The family was traveling far, and a single mule cart was not enough, so the village chief took the initiative to borrow a mule cart, with Zhuang Da and Shen Ling pulling the carts respectively. The journey was much easier than those pushing carts.
Last time they rushed to take the exam and drove slowly for about ten days. This time there were more people and they brought a child with them, so they walked slower. By the time they saw the outer outline of Qinjinzhou City, it was already more than half a month later. It's over.
Qin Manzhi, a woman who had only been to Songling Town as far away as possible, had never seen such a tall city gate before, and she was stunned.
"Ke'er, are we going to live in a city like this from now on?"
Zhuang Keqing was tired from riding in the car, so he came down and walked with Shen Ling. At this time, he heard his mother sigh and raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Mom, you just want to live here. Don't think this place is not as clean as Murakami."
"You girl, you are making fun of me."
Qin Manzhi glanced at her daughter, but there was a smile on her face. She turned to look at the city gate that was getting closer and closer, and the bustling crowd outside the city, but she still felt a little unreal in her heart.
Not long ago, I was feeding chickens and grinding beans in the village. I listened to Li Guihua next door saying that her parents were short-lived. Why did she have to settle down here now that she had moved into the city?
Compared with the anxiety and discomfort in Qin Manzhi's heart, Zhuang Er was much calmer. After the previous experience, this time when he entered the city, he rushed to the inn with familiar faces and familiar roads, and he didn't dare to ask anyone again.
Aman was held in her arms by her mother. Putao's big eyes were wandering around, curiously looking at the different scenes around her from before. When she saw the novelty toys on the roadside stall selling toys, her little fingers were broken and she was making noises in her mouth. Calling for it.
"Aman likes it here."
Zhuang Keqing glanced at his brother with a smile, walked to the stall and picked out a rattle painted red, handed it to his hand, and exchanged it for a kiss filled with saliva.
The inn is in the north of the city, with the guest rooms above and the lobby on the first floor, a place for drinking tea and eating. It happened to be noon when the few people arrived. Zhuang Er heard the mule cart and stretched his head to look inside. He saw that the hall was full of guests. , the guy kept his feet on the ground and flew up in a hurry.
"Girl, it's full of people inside, why don't I stay here to guard things, and you go to the street to have lunch first and then come back."
After saying that, he reached out to help Qin Manzhi get out of the car. Who would have thought that as soon as he turned around, he saw that a waiter had already got in front of his niece's son-in-law. He bent over and said politely: "May I ask if you are Mr. Shen?"
In this era, scholars were respectfully called "Xiangong", and those who promoted people were called "Master". The title of "boy" was good.
Shen Ling is wearing a bamboo-colored robe, with his hair tied at the top, and a wooden hairpin on top. He is just dressed like an ordinary scholar, but his eyebrows are cold and his back is straight. Standing next to the mule cart, he not only has an outstanding temperament, but is even more handsome than the clerk. One shoulder higher.
"Exactly."
After receiving the answer, the waiter smiled even more enthusiastically and said, "Mr. Shen is here to stay at the hotel? I'll inform the shopkeeper right away. You'll be here later."
Having said that, he hurriedly rushed into the inn and suddenly disappeared.
Not long after, a fat middle-aged man hurriedly came out from the back room and apologized repeatedly with his hands folded, saying that he had not greeted me well and kept the scholar waiting for a long time.
He is the innkeeper.
"Xiangong Shen and his family have come a long way. They must have been tired of traveling and traveling. I have prepared several upper rooms. Please come in and rest first."
The shopkeeper was smiling all over his face, and after making some arrangements, he stood at the door and invited and presented guests, which aroused the curiosity of the customers in the store.
"Who is it? He actually asked the shopkeeper to go out to receive him."
"That's right, look at what this family is wearing. The coarse linen and linen clothes are not fashionable materials. They look like they are from the countryside."
Qin Manzhi followed her daughter and son-in-law, slightly flinching under everyone's probing looks and comments. It wasn't until she entered the house that she relaxed.
As expected, the state capital and Songling Town are two different places.
"Guys, wait a moment. Lunch will be delivered later."
The shopkeeper was polite and considerate. He didn't wait too long after he finished speaking. He smiled and said hello and went out the door.
He wanted to chat with Mr. Shen for a few more words, but the other party seemed to dislike talking too much, so he could only endure it and hoped that the family could stay for a few more days so that the reputation of his inn would be better. .
