"Don't you want to be an official anymore?" Fang Yun asked.
"I'm not good at it, and I don't like it, at least not now." Zhang Jing'an raised his head slowly, his pair of dark eyes reflecting Fang Yun in front of him.
Fang Yun didn't look at Zhang Jingan, but looked at the heavy snow outside the window with a calm expression.
The cold wind howled outside, while the aroma of tea wafted inside the house.
"I think it would be good for you to continue being a pavilion chief without having to endure hardships and hardship or training your body. Perhaps you will have the opportunity to obtain an official position, a rank, and be granted the title of Jinshi or something like that." Fang Yun said.
"I... I can't do this anymore." Zhang Jing'an's expression was extremely complicated, a complex expression that shouldn't have appeared on the face of an eleven-year-old child.
"Are you sure you want to give up being a civil servant?" Fang Yun still looked out the window.
Zhang Jing'an looked at Fang Yun and suddenly thought of the old man Gao. He suddenly realized that these two people were surprisingly similar. They knew everything and had given clear hints, but he still made the wrong choice. Compared with these people, he was too young. The post of pavilion chief was originally a lucrative position. Once someone wanted to snatch it, he could be killed by those old foxes at any time.
A hint of sadness flashed across Zhang Jing'an's eyes.
"Sure!" Zhang Jing'an nodded vigorously, knowing that he had no choice.
"Do you still remember the person who hit you?" Fang Yun asked.
Zhang Jing'an was stunned, a look of shame and anger appeared on his face, and he said, "Of course I remember!" After that, he clenched his fists, showing the anger of a normal child.
"Well, it's good that you remember it. Then, do you remember what I said to you before?" Fang Yun asked.
Zhang Jing'an sighed and said, "Remember, you said that if I fail as a civil servant, you will choose a career for me next."
Fang Yun looked out the window and said slowly, "Just remember it. Go back to Zhang's house first. Tomorrow, change into coarse cloth clothes and go to the Yahang in the south of the city to have a look."
Zhang Jing'an looked embarrassed and said, "A brokerage? They are all middlemen. There are people who specialize in introducing people to make a living, but they are all low-class businesses. I don't want to go there."
Fang Yun stood up, glanced at Zhang Jing'an, and said, as if he had not heard what he said before, "Go back home."
Zhang Jing'an felt the contempt and coldness in Fang Yun's eyes, and his blood suddenly boiled. He instinctively wanted to argue like before, but he took the words back when they came to his lips.
Zhang Jing'an was stunned and lowered his head silently.
From these days' experiences, Zhang Jing'an learned a lot, including silence.
Zhang Jingan doesn't like himself now. He doesn't like everything about himself now.
Early the next morning, Zhang Jing'an got up as usual, washed and walked to the cafeteria, but found that there was only one oil cake on the table, which could only make him 70% full at most.
Zhang Jing'an frowned and sat motionless at the dinner table.
After a while, Fang Yun came in, and then the maids brought out four dishes, a soup, and a bowl of rice. Unlike before, all the dishes were placed in front of Fang Yun. There was only one fried cake in front of Zhang Jing'an.
Zhang Jing'an took a look at Fang Yun and found that he was wearing coarse cloth clothes. Apart from his unique temperament, he did not look like a marquis at all.
Fang Yun picked up the steaming hot rice and said, "Let's eat. After that, change your clothes and go to the dental clinic."
Zhang Jing'an picked up the fried cake, ate it silently for a while, then stretched out his chopsticks to pick up the chicken leg on the plate in front of Fang Yun.
Fang Yun suddenly hit Zhang Jingan's hand with chopsticks, making a snapping sound.
Zhang Jing'an's hand stopped in mid-air and he looked at Fang Yun in shock.
"From today on, you will have to pay for food and accommodation in Zhang's house. This oil cake costs three cents. The amount will be deducted when you get your wages. From now on, if you want to buy anything or eat anything, you can only spend your wages." Fang Yun said.
"Okay!" Zhang Jing'an lowered his head, chewed the oil cake hard, and a fierce look flashed across his face.
