Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 289: Unexpected Encounter
While Xie Wanquan was being dragged by Guan Qiu to visit various experiments in Zhang Garden and being baptized by all kinds of fantastic ideas, Zhu Er, the acting head of the hall, was absent-mindedly listening to the lectures in the Imperial College, wondering whether his elder brother, who had been so attentive to Zhang Shou recently, would really go in person to help with the move.
Thinking that he was distracted, he naturally ignored the content of Zhang Shou's lecture today. It was not until the end of the class at noon that he felt something hit his forehead. He raised his head hurriedly and looked around, but everyone else had left. Only Zhang Shou was looking at him with a smile on his face in the classroom, turning a brush in his hand.
At this moment, he immediately realized that he was distracted in class, and quickly showed a flattering smile to his future brother-in-law and teacher. But before he could rack his brains to explain, Zhang Shou just laughed at him.
"You were the one who volunteered to replace Zhang Chen as the head of the dormitory, but it's been almost two months and you still haven't convinced anyone. Do you think the people around you can't see that you're distracted? Most of them are laughing at you!" After knocking on Zhu Er's face for a Zhang Shou said nonchalantly, "Let me tell you one thing. I won't be the one to set the questions for the class exam."
Zhu Er was shocked and opened his mouth wide, but before he could ask, Zhang Shou had already slowly told him the answer.
"In the past few months, during the morning classes, Xu Jiancheng from the Shengqian Hall would often hang around outside the Banshan Hall. He has listened to most of the classes you have attended. So, I will let him come up with this question. He is a ruthless and impartial person, so no one will believe that he is partial, and then there will be no one to complain about injustice."
At this point, he smiled at Zhu Er, who was dumbfounded. "So, taking advantage of the fact that the Banshan Hall branch incident and the shortage of housing in the Imperial College and the lack of space in the six halls are mixed together, it is impossible to have any results in a short time. If you want to do farming well, you'd better hurry up and don't procrastinate. Okay, I'll go back to Zhang Garden during lunch break. If you have any questions, you can talk to Lu Sanlang."
When Zhu Er patted his head and looked around as if waking up from a dream, he found that Zhang Shou had disappeared. He could not help but scratching his hair - fortunately, even men had to apply hair oil and wear a hair crown when combing their hair these days, otherwise it would not be called unkempt, but would be called a bald head, so his two scratches did not damage his hairstyle.
"I am thinking of taking it step by step, and I am looking for an old farmer who has good land and a suitable personality."
You know, farmers who work all day long in the fields are often so frightened that they can't say a word when they see a young man like him; and those who are too talkative are often not good farmers; he even hopes that the old farmer he finally chooses can read, has read books, has some knowledge, and is best able to recognize most seeds and plant at least twenty kinds of crops...
When the servant heard his request, he replied with a sad face: "Second Master, do you want to invite a gentleman or a farmer who can farm?"
It is said that scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans are the four major classes. If there is such a capable farmer, how could he be invited? He had long been recommended to the emperor by the government, and then praised as a skilled farmer! You know, since the reign of Emperor Taizu, it has become politically correct to praise farmers. Such people are treasures in all prefectures and counties, because after being sent to the capital, the emperor will personally examine them and even watch them farm!
With such helplessness, Zhu Er dragged his heavy feet and left Banshan Hall. When he came out of the university archway of the Imperial College, he did not see his followers and frowned for a moment.
"These lazy and slacking things, it's already noon, not only don't they think of sending me food, but there's not even anyone waiting here! Do you always let me, the young master, go to restaurants and wine shops alone to find food?"
Zhu Er, who was in a bad mood, instinctively forgot that it was he who instructed his followers to pick him up after class in the evening to avoid various arrangements at noon, such as having to eat with Zhang Shou in the dormitory, or going out to do something that would be inconvenient without someone following him, or... Anyway, he stood there and got angry, but no one even paid attention to him.
Fortunately, Zhu Er was not a nagging woman, and after losing his temper, he quickly recovered. He was not a pure dandy who could not do anything without someone following him. He also had money in his purse for emergencies, so after a little thought, he decided to go to several famous markets in the capital.
