The following day, Yuan Qi set up his fortune-telling stall as usual, arriving early at the big locust tree on Tianshui Street.
The noodle stall wasn't doing much business at the moment. The owner, Zhang Liu, came over and asked Yuan Qi, "Little Taoist priest, why haven't you come these past two days? The day before yesterday, a merchant lost some money and ate noodles at my stall. He paid for the meal with a bag of green dates. The green dates were crisp and sweet, and Meizi thought they were delicious, so she specially saved some for you. You haven't come for two days, and Meizi has been getting a little anxious."
Meizi, the mute girl wiping the table at the noodle stall, took a small cloth bag from the bamboo basket next to the stall, then walked over, spread the bag out in front of Yuan Qi's table, and even took one out herself, gestured, and handed it to Yuan Qi.
Zhang Liu chuckled and explained, "She means that these green dates can be eaten directly after being washed."
The jujubes are all about the size of an egg and have a tender green color.
"Crunch!" Yuan Qi took a bite, and sure enough, it was sweet, crisp, and juicy. She nodded in delight, "Delicious!"
Zhang Liu and Mei Zi exchanged a smile. Zhang Liu said, "If you like it, then eat more."
He pointed to the noodle stall with a simple and honest expression: "I'm going to get busy now."
Yuan Qi knew that this was a very kind father and daughter. They thought of her even with such a small amount of food, which was much better than those people in the Jiang family who only knew how to take advantage of her.
She reached into the cloth bag with her small hand, took out a handful of red spirit fruits, placed them in Meizi's hand, and explained, "I went to someone's house yesterday to exorcise evil spirits, and they gave these to me. You should try them too."
Mei Zi was pulled down to sit by Yuan Qi. She carefully took a bite. The small red fruit wasn't very sweet, but it had a refreshing taste that was very pleasant, especially in her throat.
She smiled knowingly, held up the red spirit fruit, and gave it a thumbs up.
Yuan Qi took another bite of the large green jujube with a "crunch," and reminded Mei Zi, "You can only eat one of these fruits a day, don't eat more than that~"
Zhang Liu, who was busy kneading dough, turned around and told his daughter, "Did you hear me? Don't be greedy."
Neither the father nor the daughter knew that this red spiritual fruit was rare and precious, capable of strengthening the body and removing impurities. Even if it cost a hundred taels for one fruit, Yuan Qi would not sell it.
Last night, Jiang Jiulu went to see her, and she was so frightened that she quickly put away the red spirit fruit, not daring to let Jiang Jiulu see it, let alone give it to her.
Yuan Qi ate three large green dates in a row, then put the ones that had just been born into a cloth bag.
A man in white, around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, walked over and bowed to Yuan Qi: "Young Taoist priest, do you still remember me?"
Yuan Qi looked over and quickly remembered who it was. She smiled sweetly and said, "Judging from your face, you passed the exam?"
Qi Sheng sat down directly opposite Yuan Qi: "Young Taoist priest, I passed the imperial examination. I ranked twentieth in the third class, becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination). I will soon be studying at the Hanlin Academy. I am grateful to you for reminding me to be careful of the people around me. I have a classmate who took the imperial examination with me. His name is Lei Maolin. We both studied at Lushan Academy, and we have always been very close. On the night the results were announced, Lei Maolin said he wanted to celebrate my success and drink with me under the moon."
“I was happy at the time, but I didn’t forget what the young Taoist priest said. Before going out for drinks, I told another classmate that if I didn’t come back very late, he should remember to come find me.”
Yuan Qi hummed in agreement: "Luckily you met me, otherwise you would be reporting to the underworld this time."
Qi Sheng slapped his thigh: "Exactly! After a few rounds of drinks, Lei Maolin led me to the well to admire the moon and drink and chat. When I wasn't paying attention, he pushed me into the well. It was a dry well with no water, but many loose rocks. If I fell in, I would surely die. As I fell, I remembered what the little Taoist priest had said. I shouldn't have come with him."
Yuan Qi rested his chin on his hand and looked at his resentful eyes: "But you didn't die. The talisman I gave you saved your life."
Qi Sheng slapped his thigh again: "Exactly! The amulet suddenly got hot and emitted a light the moment I landed. I didn't feel much pain when I fell on the rocks. I saw Lei Maolin still looking down from above, so I pretended to be dead. He thought I was dead because I wasn't moving, so he moved a plank to cover the well and put some other things on it."
Yuan Qi hummed in agreement: "Although you're not dead, you can't get up here. If no one comes to rescue you, you'll still die inside."
Qi Sheng slapped his thigh again, this time with even more force: "Little Taoist priest, you really are a diviner! I listened to your words and asked my friend to come find me. Sure enough, he came to find me in the middle of the night, and I shouted for help from the bottom of the well. That's how I was saved."
Yuan Qi nodded with satisfaction: "You're an obedient child, that's good. Lei Maolin has been arrested by the authorities?"
Qi Shengyi said righteously, "That's right, I reported it to the authorities. He knelt on the ground and begged me to spare him. I didn't listen to his nonsense about being bewitched or anything like that, because we're from the same hometown and classmates for many years! I know him well enough! He saw that I was an orphan and wanted to kill me, impersonate me to go to the Hanlin Academy, and steal my academic achievements. Bah!"
"I will never forgive him!"
Seeing the other person's indignant expression, Yuan Qi found it inexplicably amusing. This person was straightforward and didn't have many tricks up his sleeve; he would probably be a good official in the future.
"So you didn't come here today just to tell me this, did you?" Yuan Qi asked, resting his chin on his hand, somewhat bored.
Qi Sheng slapped his thigh again: "Young Taoist priest is right. I have a favor to ask. One of my classmates is unlucky. He took the imperial examination with me and ranked third in the second class. This should have been a joyous occasion, but he is dying. He was lively and energetic when the results were announced a few days ago, but he lost a lot of weight in just a few days. It's as if all his energy has been taken away, and he suddenly became weak. We've seen many doctors, but none of them can diagnose his illness. I thought I might as well try it, young Taoist priest."
Yuan Qi grunted and mocked him, "If I hadn't asked, your classmate would have been ruined by you."
Qi Sheng was about to slap his thigh again when Yuan Qi glared at him and said, "Don't your hands hurt from slapping your thigh like that?"
Qi Sheng grinned awkwardly: "It's my fault, little Taoist priest. I'll take you to see my classmate right away."
Qi Sheng's family was poor and they didn't have a carriage, so Yuan Qi had to walk as well. Lushan Academy wasn't close, and it was quite a long walk outside the city.
Yuan Qi was worried. Wasn't it making things difficult for her to walk such a long distance with her short legs?
"Come out." Yuan Qi had already seen Xiangli Youming's carriage and waved to the person parked in the alley diagonally opposite.
Then Xiangli Youming's carriage arrived.
"How did you know I was here?" Xiangli Youming was very impressed. He thought he had hidden himself very well. There was a stall in front of him blocking the carriage, so Yuan Qi should not have been able to see him.
Yuan Qi snorted and tilted his head to reply, "I can predict the future."
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