Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Zhao Mingsheng had just packed up the candied haws...
Zhao Mingsheng had just packed up and was about to go out when Zhao Qingyue happened to have a ten-day holiday today and came along.
The town was bustling with people, and a constant stream of vendors and peddlers made it a bustling place. Zhao Mingsheng hadn't seen such a bustle in a long time; everything she saw was new and exciting. She paused before a jewelry stall, where a red silk cloth was covered with a variety of hairpins and earrings. While not as stylish as those in the capital, they were still more exquisite.
She picked up a wooden hairpin at random and tried to figure out how to do it on her head.
Seeing that there was something interesting going on, the vendor boasted, "Young lady, you have a good eye! This is the work of Master Wu! I'll give it to you for five taels of silver. I wouldn't sell it to anyone else for that price."
Zhao Mingsheng was about to put it down, but when he heard these words, he paused slightly.
There are very few people in the world today who can be called masters at the craftsman level. Generally speaking, there are no more than eight people, and Master Wu is one of them.
He was good at wood carving. For a lotus, others could only carve eight petals, which was already the best, but he could carve twelve petals with his superb craftsmanship.
If this is really the work of Master Wu, five taels of silver is not expensive at all.
"Buy it if you like it. I have money here." Zhao Qingyue caught up with the vendor at some point and just heard what he said.
Zhao Mingsheng held down his hand that was taking out his wallet, turned around and said to the vendor, "I was also fortunate enough to get one of Master Wu's works." She said it nonchalantly, and did not forget to look at the expression on the vendor's face after she finished speaking.
Sure enough, the vendor panicked when he heard she had a piece by Master Wu. But he couldn't help but insist, "Look, the lotus on it has twelve petals! How about this, two taels! Take it!"
"I remember Master Wu once said that no two leaves in the world have the same veins, and the same goes for flowers," Zhao Mingsheng said word by word. "The petals he planted were either incomplete or facing different directions, but in short, no two petals were ever exactly alike."
People only know that his works look very spiritual, but they don’t know that this is the secret.
Although the hairpin in Zhao Mingsheng's hand also has twelve petals, which shows that the maker of this hairpin has exquisite carving skills, there are many similar petals in it, so naturally it lacks that spiritual energy.
So she could tell at a glance that this was not Master Wu's work.
"It's just a fake. If you sell it to someone else at this price, would they be willing to be taken advantage of?"
The peddler realized he had made a mistake. This wasn't a wealthy young lady he could fool. He smiled and apologized, "I misremembered. This wooden hairpin is thirty-five coins. Just give me thirty."
This is pretty good. Even though it's a fake, the carving is very fine. Thirty cents is a good deal.
"That's better." This time she didn't stop Zhao Qingyue from taking out his wallet.
After buying the hairpin, Zhao Mingsheng chose a stationery store with an exquisite-looking plaque in a busy street market. There were some samples displayed at the door. Zhao Mingsheng thought they were pretty good. Just as he was about to go in, he was stopped by Zhao Qingyue.
He grabbed Zhao Mingsheng's sleeve and shook his head calmly.
Although Zhao Mingsheng was confused, he stopped and followed Zhao Qingyue.
After they walked a distance apart, Zhao Qingyue finally spoke: "Although the goods displayed in front of his house are all good, they are just for show to fool people. In fact, they are all inferior products."
"Brother, you know a lot!" Zhao Mingsheng looked at the person next to him with admiration and praised him generously.
In a corner where no one could see, Zhao Qingyue showed a bitter smile: The more you are deceived, the more you will understand.
Not long after they walked out, Zhao Qingyue noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to Zhao Mingsheng and said, "I'm going to buy something. You stay here and don't walk around casually." There was a food stall next to them, and he pointed to a stool to signal her to wait there.
Although he didn't know what he was going to do, Zhao Mingsheng found a nearby bench and sat down.
The noodle stall had two large pots, one bubbling with broth for cooking the noodles, the other bubbling with gravy. The proprietress scooped the cooked noodles into a large bowl and topped it with a rich, fragrant topping, instantly filling the air with aroma.
