"Yizhitang? Xu Wenchang? I have never heard of him." The shopkeeper thought seriously for a moment, shook his head and said truthfully, "Of course, it is also possible that the shop is close to the street corner and the news is not available. I am also ignorant. You can go inside and ask around."
"Thank you, shopkeeper." Zhu Ping'an bowed to express his gratitude.
Next, Zhu Ping'an and Liu Dadao searched along Wenhua Street and asked two shops in succession, but both said that they had never heard of Yizhitang Private School or Xu Wei.
"Was it a mistake?"
Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but have some doubts. He then took out the half-broken calligraphy and painting from his arms and confirmed the date of signature. It was indeed the day before yesterday. According to Chu Xiong's words, Xu Wei distributed calligraphy and paintings the day before yesterday to promote Yizhitang Private School. He must still be in Yingtian now. It is impossible for him to leave so soon.
Zhu Pingan thought about it and felt that Xu Wei's fame was limited to his hometown of Shaoxing, and not so great in Yingtian Prefecture, otherwise he would not have recruited students by distributing calligraphy and paintings. It was precisely because of his low reputation that these shopkeepers had never heard of Yizhitang Private School and Xu Wei.
"Big Knife, let's look for it carefully."
So, Zhu Ping'an cheered up and took Liu Dadao to carefully search for Yizhitang and Xu Wei in Wenhua Street.
Walk over and walk back.
Zhu Ping'an and Liu Dadao walked back and forth on Wenhua Street, carefully searching all the shops and houses on both sides of the street twice, making sure not to miss any one, but still found no trace of Yizhitang Private School and Xu Wei. After asking many people, no one had ever heard of Yizhitang Private School and Xu Wei.
There is no way Xu Wei has disappeared from the face of the earth! So it is very likely that Chu Xiong made a mistake? !
Zhu Ping'an stood on the street of Wenhua Street, rubbed his forehead with his hand, and reorganized his thoughts.
Perhaps Chuxiong was not wrong, but I myself was wrong.
Chuxiong met Xu Wei distributing calligraphy and paintings to promote Yizhitang Private School on Wenhua Street, but it does not mean that Xu Wei opened Yizhitang Private School on Wenhua Street. Xu Wei may have opened a private school near Wenhua Street, but Wenhua Street has a large flow of people, so Xu Wei came here to distribute calligraphy and paintings for promotion.
Zhu Pingan asked about the rent of shops on Wenhua Street. Since Wenhua Street is a mature and prosperous street, the rent is nearly half higher than that of the left and right streets. A shop of about 30 square meters would cost eight taels of silver a year, not counting the transfer fee and a considerable amount of taxes. After understanding the cost of opening a shop on Wenhua Street, Zhu Pingan was able to confirm his previous idea. Xu Wei's Yizhitang Private School was not opened on Wenhua Street, but on other nearby streets.
Zhu Ping'an knew Xu Wei's character. Xu Wei was a proud man. After passing the examination for the title of scholar at the age of 20, he had been persistent in taking the provincial examination, but he had never passed. The reason why he opened a private school in Yingtian Prefecture was that he compromised with life in order to make a living. Given his current economic conditions, he would certainly not choose the Cultural Street, which was so expensive, but would choose a nearby street with cheaper rent.
"Da Dao, let's go around the neighborhood."
Thinking of this, Zhu Ping'an took Liu Dadao to the nearby streets to continue looking for Xu Wei and Xu Wenchang.
Zhu Ping'an's first choice is Pichai Street, which is close to Wenhua Street. Unlike Wenhua Street, Pichai Street is a market street. The reason why Pichai Street is called Pichai Street is that this street used to be a place where country people carried firewood from the East Gate to sell, and later it gradually developed into a farmer's market street selling firewood, agricultural products, vegetables, etc.
This street is rather noisy and chaotic, and the living environment is not as good as that of Wenhua Street and other streets. It is inhabited by the middle and lower classes, and the rents of shops and houses on both sides of the street are more than half cheaper than those on Wenhua Street.
Zhu Ping'an asked around and found out that Pichai Street was the cheapest in rent among the nearby streets. In addition, Xu Wei was a scholar now, and he had failed the provincial examinations many times. He was not very famous in Yingtian Prefecture, and his private school could only attract people from the middle and lower classes.
Therefore, Zhu Ping'an inferred that Xu Wei's Yizhitang private school was most likely opened on this street.
Sure enough, Zhu Ping'an and Liu Dadao were looking for people along the street and asked them. They heard the news about Xu Wei's Yizhitang private school when they were only halfway there.
"What? You're looking for Yizhitang Private School... I think I've heard of it somewhere..." A street vendor selling sesame oil scratched his head and thought after being asked by Zhu Ping'an. "Oh, now I remember. There's a private school that opened in the dark alley ahead. It seems to be called Yizhitang."
"Thank you, young man." Zhu Ping'an was overjoyed when he heard that.
Following the instructions of the oil vendor, Zhu Ping'an brought Liu Dadao to this dark alley.
The alley has no name.
To say that it was pitch black is actually an exaggeration. It's just that the alley is relatively closed and narrow, and the light is worse than that of the main street.
Surprisingly, Zhu Ping'an and Liu Dadao walked into the alley and looked around, but they couldn't find Yizhitang Private School...
"Master, I would like to ask you, is Yizhitang Private School located here?"
Zhu Ping'an met an old man in the alley and asked him about the news of Yizhitang Private School.
"It's Yizhitang Private School. It's not far ahead. It's the seventh house from here with a crooked tree at the door. There's no signboard. It's a shared house. He rented two of the rooms."
The old man answered Zhu Ping'an's questions.
"Thank you, sir." Zhu Ping'an bowed to express his gratitude.
"Young man, you don't want to send your child to that damn Yizhitang private school, do you?" Seeing that Zhu Ping'an knew etiquette and thinking of the things that happened in Yizhitang private school, the old man couldn't help but ask kindly.
"Well..." Before Zhu Ping'an could speak, the old man continued, "If you want to send your child to study with him, I advise you to think about it carefully."
Well?!
Judging from the old man's tone, he seems to have a bad impression of Yizhitang Private School. Is he trying to dissuade me with good intentions? !
Zhu Pingan was stunned. "Grandpa, Yizhitang Private School..."
"Young man, since you know the rules of etiquette, I am kindly reminding you that it is better not to send you to this Zhitang Private School."
The old man shook his head.
"Old man, I'd like to hear the details." Zhu Ping'an bowed.
"The teacher of this Zhitang private school is a jerk... and unreliable..." The old man waved his hand and reminded Zhu Ping'an.
Erwulangdang is the local dialect of Yingtianfu, which means a person with a bad mind or a nervous wretch. Zhu Pingan couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard the old man's description.
"Really? My home is not far from the house he rented. There is only one house between us. The teacher surnamed Xu from Yizhitang Private School often screams and howls at night. It's really scary. No normal person would do such a thing. Besides, he doesn't look like a teacher at all. The day before yesterday, I saw him sitting on the ground, chatting happily with a firewood seller. The two of them sat on the ground, drinking wine with fried soybeans, and got drunk..."
The old man was afraid that Zhu Ping'an would not believe him, so he specifically cited two typical examples to prove that Xu Wei was abnormal...