Rise From the Humble

"Hey, sir, your horse doesn't eat meat. You don't even look at it."

The store clerk walked into the store with a small piece of fat meat, his face full of displeasure, and complained to Zhu Pingan.

"Oh, forget it if you don't want to eat." Zhu Pingan nodded calmly, calmly and calmly.

"ah?"

The shop assistant opened his mouth wide, and then glanced at Zhu Pingan again. He saw that Zhu Pingan was very indifferently supporting his clothes on a wooden stick to bake. He thought for a long time, and then looked at the people who were watching the excitement and returning without any results. , and then he suddenly realized what he was saying.

The people who had just been out of curiosity and followed the store clerk to watch the horses eat meat are now back, making all kinds of complaints and humiliations, such as "How can there be any horse eating meat? It's really ****" and so on. However, When I came back now, I saw Zhu Ping'an baking clothes with a nonchalant expression. When some of them squeezed in but couldn't squeeze in to warm themselves by the fire, they realized it later.

The clothes were relatively thin, so Zhu Pingan baked them for a while before drying them. At this time, the store clerk also delivered the rice Zhu Pingan ordered. Being able to have a warm meal in a stormy time is nothing less than a pleasure. I took out the gherkins pickled by my mother Chen and ate them deliciously.

While Zhu Pingan was eating, someone else entered the store in the rain and got soaked. This man must have been a salesman on his way. He carried two baskets of goods on a pole and hurriedly entered the store. When entering the store, the salesmen try to squeeze in to the fire pit to warm themselves up. Clothes, especially the goods in the baskets, need to be dried to reduce losses caused by wet goods.

However, just like when Zhu Pingan first came in, the salesman couldn't squeeze in after several squeezes. It was windy and rainy that day. The temperature was more than ten degrees lower than usual, but people's clothes were as thin as usual. It was rare to rely on the fire pit to keep warm. No one was willing to give up their position.

The salesman looked at the goods in the basket with distress and despair.

"Come here, my clothes are already baked." Zhu Pingan, who was eating, found out and stretched out his hand towards the salesman.

"Thank you, sir." The salesman thanked Zhu Pingan with a joyful expression.

"You're welcome, it's just a little effort." Zhu Pingan shook his head with a smile, packed up his things, and walked to the empty seat near the door.

The salesman thanked Zhu Pingan repeatedly, and when he got to the fire pit, he laid out the goods in the basket for baking. Fortunately, the goods were baked in time, and the loss was within an acceptable range. He was even more grateful to Zhu Pingan in his heart.

On the day of May, Sun Houhou's face changes at will. Zhu Pingan had just finished eating when he noticed that the rain outside was getting lighter and lighter. By the time Zhu Pingan had tidied up and changed into dry clothes, the rain outside had stopped.

Good people are indeed rewarded. Zhu Pingan looked at the weather outside and curled his lips slightly. After paying 28 yuan for the meal, Zhu Pingan carried his luggage and left the store. He put the salute back on the horse, waited for the horse to drink enough water, and then set foot on the road north again.

Working hard, Zhu Pingan arrived at the dock on the Yangtze River before sunset in the afternoon and caught up with the last passenger ship that anchored and set sail from the dock.

There is a shed specifically for livestock on the ship, and horses can also board the ship, but you need to pay an extra ship fee. Zhu Ping'an paid two bills and led the horse onto the ship. The sailor led the horses to the livestock shed, and Zhu Pingan carried the luggage into the arranged cabin. There was already one person in the cabin, an old man who went to Nanjing to visit relatives. Zhu Pingan came in and said hello to the old man, then put the salute under the bed and settled down.

We dropped anchor and set sail, all the way down the river. Because it had just rained, the air was moist and slightly cool, and a cool breeze blew. It was very comfortable to lie on the bed in the cabin.

It was already sunset in the evening when we anchored and set sail. Although it had just rained heavily, there has been little precipitation along the Yangtze River recently, and the river waterline has been much lower than in previous years. Reefs in many places along the way have also surfaced or have not surfaced. It has also caused hidden dangers to ship navigation. Considering these conditions, ship navigation speed is much slower than in previous years.

This also strengthened Zhu Pingan's idea of ​​riding into Beijing after arriving in Nanjing.

After a short rest, the fatigue of riding horses all the way was gone. Except for the sound of water, it was very quiet outside. Zhu Ping'an lit the oil lamp in the cabin and took out pen, ink, paper and inkstone from his luggage. While riding on the road, Zhu Pingan re-examined the impeachment and killing of good people for taking merit. He also re-read similar allusions and documents that he had seen in modern times in his memory, and summarized the key points. Now, by the light of the oil lamp, Zhu Pingan put the summary on rice paper.

"Young man, are you going to Yingtian Mansion to take the college examination?" The old man in the same cabin asked in an affirmative tone as he watched Zhu Ping'an splashing ink on the oil lamp.

"I" Zhu Pingan stopped writing and considered how to answer the old man.

"I have a nephew who, like you, also went to Yingtian Mansion to take the college exam, but he had already left a few days ago." The old man classified Zhu Pingan among those who took the college exam before waiting for Zhu Pingan's answer.

"Where is this young man from?" the old man asked again.

"I'm from Anqing Mansion." Zhu Pingan replied.

"Anqing Mansion is great. One of your students got the top prize, did you hear about it?" The old man nodded after hearing that Zhu Ping'an was from Anqing Mansion.

"Yeah." What else could he say? Zhu Ping'an could only say yes and nodded.

"This is your first time to take the college exam. You started a little late, but the first time you take the college exam is to gain experience. This is the third time this year for my nephew. I have prepared all his luggage. Let me tell you, you must prepare a hollow inkstone and a writing brush to take the college examination." The old man was quite talkative and even gave Zhu Pingan some experience in the college exam.

Zhu Ping'an had no choice but to listen attentively, and occasionally hummed, and the old man chatted enthusiastically, until it was late at night outside and the moon was in the middle of the sky. The talkative old man was too old to stay up late and finally fell asleep.

After the old man went to bed, Zhu Pingan continued to write and summarize relevant information. It was not until midnight that he blew out the oil lamp and went to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, around five or six o'clock, the passenger ship had already sailed to Dangtu County, Taiping Prefecture, which was only an hour or two away from Nanjing. After Zhu Ping'an got up and washed himself, he fed the horse water and grass, then returned to the cabin to pack his luggage and prepare to disembark when the ship arrived at Yingtian Mansion.

Zhu Ping'an had just finished cleaning up when he felt a commotion outside the boat, and soon the boat stopped near the river.

"The official is handling the case. Please make it convenient for everyone. We can disembark at the shore and wait for the official to finish the errand before we get on the road." The owner of the passenger ship informed each cabin to apologize.

When he got off the boat, Zhu Pingan heard that a murder seemed to have occurred here, and the county magistrate was leading the official to handle the case.