Fortunately, he was wearing thicker clothes in this winter, so he felt better when he was beaten. There were no injuries on Zhang Shu’s face, so he didn’t have to worry about his family noticing anything.
Seeing that Zhang Shu's steps became much lighter and he left faster, the two gambling thugs who followed behind him looked at each other.
"This kid had a gloomy look on his face just now, why is he suddenly so energetic now? Is he going to report the case to the Grand Secretary?"
"No, no, it's not that direction. He should go home to raise money. Besides, the Dazhen Law does not prohibit gambling. He caught the people with red-handed stuff, and many people can testify. Even if he sues, he won't win."
The other nodded.
"Then he must have gone home. After all, the Zhang family is well off. In order to save their son, they should be willing to give out a hundred taels."
"Just follow him and see for yourself. I don't think he can play any tricks."
The two men followed at a suitable distance behind, and Zhang Shu's pace became faster and faster. He knew that someone was following him, so he just followed him, he couldn't get rid of him.
Not long after, he returned to the door of his house, rubbed his bruised leg, and then walked into the yard as if nothing had happened.
"Hey, what have you been doing all day? I can't see you anywhere. You didn't even help with the house cleaning before the New Year. It's time for dinner."
The old mother in the family is nearly seventy years old, but she is still in good health with black hair. When she saw her youngest son running back, she scolded him, but the latter just hurriedly replied "I know" and quickly ran towards his house.
"This kid is already grown up but still has no decent conduct. Which girl would be willing to marry him? Oh!"
Mother Zhang murmured and sighed, but she didn't think her youngest son was that bad. After all, there were girls willing to marry her son.
Zhang Shu hurried to his room, opened the door and looked around on the ground. He soon found a folded "Fu" character in the corner, which was still wrinkled.
Zhang Shu was delighted, thinking that he would have money if he sold the word "Fu". He took a few steps forward and was about to reach out to pick it up, but he accidentally kicked the leg of a stool beside the table in the room.
“Bang…” “Ouch!”
Zhang Shu lost his balance and fell down. The wind caused by his lying on the ground happened to blow the word "Fu" under the bed.
"Hiss... Ouch, I'm so unlucky that I fall down even when walking on flat ground. This damn word..."
Zhang Shu looked under the bed. It was a little dark inside and he couldn't see clearly. He moved the footstool in front of the bed and reached inside to feel around. He got a lot of dust but still couldn't touch the "Fu" card.
"Damn it."
After cursing, Zhang Shu stood up, found a broom, and swept under the bed. After a while, he finally brought out the word "Fu".
Zhang Shu, who picked up the word "Fu", was already covered in dust and kept slapping it, but he did not notice that the word "Fu" in his hand was not stained with dust at all. He thought he had shaken it off himself.
At this time, Zhang Shu's mother also came to his house. When she reached the door, she felt the dust choking her nose.
"Ahem... Son, what are you doing? Why are you making the room so dusty?"
"Uh, Mom, didn't you say you wanted to clean? I'm dusting..."
"Ahem... why are you dusting like that? I don't know what you're doing all day. Come out, wash up and have dinner."
The mother scolded me and turned away.
"Hey, hey, coming right up, coming right up."
Zhang Shu felt a little guilty as he stuffed the word "Fu" back into his arms, and then went out to wash it.
His father and elder brother were out of the house, and his elder sister had married a long time ago, so only Zhang Shu, his younger sister, and his mother were left. Zhang Shu seemed a little guilty during the meal. Usually a talkative person, today he just picked up some food and ate without saying much.
After finishing the meal, Zhang Lu hurriedly left the table and returned to the room where the dust had just settled. With one hand on his chest, he lay on the bed, feeling a little upset.
During this time, Zhang's mother came into the house with a mop and helped Zhang Shu sweep the dust in the house and mop the floor. It was rare for Zhang Shu to help with the cleaning, and after his mother left, he became even more upset.
As the sky gradually darkened, Zhang Shu still couldn't sleep. He lay in bed thinking about all sorts of things. He even considered telling his mother everything, but when he thought about the consequences, he shuddered and gave up.
"We will set up a stall at the market tomorrow morning. It would be great if the sergeant from Dazhen can come..."
The next day, Zhang Shu got up early, had breakfast, picked up his shoulder pole and basket, and hurried out with his remaining pocket money.
Before leaving the yard, I tripped over the threshold of the gate and fell flat on my face. Even though I was wearing thick winter clothes, I still felt the pain for a while.
