Chapter 102 How about... we give it a try?
By the time the holiday was over, it was almost the end of October, and the weather suddenly turned cold. When I woke up early in the morning, there was frost in the outer yard. It seems that winter has come early this year.
The winter clothes I prepared beforehand are perfect to wear now.
Today is the day that Master and the others are going back to the county town. Everyone agreed that they would wait together at the city gate before going to the academy in the morning.
Guo Baiwen finished dressing; it was still dark outside.
Since the seasons started changing, the time when it gets light has been getting later and later.
He got up, and Chen Baoyue, who was sleeping on the inside, woke up as well. She turned to look at him and asked, "Weren't you having breakfast at home this morning?"
A few days ago, Guo Baiwen had told his family that he was going to pick up his teacher today. Chen Baoyue noticed that he wasn't dressed very warmly, so she rummaged through the closet and found a cloak.
It is made of silver squirrel skin.
I just had my uncle Chen Damu bring it to the county town a few days ago, and I've been busy sewing leather for the past few days. I just managed to finish it before today.
"It's alright, there should be stalls selling steamed buns on the way later," Guo Baiwen said. Having lived here for a long time, he knew exactly where and when the stalls would be.
He lowered his head and let Chen Baoyue help him turn up the collar of the cloak he was wearing, and casually touched Chen Baoyue's hand.
It's already getting a bit chilly.
The charcoal brazier inside the house had been burning all night, so it probably wasn't hot anymore by now.
"Why don't you sleep a little longer?" It's so cold.
Guo Baiwen went to the side room and took a small bushel of charcoal. He carefully lit it and saw that the charcoal brazier, which had been cold, was gradually warming up. He did not forget to open a small crack in the window of the room to let in some ventilation.
He carefully drew the curtain at the doorway and whispered at the entrance, "I'm going out."
When they got near the academy, they ran into Lin Zhongbin and his two companions, so they greeted them again, "Have you had breakfast yet?"
When he bought the steamed buns, he made a point of buying a few extra.
"No!"
"I'm not afraid of being late. Here, take this hand warmer that I brought from home. You can hold one and warm yourself up."
Guo Baiwen took the hand warmer from him, and then handed out one of the oil paper packages he was carrying to each of them. "I bought these on the way here, they're still warm."
Once most people had gathered and the time was roughly right, everyone headed towards the city gate together.
Although Xiuning County has three city gates, if you are returning from the provincial examination, only the south gate is the closest.
When everyone arrived at the gate, the city gate had just opened.
At first, everyone could stand and chat with each other while holding their hand warmers, but as the sky gradually brightened and the carriages heading into the city were still nowhere to be seen, everyone unconsciously started stamping their feet.
It's so cold today, thankfully I wore an extra cape when I went out.
Guo Baiwen unconsciously wrapped himself up even tighter, then turned his head and found Lin Zhongbin already wiping his nose in a rather disheveled state.
He couldn't help but shake his head slightly. Lin Zhongbin was the kind of person who valued style over warmth. Last winter, he always dressed in a scholarly, sparse outfit, but since he mostly stayed indoors, it didn't really matter.
But after standing outdoors for a long time today, it's possible that you're not cold.
Fortunately, the leather cloak I'm wearing today is big enough; it should be sufficient even for two people.
Just as he was about to go forward and call him, he shook his head a few times, looked outside the city gate, and suddenly raised his hand, "Isn't that the carriage of the Master and his men?"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone saw the familiar carriage in the direction he pointed.
"It's the teachers, the teachers have returned."
Master Guo and Master Cao had traveled a long way back and were just resting in their carriage with their eyes closed when they suddenly heard a commotion outside.
It was getting closer and closer, and the sound was starting to sound familiar.
Master Cao subconsciously lifted the curtain and was met with groups of students gathered below the city gate.
"Why are you all here so early?" Master Guo saw the students across the carriage through the lifted curtain, and his pupils involuntarily dilated.
"Hearing that the teachers are returning today, we thought it would be a good time to come and greet them early."
"Nonsense!" After many days apart, Master Cao remained as upright as ever.
Seeing this, they thought they were about to be scolded severely, but unexpectedly, after saying a few words to them without much pain, Master Cao suddenly changed the subject with his serious face, "Since we're already here, and since Master Guo and I haven't had breakfast yet, let's all eat something together later."
Master Guo got off the carriage and stood in front of Master Cao. He moved his lips but no sound came out.
Guo Baiwen read it twice before he could recognize that the Master had actually meant "sharp tongue but soft heart".
Everyone exchanged glances, then pretended not to have seen anything. Some helped take the luggage, some helped pull the carriage, and others clamored about what they wanted for breakfast.
Amidst this lively conversation, Cao Fuzi's cold tone was occasionally interrupted: "You want to eat this and that, no wonder you two have grown even more beautiful in just over a month."
"Just choose one store, don't end up with an unrealistic appetite and waste money, that would be shameful."
But even though he said such heartless things, Master Cao did not slow down his pace in the procession.
Master Guo followed behind with a smile, occasionally turning around to ask Guo Baiwen a question about his recent articles.
By the time they arrived at the restaurant, it was already past the time for morning reading at the academy.
But Master Cao and Master Guo seemed to have forgotten about this, and were only concerned with urging the students to eat.
By the time everyone returned to the academy, it was almost noon.
Lin Zhongbin was wrapped in the cloak given to him by Master Guo. Now that the sun was out, unlike in the morning, he couldn't help but start having a runny nose just by standing there.
