Carp Talk (Part 2)
In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed and Wan Mian has failed the exam once.
Although the Wan family had enough food and clothing thanks to the rosewood business, the status of merchants was still low. Moreover, merchants like the Wan family who were not wealthy enough would easily be looked down upon wherever they went.
Therefore, most of the children of merchants will still try their best to pass the imperial examinations. Although only a few people can pass, it is still beneficial to try after all.
The same is true for Wan Mian. He studied hard for all these years just to change his destiny.
After the fish food was scattered, he came back to his senses from his memories.
As soon as he turned around, he saw Fang Jingyu standing behind him holding a basin of dirty clothes.
The two smiled at each other.
"A Mian, after handing this basin of clothes to Aunt Li, I will go to the street to buy some food to entertain the guests. Do you have any snacks you want me to bring back?" Fang Jingyu said.
Wan Mian pretended to think for a moment and replied, "Then why not buy ten more bags of rice crackers?"
Fang Jingyu immediately understood Wan Mian's intention: "Buy more? Aren't you afraid that my brother will become fat from eating them? I don't usually see you eat more than a few pieces of rice crackers, but my brother eats them all. Isn't your intention obvious enough?"
After she said this, Wan Mian had to smile and hide his feelings. After all, they all had feelings for each other, and it had already become the same for the three of them.
"I'd better go buy some sesame oil cakes! You probably haven't eaten them for a while." Fang Jingyu raised an eyebrow at Wan Mian, turned around and left happily.
"Wait!" Wan Mian suddenly stopped Fang Jingyu who had just started walking and walked over. "If you're going to the market, please take me with you! I also want to see if there's anything I want to buy."
Fang Jingyu nodded and walked away quickly.
Wan Mian also went back to the house to get his purse, straightened his clothes, said something to Manager Zhu, and then met Fang Jingyu at the door and set off.
The two men came to the East Market. Even though the afternoon sun was extremely scorching and unbearable, there were still many vendors pushing their carts and selling their goods along the street as usual in order to make a living. The only difference was that they all had a sweat towel hanging around their necks.
On the way to the pastry shop, Wan Mian and Fang Jingyu had a pleasant conversation.
Suddenly, Fang Jingyu's eyes caught sight of a young man in fancy clothes. She exclaimed in surprise and pointed at him: "Isn't that Young Master Wang? What is he doing here?"
Wan Mian looked in the direction Fang Jingyu pointed and indeed saw the young master.
It is said that Prince Wang's family is also in business, but they sell cloth, so they are naturally much richer than the Wan family.
And precisely because his family was wealthy, Prince Wang always acted arrogantly in the academy and even recruited many younger brothers under the teacher's nose.
What's funny is that these little brothers who followed him, apart from living like his servants every day, also had a lot of pocket money. Therefore, there were still some people in the academy who were willing to be his lackeys for this small profit.
But Wan Mian was unwilling to do such a dirty thing, so he turned a blind eye to them.
But the matter did not end there.
Wan Mian refused to be a lackey, which was remembered by Prince Wang. Therefore, he would send people to openly insult and provoke Wan Mian from time to time.
Outnumbered, Wan Mian had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure it.
He lived like this for many years.
Soon, the prince bought the things and left.
While Wan Mian was still staring blankly in the direction he had left, Fang Jingyu had already walked up to the vendor and asked, "Excuse me, what did that young man just buy?"
The vendor replied with a smile, "That's a mosquito repellent incense ball from the Western Regions. I imported it from there. It's so hot out here, so it's a good idea to buy one to keep the mosquitoes away."
Fang Jingyu picked one up, fiddled with it in his hand, observed it carefully, then turned around and called Wan Mian, who was still in a daze behind him.
She discussed with him, "A Mian, mosquitoes and flies have been rampant lately. Master has quite a few bumps on his hands, too. How about we buy some to drive away?"
Wan Mian played with it for a while, then looked up and asked the vendor, "How much is one of these incense balls?"
"Fifty taels each."
"What?" Wan Mian and Fang Jingyu asked in unison, "This little ball costs fifty taels?"
"Yes, yes. After all, it contains a unique recipe and fine spices. It was purchased all the way from the Western Regions. The outer shell is made of real gold, so it is naturally more expensive."
The vendor smiled and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. He didn't know if the sweat was from the sun or from being tired from smiling all the time.
Wan Mian lowered his head and gave a bitter smile, then gently put the ball down: "It's too expensive, I don't want it."
