When Liu Laozhu came back, Shang Cheng had already eaten and drunk, and was sitting on a bench under the eaves of the hall staring at the courtyard. The two youngest girls sat on his lap one by one, each holding half a white-flour bun in their hands, and ate it with relish.

Liu Laozhu came over first and bowed respectfully to Shang Cheng, and said something in his mouth. Shang Cheng didn't seem to see Liu Laozhu, neither returned the salute nor spoke, nor did he lift his eyelids, looking straight at the hard soil in the courtyard with a gloomy face. His expression made Liu Laozhu a little embarrassed. He guessed that it must be that the monk felt that he had been neglected and treated himself with such an expression. So he buried his head deeper, bent down deeper, and bowed more respectfully.

“…… Business...... Naijia ......" Liu Laozhu said as he bent down, his voice revealing his humility and respect.

Shang Cheng woke up from his chaotic thoughts. He was a little at a loss, and he didn't know how to deal with Liu Laozhu, especially when he saw that the two people who were following Liu Laozhu also bowed to him, and one of them had white hair hanging on both sideburns, and he didn't know what to do. But he immediately found a good solution. He hurriedly put the two dolls on the ground, stood up, put his palms together between his chest and abdomen, leaned over slightly, and gently recited Amitabha Buddha in his mouth.

As he humbly returned the salute, the expressions of Liu Laozhu and the two people who came with him immediately became more respectful.

"Business...... Fort (Huojia) ...... Dong ......" Liu Laozhu pointed to the two unfamiliar faces who came with him, and said a bunch of words clumsily, but Shang Cheng could only barely hear a few words, so he had to smile and look back and forth on the two people. He could see at a glance that these two people were obviously different from Liu Laozhu, and the clothes on one or two of them were much brighter than Liu Laozhu.

But as soon as the two of them spoke, Shang Chengcheng couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

They speak the same obscure vernacular language.

Shang Cheng had no choice but to beckon Liu Laozhu's daughter over, and the little girl named Yue'er who beckoned him to dress and eat asked her to translate for him one by one. He had wanted the oldest girl to act as an intermediary, because her official language was the most standard; But the girl's face turned red before she spoke, and she asked three times before answering, and her voice was as small as a mosquito humming, and it was better not to listen to her than to listen to her one by one......

With the help of Liu Yue'er's half-clear official words of the Shangjing Plain Mansion, Shang Cheng finally knew where the two strangers came from. These two people are the stewards of the Li family and the Zhang family in Huojiabao, and they came to check and inspect the wolf.

It's so easy! The two wolves were left on the floor of the hall and tested as they wanted. Just now, when Shang Cheng was squatting under the eaves to eat vegetable dumplings and drink cabbage soup, from time to time there were adults and dolls happily going in and out of this courtyard, pointing at the fake monk Wolf and Shang Cheng; Even now, there are still many people leaning on the courtyard wall with curiosity on their faces to watch the excitement.

When the two stewards squatted in the hall to inspect the two wolves, Shang Cheng quietly asked Yue'er, how did the two stewards judge that these two wolves were the two "wanted" by ten miles and eight towns? Yue'er muttered a bunch of words, but she didn't explain clearly.

The acceptance work went smoothly, and the two stewards were relieved when they straightened up. The younger steward of the Li family was not verbose, and immediately took out two pieces of money from the bag on his shoulder, and handed it to Shang Cheng respectfully with both hands.

Shang Cheng looked at the copper coins strung together with hemp rope in confusion. He knew almost nothing about the ancient monetary system, but learned from books that "guan" was a special unit of calculation for copper coins, which was always 1,000 copper coins, also known as "缗". But what are these two copper coins? He remembered that the brothers of the old man in the third year of high school were greedy for the bounty of these two wolves, so they temporarily got into the mountains to fight the wolves - but the bounty was always five, why did the bounty become two overnight? Or does he have to make up the change for the two stewards?

Yue'er tugged at his sleeve next to him and whispered to him that the extra 500 Wen was the "Song Yang" specially given to him by the two of them.

"Geyang"? Shang Cheng frowned and pondered what "Geyang" meant, and it took him a long time to understand that it was "offering" rather than "Geyang". Offerings...... Could it be that he really wants to be a monk?

