Chapter 99 Grandma! Baoyue! Xiaohua! I'm back...
When Guo Baiwen traveled from Guojia Village to the county town, he already felt that the difference was significant.
Now that we've arrived in the prefectural city, I feel that it's much better than Xiuning County.
If Xiuning County was the county seat in the previous life, then Lin'an Prefecture was equivalent to a prefecture-level city in the previous life.
This comparison only made Guo Baiwen more curious about what the prefecture and the capital city looked like, and he wondered if he would ever have the chance to go there.
Despite his curiosity, Guo Baiwen took advantage of the free time during the evening to return to his room and start packing his things, since he was going to have dinner with some classmates that night.
Although we agreed not to drink alcohol tonight, I'm just in case. Anyway, I'll have to clean up sooner or later.
By the time we had almost finished cleaning up, it was almost lunchtime.
When Guo Baiwen came out of the hostel, the owner told him that all of his classmates had already left.
The prefectural city was even more bustling than a few days ago, because the prefectural examination had just ended, and students from all over the country would linger here for a while longer.
People were everywhere, enjoying the lake and picnicking, composing poems and exchanging verses.
As Guo Baiwen walked along the road, he would occasionally run into a few familiar examinees. Some would ask if he wanted to go to the literary gathering together, while others would ask if he wanted to go for drinks.
He wasn't very interested in either of them, so after chatting briefly with the person and politely declining, he continued walking forward according to the location he had seen earlier.
After buying the new house, even though there were still some things I could do to help recoup some of my losses from time to time, I had already spent almost all of my money on this exam.
Seeing his savings plummet to only twenty-odd taels, Guo Baiwen couldn't help but feel anxious.
He had already visited several pawnshops in the county town a few times, and he was sure he could always come up with something good.
Those shop owners aren't his own grandmother, so they'll definitely try to subtly inquire about the origins of these good products.
I always have to come up with an excuse to deal with it, which is quite a brain drain.
It would be better to stay in the prefectural city. After passing the prefectural exam this time, who knows when or how many years or months it will be before we can come back again!
As Guo Baiwen hurried along with his head down, he pondered what he could sell on this trip.
Needless to say, just pick one or two of the glass bottles you've been saving up, the ones with the labels torn off perfectly.
There were also several portable mirrors he drew at the sign-in ceremony on his wedding day.
Since we already have a dressing table with a built-in half-length mirror at home, this small portable mirror seems rather useless.
It's a set of five, so I'll keep three to take back to Grandma Guo, Baoyue, and Xiaohua tomorrow. I can say it's a gift I bought for them in Fucheng.
As for the remaining two, they can be taken out when the bottles are removed, and we can see if we can sell them together for a good price.
As evening fell, everyone gathered at Liu's Restaurant when a sudden downpour was about to begin.
Before long, the accumulated water had meandered into a small stream along the steps by the door. Lin Zhongbin glanced out the window of the second-floor private room and subconsciously sighed to Guo Baiwen, "It's good that you said we'd set off again tomorrow—"
If everyone rushes out of the city today, this downpour might leave them stranded on the road.
The group had glimpsed the inn along the way from afar when they arrived in the prefectural city; it wasn't very big.
If there are a lot of guests staying overnight, it's uncertain whether a clean room will be available in the end.
"I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence." Guo Baiwen also didn't expect the weather to turn so suddenly, with rain falling as if it were just a matter of time.
Fortunately, everyone arrived at Liu's Restaurant before the rain started, but it's uncertain whether the rain will still be this heavy when they return to the hostel.
However, putting aside the sudden change in weather, everyone gathered here today to celebrate passing the prefectural examination.
Liu Ji Restaurant was doing very well, and Lin Zhongbin had to ask the innkeeper to reserve this private room and order their most famous whole fish feast.
However, this whole fish feast, although it is called fish, also uses a lot of shrimp, crab, snails and other ingredients in addition to fish.
Although Lin'an Prefecture is not located by the sea, its river delicacies are still quite famous.
River delicacies can easily taste muddy if not cooked properly, but Liu Ji Restaurant has been selling river delicacies for decades and naturally has its own unique skills.
In particular, the braised carp with milk is a must-order dish for every diner who enters Liu Ji Restaurant.
What makes this fish dish special is that it contains goat milk to remove any fishy smell.
Actually, goat milk itself has a flavor, but when these two are combined, not only does the mild flavor of the goat milk neutralize the fishy smell of the carp, but because it is not heavily seasoned and is simmered over low heat, it tastes even fresher and less greasy.
In addition, there is a dish called silverfish scrambled eggs, which also has a very unique flavor.
