Chapter 77 Huaining County
The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is almost dusk.
At dusk, the city walls of Huaining County were affectionately enveloped by the sunset, sinking into her arms and dyed a rose red.
Facing the setting sun, a young man with a dusty life walked up, casting a long shadow under the afterglow of the setting sun. The young man was carrying his luggage, his body was covered with dust, and his green shirt was stained with grass clippings. He looked up at the nearby Huaining County, and a smile appeared on his honest face.
Hurrying quickly, we even caught a ride on a kind-hearted uncle’s carriage on the way, and finally arrived at Huaining County before sunset.
This young man was none other than Zhu Pingan, who was going to the county town to take the exam. Zhu Pingan escaped from the girl's hands and rushed straight to the county town. On the way, he met a salesman who had been to Xiahe Village to hawk in the alleys. He spent two cents to ask him to bring a baby to his family. Apart from the message that he is fine, it can be said that Zhu Pingan has never stopped.
The world is at peace and all directions are peaceful. At this time, Huaining County has people coming and going, cars like water, and horses like dragons. The level of prosperity in Huaining County cannot be compared with that of the backing town.
Zhu Pingan blended into the crowd and slowly walked towards the city gate.
You have to pay a penny to enter the city, but you don’t need to pay when leaving the city. When it was Zhu Pingan’s turn, the soldiers guarding the city saw that Zhu Pingan was wearing a green shirt and robe, and asked Zhu Pingan what he was doing in the city. Zhu Pingan replied Take the boy test. When the soldiers guarding the city heard that Zhu Pingan was a scholar who had participated in the boy examination, they immediately became much more respectful. Their attitude was completely different from the way they treated the passers-by in front of them. They let Zhu Pingan into the city without even collecting the entrance fee.
Everything is inferior, only reading is superior. Zhu Pingan, who walked into the county town with his luggage on his back, once again felt the connotation of this era represented by this sentence.
Wandering on the streets of Huaining County, you will feel the impression of ancient times. This is a real, prosperous ancient county life, no worse than a modern city. They have two styles, one is reinforced concrete modernization, and the other is ancient style ink painting.
At dusk, the city is still lively and bustling. The streets and alleys paved with bluestone roads, the thriving shops on both sides, and the fashionable and clean clothing of the pedestrians coming and going perfectly demonstrate the wealth of the people living here.
Zhu Ping'an was walking here with his luggage on his back, and he really felt like a country bumpkin entering the city.
The top priority now is to find an inn, settle down, have a hot meal, take a hot bath, change clothes, and finally have a good sleep.
Zhu Pingan walked towards an inn called Yue Ke Lai with his luggage on his back. The inn was a three-story building with many diners in the lobby. Outside the inn, a cleanly dressed waiter had a white piece of white draped on his shoulders. When I saw Zhu Pingan coming, the waiter greeted me warmly.
"This guest officer, do you want to stay in a hotel or stay in a hotel?"
"I want to stay in a hotel." Zhu Pingan replied with a naive smile.
"Okay, sir, please come inside." The waiter stretched out his hand and bent down to guide Zhu Ping'an into the store. When he walked into the store, the waiter shouted loudly, "Shopkeeper, this young man wants to stay in the store."
"It's a coincidence, Mr., that our hotel only has the last low-class guest room left."
Soon, a wide and fat shopkeeper came over. A fat middle-aged man in his teens, with a shiny face.
"Can you please show me the guest room?" Zhu Ping'an heard from the shopkeeper that it was the worst first-class guest room. He couldn't help but think of the toilet in Stephen Chow's movie he had seen in his previous life. Room.
"Of course, young master, come with me." The shopkeeper is easy to talk to.
Zhu Ping'an followed the shopkeeper and walked into the backyard. It was almost a room in the innermost corner. When he opened the door, he saw that the room only had the most basic bed and table. Although it was very clean, the lighting was not good. Okay, deliberately reading here will hurt your eyes. Zhu Pingan is not very satisfied with this house.
"The number of students coming to the city to take exams has increased day by day recently. This room is also the last one in our hotel. All the other inns in the city are almost overcrowded." Seeing that Zhu Pingan was not satisfied with the house, the shopkeeper said reminded.
"How much does this house cost? How many days do you want to live there? One or two months?" Zhu Ping'an asked the price casually.
"One hundred cents a day for a short stay, and two taels and five cents a month for a long stay." The shopkeeper extended his palm and gestured.
Ahem, a room like this is still so expensive, almost ten times more expensive than in Kaoshan Town. Although Zhu Ping'an made a small fortune today, he was not willing to be taken advantage of. My father had to drive hard for a day to earn just this amount of money. The rent for this day was enough for my mother to sew her purse for two days, so that was no good.
"Sorry for disturbing you." Zhu Ping'an apologized with his hands.
"It doesn't matter, young master, but you can go see another house. If you can't find a place to live, my shop door will be open for young master, hahaha, of course, if this room is still available." The shopkeeper smiled nonchalantly.
"Thank you, uncle." Zhu Pingan thanked him and left Yuelai Inn with his luggage on his back.
Zhu Ping'an also met many scholars wearing long gowns while walking on the street. It was freezing cold, and many of these people were holding folding fans, giving them a sense of pointing out the country.
Next, Zhu Pingan also asked three inns, varying in size. The smaller rooms are slightly cheaper, with a lower-class room costing 90 cents a day and renting for 20,000 yuan a month. The larger rooms have the same price as the Yuelai Inn, and the other one is more expensive than the Yuelai Inn. Up some. However, unfortunately, all the inns were full, and only the more expensive inn had a few rooms left, but the shopkeeper refused to lower the price.
It seems that this is indeed the case in the market, and it should be the same in other inns. Zhu Ping'an is about to return to Yuelai Inn and rent out the second-class guest room. At worst, he can just read outside.
“Is there a pig ahead?”
At this time, a familiar call came.
Zhu Pingan turned his head and saw his uncle, who had changed into new clothes, and several other students walking towards this side.
Uncle Zhu Shouren and several other students felt much more balanced when they saw that Zhu Ping'an's body was covered in dust, his green shirt was covered with grass clippings, and his forehead was still red.
"Uncle, I still have some money left, so I'll give it to you." Zhu Ping'an said this first when he saw his uncle Zhu Shouren approaching.
Then I saw my uncle Zhu Shouren as if he had swallowed a fly. (End of this chapter)