Because the language didn't talk to each other, the two stewards didn't even drink a sip of water, put down the money and left with a few polite words. Liu Laozhu, who had been accompanying him, called the girl who loved to blush to the side to speak.

Shang Cheng just learned that among the five female dolls, only Liu Yue'er was Liu Laozhu's daughter. After Yue'er's mother gave birth to her, her body has been good for a while, and she has been grinding until Yue'er is ten years old, and finally died. It is precisely because of her mother's poor health that Yue'er has honed her skills since she was a child to be able to do things inside and outside the door, and after her mother died, she became Liu Laozhu's good helper, managing this poor family inside and out. The other four girls, the eldest girl, the second girl, the younger brother and the fourth girl, are all daughters of a family surnamed Huo on this street, because their father is ranked seventeenth in the Huo family, Yue'er calls their father and mother seventeen uncles and seventeen aunts. From Yue'er, Shang Cheng also knew that Liu Laozhu and Huo Qiqi had a very deep relationship and an excellent relationship; As for how good it is, according to Shang Cheng's understanding, it is "Liu Laozhu and Huo Seventeen are brothers who wear a pair of pants together". This evening, Liu Laozhu wants to thank his life-saving benefactor at home, and has invited Huo Seventeen, who is a clerk in the yamen, to accompany him, and Huo Qiqi will come directly after an errand in the yamen in the evening. The four girls of the Huo family are here waiting for the dinner that night. Their mother was originally going to come over together, and there was a temporary delay, but she would definitely come over before dinner, although she was capable, she was always almost hot when she was eating, drinking, and eating as a hospitality, so Aunt Seventeen was the master of today's dinner.

Shang Cheng silently thought about and digested these disorganized news in his heart, but he pinched a copper coin in his hand and examined it carefully. The handwriting on the copper coin is clearly legible, "Dong Yuan Tongbao", but the era name "Dong Yuan" has no clue. He flipped through the copper coin a few times, and saw that the text on the coin was "Ji Sheng Tongbao", which was unheard of. He fiddled with the copper coins and asked, "Isn't your seventeenth uncle an errand boy in the yamen?" Why do you still say that the Huo family has fallen? ”

Yue'er and the second child of the Huo family were sitting together, holding a needle and thread in their hands and sewing Liu Laozhu's jacket that was torn by the wolf, and when he asked like this, he said: "Uncle Seventeen is just a county clerk...... even if "just a clerk" is used, the second girl next to her still pursed her lips, a reserved smile appeared on her face, and secretly looked at Shang Cheng's expression with the corner of her eye.

What is the role of a scrivener? Shang Cheng was a little curious. But this question is obviously too profound for Yue'er and Erya, they even talk about it, and Shang Cheng doesn't understand how big a matter the "County Office of the Clerk" is in charge. He can only judge by his own experience. It seems that the clerk in the yamen is roughly an ordinary clerk in the ** organ, who has neither power nor power. Shang Cheng thought about it, and asked again: "How did your seventeenth uncle enter the yamen to do things?" He was curious about that. He thought, since Huo Qiqi can enter the ** organ...... Entering the county government as a secretary, maybe he can also take this road, so that he can not only have a regular job, but also have a reliable income, but also understand the surrounding environment faster, and most importantly, he can hide his ulterior origin with this identity. And apply for the ** civil service examination...... The Yamen's scrivener will not be too difficult for him, he is literate one by one, and he can also write a few beautiful calligraphy, which is his greatest advantage. As for his status as a monk now, can it be said that the law can still prohibit monks from returning to the laity? The most important thing is that he can take this opportunity to get in touch with something, and maybe it can help him get out of this "dream". As for what could help him, he didn't know, so he could only take it one step at a time.

"Uncle Seventeen has studied in private school for three years, and he passed the exam in the county. That year, there was a shortage of manpower in the yamen, so Uncle Seventeen went in. Yue'er said. Huo Erya said a few words with a flat mouth next to her, seemingly disagreeing with Yue'er's statement. Yue'er defended two more sentences. Erya didn't look up, and spoke softly while doing needlework.

