After dinner, Gao the blacksmith washed the dishes while Zhao Hao directed Gao Wu and Fang Wen to clean up the west wing which was full of debris. Then they set up the broken bed that Zhao Hao had slept on before and used it as Fang Wen's residence.

The west wing is connected to the kitchen, and it is quite small to begin with. Zhao Hao bought a lot of things these days, and piled them all against the wall. Now that the bed is propped up by the window, there is only one aisle left in the room, and the two of them can't get through.

"How about you and Brother Gao sleep in the same room?" Zhao Hao was a little reluctant, so he suggested. Relatively speaking, Gao Wu's east wing was much more spacious.

Fang Wen looked at Gao Wu, whose face was filled with ferocity, and shook his head like a rattle.

"This place is great. I always sleep on a dirt bed at home..."

"Uh..." Zhao Hao was stunned: "A bed made of clay?"

"I built it myself with mud bricks and put a bed board on top." Fang Wen explained in a low voice: "Many families on this street sleep on beds like this."

"Alas, the life of a military household is indeed too difficult." Zhao Hao sighed and asked Fang Wen, "Is your family also a military household?"

"No," Fang Wen shook his head and said faintly, "My family is a civilian household. We moved here because our family became dilapidated."

Zhao Hao thought to himself that Caijia Lane was indeed a gathering place for poor families, and there were even thieves and soldiers. No wonder the housing prices could not go up; no wonder he had won the title of the richest man in this street so easily.

He wanted to ask Fang Wen how his family became so dire, but he was worried about his father, so he stopped talking and let the two of them rest.

When I came out of the yard, Gao the blacksmith had already packed up the dishes and put them in a basket, ready to take them back to the front for use tomorrow.

Zhao Hao suddenly remembered something and called him, "Uncle, if you are free tonight, grind those scallops into powder for me and bring them back later."

"Yes, sir." After two days of running-in, Gao the blacksmith has completely got into the role and regards himself as a servant of the Zhao family.

~~

There was no one else in the main room, so Zhao Hao brewed a pot of tea with his newly bought purple clay teapot and brought it into the east room.

In the east room, Zhao Shouzheng was sitting at the table, biting the tip of a pen, thinking hard over a piece of white paper.

Zhao Hao gently put down the tea tray and asked, "Did father encounter any unpleasantness at the literary meeting?"

"Alas, Brother Fan has misled me."

Zhao Shouzheng sighed, and then told Zhao Hao what happened during the day.

Zhao Hao couldn't help but widen his eyes when he heard this and asked, "Father quotes classics all day long, but he can't write a poem?"

"Father also likes delicious food, but he can't cook..." Zhao Shouzheng spread his hands and said, "Actually, I can do it, but in that atmosphere, I felt that it was unwise to force it for the sake of face."

"Indeed..." Zhao Hao nodded in agreement, then said with tears in his eyes: "Father actually thought of this. Our hard times were not in vain!"

"Well, I also feel that I have made a lot of progress recently." Zhao Shouzheng smiled immediately after hearing this, and said in a mean way: "I really want to live a few more days like that..."

"Really?" Zhao Hao looked at him, put his hand on the mahogany desk and said, "Then I will have someone restore the house to its original state tomorrow..."

"Haha, I was just joking..." Zhao Shouzheng could only say awkwardly, "Who would miss such a good life? Do you think I'm stupid?"

“Hahaha…” The father and son laughed for a while, then Zhao Hao raised his eyebrows and said, “Those bastards actually dared to look down on their father. Just wait and see how I deal with them!”

"Son, that's a royal temple, don't use violence." Zhao Shouzheng waved his hands and said, "Besides, they are all people of status, we can't afford to offend them."

"Who said I was going to use force?" Zhao Hao raised his eyebrows and said, "Didn't they ask you to write a poem? I'll think about it tonight and write a few for you tomorrow morning!"

Although Zhao Shouzheng didn't agree with it, he was still very moved.

"My son, it's enough for you to have this thought. Don't bother yourself with it. It will affect your sleep."

Zhao Hao knew that he wouldn't believe it even if he told him, so he stopped talking and went back to his room.

