Chapter 252 Chapter 252 The Little Master Who Goes Through the Backdoor
Qin Run and the brokerage firm finalized all the details regarding the house purchase. Lord Qin and Second Lord Qin were vying to pay Qin Run, but Qin Run couldn't win the fight and had to let them pay.
After getting the house deed, Qin Run immediately asked Qin An and others to bring their things over.
Qin Mu learned about his biological parents, but like Xiaobao, he still wanted to stay with his elder brother and brother-in-law. Qin Run naturally would not push him away.
Fu Qingxu had thought about taking Qin Mu back, but the child he held dear to his heart just pouted and looked aggrieved, as if a knife was cutting into his heart. How could he bear to put the little guy in trouble?
When he was at the Qin residence, Fu Qingxu saw with his own eyes his own child, who was only a few years old, taking care of another child in an excellent manner, and he couldn't help but sigh.
When Xiaobao got something delicious, he would obediently share it with his two uncles. Qin Mu, smiling and looking very mature, would pat Xiaobao's head and coax him in an adult tone, "Be good, eat it yourself! Xiaobao, eat more so that you can grow taller."
"Cough, cough cough..." Fu Qingxu, who was drinking tea at the side, almost choked.
He glanced at his youngest son with a strange expression, half amused and half sad, but also comforted at the same time. Qin Run taught him very well.
Two out of three times his youngest son mentioned his elder brother and brother-in-law. Fu Qingxu was very curious about the brother-in-law that Qin Mu was talking about. He had already met Qin Run, who looked very similar to his elder brother-in-law and was equally handsome. According to Qin Mu, their brother-in-law was the most handsome man in the area.
Xu Yunfan came over after taking a shower. While Fu Qingxu and Qin Qingfeng were looking at Xu Yunfan, Xu Yunfan was also looking at the two of them.
Qin Run learned that Xu Yunfan saved Qin Mu's life, and it was because of Xu Yunfan's request that Qin Run adopted Qin Mu. Otherwise, it would be difficult for Qin Run alone to raise Qin An, let alone Qin Mu.
If it weren’t for Xu Yunfan, how could their family have a good life and even their two children could go to school?
Not to mention that it is difficult for children in the village to go to school, even in the capital, at Qin Mu's age, he can only go to the Mongolian Academy. The academy will not accept him, let alone a key academy like Qingfeng Academy. Even if Fu Qingxu is a prince, the dean will not make an exception.
Just based on what Xu Yunfan had done, both of them had to bow and thank Qin Run and his wife.
Qin Qingfeng is Qin Run's second uncle, Xu Yunfan couldn't stand it, "Second uncle, you are too polite, we are all family, Mu Ge'er is my brother-in-law, you are too polite."
The Qin family and Fu Qingxu thanked Xu Yunfan again. Xu Yunfan was not good at refusing, so after a few words he slipped back to his room to take refuge.
Fu Qingxu knew that he owed the child something, and since Qin Mu was unwilling to go back to Prince Xu's Mansion with them, he had no choice but to accept it.
After bringing the things they brought from the Qin Mansion to their new home, Xu Yunfan and the three children put the things away. Xiaobao walked around the yard a few times with his hands behind his back, "Daddy, the yard is so big, we can build a chicken coop here so we can raise some chickens."
"Raising chickens?" Fang Zixi, who came to help with the move, was confused. "Raising what chickens?"
"It's just a little chicken. When it grows up, it will become a rooster or a hen. The rooster can be fried and eaten, and the hen can be stewed. It's delicious. Dad loves eating chicken the most. Daddy, Xiaobao is amazing at crushing earthworms to feed the chickens."
Qin An, who was standing by, agreed with Xiao Bao's suggestion. "That's right, let's raise some chickens. This way we can save some money. Then we can go to the vegetable market and pick up some discarded rotten leaves for the chickens."
