Chapter 17 Purchase
Early the next morning, before the exile team set out, Zhou Jin, together with the other two prisoners, met up with five officers and soldiers including Li Mao, and drove three mule carts to buy supplies.
Zhou Jin observed the two prisoners in the same car with him. One was in his thirties, of medium height, wearing a plain thick shirt, and was slightly overweight; the other was a skinny old man in his fifties, dressed in a neat cloth suit, with ordinary facial features, only his eyes looked bright and sharp.
As soon as he got on the bus and sat down, the fat man greeted the skinny old man, bowed and smiled, saying:
"I am Zhou Zesheng of the Ruifeng Zhou family, second in command. May I ask who you are?"
Ruifeng, Henan is the home of the Zhou family clan. Many of Zhou Ge Lao's brothers stayed in Ruifeng, including Zhou Ruiquan, the eldest brother of Zhou Ge Lao, the current patriarch of the Zhou family. Zhou Zesheng is Zhou Ruiquan's youngest son.
When the skinny old man heard that Zhou Zesheng was from Ruifeng, his already cold face became even colder, and he sneered:
"So you're the young master of the Ruifeng family. Oh, my apologies. I'm Zhou Fengsong from Zhuozhou County."
Compared to the former prominence of the Ruifeng Zhou family, the Zhuozhou County Zhou family is much more low-key. Most of them are side branches, and there are few children who enter officialdom. Their interactions with the main branch are also limited. Therefore, they have deeper resentment towards the main branch that implicated their own family and was exiled with them. After all, they had nothing to do with it, but they shared the blame. Who can not hate them!
So, when the skinny old man heard Zhou Zesheng say he was from the direct lineage, he didn't slap him in the face because he was holding back because Lord Zhou was still alive. How could he still have a good face? He didn't even want to look at him, only looking in the direction where Zhou Jin was sitting.
When Zhou Zesheng heard Zhou Fengsong's sarcastic call of "Young Master", his face turned pale. He obviously understood Zhou Fengsong's hatred for him being from the direct line of the family.
But how could he not hate it? He thought that he had just passed the imperial examination and was sentenced to exile. Not only would he never have a chance of fame and fortune in the future, but even his descendants would not be able to take the imperial examinations for three generations unless they were pardoned. The collision with Grandma Zhou in the palace brought out the nobleness of himself as a literary giant, and almost cost him his life. He also brought the entire family to their current situation and blocked all paths for their family to turn things around in the future. How could he not hate it!
But what good is hatred? Now that things have come to this, what else can I do except find a way to survive?!
Zhou Zesheng smiled bitterly and shook his head, no longer paying attention to Zhou Fengsong, and only looked at Zhou Jin.
Zhou Jin was stared at by the two men. He smiled and bowed to both of them. He neither favored anyone nor looked down on anyone. He just said politely:
"My name is Zhou Jin, and my father is Zhou Wangju from the Zhou family in Huaishu Hutong."
"Oh, I know you! Aren't you the guy who risked his life to save his mother the other day? I heard that you are highly regarded by Song Yayi?" Zhou Zesheng felt that Zhou Jin looked familiar as soon as he got in the car, and now he finally remembered him.
Zhou Fengsong had heard of Zhou Jin, but had never met him. Now that he had met him, he realized that the man who had snatched his mother back from the bandits was actually this boy, only twelve or thirteen years old. He had been a little puzzled at first, wondering why a family would send such a half-grown child out to buy things. Now he understood: it was this boy who had caught the eye of the yamen runner Song.
"Song Yamen, you are too kind. I was lucky to be able to save my mother. Song Yamen was kind enough to let me go out to buy things with him. My family is very grateful."
No matter how much flattery there is, it will wear out. In front of Li Mao who was sitting in the front of the car, Zhou Jin didn't mind expressing his gratitude to Song the yamen runner from time to time.