Several people sat in the room for about a while, burning incense, and then there was a knock on the door again. Zhuang Er opened the door and saw that it was the waiter who had delivered the food, so he turned to let people in.
The table is full of plates, fish, meat, vegetables, and large bowls of fragrant and soft rice. It can be considered a good table.
Zhuang Er's eyes widened as he stared at it, while A Man smelled the fragrance and leaned out to grab it.
"Greedy Cat, wait a moment."
Qin Manzhi gently patted her son's little hand, causing the little boy to pout and have tears in his eyes.
"Mom, you, your second uncle and Aman will eat first. I have something to ask this little brother."
After that, Zhuang Keqing smiled and looked at the workman who was about to go out after setting the dishes, and asked: "Excuse me, are you a local?"
The person who was assigned by the shopkeeper to deliver meals to the head family was one of the smartest boys in the store. When he heard this, he bowed hurriedly and bowed respectfully.
"Although I don't live in Qinjinzhou, I have been working here for five or six years. I see a lot of traders and goons coming and going. I know everything about everything in the city. If you don't understand anything, please feel free to ask. Ask."
When Zhuang Keqing heard this, he felt happy and asked again: "My family wants to settle down in the city. Do you know where I can rent a house and where the dental shop is?"
The boy was also very enthusiastic. When he saw the friendly girl opposite him, and when he heard the soft words, he immediately explained the situation in the city clearly like beans poured out of a bamboo tube.
"Although our state capital is large, it only has four directions: southeast, northwest, and southeast. The city gate opens to the south, the government office is to the east, there are official schools to the north, and businessmen gather to the west."
"As for Yaxing, there is one not far from our inn, but that one is mostly running errands for the government, so I don't recommend you go there. If you want to rent a house, it's better to look for one in the south."
"If you don't mind, girl, I'm willing to take you to find her."
After the waiter finished speaking, he stepped aside. Zhuang Keqing asked Shen Ling what he meant, and then made plans for tomorrow's tooth-hunting trip.
"Second uncle, can you stay in the state capital for a few days and wait until we have settled in before returning?"
Looking for a house is not an easy task. You can go out for a whole day, and sometimes you can’t find anything you like after looking at it for many days.
Zhuang Keqing was worried that Fang Niang and Aman would not be safe alone in the inn, so he planned to ask Zhuang Er to help take care of them for a few days.
"Girl, what you said is so serious. I am your second uncle. How can I leave so quickly? I have to wait until you have rented the yard and cleaned it up before leaving."
With Zhuang Er's agreement, Zhuang Keqing felt relieved. They had a good meal and went back to their houses to rest early.
On the second day, Zhuang Keqing left a deposit with the shopkeeper, ordered breakfast and dinner to be delivered to the house, and then went out with Shen Ling.
The guy who was leading the way was named Lin. Yesterday, he helped inquire about a reliable dental shop in advance and took them all the way there. Then he followed behind, so that the young couple would not have bad thoughts because they were strangers.
"Girl, the dental shop I'm looking for has the best reputation, but I can't guarantee that all the dentists there will behave accordingly."
Mr. Lin lowered his voice and said in a low voice, "There are some people who are here to deceive a few strangers by watching others serve food. They can deceive you by doing some tricks on the lease deed. They are not afraid of suing the government." "
"It's not that I won't give you a house after taking the money, but I'm afraid that if I say yes, the house will be in trouble, or the landlord is not good, or the neighborhood is not good, or someone has died in the house, etc."
Zhuang Keqing originally thought that finding a house was just a matter of checking out the hardware and surrounding software. Who knew there were all these twists and turns inside? Now that he heard the guy explain it clearly, he couldn't help but feel grateful in his heart.
Although people are so attentive mostly because of Aring's reputation as the leader of the three-yuan case, after all, what was done was not fake, and it was time to find a chance to thank him.
In the tooth shop, Zhuang Keqing briefly stated his request. When the other party heard that Shen Ling was a scholar and wanted to enter the official school, he immediately spoke more honestly.
"If you want to be closer to the official school, there is one here, but it's more expensive."
"How many?"
Zhuang Keqing asked.
"The rent is thirty taels of silver a year."
Yaren spoke, then glanced at Shen Ling, who was calm and cold next to him, and added, "I don't dare to lie to you."
"Are there any others?"
Zhuang Keqing didn't believe that this was the only courtyard near Guanxue that was free of rent. He just wanted to look at a few more houses and find one he liked. After all, he would have to live there for the next four or five years, so he couldn't afford to be careless.