Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 253 The Invisible Battlefield: Public Opinion

The inn fell silent for a moment.

Wei Yuan clung to the small basket, tears welling up in his eyes.

The bearded man opened his mouth several times, but hesitated to speak.

Finally, Rong Changyan reached out and pushed the copy of "The Splendor of Dali" in the bearded man's hand, and said with a smile, "Brother, do you believe that after this autumn examination, many names in the Record of the Splendor of Dali will be rewritten?"

The bearded man gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know about others, but I do know that after the autumn examination, Young Master Chen's ranking will definitely rise again."

Rong Changyan nodded: "That's natural. Young Master Chen's magic is profound. After passing the imperial examination, his combat power will definitely increase, and his ranking will naturally continue to rise."

Beard: ...

Onlookers: ...

For some reason, even though this person was praising Chen Xu, everyone felt inexplicably frustrated.

Rong Changyan stood up and smiled, glancing at everyone before finally saying, "Never mind, I've just joined in the fun."

Dear friends, when we look at things, we can't just look at a list or listen to a few rumors. We need to consider things carefully and analyze the essence of the matter.

Only in this way can one avoid blindly following others and truly be considered insightful and discerning.

Hahaha..."

He smiled and walked away from the crowd.

The crowd around him made way for him.

He then leisurely walked out of the inn's lobby and came to the gate, about to exit.

But then, a small mound of earth silently rose from the ground near the doorway, its appearance occurring at an extremely opportune moment. Just as Rong Changyan took a step, it suddenly surged upwards.

boom!
Caught off guard, Rong Changyan felt a sharp pain in his toe, as if he had inexplicably kicked something.

He was about to use his skills to maintain his balance, but the sharp pain in his toes felt like an electric shock, instantly piercing every nerve in his body, both real and illusory.

Rong Changyan cried out in pain, unable to react or control himself, and suddenly lunged forward, crashing to the ground.

"Ouch, that hurts!" he cried out.

"Pfft!" A burst of uncontrollable laughter erupted from inside the inn.

Only the waiter, suppressing a laugh, ran over, helping the man up and comforting him, saying, "Sir, what happened? Get up, get up, are you alright?"

Rong Changyan said angrily, "There's something on the ground here, making the road uneven. How can you run a business like this? You can't even fix the ground properly. Go and call your manager..."

Wow, such arrogance! The waiter wasn't happy about it.

He immediately gave a cold laugh, released his grip, and looked down at the ground, shouting:

"The road is uneven? Ladies and gentlemen, please judge for yourselves. Where is the ground uneven? It's clearly all blue bricks, and it's perfectly smooth everywhere, okay?"

Ha, some people are blind themselves, yet they insist on blaming the uneven road.

I may be just a waiter, but I can't stand this kind of humiliation. Go ahead and call for our manager!
This is to let this old man know that our inn is backed by someone surnamed Gao.

Sir, you're trying to smear our inn with your words and actions. What, are you trying to extort money from us or what?

"Just you wait and see, if our manager really comes, this matter won't be so easily resolved."

The waiter's sharp tongue really angered Rong Changyan. He wanted to insist that he had kicked something, but when he glanced at the ground, he saw that the bluestone floor tiles were indeed flat.

And where is there even the slightest protrusion?
There wasn't a single bump or any debris at all.

It's clear how clean the ground was; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was so clean it could reflect a person's image.

The gazes of everyone in the inn also fell upon the ground near the entrance. Before Rong Changyan could say anything more, the crowd began to shout:

"This person really has something wrong with their eyes. They clearly fell by accident, but they still blame the uneven ground."

How much smoother does the ground need to be to be considered flat? You can't exactly lay a carpet on the ground and ask the gentleman to walk carefully, can you?

These words immediately drew another burst of laughter.

Rong Changyan, who had fallen to the ground, was too ashamed to stay any longer after being ridiculed. He hurriedly got up and pointed behind him at the crowd—

He looked indignant, but ultimately covered his face, endured the pain, and walked away quickly.

As soon as the man left, everyone burst into laughter again.

Amidst the laughter, a few sarcastic remarks inevitably rang out: "This guy puts on quite the airs, and when he speaks, he seems to have a lot of knowledge."

Hey, it turns out it's nothing special after all.

He's just a paper tiger, all show and no substance!

Those who heard it burst into laughter, and someone else chimed in, "Exactly, exactly, that's all there is to it. Hahaha..."

Amidst the laughter, no one noticed that in Chen Xu's small basket, a little hedgehog was nervously shrinking its tiny hands.

But after a moment of guilt, and hearing everyone's mockery of the long-eyed man from before, the little hedgehog raised its head slightly again.

Well, it's not doing anything bad.

This is called expressing one's feelings and letting one's thoughts flow freely.

Chen Xu smiled slightly and gently tapped the little hedgehog's forehead.

Wei Yuan quickly poked his head out of the basket and whispered to Chen Xu, "Brother Chen, I believe in you. No matter how many formidable opponents there are in this autumn examination, I believe you will be the one to come out on top."

Chen Xu said softly, "Thank you, A Yuan. The opponents are indeed very strong. I'm afraid I'll have to borrow your books again to read along the way."

As the saying goes, "Even last-minute preparations can be effective."

Wei Yuan quickly said, "Brother Chen, you're not cramming at the last minute; you're just accumulating knowledge and experience before unleashing your full potential. But you don't need to borrow my books; feel free to read them!"
"I'll look at anything, as long as I have it."

It was resolute and spirited.

Chen Xu then smiled slightly again.

Unbeknownst to anyone, after Rong Changyan left the inn, a shadowy figure quietly followed him.

This invisible figure was naturally Chen Xu's puppet soldier.

Seeing that this person was indeed very knowledgeable and different from ordinary people, Chen Xu released his soldiers to silently follow him for a while.

During the observation, the man first frowned in annoyance, then frequently appeared puzzled, and finally shook his head vigorously—

Finally, he entered a large mansion through a small side gate.

As he entered, the doorman greeted him familiarly: "Uncle Dayan, you've returned after disappearing?"

Rong Changyan, whose name was Da Yan, waved his hand absentmindedly without saying anything more.

Once inside the courtyard, it was a maze of twists and turns.

Da Yan walked into an elegantly decorated courtyard, where he met a middle-aged man dressed as a steward under the eaves.

He bowed and smiled at the steward, saying, "Brother, I've been to quite a few places today, spreading the word about how amazing our young master is."

Those country bumpkins were stunned, hehe, they all have great respect for our young master…”

That's it!

Several miles away, Chen Xu suddenly realized something.

It turns out that the propaganda war surrounding the provincial examination had already begun invisibly.

(End of this chapter)