The officer's name was Chen Shou. He was initially skeptical about the letter he received from home, but after all, he was a veteran who had followed the army to war and had experienced several bloody battles. He had already seen Dazhen and the enemy's Heavenly Master, and was more cautious about such things. Now that he had seen the word "Fu", Chen Shou could almost conclude that this thing was a treasure.
What else is there to say? Chen Shou now has only one thought in his mind, to get this "Fu" character. Of course, he dare not forget the points that need attention mentioned in the letter, but first he has to make sure that he can get this treasure if he can do so.
Many people gathered in front of the young man's stall to look at his goods, which included exquisite carvings and some ornaments. Chen Shou took a step back and went to the periphery, where he was teased by several soldiers who came with him.
"This man is crazy about money. He dares to ask for ten taels of gold for a piece of the Chinese character for blessing. This is enough to buy a nice house."
"Yes, ten cents is about right!" "Well, this calligraphy does look like the work of a famous calligrapher, ten cents is still a bit cheap."
"Then it's one hundred coins, no more."
Chen Shou walked a few steps closer to them, looked at the stall over there, and then asked his companion in a low voice.
"How much money do you have? How much can you give?"
"Ah? Brother Chen, what do you want to buy?" "What do you want to buy? Don't you have enough money?"
"Yeah, I remembered that my family asked me to bring some things back, but I don't have enough money."
Chen Shou thought about it carefully. He had about seven or eight taels of silver and half a string of copper coins on him, as well as a twenty-tael silver note and a ten-tael silver note. However, the money shop that held the silver notes was not here, so he could not exchange them for cash in the short term.
Firstly, Chen Shou was a high-ranking officer in the army, and secondly, he was a good person, so when he was asked to help, everyone was happy to do so and checked their cash.
"I only brought two taels." "I have four taels of silver and more than a hundred coins."
"I have one ounce of gold here too." "Uncle Du, I have a piece of gold here, which is worth about one ounce of gold."
After everyone pooled their money together, not counting the banknotes, the total cash was worth more than 40 taels. Chen Shou frowned.
"It's not enough, it's still not enough..."
Others were puzzled.
"Uncle Chen, this is not enough?" "Brother Chen, what do you want to buy?"
"You don't really want to buy that blessing character, do you?"
Someone saw Chen Shou glancing at the stall over there frequently and asked him this question. Chen Shou quickly smiled and shook his head.
"I do like that character for blessing. It looks like it was written by a famous calligrapher, but ten taels of gold is too much."
"that is… "
"Let's go, let's take a walk around here."
Chen Shou called out and everyone went elsewhere. But before leaving, Chen Shou approached a stall which now had fewer people. The man who was counting copper coins over there also looked up at him.
"Master, is there anything you like? If you want to buy it, I'll give it to you at a lower price."
Chen Shou shook his head and looked at the word "Fu" on the basket. It looked as if it had been newly written not long ago.
"This word..."
"Do you want to buy this word?"
The young man was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously reached out and pressed on the word "Fu".
"You'd better not sell this calligraphy. Regardless of whether it has been blessed or not, you should preserve it well for the sake of calligraphy and take it home."
Seeing that Chen Shou didn't want to buy it, the man became careless again.
"Don't worry about that, General. I know my limits and I won't sell it for a lower price."
As expected, his surname was Zhang. Chen Shou nodded.
"Then put the words away. As the saying goes, wealth should not be exposed, and this word also applies. By the way, when do you usually come to set up the stall?"
Zhang Shu scratched his head. What was wrong with this sergeant? But after all, the other party looked like an officer, so he didn't dare to neglect him.
"It's hard to say. When I'm lucky, I won't come. If I come to set up a stall, it's usually around noon."
"Um."
Chen Shou nodded, looked at the word "Fu" again, and then left with the soldiers around him.
After Zhang Shu set up the stall for a while, he saw that there was not much business, so he packed up his things, picked up his shoulder pole and left. On the way back, he hummed a little tune and was in a good mood. He reached into his arms to weigh his purse. The sound of copper coins and silver coins colliding with each other was more pleasant to his ears than the singing.
"Hey, I sold almost one or two ounces today!"
Zhang Shu glanced at the rolled-up word "Fu" in one of the baskets. He knew that this word must have been blessed. The color of this word had never faded since he could remember. The elders in his family also attached great importance to this word.
But Zhang Shu felt that the word "Fu" only had the effect of warding off evil spirits; it couldn't even drive away snakes, insects, rats or ants. The Zhang family was only slightly better off than ordinary families and had a slightly bigger house, but they were not a truly wealthy family with fine clothes and delicious food. He had never heard of any unexpected wealth in the family. All of it was the result of the hard work and frugality of the older generation.
So for Zhang Shu, who has been seeing the word "Fu" for nearly twenty years since he was a child, this word is not that mysterious. Of course, this word has not been posted outside since the Zhang family moved, but has been hidden in a cabinet at home, and it has been hidden for nearly ten years.
The family has been living well over the years, and in fact, the Zhang family had almost forgotten about the character "Fu". It was not until a few days ago when Zhang Shu was looking for something to pawn that he rediscovered the character "Fu" that he thought had been lost long ago. However, Zhang Shu did not tell anyone.
…
After Chen Shou returned to the military camp, he became absent-minded. For two days, his mind was filled with the word "Fu" that he had seen before.
