[Red Chamber] The imperial examination life of the great master

"Shopkeeper, what exactly is that mysterious gift?" A Confucian scholar in a green robe stood in front of the counter and asked curiously. Several friends were also gathered nearby, and everyone wanted to know what to give.

The shopkeeper smiled, stroked his beard and said, "My lords, I can't say this, I'm afraid my boss will blame me if I say it, but I can assure you that it's definitely a good thing, and it's rare."

rare

Someone heard this and sneered, "Treasurer, don't sell melons to the wangpo and boast about yourself. What is rare and rare, is it a five-flowered horse, a thousand-gold fur, or a night pearl, or an ancient rare book?"

Everyone laughed.

"That's right, we've all read books and seen the world, and we haven't seen any good things." A scholar in a long robe said to the crowd, "Shopkeeper, stop boasting."

The shopkeeper was laughed at by everyone, but he was not annoyed, and smiled and stroked his beard behind the counter, "That's not necessarily the case, our boss said that the thing has a price but no market, even if it sells for ten thousand taels of silver, Not surprising."

Everyone looked at each other, ten thousand taels of silver, this may buy hundreds of acres of land!

They couldn't help but wonder, what is it that is so valuable?

"Shopkeeper, I don't believe it, unless your boss is crazy," one person approached the counter, "otherwise, why would you bring such a valuable thing?"

The shopkeeper smiled without saying a word, but made everyone more curious.

"The shopkeeper, how can I get that gift?" Someone couldn't help asking.

The others also pricked up their ears and widened their eyes, waiting for the shopkeeper's answer.

The shopkeeper said with a smile: "There is a box here, and there are many notes in the box, but only one note is red. After the distinguished customers come here to buy things, they can come and get the note, and get the red note. Whose gift is that?" He said, motioning the apprentice to lift a boxy box covered with a red cloth from under the counter, leaving only a hole in the middle that could allow a hand to get in and out.

Everyone suddenly realized.

It turned out to be that simple.

"The shopkeeper, let me try it." A person who bought rice paper came forward, rolled up his sleeves, and planned to give it a try.

Naturally, the shopkeeper has nothing to do with it, and he readily agrees.

The man put his hand in and took it out again.

"It's a pity, it's actually a blank note." Others couldn't help feeling sorry, not only because he didn't have that good luck, but also because he didn't know what it was.

Some people were really curious, so they just stood still and wanted to see what the shopkeeper's hype gift was, but after waiting for an hour, no one was able to get it.

Everyone became a little impatient. Although they were still thinking of scholars, they couldn't help complaining: "Shopkeeper, do you have a red note in this box?"

"Of course there are notes. We open the door to do business with integrity." The shopkeeper said righteously.

Everyone waited impatiently, some people simply left, and some people got angry and had to wait by the side.

This wait.

Just wait until the end of school time.

More and more people came and went to buy rice paper, and more and more people learned about it.

Many people came here in high spirits and returned disappointed, Kong sighed at the box and had no fate.

When there are more people, there will be more complainers.

Some said, "there is no red note in the box", and some said, "the store is not willing to give away things at all." In short, there are all kinds of words.

The shopkeeper is an old man from the Chen family. He is used to wind and rain.Still calm and relaxed, smiling and entertaining.

After all, there are red notes and gifts, why should they feel guilty because of these words?

"I, I want to try." With his head down, the timid Confucian scholar came over with a knife of rice paper in his arms.

The shopkeeper recognized this person. This student has been back and forth in their Wenyuan Pavilion more than a dozen times, but because his family is in a difficult situation, he left empty-handed every time. He showed a smiling face, "Young master, do you want to buy rice paper?"

Before the Confucian scholar could answer, someone who recognized him sneered and said, "Brother Xu, when did you become so rich? You can even afford these rice papers, so don't slap your face and look fat."

The one who was called Brother Xu blushed immediately, but he didn't dare to refute.

"If you want me to say, brother Xu might as well go home and help pour Yexiang. You have been studying in school for several years, and you can't even memorize a copy of "University". You are worried when seeing you." The man said with a smile.

Everyone was surprised, looking at Brother Xu's eyes, they couldn't help being a little contemptuous. After studying for so many years, they can't even memorize "University", so they really shouldn't continue reading.

The man who was called Brother Xu lowered his head even lower, quickly took out a purse from his arms, and stammered, "Here, here is the money for this knife of rice paper."

