Ji Yun'an sat in the restaurant, facing his classmate and good friend Wei Qiyu.
"Yun'an, this Shaxian is really great, much more prosperous than I imagined," Wei Qiyu said with some relief.
Wei Qiyu originally thought that coming to Shaxian would mean eating dried rice noodles all day long, but he didn't expect that Shaxian had so many different kinds of delicious food. Wei Qiyu ate at all kinds of restaurants every day, and his face became rounder.
What pleased Wei Qiyu even more was that the food in Shaxian County was not expensive, although this was in comparison to the prices in Beijing.
If you wanted to eat like this in Kyoto, it would probably cost more than three times as much.
"How did you end up here? You must have had a tough journey, sleeping in the open and enduring all kinds of wind and rain," Ji Yun'an said.
Wei Qiyu lazily waved his fan and said helplessly, "I had no choice! I didn't pass the imperial examination, and my father keeps nagging me. I had no choice but to come out and find some peace and quiet. I'm not the only one who didn't pass. I really don't know why the old man is so angry. Speaking of which, it's your fault. You passed the exam right away, but you still complain about your ranking, making me seem like I don't care."
Ji Yun'an smiled and said, "I'm really sorry."
Looking at Ji Yun'an's insincere apology, Wei Qiyu pursed his lips and said, "This journey has been quite arduous. If it weren't for wanting to see the delicious food on Shaxian Street that the prince raved about, I probably wouldn't have made it this far."
Ji Yun'an glanced at Wei Qiyu and said, "I thought you came here because of the upcoming establishment of diplomatic relations between the country and the Liao Kingdom."
Wei Qiyu wiped his hair with his fan and said, "This is what I told my father and mother: when you go out to play, you always need to find a good excuse, otherwise how can you get out?"
Ji Yun'an glanced at Wei Qiyu and said, "You!"
Wei Qiyu crossed his arms and said, "It's not like I'm the only one doing this. I see quite a few people in Shaxian. These guys don't seem to have any great ambitions; they're probably just out for a stroll."
Ji Yun'an said helplessly, "You came here to have fun, but everyone else looks like they're not doing anything productive..."
Wei Qiyu waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this. I heard that you were discussing an engagement with a young man in the county magistrate's office."
Ji Yun'an nodded, not hiding anything, and said, "Yes!"
Wei Qiyu frowned and said, "Would your father agree to this?"
Ji Yun'an's face darkened, and he said, "We don't need his consent, as long as Uncle agrees."
Wei Qiyu rested his chin on his hand and said with a hint of schadenfreude, "I think your father is probably jumping up and down in anger right now."
"What's there to be afraid of? Someone will always comfort him," Ji Yun'an said with a hint of sarcasm.
His father has quite a few understanding women around him.
Wei Qiyu asked with some curiosity, "Your taste is really strange! There are so many beautiful women in the capital, but you don't like them. You're only thinking about Shuang'er. Was that chicken leg drawn by Shuang'er?" Ji Yun'an nodded and said, "Yes!"
Before things were settled, Ji Yun'an didn't tell Wei Qiyu, but now that things are settled, there's no need to hide it anymore.
Wei Qiyu rolled his eyes, thinking to himself: There's definitely something fishy going on here! He thought, why does Ji Yun'an value such an ugly painting so much? Was it painted by his sweetheart? Sure enough, people in love are irrational!
"She seems to be a very special bisexual! I really want to meet her."
Ji Yun'an glanced at Wei Qiyu and said indifferently, "If you have so much free time, you might as well go and meet the beauty your mother introduced to you."
Wei Qiyu: "..." Ji Yun'an, that guy, is exposing his shortcomings again.
“By the way, I came here and found that there are quite a few good things here. No wonder you didn’t want to go back to Kyoto back then,” Wei Qiyu said.
Ji Yun'an waved his fan and said, "A new hot spring resort is opening here soon. You can go and take a look." Ji Yun'an thought to himself: Wei Qiyu has a much wider network of connections than he does. With him promoting it, it should have a very good effect.
