Di Ming

Chapter 47 One Punch!
When Ning Caiwei heard that Zhu Yin wanted to participate in the war against Japanese aggression and aid Korea, she spoke to temper the sentiment, saying:

"Alright, don't have too high expectations. If you can't pass the provincial examination, you won't be qualified for the metropolitan examination. Even if you know the questions, it's like 'a hero has no place to use his skills'."

When it came to the provincial examinations, Zhu Yin dared not be too optimistic.

The provincial examination was extremely difficult, a selection process that was absolutely one in a hundred. Moreover, it selected from among the most promising scholars, the best of the best.

Facing the provincial examination, he had only one advantage: he was young and had a strong learning ability.

In other aspects, they are not as good as candidates from ancient times.

If you fail to pass the imperial examination, you might waste many years, or even never pass it in your entire life.

In that case, he, Ning Caiwei, and Ning Qingchen would have no chance to control their own destiny. Even if they became wealthy, they could easily become lambs to the slaughter.

Since the inception of the imperial examination system, countless talented historical figures have failed the provincial examination, regretting it for the rest of their lives.

If you don't know the questions, why are you sure you can pass?

We were too optimistic before.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yin's face couldn't help but show some worry, and a hint of sorrow appeared on his brow.

He had to consider what to do if he failed the imperial examination.

"Let's not talk about this anymore," Ning Caiwei said softly. "You're still young, take your time. It's very rare to pass the civil service exam on your first try."

"Moreover, this is even more difficult than taking the civil service exam."

She was worried that Zhu Yin would feel burdened and under psychological pressure.

She knew very well that Zhu Yin was her most important investment project. This project was unique, and it concerned her life, death, honor, and disgrace.

Zhu Yin's future is her and her sister's future.

Zhu Yin must grow up healthy and carefree to ensure the stability of the project.

Ning Caiwei saw the young man's exquisitely handsome profile, which at this moment carried a cool and melancholy air, like a small, prematurely sorrowful prince.

The softest spot in her heart was touched again, and she suddenly felt a little pain.

The first time he was moved was in that thatched hut in the woods, when he used a scalpel to stab the Jurchen villain and save himself.

The second time was when he was about to be executed by hanging, and he brought people to save him.

Ning Caiwei really wanted to reach out and touch his ears and his face.

However, she felt that the gesture was too intimate.

This feeling made her heart beat a little faster and her face flush slightly.

Sigh, how come I'm so carefree after my body has returned to childhood?

Prior to taking over the family business, Ning Caiwei had no romantic experience. From a young age, her grandfather warned her that any man who tried to get close to her might have ill intentions.

Emotions and deception will destroy her rationality and talent.

Her father and brother were stripped of their management positions because they had too many women and were prone to extramarital affairs. This allowed her to inherit the position.

She seemed to live for the Ning family, and even considered remaining unmarried.

Wearing a mask and looking down on others, but that's not the real you.

I'm so tired.

During her teenage years, everyone thought she was sunny and cheerful, but little did they know that her heart was a frozen wasteland.

Any man who tries to get close to her in any way gives her the feeling of a hunter.

Because she is too rich.

So much money... that it's impossible to judge the authenticity of feelings.

So rich... that I can't believe in love, nor can I love.

For her, romantic love was a taboo, a shackle, a drug, a curse—something she absolutely could not touch.

The family business was her prison. And she had already been sentenced to life imprisonment.

She envied her younger sister Qingchen instead, because her sister had more choices and was much freer than she was.

But now that she has arrived in the Ming Dynasty, she is no longer that self-imprisoned prisoner.

She lost a great fortune, but she can start over.

Thinking of this, Ning Caiwei gently lowered her scissor-like eyelids, and a ripple-like smile appeared on her lips, like a small jade Guanyin.

I'm not alone.

He definitely wasn't after the money. Because he's no longer a rich man.

Isn't this a good idea?
"Caiwei, what are you thinking about?" Zhu Yin interrupted Ning Caiwei's thoughts.

"I'll fan you." Ning Caiwei moved a little closer and simply picked up her younger sister and put her aside.

