Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 4 The Best Alang in the World
Unlike the illegitimate sons of ordinary wealthy families, the young Zhang Luonu had the inheritance left by his mother. A farm in the southern suburbs of Luoyang could provide him with a relatively stable income every year, so he did not need to be completely dependent on others for his life in the Zhang family.

The reason why Yingniang and her daughter were embarrassed was that although they had income from the farm, they had almost no savings left.

First of all, the operation of the farm has been in trouble in recent years. After deducting the consumption of the farmers themselves, the surplus has been decreasing year by year. Secondly, as the young Zhang Luonu grows up, his consumption has also increased year by year.

Originally, he only needed food and clothing for four seasons, and the produce from the farm was more than enough, and he had to save a considerable amount every year.

However, in recent years, he has gradually become addicted to cockfighting, dog running and hunting. These hobbies are very expensive. A fighting cock is worth hundreds of coins, and the better ones are worth several strings of coins, or even dozens or hundreds of strings of coins. Buying and raising horses costs even more.

Given Zhang Luonu's position within the family, the Zhang family naturally couldn't afford to meet his expenses, so they had to use the farm savings. Previously, he had fallen into the water in Luonan while riding his horse when a canal burst. Although he was rescued, his mount, which had cost him dozens of strings of cash to buy and maintain, had drowned in the river. During his days bedridden, he was afraid to use the prescription medicines provided by the mansion, and he had spent another dozen strings of cash on medical consultations. So, by now, his savings had been almost completely depleted.

"This little prodigal..."

After listening to the story of Yingniang and her daughter, Zhang Luo couldn't help but complain in his heart. He really didn't have the life of a nobleman, but got the disease of a nobleman. He wasted money on everything.

It should be noted that the monthly salary of low-ranking officials in the prosperous Tang Dynasty was only a few strings of cash. However, this kid has spent hundreds of strings of cash on games in recent years, and has completely consumed all the savings of the farm over the years.

After all, Yingniang and the others were only servants, unable to discipline and advise him like real parents, so they could only let him squander his wealth. In their view, as long as the farm could remain operational, at least basic food and clothing needs would be guaranteed. By the time Alang was older, he would understand the importance of storing grain for famine and saving money for emergencies.

"There are still some items left in the village that can be sold for money in an emergency. We've yet to determine the exact value, but I don't think it will be much. As long as it can sustain Alang for a while and keep him out of trouble, the rent from the goods in autumn will be enough to support him. I'm afraid it will be difficult for Alang to indulge in his past hobbies..."

After thinking about it, Yingniang spoke again.

Zhang Luo just nodded slightly after hearing this. Many methods used by his predecessors who had traveled through time in ancient times to make profits emerged in his mind, but whether they would be effective or not remained to be tested. Moreover, it would always take time and manpower to operate and try, so it was difficult to expect too much. The more reliable thing to do now was to clean up his family assets and see how much money he could make.

He didn't dare dream of "a hundred thousand taels of gold, riding a crane to Yangzhou" but at least he couldn't leave home and join the Beggars' Sect. If that were the case, he might as well stay at the Zhang family. As for where to go and what to do after leaving the Zhang family, that would depend on how much capital he had in his hands before making any plans.

Making such a decision was too shocking for Yingniang and her daughter, and it took some time to process and calm down. Because of their intense emotions, they didn't even notice that Alang's speech and behavior were completely different after he woke up. Of course, they also didn't realize that such a mysterious thing as reincarnation really happened.

Dinner was still a bowl of soup noodles made by Yingniang in the kitchen. After all, the kitchen utensils in this humble courtyard were simple, the ingredients were not rich, and no one was in the mood to pursue any appetite at the moment.

For Zhang Luo, this kind of food, although not very delicious but enough to fill his stomach, can make him face reality more clearly. If it is really a luxurious enjoyment of wine, meat, and money, it will make him feel unreal and difficult to integrate into this world.

There was a lack of entertainment in ancient society, and ordinary people would basically stop their activities and prepare for bed after dinner.

The hall in the middle of the mansion was still brightly lit, and there was a faint sound of stringed instruments. If Zhang Luo was still in the same mood as in the morning, he would always find a way to get closer to experience the banquet and entertainment scenes of the ancients, but now he had to worry about survival issues, so he was not in the mood to do so.

After dinner, he took off his clothes and got into bed, but he still couldn't sleep at all. He just lay in bed, thinking and pondering.

Although he had just arrived, he did not feel too much fear. As a graduate student in ancient history, Zhang Luo had a certain understanding of ancient society, including the current Tang Dynasty.

It is now the 14th year of the Kaiyuan Period in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Empire, which has just completed the Fengshan Ceremony, is thriving and prosperous, and the society as a whole is relatively peaceful and harmonious. Although the so-called "traveling thousands of miles away without carrying a single blade" is full of praise in historical records, it is undoubtedly true that this era is one of the few highlights of ancient feudal society.