A hot spring resort? I heard the county magistrate's brother-in-law is working on it, but it seems it's not finished yet.
Ji Yun'an nodded and said, "The overall project is very large, but part of it is almost finished. In a few days, a portion of it should be open to the public."
Wei Qiyu stroked his chin and said, "This godforsaken place can't even find a brothel. There are too few places to pass the time."
Ji Yun'an shook his head and said, "You like going to those kinds of places so much, aren't you afraid of getting sick?"
Wei Qiyu looked at Ji Yun'an and said, "I think you're just jealous. Your wife seems pretty formidable!"
Ji Yun'an said helplessly, "I've never been interested in that kind of place."
The Zhao family.
"That's too much!" Zhao Heng slammed his fist on the table in anger.
"What's wrong? Why are you so angry?" Liu Qingmei asked from the side.
Zhao Heng said with a dark face, "It's all because of Ji Chengkang. He actually found Yun'an a lesbian, and a mentally challenged one at that. I told you long ago that this guy was no good. Now he's finally showing his true colors."
Zhao Heng was furious. Ji Chengkang hadn't informed him about the engagement. Zhao Heng only found out from others that Ji Yun'an was going to get engaged to a fool. Knowing that neither his son nor Ji Chengkang respected him and treated him like a nobody, Zhao Heng felt utterly humiliated.
Zhao Heng is somewhat chauvinistic and prefers women who are completely subservient to him. Ji Xue was born into a family of military generals and is somewhat assertive, which doesn't actually suit Zhao Heng's tastes. However, Zhao Heng was unsuccessful in his career and, for the sake of his future, used sweet words to deceive Ji Xue. The Ji family protected Ji Xue too well, and the naive Ji Xue didn't see through Zhao Heng's true colors at all. By the time she saw through him, it was too late.
When Zhao Heng first married Ji Xue, they were happy for a while. However, after secretly overhearing people say that he was a cowardly man who was afraid of his wife and that he was a guy who climbed the social ladder by relying on women, Zhao Heng began to become suspicious.
Ji Xue married down, and Zhao Heng was arrogant on the surface but insecure at heart. On the one hand, he had to rely on the power of the Ji family, and on the other hand, he was suspicious and always felt that the Ji family looked down on him.
Liu Qingmei frowned and said, "Shuang'er, is she stupid?"
Liu Qingmei was actually very upset about Ji Yun'an passing the imperial examination so quickly. Although Ji Yun'an's ranking wasn't very good, he still passed the exam. Not everyone can pass the exam at such a young age. But Ji Yun'an was not satisfied and even complained about his ranking, wanting to retake the exam.
“I’m a carefully selected lady from a respectable family, but he doesn’t like me. Instead, he likes a fool,” Zhao Heng said, full of dissatisfaction.
Liu Qingmei asked with some doubt, "Why would Ji Chengkang find Yun'an a fool?" Ji Chengkang has always doted on Ji Yun'an the most! Ji Chengkang's own children are all raised in the capital, but Ji Yun'an has always stayed by his side.
Zhao Heng snorted and said, "Since they're not my biological children, there's no need to take it seriously."
"Could this silly Shuang'er have some powerful backer?" Liu Qingmei asked with some suspicion.
Zhao Heng said unhappily, "What kind of backer could he have? Just a county magistrate. This county magistrate is quite famous. He bought his position. A few years ago, he and Ji Chengkang got involved in some kind of handcart incident. It seems like they spent a lot of money. I think Ji Chengkang probably took money from people and used my son as a favor."
Liu Qingmei asked, somewhat puzzled, "Ji Chengkang found such a person for Yun An, doesn't Yun An object?"
Zhao Heng gritted his teeth and said, "That brat is bewitched. He listens to everything Ji Chengkang says, but treats me like an enemy."
Liu Qingmei remained outwardly calm, but inwardly she was somewhat pleased.
