When Zhang Yue and Xiaotong brought the food box to Xinjianzhai, Mr. Huanchu had been waiting for a long time. Yuan Mo sat next to the teacher, looking like a humble gentleman.

Mr. Huanchu is nearly eighty years old, his beard is all white, his appearance has not changed much from the year when Zhang Yue first saw him, but his face is getting better and better, when he saw Zhang Yue come in with delicious food, his beard fluttered with a smile, and he said repeatedly: "It's so fragrant!" Little five, quickly, quickly bring it out for the teacher to taste. ”

"Yes, master." Zhang Yue put a few dishes on the table, and Mr. Chu moved his index finger, picked up the chopsticks, and a gust of wind swept the clouds. Zhang Yue persuaded the teacher to eat slowly, holding chopsticks in his hand to help the teacher distribute vegetables, but he thought in his heart, how could such a famous literary master not have any image of a grandmaster when he saw delicious food.

Yuan Mo on the side ate very elegantly, chewing slowly one bite at a time, and glanced at Zhang Yue from time to time.

After a while, Mr. Chu was full, wiped his mouth, and sat there burping. Zhang Yue asked Xiaotong and the teacher's entourage to clean up the table, then made tea for everyone, and accompanied the master to chat and eat. Zhang Yue remembered Li Dongyang's entrustment, and said tentatively,

"Master, the fourth senior brother has a letter today..."

Mr. Huanchu half-squinted his eyes and replied slowly, "Well, I see." ”

"Oh, that, master, my brother's letter says that he has a friend who admires your name, especially your calligraphy, and is going to come to the academy to see your old man in the next few days! Senior brother's friend must also be a well-educated person. ”

Mr. Huanchu's eyes suddenly opened, and after glancing at Zhang Yue, his gaze became profound,

"In the past few years since Dongyang entered the WTO, his temperament has changed a lot."

Zhang Yue immediately said proudly, "Well, it's not, the third senior brother is becoming more and more powerful now." I heard that even the current emperor praises Senior Brother Dongyang as a talented man in the world! And recently he was promoted again, and it seems that he was sent to teach the prince to read..."

Zhang Yue praised Senior Brother Dongyang endlessly, Yuan Mo was silent beside him, drinking tea with the master with low eyebrows, Zhang Yue said on his lips, and secretly slandered Yuan Mo in his heart for being very good in front of the teacher.

After Zhang Yue praised Li Dongyang, seeing that the master didn't react, he still squinted his eyes, thinking that the third senior brother was useless in asking for words for his friend. Feeling thirsty, he picked up the teacup on the table and poured a large sip of tea.

At this time, Mr. Huanchu spoke unhurriedly, "Since you are going to have guests, you must also be hospitable, and there is a shortage of food in the mountains, so I am afraid that you will neglect the guests." ”

Zhang Yue thought to himself, just the ingredients in our big kitchen and the cooking skills of the chefs can open a big restaurant, and there is still a shortage of food......

"Xiao Wu, you go down the mountain tomorrow to buy some ingredients, like the three-brewed sauce duck and stewed crispy fish in Duofulou in this city, and the secret pork knuckle of Duoxinyuan... Let the teacher taste a thing or two to see which dishes are more appropriate to entertain guests. ”

Zhang Yue was stunned, the purchase of daily necessities in the academy has always been the responsibility of He Zhengfeng, the eldest apprentice of the senior brother Lu Danjing, how could she go? Listen to it again, huh? Master, how come the dishes you taste are the city delicacies that you always mention to us in the mountains...

Yuan Mo gave Zhang Yue a look beside him, and Zhang Yue hurriedly laughed with him knowingly, and said softly,

"Teacher, don't worry, the apprentice will definitely bring back the three-stuffed sauce duck, stewed crispy fish, and the secret pork knuckle of Duoxinyuan tomorrow."

"Okay, it's not early, you all go back and rest."

Zhang Yue and Yuan Mo got up and said goodbye to their master. The two of them left Xinjianzhai and walked along the path in the academy towards the residence, followed by Xiaotong not far behind. Today's Yuan Mo was surprisingly quiet and walked sullenly, and Zhang Yue was thinking about how to help Senior Brother Dongyang's friend ask for words, but he didn't speak.

After walking for a while, Yuan Mo suddenly asked, "Third Senior Brother's friend is coming to the academy, he asked you to help in the letter, right?" ”

Zhang Yue was stunned for a moment, "How do you know?" ”

"What did Senior Brother say in the letter?" Yuan Mo's tone was uncharacteristically serious.

