Chapter 38 Measures
The three of them have a very good relationship, especially Ji Zhongzi and Ji Hean. The relationship between the two can be said to be the most important people to each other.
So Ji Zhongzi didn't bother with the false courtesy and just took a piece of cake and stuffed it into his mouth. "It's delicious! Sweet and fragrant. Xiaohua, you should eat it too."
Hearing this, Xiaohua stopped being polite and took a piece of cake and ate it slowly. "It's really delicious. The flour is so fine, the sweetness is just right, and there is a floral fragrance that I don't know what it is."
Ji Hean also grabbed a piece and ate it with his friends, his eyes squinting. He felt that he was the happiest person in the world at that moment, with his good friend by his side eating delicious cakes together. The cakes were bought for him by his Ah Lang.
"I feel like this cake is not cheap, based on my experience, this cake costs at least ten cents per piece."
Xiaohua ate one piece and stopped eating. It wasn't because she didn't want to eat, but because she felt embarrassed. Her husband would often buy her snacks. She had eaten both expensive and cheap cakes, so when she tasted this, she guessed that the price must be expensive.
After hearing what Xiaohua said, Ji Zhongzi paused as he was about to take the second piece. "This, this is so expensive?"
Ji Hean was also surprised. He knew that the cake should not be cheap, but he did not expect it to be so expensive. It was not ten cents a box but one piece!
Ever since Ji Zheng bought him one last time and saw that he liked it, this pastry has almost always been available in the house. Doesn't that mean he has somehow spent hundreds of coins on it?
Seeing Ji Hean looking frightened, Xiaohua said with a smile: "Hean, why do you look even more surprised than Zhongzi?"
"Could it be that you...don't know the price of this pastry?" Xiaohua asked hesitantly again.
Ji Hean nodded, "Ah Lang never told me, I thought it was just a little expensive..."
Thinking of this, he remembered that when he ate this pastry for the first time, he asked Ji Zheng about it. At that time, Ji Zheng just told him that it was not expensive and it was okay as long as he liked it.
Later, when he saw Ji Zheng often bought them for him, he believed it.
Xiaohua was shocked: "Ji Zheng is so nice to you."
Ji Hean was a little embarrassed, but inevitably there were sweet bubbles in his heart. Seeing that the two did not take any more cakes, he immediately said, "Eat quickly, don't be embarrassed, there are still a lot."
There were indeed a lot of them on the plate. After a rough count, there were at least seven or eight left.
Xiao Hua waved her hands and said, "Forget it, you should keep this expensive food for yourself. I'll just taste it."
Ji Zhongzi also said: "Yes, we just need to taste it. Xiaoxiao, you can keep it for yourself. You are so skinny. Eat more and you will gain weight."
Ji Hean was furious, and directly reached out and stuffed one for each of them, "If you continue like this, I will be angry, eat quickly, everyone eats..."
He paused here, counted the cakes on the plate, and found there were seven cakes left. Then he said firmly, "Each person can have three more cakes!"
Seeing that the two were about to speak, Ji Hean said first: "Don't refuse!"
Ji Zhongzi understood Ji Hean's character, so he stopped refusing and started eating the cakes. Xiaohua watched Ji Zhongzi eating and felt disappointed if she still refused. She smiled at Ji Hean and said, "Thank you so much, Hean. It's thanks to you that I can eat such delicious cakes."
Seeing this, Ji Hean finally relaxed his brows, "You're welcome!"
Several people were eating and chatting.
"Zhongzi, you are sixteen this year, right?" Xiaohua asked.
Ji Zhongzi swallowed the food in his mouth and replied, "Well, after October, I will be seventeen."
Xiaohua nodded, "The same age as me!" Then she asked, "Have you promised her?"
In fact, Xiao Shuang'er could also marry, but this situation was very rare, especially in poor families in the countryside.
"Promised. She's from the next village, but I haven't met her yet." Ji Zhongren said this without any emotion. She showed neither joy or shyness about getting married, nor any deep hatred.
Xiaohua said "oh", and seeing that Ji Zhongzi didn't want to talk about this, she didn't ask any more questions and picked up a new topic, "By the way, will you go to the town to play during the Spring Festival this year? If so, let's go together."
The Spring Festival was one of the important festivals of this dynasty. It had a similar purpose to the temple festival, which was to celebrate the end of spring ploughing and pray for a good harvest of the crops.
Of course, in addition to the above meaning, it also has another meaning, which is a large-scale blind date scene.
The town would be very lively on that day. The government would allocate money to hire some jugglers and members of some opera troupes to perform for free, and would also distribute free tea and cakes.
Then men and women from the surrounding villages would go out to the streets to play, and if someone fell in love with each other after the festival, they would ask a matchmaker to come to their house, and then a happy marriage would be formed.
It is said that Xiaohua and her husband Alang met during the Spring Festival two years ago, and they fell in love at first sight.
"I probably can't go." Ji Zhongzi said dejectedly. He really wanted to go, but based on past years' experience, he would definitely be left at home to look after the house.
"It's okay. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future." Xiaohua comforted him, and then turned her gaze to Ji Hean. "Your Alang is so good to you, you should be able to go, right?"
"I'm not going." Ji Hean replied.
"Why?" Xiaohua wondered.
"Stay at home with Zhongzhong."
In previous years, Ji Hean was naturally not allowed to go out during the Spring Festival, so he always spent it with Ji Zhongzi, and because he had a lot of work to do, Ji Zhongzi always came to help him and brought him food.
Although he really wanted to go and see it, if he went this year, Ji Zhongzi would be too lonely alone.
