Linxia

Chapter 119, Judgment

The grain hoarding turmoil in Huai'an Prefecture City gradually calmed down after Prefect Pu allocated part of the grain from the Changping Warehouse to stabilize the grain price and also summoned grain merchants in the city to purchase and allocate grain from other places.

Afterwards, news of drought in the north came from time to time. As the news became more frequent and each household in the city had already stockpiled some food, the people of Huai'an gradually became desensitized and no longer panicked like a frightened bird.

The Jianghuai area was still prosperous and peaceful. From time to time, you would hear about how lavish a banquet was held. When the family took turns to go to the teahouse to listen to opera, it was always crowded. Compared with the northern parts where disaster signs were reported, the Huai'an city seemed like another world.

There have also been changes in Xuan Mo Zhai these days.

The wife of Liu Hongru, the second son of Manager Liu, was pregnant, so Old Lady Liu went to take care of her. Naturally, the cooking matters in the store were handed over to the eldest daughter-in-law, Liu Ding, so Liu Hongwen also came often.

Shopkeeper Liu is old and lacks energy. Also, because his second daughter-in-law is pregnant, he followed Old Lady Liu to live with his second son. Xuan Mo Zhai is gradually handed over to his eldest son Liu Hongwen. After being evaluated by the teachers of the academy, Liu Hongwen's writing is not yet mature enough and is far from being a juren. As he is getting older, even though he is somewhat unwilling, he begins to take over Xuan Mo Zhai and gradually puts his focus on the store.

This afternoon.

Fang Lin was keeping accounts at the counter; Huang Di saw a customer off; Chai Yiwei took books and put them on the shelves to fill them with sold books.

The table where Manager Liu used to sit was now the table where Liu Hongwen wrote his eight-part essays - he didn't say that he had completely given up on the imperial examinations, but he didn't spend all his energy on it like before, and instead used his time to perfect his essays.

After a while, he finished writing an article, blew the ink dry, admired himself for a moment, looked up and saw that no one was in the store, waved Fang Lin, Huang Di, and Chai Yiwei to have some tea, and asked: "What do you think of my article?"

"The handwriting is neat and the paper is tidy, but I can't judge whether the article is good or not." Fang Lin said.

"Great! Look at the calligraphy, look at the literary talent... Could it be that it's the Wenquxing star from heaven that has come down to earth? I say, Shopkeeper Xiao Liu, you will definitely pass the imperial examination in the future." Huang Di was very obedient and spoke without hesitation.

"I don't understand it either, I'm just looking at the words, it seems that I'm a little worse than Brother Fang." These are what Chai Yiwei said.

"Ha ha!"

When Liu Hongwen heard what the three people said, he smiled and shook his head: You three, I also have my evaluation of you three, do you want to listen?

He had said so much, the three of them would not lose interest and all said "I want to listen".

"it is good."

Liu Hongwen said one by one: "Fang Lin, you are a little smart, such as learning calligraphy, and you are very good at dealing with people, but you are a little distant and indifferent, and you can't be trusted when things happen; Huang Di's strength lies in his mouth, and he is a little stingy and likes to take advantage of others; Chai Yiwei, you are very kind, but you are a little inflexible..."

He drank tea and commented on the three people, a bit like Cao Cao discussing heroes over wine, saying "None of the world's heroes are worthy of being called heroes", but also with a hint of self-conceit and arrogance as if "I am worthy of being called a hero in the world".

After hearing this comment, Chai Yiwei scratched his head in embarrassment.

Fang Lin smiled but didn't say anything. He made eye contact with Huang Di and shook his head slightly, seeing through it but not saying it out loud.

Yes, he did not comment on Liu Hongwen's evaluation.

It’s hard to say for myself, so I’ll just talk about Huang Di and Chai Yiwei.

'Huang Di is a bit stingy and likes to take advantage of others, but he never takes advantage of others. He is also not shameless and does not know his limits, which makes people annoyed.'

For example, didn’t Huang Di stop asking for the five cents of silver that Cheng Shiliang borrowed after asking for it several times?

"You only see Huang Di's merits, and when it comes to talking, you are even more... shallow. Shouldn't you be filial and loyal?"