In this way, Zhu Yin could also get some wind.

With Ning Qingchen no longer an obstacle, the two were very close, and the fragrance that Zhu Yin smelled became even more vivid and lively.

"You ask me what I'm thinking about? I'm thinking about curing Qi Shaobao's illness," Ning Caiwei casually made up a perfect reason.

"Didn't you say he only has six months to live? We need to intensify his treatment."

"Tomorrow morning, I'll take Qingchen with me to Hengshuo Hall so that Qingchen can observe his symptoms and then treat him accordingly."

"What do you say?"

The little girl raised her delicate, flower-like face, looking every bit the "gentle and virtuous" adult.

As she was speaking, Ning Qingchen, whom she had suddenly pulled aside, kicked her little legs and started crying incessantly.

“Wooooooaaaaa…”

You guys chatted all night, and no one even glanced at me, no one fanned me, and you even treated me like an object and moved me aside!
Dog boy and dog girl!

If you think I'm in your way, why don't you kick me off the bed and throw me outside?
Now that they need my medical treatment, they remember me!

I'm just a tool!

tool!

You've been discussing this all night, but have you thought about hiring a wet nurse for me?
I'm only seven months old, don't want to drink milk, duck?

woo woo woo woo…

Ning Qingchen hated that she was an infant who could neither speak nor walk, and hated that she was still wearing tattered pants. The more she thought about it, the sadder she became.

The more heartbroken and aggrieved I felt, the harder I cried, until I was breathless.

I'm almost there.

"Alright, alright, don't cry..." Ning Caiwei quickly and tenderly picked up her younger sister, wiping away her sweat and tears with a handkerchief, and said softly:

"It was my fault, I didn't mean to abandon you. I've never taken care of a baby before, you're the first one."

"I'm learning, you have to give your sister time." Ning Qingchen glared at her sister with teary eyes, looking resentful.

Hmph, no one knows a sister better than her, don't I know you too well?

You're laughing at me in your heart!
You'll definitely tell this as a joke later!

Stop pretending to be gentle and virtuous! You've been pretending since you were a child!
Ning Qingchen was really angry. She stretched out her little hand and grabbed her sister's hair, pulling it with all her might.

"Stop it! You're twenty years old now, I'm angry!" Ning Caiwei said, both amused and exasperated, shaking off her younger sister's clutches. "Oh, my dear..."

She quickly shoved the little thing into Zhu Yin's arms, saying, "It's like a little stove, it's messed up my hair."

Zhu Yin had no choice but to take the baby, his movements clumsy and trembling, while patting Ning Qingchen's back.

"It's not that I don't care about you, how could I dare to neglect you? I just thought you were asleep."

"Oh, your sister told me earlier that she would find you a good wet nurse tomorrow so you wouldn't go hungry."

Zhu Yin paused here, then suddenly looked at Ning Caiwei and asked, "Is your name really Ning Caiwei?"

Ning Caiwei was taken aback, her face immediately turning somewhat unfriendly. "What am I supposed to call you if I'm not Ning Caiwei?"

Zhu Yin asked seriously, "Then who is Ning Caichen to you?"

"Damn it." Ning Caiwei wrinkled her nose. "This joke isn't funny at all. It's boring."

"Hehehe..." To everyone's surprise, Ning Qingchen burst into laughter through her tears, laughing heartily.

There's no way around it, babies have such a low threshold for laughter.

I can't help it, I can't hold it in.

Ning Caiwei couldn't help but smile brightly; it turned out they were just teasing the baby.

Zhu Yin seems to be better at coaxing children than I am.

Ning Caiwei emptied the baby's urinary tract and then said to Zhu Yin:

"Little Tiger, I'm still not used to it. Could you please go out for a moment? I need to use the toilet."

Zhu Yin got up, slipped on his wooden clogs, and clattered out of the room.

Little Black followed its owner outside, sat at his feet, and watched the night together.

A sky full of stars, a chorus of frogs. Moonlight like water, fireflies like a dream.

