure.
"Brother, please come into the store later. The silver will be given to you immediately. Also, I wonder what kind of silver you want?"
This is not just the shopkeeper's gossip. You must know that what is on the table now is twelve taels of ingots. It is naturally not easy to spend such a large amount. Therefore, many people are more willing to accept the 'small face value' Silver taels.
Shen Tang nodded and said: "Twenty taels are cut into one tael, and twenty taels are cut into five taels, and the remaining ten taels or twenty taels can be used."
Shopkeeper Yao ordered the boy next to him, and then led Shen Tang into the Baijin Building.
Some of the people watching the excitement outside the door were disappointed and some were jealous. However, the matter had come to this, and after venting their dissatisfaction a little, they could only leave in anger.