Rise of the Poor

Chapter 122: Fancy show of affection

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Come on, this is nothing. If you tell those modern jokes with implicit connotations, you will be taken to the police by them.

The black-bellied girl, the maidservant with dumplings and others were ashamed and embarrassed, and they all complained.

However, this also gave Zhu Ping'an some time to choose books. He roughly scanned the books and selected two books. One was a collection of Zhu Xi's insights from reading the Four Books and Five Classics. The other was a collection of eight-part essays. These were all classic eight-part essays that were circulated in this dynasty. In ancient times, the examination papers were returned to the candidates after the imperial examinations, so these classic eight-part essays were also circulated. Zhu Ping'an wanted to take either of these two books back and copy them slowly. However, due to the rule that he could only choose one book to take back, he didn't know how to choose.

"If you choose two books, that's fine, but you have to continue telling us the story of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils that you didn't finish when you left."

When Zhu Ping'an didn't know how to choose, the maid Baozi spoke at the suggestion of the black-bellied girl.

Zhu Ping'an naturally would not refuse.

So they took out peanuts, melon seeds and other snacks and sat in a row. In particular, the black-bellied girl Li Shu asked the maid to bring the refrigerated seafood here, and then moved the small iron stove over, put the very expensive silver frost charcoal in it, and started to grill seafood on the spot. After the silver frost charcoal was lit, there was not even smoke. The barbecue made with this kind of charcoal was not smoky or fiery, and the taste was naturally pure and mellow, which attracted Zhu Ping'an, who was sitting not far away and talking about the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, to look here frequently.

Naturally, the sinister girl took the opportunity to make fun of him for being useless.

"You are such a loser that even your voice is filled with saliva!" The sinister girl glanced at Zhu Ping'an and said with a smile. Then she waved her hand as if giving alms and asked the maid Hua'er to select a plate of the cooked seafood and send it to Zhu Ping'an.

The maid picked a small dish and sent it to Zhu Ping'an. She seemed to still have the resentment of the Mulan allusion. She glared at Zhu Ping'an and put the small dish of seafood on the desk in front of Zhu Ping'an. Her voice was a bit arrogant. "It's really a bargain for you. The young lady just asked the master to send this silver frost charcoal and seafood. It just arrived today. It's really a bargain for you."

"You're too talkative!" the black-bellied girl said angrily, stopping the maid's petty behavior and not letting her continue talking. She looked at Zhu Ping'an and said proudly, "Hurry up and wipe your saliva. Your voice mixed with saliva is disgusting."

Zhu Ping'an looked at the plate of fragrant seafood in front of him and was a little surprised. These were all fresh seafood preserved in ice. He didn't expect that he could eat seafood in the mountain village. It seemed that the black-bellied girl was not without reason to be arrogant all day long. He had heard before that Mr. Li had been making a lot of money by participating in the salt, rice, silk and tea business with some Hui merchants. He didn't expect that he was so generous. In order to satisfy his little daughter's appetite, he would spare no cost to have seafood transported from the coast with ice.

I originally thought he was just a local rich man, but now it seems that I have greatly underestimated him. In this era, the profits from salt and iron are beyond my imagination.

The Ming Dynasty was an important period for the formation and development of salt merchants' capital. According to historical records, under the support of the policy of "summoning merchants to deliver grain and giving them salt" implemented by the Ming government in the third year of Hongwu (1370), the salt merchants in the Ming Dynasty ushered in their heyday, and the momentum of salt development was unstoppable. One of the most important salt merchants was the Huizhou merchants, and the "big merchants" and "upper merchants" among the Huizhou merchants were usually salt merchants. The scope of activities of the ancient Huizhou merchants happened to include this area, so it seems that this is how the Li family became rich.

I didn't expect that the pot-bellied local tycoon was actually a salt merchant. He was quite low-key and hid in the mountain village. He must have learned a lesson from Shen Wansan's experience.

It doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with me.

Zhu Ping'an picked up a piece of grilled squid dipped in sauce. It was not smoky or hot, so it retained the most original freshness of the seafood. The taste was just right, and coupled with the aroma of the sauce, the taste was simply amazing.

"That's enough! If you don't tell me, I'll kick you out and never let you in again." The sinister girl saw Zhu Ping'an eating a portion of grilled squid and couldn't stop savoring it, looking like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. She couldn't help but look down on him.

I am so impatient. Delicious food requires patience. Every piece of meat has its own temper.

Under the urging of the sinister girl, Zhu Ping'an started talking again.

Every character in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" is extremely outstanding, and the plot is one climax after another. This time, Zhu Ping'an directly tells the story of a battle in Shaolin Temple, where Qiao Feng fights one against three and displays his unparalleled skills to the fullest.

After hearing this story, the black-bellied girl was overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't let it go.

"That's all for today. I have to go back to review my lessons." After saying this, Zhu Ping'an stood up, went to register at the door, and then said goodbye and left.

"Don't go, there's someone behind you."

"That's right, it's still early, tell me more."

The old nanny and the maidservant who were listening with great interest tried to try to keep him, but Zhu Ping'an just turned around, smiled, said he would tell him next time, and left.

When I got home, it wasn't long until dinner time. My mother, Chen, was already preparing. My eldest brother, Zhu Pingchuan, also came back from the mountain, bringing back two wild rabbits and a small basket of fungus, bamboo shoots and other mountain delicacies.

After returning to the room, Zhu Ping'an spread the borrowed book on the table by the window, prepared the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and began to copy it carefully word by word.

The first thing I copied was the classic eight-part essay handed down from the contemporary era. During the copying process, I could also feel that the eight-part essay of the Ming Dynasty was still slightly inferior to the eight-part essay of the Qing Dynasty. After all, the eight-part essay of the Qing Dynasty had lasted for hundreds of years, while it was only a short period of more than a hundred years in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was sharp and vigorous, while the Qing Dynasty was more mature.

When I finished copying the third article, I heard the sound of bells outside, and Zhu's father came back driving the ox cart.

It seemed like they were in sync with each other, and my mother, Chen, had just prepared dinner.

The dinner was also very sumptuous. Zhu Ping'an's mother, Chen, kept feeding him, as if she really wanted to fatten him up with just one meal. The bowl in front of Zhu Ping'an was filled with chicken, rabbit meat, and fish.

After dinner, Zhu Ping'an wanted to help his mother wash the dishes, but was driven out by Chen on the grounds that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen.

As soon as Zhu Ping'an was driven out, Zhu's father, who was having a midnight snack in the yard, was caught and brought in to wash the pot.

"A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen." Zhu's father's aggrieved voice came from the kitchen.

"Stop it. What kind of gentleman do you think you are? I just want to ask you whether you will kill Zhu Shouyi or not?" Mother Chen started roaring like a lioness in the kitchen.

"Shua." Zhu's father answered promptly and decisively.

Then came the sound of my mother's low laughter.

Zhu Ping'an was listening outside the kitchen, unable to complain: What a fancy way of showing off their affection!

Returning to his room and lighting the oil lamp, Zhu Ping'an began to copy books again. The neat small characters from his pen seemed to come alive and were arranged on the rice paper, which looked very pleasing to the eye.

The moon was at its zenith, the night was deep, and everything was silent. Zhu Ping'an tidied up his desk, turned off the oil lamp, and fell into a deep sleep.