Traveling through time and space to become a child, supporting the family by catching fish and shrim

On the third day of October, Chen Lang set out alone on the road to Guangling Prefecture.

He originally wanted to take his wife and children with him, but Sheng Chuliang retorted with a sentence, "Have you ever seen anyone taking his whole family to take the exam?"

At the same time, after more than half a month of getting along, Xiuzhi and Guoguo have completely integrated into the Sheng Mansion. In the past, Chen Lang wanted to take them to the provincial capital together. In addition to wanting to take the mother and daughter to the big city to see the world, he was also worried about leaving them alone at home.

But now that I have my teacher and his wife by my side, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

Li Xiuzhi also believed that if she went with Guoguo, it would affect Chen Lang's college entrance examination.

Besides, there is Cuicui at home.

If their family leaves, will Cuicui be left alone in the Sheng Mansion?

In addition to Cuicui, there is also a little Huihui.

Chen Lang also realized that it would be several times more difficult for him to support his family than for other candidates, so he gave up the idea and went to the provincial capital alone with more than fifty taels of silver.

In order to ensure his safety on the journey, Chen Lang also hired two bodyguards to escort him.

After seven days of walking and stopping along the way, we finally arrived at Guangling Prefecture.

After arriving at Guangling Prefecture, Chen Lang first settled the balance with the escort, and after separating from them, he looked for an inn to stay.

The closer the inn is to the provincial school, the more expensive it is, but there are relatively more empty rooms.

As for those inns with cheap rates, they have already been full.

When he is away from home, Chen Lang never puts himself in a difficult position. He also has a certain degree of mental cleanliness and does not like to share a room with strangers.

So even though the price of a single room in the inn was already one penny of silver per night, Chen Lang paid half a month's rent without hesitation!

However, Chen Lang's unrestrained behavior immediately attracted the attention of some scholars from less well-off families.

In their eyes, people like Chen Lang must have been born in a merchant family and had plenty of spare money in their pockets. If they were to get along well with him, they would have food to eat for the next half month.

Don’t think that scholars are thin-skinned. In fact, scholars are very thick-skinned.

Most of those who lingered in brothels were scholars.

The one who plays with a prostitute without paying and has a relationship with someone else is still a scholar.

It was the scholar who deceived the prostitutes and broke their hearts, but then boasted about his romantic past everywhere.

Therefore, most of the educated people have long forgotten what shame is.

Just as Chen Lang paid the money, a candidate named Wang Zheng ran over excitedly to say hello.

"My name is Wang Zheng, and I am from Linshui County, Guangling Prefecture. May I ask your name and where you are from?"

Chen Lang answered truthfully: "Nanhe County, Chen Lang."

"Nanhe and Linshui are not far from each other, so we can be considered half-fellow villagers." Wang Zhengdao.

Forcibly claiming to be from the same hometown is a common method used in ancient and modern times.

Chen Lang smiled indifferently and did not respond.

Wang Zheng didn't get angry and continued, "I just turned twenty this year. I wonder how old you are, Brother Chen?"

Chen Lang said, "Twenty-five."

"Then you are really a brother." Wang Zheng took Chen Lang's hand and walked to a table, talking incessantly about the customs and culture of Guangling Prefecture.

He was so excited that he asked the waiter to bring him a pot of wine.

With wine, there must be some snacks to go with it.

With the appetizers, there must be some meat.

So a sumptuous lunch appeared on the table.

The waiter at the inn was used to this kind of scene, so he asked for money directly when serving the last dish.

Because there have been many cases of people running away from paying in the past.

Wang Zheng pointed at Chen Lang and said, "My brother gave me the money."

There was no trace of guilt or embarrassment on his face.

Chen Lang didn't mind treating Wang Zheng to a meal. After all, the local customs and practices he had just mentioned were quite interesting.

This meal can be regarded as "explanation fee" paid to Wang Zheng.

Of course, this is just the first time, and it won’t happen again.

After paying the money, Wang Zheng's attitude towards Chen Lang became more enthusiastic, even a little flattering.

Chen Lang couldn't tell whether this was an illusion or not.

"Brother Chen, the inn will hold a party this afternoon for students who are taking the exams in the same period. If you are interested, you might as well go and join in the fun."

Chen Lang thought that he had nothing to do in the afternoon, so he agreed.

The essence of this kind of gathering is that a group of people from the lower class listen to the bragging of the upper class.

There were many participants, but not many people spoke.

Those who were qualified to stand up and speak were either well-known scholars or children of gentry families.

Children of merchant families are usually responsible for paying the bill in such occasions.

After all, at the stage of provincial and academy examinations, children from merchant families will still be despised by pure scholars.

Businessmen believe in making money through harmony, and the same applies to academic examinations. If they can avoid conflicts with others, they will not do so, and they will not deliberately show off their talents.

For the children of merchants, talent is like the silver ingots in their pockets, which cannot be easily shown to others.

Wealth that is not revealed can also be talent.

Only when they reach higher-level exams will the children of merchant families gradually demonstrate their presence.

Chen Lang felt that he was also a member of the merchant class, so after the party started, he found a corner to hide, without a mouth, only with ears.

Wang Zheng was eager to perform, but he was born in a poor family, so he had no right to speak in such occasions. He could only sit next to Chen Lang and be a listener.

About a quarter of an hour into the gathering, a handsome young man stood up and said, "Have you heard about the two scandals that occurred during the Nanhe County examination?"

Everyone immediately became interested and asked questions.

The young man shook out his paper fan and said rather ostentatiously, "The first one is about impersonation. A merchant spent a thousand taels of silver to have his son replace a poor student with the same name."

The crowd was immediately outraged.

"These merchants are the termites of Dayan!"

"Is the evidence conclusive? If so, I will immediately go to the government office to sue them!"

The young master shook his head. "They dared to do this because they had already made all the necessary arrangements. I heard that they even had the exam paper copied by the merchant's child, and then omitted the original paper, so that the handwriting could not be verified."

"unacceptable!"

"I'm furious!"

"Is this world still the world of us scholars?"

"Damn it, what's the name of this merchant's kid? I'm going to beat him up!"

The young master smiled slightly and said, "Everyone, please be patient. For someone like this, passing the county exam is already the limit. It is almost impossible to pass higher exams."

"I'm telling you this just to remind you all that if someone offers to buy your name in the future, don't agree. Don't do anything that would be disrespectful to the Saint."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere on the scene suddenly became a little weird.

Many candidates turned their heads away silently.

Even though they were cursing happily just now, if someone really came to them with hundreds or thousands of silver coins, the bones of these scholars would soften on the spot.