These past two days, after drill, he would go to the market every day, but he never saw the man named Zhang Shuai again. What's more, he had not yet collected enough money, which made Chen Shou a little worried.
Today, on his way back from the market, Chen Shou passed by a white tent and saw someone inside writing. He had something on his mind, so he thought about writing a letter home to ask. But he felt that it might take several months for the letter to go back and forth, and it was too far.
The chief clerk in the tent looked outside and saw Chen Shou hesitating for a while and about to leave, so he called out to him.
"Uncle Chen? Is there something wrong?"
Chen Shou stopped and walked in, feeling annoyed. He thought that the chief clerk was well-educated and he had a good relationship with him, so he might be able to relieve his boredom.
Chen first bowed his hands, then sighed.
"Mr. Qi, I am indeed feeling depressed."
The chief clerk's name was Qi Yuantian, originally from Jingji Prefecture. When Dazhen and Zuyue went to war, like many passionate scholars, he picked up his three-foot-long sword and went straight north with the army.
Qi Yuantian stood up to return the greeting, then motioned for Chen Shou to sit on a stool beside him. He quickly finished the text in his hand and stamped it before putting down the pen and looking at Chen Shou.
"Uncle Chen, what's bothering you?"
"Hey, I've got a fancy for this... a thing I really like, but it's too expensive and the seller hasn't shown up recently. I'm itching to buy it!"
Qi Yuantian was a little curious. He knew Chen Shou. He was a good man with a clear mind. Although he was only a captain, his superiors actually intended to promote him to a military officer. Moreover, he was only rewarded with military pay after the last battle, and his merits had not been fully credited. Judging from Chen Shou's performance last time, the promotion should be confirmed.
"Oh? What is that?"
"Yes... Hey, it's a rare thing, I can't explain it. By the way, Mr. Qi, how much silver do you have? Can you lend me some?"
"I?"
Qi Yuantian found it a little amusing. He took out his purse and looked inside. In addition to copper coins, there were also some silver ingots and broken silver and gold.
"It's probably worth a hundred taels of silver."
Chen Shou was stunned.
"So much? Can you lend me some? Lend me thirty taels. Thirty taels is enough!"
"Thirty taels? That's not a small amount!"
Qi Yuantian smiled.
"Then, Mr. Qi, do you want to lend it to me?"
"Excuse me, how can I not trust Chen Dubo's character?"
Now Chen Shou felt much better.
"Hahahaha, thank you very much, Mr. Qi, thank you very much! Alas, it's a pity that money alone is not enough..."
Qi Yuantian looked at him and lowered his head to sort out the gold and silver from his purse. He was not like some soldiers who would sometimes go out to spend money on wine and women to vent their feelings after conquering a city. He saved a lot of rewards, and his position was not low, so he had a lot of spare money.
After picking through the purse for a few times, suddenly, a cluster of golden light flashed, causing Qi Yuantian to pause. Then he reached into the purse with his fingers and found two copper coins inside that seemed to be more eye-catching than the other coins.
"Mr. Qi? What's wrong?"
"Ah? Oh, it's okay, it's okay, thirty taels, right? I just happen to have a silver scale here..."
Watching Qi Yuantian take out the whole or loose gold and silver to weigh them, Chen Shou thought about the word "Fu" and suddenly asked another question.
"Mr. Qi, what do you think is considered blessed?"
In fact, Qi Yuantian always looked deep into the purse every time he took out gold and silver, but he still found the question interesting, thought for a moment, and then looked up to answer.
"Actually, in Qi's opinion, the so-called blessing is not to be extremely rich, or to be surrounded by people with luxurious clothes and delicious food."
"what is that?"
"I remember discussing this with Brother Deng when I was still a student. What is happiness? A wealthy family, a harmonious family, no disasters, no illnesses, no pain, no hatred for others, and no hatred by others. In general, it means a smooth life, a comfortable life, and not too many worries. Parents live long lives, a virtuous wife, and many children and grandchildren. These are all blessings. Look at the land of Zuyue. How many people are like this?"
Chen Shou listened and agreed with it, nodding in agreement.
"Mr. Qi is right. In the past, Zu Yue was a wealthy family that was easily targeted by others, and a powerful family was caught in a whirlpool..."
"That's right."
Qi Yuantian had also weighed the gold and silver by now.
"It's about thirty-two taels. It's not easy to divide. Uncle Chen can take it first."
"Hey, thank you, Mr. Qi!"
Chen Shou stood up and bowed before taking the gold and silver handed to him by the other party. The heavy feeling made him feel more at ease.
"I'm leaving, Mr. Qi, if you have anything, you can come to me. I will definitely help you if I can!"
"Okay, I won't send you off."
Qi Yuantian also stood up to return the greeting. After Chen Shou left, he immediately sat down and took out two copper coins from his purse. Once the money was taken out, it looked just ordinary, but the feeling was still there.
"This money is... That's right!"
Qi Yuantian suddenly recalled that before he joined the army, it seemed that a very gentleman had left him two cents for tea in a teahouse in Gyeonggi Prefecture. However, when he thought about it carefully, he could not remember what the man looked like.
"That's not right. Didn't I lose my purse once when I first joined the army? These coins should have been lost as well... Aren't they the two coins?"
Qi Yuantian frowned and thought for a long time. His intuition told him that these two copper coins were the same two.
"Well, the war is almost over, and the New Year is coming soon. Should I go to the market and buy something?"
Because of Chen Shou’s words, Qi Yuantian also thought about going to the market.