Anyway, he just skipped the elective class in the afternoon. With his fate at stake, he had no interest in pursuing romantic things.
So, he borrowed a clean and good-looking horse from a nearby carriage and horse shop, and then he let go of the reins and trotted out. However, after walking around several famous market streets in East City, he found that there were only a variety of shops, and no farmers who seemed to be selling vegetables and flowers.
When he asked again, people looked at him as if he was a fool: "Sir, how much does it cost to rent a shop in the inner city every month? How can those farmers afford it? In the past, mutton sellers went to Yangrou Hutong in the west city early in the morning, and those who sold donkeys, mules and horses were mostly in Lushi Hutong in the east city, but now, these places have moved to the outer city."
"In this inner city, silk, jewelry, antiques... how can a peasant afford to buy or sell them?"
Zhu Er was immediately filled with embarrassment and could only give a dry laugh and thank the man for the news, then hurriedly left the inner city through Chongwen Gate.
Unlike the Zhu family's stables, which were cleaned every day and were relatively clean, the smell of the mule and horse market was extremely unpleasant. He was choked by the smell when he reached the street corner. However, the vegetable market street was just to the west of the mule and horse market, so he had to bite the bullet and walk through the mule and horse market where there were livestock everywhere. He could only hear all kinds of neighing everywhere, and there was even a pile of fresh manure in the middle of the road, which made him feel sick.
Just as he was covering his face and almost wanted to take out the sachet and take a few deep sniffs, he suddenly found that the dizzy smell was suddenly much lighter. When he crossed a wide street, the original pattern of all kinds of livestock on both sides changed, and was replaced by a row of vegetable stalls and shops.
Faced with this scene, Zhu Er, who had just been "inspired" by the mule and horse market, was immediately inspired and immediately trotted over. When he arrived at the first stall, he asked impatiently: "Are there any new seeds?"
The next moment, Mr. Zhu Er saw a bewildered face. He immediately realized that he had said something wrong, but he still didn't understand what he had said wrong. He could only take a deep breath and then tentatively changed the wording.
"Are there any seeds that can grow strange things?"
The vegetable vendor's eyes turned from bewilderment to weirdness when he looked at Zhu Er. What do you mean by seeds that can grow strange things? Do you think you can grow babies in the fields? If Zhu Er wasn't dressed in fancy clothes and riding a horse, he would have thought that the man in front of him was a madman who came from nowhere.
Realizing that it would be better to cast a wide net and catch more fish than to get entangled with one person for too long, Zhu Er immediately left the first vegetable vendor who couldn't even understand him and asked one by one. However, he persevered and asked more than a dozen people, and most of the answers he got were silence. One of the people who was willing to talk to him asked him in confusion what the strange things were.
Zhu Er rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Are there any rice or wheat seeds that can produce 1,000 kilograms per mu? Are there any seeds that can produce melons that can produce 100 kilograms? Otherwise, a tree that can produce a variety of sweet and sour fruits would be fine..."
But after hearing what Zhu Er said, the vegetable vendor regarded him as a madman. If I had such a magical seed, I would have been rich in the world long ago. Why would I have to sell vegetables on the street and deal with a playboy like you who came to make trouble for no reason?
After more than a dozen people asked him, Zhu Er received more and more cold stares. In the end, when he was about to lose heart, someone grabbed his reins and said with a smile: "Why are you wasting your time with those hawkers? They don't understand these things! Sir, you are looking for those seeds, I have them! I will take you to buy them? Don't worry, they are genuine..."
Before he could finish his words, he heard a sharp sound of wind, and then he felt a pain in his shoulder. He realized that he was whipped, and his face suddenly changed color, but before he could shout, he was whipped a second time, a third time... and countless times on his head and face. He wanted to run away in pain, but the rich young man behind him, who he thought was a fool, rode up and continued to beat him.
"You bastard, do you think I'm so easy to fool? I was just testing you with this question, and you really jumped out to cheat me! I'm telling you, I won't change my surname or my name. My surname is Zhu, and the Duke of Zhao is my father!"
