Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 4 Fireworks in March in Yangzhou

A scabby has his own way of living. There are not so many high-spirited people in the world. What about cheating and picking up money on the ground? Zhang Mazi has to rely on "this" and "this" together to make money while standing.

"How about this, we two can just stay on the truck for a few days, don't worry about food and drink, and we can lend a hand if we need help. What do you think?"

Xia Lin was begging the manager of the caravan to let them take a ride, but what was the manager's status? He couldn't persuade him with just a few words. He said with a dark face on the spot: "Go away, you take a ride today and he takes a ride tomorrow. Can I still do business with my boss? Go away, don't let me see you again."

"Please help me, I beg you..."

Xia Lin still looked humble, and then he pulled Zhang Zhongchun over and said, "Master, kowtow to me."

"Ok?"

Zhang Zhongchun looked at Xia Lin in astonishment, but after thinking it over, he knelt down with a thud. However, he did not let Xia Lin have an easy time either, as he pulled the boy to the ground with force.

"Please be merciful." Zhang Zhongchun knocked his head to the ground, his face full of sorrow. "My aunt has treated me like her own child since I was a child. Now she is seriously ill and doesn't have much time left. If I can't make this trip and can't see her for the last time, what should I do? I might as well die!"

Hmm? Xia Lin turned his head to look at Zhang Zhongchun, who was in tears, and thought to himself: Your performance can be included in the teaching materials of back figure. Did you get emotional so quickly?

"What's wrong, Lao He? What are you yelling about?"

At this moment, a crisp female voice was heard. Xia Lin looked up and saw a girl in green walking towards him quickly. She was about sixteen or seventeen years old. She was wearing a dark green silk shirt with arrow-stitch sleeves and a swastika pattern and a peacock green curtain embroidered with sea thorns. Her lower body was a white skirt embroidered with round gold threads. Her delicate hair was embellished with a jade and gold hairpin, and she wore polished omphalopod jade earrings on her ears. Her slender waist was tied with a sea green overnight corset with a sachet of broken branches and flowers hanging on it. She wore a pair of gold thread embroidered satin shoes on her feet, which showed her luxury.

The girl walked towards him and was stunned when he saw her. He looked at the girl in green as if he had lost his soul. The girl saw him staring at her so intently, so she stretched out the small sandalwood scented fan in her hand and tapped him, saying softly but playfully: "Disrespectful."

Xia Lin quickly turned his head away: "Miss, please don't be offended. When ordinary people see fairies descending to the earth, they will definitely take a few more glances. I mean no offense."

The young lady opened her almond-shaped eyes and chuckled, "You are such a smooth-talking boy."

At this time, the manager of the caravan came forward and said, "Miss, these two beggars insisted on taking our car to Yangzhou. I told them that they couldn't just take our caravan whenever they wanted, but they kept nagging."

Upon hearing this, the girl walked around Xia Lin and Zhang Zhongchun twice, and looked them up and down: "Why are you two going to Yangzhou?"

Zhang Zhongchun immediately wiped his tears and told the young lady that his "aunt" was dying, but if he walked over, he would definitely not be able to see her for the last time.

"That's understandable. Lao He, just make some arrangements for them. I'm afraid these two weaklings won't be able to cause any trouble."

"Oh my... Miss, you are too easy to believe these people's one-sided words. What if they are connected with the bandits on the road? Then we will lose all our money."

Upon hearing this, Xia Lin immediately pulled the pass for both of them out of Lao Zhang's arms and said, "We'll leave the pass with you!"

Seeing their sincerity, the girl in green nodded and said, "Old He, accept the pass and let them help with some work on the road. Just consider it a good deed."

The foreman of the caravan sighed and said, "Okay, since the young lady has said so, you can go up, but you can only sit in the cart that carries fodder, and you can't touch other carts."

Of course, Xia Lin and the other man thanked the young lady and Lao He profusely, and then jumped onto the cart carrying fodder.

As the convoy started, they staggered out of Luoyang City. Today in Luoyang, there was a gentle breeze and clear sky. It was really a very good day.

The two down-and-out teenagers lay on the haystack, looking up at the layers of white clouds in the sky, feeling quite comfortable.

"Daosheng, what do you think is the identity of the young man in fancy clothes who squatted down to ask questions? In my opinion, my father-in-law's family is in trouble."

"Who else could he be? Of course he is someone sent by the imperial court to clean up the wealthy families. Look at his clothes, four-warp twisted silk, can ordinary people afford to wear this? And his boots, soft deerskin boots, the belt is inlaid with seven white jade buckles, and the fan in his hand is made of rosewood, can he be an ordinary person? He doesn't mind your stench, but comes up to you and asks about your father-in-law's breaking off the engagement with you. Do you know why he does this?"

"Oh! Rumor has it!" Zhang Zhongchun slapped his thigh, "The inspector from the Censorate!" "Remember what we heard when we were helping out at the Wang family a few days ago? It was said that a big shot among the classmate of the young master of the Wang family happened to come and join in the fun. The food we took back that day was different from the usual ones. It was just bird's nest, abalone and fish maw. The young master of the Wang family was just a poor scholar. How could he have allowed this big shot to have a meal at his house? It's possible that he was the inspector sent by the higher-ups to investigate the wealthy family in Luoyang." Xia Lin swung his feet, "It looks like there's going to be a big commotion in Luoyang City."

