Hearing his father's voice, Zhao Hao hurried out of the house to greet him.

The courtyard was much brighter than the house. Zhao Shouzheng had nothing in his hands, but two men were following him, carrying large and small bags.

"Just put it here." Zhao Shouzheng greeted them, put the bedding, washbasin, rice and flour and other supplies in the main room, paid the money, and sent the two away.

Zhao Hao finally found two candles from a pile of stuff, and then he didn't know what to do.

"No, right? I'm not bragging, but I can still light a fire."

Zhao Shouzheng smiled triumphantly and took out a paper package from his sleeve. He unfolded the package and found a wooden stick as long as a tiger's mouth.

Zhao Shouzheng was seen holding a wooden stick in his mouth, and then he took out the flint, tinder and flint like a magic trick. Then he took a small piece of tinder, pressed it on the dent of the flint, and rubbed the flint with the flint several times, and the sparks went into the tinder.

Zhao Hao saw that the tinder was lit, but it only turned into a red ball, without any flame. It was impossible to light the candle.

But the next scene surprised him greatly. He saw Zhao Shouzheng biting the wooden stick with his teeth, approaching the tinder and blowing gently. The red light suddenly became brighter, and then a ball of flame suddenly ignited on the tip of the wooden stick.

"It's like, it's like a lit match." Zhao Hao thought in amazement.

Zhao Shouzheng put down the flint, took the burning wooden stick from his mouth, and lit two candles at the same time. The main room suddenly became bright.

Seeing that Zhao Hao was still staring at the wooden stick, he smiled proudly and said, "This thing is called 'Qu Deng Er', and in the north it is also called 'Fa Zhu'. It can turn Yin fire into Yang fire, which is very convenient."

Zhao Hao picked up a "light" and examined it carefully under the candlelight. He saw something green wrapped around one end of the stick. He brought it close to his nose and smelled a pungent sulfur smell.

"Isn't this a match?" Zhao Hao was surprised and brought the wooden stick close to the candlelight. He saw the green thing was instantly ignited and emitted a bright light. "Sure enough..."

"It turns out that the Ming Dynasty already has primitive matches. It seems that with further improvements, it can produce real matches." Zhao Hao now wonders whether he can use everything he sees to make money.

While he was daydreaming, he suddenly smelled an alluring aroma. When he came to his senses, he saw his father bringing out dishes from a food box and placing them on the rickety square table.

Zhao Hao then remembered that he had only eaten two palm-sized crispy sesame cakes in a day. He was busy just now and didn't feel hungry, but now that he smelled the fragrance, he couldn't care about anything else.

"Son, you must be starving." Zhao Shouzheng tore off a fat chicken leg and stuffed it into Zhao Hao's mouth. "Why are you still standing there? Eat."

"Woo woo..." Zhao Hao nodded repeatedly. While eating with relish, he signaled Zhao Shouzheng to start eating as well.

Zhao Shouzheng naturally wasn't going to be polite. After the square table was filled with dishes and bowls, he first took a few slices of Liuhe pig's head to fill his stomach, and then took out a wine jug from his arms.

Pouring a glass of wine that was still warm from body temperature, Zhao Shouzheng picked up the white porcelain wine cup and took a sip. He immediately narrowed his eyes, looking intoxicated.

After a long while, he finally opened his eyes and chanted leisurely and contentedly: "The courtyard is free of dust, and the empty room is full of leisure. After being caged for a long time, I can finally return to nature..."

Zhao Shouzheng said to Zhao Hao happily, "Son, this house where you can see the starry sky when you look up is really interesting."

"I just hope it won't rain recently..." Zhao Hao muttered, rolling his eyes secretly, thinking if I hadn't worked hard for most of the day, would you have been able to have a clean courtyard and a quiet room?

You don't even have a place to step!

He was mainly depressed because Mr. Zhao ignored the results of his work and didn't even praise him...

Unfortunately, Zhao Shouzheng was a young man who didn't care about worldly affairs. He had no interest in housework and naturally didn't know how tiring this housework was.

