Shen Xi went out to eat with the same candidates, Zhou didn't want to agree, but she thought about it again, although Shen Xi took the first place in the government examination, how to say that the Shen family is also an "outsider" in this Fucheng, and it is beneficial for Shen Xi to have more contacts with the scholars in Fucheng.

What's more, Hui Niang said in her ear before that Su Tong's knowledge and cultivation are very good, and she can let Shen Xi and Su Tong move around more.

“…… You can't delay too late, you have to come back before nightfall, you must not drink, you must not eat too much, and you will have food at home. ”

Zhou asked Shen Xi earnestly, and finally asked Xiu'er to accompany Shen Xi to go over first, to see which wine shop it was, and if he came back late in the evening, he would send Xiu'er to pick him up.

When he arrived at the wine shop and sent Xiu'er away, Su Tong sighed slightly: "Brother Shen, Lingtang's care for you is really meticulous." ”

Su Tong's mother died six years ago, and his father also died of illness three years ago, and now the Su family is in charge of him, and the son wants to raise but does not treat him, no wonder he has such feelings.

When you enter the wine shop, you go directly to the second floor, and the huge attic is empty, with only one table of guests.

There are two kinds of round tables and square tables upstairs in the restaurant, and the round table is suitable for banquets. There were six candidates for this banquet, plus Su Tong and Shen Xi, a total of eight people. Reporting each other's names and saluting each other, in fact, many people have already known or heard of it after the exam before, and they are all ranked high in this government exam, and the worst score is also the top 20.

Because the sun is very high, this time period is not the time for the banquet, but if you know that Shen Xi can't come out for too long, the candidates who are the east will let the table start in advance. After taking a seat, the store began to serve wine and food, and because Shen Xi couldn't drink, tea was specially prepared for him.

"Shen Gongzi's talent is really admirable, I don't know if I plan to take the college exam next year?" A candidate surnamed Zheng asked enthusiastically.

Shen Xi thought about it, this question is not easy to answer, he is still young now, even if he passes the county examination and the government examination at the age of ten, he may not have to take the hospital examination in the second year. According to common sense, you can accumulate knowledge before taking the exam. In the imperial examination, in many cases, even if you have talent, you must pay attention to "qualifications", even if you do well in the examination. When you are confused, you are also among the best, and after the opening of the seal, the examiner finds that you are not suitable for admission, and will still brush you down, after all, not every examiner dares to admit a ten-year-old child under external pressure.

It's like Gao Mingcheng, the prefect of Tingzhou this time, he admires Shen Xi's talent and learning. personally ordered Shen Xi's case, but he almost made a big mess because of it, affecting his black yarn hat.

The occurrence of this incident will inevitably affect Shen Xi's participation in the hospital examination.

Shen Xi shook his head: "It's not decided for the time being, if you have the opportunity, you still have to give it a try." ”

The faces of others were relieved and unnatural, mainly because these people who were feasting Shen Xi and Su Tong today were already harboring ghosts.

Some want to befriend Shen Xi and Su Tong, knowing that their knowledge is good, and they will definitely make a difference in the future. It's like venture capital, spend money to have dinner first, and then socialize more, then it is considered a friend, if the two can enter the officialdom through the imperial examination, then their investment is considered successful, you can visit these two, mix with a subordinate official or staff, no matter how bad it is, there is a friend who is an official.

And some people are worried about their college exams next year, after all, there are more strong opponents. If Shen Xi is admitted, he may just brush him down.

The wine and dishes are on the table, the dishes are meat and vegetarian matching, and the eight dishes and one soup are quite sumptuous. Someone got up to toast: "It's rare for us to get together today, and I will personally toast you in the next cup, especially Su Gongzi and Shen Gongzi, and congratulate them on their excellent results in this government examination." ”

Su Tong said humbly: "Hu Gongzi should respect Brother Shen, he is the head of the case, and my third is not worth mentioning." It's no different from the top 10. ”

Top 10 candidates in the provincial examination. In the hospital examination, you have to mention the number of seats, whether you take the first test or the tenth, in fact, the effect is the same, after all, the head of the government examination is not qualified to be sent.

The official statement is that you have a higher chance of being admitted, but in the case of a vague name, this will not help the candidate's admission, but it is easy to be nervous in the face of the examiner, and the performance is abnormal.

Shen Xi replaced wine with tea and drank a cup with everyone, and at this time, these candidates actually prepared an "entertainment program" and found old artists who played the three strings to perform.

This old artist is a "blind man", he has no sunglasses these years, although the old man has open eyes, but his eyes are white, it should be "cataract", in the years without surgery, cataract is an incurable disease.

The old man was holding the three-stringed "squeak" and "squeak" and playing, Shen Xi felt a little uncomfortable when he heard it, the pitch was really bad, it was just a little out of tune, and there was no pleasant feeling. Shen Xi knew that this ancient three-string was different from the modern three-string in later generations, with only a few notes and fewer scores.

However, the candidates present listened with great interest.

