After the two men left, the coldness on Mei Ruochu's face faded away and he returned to his usual self. He smiled and asked the uneasy Cui Fei to sit down quickly.
The seats in the cafeteria are just benches, so there is no need to worry about Cui Fei not being able to sit down. But he had to sit alone, there was no room for anyone else around him.
After he sat down, Wei Shu came over with two plates of stir-fried dishes. Noticing that the atmosphere was not right, he looked at Wei Xi and asked.
Wei Xi shook his head slightly, indicating that it was not convenient to say at the moment.
Later, Cui Fei forced a smile and told Wei Xi what happened. He then bowed to Mei Ruochu and said, "Thank you very much, Brother Mei! But there's no need to hurt your relationship because of me in the future. I'm really fine. I'm used to it!"
Mei Ruochu looked at him disapprovingly, "How can anyone get used to enduring malicious intent? Don't you feel uncomfortable when they call you that?"
Cui Fei could no longer maintain the forced smile on his face.
Of course, he did not have such a strong psychological endurance, otherwise he would not have come to the provincial school less often - which scholar would not yearn for this place?
Being able to receive guidance from professors and instructors appointed by the court, and having the best papers from every exam have the chance to be presented to the provincial education commissioner, is an opportunity that many scholars dream of.
If Cui Fei couldn't bear the strange looks from other people, he would never let things go like he did before.
"Don't be afraid." Mei Ruochu said in a gentle voice, "You are not alone. Next time you encounter this situation..."
"That's because I wasn't here. Next time I encounter something like this, I will just press that person's face into the rice!" Wei Shu said.
In his early years, Wei Shu practiced riding and archery at home. He practiced less after entering Qingzhu. But after arriving in Cuiwei, he and Mu Erpang both liked archery, so Wei Shu picked it up again and practiced with Mu Erpang.
After practicing till now, Wei Shu's arm strength has become stronger and stronger, and the bow he uses is almost as good as that used by soldiers. Therefore, his body does not look much stronger than others, but with his arms full of tendons, pressing a weak scholar is just like pressing a chicken.
Wei Xi raised his eyebrows and looked at him with a smile, Are you serious?
"I just forgot to tell you that one of them is called Zhang Shuo. You should have an impression of him."
"It's him, forget it!" Wei Shu gave in quickly, because this Zhang Shuoren was as his name suggested, with a strong build, broad back and strong waist, and exceptionally tall. It was said that his family ran an escort agency and had practiced martial arts for generations. In his generation, there was an "oddball" like him who didn't want to wield swords and guns, but only wanted to write and paint.
Most intellectuals are thin, so such a burly and strong man is naturally impressive.
Wei Shu had practiced some martial arts to some extent. When he first entered the provincial school, he thought about making friends with Zhang Shuo because of his physique and discussing experiences in riding and archery.
However, after chatting a few times, he found that he didn't get along well with that person, so they didn't become friends.
If other literati are like chicks in front of Wei Shu, then in front of Zhang Shuo, everyone here is a chick.
Even if he risked his dignity and called for Mei Ruochu and Wei Xi, three against one might still not be a match for the opponent who had been practicing martial arts since childhood.
With his interruption, Cui Fei couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Wei Shu's ears turned red, "What are you laughing at? We are scholars, and we use our mouths instead of our fists!"
"Brother Wei is right!" Cui Fei held back his laughter and did not forget to support Wei Shu. After laughing, he could not help but sigh and explained: "Actually, Zhang Shuo was not like this earlier."
It turned out that Zhang Shuo entered the provincial academy earlier than Cui Fei. Because of his different body shape from ordinary people, he was the one who was laughed at by his classmates in the provincial academy before Cui Fei came.
Seeing that he was alone and no one cared about him, Cui Fei became his companion for a while.
No one knew when Zhang Shuo started to join others in making fun of Cui Fei.
It was also because of this that he became part of the majority and no longer was excluded.
I didn't expect there was such a reason. After hearing this, Wei Shu and Wei Xi looked at each other and felt a little sad.
People are really different from each other. Mei Ruochu has been with them for a long time and mentioned to them some things that happened in Hongle. Although he spoke nonchalantly and seemed not to care at all, the situation before was indeed somewhat similar to Cui Fei's current situation.
After being caught in the rain, he tried his best to be the person holding the umbrella.
People like Zhang Shuo, who have been caught in the rain, will not hesitate to throw dirty water on others - as long as others are dirtier than him, he will not be the one who is laughed at.
But fortunately, they will not leave Cui Fei alone in the future.
Cui Fei picked up the previous words and continued: "If I encounter such a thing again in the future, I don't need Brother Mei and Brother Wei to help me. I should fight back on my own."