Shang Cheng couldn't understand what they said, so he had to wait patiently for the two girls to stop arguing about how Huo Qiqi entered the yamen, and Shang Cheng asked Yue'er: "Does she ...... What did Erya say? ”

She said that her father's entry into the yamen was done by her sixth uncle, and her family gave her six uncles a lot of things. She also owes the favor of the big shopkeeper of Liu Ji Warehouse in the county, and if there is no Liu Ji Warehouse with insurance, her father will not be able to enter the yamen to do a book. After talking to Shang Cheng for a long time, Yue'er's official words gradually became smoother, and she spoke quickly and crisply. Erya lowered her head and tugged at her sleeve, apparently blaming her for not bringing anything out.

Hearing her say this, Shang Cheng suddenly felt that most of his application for the "civil servant" examination was going to fail. To pass the exam, to be recommended, and to have a shop willing to have insurance, the process is cumbersome and troublesome, the key is that he can't count on any of these three things. His education gave him no hope of passing the cultural test of the age; There is no relatives here, so naturally it is impossible for someone to take the initiative to jump out and recommend him; As for finding someone as a guarantor, he didn't dare to think that he was unfamiliar with the place one by one, who would give him this fake monk of unknown origin as a guarantor? It seems that this path is going to fail......

He put the copper coin in his hand back on the table in disappointment, frowned and was stunned for a long time before casually asking, "How much did I buy this dress?" Seeing Yue'er staring at himself with two big round eyes, he pulled his clothes and pants, and then asked, "How much did I spend on this dress with pants and shoes...... How much text? ”

Yue'er looked at him strangely, obviously not understanding what he meant by asking, but she said in her mouth: "Forty-three wen for gowns, two hundred and seventy wen for single clothes, and ...... pants" Speaking of this, her face was a little red, because she bought all the pants she wore inside and outside for Shang Cheng. She paused before saying vaguely, "The pants together are two hundred...... 281 texts, 91 texts for shoes and socks. The belt was given by the garment shop, and there was no money. ”

She has a good memory, and she says a large number of numbers clearly and clearly. Listening to her finish counting, Shang Cheng nodded, found a wooden stick on the ground, and counted on the ground. After thinking about it, he asked, "What is the price of grain in the market right now?" "Knowing the price of food, he can roughly estimate the price here, and it can also be compared with the world before he traveled through time and space. As to what this comparison could do for his current situation, to be honest, he was not very sure. It's just that he is at a loss at the moment, and his mind is muddy, so it is better to find something to pass the time and have something to do than a mess in his head.

He was thinking about something else, and it took him a long time to realize that he had inadvertently written down three Arabic numerals on the ground. Fortunately, the two girls only thought that he was writing and drawing on the ground and counted the total, and they didn't pay much attention to it.

Hearing him ask about the price of grain, Yue'er pursed her lips and laughed, pinched the needle and thread and said, "Listen to the monk, you know that you are a person who doesn't care about oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea." There is a lot of grain in the market, coarse grains and fine grains, wheat, rice, flour and sorghum, who knows what kind of grain you are asking? Even if it is a kind of grain, it has to be divided into new grain that came down last year and old grain from previous years......" Erya also buried her head and smiled, and gently kicked Yue'er under her feet, meaning that she should stop ridiculing and sarcasm Shangcheng.

Shang Cheng didn't care about Yue'er's words, he only smiled and said, "...... Just talk about wheat. Just talk about new grain. ”

"Xinmai is three hundred wen and one stone. Last month, it was originally 280 yuan, but this month, the government is collecting old wheat in previous years, and the price has risen a little. ”

Shang Cheng almost asked, "How many catties is a stone?" The words came to his lips and he swallowed them back. You can't ask this, you will definitely be suspicious if you ask Yue'er. Even if Yue'er didn't pay attention, the second girl of the Huo family may not not pay attention. Although these two girls don't talk much, they occasionally look up and look at each other, and they are obviously smart and well-behaved girls.