In view of the delicious food on the table, Zhao Hao didn't bother with him. The father and son ate their fill and happily had their first full meal in days.

After eating and drinking, they lay down on the bed, feet to feet, each holding their stomach.

"Ouch, I'm so stuffed..." Zhao Hao asked casually while picking his teeth with a toothpick, "This meal is not cheap, is it?"

"Not bad, four cents of silver..." Zhao Shouzheng, who was also picking his teeth, answered casually.

"What? Four coins!" Zhao Hao sat up suddenly after hearing that, staring at Zhao Shouzheng with wide eyes. "A meal costs this much?!"

Today he went to buy two brooms, a bucket, a wooden basin, and a few rags, spending a total of only thirty coins. Four coins of silver is four hundred coins, enough for the city poor like them to spend for a month.

If it were in the countryside, a farmer with land would not be able to spend that much money in half a year.

"Uh, it seems a bit too much..." Zhao Shouzheng scratched his head embarrassedly and said, "Isn't today a celebration of moving to a new house? Just spend less in the future."

"Okay..." Zhao Hao lay back on the bed like a deflated ball, wondering if he could take the financial power from Zhao Shouzheng.

Before they had income, the father and son could only carefully calculate the ten taels of silver... Now it should be less than ten taels of silver. Mr. Zhao was used to spending lavishly. If he was allowed to spend, he might not be able to make it through a month.

But Zhao Hao also knew that this was an era where fathers were the leaders of their children. If a 14 or 15-year-old boy like him rashly asked his father for financial power, he would definitely be beaten with a stick if he were in another family. Even though Zhao Shouzheng doted on him, he was still worried about whether it would hurt his father's self-esteem...

After thinking it over and over for a long time, he decided to give it a try.

"Father……"

"Well, what's wrong with my son?" Zhao Shouzheng was almost fainting, but he forced himself to open his eyes when he heard this.

"Father, start studying hard from tomorrow on." Zhao Hao planned to take advantage of his confused state and win in the chaos.

"Well, don't worry, what your father said will naturally count." Zhao Shouzheng nodded.

"What's the second half of 'focus on reading the books of sages'?" Zhao Hao asked casually.

"It's the first half of the sentence, turn a deaf ear to what's happening outside the window." Zhao Shouzheng sighed and said, "My son needs to read more."

"Father has also seen that his son is not cut out for study." Zhao Hao then took the opportunity to persuade him, "Why don't you let me handle all the household chores from now on?"

"That's too much..." Zhao Shouzheng subconsciously wanted to nod his head after hearing this, but after a pause, he shook his head and said, "No, my son is mature at a young age, but how can your father bear to see you shoulder the burden of the family at such a young age?"

"As long as my father passes the imperial examination, I will be willing to work like a slave for him." Zhao Hao patted his chest and said without any affectation.

"As a father, I am not bragging. When it comes to the ups and downs of the exams..." Zhao Shouzheng was about to smile bitterly and belittle himself.

"If I say you can pass the exam, then you can pass it!" Zhao Hao interrupted Zhao Shouzheng and patted his chest loudly.

"Oh, son, your father..." Seeing that he had such a high image in his son's heart, Zhao Shouzheng couldn't help but feel ashamed. But how could he bear to disappoint his son again? He swallowed the inferiority complex that had accumulated over the years, and patted his chest loudly, saying: "Your father will pass the imperial examination for you and let you enjoy wealth and honor again!"

Zhao Hao was so moved that he clapped his hands enthusiastically for a while. Fang Tu showed his true intention and changed the subject: "Then it's settled. Dad will study and I will take care of the accounts!"

"Okay, it's a deal!" In the exciting atmosphere, Zhao Shouzheng couldn't help but nodded heavily and high-fived his son to swear.

After finishing the task, he felt that something seemed to be wrong... Didn't they tell him to take the imperial examination? Why did he hand over the financial power without any clear idea?

ps. I am very grateful to the first leader of this book, Daoyou 'Fu Daoyou', for his kind help. I will add more chapters to express my gratitude. Please vote for recommendation and comment on the chapter~~~