The inn where Yan Ruan stayed in Beijing was called "Jude Inn". The name sounded grand, but the quality was actually not high. It was considered one of the cheapest inns in Beijing. 【Read the latest chapter】
The innkeeper's name is Hu Youjin. He seems to be a very kind person on weekdays. He smiles all day long. Coupled with his fair and fat face, his eyes are always narrowed and he looks more and more kind. Amiable.
But Yan Ru'an understood that all this was just a disguise for shopkeeper Hu in front of outsiders.
Yan Ru'an once saw with his own eyes that a waiter in an inn was slapped more than a dozen times by the seemingly kind-hearted shopkeeper Hu for accidentally breaking a few sets of dishes. Until the next day, The guy's cheeks were still red and swollen.
Therefore, Yan Ruan was quite in awe of this shopkeeper Hu.
Especially since Yan Ru'an has spent most of his room and board expenses in the inn on credit during this period, and now owes shopkeeper Hu nearly twenty taels of silver, his awe has become serious.
And if the shopkeeper Hu in front of him knew that he had failed in the test, how would he fall out?
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Thinking about this secretly, Yan Ru'an's expression became even stiffer, and he bowed to Shopkeeper Hu with a stuttering voice: "So... it turns out to be Shopkeeper Hu, you, why are you here?"
Shopkeeper Hu's expression was as kind as ever, and he said with a smile: "Mr. Yan, you also know that although there are many guests coming and going in my inn, most of them are just traders and lackeys, and Mr. Yan, you are the only one among the guests. Exam candidates are distinguished guests in the inn. If Jinke can be nominated on the Xingban, then my inn can also get some nobility. Knowing that the exam will end today, how can I dare to neglect it and come here to wait for Mr. Yan? Good news for you.”
At this point, Shopkeeper Hu changed the topic and asked again: "By the way, did Mr. Yan pass the examination successfully? With Mr. Yan's knowledge and talent, he must be able to be nominated for the april list, right?"
Hearing Shopkeeper Hu's inquiry again, Yan Ru'an was afraid that Shopkeeper Hu would turn against him and ask for debts, so he didn't dare to tell the truth. He just said perfunctorily with a slight panic: "The test is not bad, I should be able to do it."
However, although Yan Ruan did not tell the truth, shopkeeper Hu had seen a lot of the world. He greeted and dropped off people at the inn all day long, and he was also the most observant.
Seeing Yan Ru'an's face was flustered, his expression was stiff, and he was stumbling even when he spoke. He could not help but feel suspicious in his heart.
The originally squinted eyes opened slightly, and the original kind smile on his face also slightly faded. Shopkeeper Hu looked Yan Ruan up and down, and asked again for confirmation: "Is this really true?"
Yan Ruan's expression became more and more panicked, and he nodded quickly and said: "Since this is the case, how can it be false? Could I still lie to you, the shopkeeper?"
After listening to Yan Ru'an's assurance, shopkeeper Hu seemed to believe it, and his expression returned to normal. He still said with a smile: "Congratulations to Mr. Yan. If Mr. Yan becomes rich in the future, don't forget to take care of us." It’s a small shop.”
"This is nature, this is nature."
At this time, Yan Ru'an just thought about cheating for a day, and nodded again and again.
Seeing that Yan Ruan still refused to admit it, shopkeeper Hu nodded with a smile, and then whispered a few instructions to the innkeeper accompanying him.
The innkeeper was stunned when he heard Shopkeeper Hu's instructions. He looked at Yan Ruan thoughtfully for a few times, then nodded and left.
But seeing the direction in which the innkeeper was leaving, Yan Ruan couldn't help but feel shocked!
It turned out that the guy didn't go back to the inn first, but walked towards Gongyuan! Along the way, he also inquired about something from the candidates who had just left Gongyuan!
Obviously, shopkeeper Hu has begun to doubt Yan Ruan!
Shopkeeper Hu ignored Yan Ruan's dramatic change in expression and just smiled and said: "Since the exam is over now, Mr. Yan, please follow me back to the inn. A good banquet has been prepared in the inn. Now, I have been trying for nine consecutive days. You have worked really hard, sir. Now that you are done, it is time to celebrate."
With that said, shopkeeper Hu didn't wait for Yan Ruan to refuse, so he forced himself to hold Yan Ruan's hand and walked towards the inn.
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On the way back to "Jude Inn", Yan Ruan became more and more frightened, feeling confused and not sure whether he should confess the truth.
As for Shopkeeper Hu, he didn't ask any more questions. He just chatted with Yan Ru'an in a friendly manner along the way, and his attitude became more and more polite, as if Yan Ru'an had already been named on the gold medal list. But Yan Ru'an looked at Shopkeeper Hu's smiling face, and for some reason, his heart became even colder.
In a state of confusion, unable to tell the direction of time, when Yan Ru'an realized what he was doing, he had followed Shopkeeper Hu back to the "Jude Inn".
The reason why the "Jude Inn" is not of high quality has a lot to do with the bad location it is located in. It is next to the smoky "Eunuch Alley". There are many idle eunuchs wandering around the whole day, and from time to time they will There was theft and fraud. If Yan Ru'an hadn't been really short of money, he would never have chosen to live here.