Silverfish are scaleless and boneless, with an extremely rich flavor, but because they are so tender, they easily become tough if overcooked, making the cooking time and temperature requirements even more stringent.
The eggs are plump and juicy, the silverfish are sweet and fresh, and the texture is smooth and easy to eat, making it quite enjoyable.
The five people present were not very old, and they had just put an end to a matter on their minds. They ate the whole fish feast on the table clean.
I have to say, after tasting the food at this restaurant, I can understand why it's so popular.
*
When everyone hurriedly returned to the inn, the innkeeper was already waiting in the lobby and had the waiter prepare a large pot of ginger soup.
When you return, you can have a bowl of hot soup to warm yourselves up and avoid catching a cold.
When they received the bowls of hot water, everyone thanked them profusely.
They weren't the last to return; many more guests returned gradually afterward, some with umbrellas and some without.
The ground and clothes were all wet. It was getting more and more crowded. After everyone finished drinking the ginger soup and set a departure time for the next morning, they went back to their own rooms.
The night was quiet, with only the sound of wind and rain outside the window.
Guo Baiwen first got up and checked the doors and windows of the room to make sure they were all closed before taking out the silver he had exchanged for the glass bottle and mirror that day.
With the idea that this opportunity would be lost forever, and to avoid a repeat of what happened in Xiuning County, he personally inspected all the glass bottles he selected today.
The pattern on the bottle cap has been worn away, and now it looks like an ordinary tin cap.
Guo Baiwen only took it out and flashed it to the shopkeeper a few times when the shopkeeper asked, and then quickly put it back himself.
Sure enough, this time the shopkeeper couldn't use the "not finished" excuse to lower the price again.
If you pawn this, you'll need to prepare a lid or stopper yourself.
The shopkeeper's implication was that he wanted to find out who the craftsman behind this item was.
After all, with such excellent craftsmanship, wouldn't it be better to create a matching glass lid instead of this dull, gray metal lid?
There were many similar comments, but Guo Baiwen deflected them all.
Seeing that the customer was getting annoyed, the shopkeeper reluctantly shut up and turned to discuss the final price with him...
Guo Baiwen took out several money bags from the warehouse compartment, opened the bags, and began to count the silver inside one by one.
Sure enough, I had to count the money myself before I could feel at ease.
The two glass bottles and two personal mirrors were originally priced at over 1,600 taels, but after much back and forth, the final price was settled at 1,800 taels.
The feel of a one-tael silver ingot and a ten-tael silver ingot is indeed quite different.
Guo Baiwen couldn't resist touching it before turning his head to look at the several glittering gold ingots in another money bag!
Heaven knows how he felt when he saw those gold ingots!
As expected of the prefectural city, it was even more generous than Xiuning County. However, upon hearing the question, "Do you want to exchange the extra silver for banknotes or gold?"
He almost lost control of his facial expression.
Gold is definitely better than silver notes!
Although it was a bit heavy, he was someone who had his own storage space, so he naturally didn't care about the weight.
Currently, the exchange rate between gold and silver is 10 to 1, meaning that 10 taels of silver can be exchanged for 1 tael of gold.
Wow--
No one can resist gold.
There is no one.
As Guo Baiwen thought about it, he couldn't help but breathe on the gold to wipe away the condensation. He then happily touched it before putting it all back into the warehouse compartment.
The 1,500 taels were eventually exchanged for a 100-tael gold ingot, a 500-tael silver note, and a 250-tael silver ingot.
He specifically asked the shopkeeper to exchange the remaining fifty taels for loose silver coins and copper coins.
Previously, in order to register for the exam, he watched his savings suddenly drop to twenty-three taels. Now, he has become rich overnight and looks back at the number of coins he dared not exchange before.
Guo Baiwen became much bolder.
He had long felt that there were too few slots, but the price of one hundred taels of silver back then made him hesitate.
But now?
Hehehe, he put the five hundred taels of silver he got back from exchanging the silver notes into the system, and was happily preparing to wait for himself to be able to add five more slots.
This system, which had always been very mechanical, suddenly started to react in a new way.
[Host detected self-funded upgrade - beep]
The amount has reached the standard.
[System warehouse slots are being added - System warehouse mode is being updated synchronously -]
Has the system store been updated?
Guo Baiwen poked at it and found that the screen was stuck on a progress bar and wouldn't move, so he had to click back and forth between the left and right sides several times.
Finally, I found an update time in a corner.
It took about half an hour, which was shorter than he had expected.
After calming down, I realized it was only half an hour.