After he said this, he turned around and left with the rice paper in his arms.

The shopkeeper hurriedly pulled him back, "My lord, why don't you smoke?"

The man froze for a moment, stopped in his tracks, and glanced at the box on the counter.

"Shopkeeper, you don't have to let him smoke it. This person is lucky enough to memorize it, so he will definitely not be able to smoke it." Someone said.

Others also echoed: "No, besides, he doesn't have that fate either."

After being ridiculed, the man blushed. If he hadn't heard that the gift was worth tens of thousands of taels just now, he would have left a long time ago. At this time, he quickly inserted his hand into the box, and randomly pulled out a note without even looking at it. As soon as the note was slapped on the counter, he was about to leave.

"Wait!" The shopkeeper looked at the note on the counter and quickly stopped him, "Master, you have drawn a red note."

"What?!" Everyone stared at the counter with wide eyes.

Sure enough, there was a red note on the counter.

The student surnamed Xu was also stunned, pointing to his nose in surprise, "Yes, it's mine?"

"Of course it's yours." The shopkeeper said with a smile, "You are so impatient, you don't even look at it. If I hadn't seen it earlier, you don't know where you would have gone now."

The student surnamed Xu blushed, walked back, looked a little shy, and said falteringly: "Then, the gift?"

"Here." The shopkeeper took out a small cloth bag from under the counter.

"It's in the package."

The student surnamed Xu reached out to take it. As if he was afraid of being robbed, he immediately stuffed it into his arms and ran away quickly.

This stunned those scholars who had been waiting for a long time to see what the gift was. This person is a rat, right?Not much more courageous than a mouse.

"Master, shopkeeper, this, this..." Someone complained, "He ran away, how do we know what it is?"

The shopkeeper spread his hands helplessly, "I can't do anything about it. I gave the item to someone, and they ran away after taking it. What can I say?"

Everyone was discouraged, and some people still didn't give up, asking if there was any more.

The shopkeeper thought for a while, and said: "Our boss said that these days, we will deliver it every day. When the time comes, it will all depend on fate. If there is fate, the things will naturally be yours."

Everyone cheered up again, asking east and west, asking a lot of things.

All the shopkeepers patiently answered one by one.

Wait until the next day.

Everyone in the city knew that such an interesting incident had happened in Wenyuan Pavilion.

In the past, Wenyuan Pavilion was only famous among scholars, but now even the traffickers and pawns know about such a thing. It is the first time in the world to buy paper and send things, and the gifts are worth tens of thousands of taels. How can people not be moved?

This morning, the door of Wenyuan Pavilion hadn't been opened yet, and the board hadn't been lowered yet.

The doorway is filled with people who want to buy rice paper. Some people come for gifts, and some people just come to join in the fun and have fun. Of course, it would be even better if they win.

As soon as the shopkeeper opened the door, he was overwhelmed by the crowd.

He managed to hold on to the door frame to stand firm, and the melon cap was squeezed out. If the apprentice hadn't supported him by the side, he would have been almost pushed aside.

Although the shopkeeper had expected in advance that there would be a lot of people, he didn't expect that there would be so many people that the store would be packed.

Looking at the crowd, the shopkeeper admired Jia Amnesty who came up with this idea in his heart. Fortunately, he had to take the test, if he didn't take the test, no one in the world would be able to do business with him.

On this day, both the shopkeeper and the apprentices were busy without touching the ground.

Before noon, all the rice paper sold every day was sold out, and he had to explain to those who waved their banknotes to buy that he would come back tomorrow, and come back tomorrow.

"Boss, I'll double the price, let me buy a few knives first." Someone said, waving the banknote.

The shopkeeper smiled wryly and declined: "My lord, it's not that I don't want to, it's because the store is sold out. I want to sell, but I have nothing to sell to you."

"Hey, why don't you have more stock in your store?" Someone complained.

The shopkeeper also didn't understand, the only way to do business is to pick up customers, there is no way to drive customers out, but since Mr. Jia said it is good to do so, he just followed suit, he is a scholar, and his brain is better than him.

"Master, shopkeeper." A person desperately squeezed in from the crowd.

The shopkeeper didn't raise his head, and said helplessly, "Please come early tomorrow, it's sold out today."

"Shopkeeper, I, I'm not here to buy things." The man said, "I'm here to thank you."