After the beginning of autumn, the mornings in Jiangnan are really cold, mainly because there is always a hint of moisture in the air.
In today's weather, people who live in the Jiangnan area know that they should not expose their ankles just for a moment of coolness when sleeping, because the consequence of doing so is that they will definitely suffer from rheumatism, arthritis and the like as they get older.
Sickness.
But as Ergou who had just arrived in Jiangnan, he didn't know that he was lying on the bed with his head stretched out in bed wearing only his underpants so early in the morning.
Not to mention, a young man of Ergou's age who is full of energy is bound to have excess energy, so the little girl Chen Xici who brought Ergou the face wash blushed as soon as she entered the door and hurriedly left.
go out.
"Bah, shameless."
After she whispered something quietly, she went back with the water basin, while Ergou still slept soundly without knowing anything.
When Ergou finally woke up, it was already half an hour later. Ergou had gotten up early. Since leaving Beijing, he had barely developed the habit of getting up early to practice swordsmanship. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten up early.
He would not get up until midnight.
In the yard, Ergou took the Kunwu knife and practiced a set of sword skills seriously. The main reason why he was serious was not because he wanted to practice the sword skills well, but because there was a man with some admiration next to the yard.
It means the cute girl with big eyes looking at him.
There were a total of seventy-seven and forty-nine moves. After finishing a set of sword skills, Ergou put away his sword and stood up, not forgetting to give himself a posture that he thought was handsome.
And Chen Xici also has the potential to become a little fan girl. She applauded happily and enthusiastically handed over her handkerchief.
"Brother Ergou, when I went to bring you face wash this morning, I saw that you were still sleeping naked. This is not good. There is a lot of rain in Jiangnan, so the humidity will be very heavy. If you sleep like this for a long time,
, I will get cold legs in the future, just like my grandpa, who keeps screaming in pain when it rains heavily."
At the end of the sentence, the little girl Xici let out a silvery laugh, as if she had seen the funny scene of her grandfather lying on the bed and lamenting repeatedly.
"It's okay. I can be considered a martial arts practitioner after all, and I won't get this kind of disease in the future. However, I do have a question to ask you."
"Brother Ergou, tell me."
The little girl looked at Jiang Ergou with an innocent face.
"This must be our first meeting! Why do I always feel that you are very familiar with me, as if we have known each other for a long time?"
Ergou was wiping his sweat with the handkerchief handed over by Xi Ci. There was a delicate fragrance in the handkerchief. It seemed that the little girl was using it herself.
When mentioning this, the little girl Chen Xici deliberately showed a sad face.
"Isn't it because of Uncle Wang? Every time he comes here, you are the one he talks about the most. It makes my ears tingle, and he never stops. In the end, Brother Ergou, you have become the man I am most familiar with."
."
"Um…!"
Ergou made a sound in surprise, but any other normal man would probably be surprised when he hears a woman say that you are the man he is most familiar with!
"and……"
"And what?"
Xici hesitated when he said this, and Ergou kept asking questions.
"Besides, Uncle Wang always likes to make fun of me, saying that when I grow up, I will be his apprentice wife."
After saying that, the little girl blushed completely with embarrassment, from her face to her neck.
"Ah...haha...ha! That damn old man just loves to joke! He doesn't know how to change this bad habit."
Ergou was stunned for a moment while holding the handkerchief, not knowing what to do.
Then wipe the sweat? It didn't seem good. Returning the handkerchief to her was even worse. In the end, he had to ask awkwardly.
"I've been practicing swordsmanship all morning, and I'm really hungry. When can we have dinner?"
"Brother Ergou is hungry! I'm going to cook right now!"
The little girl grabbed the handkerchief from Ergou's hand and ran away. Looking at her panic, she probably had a deer in her heart.
Looking at Xici's back, Ergou murmured to himself:
"This old
Boss, you also arranged a marriage for me, so you shouldn’t have told me what I would do if I met Miss Qin again in the future!”
The more he talked, the tighter Ergou's brows became, but then he put the hand holding the girl's hand under his nose and smelled it, and then his brows relaxed.
"Hehe, it smells pretty good."
…
After lunch, the two old men kicked the two young people out of the yard on the pretext that they had something to say in private. They wanted them to get to know each other and let Chen Xici take the two dogs for a walk.
This is Gusu City.
The city of Suzhou is indeed as beautiful as a painting. The most common people on the streets are pairs of talented people and beauties, and there are two businesses that are most prosperous in this city of Suzhou.
One is selling rouge, and the other is selling jewelry. Both of these are closely related to girls, but in fact they are also closely related to men.
After all, applying rouge and wearing jewelry is a girl's job, but men still have to do things like pay the bills.
The market in Gusu City opened early, and it was already crowded by the time Xici came with her two dogs, but this could not conceal the joy in the little girl Chen Xici's heart. She looked around here and there along the way.
, full of curiosity about everything. It felt like it was her and not Ergou who came to this Gusu City market for the first time.
In front of an old woman's jewelry stall, Chen Xici took a fancy to a butterfly-shaped hairpin. It was not expensive, but the workmanship was exquisite, but she held it in her hand and looked at it repeatedly.
“If you like it, buy it!”
Ergou saw the little girl's expression in his eyes. Although he liked her very much, Xici hesitated for a while and still shook his head, then reluctantly put the hairpin back.
"Although grandpa has opened a school in the city, in order to allow more children to go to school, grandpa's fees are barely enough for me and him to live on. This card is the best-made among them, and it must be very expensive."
Looking at this sensible girl Chen Xici, Ergou felt a little distressed. He thought it would be easy for a great scholar like Chen Mu to make some money, but he didn't expect that they would live in such poverty.