After Fang Yun finished his sumptuous breakfast, he ordered the maid to leave. Zhang Jing'an couldn't help but look at the unfinished food.
"Go change your clothes, and let's go to the dental clinic!" Fang Yun said.
"Yes!" Zhang Jing'an turned and left.
Quarter of an hour later, the father and son arrived at the famous Yahang Street in the south city.
The Confucian literary world is different from the Shengyuan Continent. The control of talent is extremely strict. Except for the royal palace which is shrouded in the talent of the holy temple and has four seasons like spring, other places in the whole Chu State are the same as the normal environment.
It had just snowed in Jingzhou City, and the weather was freezing cold. Many people were hiding in their houses, but Yahang Street was exceptionally busy.
Zhang Jing'an glanced at the passers-by and felt a wave of sadness in his heart. On such a cold winter day, these people were wearing very thin clothes and were shivering with cold, but they still had to go out to find a living.
"Maybe, one day I will be like them..." Zhang Jing'an was halfway through his thought when his face suddenly froze, realizing that he was actually no different from them!
Zhang Jing'an lowered his head silently, still remembering the despair in his mother and Zhang Hua's eyes when rumors spread in the capital that he wanted to seize the title of Marquis of Pearl River.
Zhang Jing'an shrank his body. Even though he was wearing a thick cotton jacket, the exposed skin could not withstand the biting cold wind.
Fang Yun randomly found a dental clinic that provided referral services and started looking for a job.
Zhang Jing'an followed Fang Yun closely in their search. The two first looked for a long-term job with food and accommodation, but they found that they either did not meet the requirements or had been taken by someone else. There were also some good jobs, but they had to be done for several years, and they were not allowed to leave and lose their freedom.
As a last resort, the two could only look for short-term jobs with provided food and accommodation. They looked many times, but no one was willing to accept the child. When the matchmaker and the matchmaker saw Zhang Jing'an, they often showed two completely different reactions.
One type was extremely impatient and just waved his hand to drive the person away without even saying a word, which made Zhang Jing'an feel extremely humiliated.
The other one looked at Zhang Jing'an with shining eyes and asked Fang Yun how to sell the child. Zhang Jing'an was so scared that he followed Fang Yun closely for fear of being abducted.
After a whole morning, neither of them found a job.
Near noon, Fang Yun said: "Let's have lunch first, then find a job that doesn't include food and accommodation, or even do a few odd jobs."
Zhang Jing'an touched his rumbling stomach and nodded.
Fang Yun and Zhang Jing'an came to a stall selling wontons on the street, and Fang Yun ordered two bowls of wontons.
When the first bowl of wontons came, Fang Yun grabbed it first and started eating quickly.
Zhang Jing'an thought to himself what kind of father this was, he was worse than an outsider.
When the second bowl came up, Zhang Jing'an was about to take it, but Fang Yun reached out and snatched it away.
"If you don't make money in the morning, you won't be able to eat at noon." Fang Yun said as he ate his second bowl of wontons.
Zhang Jing'an sat on the stool in a daze, clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and said nothing.
After finishing the second bowl of wontons, Fang Yun stood up and said, "Let's go and continue to find a way to make a living."
The two went to a new dental clinic, but still couldn't find a suitable job.
After an hour, Fang Yun suddenly said, "I found a suitable livelihood."
"Ah? What kind of business?" Zhang Jing'an was very happy, thinking that dinner was finally settled.
"Tilt your feet." Fang Yun said calmly.
Zhang Jing'an was speechless, not understanding why the dignified Marquis of Zhujiang would choose this kind of livelihood.
The term "Qiongjiaotou" originally referred to people who were responsible for dealing with garbage and feces. However, since fertilizer was needed for farming and feces could be sold for money, some "Qiongjiaotou" groups gradually became larger.
In today's Jingzhou City, those who can truly be called "Qingjiaotou" all have some business. Each "Qingjiaotou" is responsible for the garbage and feces of an area, hiring others to work and only responsible for making money.
Zhang Jing'an knew that every qianjiaotou was a local tyrant. They were called qianjiaotou, but in fact they were doing temporary work to deal with garbage and feces.
(To be continued.)
...