Fang Zixi understood immediately and felt sad. "Raising chickens requires taking care of the chicken coop and building the chicken coop. It's going to be very hard work. Aren't you afraid of being tired? It won't cost much to buy a few chickens to eat."
"Why would I be tired?" Qin An scratched his head a few times. "It's just a small job, very easy. The chickens sold outside are different from the chickens we raise at home. Brother Fu said that the chickens sold outside are tender and are raised for three or four months before being sold. The chickens we raise at home can be raised for a longer time, so the soup made from them is more delicious. Brother Fu loves it the most."
Qin Mu clapped his hands and agreed, "Yes, big brother said that Gefu is a fox spirit, and foxes love to eat chickens the most."
"A vixen?" Fang Zixi laughed unkindly and asked Qin Mu, "Did your eldest brother say that your brother-in-law is a vixen?"
Qin An: "Yes, my eldest brother said that whenever my brother-in-law goes out, he attracts bees and butterflies. All his daughters want to be his concubines. If my eldest brother hadn't scared the matchmakers away so that they dared not come again, the threshold of our house would have been broken long ago."
"Yes, yes," Xiaobao said in distress. "When I was in the village, many brothers and sisters I didn't know would come to me and want to give me candy. They would even secretly ask me if I wanted to call them aunt. Daddy, I didn't take any of the candy they gave me. Daddy Qin said I shouldn't take things from strangers, so I just listened."
Because many people from other villages failed to get matchmakers to come to their homes, they set their sights on Xiaobao.
Everyone in the nearby villages knows that Xiaobao is favored. If Xiaobao himself asks Xu Yunfan who to marry, can Qin Run still refuse?
Because of this, Xu Yunfan no longer allowed Xiaobao to go out alone, and always asked Runger and Anger to take him with them.
Fang Zixi rubbed Xiaobao's head and praised him, "Yes, our Xiaobao did a great job. Your uncle belongs to your father Qin. As your father Qin's son, you must help your father Qin keep a close eye on your uncle. Whether in the village or here, you must not let other brothers and sisters get close to your uncle, understand?"
A group of three, one big and three small, gathered together and chattered non-stop. Qin Run went out to buy daily necessities and did not call them.
It was already afternoon, and the three children were busy working and hungry. Fang Zixi had no choice but to call Xu Yunfan since Qin Run was not around.
There was nothing he could do. There wasn't even a servant at home, and he had never done it himself.
Fang Zixi, who had no idea Xu Yunfan was a kitchen killer, rubbed her hands awkwardly. "The kids said there was a lot of leftovers and wanted egg fried rice, but I don't know how to make it."
He doesn't even know what egg fried rice is, let alone how to make it.
"Want some egg fried rice?" Xu Yunfan glanced at Xiaobao and the other two and was about to say that it might not be possible for him to make it. Before he could finish his words, Qin An shook his head in fear and said, "Brother, we don't want to eat it anymore. You don't have to make it."
Qin Mu Xiaobao didn't know how powerful Xu Yunfan was, so he was very surprised. "Second brother, aren't you hungry too?"
"I'm not hungry now."
Qin An just shook his head, feeling a heavy feeling on his head. He looked up and saw Xu Yunfan with a sinister look on his face. He said with a fake smile, "Brother An, what do you mean? My husband is in a good mood today, so I'll show you some of my skills reluctantly. It'll be an eye-opener."
It’s just egg fried rice, very simple.
Xu Yunfan has seen Qin Run stir-fry many times. Maybe he has seen it so much that his skills are no longer useless?
You have to show off your skills today, otherwise Qin An won’t know what an all-round talent is.
A quarter of an hour later, Xu Yunfan stood aside with a red face. Qin An pulled out the firewood fearfully, and Fang Zixi hurriedly cleaned up the mess for him. The white rice that was originally in the pot was now half black and burnt. There was a layer of rice at the bottom of the pot, and it smelled burnt.
Fang Zixi shoveled it off. Qin Mu poured water into the pot, making a noise. Only then did he pat his chest with lingering fear, his eyes falling on the bowls of unsightly rice on the stove. "Second brother, is this...still edible?"