He thought there was nothing to be afraid of Zhang Shuo and the others! Wasn't it because Mei Ruochu scared him away with just a look and a few words?
Wei Shu and the others all liked to hear this. They could help Cui Fei for a while, but not for a lifetime. In the end, he had to stand up on his own and dare to fight. This was the long-term solution!
After lunch, Cui Fei did not leave the school and attended classes as usual.
Although the instructors don't keep an eye on students like the teachers in the academy, they don't really not care about them, especially for a special student like Cui Fei, who usually takes leave and is not seen, but always passes the annual examinations and has stayed in the prefectural school for several years. In fact, they already have a place in their hearts for this student.
When everyone was studying, the instructor stood next to Cui Fei, and without asking him to stand up, he asked him to sit down and talk, and then asked him: "Why didn't you come a few days ago?"
Cui Fei must have asked for leave if he didn't come, just like the previous time, he asked for "sick leave". With his body shape, it is indeed easy for him to feel uncomfortable.
The instructor came to ask specifically, so naturally he didn't believe in the so-called sick leave.
Cui Fei's face turned red with shame.
In front of the master, Wei Shu, Wei Xi and Mei Ruochu could not help him out.
After a while, he honestly admitted his mistake and said, "I won't take leave casually in the future."
The instructor nodded and turned away.
After school was over, Cui Fei followed them back to Cuiwei.
Chen Cui and Mu Erpang were not surprised to see him, as they had known he was coming, and now he was several days later than they expected.
And recently, Chen Cui was in charge of the meals in the academy.
Ever since Zhou left, Shen Cui started looking for helpers.
I still went to the dental shop mentioned earlier and paid them according to the market price. I didn't require them to live in the house. I just asked them to work during the day, cook, clean, and wash everyone's coats.
This kind of housework is something women are used to doing on a daily basis nowadays. It is not considered heavy work and if you are quick and nimble, you can finish it before the children come back from school, that is, before 5 pm, and then go home.
Chen Cui originally thought that one or two days would be enough to hire a suitable helper, so she waited until Zhou left before starting to look for help. However, several days had passed and there was still no movement from the agent.
Later, she realized that her house was a well-known "haunted house" in the city, and many people were superstitious about it.
Almost all women who can do these jobs have families to support. Who would dare to gamble the safety of their family to earn this money?
Unless the wages are many times higher than the market price.
Chen Cui was reluctant to give it up, as the academy's current income was still the twenty taels of living expenses given by the two brothers of the Wei family every month. Although the three of them were not in the academy during the day, there was still an extra fifty taels of rent a year!
Chen Cui symbolically offered a salary 20% higher than the market price, thinking that she could wait and see if she found someone brave enough.
During this period, the system volunteered to work for her for free.
But his 'appearance fee' is at least 100 points a day, and Shen Cui saw last time that he was an idiot at housework.
So she didn't give the system the opportunity to show her loyalty. She took over by herself, cooking some simple meals, and occasionally went to a small restaurant outside in the evening to cook a few dishes to improve everyone's meals.
Moreover, it was originally Chen Cui's task to cook dinner that day - during the day, the three teenagers were in the prefectural school, and many tasks that required the joint participation of "everyone in the academy" were not released in the morning as usual by the system, but were released when they were about to return.
"Master, you don't have to prepare dinner for me." Mei Ruochu said after returning, "I ate too much at noon."
He didn't know how big Cui Fei's appetite was at noon, so he asked Wei Shu to buy a few more dishes.
Later on, Cui Fei did eat more than others, but not much more, and a lot of food was left over.
It was impossible for them to bring lunch boxes with them to the provincial school, as they would have to throw away the food if they couldn't finish it.
Mei Ruochu also came from a poor family and couldn't stand waste, especially since he was the one who brought up the topic, so he ate a lot more than usual and didn't feel hungry at this moment.
Shen Cui said, "Then I'll leave some for you to eat when you're hungry at night."
Mei Ruochu nodded in agreement and went straight to the classroom to start doing his homework.
Shen Cui also took the opportunity to let Cui Fei temporarily replace Mei Ruochu's student quota, and checked his values while cooking.
In the past, when Shen Cui looked at other people, she would first look at their qualifications, but when she looked at Cui Fei, she would first look at their physique.
Cui Fei, who is 176cm tall, weighs 160kg!
His physical condition was worse than Shen Cui had thought, not even up to the passing line, and even worse than when Wei Xi first arrived.
Moreover, the status column after the physical fitness value clearly states that in addition to heart disease, there are also joint diseases, dyslipidemia, and fatty liver.