In fact, it makes sense when you think about it carefully. It is naturally impossible for scholars like Chen Mu to accept support from others, but they can't do anything else besides teaching, and generally wealthy families have their own teachers.
Naturally, most of the people who came to the school were children from ordinary people's families. With Chen Mu's temperament, how could he charge more? The most he could do was earn some rice and flour money from his parents.
"When we go shopping, it makes sense for girls to pay out of their own pockets. If you like it, I'll give it to you!"
Ergou was afraid that she would refuse, so he immediately took out the money and handed it to the old woman. This made Miss Xici, who was about to say something, have to keep her mouth shut.
"Hehehe, Miss Chen, I haven't come to see you for many days. I didn't expect to meet you at the market. If there is anything you like, feel free to pick it up. Lu will settle the bill."
Ergou had just finished paying the bill when a sudden voice sounded next to him, which startled him.
The person who came was a handsome man over seven feet tall, wearing a white robe and a folding fan, followed by a follower dressed as a bookboy, a typical suit for a young man from an aristocratic family to go out.
"The little girl appreciates Mr. Lu's kindness, but she doesn't deserve it for nothing. Xi Ci is too embarrassed to deserve it."
The man smiled gently.
"There is nothing to be ashamed of. As long as Miss Chen can mention me as a disciple in front of Mr. Chen..."
The man was interrupted by Xici before he finished speaking.
"Master Lu, there is no need to say more. My grandfather has said that if you want to study, the school is located in the east of the city, but it is impossible to accept apprentices."
After saying that, Xi Ci took Ergou and left, leaving the man standing there with a bitter look on his face.
"Who was that man just now?"
After walking a certain distance, Xi Ci shyly let go of Jiang Ergou's hand, but Ergou didn't pay much attention to this.
"Lu Dongshu, the eldest son of the Lu family from a farming and studying family in Gusu City."
"A family from a farming and studying family? It sounds pretty powerful, so why does he have to worship Uncle Chen Mu as his disciple?"
At this point, even the always cheerful little girl Chen Xici felt really helpless.
.
"Of course the farming and studying family is powerful, but their family is the farming and studying family of the previous dynasty. Although Da Chu's law states that they will not be treated differently from other scholars, do you think Da Chu really won't treat them differently?
"
"Among the scholars in the previous dynasty, it was my grandfather who Da Chu still missed, so Lu Dongshu tried every means to become my grandfather's disciple, because only in this way could a family like theirs have some chance of gaining fame.
."
"Then what should I say? Doesn't that mean that person can't take the imperial examination even if he studies well?"
"It's not impossible, but it definitely won't win."
"It's really miserable."
Ergou also sympathized with this. He didn't understand why those scholars had to be officials, but it would be very miserable to be deprived of the right to be officials.
"Let's not talk about him anymore. Brother Ergou, let's go to Hanshan Temple and have a look. You must have never been there. The master there is very accurate in fortune telling!"
"Okay, then let's go to Hanshan Temple and have a look."
After talking and laughing, the two turned back and walked out of the city. Chen Xici was very happy today, and the smile on her face almost never disappeared.
When they arrived at Hanshan Temple, they met Lu Dongshu again at the door. They remembered that the direction he came from just now was the direction out of the city, so it was not surprising that he appeared at the door of Hanshan Temple.
"Miss Chen, I really didn't expect that we would meet again just after we separated."
"Stop it, stop it! Master Lu, can we not bring up that topic today?"
Seeing Chen Xici with his hands on his small waist and an unhappy look on his face, Lu Dongshu gave Jiang Ergou a very scheming look.
"In that case, Lu won't bother you."
After saying that, he planned to take his bookboy into the temple.
Seeing Lu Dongshu's lonely back gradually retreating, Ergou immediately ran in front of him.
"Lu Dongshu?"
Mr. Lu was not surprised at all why the man in front of him knew his name. He looked at the strange man in front of him calmly.
"Didn't ask for advice?"
Ergou grinned.
"The name is not important, but I want to teach you a lesson."
"I'm all ears."
He held a fan in both hands and bowed respectfully to the two dogs. It seemed that he was a scholar who truly understood etiquette.
"If you want to be an official, then you should fight for it yourself. How can you do it if you always think about relying on others? They say that you scholars read a lot, but haven't you ever read a sentence that it is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself?"
Lu Dongshu's face was full of bitterness, but he forced a smile and said:
"Young master, if you can tell me what I'm thinking in one word, you must also understand the situation that my Lu family is in now. There's no place to fight even if you want to!"
After hearing this, Ergou burst into laughter.
"I don't understand the fuss in the hearts of you scholars, but I always feel that if you don't try it yourself, how do you know that this road doesn't work? Just because others told you that this road doesn't work?"
Ergou paused for a moment when he said this, and then continued.
"Besides, even if there is no road, can't you dig one for yourself? Do you have to wait for others to dig it for you before you go? That's too easy. Although Da Chu showed that he is not interested in you,
You have been added, but in the final analysis, you have not read enough books and know too few principles. Look at Mr. Chen Mu, who was an official in the previous dynasty just like you, but why is he more popular than you?
"
After listening, Lu Dongshu frowned and could not relax. When he came to his senses, he actually made a disciple salute to Jiang Ergou.
"Thank you for your guidance, Master. I think I know how to go in the future."
He no longer planned to go into the temple, but was going to take the bookboy back. However, before leaving, he looked back at Jiang Ergou and Chen Xici, and finally, his eyes rested on Ergou.
"Young master has good taste!"
After he finished speaking, the folding fan in his hand opened with a 'pop' sound and he turned around and left. His back no longer felt lonely as before, as if he had unloaded a huge mountain.