A strong wind blew, and the calligraphy and paintings on the stall flew up. Zheng Xiucai could hold down one side but not the other. He had no time to pick up the calligraphy and paintings that were blown away by the wind, and they were blown away by the wind. At

this moment, the sky suddenly became dark, and it was about to rain. The pedestrians on the street were in a hurry, and no one would stop.

The hawkers nearby packed up their things in a hurry and ran away with their baskets. The poor scholar didn't even have time to pack up the things on the stall. The raindrops as big as beans fell down. The sky didn't give people time to catch their breath, and then it rained heavily.

The people on the street ran away in an instant, and the scholar with the basket on his back ran at the end.

They say that scholars are useless, and it is true!

The young man in the inn watched the heavy rain outside. He took his child inside the house, watching the heavy rain outside the window, anxiously waiting for his husband who was doing business outside to come back. He wondered how people would feel outside in such heavy rain.

"Knock knock--" "Open the door, it's me."

Hearing the sound outside the door, Liang Yan hurried over and opened the door. Seeing her husband coming back, his clothes were all wet. He felt sorry for him and quickly let her husband in, saying, "It's raining so hard, why don't you find a place to stay and come back after the rain stops?"

"It's okay, I have an umbrella." In fact, it was a broken umbrella that could not withstand the wind and rain. Zheng Xiucai used the umbrella in his hand to cover the paintings and calligraphy in the basket, and he himself was soaked. He hurried back because he was afraid that the man in the inn would get impatient and worried about him.

The child sitting on the bed saw his father coming back and called out incoherently, "Daddy--Daddy--" "Hey, little Tongbao, Daddy is back. Have you been listening to your mother here?" Zheng Shubo saw the child calling him and went over to tease the child. Liang Yan took out one of her husband's clothes and a piece of cloth in her hand, handed it to her husband, and said, "Hurry up and wipe the water off your head and change your clothes."

What if he caught a cold in this weather? They didn't have much money in their pockets now.

Zheng Shubo took the towel and wiped his hair. Then he took off his clothes in the room, changed into clean clothes, and handed the ten copper coins in his pocket to Liang Yan. "This is the money from selling calligraphy and paintings today." He said.

Liang Yan took it in her hand, her eyes reddened, and she said "hmm".

It was raining heavily outside, and dark clouds were pressing down. The building suddenly became dark. There were still many customers drinking tea in the building. Manager Fang quickly asked the waiter to light up the lanterns around.

There was a crack of thunder, and the dark clouds in the sky were split in half, scaring the child and making him cry. The servants over there quickly took the child back to the lady, and soon the crying stopped.

"Nan boy, the weather is bad, why don't you go back in two days?" Seeing that the weather was bad, Fang, the shopkeeper, said to Cao Xiangnan.

"Well, I'll see later. If the rain doesn't stop until the evening, we'll have to postpone our return for two days." Cao Xiangnan also saw that the weather was bad. Man proposes, God disposes. In this era, it is very unsafe to travel on rainy days, and they are still traveling by water, which is even more unsafe on rainy days.

Even if he hurried back, he had to consider the safety issue.

I wonder if it is raining in Nanyang, but is it raining at home too? Looking outside that day, Cao Xiangnan thought of Qi Wanfeng who was far away in Caojia Village. Seeing the clouds in the sky suddenly darken, and the strong wind rustled everything, he called the children outside to come in, "You stay inside and don't come out, we will collect the things outside." Sun Bailian quickly asked a group of children to carry their own things back to the house, and he ran to his own house, shouting, "I will go home to collect clothes."

There were still a lot of things drying in the yard, and several men were packing things neatly.

Cao Gang heard the sound, looked over there, gave an order, and ran back to the house opposite after chasing his wife.

The heavy rain was pouring down like someone was standing in the sky pouring water down. This autumn rain was very heavy.

The guests who were drinking tea in the restaurant were trapped and couldn't get out. Fortunately, they were not in a hurry to go back. They were scared by the weather at first, but they got used to it after a while. They were slowly brewing tea and eating snacks with a few friends.

"The more you eat, the better the taste of this drunken crab." Gourmets now love to eat at Yipinzhai. They didn't eat these small river crabs before, but after eating them once in Yipinzhai, they fell in love with these little things. At

the beginning, the drunken crabs were opened as soon as they were put into the pot, and the flavor hadn't entered yet. Later, the more they were stored, the more flavorful they were, and the more delicious they tasted. Gourmets discovered this as soon as they tasted it.

"That's right. The more you chew this little thing, the more delicious it tastes. My family also likes to eat this little thing. When I go back later, I will ask Lao Fang for two pots to take away." The old customers here are not polite to the shopkeeper Fang. They know that the little river crabs are pickled in small pots. They can be steamed or boiled as soon as they are put into the pot . It is very convenient and can be taken home directly.

"Lao Fang's spicy dishes are not bad. The weather is getting cold. There is not much food to eat at home in winter. I have to say hello to Lao Fang in advance and bring some back home when the time comes." "

Oh, yes, yes, Lao Zhou, you reminded me."

