Traveling through ancient times: daily life on the run

Luo Yu didn't know what to say to him, so he just stared blankly at the reflection on the river. The lanterns in the buildings were reflected on the water, swaying with the ripples in the breeze, making his eyes sore.

She rubbed her eyes, but didn't expect Master Murong to hand her a handkerchief.

Luo Yu raised his head and chuckled: "You are really a gentle person."

Murong looked at the wine jug she had placed beside him and asked, "Can I have a sip?"

Luo Yu was stunned for a moment, then nodded blankly: "If you don't mind, feel free to drink."

Murong picked up the wine jug, tilted his head back and poured all the remaining wine into his mouth. Luo Yu's eyes widened. She had never seen him so rude before. In the past, Master Murong always maintained a good character no matter what the occasion or in front of anyone.

Luo Yu uttered a few words slowly: "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I just feel choked up and uncomfortable."

After saying that, Murong looked at her again and asked, "Su Xiaoxiao, do you ever feel particularly uncomfortable when you are alone?"

Luo Yu nodded: "Of course, otherwise why would I come out to drink alone? It's just to drown my sorrows."

"What a pity, drinking to drown your sorrows only makes you more sorrowful!"

"I only worry about when I can make enough money. Everything else is trivial."

"That's great, the girl finally has a goal in life."

"Is the young master gone?"

"I've had that before, but later on, I realized that no matter how many ambitions and ideals a person has, they are just a drop in the ocean and meaningless."

Luo Yu held his chin and sighed, "Really? No wonder I find it so difficult to make money. It really is too difficult for one person to make money."

"Has the girl stopped setting up a digital game stall these days?"

Luo Yu shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I don't want to be chased and beaten. The little money I earned last time was almost taken away by someone."

"If you don't mind, I can introduce you to work in the Murong family's shop. What do you think?"

Luo Yu shook his head again: "Thank you for your kindness, sir, but I'm not good at anything. I'm lazy and fat. I'm not cut out for business."

"Girl, you're really joking. You speak so interestingly, there will definitely be people who appreciate you. Don't give up on yourself."

Luo Yu chuckled: "I just don't want to do hard work to earn a living. How can that be considered self-destruction? Besides, I don't care whether anyone appreciates me or not. As long as I appreciate myself, that's enough."

Murong was stunned, then suddenly smiled.

"Miss Su Xiaoxiao is absolutely right."

Luo Yu then asked weakly, "Can you recommend me a slightly easier job? One that includes food and lodging?"

Murong was slightly startled, then nodded and said, "Then I'll talk to my younger sister tomorrow and see if I can arrange for you to help out at the Sunny Sky Restaurant."

Luo Yu grinned, "You think I'm fat and suitable for eating, right?"

"Su Xiaoxiao is not fat at all, nor is she ugly. Everyone loves Su Xiaoxiao, and flowers bloom wherever she goes!"

"Master Murong, when did you become so interesting?"

"..."

Murong thought, this girl is really very familiar with others. After just a few encounters, she actually treated him as a friend she had known for a long time. But for some reason, the suffocating feeling in his heart actually eased slightly.

Before leaving, Murong and Luo Yu said, "Tomorrow, I'll come here to watch the fireworks at the same time, and bring you news about the work."

Luo Yu had only said it casually, but she hadn't expected him to take it seriously. If she refused now, it would only make her seem hypocritical. Since she had nowhere else to go anyway, Luo Yu nodded and agreed. She would leave after finding a job and earning enough money, and then she would have less contact with him.

On the Lantern Festival, the city and its surroundings were extremely lively.

Luo Yu slept until noon, his stomach growling with hunger. He heard the hustle and bustle outside the inn and the sound of laughter coming from the inn. This was the warmth from the world.

She opened the window and saw that the whole street was decorated with big red lanterns hanging high. Children in beautiful and bright clothes were chasing each other, and the adults' faces were filled with unprecedented smiles. The scene was extremely beautiful and contagious.

Guessing lantern riddles is the most traditional activity during the Lantern Festival. Luo Yu went out and found that many shops had riddles hanging on the lanterns at their doors. If you guessed correctly, you would get a gift of some size.

The most lively event was the riddle-guessing activity at the entrance of Tanzhou City Library, with layers of onlookers, including scholars and ordinary people.

Luo Yu asked an old man who was watching the show, why are there so many people?

The old man said cheerfully, "Young lady, you may not know this, but this library's puzzle activity is incredibly interesting. The more questions you answer, the bigger the prize you get, and each reward is cumulative. However, if you make a mistake in one question, all the previous rewards will be forfeited, and you will be eliminated. Of course, you can also choose to give up answering the later questions after answering a certain number of questions and just take the earlier prizes."

Luo Yu nodded and said, "It seems that the person who made these rules is quite interesting."

"Of course. This is the rule set by the fifth son of the Murong family. He was the third place winner in last year's palace examination."

Luo Yu took the opportunity to squeeze into the innermost area. The quiz game had already begun. There were four contestants on the stage. Each of them held a sign to answer the questions. After writing them down, they would hold it up to show the answer. Those who answered correctly could move on to the next puzzle.

Originally, Luo Yu was not very interested, until she saw the bonus, her pupils widened several times. The Murong family was indeed wealthy. The highest prize was ten taels of gold and a pure gold hairpin. If she won the grand prize, why would she need to work to earn hard-earned money?

She listened to a round of questions and found that the difficulty was not too great. Most of them were riddles and allegorical sayings, continuing the next sentence of a poem or answering the author of a poem. More difficult ones were answering the characters in classic stories. Luo Yu had a good memory and could remember most of the books he had read.

After two of the scholars left the stage, the librarian Zhou Xiucai, who was the host of the event, asked if anyone wanted to participate, saying that this event was fair and gave everyone a chance.

Most of the people present were scholars, or people who could read and have read books, but there were also some ordinary people who came to watch the fun. There were relatively few women. Those who dared to go on stage were either talented or money-loving. On the contrary, those who cared about their reputation only dared to complain privately that the contestants were half-baked and didn't know how to embarrass themselves.

After a while, an old man raised his hand and went on stage. There was still one person missing. Luo Yu looked around and saw a group of scholars watching the show but no one dared to go on stage, so she raised her hand.

It would have been fine if she hadn't raised her hand, but once she did, everyone turned around and saw that it was a woman, and sighed.

Zhou Xiucai was indeed a well-rounded administrator hired by the Murong family. He asked Luo Yu enthusiastically, "May I ask your name, young lady?"

"Su Xiaoxiao, the guy who was chased all over the city while writing number games at a stall a few days ago."

"It turns out to be her!"

"Haha, the girl is interesting and courageous."

The old man next to her bowed to Luo Yu to express his appreciation for her.

The two scholars next to her just nodded to her. Luo Yu returned the greeting generously and said with a smile: "I am not talented, I hope you can forgive me!"

After all, there is only one grand prize. Although everyone completes the number of questions independently to get the prize at the beginning, if several people get the highest prize at the same time, they will become competitors, and in the end only one contestant can be selected to win the grand prize.