Zhao Shouzheng continued to sit at the table and pick out sentences, but after a while, he fell asleep on the table and made the sound of a pig.

When he suddenly woke up, the roosters had crowed three times outside and it was already bright.

Zhao Shouzheng wiped the saliva from his mouth, stretched lazily and sighed: "Alas, I am really not cut out for poetry. Forget it, my studies are more important. I won't get into trouble..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw a pile of manuscript paper on the table.

Zhao Shouzheng picked them up and saw that there was a poem written on each piece of paper. The rather childish handwriting was from Zhao Hao.

Zhao Shouzheng was so moved that he didn't even bother to read the poem. He rushed out of the east room with the manuscript papers, ready to praise him first no matter how crappy the poem was.

But when he lifted the curtain of the west room, he saw Zhao Hao lying on the bed and snoring.

But Zhao Shouzheng was heartbroken, thinking that the child must not have slept all night, so he quickly lowered the door curtain and quietly returned to his room.

Then he had time to see how childish and cute his son's debut work was.

Who knew that I would be shocked when I saw it.

"this……"

“This, this…”

“This, this, this…”

Zhao Shouzheng was like a possessed man, flipping through the poems one by one, rubbing his eyes hard over and over again, and then sat down on the ground in disbelief.

He has been studying for nearly thirty years. Even if he does not have the talent for poetry, he has a certain level of appreciation. Naturally, he can see that these six articles are top-notch works that are rare in this dynasty!

The peak of poetry was in the Tang and Song dynasties. Although scholars in the Ming Dynasty loved to write poetry and lyrics, there were few outstanding works. Zhao Shouzheng felt that each of the six poems written by his son could represent the peak of Ming poetry...

Zhao Shouzheng was so excited that his face was full of tears, and he got up from the ground trembling. He wanted to rush in and hug his son, but he thought that he was catching up on his sleep and couldn't disturb him, so he had to suppress his excitement and quietly walked out of the main room.

In the yard, Gao Wu was boxing with great vigor. Seeing his master coming out with tears streaming down his face, he was so scared that he quickly stopped his moves and cast a questioning look at him.

"Quick, I'll burn incense and worship the gods!" Zhao Shouzheng excitedly babbled, "I want to thank my ancestors and God for giving me little Li Bai!"

But where is the altar in his house? Gao Wu was so embarrassed that he kept scratching his head. He finally remembered one and pointed to the kitchen.

"Only the Kitchen God..."

"I don't mind!"

Zhao Shouzheng didn't care about so much anymore. He immediately lit three incense sticks to the Kitchen God, kowtowed respectfully, and silently asked him to pass a message to other gods. Only then did he calm down his excitement a little.

~~

When Zhao Shouzheng came out of the kitchen, Fan Datong arrived.

"Wow, wow, wow..." Fan Datong shouted as he watched the house look brand new. "Did my uncle get his job back? Or did my brother find some gold hidden in the backyard?"

"Keep your voice down, don't disturb my son." Zhao Shouzheng glared at him and said proudly, "This is all earned by my son. What do you think? Am I awesome?"

"Ah, since it is the work of my nephew, what does it have to do with you, brother?" Fan Datong asked curiously.

"My son is not mine?" Zhao Shouzheng spat, put the copied poem into his sleeve and said, "I am a genius as a father to have given birth to such an outstanding son."

"Uh, okay..." Fan Datong smacked his lips. He had no children and could not understand this. He changed the subject and said, "Brother, there is a literary gathering today. I have confirmed that this is really a literary gathering, and it is located in the north of the city and the south of the city, so we will definitely not run into those people..."

Zhao Shouzheng shook his head decisively and said, "No, let's go to Baoen Temple!"

"Brother, Master Xuelang asked you to go again today because he wants to help you out. Don't let him down." Fan Datong was stunned. He thought, I don't even have time to hide, why are you coming forward, brother?

Zhao Shouzheng nodded confidently:

"Give me a papaya, and I will give you a jade pendant in return. I must go as my brother!"

ps. The second update is here, please vote for recommendation and comment. In addition, you can guess in the comment of this paragraph which song Lao Zhao will use, and there will be prizes for those who guess correctly~~~~