Fang Lin knew that Huang Di was stingy because he was saving money for his mother's illness, spending every penny carefully, day after day for many years. How many people can do this? Not to mention taking care of their own affairs and not dragging down Madam Qiu.

This kind of behavior is better than 90% of the people in the world. 'What about Chai Yiwei? He is kind but inflexible? His stepmother wanted to ask for the cotton-padded jacket, but Chai Yiwei wore it for a whole winter and was unable to take it away. When the stepmother wanted all her wages, she also asked me for help... Is this inflexible? '

All we can say is that Liu Hongwen is a person who only knows the surface and not the inside, and is superficial in appearance.

Of course, Fang Lin would not argue with the other party about winning or losing. Why bother?
Huang Di looked at Liu Hongwen and shook his head slightly.

He felt that among all Liu Hongwen's words, the one about Fang Lin was the most outrageous.

Your father, Manager Liu, called him a 'poisonous scholar', but in your words, he is 'somewhat smart'?
Haha, even Sister Guihua, Dong Zugao, and Master Zhuo San, none of them dared to condescend to Fang Lin and say that he was "quite smart".

"I always feel that Linzi is a person who only shows a little bit of himself on the outside." Huang Di has not forgotten that when he handed the evidence against Zhuo Sanye to Fang Lin, not long after, not only Zhuo Sanye himself was thrown into prison, but even his brother, who was a high-ranking official in Yingtian, was dismissed from his post.

This is not something you can do just by being 'smart'!

As for the term 'alienated and indifferent', Huang Di partially agreed with it, but he totally disagreed with the term 'untrustworthy'. He felt that Fang Lin was still okay as a friend.

In fact, this is true. When Song Kai asked someone to deliver the letter, why didn't he choose the many people left in Xiaohe Village, but only stopped Fang Lin?

As long as there is no deep hatred and as long as the matter is not troublesome, Fang Lin agreed and can be trusted. This is the case for outsiders, let alone friends?

Liu Hongwen had his own opinion of Fang Lin and the other two, and Fang Lin and the other two also had their own understanding of Liu Hongwen, but they were not very close to each other and basically just dealt with him on the surface. The other party could not see anything, and they got along quite well.

"Brother Liu? Brother Liu?"

Not long after, a middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties or forties, with a bit of belly and a fat, greasy face, came in and called Liu Hongwen, "Brother Liu, I found a restaurant with good wine and good food. Shall we go and try it this morning?"

"Okay, Brother Hong, wait a moment. I'll be there soon." Liu Hongwen put down his pen and ink, said something to Fang Lin and the other two, and left.

"No, Shopkeeper Xiao Liu is gone, what should we do?" Huang Di was stunned: "Shopkeeper Liu is not here, Shopkeeper Xiao Liu is not here either, this shop is left without a backbone."

There was a hint of blame on Liu Hongwen for being irresponsible in his words.

"The three of us are enough." Fang Lin said.

In fact, with all three of them there, one more or one less Liu Hongwen wouldn't be too many, but the other party was indeed a bit careless. It was just that the three of them had decent character. If it were someone else, with no one watching them, they might slack off or even cook the books!

"I also feel that it's not good for my cousin to leave..." Chai Yiwei paused and said, "Also, I feel that I can't get along with him as well as the shopkeeper."

"It's okay, just coax him, just like I treat Sister Qiu's child... ahem!" Huang Di said, accidentally exposing his mentality of coaxing Liu Hongwen like a child.

Fang Lin smiled and changed the subject: "Everything else is fine, but I just can't get used to the food in the restaurant recently."

"Yes!" Chai Yiwei, an honest man, listened with a bitter face and nodded in agreement.

It has only been ten days or so since Old Lady Liu went to take care of her second daughter-in-law and Mrs. Liu Ding came to cook. They have all eaten rice mixed with coarse salt several times. It is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality, it is really unbearable. It is also thanks to Fang Lin who goes out for a walk after dinner and often buys some food back.

Of course, Huang Di and Chai Yiwei would not take advantage too much and would bring things from home to share.

……

(End of this chapter)