The men greeted each other and chatted for a while (mainly two of them chatting with Zhou Jin separately). However, they couldn't have a deep conversation in front of the yamen runners, so they just sat in the carriage in silence, without saying a word all the way. After about an hour, the mule cart finally stopped outside a town.
Several coachmen asked the mule carts to stop. Li Mao asked a few people to get off the cart and wait on the side. He also sent a yamen runner to take the travel passes of the few people to the city gate to show the officers and soldiers guarding the city. After the officers and soldiers checked the identities of the few people one by one with the travel passes and let them go, the group continued to get on the mule carts and walked towards the city.
Once you enter the city, you can tell the difference from the outside. First of all, the houses have changed from mostly mud houses to mostly brick and tile houses, and they are neatly planned. Although the roads are still mud roads, they are clean because someone cleans them from time to time, so they are no longer bumpy.
Maybe because it is not the main urban area, there are not many pedestrians on the road. Occasionally, there are a few people walking by, but most of them are wearing linen clothes, and very few are wearing silk.
This made Zhou Zesheng, dressed in silk clothes, stand out. Because they were out shopping, the yamen runners removed the shackles of several people before getting off the car at the city gate. If no one told him, Zhou Zesheng's outfit would give people the impression that he was a master on official business with yamen runners and servants.
Zhou Zesheng probably felt that his attire was a little inappropriate, and after getting off the car he felt embarrassed to walk in front, so he stood between Zhou Fengsong and Zhou Jin.
They got off the car outside an inn. Apparently, this inn was the supply point designated by the government. After getting off the car, Li Mao handed the required supply list to the person in charge who came out to greet them at the inn. After that person took the list and went down to prepare it, he left a few coachmen waiting at the inn and took Zhou Jin and the others to the restaurant opposite.
Zhou Jin and the others naturally had no right to eat at the restaurant. After the officials ordered a table of good wine and food, Li Mao instructed them:
"The things we bought won't be ready until the afternoon, so we brothers will just rest here and wait. If you want to go buy something, hurry up. I'll give you two hours. Just go to the opposite post station and wait at the beginning of the afternoon. But remember, don't miss the time or make any mistakes, otherwise not only you, but your whole family will have to suffer the consequences!"
Zhou Jin and the others had been waiting for this moment, and they responded without hesitation. Seeing that Zhou Zesheng and the other two only knew how to express their gratitude without any special expression, Zhou Jin thought that these two didn't look like they didn't understand the ways of the world. They brought them to the restaurant, didn't it mean that they should pay for the meal?
Did these two think they were criminals and couldn't show their money? Afraid of being held accountable? But that didn't seem likely. Yesterday, Li Mao had told him to ask his grandfather for silver. He obviously knew everyone had some hidden silver...
Seeing that the two of them were about to leave but still didn't move, Zhou Jin had no choice but to step forward and said with a smile:
"My dear officers, just eat and drink well. I'm sure you're all tired after riding the carriage all the way. After the three of us settle the bill, we'll ask the shopkeeper for two rooms upstairs. After dinner, you can take a nap and relax..."
Although he was the one who said it, Zhou Jin also mentioned the other two. Firstly, he didn't want to appear to be the only one trying to curry favor with the officials, and secondly, he didn't want to be the only one paying the money.
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mao gave Zhou Jin a look that said, "You are indeed a sensible boy." Only then did Zhou Jin feel relieved.
Zhou Zesheng and the other two finally realized that they had to pay for this place. It wasn't that they were tactless, but because they had already privately given Song the yamen servant gold leaves and a small goldfish in order to be able to come out to buy things this time, and they thought that was enough...
But Zhou Jin had already spoken, and the two did not want to be known as stingy in front of the official. After all, they wanted to come out to buy things with him in the future. So they had to say something nice to Zhou Jin, saying that everyone would contribute money and make sure the official would eat and drink well.
This meal plus the two rooms in the upper room cost a total of six taels of silver. Each of the three people paid two taels. Because Zhou Jin had no small change on him, Zhou Zesheng paid for him first.
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