Xiaobao stood on tiptoe, grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it twice and swallowed it, "Uncle, it's edible, but a little bitter."
Fang Zixi: “…”
Fang Zixi was choked up. Ever since Xiaobao went to Xiaoqin's house, he really learned to endure hardships and work.
Xu Yunfan gave Xiaobao a plum fruit to eat. Xiaobao covered his head in pain and said, "What do you know? Making egg fried rice requires no technical skills. Your father is a man of great achievements. A mere egg fried rice can't show my ability. Look, this is the rice crust I gave you. This stuff is delicious."
Qin An remained silent. Qin Mu glanced at the pitch-black burnt rice crust and took a tentative bite. His facial features immediately twisted, "Brother, this thing doesn't taste good."
This was a very insightful statement, and Xu Yunfan's face turned red.
Fang Zixi: "This... probably because the heat was too high and the rice crust was burnt. It's not your brother-in-law's cooking skills."
"That's right." Xu Yunfan was very happy with Fang Zixi's advice. "It's not that my brother's technique is wrong, it's that you guys used too big a fire. Okay, if it doesn't taste good, just feed it to the chickens."
Qin Mu muttered, "It's so dark, I guess it wouldn't even eat it if I fed it to a chicken."
Xu Yunfan didn't hear clearly. Seeing that the three children were hungry, he suggested going out to buy something to eat. They didn't live very close to the Yunrun Restaurant. It took more than half an hour to get there, and it was inconvenient to run back and forth every day. "Today, you can make do with steamed buns or steamed bread. When your eldest brother comes back, I'll ask him to make some meat sauce. Next time, make more. We can have some meat sauce for lunch if we're hungry in the afternoon."
Qin Run has been very busy recently and is basically not at home at noon. When he learned that the children were hungry and had no food to eat at noon, he followed Xu Yunfan's advice and asked, "Meat sauce? Is it the same as chili sauce?"
"That's definitely different. There's meat in meat sauce, and there's only chili in chili sauce. They're definitely different." Xu Yunfan had tasted meat sauce before, and it was fragrant and spicy, and went well with rice.
Qin Run immediately became interested: "Then teach me how to do it."
The two went out to buy the ingredients. Following Xu Yunfan's instructions, Qin Run poured half a can of oil into the pot. You have to be generous with the oil when making meat sauce. When the oil is hot, put in chopped garlic, ginger, chili and other ingredients and stir-fry until fragrant, then set aside.
Qin Run cleaned the pot, poured the diced chicken into the pot and stir-fried it until browned, then added the chili oil prepared in advance into the pot, stir-fried it with the meat, and finally added salt before serving.
Fang Zixi smelled the tempting aroma from the kitchen and unconsciously quickened the speed at which she scooped up the noodles. In a short while, she had prepared several bowls of noodles.
Xu Yunfan got these rice noodles from Yunrun store. They can be eaten after just rinsing them with boiling water.
Xiaobao's chubby face almost fell into the bowl. He slurped it up too quickly, and the spicy chili water with the slightly spicy soup splashed all over his face. Without Fang Zixi's help, Xu Yunfan took out a small towel from under the table with disdain, grabbed Xiaobao's shoulder with one hand, and threw the towel on Xiaobao's face. He wiped it twice, and Xiaobao staggered left and right. "Okay, it's clean. Eat quickly."
Xiaobao happily wiggled his feet that weren't touching the ground twice and said sweetly, "Thank you, Dad."
Seeing Xiaobao smiling so sweetly, holding the rag that Qin An had washed and hung under the corner of the table after wiping the stool once, Xu Yunfan said with a guilty conscience: "You're welcome. When you're halfway through slurping the noodles, use chopsticks to hold the lower part so that the noodles don't fly away."
Seeing this, Fang Zixi opened her mouth with a strange look on her face, then lowered her head and continued eating.