The only good news is that he doesn't have any hidden endocrine diseases or anything like that. All his illnesses, except for heart disease, are caused by obesity.
So her initial guess was correct. Cui Fei couldn't stop gaining weight because of the so-called "setting". Being fat caused him a series of health problems.
Shen Cui's men kept asking the system: [Can the system's medicine cure his heart disease? 】
After all, in Shen Cui's understanding, even in modern times when medicine is advanced, heart disease still requires surgical treatment, and conservative treatment is difficult to eradicate.
The front system may not be sure, after all, there are too many diseases that can be matched with the word "heart disease".
Now that Cui Fei has become a training target of the system, he can collect data thoroughly and quickly replied: [Yes, the heart disease of the trainee is myocardial insufficiency, which is not particularly serious. It can be cured by taking the same medicine as the cough medicine mentioned above for one month. During this period, he maintains the status of a training target and stays in the academy, and it can be eradicated. 】
Shen Cui let out a long breath. The food produced by the system could block the "setting" of the plane laws on Cui Fei, and the medicine produced by the system could cure his heart disease.
It is now urgent to make Cui Fei his own student. After all, this unsatisfactory physique is like a time bomb that may explode at any time.
But although Cui Fei was eighteen years old, his mind was immature and he was sick. In order for him to stay in Cuiwei, Cui Wuniang had to agree.
So during the meal, Chen Cui did not mention this matter, and planned to find an opportunity to talk to Cui Wuniang in person.
…………
Later that day, Cui Wuniang was looking at the account books in the study.
Cui Fei peeked in at the door several times.
He thought he was hiding, but his huge body had already betrayed him. It was just that Cui Wuniang was too lazy to speak.
Until he raised his hand to knock on the door again but didn't knock, Cui Wu Niang couldn't bear it anymore, so she closed the account book and told him to come in quickly.
Cui Fei then entered the room and said, "I know my sister doesn't like to be disturbed when she's looking at the account books."
Cui Wuniang said with a smile: "You know I don't like to disturb you, but you still come?"
Cui Fei smiled twice to apologize. Cui Wu Niang didn't want him to stand for too long, so she asked him to sit over there. She also pushed the small stew pot in her hand towards him and said, "Grandpa sent me some snow fungus stewed with red dates and milk. I didn't put sugar in it. It's light and nourishing. Have some."
Although Cui Wuniang was the head of the family, the elders were all there, so Cui Fei could not have any snacks except the main meals.
He shook his head and said no, "I've eaten in Cuiwei! I don't feel hungry at all now!"
It is indeed strange. Cui Fei doesn’t eat a lot at each meal, but he gets hungry very quickly. When he was young, he often cried because of hunger.
Previous events had proven that no matter how little he ate, he would not necessarily lose much weight. Cui Wu Niang was reluctant to let him work so hard, so she would secretly give him some snacks that would not make him fat between meals.
It was almost an hour since dinner, but he didn't feel hungry at all.
Seeing that he had been smiling since he entered the house, Cui Wuniang's heroic face also showed a gentle smile, "Is Cuiwei's food delicious?"
Cui Fei did not answer directly, but asked her with a smile: "What is considered 'delicious'?"
"Are you just joking with me?" Cui Wuniang smiled and patted him. "'Delicious' means it has good color, aroma and taste, and it makes people feel happy after eating it."
I thought of the scene when I had dinner in Cuiwei today - there were five dishes in total, one roasted spring chicken, one steamed grass carp, one scrambled egg with cabbage, one home-cooked tofu, and one stir-fried seasonal vegetables.
Chen Cui even apologized to him, saying that she didn't know he was coming today, and that at that time, most of the vendors outside had closed their doors, so there was no way to buy anything, so the food was simple.
Cui Fei hurriedly said that it was okay. To show that he really didn't care, he repeatedly praised the roast chicken and grass carp, which were only average in appearance, aroma and taste, while eating.
She kept praising Mu Erpang until he couldn't help laughing. He was completely confused and asked in confusion, only to find out that the roast chicken and grass carp were bought from restaurants outside, while the watery and tasteless scrambled eggs with cabbage, the shattered and ugly homemade tofu, and the seasonal vegetables that were fried into a dark green color and were too old to be chewed were all made by Chen Cui.
Cui Fei was so embarrassed by the excessive praise that he wanted to hide under the table.
But fortunately, Shen Cui didn't mind. She picked up the steamed bun and blocked Mu Erpang's grinning mouth, and told Cui Fei to ignore him.
So Cui Fei still smiled, "The food at Cuiwei may not be very good in terms of 'color, aroma and taste', but if we talk about the feeling of happiness after eating, then the meal I had at Cuiwei today is the most delicious meal I have ever had!"
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