He tidied up the money pouch and silver on the table. The grid and the mall were being updated, so there was no room to put anything in for the time being.
After thinking for a moment, he pulled out another book.
These are some books that the shop assistant recommended to me in the bookstore before I went to the restaurant.
It's good to flip through it for now.
The candlelight flickered unconsciously, accompanied by the sound of rain outside the window, making it easy to fall asleep.
But Guo Baiwen was not sleepy at all.
Even though he was holding a book, he was still thinking about the update to the warehouse mode in the online store.
I wonder what kind of update this time... will come out?
As time ticked by, he tapped the screen again, and the previously empty progress bar was now full.
Seeing this, all sorts of guesses began to surface in his mind—
I wonder if this system update will bring him a big surprise.
With such a beautiful wish in mind, he nervously opened the updated system repository.
The original ten squares became fifteen squares.
That's right, he spent five hundred taels of silver!
He swiped left and right, up and down, but couldn't find any new updates.
?
Could such a stupid system really lie to people?
Puzzled, he continued searching for a long time, and finally found a transparent cell at the very bottom of the system warehouse cell, a cell that was completely invisible unless you looked closely.
What is this?
Guo Baiwen clicked on it curiously, and soon a brief explanation popped up on the transparent grid.
[Charging Grid: Charge for half an hour, run all day (To enhance the usability of items in the store, the system has introduced a new charging function, offering half an hour of free charging every day!)]
...
……Charge……
Heh, heh heh heh heh he knew it. Given the nature of this system, how could they possibly update it with something good so easily!
If it says half an hour of free charging, then there must be some charging that isn't free, right?
Guo Baiwen looked carefully at the instructions again and sure enough, he found another instruction at the very end with a lighter-colored character, as if it was afraid of being seen.
[For every half hour of free charging exceeded per day, one tael of silver will be deducted (any fraction of an hour will be counted as half an hour, with no daily limit!)]
...a chicken rib (meaning something that is neither fish nor fodder).
I was just full of anticipation, but I really am a complete traitor.
The next day.
Guo Baiwen got up very early. When he looked out the window, the rain had already stopped.
Although it's still early, quite a few breakfast stalls have already started setting up shop with their carts.
He felt relieved, packed his bags and books, and when he went to check out of the room, he ran into his classmates Tong and Zhou.
They waited a little longer at the entrance of the hostel, and soon the remaining two people came out as well.
So they walked together toward the carriage shop.
Guo Baiwen looked at the large and small bags Lin Zhongbin was carrying, and after thinking for a moment, he helped carry a few. "Why are there so many things all of a sudden?"
"I didn't bring any good food with me when I came to the city," Lin Zhongbin said, patting his bundles proudly. "I bought some food yesterday, so it won't spoil overnight!"
"You should be grateful that you can travel and eat with me!"
The following sentence was clearly addressed to everyone present, which caused the smiles on the faces of the group to widen.
"Yes, yes, yes! It's all thanks to Brother Lin!"
We had just had dinner together last night, and this experience of taking the exam has obviously given us a better understanding of each other's personalities.
After nodding in agreement, he couldn't help but join in with a few jokes.
The conversation inside the rented carriage gradually subsided only after it had left the city gates.
The same road can evoke different feelings when you come and when you leave.
Fortunately, it didn't rain today. However, because it had just rained yesterday, the ground was still muddy and slippery, making it difficult even for a horse-drawn carriage to travel in this weather.
Fortunately, everyone learned from their previous experience on the road and this time they specially split into two carriages, so that the carriages were lighter and the horses could exert more effort.
When the carriage arrived in Xiuning County, a light drizzle began to fall intermittently again.
The rain wasn't heavy, so it didn't matter whether you used an umbrella or not.
Back at the familiar city gate, after settling the car rental bill, no one felt like continuing the pleasantries. They figured they could meet again at the academy the next day.
After saying goodbye, they went home.
Guo Baiwen, carrying his book box, headed straight for the alley where Guo's shop was located. His family members were probably still busy at the shop in the north of the city.
Even though Grandma Guo stayed in the shop these past two days, she would still glance outside a few times, whether she had something to do or not, for fear that she might miss something.
So Guo Baiwen had barely entered the alley when she saw him. She quickly put down the abacus she was holding, exclaiming, "Wen-zai? Wen-zai's back!"
Hearing this familiar address, Guo Baiwen felt both touched and embarrassed, which was also quite amusing.
He's almost twenty, but his grandma still likes to call him by that nickname.
Really...
But the next moment, he raised his head, his ears still bright red, and shouted back—
"Grandma! Baoyue! Xiaohua! I'm back!"
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