There is no restless cicada chirping, no unbearable heat, and the early autumn evening in the northwest is so quiet.

The small county town of Chengji does not have the fun of listening to the sound of frogs, the sky is dark, and the pedestrians on the street are so scarce that they are almost invisible.

Stepping out of the disgusting alley, Shen Yun's destination was the inn that he had glanced at earlier and looked at the brightly lit inn.

Whether it is oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, or pen, ink, paper and inkstone, it is inevitable that the northwest is much scarcer than other state capitals in the deep hinterland. Therefore, there are not a few merchants coming and going in Chengji County.

On the contrary, this position is located in the south of Qinzhou, and it is not afraid of military disasters at all, but has become a transit point for merchants to step into the northwest.

Inns in Chengji County have sprung up and come into being, and the booming business has made many wealthy families follow.

"Shopkeeper, come to a guest room, don't need food, I'll leave early tomorrow morning."

Shen Yun's local accent completely disappointed the shopkeeper who originally wanted to slaughter him. I originally thought that the people who were rushing to stay in this big night must be outsiders, and they made a few more money.

The disappointed shopkeeper took down a bunch of keys from the cabinet, flipped it slightly in the dim shadow, and led Shen Yun to a simple house in the backyard, slowly opened the door, and lit the oil lamp with the fire in his hand.

In the end, he didn't want to ruin his reputation, even if he had many regrets and reluctance in his heart, the shopkeeper still said to Shen Yun very politely: "Even if the guest stays, if you want to leave early tomorrow morning, you can also tell me, and I will come to call the guest at that time." ”

Shen Yun shook his head: "These don't bother the shopkeeper, it's just that it's not good to go home when it's late, and you can go out of the city when the city gate opens tomorrow morning." ”

The shopkeeper nodded and left under Shen Yun's gaze.

The shriveled package was put down in the room, Shen Yun locked the doors and windows, and lay on the earthen kang, but he couldn't sleep. kept recalling the grievances in Shen Xi's family, and the desire to live under the people for a long time became stronger and stronger.

In another part of this small town, in a still brightly lit house, it was a different story.

It's still in Fan's Mansion, but this study is unusually simple compared to the place where Shen Yun splashed ink before.

It's still a big pineapple case, but the furnishings in the house are much less. It's just that the shelves full of books are put in Bianliang, Tokyo, and they still make those scholars covetous.

Uncle Quan was respectfully placed on the official hat chair at this time.

Opposite him was the master of the Fan Mansion that Shen Yun had never seen twice.

"Uncle Quan, this is all sent by Shen Yun?" Trembling almost excitedly, he held the manuscript with his hands, and gently placed the stack of unbound pages on the bookcase very carefully, and the owner of the Fan Mansion, who was old enough to make people surprised, asked again.

The old man smiled helplessly.

Since his master came to Qinzhou a year ago, where has he ever seen him lose his temper like this. Today, I just saw the handwriting of a later life, and even years of qi cultivation kung fu were forgotten.

coughed lightly and reminded slightly: "Little master, you have lost your temper." ”

The one who is called the little master by Uncle Quan is naturally the owner of the Fan Mansion, but if people see it, they will definitely be surprised by his age - but he is only in his early twenties, and he is the owner of this luxurious courtyard, and he is very committed.

The young man sneered and slowly calmed down, but the expectation in his eyes did not decrease by half a point.

The old man shook his head, then nodded, and then said slowly: "That young man is really good, I thought that I gave him so many books, and it would take more than ten days to send them." ”

"I don't want people to not only copy books quickly, but even read the articles in them thoroughly. Such characters should have passed the liberation test a long time ago and were sent to the provincial test. But for some reason, he is still trapped in this Chengji County, and he still has to make a living by copying books. ”

The young man smiled: "Or jump in the abyss, no blame." But he picked up a page again in his hand and looked at it with great affection.

Uncle Quan, who was sitting in the chair, looked at the young man as if he couldn't sleep all night, so he had to change the subject, trying to call him back from the thick pile of paper.

"Today, I promise on behalf of the little master, if he lacks any books in the future, he can borrow them from the house."

It stands to reason that this is already beyond the norm, but the young man didn't care, but said very approvingly: "If you can pass Uncle Quan's test, even if you are in trouble for a while, you will have to get ahead in the future." ”

Finally, in Uncle Quan's burning eyes, he put the page back into the distance, and continued with great anticipation: "If he soars into the sky one day, I am also looking forward to how far he can go." ”

The heroism of the young man made the oil lamp light up, but when Uncle Quan spoke again, his face instantly turned bitter melon color: "Don't talk about that young man, there has been news in Beijing in the past few days, and the old friends of the old master have recommended the little young master to study in the shade of the torture room......"

"Uncle Quan, how many days will you let me live in peace?"

In Uncle Quan's helpless eyes, the young man said impatiently: "Now that the decree has not been issued, and the court and the central government are also old friends of my father, if I go, will I lose my identity in vain, and let the people in Shilin think that I am a tiger father and a dog." ”

Hearing that the young man was still so disgusted, the old man could only sigh, shake his head and stop talking. In the study, there was a sudden silence.