Zhang Shu did not go directly to the market. Instead, like he had done in the past, he went to Uncle Yu, who was a close friend of his father. He bought a batch of jewelry, combs and other items at a low price, and then went to the market with his basket.
Choosing an empty corner of the market, Zhang placed the baskets, spread out the word "Fu", and began to shout loudly.
…
Chen Shou has not come today, because Zhang Shu said that he would appear around noon at the earliest, and later might be in the afternoon. It was only dawn now, and the market was full of early vendors, and there were not many customers.
Zhang Shu shouted loudly, but soon found that there were not many customers coming and going at this time, which seemed a bit of a waste. He could only wait and shout from time to time to avoid missing anyone.
However, Chen Shou did not come, but Qi Yuantian came today. He did not have any strong purpose, he just had been staying in the military camp for a long time and wanted to come out for a walk and buy some things.
Qi Yuantian had a smile on his face as he took a quick look around. The market in Haiping City was certainly not as good as the one in Gyeonggi Prefecture in his memory, but it also had its own characteristics, one of which was the extremely rich seafood.
"Come and have a look. Fresh giant eels." "Here are some great crabs, all alive!"
"Sea bass, sea bass, 15 kilograms of fresh sea bass~~" "Tiger fish, eating it will increase milk secretion~~~"
Those big fish, shrimps, and crabs were packed in wooden boxes along with sea water. Some were dead, while others were still alive and kicking, which was extremely novel to people like Qi Yuantian who had never seen the sea before.
When Qi Yuantian walked by, the people at the stalls shouted more vigorously. It was not only because Qi Yuantian looked like a scholar, but the more important reason was that this scholar had a sword on his waist. This kind of scholar had such curiosity on his face. There was most likely only one possibility, that this person was a scholar from Dazhen.
"I'm selling the word 'Fu'. It's the work of a famous artist and has been blessed by a master. Please take it home and it will bring you good luck in the coming year. It only costs ten ounces of gold~~~~"
Not far away, Zhang Shu also shouted, attracting Qi Yuantian's attention. How dare he ask for ten taels for the word "Fu"? Could it be that the calligraphy masters wrote the word "Fu" in a hundred different styles, like the "Hundred Blessings Stickers"
Scholars are of course interested in such things, and Qi Yuantian is no exception. He followed the sound and saw two or three people looking at things at Zhang Shu's stall, but they were only looking at the hairpins and combs on the ground.
Qi Yuantian walked closer and took a glance from a distance and saw that it was just a big square word "Fu" (meaning "Fu"), the kind that are posted on doors. His interest immediately waned and he laughed as he walked.
"You, the stall owner, are asking too much. You dare to ask for ten taels of gold for the word 'Fu'. That's too much..."
The words "wishful thinking" could not come out of Qi Yuantian's mouth. When he saw the word "Fu" up close, he was stunned.
"That's right, this guy is crazy about money. He has sold here before." "Yeah, no one takes it seriously, hahaha..."
"Go away, what do you know? Someone will buy this from me."
As Zhang Shu said this, he looked up and saw the scholar staring blankly at the words on the stall. He immediately laughed.
"How is the handwriting?"
Qi Yuantian struggled to move his eyes away from the words, looked at Zhang Shu and nodded.
"It's more than good... This word... This word is simply..."
Qi Yuantian did not continue speaking. Although it was a bit ridiculous to spend ten taels of gold to buy a single character, and there was no signature on the character at all, this character had an indescribable feeling.
"Where did this word come from? Who wrote it? Are there other calligraphy and paintings?"
Zhang Shuai now became alert. The scholar in front of him, who was obviously Dazhen, seemed to be really interested in the calligraphy. Did he want to buy it
'Do the people of Dazhen really think differently?'
Shaking off the thoughts in his mind, Zhang Shu quickly spoke.
"My father was still young when a master wrote this. I tell you, this calligraphy is incredible. The ink is as good as new after so many years. There is only this one in my family. How can we have more? Ten taels of gold is definitely not an exaggeration. If you really want to buy it, I can give you a slightly cheaper price..."
Zhang Lu used the same rhetoric again, but Qi Yuantian had already started to calculate his money and asked casually.
"How much cheaper?"
Zhang Shu was slightly stunned when he heard this.
"Do you really want to buy it? Uh, ahem, if you really want to buy it, I think you should be a scholar from Dazhen. I usually admire you, the real men who carry swords to go to war. If you want to buy it, nine taels of gold, nine taels of gold, I will sell it to you, which is a full tael of gold cheaper!"
"Nine taels, nine taels..."
