"Smack! Ouch! Ah! ”

There was a muffled thud, followed by two screams.

The two candidates who were immersed in hard thinking completed the process of making friends for the first time on Luoyang Street, but the process was not so elegant. The two people who held their foreheads and called out made the people next to them laugh.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Brother Tai is fine! Ouyang Xiu hurriedly blushed and apologized to the other party.

The other half of the collision is Cai Xiang from Xinghua Mansion by the sea in the south, and the two future bulls from the south and the north do not collide and do not know each other in this embarrassing scene.

Cai Xiang is only twenty years old this year, much younger than Ouyang Xiu, and he rushed to apologize when he found out that he had hit someone: "I'm fine!" It's all about not paying attention to the road, I'm really embarrassed! ”

"It's okay!" Ouyang Xiu helped Cai Xiang, and when he saw that he was also wearing a small vest, he asked, "Brother Tai is also a candidate for this year?" ”

Cai Xiang also glanced at him and said happily: "It seems that you are also ha!" The two of us can get acquainted in this way among so many candidates, and it is also fate! I don't know my brother's surname? ”

Ouyang Xiu arched his hand and said: "The surname Ouyang is under the compound, the single name is a Xiu, the word Uncle Yong, a person from Mianzhou." What is the name of Brother Tai? ”

"The contemptible surname is Cai, the name is Xiang, the word Jun Mo, Xinghua people, please Brother Ouyang for more advice!" Cai Xiang also said politely.

Ouyang Xiu, a native of Sichuan, is still very arrogant, coupled with the habit of literati who like to chant poems at this time, he patted Cai Xiang's shoulder and said: "We can meet together from so far away, and it is fate to meet!" Judging by your age, you should be slightly younger than below! Then how about a big support and invite Brother Jun Mo to drink? ”

Cai Xiang: "Brother Ouyang's proposal is very good!" But this wine should be invited by the younger brother! ”

……

Perhaps it was because the Sichuan dialect and the Hokkien dialect were not so different at this time, and the regional differences did not cause much difficulty in their communication. The two of them gave in for a while, and in the end, it was Ouyang Xiu who took the initiative by virtue of his natural advantage of being a few years older.

The two were about to hook their shoulders and go to the restaurant, when Cai Xiang suddenly came to his senses: "Brother Ouyang, have we forgotten something?" ”

"Hey, hey!" Ouyang Xiu was stunned for a moment, and said with an embarrassed smile: "Look at my brain, I forgot that the money was taken away by the examiner when I was excited, next time, when the imperial examination is over, brother, I will definitely invite you to have a drink!" ”

Cai Xiang: "Okay! Little brother, I will definitely wait. Now, let's think about going to the capital first! ”

"Right!" Ouyang Xiu nodded and replied, "I don't know what the Holy Lord thinks today, he still came here before the exam." By the way, the examiner didn't say that you can't travel together, right? ”

Cai Xiang recalled for a moment and shook his head: "No! It's just that we don't accept gifts! Brother Ouyang is going to go with you? ”

Ouyang Xiu: "Brother Fool feels that you are chatting with your brother very speculatively, if you can go together, it would be great, at least we can chant poetry along the way, and we won't be lonely!" I don't know what my brother thinks? ”

Cai Xiang: "Wonderful! ”

……

More than 2,000 candidates, except for a small number of students who violated the rules and some students who chose to give up, and most of them were distributed in all corners of Luoyang, either alone or in groups, all working hard to open up the current situation.

Ouyang Xiu and Cai Xiang were also walking on the street, watching, and pondering solutions. Nuoda is a Luoyang City, and it is not difficult to dilute this person, but they still can't put down their own readers.

Cai Xiang: "Brother Ouyang, it seems a little inappropriate for us to walk around aimlessly like this!" I wonder what you think? ”

"Alas!" Ouyang Xiu stopped and sighed: "Brother is right, we really can't solve the problem if we go around like this." At present, there are only several ways to get to the capital, one is to take a car, the second is to take a boat, and the third is to walk. Although these three methods can reach the capital within 20 days, the first two methods, we don't have a lot of money for each person, and the money is not enough for the car or boat. This is not worth mentioning in normal times, but now we are penniless! ”

Cai Xiang: "Then according to Brother Ouyang's meaning, we can only walk?" Even so, it would take us six or seven days to walk, and we would also need money for food and shelter! ”

Ouyang Xiu: "That's right! Food and housing cost money, but compared with the first two methods, it is a lot of savings. Now that the weather is hot, we are all young people, and sleeping in the open for a few days is not a problem, and it is easy to say that the main problem is to solve the problem of eating. I calculated, there is a kind of bamboo tube instant noodles in the Siqi supermarket in the city, which is easy to carry and easy to eat, and one is only ten yuan, and one of us will add up to 40 yuan a day, and it will be 280 yuan in seven days. As long as we can earn so much money, we can go to the capital. ”

Cai Xiang: "Brother Ouyang, your plan is good. I also happened to have an idea, you just mentioned taking a boat, I was thinking, can we row to the capital by ourselves? In this way, it doesn't take you four days to arrive, and you can save a lot of money! ”

Ouyang Xiu: "Where are we going to ship?" Besides, we can't sail the boat! ”

"Hey, hey!" Cai Xiang smiled proudly: "Brother Ouyang forgot who the little brother is!" I grew up by the sea, and rowing was a small thing for me. Even if there is no boat now, it is not a big problem for us to make a bamboo raft to drive to the capital! ”

Ouyang Xiu: "That feeling is good!" In this way, we can now set off as long as we can earn a few dozen dollars! ”

Cai Xiang: "That's right! ”

So, the two began to go in and out of the various shops on the street, asking one by one where they could hire temporary workers.

