Chapter 5 Sympathy

The old man driving the coach said this, causing Huang Yu, who got on the coach later, to fall silent.

Zheng Fa didn't say anything either. The only sound was the old man's whip crackling in the wind.

After traveling quietly all the way, the ox cart arrived in Jingzhou City an hour later.

The city and outside of the city are like two different worlds.

The scenery outside the city is vast stretches of farmland, open, comfortable but desolate.

The only living people that could be seen occasionally were one or two farmers bending over to work in the fields.

Although Jingzhou City is large, the dense flow of people on the streets makes it seem cramped and crowded.

The three of them were probably walking on the main road of Jingzhou City.

There are shops on both sides of the road and many people come to stroll around.

The mighty and majestic Danzhu cattle, which can travel a thousand miles a day, can only squeeze in the crowd here, like a kitten, walking forward timidly.

Huang Yu also came back to life at this time. He sat in the car, holding on to the guardrail, and stretched his neck to look at the shops on both sides.

The greasy sweet aroma from the snack shop made him salivate.

He couldn't take his eyes off the gadgets sold in the grocery store.

The ladies from prominent families who lingered in the silk shop made him, who had already become more sensible, secretly look at them, and he would only turn around to take a few more glances after they had gone far away.

When he recovered from the excitement of entering the city, he found that Zheng Fa was sitting steadily next to him. Although he was also looking at the bustling streets on both sides with a smile, he did not look as excited as he was.

As if sensing his gaze, Zheng Fa turned around and looked at him curiously.

Huang Yu coughed lightly and sat up straight.

Zheng Fa looked at him and smiled, and a look of shame and anger flashed across Huang Yu's face.

…

The ox cart went through the street and headed towards the west city.

"There has always been a saying in Jingzhou City that the east is rich and the west is noble, while the southern merchants are humble in the north. Our Zhao family is in the most noble west city." The old man driving the cart said with pride.

Sure enough, the further west you go, the fewer pedestrians there are.

But this place is by no means desolate.

Instead, there are continuous large mansions with strict gates, and ordinary people dare not wander around here.

Huang Yu, who was a little excited just now, now had a bit of nervousness and caution on his face.

After walking for another half an incense stick of time, they arrived in front of a courtyard.

It is called a courtyard, but in fact it can be said to be a continuous, magnificent and vast complex of buildings.

Looking from the street, they couldn't even see where the white wall in front of them ended.

Huang Yu was already amazed by the many wealthy families he had just passed by, but when he saw this one, he still opened his mouth wide with a look of deep admiration on his face.

At the main entrance of the courtyard stood two lions more than two meters tall, looking down at the passers-by with disdainful eyes.

On the plaque at the door were written the words "Zhao Mansion".

The ox cart did not stop at the main gate, but went around the main gate, then around the corner gate, and finally stopped at an inconspicuous back gate.

"Coming?"

A middle-aged man who looked like a servant was already waiting at the door. When he saw the old man driving the cart, he immediately urged him, "Hurry up! The steward is waiting! We are waiting for them!"

"Aren't they the ones who live the farthest away?"

The man waved his hand to signal Zheng Fa and the other man to follow him: "In my opinion, these two are just here to make up the numbers."

The old man did not refute, but snorted: "Madam said that everyone of this age in the family must come, how dare you leave one behind?"

"Oh, I just said it!"

Neither of them seemed to avoid Huang Yu and the other man when they spoke.

Huang Yu seemed to find it irritating and opened his mouth as if he wanted to refute.

But he looked up at the high courtyard wall, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face, and he kept silent again.

But his expression became even more uncomfortable, he shrank his head and moved restrainedly, as if he didn't dare to lift his feet when walking.

He turned to look at Zheng Fa beside him, but found that this man seemed not to have heard what he said. He was even looking around leisurely, as if he was very curious.

"Why are you pretending?" Zheng Fa heard Huang Yu muttering softly, and out of the corner of his eye he saw him secretly straighten his back.

Zheng Fa looked at the changing expressions on Huang Yu's face and guessed what the boy was thinking.

Be it Jingzhou City or the Zhao Family Compound, he had never seen them before. Deep down, he was quite excited.

But compared to when I first arrived in modern times, the excitement is a little less.

What's more, he had seen the tall buildings with his own eyes.

He had also seen this kind of large mansion on TV.

Now when I step into this compound, my mentality is more of novelty than inferiority.

It feels like arriving at a tourist attraction.

Compared with Huang Yu, he naturally seemed calmer.

…

The servant led the two men to a beautiful lotus pond. At the end of the lotus pond was a water pavilion built overlooking the pond.

"This is the second study room in the mansion. You two go over there!" He pointed towards the main entrance of the water pavilion and did not move forward. He just spoke to the two of them.

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Huang Yu followed Zheng Fa from the plank road on the lake to the entrance of the water pavilion.

They found that there were dozens of teenagers of the same age as them standing in front of the door.

When they saw the two of them, the teenagers first looked them up and down.

Then they all ignored the two of them, gathered in groups of three or four, and had almost no reaction.

Huang Yu gritted his teeth secretly.

Zheng Fa could see that these people were all competitors for the position of book boy.

At this time, if they greeted them with fear or even hostility.

Any of these would make Huang Yu, a young man, feel more comfortable than being ignored like this.

But when he looked at these young men carefully, Huang Yu showed a trace of dejection on his face, as if he was ashamed of himself, and lowered his head.

Take clothes for example.

Zheng Fa was wearing old coarse cloth clothes.

Huang Yu was of course better off, wearing clothes made by his mother with new cloth, but the material was also rough and hard.

Many of the young men here wear silk clothes, and even if they are not silk, they wear neat Confucian robes.

This is something Huang Yu's family cannot afford.

This was not enough to make him give up all hope. After all, the position of a book boy was not determined by family background.

But the silk scarves on the heads of the three people at the door made him not have the slightest desire to compete.

After attending elementary school for a few years, he already knew that only scholars who had obtained the title of Tongsheng could wear the Lun scarf with dignity.

The way these three people were dressed clearly showed that they were already people of honor and fame...

It was when he understood this that Huang Yu felt truly desperate, and finally understood what the old man said:

So what if I went to elementary school for a few years?

His elementary school teacher was just an old student...

By now, the breath that had been built up since he got on the ox cart seemed to have a hole in it, leaking out bit by bit.

He looked at Zheng Fa. Zheng Fa still looked calm, but he was no longer disgusted at this moment.

There's even a hint of sympathy.

I'm already suffering so much.

Zheng Fa dressed worse than himself and went to less education than himself.

Should it be... more painful? Zheng Fa felt the kindness in the boy's eyes and felt a little puzzled: He hadn't said a word, so why was he looking at him so kindly?

As for the pain...

To be honest, Zheng Fa had no idea what a silk scarf was.

It seemed that they were waiting for Zheng Fa and the other two. As soon as they arrived, the tightly closed door in front of the young man opened, and a male servant came out and said to everyone, "Line up and enter one by one!"

Inside the door, dozens of desks were arranged in rows, with pens, ink, paper and inkstones on them.

Zheng Fa took a deep breath and felt like he was back in the monthly exam. Not only did he not feel panic, he even had a familiar sense of security.

(End of this chapter)