Qi Yuantian calculated silently in his mind, gritted his teeth and took out his purse from his arms.
"There are about 12 taels of silver and 4 taels of gold, as well as a hundred copper coins. I still have Dazhen's salary ticket to collect, which is 50 taels of silver. The total price may be a little short of 9 taels of gold, but it won't be much. If you are willing, come with me to the nearest book official office now, and you should be able to exchange it there!"
Zhang Shu stood up immediately, took Qi Yuantian's purse and grabbed a handful of it, feeling the touch of the gold, silver and copper coins inside. He even took out a gold ingot and bit it hard, feeling more and more excited.
"Don't go back on your word! Uh, I mean, it's settled! Pack up the stall, let's go now!"
These scholars in Dazhen are still relatively trustworthy, and now they have heavy wallets in their hands.
Qi Yuantian and Zhang Shu both had excitement on their faces as they went to the place where the clerk was sitting, which was actually the original yamen. The two people who had been following Zhang Shu were a little nervous. After Qi Yuantian appeared, they did not dare to get too close, but they still knew that they had entered the yamen.
"What should we do? They're in!" "Wait a minute, they're Dazhen's scholars, most likely serving in the military, we can't afford to offend them..."
Qi Yuantian was originally a soldier. After showing his badge, he was able to pass through without any hindrance and exchanged the money for silver very smoothly. In the yamen warehouse, after checking the authenticity of the official bills, the clerk personally handed five ten-liang silver ingots to Qi Yuantian. You should know that Qi Yuantian can be regarded as the clerk's immediate superior.
"Mr. Qi, your money."
"Okay, thank you."
Qi Yuantian thanked him and walked out of the warehouse, then handed the silver, which had not yet warmed up, directly to Zhang Lu who was waiting anxiously. The latter was overjoyed to receive the silver.
“Hahahaha, I won’t die this time!”
"Hmm? Zhang Lu, are you selling calligraphy to save your life?"
Qi Yuantian unfolded the word "Fu" and asked curiously. Strangely enough, the paper was not wrinkled at all at this moment.
"Oh, gambling ruined things. I thought I had good luck and good card skills, but I was set up and accused of cheating. I also owed a huge debt of one hundred taels. Oh, now that I have raised the money, they should be able to let me go..."
"What? Designed to harm you?"
Qi Yuantian raised his eyebrows and looked at Zhang Shu seriously.
"Are you serious? You really didn't cheat, and they really did harm you?"
Zhang Shu was startled. Why did the scholar next to him suddenly become fierce
"I'm telling the truth... I've only learned Mahjong not long ago, and I'm just a local. I can't escape from the temple, so how dare I cheat in a gambling house? Isn't that courting death?"
Qi Yuantian nodded.
"That makes sense. Humph, this gambling house is too arrogant to dare to violate my great chastity rules. It is simply courting death!"
He was just worrying about not being able to find a way to establish his authority and win the hearts of the people in Haiping City, and this opportunity was simply delivered to his doorstep. After saying this angrily, he suddenly thought of something.
"Oh, by the way, Brother Zhang, in my purse... there are two copper coins that are very meaningful to me. They were given to me by my elders. I was in a hurry to buy calligraphy just now, and I was so excited that I didn't take them out. Do you think it would be convenient for me to take them out..."
"Hey, it's just two cents. Why are you being so polite? Mr. Qi, find the money yourself."
Zhang Lu opened his purse directly and generously.
Qi Yuantian was overjoyed and started searching quickly. He saw the two special copper coins at a glance and took them out.
"Just these two. Okay, okay, it's okay!"
Qi Yuantian had just received the two coins and rubbed the "Fu" character in his hand. He felt that the "Fu" character was a little loose and almost fell off, so he tightened it, but the coins in his hand became loose.
Whoosh… Whoosh…
A gust of cold wind blew by, and the copper coin in Qi Yuantian's hand was about to fall. Qi Yuantian subconsciously reached out to grab it with both hands. He grabbed the copper coin, but the word "Fu" in his hand fell off and was blown away by the wind.
Hoo… Woo… Woo…
The cold wind suddenly became stronger, and the word "Fu" did not fall to the ground, but instead rose higher with the wind.
"My words! My words!"
Qi Yuantian was very anxious, and he chased and shouted, but he saw the word "Fu" unfold in the wind and fly directly into the sky with the wind...
…
Thousands of mountains and rivers away, in the guest house inside the Sky-Swallowing Beast, Ji Yuan's hand holding the pen paused slightly, the corner of his mouth raised, and then he continued writing.
"Hey… "
... ...
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