The old men who ate delicious food in Yipinzhai would also take it back home for their family members to eat.

The rain lasted all morning, and it was not until noon that the rain outside was a little lighter. Those who were having dinner inside saw that it was still raining outside, and those who were not in a hurry to leave ordered three or five small dishes and a pot of good wine, and continued to chat with old friends here.

Business on rainy days is half of that on normal days. Fang, the shopkeeper, sighed when he saw this day, and he was worried to death.

Cao Xiangnan couldn't help but laugh. It was going to rain on this day, what else could people do?

Originally, he planned to go to Fenshui to buy things today, but was blocked by this weather. He didn't know if it would be sunny today or tomorrow. It was really hard to say in this kind of weather. He thought he really had to postpone his return for two days, so the originally scheduled return date was postponed again. He informed everyone about this.

"That's good. You can leave tomorrow when the weather clears up. There's no need to rush for one or two days." Sun Ji said after hearing this.

"Yes, I understand. I want to ask you, do you plan to stay in Nanyang or go back home first?" Cao Xiangnan asked Sun Ji about returning to Fenshui. After autumn, it will be winter. After the snow, the road will be difficult to travel. I'm afraid I will have to wait until next year to go back.

"You have the advantage of staying in Nanyang, and you will also have something to go back to Caojia Village. After the academy is built, I plan to organize people in the village to learn to read and write in the winter. Sun Jing, Sun Bing and others, Sun Bing knows a few words, and they can learn to read first when they go back."

"But if you continue to stay here, there are also advantages to staying here. You can find a teacher to learn how to read and write here. But if you stay here, I'm afraid you won't be able to go home during the New Year, and I'm afraid your family will miss you."

Because when winter comes and it snows outside, the crops in the fields cannot survive and work cannot be carried out. Most people stay at home to sleep for the winter, sleep when they are full and eat when they are full. Cao Xiangnan plans to organize his people to go to the academy to learn to read and write. The long winter will take at least several months. If they learn three characters a day, they will learn hundreds of characters in three months, which is better than wasting them.

He has quite a few people working under him now, but there are relatively few who can read. Most of them are illiterate. He can't even find someone to do accounting for him. Cao Xiangnan plans to use the winter time to recharge and learn for his people.

"So you see what will happen. You can discuss it with Sun Bing and the others first, and then tell me when you have made up your mind." Cao Xiangnan told Sun Ji his idea, and he made the final decision.

He also has plans for next year, and he mentioned them roughly to Sun Ji, who also knew about them.

"Okay, I'll talk to them later and ask what they think." Sun Ji nodded and said.

The rain stopped in the evening, and Cao Xiangnan remembered that he had originally planned to go to Zheng Shubo today to ask him if he was willing to go to Fenshui to be a teacher. It was getting late now, so he thought he would go there tomorrow.

"Get lost... Why are you staying in an inn if you don't have money? Do you think this is a charity? Get lost. If you don't have money, go outside." A backpack was thrown out of the inn, and a pile of calligraphy and paintings fell to the ground.

"Shopkeeper, can you give me a few days? I will have money if I sell these calligraphy and paintings." Zheng Xiucai was protecting his wife and children in his arms. Seeing the pointing of others, he looked embarrassed. The calligraphy and paintings fell to the ground. These were his lifeblood. He hurried over to pick them up.

They had originally paid for three days' rent, and they had to pay for daily food in the inn separately. On this day, they couldn't even pay the rent, so they were driven out of the inn.

"Bah, how much are those junks of yours worth!" He was not trying to make a profit. If he had money, he would give him a house to live in. If he didn't have money? Sorry, get out!

"You..." Zheng Xiucai was so angry that his face turned red, but he could do nothing.

"Wow wow wow... Daddy, Daddy..." The child in his arms was frightened and cried loudly. Liang Yan, a brother, held the child in his arms, her eyes red, and coaxed the child. Seeing her husband squatting there picking up things, she hurriedly held the child over to help pick up things.

The people outside pointed and talked, saying that the innkeeper was unkind, and that it was a pity that this scholar, his wife and children had no place to live, but no one helped.

"Brother Zheng." Cao Xiangnan didn't see Zheng Shubo setting up his stall outside. He remembered that he said he lived in Yunlai Inn, so he went to look for him. Unexpectedly, he saw him being driven out with his wife and children.

"Brother Cao." Zheng Shubo picked up all the things and put them in the backpack. Some calligraphy and paintings were soaked by the rain yesterday and were all messed up today. He was reluctant to throw them away. When he saw the visitor, he felt even more embarrassed when he thought about his friend seeing his miserable appearance.

Seeing the arrogant shopkeeper standing at the door, Cao Xiangnan glanced over. He couldn't go to argue with such a person. He looked at Zheng Shubo and said, "Brother Zheng, I just have something to talk to you about. This is not the place to talk. Let's leave here first."

"Okay." Zheng Shubo glanced at his wife and children beside him and nodded.

The group left the broken inn, and the people standing there watching the show also dispersed.