You cultivate immortality, I cultivate merit

Chapter 347 The Price of Pen, Ink, Paper and Inkstone

It was already noon when the carriage arrived at Yangzhou Prefecture.

Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan entered the city gate. After looking at each other, they decided to go to the vegetarian restaurant first.

At the entrance of the vegetarian restaurant, they met Shi Tou who was delivering food. The two looked at each other, and then Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan moved aside.

Shitou smiled and said, "Brothers, please come and have dinner."

His face looked very enthusiastic, but his eyes were very peaceful.

Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan nodded lightly at him, and they went straight into the vegetarian restaurant.

After they sat down and ordered the food, Shi Xiaoliu whispered to Shi Zelan: "Shitou doesn't recognize us anymore."

There was a hint of disappointment in his tone. Shi Zelan looked at him and said, "If he could recognize us, we would have to reflect on our mistakes, right?"

Shi Xiaoliu nodded silently. This time when they came out, their faces had changed.

They had their meal at the vegetarian restaurant and took away the food to be packed out.

When they walked outside, Shi Xiaoliu said to Shi Zelan with some admiration: "The guests in the vegetarian restaurant really don't like to gossip."

Shi Zelan looked at him and smiled: "We didn't say much while we were having dinner."

"If we go to the teahouse at this time, it will probably be past Mr. Novel's storytelling time."

Shi Zelan smiled and said, "So are you going? Or have you decided not to go?"

Snowflakes were floating in the sky again. Shi Xiaoliu reached out to catch them, then turned to Shi Zelan and said, "Of course I went.

This kind of weather is not suitable for strolling on the street. "

The two men looked at the people taking shelter from the snow on the street, and they followed them to the eaves of the shops on the street.

As we walked south, we heard someone shouting, "Go quickly, the government has issued a notice."

Shi Xiaoliu immediately said to Shi Zelan: "Let's go read the government's announcement first."

They followed the crowd and after a while, they finally reached the place where the government posted the notice.
Some officers were already standing beside the bulletin board, following the people who came to read the bulletin and explaining its contents.

Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan squeezed in to read the notice and found that the officer's explanation was more detailed.

"It's not easy to repair the road in such heavy snow."

"Fortunately it's just hard labor."

“In the spring, the government arranged corvée labor.

My eldest brother went, and this time it is my second brother’s turn.”

"Let's disperse. We are repairing a mountain road this time. Those who are going to work should be careful of avalanches."

Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan followed the people who left and heard them muttering, "It must be because of the order from above that the prefect is doing the labor service at this time.

The previous governor and the current governor are both officials who are willing to sympathize with the people below them."

Shi Xiaoliu turned around to look at the expression on Shi Zelan's face and reminded her, "Sister Lan, don't feel sorry for the laborers."

Shi Zelan glared at him secretly: "I'm not stupid."

Shi Xiaoliu looked at her and sighed, "You have to keep your word and stop being soft-hearted and helping me."

"knew.

Xiaoliu, I told you, I don’t care about the life and death of strangers, really? "

"hehe."

After hearing what Shi Zelan said, Shi Xiaoliu just laughed at her twice.

They went to the Nancheng Teahouse, ordered a pot of tea, and listened to the guests chatting while drinking tea.

"The stories Mr. Novel Book has told lately are not as amazing as before."

"He was a child who didn't know much before, but now he finally understands some things." "Yes, when I listened to him tell stories before, I was sweating as I listened to him finish the story."

"What are you afraid of? He's not making it up. These are all real things that happened."

"You still say that, but don't you think about that scholar who will take the exam next year? His classmates said he has a good chance of passing the exam."

"Mr. Xiaoshu didn't say anything bad about their family, so he won't mind, right?"

"You, you are old, but you still say whatever you want outside."

"I'll come a few more times. If the stories told by Mr. Novel Book are too ordinary, I might as well listen to his master's storytelling."

"Then you have to come early. His master is very busy now. I heard that some people are lining up to become his apprentice."

"Isn't his master accepting a new disciple?"

"I heard that he didn't accept any disciples. He said that he would wait until Mr. Xiaoshu graduated, and then he would accept any disciples."

Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan exchanged glances and continued to listen to everyone talking.

"The government has issued a notice about arranging forced labor. Has anyone of you seen it?"

Someone came into the teahouse from outside, and immediately someone stood up and said, "Hasn't someone already performed corvée labor once in the first half of the year?"

"It's not corvée, this time it's forced labor."

The man sat down slowly: "It's hard to work in this weather."

"You have so many brothers in your family, you can take turns to do the labor service."

“Pah, I have many brothers and many children in my family.

If someone gets frozen while working in the snow, who will support so many children at home?"

Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan sat in the teahouse for a while and found that everyone was talking about the same topic.

The two did not want to stay in the teahouse any longer, so they left the teahouse and Shi Zelan said to Shi Xiaoliu, "Let's go to the bookstore."

"Okay, I want to buy a set of pens, inkstones, and paper. What do you want?"

Shi Zelan thought for a moment and said, "I also want a set of writing brushes, inkstones, and paper."

The two went to the bookstore, looked at some books, and looked at the prices of pens, ink, paper, and inkstones.

Shi Xiaoliu thought about it and said to his boss, "We want two sets of writing brushes, inkstones, and paper of decent quality at a reasonable price."

The boss looked back and forth at the clothes on Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan, sighed lightly, searched inside the counter, and took out two sets of pens, ink, paper and inkstone for Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan.

"Three taels of silver."

The boss quoted a price, and when Shi Xiaoliu saw Shi Zelan nod, he counted out the silver and gave it to the boss directly.

He took the two sets of writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, took a deep breath, and asked the host again: "My brother and I are interested in medicinal herbs. I would like to ask if there are any books on this subject?"

The owner shook his head and said, "No, you don't need to go to other bookstores to ask for information, they won't have such a book.

If you are really interested, go to the clinic and try to see if you can be an apprentice."

Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan thanked their host for the advice and they both walked out.

The boss looked at their backs and shook his head, then sat down silently to tidy up the things on the counter.

Shi Xiaoliu and Shi Zelan left the city and rented a carriage directly.

On the way, Shi Xiaoliu said to Shi Zelan: "It's really not easy for a farmer's family to support a scholar."

Shi Zelan looked at him and said, "Yes."

Shi Xiaoliu was silent for a long time, then he turned to Shi Zelan and said, "Sister Lan, do you think Shijiazhuang can't provide education for all the members of the clan?"

“I was too young when I left.”

Shi Xiaoliu thought about it seriously and said, "Yes. I remember that we can all read, even the girls can read."