Zhang Yue looked at him quite seriously, so he replied lazily, "Senior Brother Dongyang asked me to find a way to help that person get the master's inscription." ”

A look of understanding flashed in Yuan Mo's eyes, "I'm afraid it's not as simple as an inscription...... I heard that the third senior brother has been an official in the court in recent years, and he has not done very well, and recently became a lecturer in the East Palace, I am afraid that he will take a shortcut and get involved in the battle for imperial power. ”

"Fight for what?! I don't know, he rarely tells me about his affairs in the imperial court in his letters, you know, I am not interested in those things, I correspond with my senior brother to talk about some interesting things about the academy and the capital. ”

Yuan Mo looked at her, looked up at the sky again, sighed, and muttered, "I hope that the clean paradise of the academy will not be defiled." ”

"Huh? What did you say? Zhang Yue didn't understand.

"Nothing?"

"Humph! Keep saying weird things! Zhang Yue glanced at Yuan Mo, and thought to himself, this guy is often called a once-in-a-century talent by the master, with excellent literary talent, high martial arts, and the art of war. But he was nested in the academy, at most, there was something temporary for a teacher in the front yard, and he just substituted for his disciples. I don't know what to do with learning so many skills? Thinking of this, he blurted out: "Yuan Mo, haven't you thought about entering the WTO like the third senior brother?" Do you also make a career that honors your ancestors? ”

"WTO accession??" Yuan Mo turned his head to look at Zhang Yue suddenly, his eyes flashed slightly, as if he was thinking about something? The handsome face was reflected in the moonlight, and Zhang Yue scolded in his heart, God actually gave this shameless Yuan Mo such a good look, and he didn't know how many simple girls he would deceive in the future.

"Yue'er, do you want me to join the WTO and make a big career?" Yuan Mo's voice suddenly became surprisingly gentle, these years, because women dressed as men, in the academy, the master and senior brother all called Xiao Wu Xiao Wu, and the other disciples also respectfully shouted Fifth Senior Uncle or Little Senior Uncle. Yuan Mo, suddenly called out Yue'er today, Zhang Yue almost didn't stumble over herself, and actually stammered,

"Off... What's the matter with me? Hmph, even if you join the WTO, you'll... It's definitely not as powerful as the third senior brother. ”

Yuan Mo's face instantly turned purple when he heard this, and he pointed at her, "You-"

After holding it for a long time, he suddenly laughed, laughed for a long time, and Zhang Yue was inexplicably laughing.

Yuan Mo finally stopped laughing and turned his head, his eyes were shining with gold, like stars in the night, and said slowly, "I didn't pay attention to those who can't enter the world, my career is as boring and boring as a floating cloud for me, and my ancestors don't need me to shine." Besides, you're still here! ”

"Me?!" Zhang Yue looked at Yuan Mo in a daze.

"Yes, that's you! It is the greatest joy of my life to be angry with you every day in the college, and I have left the college, who will be angry with you? With that, he ran away.

"You're ——, angry with me, Yuan Mo, don't run!" Zhang Yue reacted and was tricked again, and hurriedly chased after him.

After many years, when Zhang Yue recalled the conversation that night, he realized how precious this clean paradise Yuan Mo said, and why he wanted to protect this paradise.

The next morning, before midnight, Zhang Yue got up and cleaned up, tied his hair and covered it with a net, changed into a navy blue folded clothes, dressed neatly and went down the mountain, and arrived at Zunhua County under the mountain before noon, Zhang Yue thought that he had not seen his uncle and aunt for almost a month, so he first went to his uncle Jin Cheng's house in the south of the city, and when he arrived at his uncle's house, Zhang Yue pushed open the door and entered the yard, and found that only his aunt Lu Qiaoniang was alone in the yard with tools in her hand and was concentrating on tapping on an object, and did not find anyone in the courtyard.

"Auntie, I'm back!" Zhang Yue shouted happily.

My aunt turned her head, and when she saw that it was Zhang Yue, she immediately smiled, "Yo, Yue'er is back?" ”，

"Well, the master asked me to go down the mountain to do errands, and by the way, take a look at my uncle and aunt, uncle, where is my uncle?"