At the beginning, the two of them were still a little embarrassed, and they wanted to find some elegant work to do, but it was really not easy for a while. As time passed, and the screams in the stomachs of the two of them, they had to look for some "lowly" jobs in their eyes, and in order to be able to participate in the imperial examination, the two of them also gave up.

In the end, the two found a job loading in the Luoyang Branch of the Bafang Dart Bureau, which was charged by weight, and those skilled workers could earn thirty or forty yuan a day. But the two novices only look like twenty wen a day, but they are full, which is much better than brushing dishes in those restaurants.

Three days later, when the two of them took one hundred and fifty yuan, dragged their tired bodies, and left the Bafang Dart Bureau, they no longer dared to underestimate the coolies who sold them. No matter how many books you read, this thing is useless if you don't have the strength and experience, if it weren't for the kind kind workers who taught him two handling skills, it is estimated that the two of them would not have been able to hold on for three days.

On the fourth day, Ouyang Xiu and Cai Xiang came to the river to find a place with no people on their backs, carrying dry food and ropes, and began to create their means of transportation.

After a long time, the two always sweated profusely to get the bamboo raft to the river, and officially started their fantasy rafting journey.

After Cai Xiang propped the bamboo raft to the middle of the river, he put down the pole, sat opposite Ouyang Xiu, and took out a bottle of wine and a few snacks from his backpack.

"Brother Ouyang, come, let's have a whole drink! I've been so tired these days, let's celebrate now! After Cai Xiang poured a glass of wine for each of them, he said with a wine glass.

Ouyang Xiu touched a glass with him before asking, "Brother Cai, when did you buy the wine!"

Cai Xiang: "Isn't it true that my little brother has a little money left after buying things!" I'm thinking about improving my life! ”

Ouyang Xiu: "It's still my brother's heart, I just thought about catching up with the exam, but I didn't think about it." However, we're just drifting around now, and there's nothing to do, so it's kind of boring to think about! You said that those examiners are true, even if they leave two books for us to pass the time! ”

"Huh!" Cai Xiang said with a smile: "Brother Ouyang, I have thought of this a long time ago, I have stayed on the sea before, and it is even more boring than this, and now at least I can look at the mountains and rivers or something, and I want to stay on the sea in addition to looking at the water or looking at the water." Therefore, I also bought two fishing rods, are you interested in fishing together? ”

"Hahaha! It's still a thoughtful brother! How about we give it a try? Ouyang Xiu took the fishing rod without saying a word.

Cai Xiang: "I'm happy to accompany you!" ”

……

The two of them sat on the bamboo raft while fishing, while chanting poems against each other, from time to time they were pulling the bamboo raft, and when they were hungry, they would go to the shore to boil water and make noodles, and by the way, they could also take the fish they caught to eat, which was regarded as a meal.

The city of Luoyang was not close to the Yellow River, and the two of them had to float out along a tributary before entering the Yellow River on a bamboo raft, which took almost half the time of the entire trip. In addition, at this time, it is generally not possible to sail at night, not to mention that the two of them are still bamboo rafts.

Therefore, it was not until the evening of the second day of their departure that the two stopped at the mouth of the Yellow River to spend the night here. At this time, it was less than half of the time stipulated by Zhao Zhen, and the two of them were not in a hurry, taking advantage of the fact that the sky was not completely dark, they found some wild vegetables and fish to cook a pot of fresh fish soup together, and ate a beautiful meal before falling asleep.

The next morning, Cai Xiang felt something crawling on his face, and then he woke up, and when he saw again, there were still many of the same insects moving on the beach around him.

Cai Xiang hurriedly woke up Ouyang Xiu: "Brother Ouyang, take a look, why are so many insects popping up?" ”

Ouyang Xiu opened his eyes in a daze, grabbed a worm and looked at it at random, his heart suddenly chuckled, and he ran away from sleepiness, and exclaimed: "Oops!" ”

Cai Xiang hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" What's wrong with this bug? ”

Ouyang Xiu looked at him like he was looking at an alien (if he also knew that there were aliens): "You don't even know locusts, do you?" ”

"This is the locust!" Cai Xiang pointed to the insect on Ouyang Xiu's hand and said in surprise: "I really haven't seen this insect on the beach, but I have seen a lot of articles about locusts in books, all of which say that this locust is very powerful, but I didn't expect it to look like this." Anyway, doesn't the book say that locusts can fly? Why don't you fly without this? ”

Ouyang Xiu: "Don't you know, this locust can't fly until it grows up, and its wings didn't grow well when it first hatched, so it can only crawl on the ground." This is the best time for us to kill the locusts, but it's a short time that is generally difficult for us to catch. Moreover, before the locusts hatched, they were all under the soil, and if we hadn't just burned a fire here and forced them out of the soil, it would have been difficult to find them. I didn't expect this locust to hide in such a place, no wonder every locust plague occurs along the Yellow River! ”

Cai Xiang hurriedly said: "Could it be that there will be another locust plague?" ”

Ouyang Xiu also frowned tightly and said heavily: "As far as I know, the Central Plains has had a locust plague every few years since the beginning of the ages. However, since the accession to the throne of the Holy Majesty, it seems that he has not heard of a very serious locust plague, and if there is a locust plague this year, it will definitely be very serious. In this way, there will definitely be a great famine at that time, and it seems that the common people will be offended again, alas! I don't know how many people will die this time, create evil! (To be continued.) )