Fang Zixi's face has become rounder since Xu Yunfan came to Beijing. As the favored young master of the Fang family, he has tasted all kinds of delicacies from land and sea, but this is the first time he has eaten something that is fragrant, spicy and numbing, and the more he eats, the more he likes it.
Xu Yunfan brought out a few bowls of double-skin milk, topped with candied natto. The taste was beyond words. Fang Zixi ate so much that her belly was full and she didn't want to go back to the Fang family. She went home the next day, took a few sets of clothes, and stayed at Xiao Qin's house.
Qin Run ate the meat sauce and thought about what Qin Feiyu had mentioned to him in a tactful way. "Yun Fan, there is something I want to discuss with you."
Xu Yunfan put down his chopsticks, nodded slightly, and said concisely, "What's the matter?"
Qin Run considered his words carefully, a little embarrassed, "Dad asked me if you could provide those 'old' soldiers with a job opportunity?"
Although the Qin family also has property, it is not enough to provide employment for the "old" soldiers who have returned from the battlefield and need a job to support their families.
During the years of searching for Qin Run, Qin Feiyu could even see his former soldiers squatting on the side of the street with their two skinny sons waiting for the manager who needed to recruit workers to come. There were too many people who were disabled on the battlefield, and the compensation given by the court was not enough to support a whole family.
Some men returned from the battlefield, and because of some problems, their families were not harmonious, and their wives and husbands ran away.
Xu Yunfan thought to himself that it was normal for people to run away. A marriage without material guarantees was like a pile of loose sand. If the plate of sand had a hole in it one day, the sand would naturally not be able to hold any more.
Qin Feiyu wanted to do his best, but the Qin family's assets were limited, so how many people could they employ?
After visiting Dali Village, Qin Feiyu discovered that there were many workers in the factory, but their productivity was far from meeting market demand. Surprisingly, neither Xu Yunfan nor Qin Run increased the production efforts.
When Qin Feiyu learned that the workers were paid 20 cents a day and many goods were in short supply, he couldn't help but feel tempted.
Xu Yunfan was stunned: "So, father-in-law wants the recipe?"
To be honest, Xu Yunfan doesn't care much about the recipes for sweet potato flour or wine making, etc., which are related to the business he has currently opened. The reason why he doesn't care is that he still has many other ways to make money.
But for the people here, these recipes can support their families and are treasures passed down from generation to generation like heirlooms. There is a difference between Qin Feiyu asking Qin Run to ask for them and giving them away willingly. Xu Yunfan couldn't help but have some thoughts.
But not much.
"No." Qin Run hurriedly shook his head. "Dad didn't ask for the recipe. He wanted to know if we were interested in opening a few more factories and if the factory could let him arrange some workers to come in."
Xu Yunfan thought for a moment, "What about you? What do you think?"
"I want to open a few more." Qin Run analyzed, "The factories in Dali Village are actually still too small. The supply cannot meet the demand. In the future, when shops open in other areas, the demand for products will only increase. Now that we are rooted in the capital, we naturally cannot open a factory in the village. Therefore, I want to open some factories in various prefectures and outside the capital. Although it requires a large investment to build a factory, it actually saves a lot of transportation costs."
Xu Yunfan nodded. "You're right. If transportation was convenient and the cost wasn't so high, we could centralize the factory in one place for easier management. But here, that's not very realistic. Distributing products from one place to all directions would cost a lot of money. If you want to do it, then do it. If you don't have enough money, we can borrow it. But you still have to follow up on the progress of the farm, especially the restaurant and music hall. Whether it's timber or other aspects, they must be supervised. Also, ask if the hundreds of acres of land in the past and the surrounding mountains can be acquired."
"Ah?" Qin Run was dumbfounded. "Yunfan, why are we buying so much land?"
Xu Yunfan: "Of course it's useful. Even if you don't do anything with it, it's good to grow some food. You can buy the land first. As for building a factory, there's no rush."
