My husband, please respect yourself. The princess is here to grab the bride.

This is Xiaoxi's heartfelt words.

The young master had changed so much after returning today that Xiao Xi felt unfamiliar.

Scared too!

Putting aside the matter of the two thousand taels of silver, the young master had no idea how difficult it would be to reopen the bookstore.

Bai's Bookstore has been sold to the Chang family.

The bookstore that the Chang family had previously opened in Xiling City was far from comparable to that of the Bai family. The Chang family even had to purchase many of their books from the Bai family bookstore.

But since the young master sold the bookstore, the Chang family has become the largest bookstore in Xiling City in more than a year.

Those writers who used to contribute to the Bai family have now joined the Chang family.

If the patriarch came back, it wouldn't be difficult to reopen the bookstore with his connections to the literati, but as for the young master...

Some scholars who had been invited to visit the Bai Mansion in the past had met the young master and knew him.

How dare they cooperate with the young master?

What's more, the young master is now the son-in-law of the prince's palace, and everything he says and does will ultimately depend on the prince's palace's mood.

Perhaps because the palace's attitude towards him was too bad, the young master was eager to prove himself, but he didn't have the ability, so he could only imagine -

Just like a beggar who has been hungry for several days dreams of a sumptuous feast!

He imagined that he had defeated Song Zigui with a pair of cards.

He fantasizes about reopening a bookstore to prove his ability.

He even fantasized about winning the first prize in the Zhuxi Literary Society to wash away his reputation as an illiterate loser!

The young master who has never touched water can actually wash clothes...

This situation is very serious!

This shows that he was doing the work of a servant in the palace.

And so skillful.

He must have washed a lot of laundry in the palace!

This dealt a heavy blow to his fragile self-esteem, giving rise to his fantasies, so... he went to the academy and wanted to read in the library.

Hey……

Xiao Xi's eyes were full of compassion.

She turned and went into the kitchen, thought for a while, and took out an egg from a jar in the corner. She thought for a while, and took out another one.

There's nothing to eat at home.

Just fry two eggs for the young master.

Bai Shaoqiu didn't know that Xiao Xi had imagined many of his miserable lives as a son-in-law.

He washed and hung up the blue cloth gown, looked at the thatched cottage which he had lived in for more than a year and whose memory was not very clear, and sat down at a small stone table in the corner of the yard.

His eyes fell on the dilapidated fence.

His eyes lit up and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

The fence is covered with morning glories.

There are no flower buds yet.

The greenery is already lush.

It shows a vibrant scene.

Good.

It's quiet here.

Also safe!

……

……

There was a lot of unrest in Shangling Academy.

Behind the academy's teaching building is a row of low houses.

This is the students' canteen.

Some of the students at Shangling Academy came from various counties and prefectures near Xiling City.

They lived in the academy and went home once a month, bringing some money to the academy canteen as food expenses.

The academy has two days of vacation on the first day of May, and the students return to school on the third day of May.

According to college regulations, they must pay this month's food expenses before May 8th.

Today is May 6th!

In two days, it will be the deadline to pay the food expenses!

But the pockets of those 300 or so students are cleaner than their faces at this moment!

between classes.

Some students came to the lecture hall where Song Zigui was hesitantly, but finally, considering Song Zigui's face, they asked him to leave and came to the square outside the teaching building.

"Brother Song... you see... we're not worried about you not paying back the money you owe us, but we're really worried about not being able to eat."

"I'll go back home and ask for it... To be honest, I wouldn't even dare to ask... We're so poor. All these years of studying have emptied our house."

A student echoed:

"Yes, my food money this month was scraped together by my old father selling everything he had."

"My family also sold some grain for some silver."

"You're all fine. My family is the little money my sister saved from working as a servant for a landlord."

"..."

One is more miserable than the other.

Each one more pitiful than the other.

Some people burst into tears when they heard it later!

Song Zigui took a deep breath and thought to himself, I have never seen you so miserable before!

Isn’t it just a few taels of silver per person?

Is it necessary to force each other like this?

Don’t you know that I’m poorer than you?

You are a bunch of villains who take advantage of others’ misfortunes!

At this moment, a student in the crowd whispered:

"Brother Song, I heard that the Zhuxi Literary Competition is going to have a grand prize for first place... I think it's three thousand li of silver. If you win first place, I'll return all the silver you earned last night... Do you think we can wait a few more days?"

Song Zigui's eyes suddenly lit up!

Three thousand taels of silver?

If that were true, after taking the three thousand taels of silver from the top scholar and paying off his debts, there would still be over a thousand taels left...

His eyes suddenly became determined, and he thought about asking his father after returning home.

My father will participate as a judge of the Zhuxi Literary Society, so he must know the news.

The other students were also delighted when they heard this, and another student said:

"Senior Brother Song has won the championship for three consecutive times, and this time will be the same."

His tone suddenly changed:

"Those three thousand taels of silver are already in Senior Brother Song's pocket, but we still have to wait four more days..."

"Brother Song, I heard that you have a good relationship with Mr. Ge from the City Guard House. How about this?"

"Mr. Ge certainly doesn't need one or two thousand taels of silver. You can borrow it from him for a few days. We are in a more urgent situation. Please return it to us first, and then return it to Mr. Ge after you win the championship... How do you think?"

Someone else echoed, "That makes sense. Taking Young Master Ge's money will help us out of this predicament... Senior Brother Song, could you please go meet Young Master Ge?"

Song Zigui also thought there was nothing wrong with this idea——

He knew all the famous students in the three major academies in Xiling City.

They were all defeated by him!

First, it means first!

Secondly, Mr. Qi from Changxing Academy, Qi Shaotong, has never defeated him in any of the previous Zhuxi Literary Meetings.

As for the third one, Zhuo Yixing from Changning Academy had defeated Qi Shaotong twice, but still had not defeated himself.

As for the rest of the people, Song Zigui didn't take them seriously.

Poetry and prose are things that sometimes have unexpected results, like the couplet I wrote last night, but the couplets at the Zhuxi Literary Society are not that difficult.

It was only after I got home last night that I heard from my father that the first line of the couplet was actually written by Mr. Fang, a great scholar from Jinghua Academy!

It's understandable that I can't figure it out.

As for Bai Shaoqiu answering correctly... everyone always has a moment when they get lucky!

He suddenly remembered that Bai Shaoqiu said last night that if he could raise 10,000 taels of silver as a prize, he would participate in the Zhuxi Literary Meeting... This guy is really a bully!

Yes, go find Mr. Ge!

Mr. Ge has a lot of money!

Raise and borrow twelve thousand taels of silver!

After paying them back and using another 10,000 taels of silver as a reward, he would trample Bai Shaoqiu under his feet at the Zhuxi Literary Conference!

We must let him know who is the most talented person in Xiling City!

Make him understand that he is still the number one waste in Xiling City!

The student's suggestion pointed Song Zigui in the right direction.

To Song Zigui, this road is like a shiny road paved with silver!

He stepped forward, held the student's shoulders, and spoke earnestly:

"Brother Shichen, thank you very much!"

"I'll go raise the money right now..."

He glanced at the students and said, "I'll return your money in the evening!"

"Zhuxi Literary Society... you all cheer for me!"

"I want Bai Shaoqiu to lose miserably!"

Song Zigui left with high spirits!