Zhang Zhongchun laughed after hearing that: "What a shame! If I could stay a few more days, I would definitely go and see how thrilling it is to see the scene of heads rolling around."

"You are such a filthy person. What's so good about beheading? If I become the Minister of Justice one day, I will change beheading to burying alive." Xia Lin turned his ankle twice: "I am a kind-hearted man and cannot bear to see such a bloody scene."

"You little boy... you have such a vicious heart."

During the chat, the convoy had already left Luoyang City. Seeing the towering city wall going further and further away, Zhang Zhongchun sat up and sighed: "Alas... I still feel reluctant to leave after all."

"What are you reluctant to part with? The girl in green? She's pretty and kindhearted, so nice." Xia Lin held a straw in his mouth. "What a pity, she now sees us as nothing more than stray dogs starving and freezing on the roadside. At most, she only has three parts of disdain and five parts of pity."

"What about the remaining two points?"

"The remaining two points are: one for her beauty and one for her kindness."

"Hahahaha...you bastard." Zhang Zhongchun kicked Xia Lin and said, "It's really unfair for you to be my servant."

"Do you think I want to? I just can't help it." Xia Lin sighed and said, "After a few days, when my magical power is perfected, I will take you flying."

Soon it was night. They were hitchhiking for free and had to eat and drink at other people's expense, so they had to do some work. Xia Lin couldn't cook, so he was responsible for lighting the pot and burning firewood. Zhang Zhongchun was a scholar but he was a good cook. Although the food on the road was simple, it was suitable for the season. They just picked some wild vegetables and ground mushrooms and caught a dozen small fish in a basin from the creek, and that would make a good pot of soup.

With warm food in their stomachs, everyone talked more around the campfire, and Xia Lin naturally learned a lot of information. He knew that the girl in green was named Tang Wanqiu, the eldest daughter of the Tang family trading company. She had just taken over the job of the master of the Tang family and was in charge of the caravan and the trading company last year. She was the same age as Xia Lin, and only in the second year of high school, but she could take charge of such a large trading company on her own. She was really a very capable person.

After these business associates and bodyguards learned that Xia Lin and Zhang Zhongchun were scholars, they became more curious. Once they got a little familiar with them, they pestered these two people to write letters to their homes, even though they were only a day's distance away from Luoyang City.

But all this is understandable. These people are illiterate and are quite excited to see a scholar. After all, in their eyes, scholars are the best of the people, no matter how poor they are. The big shopkeeper in a business company is just a student, which is the ceiling of their education.

In addition, these two people have been beaten by the society and their meridians are broken. They are sweet-talkers and have no airs, so the journey is quite harmonious and pleasant. Lao Zhang can cook delicious dishes and Xia Lin has endless stories. The two of them have become the treasures of the caravan without knowing it and are deeply loved by everyone. Even Lao He, who refused to let them follow the car at the beginning, likes these two lovely young men very much.

The journey was smooth, but it was by no means a pleasant one. When Xia Lin and his companions arrived in Yangzhou, they had lost a lot of weight and become darker. Their clothes, which had been clean before, were now only slightly better than beggars' clothes.

When saying goodbye to the caravan, Xia Lin seemed reluctant to leave, but they still had to travel for two more days to reach Jiangdu nearby, so they had to say goodbye here.

"Ah..." Xia Lin leaned against a willow tree by the roadside and watched the caravan go away. He said with some emotion, "I don't know when we will see each other again."

"Oh, you still miss Lao He a lot, why don't you go and ask him to be your godfather?" Zhang Zhongchun shook the broken fan that was almost boneless chicken fillet: "I don't know why you linger on with such a stench."

"Did you do this on purpose or by accident?" Xia Lin dodged Zhang Zhongchun's bag and said, "Don't you know who I'm thinking of?"

"I don't know, I'm not a worm in your stomach." Zhang Zhongchun waved his fan, "But if you really care about it, I'm afraid people will look down on you if you don't make a name for yourself."

This guy really knew about it. He was Zhang Zhongchun, a top talent known for his mastery of both calligraphy and painting. How could he not see this little trick?

Xia Lin sighed and stood up angrily: "The eldest daughter of the Tang family is really pretty."

"You are obviously not very knowledgeable. Next time if there is a chance, I will take you to see the brothels and Qingyufang in the big city. The most expensive courtesan there costs three hundred thousand taels of silver." Zhang Zhongchun sighed for no reason while shaking his head: "Thinking back to the time when I was invited by Prince Teng to go to Hongdu Mansion, Prince Teng invited five courtesans to dance and asked me to paint a picture of spring flowers for him. It was really..."

"Stop, stop, stop. Don't compare your chicken with Miss Tang's. And the painting of Chunfang enjoying flowers is just a painting of a naked body. You look so ignorant." Xia Lin stood in front of the Yangzhou road sign and looked at the city ahead. After taking a deep breath, he said, "Old Zhang, from now on, you are the servant and I am the young master. Don't make trouble for me. If your identity is exposed, we will both be in trouble."

"Don't worry, Master Zhang is always flexible."

(End of this chapter)