The blood-red color of the setting sun faded, dusk gradually engulfed the sky and the earth, and Zhu Pingan slowly walked towards the direction of the inn.
There are also many snacks on the street with bursts of fragrance, and the shop owners take advantage of the last period before the night curfew to do more business. The night curfew regulations of the Ming Dynasty are clear: the evening drum is struck at 3 o'clock in the first watch, and people are prohibited from going out; the ban is lifted after the morning bell is struck at 3 o'clock in the fifth watch; those who walk on the street at the second, third, and fourth watches will be flogged forty times; those who violate the night curfew after the first watch and shortly before the fifth watch are lifted will be flogged thirty times; people can go out in case of illness, childbirth, or death. Of course, there are policies from above and countermeasures from below. You block the road with a curfew, right? Then I will go out in the evening and not come back. I will play all night and come back in the morning, just like my uncle and others did last time; or I can sneak away from the stinky ditch and bushes and fight guerrilla warfare with you. In addition, the night curfew is only for the inner city, and it is relatively relaxed in the outer city.
When passing by a snack bar, Zhu Ping'an was attracted by the tempting aroma.
"We have fried whitebait. They are delicious and inexpensive. Please order some, sir." The shop was owned by a young couple, and the man greeted the customer in front of the stall.
In front of their stall was a bucket of lively silverfish, which were translucent, soft in appearance, cylindrical in front and flat in the back. Their heads were long and flat; the bones on the top of their heads were thin and translucent, and the shape of their brains could be seen from outside the body. Zhu Ping'an had heard of the name of silverfish many times when he came to Anqing Prefecture. It was said that this fish could only live for one year. Silverfish was also known as "Po Niang Sheng" because of its bloody reproduction method. When laying eggs, this kind of silverfish would hit stones, deliberately hitting them with their stomachs, until their stomachs rotted and the eggs flowed out. After the eggs were born, the silverfish died because of the rotten stomachs.
The whitebait is wrapped in flour and fried. Of course, there are other seasonings, but you can't see them. The fried whitebait is golden all over and exudes an enticing aroma.
"Can I taste it?" Zhu Ping'an stopped and asked.
The shop owner used actions instead of words. He brought a plate of freshly fried whitebait and a pair of chopsticks and handed them to Zhu Ping'an with a confident smile on his face.
I added one with chopsticks, blew it a little, and put it in my mouth. The taste buds were full of tenderness, crispness, refreshingness, fragrance, softness and bonelessness, which made people's appetite increase.
"Well, it tastes great. Give me one, uh, two, please pack it for me." Zhu Pingan put down his chopsticks, returned the plate to the store owner, and nodded with satisfaction. He was originally going to order one, but then he remembered the greedy vixen at home, so he changed his mind and ordered two.
"Okay, sir, please wait a moment." The shopkeeper warmly invited Zhu Ping'an to sit for a while.
Soon, the two fried silverfish were wrapped in a rough paper, tied with a rope, and handed to Zhu Ping'an.
Zhu Ping'an took two servings of fried whitebait, asked the boss the price, then counted out twenty cents from his pocket and handed it to the boss.
The boss took the money and said, "If you like it, you can come back next time. In addition, we also have our own brewed 'Taihu Fenggang Wine', which is perfect with whitebait."
Zhu Ping'an thought for a moment, and remembered that the vixen at home had been howling for days and could not be happy without wine, meat and food. This exam went smoothly, so he might as well satisfy her at once. So, Zhu Ping'an paid for a small jar of "Taihu Fenggang Wine" brewed by the store with glutinous rice, and bought five meat buns, two bowls of rice porridge, and a plate of crispy side dishes in the lobby of the inn, put them in a food box, and took them back to the room.
As soon as he opened the door of the inn, he saw the evil woman rushing over like a wolf or a tiger... She snatched the lunch box from Zhu Ping'an's hand like a starving person.
Zhu Pingan was stunned for half a second before he reacted. The demon girl was already sitting at the table opposite him. She was eating very quickly, taking small bites of fried silver fish, a small mouthful of meat buns, and even taking a sip of Taihu Fenggang wine. She was like a whirlwind...
"As for that, didn't we have a meat dish every day before?" Zhu Ping'an closed the door and said lightly.
"A spell? You caught me so easily." The witch had food in her mouth and spoke unclearly. She took a sip of wine to swallow the food and repeated what she had just said, "Is it that serious? You say it's easy. I haven't eaten for the whole day. Your damn uncle has been eating and drinking with a few sour scholars at the entrance of the lobby since early morning. It's daytime and I can't jump out the window and walk on the roof! Just try not eating or drinking for a day!"
Well
All right
Zhu Ping'an was also relieved.
The girl ate a portion of fried whitebait, two meat buns, and most of a jar of wine. She drank only half a bowl of porridge with some side dishes and then she started to burp. She looked full, but her appetite was not very big.
Zhu Ping'an slowly ate all the remaining food, except for the remaining jar of Taihu Fenggang wine. At this time, Zhu Ping'an was not much better than that witch. The food in the examination room was hard to swallow, and he had not eaten dinner, so the three or two meat buns and other foods only made Zhu Ping'an feel 90% full.
"Seeing that you bought all these delicious things, I guess you will do well in the exam."
After eating and drinking, the witch smiled and held her chin up as she watched Zhu Ping'an clean up the dishes, and asked with a sweet laugh.
"At least you won't fail the exam." Zhu Ping'an said this without looking up after putting all the dishes into the lunch box.
"You scholars are just not straightforward. If it's good enough, it's good enough. But you have to complain that you won't fail the exam. Don't you feel aggrieved?" The girl sneered.
Zhu Pingan looked up at the girl and smiled faintly, "You just have a prejudice against us. If I was so confident just now, you would say that we scholars are the most arrogant."
"Is there anything wrong with that?" The girl asked with a smile, holding her cheek.
This is the ancient version of an angry young man. Zhu Pingan did not continue to debate with her. After packing up his things, he returned the food box to the inn. After returning to the inn, Zhu Pingan lit the oil lamp, lit the wick, and carefully read the yellowed manuscript again. Although he had a clear idea of the questions in the Four Books and Five Classics today, he could see that the questions in the Four Books were becoming more and more tricky. Only by thoroughly studying the Four Books and Five Classics can one be at ease and deal with them as needed.
"Can't you just be quiet for one night? Don't you care whether others can eat or not?"
The girl leaning on the bed originally thought that Zhu Ping'an would at least have a night's rest after the exam, and she could also have a good night's sleep. However, she didn't expect that this guy would study late into the night again as soon as she got into bed. She couldn't help but pout and scold him.
But these words coming out of the mouth of a witch sounded so strange to people. She kept quiet for a whole night without caring whether people could bear it or not...
However, Zhu Ping'an had long been accustomed to it, and was used to the occasional provocative words from the evil woman.
"By the way, your injury is almost healed, and it seems you're gaining weight." Zhu Ping'an said lightly while tidying up the desk. The implication is that now that you've recovered from your injury and gained weight, it's time for you to move out.
"Ouch, it hurts. It seems my internal injuries have recurred. I need to get some sleep and recuperate." The witch moaned softly on the bed and pulled up the quilt to "recuperate."
It was late at night and the only sound in the room was the occasional flipping of books. The girl on the bed had already fallen into a deep sleep, and the hand under the quilt no longer had the dagger it once had.