The reed chicken in the inn opened his throat very punctually at the beginning of the morning, waking up all the sleeping people. Shen Yun wasn't going to get up so early, after all, it would take more than half an hour for the city gate to open.

It's just that when I came out of Shen Xi's house last night, I didn't even touch my teeth with cold water, and I couldn't stand it when I was really hungry.

Touching the hundreds of dollars in his arms, Shen Yun smiled bitterly, put on his clothes and walked out of the door.

In the end, it was autumn, and even if the frost had not yet arrived, there was still a shallow layer of dew on the wild grass on the steps outside the door. The residual body temperature on his clothes was only dissipated in an instant, and Shen Yun had to tighten his clothes and barely keep warm.

The shopkeeper seems to have been up for a long time.

He was sorting out things in front of the counter, and he still had a smile on his face when he saw Shen Yun walk in.

"Hey, Childe, you're up early enough."

Shen Yun shook his head and just asked, "Shopkeeper, there is something to eat here, and come up with some." I didn't eat yesterday afternoon, and I can't stand it now. ”

Co-authored, this one is hungry and awakened. The shopkeeper was clear, and he smiled all over his face: "Does Childe want to eat some steamed cakes or a bowl of noodles?" The steamed cakes in our store are mixed with red date noodles, and the noodles are good, and you can add two pieces of lamb for six cents.

If Childe wants to eat something else, I also have shortbread, dried meat, and salted mutton here. ”

I didn't expect that there are so many kinds of breakfast in this small shop.

It's just that Shen Yun, who has always liked light food in the morning, finally asked for a bowl of white water noodles for only two pennies in the disappointed eyes of the shopkeeper, and asked the shopkeeper to put on a small plate of fresh radish strips for nothing.

After eating something, my body is much warmer.

Seeing that the sky was bright, the time came in a blink of an eye, and after paying the ten study money, he left the inn.

The cloth ordered by Shen's mother was easily bought along the street, thinking that his brother-in-law's family had a large population, Shen Yun couldn't get the clothes of the two of them as before. The baggage was stuffed full, and then he slowly went out of the city.

The morning at Saddle Fort is lively.

Most of the time, Shen Yun walked to the head of the village, and was greeted by a shepherd driving a flock of sheep to the mountains. In the end, he is from the same village, Shen Yun is also a scholar, and the old shepherd greeted with a smile on his face:

"Hey, what are you doing here, why did you come back early this morning?"

Xiucai is a title that can only be given to people who should be lifted, but the villagers have always respected scholars, and in order to make a fortune, they think that it is a folk Xiucai, but it is not genuine.

Shen Yun smiled: "I went to the city." ”

The old shepherd didn't know the Shen family's affairs, but when Shen Yun came back from a night at Shen Xi's house in the city, he said enviously: "It's still your Shen family, brothers are harmonious, the fifth and sixth are all officials, and the third son also went to other places to be officials." ”

It's just how Shen Yun can be moved by this praise.

knows his own affairs, and the official is not his own family after all, not to mention that the six branches have long been separated. Now I don't even have a little bit of care, and I don't know what people say, what is good?

The old shepherd drove the sheep to him, but Shen Yun could only sigh and continue to walk towards the village.

Stepping into the courtyard surrounded by low walls, I saw Shen's mother and Yinhua'er busy cleaning up the house.

On the rammed ground, the silver bottle took a water scoop and sprinkled it with water, and Shen's mother swept the ground that had penetrated with the broom made of wild grass. Rao was so, and the house was still full of dust.

Seeing Shen Yun coming in, the silver bottle put down the water scoop in his hand and jumped up to greet him.

"Uncle, I thought you would be back last night, but I waited for half the night."

Holding the burden handed over by Shen Yun in her arms, the little girl exclaimed in a low voice: "Uncle, why did you buy so much cloth?" ”

Touching the little head of the silver bottle, Shen Yun nodded: "After all, there are many people in your family, so I bought more." After a few days, I will send you back, and I will take it with you, and when my sister is idle in the autumn, she will make a new set of clothes for each of you. ”

The silver bottle blinked with joy and carried the burden into the house with a cigarette.

Mother Shen also finished cleaning the house at this time, walked out with a broom, and the three of them sat together on the stone pier outside the door.

Shen Yun knew what he needed to explain.

"I went to a friend's house last night and talked about some articles. Auntie, this is the money for copying books, you can take it. ”

Shen Yun did not inform Shen's mother about staying in the inn last night, although it only cost ten yuan, but for Shen's mother, these money cannot be wasted. It's better to deduct it from the money for copying books, and save the family nagging.

Looking at the small cloth bag handed over by Shen Yun, Shen's mother was very pleased.

It's just unexpected, and he pushed Shen Yun's hand back: "You should take the money." My mother has the ones you gave before, and the family's expenses are enough for the past two years. If you want to study, you have to spend money. ”