Seeing the students scattered in twos and threes, seemingly having completely forgotten their morning lessons, Master Cao deliberately coughed twice to attract their attention before leisurely speaking: "The pursuit of knowledge cannot be interrupted. This morning's visit was out of consideration for your respect for your teacher, but the way of learning is either to advance or to regress—"
Master Guo also revealed a mysterious smile at the opportune moment.
“Since we’ve already missed the class today, why not give us a quick quiz?” Master Cao looked at the sudden change in everyone’s expression and his smile grew even wider. “The poem ‘Where the Way Exists, the Teacher Exists’ is a perfect theme for this quiz.”
After saying this, he ignored the students' expressions and turned to Master Guo, saying, "Since Master Guo is here as well, let him also give a test question on an essay."
Upon hearing this, Master Guo couldn't help but put his palm to his mouth, making a fist, and coughed twice before replying, "I can't refuse such kindness. Since Master Cao has made this suggestion, I'll offer my own."
He glanced at the students around him who seemed not to have fully grasped the concept yet, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Then let's use 'Respecting the Virtuous Will Prevent Confusion' or 'Upholding Learning and Respecting Confucianism' to expound on the 'Way of the Teacher'."
“Perfect timing. We just had a meal together, so I don’t think everyone should be hungry so quickly,” Master Cao pointed to the sundial in the middle of the academy. “Then let’s hand in these two completed problems before class this afternoon.”
"It's also a good opportunity for the teacher to see whether you have all made progress during the month or so that I was away from the academy."
Upon hearing this, the students, who had been lamenting the teacher's "sudden attack," all subconsciously glanced at the sundial.
Unlike regular exams, they now have much less time to complete quizzes.
So, without thinking about anything else, everyone quickly ran to their desks.
Master Guo and Master Cao lagged behind, watching everyone rushing around in a flurry of activity, and even stroked their beards with a smile.
Young people should be energetic.
After all their travels over the past few days, once they've settled the quiz, they can finally have a quiet afternoon nap.
Take care of your mental well-being.
*
When Guo Baiwen came home from school, he was surprised to see Grandma Guo and Xiaohua at home.
"Is the shop closed today?"
Because he went to the academy, he often returned earlier than Grandma Guo and the others.
Grandma Guo explained with a smile, "It suddenly got much colder today, and business at the shop has improved a lot."
Today, Guo's shop in the north of the city still operates the same way as before: it sells hot pot dishes in spring and winter, and sweets and pastries in summer and autumn.
Guo Baiwen heard from Grandma Guo that many customers came as soon as the shop opened this morning. The shop didn't know that they had prepared the ingredients according to the amount prepared the day before.
It wasn't even completely dark before most of them were sold out.
There's really no other way, so we have to close early today.
Therefore, I specifically discussed with the previous vegetable delivery companies to have more ingredients delivered tomorrow.
As Grandma Guo explained, she magically produced two large lamb legs from seemingly nowhere.
"Just as I was going to discuss it, I saw freshly slaughtered mutton at the butcher shop next door."
Grandma Guo acted decisively and managed to buy the two lamb legs first. "It's cold today, and I haven't had a chance to properly fatten up for winter. I'll be making roasted lamb later, so everyone can eat as much as they want!"
Roasted mutton?
Isn't that just roasted mutton?
Guo Baiwen couldn't contain his curiosity, "Grandma, when did you learn this?"
If it were slices or chunks of lamb, it would be fine, but how do you roast such a big leg of lamb?
There isn't a suitable stove at home.
Guo Xiaohua then happily explained, "Grandma told me to call Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen over later. They have a barbecue grill over there, so we can all eat roasted mutton together!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Baoyue laughed, "Yes, there is a large stove in Chen's shop."
Let alone one lamb leg, two could probably fit if squeezed together.
So when the Chen couple arrived, the charcoal was already prepared, and they were just waiting to start the fire to put the lamb legs in.
However, this stuff takes a long time to cook, but fortunately Guo Baiwen also stewed a pot of old duck and radish soup, which was served with hand-pulled noodles made by Grandma Guo. Everyone ate while waiting, so it wasn't too difficult.
Although Chen Youtian no longer works as a hunter, he hasn't lost his skill in grilling meat.
Guo Baiwen had originally prepared spice powders such as pepper and cumin, but as soon as he started cooking, he simply used some salt and sauce to season it, and the taste was surprisingly delicious.
Not only could she not taste any muttony smell, but Guo Xiaohua, who doesn't like the taste of cumin, also ate quite a lot of it in one go.
Grandma Guo praised the food as she ate, and after what seemed like the umpteenth time she had praised it, Guo Baiwen suddenly had an idea: "With such good skills as my father-in-law, why don't we try to start a barbecue business?"
Chen's hunting tool repair business was neither good nor bad. After all, there weren't many hunters in the county. Whenever Guo Baiwen passed by, he didn't see many customers coming in.
However, the hunters from the small mountain villages would come to the county town every now and then to consign their hides and dried meat to shops more often.
Nowadays, it's more like a leather shop than a hunting tool repair shop.
However, since this item is only consigned, the shop can only earn a small resale fee.
Guo Baiwen had heard Chen Baoyue mention it more than once, but since the family had savings, Chen's parents didn't expect the shop to make much money, so they just lived day by day.
Chen Zhonghua originally thought of opening this shop because he was worried that Chen Youtian would be at a loss after he stopped being a hunter.
After hearing what Guo Baiwen said, she was intrigued and felt that doing this business wasn't out of the question.
The family has no shortage of meat these days; they just roast it on the stove—even if they can't sell it, they can eat it all themselves.
She and Chen Youtian exchanged a glance. "How about... we give it a try?"
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