Liu Qingmei knew very well that Ji Yun'an hated her. If Ji Yun'an gained power, he would definitely not let her go. In her opinion, it would be a good choice for Ji Yun'an to marry a daughter of a prestigious family and join forces with her. It would be perfect for her if Ji Yun'an chose to ruin his future.
Liu Qingmei hesitated for a moment, then said, "I heard that Yun'an plans to take the autumn imperial examination again next time, is that true?"
Zhao Heng nodded and said, "Yes! This brat has become a bit arrogant. He only passed the exam once, so he thinks he can pass every time. His passing this time was mostly due to luck. This guy got lucky and really thinks he's some kind of literary genius."
Zhao Heng was born into a scholarly family, but he didn't pass the imperial examination until he was over thirty years old.
Although Zhao Heng always seized every opportunity to urge Ji Yun'an to study hard so that he could bring glory to the family and live up to his father's reputation, Zhao Heng couldn't help but feel a little jealous when Ji Yun'an actually passed the imperial examination at a young age.
Previously, Ji Yun'an had already made a name for himself with the emperor through Journey to the West. This time, Ji Yun'an passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. It seems that the emperor had unexpectedly allowed him to become an official, and his future should be better than his own.
Although Zhao Heng found Ji Yun'an's choice somewhat inexplicable, he also breathed a sigh of relief. For the time being, Zhao Heng did not want his son to climb over him.
Regardless of Zhao Heng's thoughts, the engagement between Ji Yun'an and Chen Xiaomai was settled.
The people in the camp were very supportive of Ji Yun'an and Chen Xiaomai's engagement.
“Mr. Liu, now that Young Master Ji and Young Master Chen are married, can we get a discount at the tavern in the future?” Liu Yun glanced at the old soldier who had come up to him and said irritably, “You always have these crooked ideas.”
The veteran scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and said, "It's because the wine at the tavern is too expensive. Doesn't that mean all our monthly salary goes to that?"
"If you think it's too expensive, then drink less. This Second Young Master Chen is giving everyone in the camp a friendly price when they buy wine at the tavern because of the general. Others can't afford that," Liu Yun said irritably.
"Mr. Liu is right, he's right." He knew the price of the wine was already very cheap, but he just couldn't get enough of it! This young master Chen's cooking skills are excellent. Young Master Yun'an married young master Chen and can live a life of luxury. It's truly enviable," the old soldier said with a smile.
Liu Yun glanced at the veteran who had spoken and said helplessly, "All you know is how to eat."
Lu Lin and Ji Chengkang discussed it and decided to hold Ji Yun'an and Chen Xiaomai's engagement banquet at the camp. Many people came to attend the engagement banquet.
On the day of the engagement, Lu Lin specially arranged for several chefs to cook, and more than twenty pigs were slaughtered. The banquet was a grand affair.
Several soldiers grunted as they gnawed on braised pig's trotters, saying, "I knew it. Young Master Yun'an and the Third Young Master of the Chen family were indeed the right choice."
"This stir-fried pork intestines with onions is so delicious."
"Yes!" These offal parts of the pig are usually looked down upon, but unexpectedly, when properly processed, they can be so delicious.
“In the past, when we slaughtered pigs at the camp, it seemed like we threw all these things away, which was such a waste.”
"This braised pig's ear is so delicious!"
"This chicken soup tastes absolutely amazing. I don't know what they put in it, but the flavor is so rich."
"Young Master Chen has brought over chefs from several restaurants!"
"Because of this engagement banquet, all the restaurants in Chen Ershao's town have closed down, which means he'll lose a lot of money."
"They're not lacking in that little bit either."
The engagement between Chen Xiaomai and Ji Yun'an caused quite a stir in the county. On the day of the wedding banquet, several fresh dishes were served, and everyone who tasted them praised them highly. After the engagement banquet, almost the entire Sha County knew about the engagement between the third young master of the Chen family and Ji Yun'an. The engagement of Chen Xiaomai and Ji Yun'an also brought Lu Lin and Ji Chengkang much closer.
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