This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

As he spoke, Cheng Jun glanced at Cheng Chumo and asked:

"Brother, if you were him, and your parents gave you five hundred coins to bribe officials, but the money wasn't enough, what would you do?"

"Save it. You may not need it now, but you'll definitely need it in the future."

After Cheng Chumo finished speaking, he suddenly realized and said, "Oh, I understand!"

Cheng Chuliang's eyes lit up, and he said, "I understand now. Anyway, it's definitely not something I'd use to put my mind at ease."

"That's the truth."

Cheng Jun nodded and said.

This is like parents giving their son money to pay his tuition, and the son taking the money to play video games, saying things like, "I'm not going to study well or get into college anyway, so I might as well enjoy playing video games."

Cheng Jun said in a deep voice, "The five hundred coins in his hand were saved up by his parents over a long period of time, and yet he gave them directly to a fortune teller, even saying it was for peace of mind? This is like a son selling his grandfather's land without a care in the world!"

"Someone like that wants to be the top scholar in the imperial examination?"

Cheng Jun shook his head and said, "My assessment of him is that he's delusional."

Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang both nodded in agreement after thinking about it.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them had forgotten about the young man from before. Cheng Chumo pointed to the five hundred coins in his pocket and asked:

What should we do with this money?

Cheng Chuliang said, "If you ask me, we should just donate it."

Cheng Jun's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "Second Brother's suggestion is not bad."

Cheng Chumo raised his hand, pointed to the two sides where the noise was deafening, and said:

"This is Xuandu Temple, and that is Daxingshan Temple. Should we donate to the Taoist temple or the Buddhist temple?"

Cheng Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Aren't many people doing charity by distributing porridge today? Let's also distribute porridge and exchange these five hundred coins for rice to donate to the poor."

Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang's eyes lit up as they said:

"When we use money for the poor, we are doing good deeds and accumulating merit!"

"That's a good idea!"

However, they noticed that Cheng Jun frowned.

Cheng Chumo asked, "Third brother, is there something wrong?"

Cheng Jun nodded and said, "It doesn't seem like that will work; we don't have a soup kitchen."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Chumo pointed into the distance and said, "Isn't there one over there?"

Cheng Jun looked in the direction he was pointing, and sure enough, there was a huge soup kitchen in the distance, against the wall of the neighborhood.

At this moment, there were five people standing in the porridge stall. One of them, a middle-aged man dressed in an extraordinary manner, was directing the others to serve porridge.

Outside the porridge stall, a number of people dressed in cloth clothes and holding empty bowls had already gathered.

Cheng Jun looked away and said, "That's not ours."

Cheng Chumo grinned and said, "Why don't we just turn it into ours?"

"Big brother is so direct..." Cheng Jun looked at him and pondered, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Cheng Chuliang laughed and said, "Just thinking about it is definitely not good. You'll feel better once you do it! I think your older brother is right. We'll listen to him on this matter!"

"Let's go!"

Cheng Chumo didn't give Cheng Jun time to react. He grabbed Cheng Jun's arm and walked with Cheng Chuliang to the porridge stall.

The middle-aged man who was directing the others to cook porridge was pot-bellied and well-dressed, clearly from a wealthy family.

Cheng Chumo asked directly, "What about distributing porridge?"

The middle-aged man glanced at him, picked up the ladle, and said with a smile, "Yes, my porridge is freshly cooked. Would you like a bowl? My porridge is delicious."

Cheng Chu-men replied honestly, "I'm not interested in the porridge you're giving out, but I am quite interested in your soup kitchen."

The middle-aged man was taken aback, as this was the first time he had heard such a strange request. He waved his hand and said, "No, I'm a porridge provider, I don't sell porridge stalls."

Cheng Chumo solemnly replied, "I'm not buying either. You're distributing porridge, right? If you can distribute porridge, you can also set up porridge kitchens, right?"

The middle-aged man abruptly threw the ladle in his hand into the porridge pot, and said irritably:

"Why don't you just say you want the soup kitchen? Wouldn't that be better?"

Cheng Chumo frowned and said, "Isn't this tantamount to robbery?"

The middle-aged man glared at him and said, "Aren't you just robbing me?"

Cheng Chumo corrected, "If you give me the soup kitchen, it won't be considered robbery."

The middle-aged man retorted, "What if I don't give it to you?"

Cheng Chumo said seriously, "I'll have no choice but to steal it."

The middle-aged man was both angry and amused, and asked, "Why are you taking my soup kitchen?"

Cheng Chumo said, "Distribute the porridge."

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then said angrily:

"How novel! Is it possible to snatch up someone else's soup kitchen just to distribute soup?"

Cheng Chumo turned his head and said, "Third brother, what should we do if he won't give it to us?"

With your logic, there's no way they'd give it to you... Cheng Jun twitched the corner of his mouth. "I'll say a few words to him."

The middle-aged man said irritably:

"Don't even mention saying a few words, even if you say a dozen or dozens of words, I will never give up the soup kitchen to you!"

Cheng Jun walked up to him and said seriously, "Let me finish speaking first. What is your background?"

The middle-aged man said, "I don't have any special background. I've just made some money over the years and I want to do good deeds and accumulate merit."

Cheng Jun laughed and said, "So, you're a great philanthropist. How long have you been doing good deeds?"

Upon hearing the words "great philanthropist," the middle-aged man's expression softened, and he said, "It's been at least five years, if not eight."

Cheng Jun asked, "What have you gained from all these years of doing good deeds?"

The middle-aged man raised his head and said, "I have found peace of mind."

Cheng Jun said earnestly, "But I think you should get something more practical to be worthy of all the good deeds you've done over the years."

As he spoke, he spread his hands, pointed to Cheng Chumo, and said, "This is Cheng Chumo, the eldest son of the Duke of Su, who will inherit the title in the future."

Cheng Jun continued, "He wants your soup kitchen. Give it to him. If you ever have any problems that you can't solve in the future, come to the Duke of Su's mansion for help. Just because you gave him the soup kitchen today, do you think he won't help you solve them?"

Cheng Jun said sincerely, "If you ask me, all the good deeds you've done over the years have moved Heaven, which is why Heaven arranged for you to meet Him today. Do you still think that Him wanting your soup kitchen is a bad thing?"

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then looked at Cheng Chumo and pointed to the soup kitchen, saying:

"From now on, all of this is yours!"

"Just tell me what else you need, and I'll give you whatever you want!"

The middle-aged man became increasingly agitated as he spoke, "If you want my life, I'll slit my throat right now!"

"..."

Inside and outside the soup kitchen, all was silent.

Both those serving the porridge and those drinking it fell silent.

Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang stared blankly at Cheng Jun.

After a long while, Cheng Chumo was the first to come to his senses. Looking at the middle-aged man staring at him expectantly, he scratched his head and said to Cheng Jun:

"Third brother, I've figured it out now. The reason I can't be an imperial censor is because I lack your mouth."

Cheng Chuliang wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "I think so too. Let alone becoming an imperial censor, with our third brother's sharp tongue, even if he beats up our father, he'd still have to thank us!"