The idler who wanted to make a quick buck had some revengeful thoughts in his mind, but they disappeared at once - what a joke, those bigwigs in the court had ordered a bunch of censors to make things difficult for the Zhu family father and son, and now those censors were about to be in trouble. For a small person like him to offend the son of Duke Zhao, wouldn't that be courting death?
As for the possibility of someone pretending to be the son of Duke Zhao... he would rather gamble that there is no such thing!
Zhu Er only chased the man for a dozen steps before finally giving up. In fact, when he asked that seemingly thoughtless question, he was already a little angry and didn't expect others to give a correct answer. He was vaguely aware that if he went to a place like the vegetable market street to find someone who was good at farming, there might be some hope, but if he came to find seeds... hehe!
If someone has such good seeds, it would be better for them to keep silent about it. Why would they sell it to you?
Thinking of this, Zhu Er saw that many of the vegetable vendors who had just looked at him like crazy were now secretly glancing at him, and many of them clearly showed regret in their eyes. He rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "Who is good at farming? Young Master, I want to find two people who are good at farming. But there is one thing, those who are more flexible and can only grow one or two things are fine!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a cold voice: "Why don't you ask your gardeners?"
"Huh?" Zhu Er suddenly came to his senses and looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a familiar young man in blue standing not far away. Facing the eyes that rarely showed any expression, he swallowed subconsciously, but seeing the man leading the horse slowly approaching, he did not dare to delay any longer and hurriedly jumped off the horse to meet him.
"Sixth brother, what a coincidence, you are here too?" Zhu Er smiled so much that his mouth almost stretched to his ears. "I was asking you where you have been these past few days, why didn't you come to teach me martial arts?"
"Oh, I'll be free soon, so I can practice with you for two more days."
Ah Liu said this lightly. Seeing Zhu Er suddenly froze there, he smiled faintly. After looking around and seeing that no one dared to look him in the eye, he nodded slightly to Zhu Er and said, "This is not the place to talk. Let's go!"
Zhu Er was furiously complaining about his own self-destructive behavior, saying in front of Ah Liu that he was looking forward to practicing martial arts, and his muscles all instinctively felt sore and painful. However, Ah Liu motioned him to leave, and of course he would not stay in this place where he had just gained nothing, and quickly agreed.
When he followed Ah Liu back along the same route, they did not go into the Mule and Horse Market, but turned directly north into Xuanwumen Street. He felt that he finally did not have to be poisoned by all kinds of smells anymore, and he felt much more relaxed.
But just when his mood had just improved, he heard Ah Liu's voice: "If you want to buy exotic seeds, you shouldn't go to Caishi Street. That's where people buy vegetables. You should go to the market that sells those things from overseas. For example, Xiangshi Street."
Zhu Er didn't expect that Ah Liu would actually teach him this. After being stunned for a moment, he nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, I was stupid before. Thank you, Brother Liu, for reminding me!"
In order to avoid being beaten or scolded less, you must have a correct attitude when admitting your mistakes!
Ah Liu didn't expect Zhu Er to admit his mistake so readily. He looked at him with a strange look on his face for a long time. Until Zhu Er's scalp was numb, he coughed and said, "Because I have done stupid things similar to you."
"Uh..." Zhu Er simply couldn't believe it, but looking at Ah Liu's particularly frank expression, he felt that the other person was not worth teasing him, but he didn't dare to ask. He could only look at Ah Liu cautiously and pitifully.
"Back then, in Cuiyun Room in Rongshui Village, on that night when the rebels attacked, the young master spoke a few words like reciting a poem." Ah Liu retracted his gaze from Zhu Er and began to recite leisurely.
“I would rather eat without meat than live without bamboo. I would rather live without bamboo than live without peanuts. I would rather live without peanuts than live without tomatoes. I would rather live without tomatoes than live without corn. I would rather live without corn than live without potatoes. I would rather live without potatoes than live without lobsters. I would rather live without lobsters than live without peppers…After arriving in Beijing, I once went to the vegetable market to buy these, but unfortunately I didn’t buy anything.”
After a pause, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "But this time I have a clue."