He sat on the stool and thought about how many catties a stone was worth at this time. In the modern unit of measurement, the "stone" has gradually disappeared, and he only remembers that one stone is a hundred catties; At the same time, he also vaguely remembered that the number of one stone to one hundred catties was very different in various periods of history, one stone was more than 100 catties in the Northern Song Dynasty, and one stone was only more than 90 catties in the Ming Dynasty...... These meaningless things swirled in his mind for a long time, and he realized that it was meaningless for him to ponder how many catties a stone was, and if he had time to think about this, it was better to think about how much wheat he could buy with this new dress. His clothes were a total of 685 wen, which was about two stone or more than one when converted into wheat, and how long could he eat if these grains could be eaten...... Helplessly, he broke the stick in two. Alas, what can you do knowing the result? Knowing the outcome doesn't necessarily do any good, and not knowing doesn't necessarily hurt anything......

He threw away the two sticks and patted the dirt on his hands, wondering what to say next. There are some things that can't be said, some questions that can't be asked, and some questions that may be asked in vain, and as for the short topics in the parents, he has no interest in inquiring. Alas, he now has a stomach full of questions, but he doesn't know where to start or who to ask.

The noon sun was warm in the courtyard. A large rooster with a red crest led several hens, probing through the courtyard in search of food, occasionally clucking a few times. The little yellow dog bared his teeth, drove a chicken that he didn't know whose house he flew up to the earthen wall, and ran back to whining to Yue'er to show his merits, and was slapped twice on the head by the little master, and was satisfied with lying at Yue'er's feet and sticking out his tongue and panting......

Faintly, he sensed that someone was pulling at his clothes. When he opened his hazy eyes to look, it was Yue'er standing beside Liu Laozhu, stretching out her hand and pulling his sleeve. The second girl was already with the eldest girl, and the two sisters were guarding the earthen wall and whispering.

"Monk, my father asked you, what are you going to do with those two wolves?" Yue'er asked.

"What to do?" Shang Cheng said in a sneering voice, "What's wrong with the wolf?" ”

"My dad asked you something." Yue'er saw that his drowsiness had not subsided, so she said again, "What are you going to do with those two wolves?" Someone came to buy it, and my dad asked you if you would sell it. It's a liquor store on the street to buy. In the morning, people came to ask, my father saw that you were asleep, so he asked them to come back after noon, and they are here now. So saying, he pointed to the gate of the courtyard, where two men were standing.

Shang Cheng looked at it with his eyes open, and then he realized that Yue'er was relaying her father's words, and Liu Laozhu was asking himself what to do with the two wolves. He thought about it, and said to Yue'er: "It's all sold." The wolf meat is rough and fishy, the seasoning is uneven, and the preparation is unpalatable, if you can have a ......," he said, and he lost his breath. Alas, if you change the time and place, and prepare all the seasonings, these two wolves are excellent game meat whether they are barbecued and fried, and they can be sold for a lot of money in a slightly more upscale restaurant.

Yue'er didn't pay attention to what he said, she only turned her face to talk to her father, and beckoned the two wine shops to buy and buy into the courtyard, and accompanied them to bargain and inspect the goods in the hall. Liu Laozhu probably knew that his daughter was neat and capable, so he didn't join in the fun, but only sat on the low stool where Yue'er had just sat with his arms, smiling and not speaking.

Shang Cheng saw that the wound on Liu Laozhu's right wrist had been replaced with a clean white cloth, and there was a faint smell of ointment, so he knew that he had probably seen the doctor again, so he asked without words: "Is your wound okay?" ”

Liu Laozhu listened to him, and hurriedly leaned on the stool, only laughing and not speaking.

Yue'er, who was talking to the two buyers, twisted her body and said, "Dad, the monk asked you what you were talking about, and asked if the injury on your wrist was better." ”

Liu Laozhu got up and threw his hand at him again and again, and stroked the wound and muttered in his mouth, Shang Cheng couldn't hear the clouds, mountains and fog covered with clouds, but he didn't know what to say, but he couldn't say that he didn't understand, so he could only smile strangely and nodded again and again, but his eyes kept looking at Yue'er, hoping that she would translate and explain to him. But the business in the hall is probably at a critical juncture of bargaining, and Yue'er is too busy to take care of her father and Shang Cheng.

In the end, the two bought and put aside a pile of copper coins, and Liu Laozhu found them a wooden stick and two ropes, and the two men carried the wolf and walked out.