The clear soup paired with the white and chewy noodles looks delicious.
Zhao Mingsheng sat aside, the fragrance wafting into her nose. She had just had breakfast, but she felt hungry again.
But after a while, Zhao Qingyue came back with a red object in his hand.
As they got closer, Zhao Mingsheng saw clearly what was in his hand and his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Tanghulu!"
"Little greedy cat, didn't you say you wanted to eat last time?" Zhao Qingyue scratched her nose with his free hand. "Let's go, we can eat while we walk."
Zhao Mingsheng looked at the candied haws, then at the bowls of noodles with gravy that the proprietress brought out, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Seeing her like this, Zhao Qingyue knew what she was talking about. "Want to eat noodles with gravy?"
Zhao Mingsheng nodded hurriedly. She looked so pitiful that Zhao Qingyue couldn't bear it anymore. He had to put the candied haws away and ask for a bowl of noodles with gravy for her.
"Boss lady, give me a bowl of noodles with gravy."
The old lady agreed with a smile, and kneaded and rolled the dough skillfully with her hands. Soon a bowl of delicious noodles with gravy was served.
"I... can't finish it." Looking at the big bowl in front of him, Zhao Mingsheng said with a bitter face.
She is a typical person with big eyes and a small stomach. This bowl is very large. If she eats it all, she will probably have to hold on to the wall to walk the rest of the way.
Zhao Qingyue sighed helplessly, picked up another empty bowl, and took away most of the noodles.
There was still a lot of marinade and vegetables left in the bowl. Zhao Mingsheng felt bad and raised the bowl to give him some, but was unexpectedly blocked.
Zhao Qingyue pushed her bowl back, picked up the bowl and ate the noodles in two or three mouthfuls, deliberately scaring her by saying:
"If you don't eat now, the stationery store will be closed soon."
Zhao Mingsheng believed it and hurriedly picked up the bowl and tried to eat noodles like him, but he accidentally choked.
The little face turned red from coughing.
"Are you okay?"
Zhao Qingyue hurriedly handed her a bowl of tea.
Zhao Mingsheng couldn't even speak, he could only shake his head and gulp down the tea.
After drinking a bowl of tea, he finally felt better. Zhao Mingsheng didn't dare to rush anymore and ate the noodles in small mouthfuls.
At this moment, a sarcastic voice suddenly came from the side.
"Hey, isn't this Zhao Dalang!"
A young man in a purple robe and holding a folding fan passed by. He thought he had seen wrongly and turned back to confirm. After confirming, he sneered, "How can you be so poor that you have to share even a bowl of noodles with gravy?"
What Liu Qichang hated most was Zhao Qingyue's pretentious attitude, but he still won the favor of the teacher. He had failed the scholar exam for three years and failed, but this guy passed it the first time and even came out on top. Isn't that infuriating!
Now that he has the chance today, he will definitely humiliate Zhao Qingyue!
The two servants who followed him also cheered, "That's right, it's not easy to go to school in a college when you are so poor!"
Zhao Mingsheng was so angry that he was about to stand up and argue with them, but was held down by Zhao Qingyue.
"Just enjoy your meal. Ignore these irrelevant people."
Although Liu Qichuang was a classmate of Zhao Qingyue, he never studied hard. Instead, when he had nothing to do, he would hang out in the town with his two servants. He was a well-known gangster in the town.
The Xing'an Hall in the town was run by Liu Qichang's family, and his father was the owner of Xing'an Hall. Zhao Qingyue thought of his father still practicing medicine at Xing'an Hall, so despite being provoked many times in the past, he endured it one by one.
As long as you ignore them and let them make a few sarcastic remarks, they will find it boring and will go away.
Seeing that Zhao Qingyue ignored him, Liu Qichang turned his attention to the woman beside him whom he had never seen before, and said in a disgusting greasy tone:
"Tsk tsk, this young lady may look unfamiliar, but she is actually quite pretty. It would be a pity for her to be with a poor scholar like him. Why not follow me? I will take you to eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks..."
Before he could finish his words, a cold gaze swept towards him like a sharp sword.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