Ji Zhongzi guessed his thoughts immediately and rushed to Ji Hean, "Xiaoxiao, you are so good to me! I love you so much!"
The sound was so loud that it was heard by Ji Zheng who came in to bring them tea and snacks.
His face suddenly turned dark, and sour bubbles started to bubble up in his heart again.
I am the Alang of Hean, I am not angry, I am not angry, he is just a friend...
After hypnotizing himself for a while, Ji Zheng came over with some fruits and snacks. "You two can chat for a while. We still need some time for dinner."
Ji Zhongzi didn't know how to get along with Ji Zheng. He always felt awkward and didn't take the initiative to respond.
Instead, Xiaohua thanked him generously and said, "How about we go and help?"
"It's okay, it's okay, just stay here and chat with An."
Ji Zheng was standing next to Ji Hean. When he left, he gently pinched the back of Ji Hean's neck while no one else was paying attention.
The action was very ambiguous. Ji Hean was stunned and his ears were burning. He quickly looked at Xiaohua and Ji Zhongzi, and when he saw that they didn't notice, his stiff body relaxed.
....
During the meal, Ji Zheng invited Xiaohua's Alang Jishan.
Ji Shan is a blacksmith who works in a blacksmith shop in the town. He is tall and strong, a few centimeters taller than Ji Zheng, and has a simple and honest personality.
Ji Zheng’s cooking skills cannot be said to be very good, but as long as there is enough oil and water, it can still be a rare delicacy for those who seldom eat meat.
A simple pot of boiled chicken and two stir-fried meats is more than enough to entertain guests in the village.
After everyone finished their meal and went back, Ji Zheng brought out a bowl of chicken soup from the kitchen, "He'an, drink the chicken soup."
He had left this out specially to add some tonic.
"But I'm full." Ji Hean said, touching his stomach.
"Then wait until you digest it before drinking."
After saying this, he put the chicken soup back on the stove to keep it warm.
...
The next morning, Ji Zheng was going to the town. He had thought about it for a long time last night and finally came up with a way to break the impasse.
That is, he went to school. The students in the academy all wanted to pursue a career in politics and would know something about national affairs. In this way, he could get more information openly.
Secondly, when doing business in the future, he will have to expose the fact that he is not illiterate. Even if it is just for the purpose of paving the way for the future, he has to go to school. Otherwise, how can he explain to others that he can read and count?
Thirdly, the students in the academy are all potential stocks, and making friends with them now will only benefit him and not cause any harm.
He currently had more than five taels of silver in his hand. The tuition for the academy was one tael, so he could buy the cheapest paper, pens and ink. One tael of silver would be enough. Anyway, he was not really going to study.
Then I went to school in the morning, went to Xiangxianglou to tell stories in the afternoon, and went home to hug and kiss Ji Hean in the evening.
There were two academies in the town, one for enlightenment and the other where Li Wencheng and Lu Qin were.
The academy where Qimeng studied was mostly filled with children and was of no use to him, so Ji Zheng didn't plan to go there.
The remaining academy was not easy to enter, so he had to tell a little lie.
"...I can recognize a few words. My younger brother is a student, so I occasionally learn a few words from him."
Ji Zheng talked nonsense to the teacher in the academy in a serious manner.
"Why do you want to pursue a career in politics?" The teacher squinted at Ji Zheng and stroked his beard unconsciously.
Although this man is dressed like a farmer, he has a good figure and appearance, with sharp eyebrows, thick brows and big eyes. From his words and actions, it can be seen that he is quite smart. Who knows, he may really pursue a career in politics in the future.
The officialdom here has certain requirements for the appearance of officials. One must be good-looking and talented to become a high-ranking official.
"I think we should not waste our time. Since we are here in this world, we should have something to pursue and aspire to! Young people should have the ambition to soar to the sky, and live up to their youth!"
These words were spoken passionately, exuding a sense of youthful vigor and vitality that is in the prime of one's life and not letting down one's youth or oneself.
There was a glimmer of admiration in the teacher's eyes, and his expression warmed up a lot. Regardless of whether he could pursue a career in politics in the future, at least the youthful vigor radiating from him at this moment was still very admirable.
"Go home today and make your school uniform, and then you can come to school tomorrow," said the teacher.
In this way, Ji Zheng successfully enrolled in the school and received special care from the teacher, which led to his subsequent predicament. Of course, this is a story for later.
Ji Zheng didn't expect it to be so easy. He was delighted and went to the cloth shop to order two sets of school uniforms.
One step closer to making money!
When they arrived at Xiangxianglou in the afternoon, Gu Lulu's eyes lit up as soon as she saw him, "Ji Zheng, are you going to tell the next part today? Many people came to ask you when you would tell the story early this morning. As soon as it was afternoon, all the seats inside were full!"
Ji Zheng was not that excited, as this was all within his expectations.
"By the way, are you going to the second floor for an extra show today?" Gulu asked again, "If you go to the second floor for an extra show, I can guarantee that the second floor will be fully occupied!"
There is a commission for adding more games, ten cents per person. There are at least twenty to thirty people on the first floor. If they all go to the second floor, he can earn two or three hundred cents.
This is a great temptation for Ji Zheng, who is currently short of money.
"Will the shopkeeper let me add more?" he asked.
The shopkeeper naturally hopes that Ji Zheng will join in the game, after all, he can earn more. But for now, Ji Zheng and he have no contract, so it depends on Ji Zheng's wishes.
"The shopkeeper said you make the decision yourself. If you want to add more shows, just let us know in advance so we can make arrangements." said Gulu.
Ji Zheng: "Okay, I'll join in."
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