After hearing this, Su Tong applauded, and by the way, he rewarded the old man who played the three strings with a few copper plates, and the old man groped to take the copper plates into his arms, and was about to go downstairs. Su Tong looked at Shen Xi: "Brother Shen doesn't often come out and walk, I don't know the beauty of this string sound, why don't you let the old man come back and play a song again?" ”

Shen Xi hurriedly waved his hand: "No need, I don't know anything except reading, and I can't appreciate this kind of elegant voice for a while." ”

Su Tong said with a smile: "It seems that Brother Shen doesn't like strings, so in this way, next time I invite you to a good place and find someone to play the piano music for you, Brother Shen should always be able to enjoy it, right?" ”

All the candidates present were adult candidates, and their families were all good, and after listening to Su Tong's words, they all showed knowing smiles on their faces. It seems that the children who bullied Shen Xi didn't understand and deliberately didn't explain, but Shen Xi knew that these people were talking about the Jiaofang Division.

A scholar said: "Why wait for next time, today we are waiting for a rare gathering, you might as well ......"

The candidate surnamed Zheng seconded: "This proposal is very good, but it says that the banquet in this wine shop is not as fragrant as the wine banquet in that place." It must be enough for me to wait for me to come out and make up money with each other, or else I will move the feast to another place. ”

Su Tong smiled: "It's exactly what I want." ”

As he spoke, he stood up and meant to leave.

Shen Xi hurriedly said, "Everyone, where are you going?" This...... Don't eat a table of food and drinks? ”

Su Channel: "It's okay, it doesn't matter, it won't cost a few dollars for such a meal, Brother Shen will follow us to a good place, it's not too early or too late to go at this time." We went, no one bothered us, but we could have a look...... Haha, Brother Shen, you don't have to worry, we are taking you to a very elegant place, and what you are invited to listen to is also the best piano music in this city, and you will be happy to keep it. ”

Someone next to him laughed and said, "Shen Gongzi is still young, how can he understand the beauty of it?" Most...... It's just a dry addiction. ”

The crowd laughed.

Shen Xi was angry, you said to let me come out for a meal, I answered you, you are good, you actually want to take me to the Fengyue place, isn't this bullying me The child doesn't understand anything?

The **** and Shen Yongzhuo came out to play, and they had seen the two girls on the second floor of the Teaching Division, which left a deep impression on him, Shen Xi really wanted to see what the inside of the Teaching Workshop Division looked like, whether it was as described by the Sao people, in a small building, the flowers were full of flowers and singing night and night, and the girls were all beautiful and beautiful......

I had the heart to see it, but I felt that these people had bad motives, so Shen Xi still struggled a little: "My mother said, let me go back early after dinner, and I can't ......go back until after nightfall."

Su Tong said with a smile: "Please rest assured, Shen Gongzi will be kept before dark, and today is just to go to the banquet, listen to the qin music by the way, if there is singing and dancing...... Don't mention these, before nightfall, I personally sent Shen Gongzi back to his house. ”

Shen Xi nodded, with a little apprehension in his heart, and followed Su Tong and the others downstairs.

At this time, downstairs, there was an argument, but it was the old artist who played the three strings just now who was arguing with the shopkeeper of the wine store for a penny.

Shen Xi listened carefully, and then he roughly knew what was going on, it turned out that according to the rules, all these artists who came to the wine shop to perform for fun, no matter how much reward they get, they had to share the account with the wine shop, otherwise the store would not allow them to enter the door to ask for business.

The account is divided into 28 shares, which is fair to reason, and the wine shop only charges 20%, but it can introduce business to these Jianghu artists.

“…… It's a few pennies, but when I was playing outside, a kind person passing by gave it to me, the shopkeeper, you can't even share the profits. ”

The old artist looked a little bleak.

But Shen Xi always felt that this person's pitiful appearance was pretended, because just now Shen Xi noticed that when this old man was playing the three strings, he heard a strange sound outside, and instead of subconsciously pricking up his ears to listen, he turned his head away.

Shen Xi suspected that the old man's "cataract" was also disguised.

"Old Xutou, don't think I don't know your tricks, you used to hide less money? The wine shop and teahouse on this street, you have almost offended everything, if you don't pay more money today, you won't enter my shop to do business in the future! ”

The shopkeeper of the wine store is very screwed, and he is not accommodating for a penny.

At this time, Su Tong went downstairs, asked about the situation, explained with a smile, and told the amount of reward just now.

Lao Xu Tou was dissatisfied: "I said that I didn't have a private hiding, but I insisted on wronging my old man, it's really difficult to live." ”

This is clearly said to Su Tong and others, this trick is very effective, Su Tong took out two copper plates from his arms and sent them to his hand, although Lao Xu Tou did not move, but his hand accurately took the copper plate in his hand.

Shen Xi was even more convinced that this old Xu Tou was pretending to be blind.

But this kind of thing, he is not easy to expose, although this old Xu Tou is a bit of a charlatan, but at least people eat by their ability, this kind of thing is best not to slap the face in the face, it is rare to be confused.

However, just as Shen Xi walked down the stairs, Lao Xu suddenly grabbed his arm, and both hands came up at the same time to grope his palms, muttering:

"Oh, I seem to have met a nobleman, this is really a natural rich palmistry, a rare encounter in a thousand years, and it will definitely be a talent in the future." (To be continued.) )