"Listen to the noise inside, it's probably not over yet. Why did you come out?" Yi Ning asked with a smile when she saw Xu Yaochen coming.
“Our poem has been read and the response has been great.”
Xu Yaochen explained, "There are still dozens of tables that need to be judged. I'm too lazy to wait, so I came out."
Yi Ning looked at the sky: "Then let's enjoy the moon together."
Xu Yaochen said "hmm" and wanted to sit like Yi Ning. As soon as his butt touched the ground, he was frozen by the cold ground and stood up again.
In the end, the scholar had no choice but to lean against the pillars of the archway and look at the stars in the sky.
If there is sleep in the mountain, the moon is on the pillow and the sky is covered with stardust.
Yi Ning said softly: "The moon in my hometown is not as bright as this."
"Isn't the world full of moons? Where is Brother Yi's home?"
"It's so far away that I can't go back."
"Then Brother Yi, why don't you settle down in Chaoyang City?"
"The world is so big, I feel at ease in my hometown, so I might as well walk around."
Yi Ning shook his head and looked at the moon with a gentle expression.
Xu Yaochen lowered his head and pondered the meaning of what he just said.
Neither of them continued to speak, and the surrounding crowd had also entered the alley.
So although the streets were dimly lit, they were also very quiet.
After a long while, Xu Yaochen said: "Thank you for today."
"Yeah." Yi Ning smiled and accepted it calmly.
“Many people say I became a nerd because of reading.”
Xu Yaochen stroked the notice in front of the memorial arch, "But I'm not stupid. Today, Brother Yi deliberately asked whether he would bring his classmates and let me make the decision. He wanted me to take this opportunity to return their favor."
"Brother Xu is not stupid at all."
"Hey, how can a shortcut in this world be opened to a poor family?"
Xu Yaochen spoke in a low tone, "If you want to go to the capital to take the examination, you must pass the government examination. In the government examination, you not only need to answer the selected questions correctly, but the most important thing is to be recommended by local officials. Without recommendation, no matter how good your literary talent is, it will be in vain."
Yi Ning somewhat understood that it was very similar to the recommendation system of the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai, the poet immortal, had really put a lot of effort into asking for recommendation.
"So there is a winter meeting. This winter meeting is organized by the prefect. Officials from Chaoyang Prefecture, big and small, will come. Candidates who can participate in the winter meeting will have the opportunity to show their faces in front of big shots."
Xu Yaochen looked yearning, because he would soon be able to participate in such a grand event.
All this is thanks to Brother Yi.
Thinking of this, he looked at Yi Ning sitting on the floor.
But he saw Yi Ning also looking at him and listened to Brother Yi say.
"I suddenly want to participate in this Winter Games."
...
The next day.
Near noon, Yi Ning came from outside the city carrying a bamboo bag filled with vines.
The guard guard looked at it and asked, "What is in the bamboo frame?"
"I sell handicrafts at home, and the vines are dried for decoration." Yi Ning answered.
The soldier said "Yeah" and had no doubts. Apart from making things, what else could these grass and vines do?
"The entry fee is fifty cents."
"good."
After Yi Ning took out the copper coins, he picked up his bamboo bag and walked towards the city.
After a while, he came to an inn in the corner of the city, which was exactly the one Xu Yaochen was looking for before.
It's just that they rented the guest room into a small courtyard.
The money was naturally obtained from yesterday's literary meeting. There were ten taels of gold in total, nine taels for Yi Ning and one tael for Xu Yaochen.
This tael of gold was given by Yi Ning in the name of repaying money. Xu Yaochen was not prepared to ask for it, but of course he said he couldn't win and couldn't resist.
So now Yi Ning owns ninety taels of gold, which is also ninety taels of silver. In earth terms, he is now probably a hundred millionaire.
And these are just random rewards from high-ranking officials, which shows how big the gap between rich and poor is in this world.
The courtyard is a bungalow with three guest rooms and a bluestone courtyard.
Xu Yaochen was not at home at this time. After yesterday's results came out, he was invited by talented people in the city to exchange literature.
Yi Ning closed the door of the small courtyard and looked around to make sure that there were no ears on the partition walls and no one was peeping, then he started to light a fire in the courtyard.
Use a fire stick to ignite the dry grass. When an open flame comes out, add the fine firewood. When the fine firewood burns most vigorously, Yi Ning starts to place the coarse firewood.
Only a fire built in this way can burn for a long time.
After making preliminary preparations, he looked at the vines in his bamboo pocket.
"The weather is too cold in winter and there are few medicinal materials. Even if no one goes to mine it, after a search, no traces of gallbladder, white aconite, bamboo root, etc. were found. Fortunately, these tripterygium wili were found in the end."
Yi Ning picked up the vine in his pocket and began to peel it off with a knife.
The blade of the knife sliced through the vines, and pieces of vine skin fell off, and dark brown juice flowed out.
He watched the juice flow over his fingers, a smile forming on his lips.
"Thunder Powder Vine can remove dampness and relieve pain, but it is most famous for its highly toxic nature."
“It stands to reason that this guy’s juice would cause allergies to the human body, but now it has no effect on me.
"Could it be that I am immune to all kinds of poisons?"
There are too many things that are not in line with common sense, so Yi Ning doesn't think about it too much.
Put the peeled rattan skin into the pot, pour in water, put it on the fire, and wait for it to simmer.
Time passed, three hours later.
The clear water in the pot has boiled into a black soup, and bursts of the unique fragrance of plants are floating around.
"The taste is passable, but the vision is still lacking."
Yi Ning nodded with satisfaction as she smelled the aroma, then took out the charcoal she bought in the morning, moved the pot away from the fire, and put the charcoal into the pot.
The small pores of charcoal have extremely strong adsorption capacity and can absorb pigments to purify water. This is common knowledge in junior high schools.
He wanted to use charcoal to remove color from the decoction.
This was done until the rooster crows the next day.
When Yi Ning looked again, the original black soup had been divided into two layers. The lower part was a thick layer of black medicinal residue, and the upper part was as clear as water, but it was a little frozen due to the weather.
"The final thing is to condense it."
Yi Ning dug out the upper ice cubes, rekindled the fire, put it in another pot, and started cooking.
He was very patient and cooked it over and over again.
The moon sets and the sun rises.
The early morning sunshine shone in the small courtyard, hitting Yi Ning's face, making his shadow grow long.
There was a sound of water rushing in the gourd at his waist.
"not bad."
After struggling for a day, Yi Ning was very satisfied with the masterpiece.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Yi Ning stood up and opened the door. The person knocking on the door was Xu Yaochen's classmate.
After seeing Yi Ning, they all showed admiration.
Although the literati looked down upon him, that was an attitude similar to his own.
Obviously Yi Ning is not in this category.
Everyone saluted neatly, like students facing their teachers.
Xu Yaochen also dressed neatly and walked out of the house. Perhaps he had seen more in the past two days, or his mentality had changed.
Although the scholar was not very luxuriously dressed, he looked particularly cool under the morning sun.
Seeing that everyone was waiting for him, Xu Yaochen walked over quickly, said hello, and looked at Yi Ning with his classmates.
Yi Ning smiled and said: "Let's go to the winter meeting."
———
Ps: I have something to do at home today, so sorry for being late.
