Thinking of this, his eyes suddenly saw a man wearing a cloak and a fur hat, with a red face without any expression. He came in surrounded by several people. After the man came in, he looked around and looked at Su Ziji. The muscles on his cheeks twitched, he smiled coldly, and sat down in the seat occupied by Cao Jincai.
"It's Boss Zhang. Sure enough, this debt collector will have to wait for the result."
Seeing the other party arriving, he didn't say anything. He just sat there drinking tea and cast cold gazes from time to time. Su Ziji suddenly understood and felt a chill in his heart.
"Coming, coming!" At this moment, there was a commotion among the people gathered outside, and the people in the restaurant also became excited.
When the examination is announced, it is called "the case". A cannon is fired with a trumpet player, five people are posted at the top and fifteen people are posted at the bottom. There are also people who read the list, usually the chief clerk of the county government.
Sure enough, when Su Ziji looked through the open window, he saw a middle-aged man wearing a ninth-grade official uniform, holding a wooden plate and walking out under the protection of the government officials.
Suddenly, everyone looked.
In this county examination in Linhua County, only twenty people were admitted.
The roll call of the list was from high to low. The chief bookkeeper cleared his throat and read: "In the 17th year of Chengshou's Linhua County examination, the first place... Yulu of Pingmao Township!"
When Yu Lu's name was spoken by the chief clerk, Su Ziji could feel that Yu Lu breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how confident a person is, he will still be nervous before there is any result.
"Ah, Brother Yu, you've been hit, you're the county case leader!" Zhang Sheng shouted immediately.
"Oh my god, this is Yu Lu. It is indeed him. He has won the county's first prize. A scholar must win." At this moment, voices of surprise and envy rang out in the restaurant.
Su Ziji sat down. Although he had expected it, he still secretly sighed and said congratulations to Yu Lu: "Congratulations, Brother Yu, you are well-deserved for the title of Chief of the County Case!"
"Actually, your level is still above mine..." Yu Lu shook his head. He had been reading for ten years, and his eyes could tell. However, his words were interrupted by the roll call below.
"Second place, Xunniu Township Yijinfu."
As soon as the name was said, there was a commotion in a corner of the restaurant, and someone excitedly chanted: "I got it, I got it!"
Congratulations sounded immediately, everyone cast envious glances, and then quietly waited for the next name.
"The third place is Ma Wendong from Anhu Township."
Su Ziji also sat and listened, until he heard the top ten names being read out by the master register, and before his name was even mentioned, he felt some malicious eyes being cast towards him. Without looking, he knew that most of them came from the same results. The creditor and Boss Zhang and his party.
Seeing the chief secretary coughing and getting water to drink, Cao Jincai smiled happily and said to Boss Zhang: "Sure enough, this Su Ziji is a guy who can't stand up to the wall! If he is not in the top ten, he must have failed!"
After hearing this, Boss Zhang's originally expressionless face turned into a sinister smile. Boss Zhang made his debut at the age of thirteen and now has twenty years of career in the world. If he were not cunning, he would never know where he would sink.
He saw through Su Ziji's tricks at a glance. Not only did he not stop being angry, but he aroused vigilance and suspicion.
"You want to take advantage of the county exam and the students gathered together to make me unable to move?"
"Could it be that Yan Er's death is related to him?"
"Even if it doesn't matter, such a smart person is also an enemy, so we definitely can't keep him." At this time, Boss Zhang has not thought of killing people. Now that Dazheng has just been founded, it is not a troubled time, and the politics is clear. If something goes wrong, he can't escape. !
"But you can break your legs. The imperial examination is about manners and you don't want to be crippled." With just a thought, Boss Zhang came up with a vicious plan.
"Now, let's force him in front of everyone and let everyone know that he is a poor man in debt!"
Thinking of this, Boss Zhang winked at Cao Jincai.
When Cao Jincai saw it, he came to his senses, stood up suddenly, walked straight to Su Ziji's table, stood in front of the table and said: "Su Ziji, don't say you didn't win, even if you did win, you still have to pay back the debt." It’s a matter of course, your debt is due!”
Before Su Ziji could say anything, Zhang Sheng stood up and said, "Who are you? Such rude remarks? Go away! Don't let a villain like you pollute this place!"
As he said that, he was going to drive people away.
Cao Jincai was dissatisfied and shouted: "Repaying debts is a matter of course. How can a scholar not pay back?"
The voice was shouting. Many people knew Cao Jincai from this casino, and they couldn't help but whisper: "Is it Su Ziji's gambling debt?"
A few people's eyes shone. Dazheng had clearly declared that students were not allowed to gamble, and violators would be punished.
Su Ziji looked at this scene and said: "Don't worry, although I borrowed your loan shark to bury my father, I keep my word and I will pay you back."
"You want to attack my ancestral tomb. This is a delusion."
As he said that, he took out some broken silver, about seven taels, from his arms.
Cao Jincai was shocked at first, but when he saw that there was only seven taels, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and shouted: "This little money is not even enough for the monthly interest. Pay it back quickly!"
At this time, not to mention the students watching in the restaurant, even the people who gathered to watch the excitement asked the people around them what was going on.
At the table in the corner, a middle-aged man with an unattractive appearance in a brown cotton robe and a young man all looked over and immediately asked the waiter who served the food.
"How dare you say more, little man!" the waiter apologized, then saw the young man frowning and throwing away a piece of silver: "Add more dishes, serve some wine, and I'll reward you with the rest!"
This was one tael of broken silver. The clerk immediately narrowed his eyes and bowed: "Thank you for the reward!"
He said in a low voice: "That's the boss Zhang of the Black Turban Society in this county. He is as famous as the Raft Gang and Zengcai Society. I don't know why he fell in love with Su Zi's ancestral tomb and arranged for him to borrow a loan at usury for three months. The interest rate has more than doubled, how can we pay it back?"
"Hey, Su Ziji didn't borrow money for anything else. He wanted to bury his late father in a dignified manner. He is a filial son!"
After a few words, the matter was made clear. The middle-aged man remained calm, while the young man looked at Boss Zhang coldly, with a dark look in his eyes: "Black Scarf Club?"
"Sir, please be patient. We are not here to check on these gangsters, that is for inspection." The middle-aged man said.
The young man nodded and stopped talking, but this matter was not complicated, and everyone understood it at this time.
Borrowing money to bury his father but refusing to sell the tomb was filial piety. Yu Lu was furious: "It's really hateful. Brother Su, I'll just lend you five taels."
Zhang Sheng also found six taels of silver.
"Eighteen taels, I still owe fifteen taels of silver." Cao Jincai didn't expect that a friend was willing to pay. He was surprised and counted before shouting.
"Fifteen taels of silver, I'll give it to you tomorrow." Yu Lu said calmly.
"No, Mr. Yu, look at this IOU. It's due today. Tomorrow, you'll get compound interest. It's not fifteen taels, it's forty-three taels. After subtracting eighteen taels, you still have to pay twenty-five taels." Two!" Cao Jincai said. He glanced around and saw that although the remaining students were sympathetic, no one wanted to lend money, so he shouted immediately.