"Your uncle went to the county office, there was a big case in the county recently, your uncle has been busy for several days, and he went to the county office again early this morning. Yue'er, you come into the house quickly, and your aunt will finish the work in hand first. ”

Zhang Yue looked at the object about three feet in diameter in front of Lu Qiaoniang, and asked in surprise. "What kind of magic weapon are you making? Need Yue'er's help? ”

"Hehe, this is a good thing, my aunt has been thinking about it for several years, keep it secret first, and when it's done, I'll tell you, are you hungry? Will your aunt and uncle cook for you? ”

Zhang Yue saw that her aunt was sweating profusely and had to cook for her, so she hurriedly stopped her and said, "Auntie doesn't need to, I will accompany you for a while and I will have to go to the master to do errands, and I won't eat at home at noon." ”

Lu Qiaoniang saw that Zhang Yue insisted on not eating at home, and did not force her to stay, so when she left, she stuffed a few taels of silver and asked her to go to the restaurant for a good meal at noon. Zhang Yue couldn't refuse, so he had to take the silver.

Zhang Yue said goodbye to her aunt and walked on the street, and the sounds of various vendors kept coming. Zhang Yue was thinking about the silver that her aunt stuffed into her while walking, and she didn't feel funny. I heard the older teacher in the academy say that his master Mr. Huanchu once saved the first emperor, and the first emperor gave the master a lot of land within a radius of hundreds of miles from Wuling Mountain, and gave a lot of gold and silver, and the master distributed the land to the people nearby, and the gold and silver originally wanted to give it to the people. In the past few decades, in addition to managing the affairs of the college, Senior Brother Lu is also a good hand at business and financial management, and I don't know how many times the gold and silver have increased back then. So the point is that the master is very rich! Very rich!

On weekdays in the academy, although Zhang Yue is young, his seniority is high, and the academy alone gives Zhang Yue twenty taels of silver every month, not counting the red envelopes that the master gives to him during the New Year's holidays. Zhang Yue usually has nowhere to spend this silver, and part of it was given to Xingji's parents by her aunt in the name of her uncle, because her parents didn't know about her studying in Xuanwei Academy, so they had to give the silver in the name of her uncle. Part of it was given to my aunt to subsidize the family, and only a small part was kept for pocket money.

My aunt often sighed and said that Zhang Yue's life was good, others spent money to study, but she studied but earned silver. Zhang Yue always replied with a smile every time she heard this: "Yes, yes, my life is excellent, my mother once told me that when she was pregnant with me, she dreamed that the moon went into her belly, so my father named me Yue'er." Every time my aunt was amused by Zhang Yue, she couldn't get angry.

After a while, Zhang Yue walked to the most famous Duofu Building in the city, where the three-brewed sauce duck and stewed crispy fish are Mr. Huanchu's favorite food, just about to enter the building, suddenly a loud voice came from behind him,

"Is it Young Master Zhang?"

As soon as Zhang Yue turned his head, he was a fifty-year-old man, wearing a gray cloth shirt, a pipe pinned to his waist, and a flat shoulder on his shoulder, looking at Zhang Yue with a smile.

"Daddy Zhao, why are you?" It turned out to be Zhao's father, a villager of Zhaojia Village at the foot of Wuling Mountain, after Mr. Huanchu distributed the land to the nearby people, the people were grateful for Mr. 's kindness, and often sent some food and fresh fruits and vegetables to the academy, and Mr. also instructed his disciples to regularly send some money and goods to the lonely and widowed old people in several villages to live. For decades, the relationship between the academy and the villagers of Yamashita has been very harmonious. Zhang Yue often goes to the village below the mountain to play and is very familiar with the villagers.

"The old man went to the county town to buy some things, my daughter-in-law is going to give birth to a baby in the next few days, my son takes care of my daughter-in-law, I can't get out, Master Zhang, the two wooden cows you built for the village last year can be used, this is just spring, and every family depends on it for farming, but recently the two cows have broken down, and they don't walk the aisle. The old man wanted to go to the academy to find you, but he happened to meet the young master today, can you repair it if you are free? Now the farming is busy, everyone is busy farming, and time is tight! ”

It turned out that Zhang Yue saw that when the village was busy in the spring, there were not enough people to farm the land, and the efficiency was low, so he had a whim, and after consulting his aunt many times, he made two wooden cows to send to the village. ”

After thanking Daddy Zhao repeatedly, he left in a hurry.

Zhang Yue turned around and entered the Duofu Building, under the guidance of the shopkeeper, went up to the second floor, there were a few guests sitting on the second floor, she found a seat by the window and sat down, and the shopkeeper came over with a smile.