"Alas, it's hard to explain. We are lucky to have the help from Brother Qian and Brother Zhao. Uncle also wants to help you, but he is short of money."
Uncle Zhu Shouren's expression changed several times, and he finally sighed.
Zhu Pingan showed a disappointed look on his face, but he was calm in his heart. He had expected that his uncle would refuse. It would be strange if he didn't refuse, because all their money was with him. Seeing that his uncle was dressed in new clothes, it was obvious that he did have friends to help him. He asked this question just to hear his uncle's refusal, so that his uncle would not be embarrassed to ask him for money.
It is better to save the money you have for future use. It can also reduce the burden on your family. The imperial examination costs a lot.
"Uncle, do you have a place to live?" Zhu Ping'an asked again.
"I do have a place to live, but I am grateful to Brother Qian and Brother Zhao for not minding it and giving me a bedroom." The uncle still looked helpless, "The places we live in are all overcrowded."
After saying this, Uncle Zhu Shouren looked at Zhu Ping'an who was carrying his bag, and continued in a tone that seemed to be considerate of Zhu Ping'an, "Zi'er, how about this? You go to my place to rest for a day, write a letter and ask your family to prepare another 20 taels of silver, and I will ask my friend's servant to take your letter home, and ask the servant to bring the silver back, how about that?"
Seeing his uncle's empathy, Zhu Pingan felt amused. His uncle was really calculating. Ten taels would be enough for each boy, and he asked the family to prepare twenty taels, so that my parents could also pay for his uncle's share. Besides, if I asked your friend's servant to bring the money back, who knows if the money can still fall into my hands? What if the servant took the money away or lost it? This kind of thing is possible for my uncle.
I am not short of money.
"Thank you for your kindness, uncle. When my mother left home, she sewed five taels of small silver notes into the lining of my nephew's lapel. If I'm frugal, I can still make it." Zhu Ping'an looked at his uncle and said calmly, emphasizing the word "frugal" in order to avoid his uncle having any thoughts.
The uncle was disappointed that his plan failed, and he no longer mentioned the idea of letting Zhu Ping'an stay with him for a day. He waved his hand and said, "In that case, then Zhu'er should go find a place to stay quickly. It will be bad if it gets late."
At this time, one of the other students who were walking with my uncle said in a joking tone, "My dear nephew, you only have five taels. I'm afraid you can only live in the woodshed."
Another person also joined in the fun and said, "What a coincidence! The inn we stayed in actually had a woodshed. When we left, the innkeeper was tidying up the woodshed to rent it out. He said the monthly rent was only 1 tael of silver, which is more than half the price of an ordinary guest room."
These people's joking words really made Zhu Ping'an's eyes light up.
Generally speaking, the firewood room is a spacious room facing the sun. If it is tidied up and a bed is placed in it, it is not necessarily worse than the lowest-class guest room, and it is much cheaper than the ordinary guest room. As for the fact that living in the firewood room is not face-saving, Zhu Ping'an doesn't care. Face is not determined by how well you live. Haven't you heard that Goujian slept on firewood and tasted gall? As long as you have the ability, you can have face wherever you live.
There is a fierce tiger in my heart, but I can smell roses even in the woodshed.
"Really? Where is the inn?"
These people were originally teasing Zhu Ping'an, but they didn't expect that this silly boy Zhu Ping'an was not ashamed but instead asked everyone with a silly smile.
Well, this fool is hopeless. The woodshed is where cannon fodder is produced. It is so unlucky. It seems that he has given up on himself.
Uncle Zhu Shouren and his friends were just strolling around out of boredom, but when they saw that stupid boy Zhu Ping'an insisted on staying in the woodshed, they surrounded him as if they were watching a joke and were afraid that he would change his mind, and then went to their inn.
Zhu Ping'an was not embarrassed at all, but his uncle Zhu Shouren blushed, as if he had embarrassed himself.
The inn where my uncle Zhu Shouren and his friends stayed was quite far away. It was obvious that my uncle and his friends were really in the mood for leisure. It took us about half an hour to finally arrive at the inn.
This inn is much more luxurious than the one I saw when I first arrived. In ancient times, it would have been worthy of a star rating.
The shopkeeper was a fat man with a mercenary spirit. He was worried about the woodshed. Just now, he saw many students and scholars coming here to stay overnight. Being a business-minded person, he ordered people to clean up the woodshed, thinking that he could rent it out at a lower price and make some money.
I never expected that when I recommended the firewood shed to the students, these weak and gentle students seemed to have a grudge against me for killing their father and stealing their wife. They wanted to eat my flesh alive. Their words were disrespectful and their manners were ruined. If I hadn't seen the situation and quickly apologized, these students would have really picked up their arms to fight with me.
It's just a woodshed. As for that, the fat shopkeeper could not understand the arrogance of the scholars.
The fat shopkeeper has suffered a lot of humiliation from the scholars and students, and now he gets angry when he sees the woodshed. If someone comes to rent it, he would rent it at half the price so that he doesn't have to look at it with annoyance.
Just then, a polite voice came.
"Boss, do you have a woodshed for rent?"
The fat innkeeper looked up and saw a boy about 13 or 14 years old, who looked a bit silly. Behind the boy were several students who had just rented a room here. These students looked at the simple and honest boy as if they were laughing at him. Their eyes and smiles were exactly the same as the innkeepers next door looked at him.
"Yes, if you are willing, I will rent it to you for a month for half a tael of silver."
We are both in this world, so I will give you a discount on rent. This sentence suddenly popped up in the mind of the fat shopkeeper who was illiterate.
The people who followed Zhu Ping'an to watch the joke were surprised that the shopkeeper could make the price half cheaper for no reason, but they did not envy Zhu Ping'an's good luck. Instead, they laughed at him even more. The firewood shed was cheap enough to begin with, and now the price was even lower, making it even more unlucky for people to live in it.
The young man who came to rent the room was Zhu Ping'an. When he heard the shopkeeper say that he would only charge half a tael of silver a month, his silly smile became even brighter. He smiled and said, "Okay, please show me the woodshed."
The fat shopkeeper led Zhu Ping'an to the woodshed. His uncle Zhu Shouren and others followed from a distance and did not go in, for fear of being infected with bad luck and ruining their luck in the exam.
The woodshed looked simple from the outside, but it was very clean inside. The brick floor was spotless. There was a table and chair by the window, and the bed had just been moved in. On the sunny side, the afterglow of the setting sun could shine in through the window, and it must be bright during the day. The overall feeling was much better than the last-class room in the first inn.
"How is it?" The fat shopkeeper was a little nervous.
"I think it's okay and worth the money." Zhu Ping'an turned his head and answered with a silly smile, looked around and nodded with satisfaction.
A mountain stream meets a soulmate.
The fat shopkeeper liked Zhu Ping'an more and more, so he decided to go all out and gave Zhu Ping'an another penny cheaper.
The more Zhu Ping'an looked at the fat shopkeeper, the more he liked him. It was great to live in a room like this for only four cents of silver.