After the rooms were assigned, it was time to buy daily necessities.
Pots and pans, blankets and quilts, and the food to be eaten.
Since it's a home, it should look like a home.
Time seems to have flown back to two years ago, when they were renting a house in Xiyang County. Back then, they had all their belongings with them, and all they needed was a place to stay to live a stable life.
Now, even a needle has to be bought again.
Fortunately, Aunt Zhang was there.
A woman's thoughtfulness is something a man can never understand, and Jiang Sheng could never imagine it.
Although the prices in Fengjing were shocking, Aunt Zhang managed to arrange all the bedding and kitchen supplies in just half a day, and even cooked a delicious meal.
After more than a month of traveling, although I tasted all kinds of delicious food, I was exhausted and couldn't eat well.
It wasn't until they sat at the wooden table in the second courtyard that they truly understood what it meant to live a peaceful and tranquil life.
That night, everyone slept well.
Apart from Zheng Ruqian.
The family only had 500 taels of silver. After renting a house and paying the deposit, they spent 80 taels. They also spent 50 taels on pots, pans, bedding, etc., leaving them with 370 taels.
In Shili Town and Xieyang County, 370 taels of silver is a huge sum of money, enough for a family of three to live on for half a lifetime.
But this is Fengjing, where pork costs 20 coins per catty, and rice and noodles start at 5 coins, making the cost of living more than three times higher.
With 370 taels, even making a living is difficult, let alone using it to earn more money.
For the first time, Zheng Ruqian regretted it. He shouldn't have been so impulsive as to use all his savings to buy a villa and stockpile ice.
This action may bring huge profits in the years to come, but Fengjing's predicament is right in front of us. If we don't solve the immediate problem, how can we expect a future?
Zheng Ruqian was overthinking things and his mind was heavy. He was also afraid of affecting Xu Mo's reporting to the Imperial College, so he didn't even dare to toss and turn at night.
But Xu Mo could still feel his brother's short, shallow breaths.
He opened his eyes, staring at the blurry roof beams, searching for the right words in his mind, before finally saying, "Second brother, do you think we're facing the same difficulties we did at the beginning?"
Zheng Ruqian was taken aback.
It was so difficult at the beginning. They couldn't afford to eat and could only pick up rotten vegetable leaves. Even with a broken leg, Xu Mo still copied books just to earn a few coins for the copying fee.
I still remember that my first savings came from selling mushrooms. Combined with the cost of copying books by Xu Mo, it amounted to only twenty or thirty coins.
But for them at that time, it was already a huge sum of money.
Zheng Ruqian still remembers how happy Jiang Sheng looked. She counted the twenty-odd copper coins as if she were counting gold ingots, her expression extremely satisfied.
How could I be so uneasy when I suddenly have 370 taels of silver in my hands?
Zheng Ruqian felt that he was stimulated by the prosperity of Fengjing.
When he was in Anshui County, he felt that he was at least half a boss. Although he had never eaten at Youranju, he had the courage to go in and out of Youranju.
But when they arrived in Fengjing, even a broker dared to step over their chest. Everyone could see their poverty, their timidity, and that they didn't have much money in their pockets.
Three hundred and seventy taels would make any family in Anshui County go crazy with joy, but if you threw it on the ground in Fengjing, you wouldn't even hear a sound.
But did every household in Fengjing really have 370 taels of silver?
Does the fact that there are many wealthy people mean that everyone on this land is wealthy?
Zheng Ruqian did not believe it.
Even if Fengjing's prosperity far surpasses that of Anshui County, there will still be many poor people and many people struggling financially.
Three hundred and seventy taels was all the money he had, but it was also something he could only dream of but never obtain.
Why should we belittle ourselves?
And why should I be restless and uneasy?
They went from having nothing to accumulating thousands of taels of silver, to having a workshop with hired hands, and then to buying a villa to store ice.
Now, 370 taels can be turned into 3,700 taels in Zheng Ruqian's hands, and then into 37,000 taels.
Jiang Sheng's feet will definitely have round pearls!
Silently, the boy, who had been deep in thought just moments before, drifted off to sleep.
In my dream, my younger sister was wearing embroidered shoes inlaid with pearls, dancing happily.
In my dream, my third brother rode a horse and held a gun, looking incredibly heroic.
In their dreams, they sat in a luxurious villa, drinking wine and sipping tea, surrounded by countless servants and possessing inexhaustible wealth.
Most importantly, they lived together and never separated.
Hearing Zheng Ruqian's long, even breaths, Xu Mo reached out to tuck the blanket around him and then fell asleep with a smile on his face.
The next day.
Xu Mo was going to the Imperial Academy to prepare for the provincial examination.
His family enthusiastically prepared writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Jiang Sheng even suggested buying a fine silk robe, fearing that he would be looked down upon by his fellow students at the Imperial Academy.
Xu Mo shook his head and declined.
The fourteen-year-old boy said firmly, "No matter how fine the silk and satin are, they are not as good as studying hard. I am going to the Imperial Academy to prepare for the provincial examination, not to compete and show off my clothes. If my classmates look down on me because of my clothes, then I don't have to go."
He wore the light blue cotton robe brought from Anshui County with unwavering determination. The sleeves were narrow for easy grinding of ink, and the cotton was durable and resistant to damage. The light blue color was like his steady nature. He looked inconspicuous, but he was always impossible to ignore.
Even the writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones are used as much as possible from the past, without buying any extras.
Zheng Ruqian sniffed, "Brother, you don't need to save money for me. Whether it's 370 taels or 300 taels, it won't stop me from making money doing business in Fengjing."
"It's not for you," Xu Mo patted his shoulder. "I'm just being myself."
What does it matter if the dazzling array of flowers in Fengjing dazzles the eye? As long as one remains steadfast in one's heart, no matter how many flowers there are, they are all just illusions.
The second courtyard is in a good location.
We took a horse-drawn carriage and arrived at our destination in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
The Imperial Academy was the highest institution of learning in the entire Dayu Dynasty. Its students were called Imperial Academy students, and it mainly recruited outstanding sons from major aristocratic families. With their excellent performance, they could even enter officialdom without taking the imperial examination.
However, as more and more talented people emerged through the imperial examinations, it became more difficult for students in the Imperial Academy to enter officialdom without taking the examinations.
In order to cultivate talents fairly and justly, the current emperor of the Dayu Dynasty issued an order that the Imperial Academy could recruit outstanding students from all over the country who had passed the imperial examinations, as long as they had a letter from the local prefect.
Now, what Xu Mo holds in his hand is a letter written by Prefect He Chengzhang to the Imperial Academy.
The fourteen-year-old top scholar took a deep breath and strode to the entrance of the Imperial Academy. Just as he was about to enter, he heard the sound of laughter and the reins being pulled back behind him.
Immediately afterwards, several figures surged past him.
There were teenagers, adults in their twenties, and even a middle-aged man in his thirties with a beard.
This is not surprising; many people spend their entire lives trying to pass the imperial examinations but never succeed.
Xu Mo took a deep breath, preparing to step into the Imperial College.
Suddenly, he saw the middle-aged man's profile, and his blood ran cold. He froze on the spot, unable to move.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