The factory building certainly cannot be built on prime land. Qin Run still needs to look into the location of the factory building. The hundreds of acres of land outside the farm that are not owned by the farm are all prime land. According to Xu Yunfan, they are good for planting.
These matters naturally needed to be handed over to Qin Run. Xu Yunfan rested for two days, and the teacher competition was also coming.
The first few competitions of the Master's Competition were conducted in the form of written tests, and the examination venue was arranged at the Imperial College. Therefore, the Imperial College had a rare holiday.
Xu Yunfan took out the documents such as the teacher's certification given to him by Jiang Lanfang and waited in line outside obediently.
In the distance, Lord Qin, who had sent Xu Yunfan to the exam, said to Second Lord Qin beside him, "Yunfan, is this...really okay?"
The Second Lord Qin was silent for a moment, looking at his grandson-in-law, the most dazzling one in the crowd. To be honest, he was not sure either.
It wasn't that Lord Qin II was praising his grandson-in-law for his good looks, but that was the fact. Among the teachers queuing up to enter, Xu Yunfan was the most eye-catching.
With that head, that appearance, and that young face, it was hard not to attract attention. Not only did the other teachers pay attention to Xu Yunfan, even the students of the Imperial College were stunned when they saw Xu Yunfan, and then pointed at Xu Yunfan and whispered to each other, as if they were saying bad things about Xu Yunfan.
"Who is that man? Did he come to the wrong place?"
Some people will inevitably have a herd mentality. When they suddenly see so many people queuing, even if they don't know the reason, they will follow suit. Not to mention, Xu Yunfan was looking left and right as if he had never seen the world.
He was obviously just curious and found it interesting, but to some self-righteous students at the Imperial College, Xu Yunfan's look of looking around was really not presentable.
"Who knows? Looking at his expression, he probably thought our Imperial College was having some kind of event, so he just followed the trend and came over to join in the fun."
"Haven't you heard?"
"What did you hear?"
"There's a young scholar from Qingfeng Academy. From what I've heard, he seems to be participating in the Master Competition." Zhou Zhou's eyes fell on Xu Yunfan, and he tutted his tongue twice. "I heard that he's from overseas and isn't known as a scholar, but he's quite knowledgeable, which is why he caught the eye of Dean Jiang."
Qian Qi: "Is this true? Is this guy so powerful?"
"That's right, Zhou Zhou, stop lying to us. How can he be a teacher if he's not a scholar?" Since when did the threshold for being a teacher become so low?
It would be fine if he wasn't a scholar but entered Qingfeng Academy, but he actually came to participate in the teacher competition. Isn't this funny?
Zhou Zhou: "We're all classmates, why would I lie to you? I heard this news from Qi Xiu Ze and the others. He even asked me to look after him when the time comes. He doesn't have the status of a scholar. That's because he came from overseas, not a local student of our Great Yan Dynasty."
"Hey, if you mean he came from overseas, then I really remember. My second sister told me before that the Qi family did know a guy from overseas. It seemed that the guy could also make fireworks, but she didn't tell me that he would be so... dazzling!" Qian Qi felt unbelievable. According to his sister's personality, if she really saw such a good-looking guy, there was no way she would not jump up and down and tell him.
Cheng Chiyan, He Fan, Ji Ning and Guo Shuwen were standing together. With just a glance, they could naturally notice Xu Yunfan among the teachers queuing up.
He Fan frowned, "Is this person Xu Yunfan?"
"From what they said, I guess they're right." Ji Ning narrowed her eyes unhappily and looked at Xu Yunfan.
As if he had sensed something, Xu Yunfan was very sensitive to malicious gazes. He turned his head and saw four rich young men gathered together. One of them frowned at him in displeasure. Xu Yunfan immediately raised his eyebrows and curled up the right corner of his mouth provocatively, looking so defiant.
Xu Yunfan looked at the four people who inexplicably showed ill will towards him and said lightly, "Stupid things."