Then he led Fang Jingyu away angrily.
Along the way, Wan Mian had a lot of thoughts in his mind. He kept thinking about how Prince Wang had readily bought the incense ball just now, and also about the trivial things he had seen in the academy.
At first, he was indeed strong-willed and dared to say no to Prince Wang, but when he was bullied, he also felt helpless.
He was clearly a law-abiding person, yet he was being cursed for no reason, simply because he was not good at his studies and his family background was not prominent enough.
There is so much hatred in this world that comes for no reason.
Sometimes when he is pressed by schoolwork, evil thoughts will arise in his mind.
He thought, what if, just what if, if he got what Prince Wang wanted, would he be able to spend money like water and live as carefree as him?
But this thought would always completely disappear when he saw Prince Wang being humiliated by riding on someone else's back.
How can a Confucian scholar's character be tainted by such a disgraceful thing that tarnishes his reputation and destroys his civility?
As a close friend, Fang Jingyu also saw Wan Mian's worries, so she suggested: "A Mian, why don't we go to the shop and take a look? Maybe we can help the master with something?"
Wan Mian nodded slightly and walked towards the Wan family shop with Fang Jingyu.
Just as the two were about to reach the door of the shop, they heard laughter coming from inside.
After looking at each other, they quickened their pace and walked in.
But wherever he looked, besides the various mahogany furniture, there was an old woman in gorgeous clothes talking with Wan Zhe, the master of the Wan family.
The two of them were talking about something wonderful and were laughing uncontrollably.
"father."
Wan Mian shouted and slowly walked in, and Wan Zhe and the woman calmed down a little.
"Oh, this is your son! He's such a handsome man! Then the matter with Boss Wan is settled. I will take my leave and go back to report."
The woman bowed to Wanzhe and left with a smile.
Wan Mian was puzzled and asked quickly, "Dad, who is she?"
"That's the housekeeper of the Sun Mansion." Wanzhe patted Wan Mian on the shoulder, still unable to hide his joy.
"Sun Mansion? Which Sun Mansion?" Wan Mian asked.
"Look at you! Didn't the emperor just appoint a new Minister of Revenue recently? His residence is built in Tianling. And coincidentally, this gentleman is extremely fond of mahogany furniture. So, didn't he send someone to our place to look at the styles?"
"The key is, this gentleman immediately fell in love with our workmanship and gave us three hundred taels of silver as a deposit, saying he wanted to customize a full set of furniture! Furthermore, he said that if he was satisfied with the furniture after it was finished, he would give us a generous reward!"
Not only Wanzhe, but Wanmian was also extremely excited to hear the news. The father and son laughed together with their mouths wide open.
As long as they complete this order, they will be able to live a life without worries about food and drink.
Fang Jingyu, who was standing at the door, was delighted that Wan Mian's father and son had gotten this business in their difficult times, regardless of whether he was Wan Mian's best friend or the child Wan Zhe had helped.
It was because of this business that the entire Wan family became busy.
As the boss, Wanzhe stays in the workshop all day to supervise the workers, leaving early and returning late.
Whenever Wan Mian is free, he will go to the workshop to help.
From time to time, the Minister of Revenue, Lord Sun, would send people here to check on the progress.
Thanks to the workers who worked overnight, the full set of furniture that Lord Sun wanted was put together in a short time.
The Wan family also received the compensation they deserved, and even received a lot of rewards.
At the same time, Lord Sun also specially invited Wanzhe and Wanmian to have a drink to celebrate his new house.
This made Wanzhe even more delighted:
Firstly, it was always unlucky for the nobles to have merchants at the table, so he just honestly did his part and didn't dare to ask for too much.
Secondly, if he could really be invited, he would not only receive so much reward money, but also make friends with such a high-ranking official. It would be a rare opportunity. Maybe after a few drinks, he would give him more opportunities to pave the way for Wan Mian.
On the night before the banquet, Wan Mian went to bed early, and it was Fang Jingyu and Fang Che, brother and sister, who prepared water for him to wash his face and change his clothes.
After Wan Mian fell asleep, Fang Che blew out the candle for him and quietly left the bedroom with Fang Jingyu.
Holding the wash basin, Fang Jingyu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Brother, you said that the master gave so much money this time, A Mian should be very happy, right?"
"Of course, not to mention A Mian, I'm happy for him." Fang Che said with a smile on his face.
