Chapter Fifteen: A Life of Luxury

  The sky was gloomy, the rain had finally stopped, and Cloud Ridge had a lot of things today. Half a bag of copper coins, three dou of rice, plus a pot of pork belly, made for a full load on his return journey. The carrying pole pressed down on his shoulder, feeling heavy with accomplishment.

  I've never seen a silver ingot before, now I have three of them hidden in my sleeve. This thing is quite troublesome to use if you don't have an official title, only government officials use this kind of thing, what they call "official silver" refers to this very thing.

  Ordinary people are not qualified to use it, and if they want to use it, they can only go to the bank to exchange it for copper coins first, otherwise they will be taken as thieves by businessmen.

  Yun Zheng suppressed the urge to sneak a peek, shouldering his load and hurrying home. As he passed by the large bluestone, he saw a small mark there, indicating that tomorrow's deal was settled.

  The straw sandals trampled in the rotten mud, making a strange sound. The fine mud splashed up from the toes and covered the entire foot with mud. No matter how hard I shook my feet, I couldn't shake it off. Before long, both of my feet were like wearing mud boots.

  Cang Er and his family couldn't go home, so they had to make do with a night in the thatched hut. Yun Zheng could only help him dry his quilt every day, so it would be warmer when he covered himself with it at night.

  The village was quiet and still, but the small building of the Yun family was very lively. The old patriarch had already led some elderly villagers to burn the fire pit vigorously. Yun Er sat in the old patriarch's arms, listening to them talk about past events. As for Yun San, he had long been lying at the stairs, eagerly waiting for Yun Da to return, because only when Yun Da returned would he have food to eat.

  No one asked where Yun Zheng got the grain from, as long as a man could bring food back home, he was a good man. This was a consensus in the village.

  Yun Zheng, with the help of an old man, hung a large pot over the fire pit and took out a wine gourd from a bamboo basket. This was real wine, good wine that had been filtered, not too much but very precious.

  The villagers weren't so particular, Yun Zheng warmed the wine in hot water and first presented a large ceramic basin of wine to the old clan head. The old clan head's laughter grew much louder, he tilted his head back and took a sip, then handed it to an elderly man beside him. After passing it around in a circle, Yun Zheng picked it up and made a gesture, but with so many mouths having touched the basin, he really couldn't bring himself to drink from it.

  The meat pot was opened, and the coarse rice was cooked. Cloud Three poked his ears forward to get closer, but was kicked away by an old man without mercy. Cloud Summit took out a cooked pig lung from the bamboo basket, cut it open with a small knife, and placed it in a ceramic bowl that was missing a large piece, handing it to Cloud Three. Cloud Three wolfed down the food while making low, rumbling protective sounds from his throat.

  "This kid is really wasting good food, how can he feed the dog such good meat." An old man with a half-smoked sausage in his mouth and another piece on his chopsticks, still had the energy to watch Yun Zheng feeding the dog.

  "You're joking, old man. I'm also reluctant to part with it. But there are only three of us in the family, and I've named it Yun San. I've raised it like a younger brother, so it's considered one of the mouths to feed at home."

  Yun Zheng put a piece of pork belly in Yun Er's small bowl and let him hold it in his arms, telling him to eat with his hands. He also reminded him, "Eat less, or you'll get a stomachache."

  Yun Er immediately poured the remaining belly in the small bowl into the old patriarch's large bowl, and the old patriarch immediately hugged Yun Er, who was struggling desperately, and gave him a big kiss.

  With full wine and a full meal, everyone dispersed. The old clan leader looked at the empty pot and sighed: "They are all inexperienced people who have never seen the world. When they see meat, it's more intimate than seeing their parents. Child, you're a sensible child. I went to the construction site to see Cao Er, he told me that only the people in charge of you can eat enough, drink chicken soup, do you know? The people in your care are mostly from our village, and so far, nothing has happened to them, they have been well taken care of.

  Grandpa didn't ask you where the extra grain came from, or why there was still grain to bring back home. He only knew that you hadn't deducted food from the laborers' rations and hadn't stolen or robbed it. That's enough. The ways men make money are all unspoken secrets, Grandpa knows this taboo. I just ask if you've forgotten to study?

  The old clan leader's eyes turned sharp at this point, in his view, Yun Zheng should read books every day after dealing with the chores, he asked Cang Er and didn't find Yun Zheng reading on the construction site, thinking that he had forgotten his most important task.

  Yun Zheng took out the few books that the clan leader had sent and placed them in front of him, saying: "I have already finished reading these books." After finishing speaking, he took out a stack of paper from beside him and pushed it to the clan leader's face, saying: "This is the book I silently wrote down. I compared it with the original, there were nine places where it was incomplete, now they are all complete. In this way, our clan has two sets of books. These books will not be a problem for the county test, but if you want to pass the prefectural test and the imperial examination, it is impossible. The Nine Classics, Five Classics, Kaiyuan Rituals, Three Histories, Three Rites, and Academic Achievements are not something that our village can afford to buy, let alone participate in the exam with "Five Sons Linked Guarantee".

  "Ancestor grandfather, these things are a big trouble. Our clan has too few people, and only I can participate in the children's test. Moreover, where did you find the talented person to recommend our junior to take the exam?"

  Yun Zhen's words left the clan leader speechless, having just been delighted that Yun Zhen had finished reading his own book, but upon hearing the tedious examination process, he suddenly fell from cloud nine into an abyss.

  "Clan leader, Grandfather, these things are not difficult to say. I made a bet with Liu Da Tou, he set the questions and I answered them, as a result, he lost, so he found Xiu Cai Ju Bao and Tong Zi Lian Kao to take care of these matters. As for books, they can be found in the county school, it is said that only three students are needed after passing the Tong Sheng exam to get in. I think there's no problem."

  After hearing Yun Zheng's words, the old tribal leader finally let out a long sigh and scolded Yun Zheng: "You little brat, can't you just finish speaking in one breath? Look at me, I'm all sweaty now."

  The old man looked at Yun Zheng, the more he looked, the more he liked him. He couldn't help but affectionately pat Yun Zheng's forehead and said with pride: "This is our village's first child prodigy." After saying that, he looked at Yun Er sitting in his arms again and excitedly patted his forehead, saying: "And this is the second one! Oh heavens, you must let me live to see both children pass the imperial examination! If I were to die before then, who would I brag to?"

  The old man chattered on for a while before taking his books and heading home, leaving behind the ones written by Yun Zhen. He insisted that Yun Er still needed those books.

  The old man went out, and Cloud Two quickly started cleaning up the table, washing all the bowls and chopsticks with boiling water. Cloud Two pulled at Cloud Big's sleeve, wanting to eat something good. Just now they had hinted that they shouldn't eat those pig intestines, which meant that Cloud Big was saving something even better for himself.

  Yun Zheng found a newly cut bamboo, cut it into two pieces, poured out the bamboo juice from the bamboo joints, filled in the glutinous rice, and then took out a cooked pig heart from the bamboo basket, mixed with some vegetable oil, also stuffed it into the bamboo tube, tied the bamboo tube with grass rope, and threw it into the boiling pot to cook.

  Finally, he tore off a piece of pork liver and handed it to Yun Er, saying: "Leave all the pork liver for you, when you're hungry, just tear off a piece and eat it as a bun."