Zhang Luo would rather be a dog in peacetime than a human in troubled times. He was grateful for not having traveled to a war-torn era where human life was worthless. Even if his richer knowledge base compared to the ancients couldn't be directly converted into survival resources, it would still allow him to have a more open mind when encountering problems.

At this moment, his mind raced with ideas, from leveraging scientific knowledge to promote the development of handicrafts, to promoting cultural thought through poetry and prose, and even encompassing reforms to political and military systems. He envisioned every aspect of ancient politics, economy, and culture, hoping to carve out his own opportunities in this era, much like the ambitious Zhao Kuo. However, the prerequisite for implementing all these ideas was the question of how much wealth he could gather from the farm. While money wasn't everything, the challenges of life were vastly different between those with and without it.

Zhang Luo tossed and turned until midnight, but he had no desire to sleep. Instead, he felt the urge to urinate. He stood up, put on his clothes, and went out. Suddenly, he heard the rustling of clothes from the outer room. He was startled and stepped back, shouting, "Who is it?"

"Ah Lang, Ah Lang, are you still awake?"

Aying's confused and naive voice echoed through the pitch-black night, followed shortly by Yingniang's voice: "Ah Lang, is there something wrong? Do you feel something's wrong?"

"No, no, you guys haven't slept yet?"

Zhang Luo's nervousness relaxed slightly after hearing the mother and daughter's questions. He found a candle by the bed and lit it. He walked out with the candle in hand. He saw the mother and daughter coming towards him, both with their eyes open and tired faces. He then looked at the felt blanket covering the mattress in the corner of the outer hall, and he understood a little: "Auntie, are you sleeping here?"

"Mother was worried that someone might do something bad in the mansion at night, so she stayed here to keep watch, but she slept even more soundly than I did!"

Ah Ying grumbled to her mother in a low voice, then stepped forward and took the candlestick from Zhang Luo's hand. She then asked, "What are you going to do, Ah Lang?"

Zhang Luo was deeply moved when he saw that both mother and daughter looked tired. Just now he was mostly considering the issue based on his own interests and feelings, but now he had some specific sense of responsibility, that is, no matter what decision he made, at least he had to make the people around him who were good to him live better and better.

"I'm about to go to the bathroom. Please go to the inner room and warm up first."

The spring night was still cold, and these shabby houses still had bamboo walls covered with mud, which were not very effective in keeping out the wind and keeping warm. There was only a charcoal basin placed in the inner room for heating. Zhang Luo felt the coldness on Aying's knuckles, so he whispered.

"Ah Lang, wait a minute!"

Yingniang grabbed a wooden stick from the wall and thrust it into Ah Ying's hand, then grabbed one herself before raising her hand to signal them to follow. This woman wasn't a very courageous person, and would become uneasy at the slightest danger, but to protect her own Ah Lang, she was completely fearless and brave enough to face any challenge head on.

Zhang Luo knew that it was useless to persuade them, so he simply stopped talking and, under the protection of the mother and daughter, quickly went out to the bathroom to solve the problem, and then hurried back to the room.

After returning to the room, he moved the charcoal brazier to the bedside, helped Yingniang onto the bed, and then pulled Aying to sit around the charcoal brazier. He smiled at Yingniang, who refused to lie down, and said, "I am not closely related to you, and I don't have the blessing of supporting my parents. Fortunately, Auntie has worked tirelessly to raise me. I won't say more about my previous mischief and willfulness. From now on, Auntie will have a long and happy life ahead of me."

Upon hearing this, Yingniang's shoulders trembled suddenly, and a moment later, tears streamed down her face. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed, "I have sinned gravely. How dare I steal my wife's blessings for myself! It's a pity that my wife passed away so young. If she were still alive, I don't know how happy she would have been to see Alang grow up and become sensible. I, I really want to tell my wife right now that I haven't let her down..."

Zhang Luo hadn't expected that his sentimental words would make Yingniang want to die, so he quickly said, "Mother is in heaven and should be able to see what's happening on earth. There's no need for you to go there in person."

Ah Ying, who was standing by, saw her mother covering her face with her hands and weeping. Her eyes were red to begin with, but when she heard Ah Lang's next words, she couldn't help but burst out laughing. After laughing, she opened her dark eyes and looked at Zhang Luo steadily, whispering, "Ah Lang is very different after waking up!"

Zhang Luo felt a little uneasy when she looked at him. He chuckled dryly, then took her still cold hand and rubbed it gently in his own, saying, "No one remains static. Ah Ying, you've grown up a lot, and I should learn to be more sensible. A family should work together to get better. If you continue to indulge me, won't I become the most useless and annoying piece of trash in this family?"

Suddenly, Ah Lang held her hand. This unprecedented intimate gesture made Ah Ying's heart tremble and shyness surge. After hearing this, she quickly shook her head and said, "Ah Lang is not a loser. He is the best man in the world! Even if Ah Lang did not change, Ah Ying would never despise him... But now he has changed, and he has become even better, even better than before!"

(End of this chapter)