After the coming of age, Zhu Ping'an's life remained basically unchanged. His family members still called him "Zhu'er" and the villagers either called him "Little Zhu Laoye" or "Ping'anlang". As for Zihou, no one else called him that except his mentor and his mistress.
He got up early to practice calligraphy, read in the morning, and read books. During the day, he practiced and studied eight-legged essays and policy essays. At night, he copied books. About once every three days, he went to the house of the rich man Li to return or borrow books.
I just quietly read and studied, waiting for accurate news from the county's Enke team.
About a week after the coming-of-age ceremony, Enke's news had not yet arrived, but he encountered something unexpected.
It was around dusk. Zhu Ping'an was in the yard looking at the book he was copying in the last rays of the setting sun. His mother, Chen, had just entered the kitchen to prepare dinner.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door, accompanied by a scream like a pig being slaughtered: "Brother Zhu, Brother Zhu, open the door quickly."
Zhu Ping'an, who was reading a book, laughed when he heard this. Damn, why is this guy here
This voice sounds so damn familiar. There was no one else here except Xue Chi, the fat guy. By the way, shouldn't this guy be in Fengyang Prefecture? Why did he come here
Mother Chen leaned out from the kitchen and asked, "Zi'er, why does it sound like someone is calling you?"
"Mom, this is a friend my son met when he took the college entrance examination in Yingtian." Zhu Ping'an explained, then stood up and walked to the gate, reaching out to open it.
Outside the gate was the fat man Xue Chi, who was in a very miserable state at the moment. He was gasping for breath and looking behind him with fear.
"Is it the wind that blew you here?" Zhu Ping'an looked at the embarrassed fat man and couldn't help laughing.
The fat man glanced behind him and found that the dog chasing him had disappeared. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head to look at Zhu Ping'an, his fat face full of complacency, "The wind that can blow me away has not yet emerged."
"Then why are you running?" Zhu Ping'an opened the door and invited the fat man in.
When the fat man heard Zhu Ping'an's question, he was still frightened. He patted his little heart and said with a fearful face. "I have been afraid of dogs since I was a child. There are many dogs here. As a result, the guard who came with me said that dogs are very powerful. If you are fierce, he will be afraid of you. He said it with confidence, and I thought it made sense. So, I got off the carriage and found a dog in your village to try it. The facts proved that if I hadn't run fast, my parents would have to bury their son."
Damn, nozuonodie!
Zhu Ping'an was speechless at the fat man's behavior.
"Where is your security guard?" Zhu Ping'an looked outside the door and didn't see any security guard, so he asked the fat man.
"I ran fast just now and he lost me, but don't worry, he will find me soon." The fat man said carelessly, then walked in, looked around Zhu Ping'an's yard, and then raised his thumb to praise. "There is still a way of life in the farmyard."
"How can it compare to your family's large mansion?" Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly and replied indifferently.
"Each has its merits." The fat man said, touching his fat face.
At this time, Chen, the mother in the kitchen, also came out wearing an apron. She stood at the door of the kitchen, looked at the fat man and asked:
"You are Zhu'er's friend, right?"
When the fat man saw Chen, he immediately ran over and shouted in a familiar voice with his fat face, "Godmother, you have good taste. You recognized me at once. I am Xue Chi from Fengyang Prefecture. You can just call me Xiao Xue."
At this moment, the fat man was just like a bulldog trying to please his master.
Godmother
You are taking advantage of the situation. You are climbing up too fast.
"We were as close as brothers when we took the exam in Yingtian. Brother Zhu's mother is naturally my mother. Your son Xue Chi has met your godmother." Fatty Xue Chi's face was full of sincerity. He knelt on the ground in front of Chen with a plop.
Mother Chen was a little surprised at first, but after a pause, she smiled and asked Fatty Xue to get up, "Child, the ground is so cold, get up quickly."
"Oh. Why don't you say that your godmother is a nice person?" The fat man stood up and flattered her again.
Mother Chen narrowed her eyes as she smiled. The fatter the child looked, the more satisfied she felt. It was good that the child was chubby. He looked pleasing to the eye.
Soon, the bodyguard from Fatty's family who came with Fatty also arrived, driving a horse-drawn carriage.
The fat man went out and worked with his bodyguard to move all the gifts from the carriage down, and then carried them to Zhu Ping'an's house one by one.
"What are you doing?" Zhu Ping'an stopped the fat man.
"This is a gift for my godmother and godfather. Don't stop me, otherwise you would be unfilial." The fat man said, and like a diligent little bee, he moved things back and forth to Wang Zhuping's house.
"Xiao Xue, your godmother will be unhappy if you do this." Mother Chen came out from the kitchen and pretended to be angry.
"Godmother, please don't be angry. These are all things my parents asked me to bring. They are not valuable things. They are just little tokens of my appreciation. Please don't be angry." Fatty Xue Chi explained as he moved the last few things in the car to Zhu Ping'an's house.
Looking at the things that Fatty Xue Chi and his bodyguard had brought into the yard, there was almost everything, from silks and satins to fruits and cakes as well as gifts for everyone in the Zhu family. All in all, it must be worth nearly sixty or seventy taels of silver.
"You kid." Chen scolded.
"I have to trouble you these days, godmother. I am shameless enough to come and eat for a few days and try your cooking skills."
The fat man grinned foolishly.
"Live here as much as you can and treat this place as your own home." Mother Chen waved her hand and agreed.
After Fatty moved his things to his family's backyard, he let him go back to town and find a place to live. The family would wait until Fatty was ready to go home and then go look for him.
When Zhu's father came back, the fat man called him godfather again, which made Zhu's father stunned. It was only after his mother Chen told him the whole story that Zhu's father rubbed his hands and smiled, telling the fat man Xue Chi not to be polite and to stay at ease.
Thanks to the fact that Zhu Ping'an's family had renovated their house, they had enough rooms, so they cleaned up a room for the fat man to live in. Zhu's father and eldest brother Zhu Pingchuan hurried to make a bed, and his mother Chen gave the fat man a new quilt for him to rest.
In the evening, Chen specially cooked several more dishes, stewed the rice until it was fragrant, and served a big bowl of it to the fat man.
The fat man did not disappoint Chen. He ate voraciously with his mouth wide open. The fat man, who was used to eating big fish and meat, felt that the farmhouse home-cooked meals were so delicious, especially the tender cucumbers pickled by Chen, which were simply delicious when eaten with rice porridge.
In the end, the fat man was very envious of Zhu Ping'an for being able to eat such delicious meals every day.
"Zhi'er, learn from Xiao Xue and eat more."
Chen was more and more satisfied watching the fat man eating. Look, this is what eating is like. In the end, she even used the fat man to teach Zhu Pingan a lesson. Her youngest son might have lost weight because of reading books recently. Chen couldn't help but pick up two pieces of meat, one in the fat man's bowl and one in Zhu Pingan's bowl. (To be continued.)