At this time, there happened to be a few busy eunuchs wandering outside the inn.
These eunuchs were not able to enter the palace and become eunuchs after they were castrated. They were not like eunuchs in the palace who could always apply perfume to cover up the odor. The sanitary environment was also not good. There was a smell of urine coming from a distance, which made people cover their noses. .
In fact, the reason why these eunuchs were hanging around Jude Inn all day long was because they wanted to commit petty theft. They even had the idea of Yan Ru'an and wanted to steal Yan Ruan's family heirloom jade pendant. At that time, if Yan Ruxin wasn't smart and had Shopkeeper Hu in charge, these rogue eunuchs would have succeeded.
When these eunuchs saw Shopkeeper Hu dragging Yan Ruan back to the inn, they all greeted him shamelessly and noisily, regardless of the previous conflict between the two parties.
"Hey! Isn't this Mr. Yan? Is the exam over? How did you go?"
"Looking at what you said, Mr. Yan is very knowledgeable and talented. Naturally, he did extremely well in the exam."
"Shopkeeper Hu is very proud now. A Jinshi has come out of the store. He will have a good reputation in the future. Business will definitely be good!"
"Master Yan and Shopkeeper Hu, please take more care of us poor people from now on!"
These eunuchs have incomplete six senses, and their mentality is also somewhat defective and distorted. Although they are congratulating now, their tone is more sarcastic and jealous.
Shopkeeper Hu is usually very annoyed by these eunuchs, but because they have so many people and are often rebellious and vengeful, it is always difficult to offend them easily, but they can be chased as soon as possible, and they never look good. .
But today, Shopkeeper Hu was uncharacteristically, and he returned the greetings to the eunuchs repeatedly, saying: "Haha, I would like to thank you all for your kind words. Mr. Yan also told me just now that he did extremely well in the exam this time. He will definitely be named on the gold medal list, and thanks to Mr. Yan’s honor, now I can be considered a noble person in this shop!”
These eunuchs have extreme personalities and hate to see good things happen to others. They have also had conflicts with Yan Ruan. The previous congratulations were not sincere. In their hearts, they wished that Yan Ruan failed the exam so that they could take pleasure in his misfortune. But now I heard Shopkeeper Hu admit it. Although he was still congratulating, his expression was not good-looking.
But at this moment, a sudden change occurred!
The innkeeper who went to Gongyuan to inquire about news came back at this time!
"It's the shopkeeper! It's the shopkeeper! We were deceived by this person!" I saw the waiter shouting loudly and trotting to the shopkeeper Hu. After taking a breath for a while, he pointed at Yan Ruan with an angry look. He said loudly: "I just went to Gongyuan to inquire about the news. One of the candidates was sitting next to him during the examination. He said that Yan Ru'an suddenly fell ill just halfway through the examination. The final policy question was not answered at all. There is no way he will be nominated for the apricot list! He is lying to us! Shopkeeper, you must keep an eye on him. He now owes our store nearly twenty taels of silver, and he might run away at some point!"
As the guy finished speaking, the eyes of everyone around the inn were suddenly focused on Yan Ruan. Yan Ruan's face suddenly turned pale, and everyone was talking with different expressions.
Especially those idle eunuchs, seeing the situation take a turn for the worse, Yan Ru'an was actually listed on the apricot list. Under the twisted mentality of gloating about misfortune, they were all very happy, as if they had got a windfall for nothing.
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"Huh? Didn't Mr. Yan just promise that he did extremely well in the exam? Haha, it turns out that scholars can also lie!"
"You don't understand. Just because you are a scholar, you know how to lie."
"At the beginning, we just touched his jade pendant a little bit, and then he rambled on about the saint's words. His aloof look was disgusting. Hey! Mr. Yan, did the saint teach you to lie? ?"
"I heard that Mr. Yan owed Boss Hu a lot of money, and now he lied that he was promising for the imperial examination, so that Boss Hu didn't dare to ask for the debt. I'm afraid he was planning to defraud more money, and then ran away before the apricot list was announced! Hu Boss, you have to keep an eye on him! Scholars have too many crooked intestines to guard against!"
Listening to the yelling and screaming of these eunuchs, Yan Ruan's complexion became increasingly pale, and he wanted to refute, but it was because he was in the wrong and he didn't know where to start.
However, Shopkeeper Hu's expression did not change, but he stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "Don't talk like that, Mr. Yan didn't do well in the exam this time. It's God's fault. Who could have expected that Mr. Yan would suddenly fall ill in the middle of the exam? I am a scholar after all, so why do I allow you to behave like this?"
Seeing that shopkeeper Hu actually spoke for himself, Yan Ruan couldn't help but be stunned.
Is it possible that shopkeeper Hu is really a kind person?
Just when Yan Ru'an was about to say some words of gratitude, shopkeeper Hu changed the topic and said to Yan Ru'an: "However, Mr. Yan, you also know that my small shop here does not have much money. You two In the past month, I have owed nearly twenty taels of silver on credit in the store, isn't it time to settle the debt?"
As he spoke, Shopkeeper Hu's originally squinted eyes opened slightly, with a hint of coldness flashing in them.
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ps: first. To be continued. )
