'Studying like this is a waste of money! Why not save money to buy land, marry a wife, and study? Can anyone study?'
'The land is thin and planted with pines and cypresses, and the poor boy is studying. He has a future, but he is a teenager. Studying at this age is not good enough for good fortune, not good enough for good fortune! What a pity!'
‘…’
Behind the scenes, there was the faint chattering of diners at Wangji Restaurant.
He seemed to still be able to see some scholars dropping their book bags and shaking their heads.
laugh?
ridicule?
"Maybe I'm too sensitive!"
Bai Gui, who was walking on the street, took a self-deprecating look at the rags he was wearing.
Pedestrians coming and going in the town,
Deliberately avoid.
Maybe it's not avoidance, maybe it's because of his inferiority complex, so he seems to be flattered by those around him, and he dislikes the poor and loves the rich.
In the past, he had seen some news on the Internet about poor people from poor families having low self-esteem. He also made comments and angrily criticized these poor people for not knowing what it means to be poor. As long as the heart is strong, low self-esteem is empty talk.
But now...
Go to hell, money is the courage in the chest. Without money, there is no courage in the heart.
"Let's take it step by step. We all know the basics. If you show off your wealth rashly, even if you buy a few more liters of white flour or a cotton jacket, other neighbors may think you have stolen it!"
Bai Gui warned himself in a low voice.
In the late Qing Dynasty, there was not much movement in the countryside. Let alone the late Qing Dynasty, even in modern times, if any house in the village added something, it would be immediately publicized by the aunts at the head of the village.
Not to mention now!
If you don’t even have a few coppers at home, how can you buy property?
"in addition……"
Bai Gui narrowed his eyes.
When he was at Wangji Restaurant, he deliberately observed the reactions of the diners. When he took out the white-feathered chicken, many of the diners clearly looked excited, but made no sound.
He acquiesced to Shopkeeper Wang's low-price purchase.
Oppression! Exploitation!
At this time, it shows vividly!
"That's why...you have to study!"
It's not that Bai Gui has never thought about starting a business in the late Qing Dynasty, performing miracles, and convincing the villagers, but why do you think you are the son of a tenant?
Emperor Shun Li Zicheng was also a post official at the post station.
Zhu Yuanzhang?
He is the True Dragon Emperor! This one has appeared in the ages.
Three hundred and sixty lines, he will be the number one scholar!
But since the establishment of the imperial examination system, studying has always been a shortcut to getting ahead. Throughout the ages, there has been nothing better than this.
Disciples of saints are the greatest confidence!
It is possible to break into other industries, but it is also difficult to break into. He still remembers the movie "Farewell My Concubine" that he watched in his previous life. The little laizi said: "How many beatings do you have to take before you can become a good actor?"
…
soon.
Sishun Grain Store.
"Fill one bucket of rice (one bucket equals ten liters), five liters of polished rice for bundles, and five liters of brown rice for your own consumption."
Bai Gui said to the shop workers.
Polished rice costs fifteen cents per liter, which is two cents more expensive than the rabbit meat he sells, and he is reluctant to part with it.
Brown rice costs nine cents per liter, and its quality is undoubtedly worse than polished rice. Mixed with the new rice that was just harvested this year, the old rice has a stale air and is dull.
"Hello!"
The shop clerk quickly filled two cloth bags with rice and asked casually: "The bundles for Mr. Xiu don't need to be so expensive. There are many people filling rice from the front store. Most of them want old rice. Some
What people even want is corn grits, which can save twenty or thirty cents. Only wealthy families can get new and polished rice."
Corn is often called corn in the north.
Grain grits, grains ground from corn.
The yield of corn per acre is larger than that of wheat, so it is generally cheaper. The price of corn grits in Sishun shop is seven cents per liter.
When Bai Gui heard this, he smiled but said nothing.
Teachers who use polished rice as bundles and brown rice as bundles can tell the difference at a glance. If the teacher is from a poor family, it may be enough, but if you are rich, you have to save even this little money... then Just ask yourself for more blessings.
Modern teaching is based on a class teaching system, and classes are taught uniformly in one class without distinction.
In private schools, teaching is a mixture of classes, with some learning first and some learning later. Those with good qualifications learn quickly and the teacher teaches quickly.
As soon as this difference came out, the teacher also murmured in his heart.
"Guest officer, the total is 120 Wen. The other two grain bags are priced at 4 Wen, totaling 124 Wen."
said the shop assistant.
"I lent you the grain bag as a credit. I'll pay you back in a few days. I live in Bailu Village. We are all fellow villagers, so we can't defraud you of the grain bag."
"Do you know the Wangji Food Shop at the west end of the street? The shopkeeper is Uncle E. I'm here today to sell mountain products and buy rice on the way."
Bai Gui took out a handful of coins from his pocket, counted 120 coins, and handed them to the shop assistant.
He didn't give the remaining four cents.
Although four cents was nothing to him, there were not many people these days who had the luxury to go to the grain store to buy grain and buy grain bags, so he was afraid of arousing suspicion.
Even in later generations, rural areas did not buy grain bags specifically to carry grain, they all used fertilizer bags.
Grain bags are made of hemp, also called sacks.
Although sacks are cheaper than silk cloth, there is no such thing as giving them away for free.
"Okay, okay."
The shop clerk took out the loan account book. Obviously this was not the first time he had encountered this. There were very few people in this village who cheated. Even if they did, they wouldn't cheat people with grain bags. The rice money earned by the left and right people was more than the sack money. , it didn’t matter even if he couldn’t get it back, he wrote on it: “On November 3rd of the Wushen year, Bai Gui, a villager in Bailu, and the nephew of Wang Ji, the shop owner, borrowed two grain bags for a total of four cents. The loan period is five days.”
"Poke your thumb on the red mud and press your fingerprint."
he reminded.
Bai Gui followed the shop clerk's instructions, first stamped his thumb on the ink pad, and then put his thumb fingerprint on the ledger.
He did not volunteer to show his skills to the shop assistant, he could write his own name.
The illiteracy rate in the late Qing Dynasty was astonishing!
According to the articles he read in his previous life, it was originally recorded in the county annals of a certain county that there were more than 300 private schools during the Ming Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, there were only more than 100 private schools, and more than 200 private schools had disappeared. During the Kangxi and Qianlong years, the population exploded again. period.
It is quite normal to not know a single Chinese character.
It doesn’t have to be special!
Zishui County is named after Zishui. The water from the Qinling Mountains flows along the valley to Xi'an. In the Tang Dynasty, Zishui was a river with eight rivers around Chang'an. Although the current is far less powerful than in ancient times, it is one of the best in Zishui County. The big river. (Zishui is actually Bahe, which is the ancient name of Bahe. In order to promote his martial arts, Qin Mugong changed Zishui to Bahe.)
The water surface is wide, and because it is living water, winter has just approached and the surface of the water has not frozen yet.
Bailu Town and Bailu Village are both close to Zishui.
It's just that Bailu Village is located upstream of Zishui, on a mountain, and the village is built leaning on the hillside.
The distance between the two places is about ten miles.
Thanks to Bai Gui's usual wild monkey-like character and habit of wandering, he has good muscles and bones. He can walk for more than ten miles without blushing or out of breath while carrying a bucket of rice on his back.