A faint smell of the sea wafted on the evening breeze, truly a midsummer night by the sea.

Zhu Yin felt instantly dry and cool, without any sweat.

After cooling off for a while, I went back to my room, only to find that Ning Caiwei had already finished relieving herself and gone to bed.

Zhu Yin blew out the lamp and went to bed, saying, "There's something else I need to tell you. In the Ming Dynasty, urban households almost never had toilets; they all used chamber pots."

"Within the city walls, there is nothing like the 'no thatched huts in the south, no latrines in the north' that Xie Zhao described."

"Influenced by the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty did not build toilets even in the imperial palaces and princely residences."

"When Hai Rui went to Chun'an to serve as the county magistrate, he even brought a chamber pot with him."

He pointed to the toilet in the corner:

"So tomorrow morning, the neighborhood night soil collector will come to collect the excrement. Tell Garlo to give all the chamber pots to the night soil collector."

Ning Caiwei frowned upon hearing the word "toilet".

Using the toilet... is a bad experience.

How sad.

Zhu Yin also gave a wry smile. Returning to ancient times, hygiene was truly an adjustment.

Especially going to the toilet. Not to mention Ning Caiwei, he himself complained about it a lot.

But there was no other way. Fortunately, I was willing to spend money to buy toilet paper, so I didn't have to use toilet sticks.

Otherwise, a box of bamboo strips would also need to be prepared in this room... what a scene that would be.

"How much will it cost? Do I need to prepare some loose change first?" Ning Caiwei asked, frowning.

Zhu Yin shook his head, "There's no need to charge. There are 'manure tyrants' in the city who monopolize this industry. They transport the excrement to cesspools outside the city and sell it to large landowners and estate owners to fertilize their fields."

"However, if you add a toilet cleaning service, there will be a charge. It might be charged every few days, or it might be charged once a month."

Ning Caiwei quickly said, "Even if it's ten times more expensive, I'll still add this service. I don't want to clean the toilet."

Zhu Yin nodded, "Alright, then go find Qi Baoguo tomorrow morning and borrow his scissors and steelyard, cut out some small pieces of silver, weigh them, and use them for small payments."

“This currency is really troublesome to use.” Ning Caiwei shook her head. “If we have the chance in the future, we must come up with a new currency.”

Zhu Yin yawned, lay down, and rested his head on the porcelain pillow. "Okay. I'll wait for you to come up with the new currency. Go to sleep, I'm sleepy."

"Sigh, I'm really not used to this porcelain pillow."

Ning Caiwei thought for a moment, then tilted her head and asked, "Why did the ancients use porcelain pillows? Were they comfortable?"

Zhu Yin did not answer, but he began to breathe evenly.

Ning Caiwei cautiously stretched out her toes and touched Zhu Yin's feet, but there was no reaction.

This little man fell asleep so quickly.

...

The next morning, Zhu Yin changed into a short outfit, quickly washed up, and with Ning Caiwei's help, tied his hair into two small buns before heading out.

"I'll go first, you can come back later with Qingchen."

"Yes." Ning Caiwei answered crisply and then helped her younger sister wash up and urinate.

Zhu Yin arrived at the Hengshuo Hall on the west side, and saw two lines of poetry carved on the large stone at the entrance. The characters were strong and vigorous, and they were:

"Three hundred and sixty days a year, I spend most of my time on horseback with a spear in hand."

Qi Jiguang had already arrived.

Moreover, standing next to him was a boy of about ten years old, at most one or two years older than Zhu Yin.

"Father, did you sleep well last night?" Zhu Yin asked first.

This is the "morning prayer".

"That's enough." Qi Jiguang waved his hand and pointed at the boy. "His name is Qi Jin. He is my nephew. He is ten years old and has been learning martial arts for five years."

"To learn martial arts, you must first get beaten up and suffer a loss so you know how your opponent attacks and how to subdue you."

"Qi Jin, don't go too far, go!"

"Understood!" Qi Jin shouted in a clear, childlike voice, her body sinking as she raised her small, pinkish-white fist and threw a punch.

One punch!
(End of this chapter)