There were many teachers who came to participate in the teacher competition. Xu Yunfan waited for half an hour and finally it was his turn.
The Hanlin examiners who were in charge of checking and verifying identities were both stunned when they saw Xu Yunfan. After repeatedly looking at the personal seal on the letter of introduction and the various letters issued by Qingfeng Academy, they looked up at Xu Yunfan again, checked several times, and then waved to let Xu Yunfan in.
In order to avoid suspicion, the invigilators and graders of the examinations were assigned to the Hanlin Academy, which was known for its talent cultivation and reputation and was known as the "Emperor's private institution."
As far as Xu Yunfan knew, in every dynasty, the Hanlin Academy was the group of scholars with the highest status in society. It could be said that the Imperial College was a base for cultivating talents. Then, the Hanlin Academy was where the elite intellectuals of a dynasty were concentrated. They had a superior social status and were not something that ordinary people could offend.
Xu Yunfan allowed the two to verify repeatedly without saying a word. After being allowed to pass, Xu Yunfan glanced at the wooden sign with the examination room seat number written on it and went to find his own examination room.
For the Master, everyone has his or her own strengths, but a Master competition requires them to be good at all things, so you can imagine how difficult it is.
Although they are teachers, once they sit in the examination room, their identities are no longer teachers, but examinees. It is impossible for them to not be nervous.
Outside the examination room sat several doctors and guards with swords on their waists, standing ready. After all the candidates were seated, a group of people came in to inspect the room. Even the candidates who were not nervous at first would be frightened by the scene.
The candidates sat quietly one by one. Some of them were probably too nervous and sweat appeared on their foreheads. The examiner in charge of the exam shook his head when he saw this.
This kind of mental quality is not good!
Zheng Ke was a little disappointed. After looking around, he couldn't help but take a few more glances at the young man who was sitting obediently in his seat, supporting his chin with one hand, yawning lazily, with tears in the corners of his eyes.
Who came in through the back door?
After the test papers were distributed one by one, Zheng Ke sat at the top. The other two invigilators, perhaps because they had some experience in light work, walked without making any noise. They patrolled back and forth in the examination room to prevent the candidates from cheating.
Thinking of his "miserable" experience before the Tongshi exam, Xu Yunfan's butt tightened, and he lazily glanced over the test paper. The first step of the exam was to check the test paper to make sure it was correct, without missing questions or unclear writing. The second step was naturally to answer the questions. As soon as he started answering the questions, Xu Yunfan changed his lazy and sleepy look and started writing quickly.
The first exam today was on arithmetic, a subject that was extremely difficult for many candidates.
Because it was an examination for the masters, the examiners in the Hanlin Academy who were responsible for setting the questions put 200% of their thoughts into each question.
In the examination room, some students who were not good at arithmetic were already sweating, and some had to stop halfway through writing to think about how to solve the problem.
There were hundreds of people participating in the teacher's competition this year. Zheng Ke took a quick look and thought to himself that the mathematics subject would probably be able to "eliminate" some of the candidates.
After taking a quick look around, Zheng Ke inevitably noticed the young teacher who came in through the "back door".
This person had already answered the sixth page. Zheng Ke remembered that the numbers on this page were extremely large, and even the examiner would have to spend some time fiddling with an abacus. But this person was amazing. After writing something, he put his hands on the table and moved them around quickly for a few times before continuing to write. In a short while, he answered the next page.
Zheng Ke noticed Xu Yunfan's actions, and the older candidate sitting next to him naturally noticed as well. He couldn't help but sneer, thinking, "Could this guy be a demigod possessed by fortune-telling? Does he really think he can figure out the correct answer with just a few pinches?"
What a wild idea!
As the chief examiner, Zheng Ke's status and authority are unmatched by other invigilators. Whenever his eyes fall on a candidate, the candidate is so scared that he dares not even raise his head.
There is no way. Although these candidates are teachers, they are essentially no different from students. The fear of examiners has become an instinct.
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