"Well, as long as A Mian is happy, I will be satisfied."
In the quiet night, Fang Jingyu's voice seemed a little weaker.
Yes, she only hoped that her A Mian could obtain the greatest happiness in the world. As for the vanity in her mind, it could only remain in every sweet dream.
Surrounded by the twinkling stars, the silhouettes of the brother and sister walked farther and farther away along the corridor, finally disappearing at the corner at the end.
However, Wan Mian started his dream journey, while on the other side, Xiao Lin and Mu You, who were extremely busy, began a nightmare with no end in sight.
"I! Want! Back! Yun! Chong!"
Mu You fell on the bamboo mat with sweat all over his head, and started rolling around with his limbs flailing.
Xiao Lin was already accustomed to his childish behavior, and her heart was not disturbed at all. However, it was too hot today, and after a day's work, she no longer had the patience to tolerate his unreasonable behavior.
"Tsk." Xiao Lin smacked his lips rarely.
In the end, Mu You continued to complain without knowing what was going on: "When I was in Yunchong, I could still slack off from time to time, and there weren't as many customers as here... It's tiring and hot, and there's no air conditioning. I can't even eat!"
Xiao Lin said nothing and just kept fanning himself.
Seeing that Xiao Lin didn't react, Mu You became anxious and started to throw a tantrum, rolling on the ground and making bursts of noise.
The clacking sound echoed throughout their small room, but still failed to make Xiao Lin look at him.
So he became unhappy, jumped up from the bed, and called Xiao Lin's name several times with a little anger.
Only then did Xiao Lin turn around.
But after she turned her gaze, Mu You didn't know what to say, so he just randomly found a topic to talk about: "Well, did Chu Mo give any clues for this mission?"
Xiao Lin sighed softly and shook his head: "He won't give out free clues."
Mu You was suddenly awakened and remembered the lesson from last time - in order to find out Gao Qing's whereabouts, they directly owed this profiteer five hundred coins.
"What should I do then?" Mu You scratched his ear and pouted. "How can I deliver the tea soup if I don't even know who the person I'm looking for is?"
"I don't know either." Xiao Lin scratched his fingers nervously, "If only Boss Chu could give us a clue for no reason..."
Unexpectedly, as soon as she grumbled, the small door creaked.
"What? Have you discovered your own incompetence?"
Turning around, the person standing at the door was still dressed in gorgeous clothes. If it weren't for the candlelight in the house, the ink-black clothes would have helped him blend into the night.
The night air was hot, but his words were icy cold.
Fortunately, Mu You admitted his mistake quickly.
Seeing that Chu Mo showed some signs of letting up, he hurried forward, grabbed his sleeve, and said in a cowardly manner: "Boss Chu, please be kind and give us some information. Good people will be rewarded!"
Only when asking for help would Mu You respectfully call him "Boss Chu".
Fortunately, Chu Mo was not a petty person and did not have the energy to talk nonsense with him.
So, he pried open Mu You's fingers, handed them two pieces of paper, and said, "Tomorrow, come and have a drink with me."
"Wine?" Mu You raised his eyebrows and subconsciously reached out to take the invitation. "But we still have to wait on you tomorrow, otherwise we'll have nowhere to go..."
Chu Mo of course heard the hidden meaning in Mu You's words, so he sneered: "Okay, okay, okay, I'll treat it as an overseas assignment tomorrow?"
"make a deal!"
Fearing that he would go back on his word, Mu You immediately hid the post behind his back and secretly gave a copy to Xiao Lin.
Taking the post, Xiao Lin carefully looked at the signature:
Sun family?
Who are the Sun family?
Before Xiao Lin could ask, Chu Mo began to explain, "The newly appointed Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lord Sun, held a housewarming party at home and invited many prominent figures in the capital."
"So you're considered a 'big shot' then?"
After finally having a moment of peace, Mu You, who had benefited from it, looked like he was asking for a beating again. He even learned to exaggerate and made up a "big" figure for him.
In response, Chu Mo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to suppress his inner unhappiness. He said word by word, "Yes, I am a 'prominent figure' in the capital, so are you two going or not?"
"But..." Xiao Lin, watching them perform, interrupted them tremblingly, "Since they're inviting important people, why did they bring us along?"
Suddenly, Chu Mo opened his eyes, and the corner of his mouth tilted, showing a playful look.
"What else can I do? Of course, I'll go see a good show."
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