Shang Cheng originally wanted to volunteer to give a hand to the two procurement managers and help them carry the wolf back, but when he saw the eldest girl shaking her head at him, he dispelled his thoughts. But this also made him full of doubts, could it be that he couldn't help with this little favor? Is it that the procurement will not agree, or is this the way this is the custom?

Yue'er said to him with a smile: "It was sold for two thousand three hundred and fifty dollars." There are still three hundred and thirty-seven dollars left here, and they will send them when they come back. As he spoke, he went back to the house and found a piece of black cloth, wrapped the copper coin cable on the table together, and said, "It's cheaper for them, those two skins are also good things, and they don't even have an arrow eye, but the hair is not good, and it's not easy to ......tidy up" Then he glared at Shang Cheng with disgust, and whispered, "You still want to help them carry it?" Selling wolves is not selling strength, and the price doesn't mention power money, why do you want to lift them up? ”

Shang Cheng really didn't know that there was such a statement. The little girl's snatching made him a little embarrassed, so he had to turn his eyes to look at an ant line in the corner. After a while, I suddenly remembered something and asked, "They owe money, and they didn't say to write an IOU?" ”

"No IOUs, they'll send the money when they get back." Yue'er glanced at Shang Cheng as she spoke, and asked with a smile, "If they make an IOU, you can get to know each other?" I felt that this was a bit disrespectful, so I bit my lip and added, "Who can write in the procurement office in the wine store?" If you can read a few words, you can be a big guy, and if you can write, you are at least a bookkeeper......"

Shang Cheng smacked his lips and didn't speak. He was literate, of course. Not only simplified characters, but also traditional characters, as long as they are not too obscure, he can recognize and write common traditional characters. However, it is definitely not possible to write essays one by one, not only can I not write ancient texts, but there are not many famous ancient texts that I have memorized in middle school, and at most I can remember a few famous sentences, such as "the worries of the world before the joy of the world" or something.

Liu Laozhu said a word beside him.

Yue'er said: "My father said that you are his life-saving benefactor, and you should have stayed for a few more days to treat you well." But we are poor and have little business, and we are afraid that you will not be used to it. There is a monk temple in the county, if you want, I will send you to the temple early tomorrow morning. As he spoke, he explained to Shang Cheng, "The county seat is still six miles away from here, and you can enter the city today but you can't get out of the city depending on the sky." There is a curfew in the county, and there is no road to rely on, even if you are the king of heaven, Lao Tzu, and if you are caught, it will be twenty sticks......" He sneered as he spoke. The eldest girl and the second girl who listened to her under the courtyard wall also covered their mouths and smiled. Liu Laozhu sat on a low stool, just looking at his daughter with a smile, and there was only kindness and relief on his thin face full of wrinkles.

Shang Cheng didn't laugh. He didn't even hear half of Yue'er's words. For him, the order in the temple means a huge crisis—he, a fake monk, is still cautious and trembling in the place where ordinary people gather, and he must not show his feet immediately when he arrives in the temple? But in a hurry, he couldn't come up with any suitable reason to refuse Liu Laozhu's proposal. And he felt that he couldn't live in Liu Laozhu's family, it would be too troublesome for him to live in his family, not to mention anything else, just to support him, a fake monk, for fear that he would also bring down this family......

He had a flash of thought in his heart, but he nodded with a forced smile: "I'd better go to the temple to place an order." As he spoke, he recited the Buddha.

As soon as he spoke, he saw that Yue'er and Liu Laozhu were full of disappointment, and even the eldest girl and the second girl lowered their heads.

Did you say the wrong thing? He immediately reviewed his decision. That's right. Monks naturally want to go to the temple to live, to live in ordinary people's homes, what is that like?

Huo Seventeen didn't come back until it was dark. Everyone was in a hurry, until Gao Xiaosan, who was helping in the county store, brought back a message for him, saying that the yamen had urgent official business and would not come back at night to rest, so everyone was relieved.

That dinner Shang Cheng ate tastelessly. The dishes with clear soup and little water are not to his taste, and it is not a problem for monks to not stick to meat and not drink, the key is that there is Gao Xiaosan at the dinner table, and this big guy in the inn makes him very annoyed Gao Xiaosan always inquired about the cotton cloth situation in Mauritius country, and he has to brace himself and deal with it carefully......