In my wild thoughts, it's night.
Li Zhen was exhausted after experiencing the big storm and fell into an extremely deep sleep.
In the dream, Zhang Zhi arrived as promised.
"Why are you unhappy?"
Zhang Zhi asked with a smile.
"I escaped a life-or-death disaster."
"ah?"
"More than twenty people died for me."
"What?"
Zhang Zhi became nervous, looked at Li Zhen up and down, and said anxiously: "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Li Zhen told what happened to Yan Ziji. The mentality that had stabilized collapsed again. When seeing Zhang Zhi, he could not hide his true feelings. In the dream, I cried again.
"They all died for me."
Zhang Zhi's eyes were red, and he could imagine Yan Ziji's tragedy from Li Zhen's trembling words.
"Then what do you do now?"
"I don't know what I should do. I didn't dare to enter Jiahe County at that time. After I came to Huangpu County, I didn't even dare to report to the official. I felt so useless."
Li Zhen felt a little self-hatred and gritted his teeth.
Zhang Zhi thought for a moment and comforted him: "You are right. According to what you said, I can feel that corruption will be very serious in your place ten thousand years from now. It is not impossible for officials to protect each other. If As your teacher Wang said, you are an official bandit. If you dare to report to the official, you may be trapped. Listen to me, don't leave the hotel now, just stay in the hotel every day, wait for the exam, and leave after the exam. Don’t stay in Huangpu County.”
"Could it be that they can really come to Huangpu County?"
"Just in case. If I were a horse thief from Yanziji, and a big accident happened, so many horse thieves died, and one of them escaped. I would definitely not give up. If I really had the backing of Jiahe County officials, I would definitely First block the road to Huangpu, and then block the road to Hangcheng County, blocking both ends."
Li Zhen was frightened for a while after hearing this. Fortunately, he did not stay after escaping from Yanziji, did not stay in Jiahe County, and did not stay along the way. The tired man came to Huangpu County.
If it was true as Zhi said, the horse thieves from Yanziji would come after him, and if he dared to linger, he would most likely be overtaken by them.
"If there is no traffic jam, then I may enter Huangpu County and wait for you near the government office. Or I may simply enter the government office and wait for you to report to the government. If... I really have the backing of Jiahe County, I can do it. You You are just a student, and no one cares about your life or death."
Li Zhen's heart trembled for a while. He never thought that this world would be so dark, and he never thought that human nature could be so dark. I have never been out of Hangcheng County. This time, I saw the blood and tears in the rivers and lakes.
I also felt powerless for a while. My hatred for the Yanziji horse thief was not the slightest bit, but don't talk about revenge now. They even had to face being chased and killed, and they didn't even dare to report to the police, or even go out.
"I... should I write a letter and send it back to my hometown in Hangcheng County to inform the people in Hangcheng County of the bad news?"
Li Zhen asked.
Zhang Zhi thought for a while and said seriously: "No. Just in case, you can't leave your residence now. You have to wait until the day of the exam. Leave immediately after the exam. You said... Liu Quan left it for you. Ten thousand coins?”
"Yes, he has 10,000 coins in his bag. I have 4,500 coins with me. This is the cost of the exam."
"But I also heard that it seems that exams cost money? Where is the money spent?"
Li Zhen slapped his forehead: "I forgot! When I got my exam number today, I forgot about the seat fee."
"What? What's the seat fee?"
"When I came here, it was all done by the teacher. The teacher said that the reason why the exam costs money is the seat fee. The total seat fee is one thousand yuan, and the money is for the exam room. It mainly provides venue fees, board and lodging for the exam Fees, a total of one thousand coins, clearly marked price."
Zhang Zhi said in surprise: "There is still a seat fee for the exam?"
"Yes. The seat fee is the big one, and there are small ones here and there. When you enter the examination room, you need to find someone to pay for the 'passing fee.'"
“What is a passage fee?”
"Before the exam, in order to verify your identity, make sure you are who you are. There will be a dedicated person checking you when you enter the examination room. It is a waste of time. I heard that some candidates did not pay the passing fee. When verifying their identity, The exam time was delayed, and some people deliberately made things difficult. During the exam, some people will check you from time to time, which will affect your exam. Therefore, you have to pay passing fees to some people in charge of this aspect.
The merchants responsible for this are all extremely powerful people in the main city. After you pay them, they will issue you a certificate to help you guarantee to the examination room that there is nothing wrong with you. The passing fee is mainly the cost of guarantee. It's okay not to pay, but it will be very troublesome if someone deliberately influences you and makes things difficult for you. If you pay it, you won't have these troubles. "
Zhang Zhi was dumbfounded and murmured: "Ten thousand years from now... people there are so obsessed with making money. You still have to pay so much money for the college entrance examination. Isn't this nonsense?"
Li Zhen smiled bitterly: "Just get used to it. It's not just the examination room. There are many places where you charge fees."
Returning to the topic, Zhang Zhiyu changed his tone and said: "By the way, your top priority now is to ensure your own safety. Since Liu Quan left money for you, you have to use the money to ensure your own safety. I guess, even if the horse thief wants If they come to hunt you down, they will definitely not dare to come in a big way. They know that you are only one person and your strength is weak, so they will definitely think that just a few people can take you away. "
"Then what should I do?"
"Hire a bodyguard."
“…”
After getting up in the early morning, Li Zhen got dressed and walked out of his room. In the early hours of the morning, everyone was still asleep. There was no one in the whole hotel, except the boss, who was standing at the counter in a daze.
'Dong dong dong'
Li Zhen lightly clicked the wooden cabinet.
The boss woke up and said drowsily: "Are you staying in a hotel?"
Li Zhen walked into the counter. The boss woke up on the spot and looked at Li Zhen warily: "What do you want to do? Get out."
"Excuse me, I want to ask something."
As he spoke, he slapped a hundred coins on the table.
Seeing the money, the hotel owner relaxed his vigilance and said with a flattering smile: "Tell me everything you know."
"Are you a local here?"
"That's not a lie. My family goes back three generations and all have local registered residence in Huangpu County. Other houses are rented houses, but my hotel is my family's homestead. I grew up in Huangpu County and am very familiar with this place. In the heart.”
"Let me ask around..."
Li Zhen lowered his voice and said, "Do you know if there are people around Huangpu County who are very good at fighting and are very vicious when they attack?"
The boss took a breath of air and quickly stood up and looked around. When he saw no one was around, he lowered his voice and said, "This question is worth money... Who do you want to kill?"
When Li Zhen saw the boss's reaction, his heart skipped a beat, wondering if this was a black shop
(End of chapter)