Chapter 44: Different fates, similar people

If you want to talk about who can make the world’s most arrogant group of young masters work as oxen, the first person to introduce is Sun Simiao, a Taoist priest with no official position, but a lot of people’s expectations. If you use official position to pressure them, they will be abused to death by a group of bastards. None of them can find one or two people in their family who can speak loudly in the court.

Now the pampered young masters each carry a bamboo basket on their backs, holding a hoe, and walk in a difficult line on the mountain road. Sun Simiao walks at the end, urging the pace from time to time.

Yuchi Dasha was the tallest and therefore the most conspicuous. The bamboo basket he was carrying was full to the brim, but he didn’t seem to feel it. He walked quickly at the front of the group, while Huo Zhu tried hard to shake off his short legs and keep up. He only had a small medicine hoe, which he swung around from time to time, as if he were practicing martial arts.

The team was spread out, and Meng Youtong stumbled along in the middle, trying hard not to fall behind. The three days of medical studies each month had given him a certain understanding of common medicine, and he could also prescribe simple prescriptions. The last time he cured his own cold, he felt a sense of elation, and he had already boasted of being a famous doctor. However, someone still believed him, and when he had a stomachache and went to see Meng Youtong, if it weren’t for Lao Sun discovering it early, that fool would have long since leaked out of the dilemma of life and death.

After being beaten, he followed Lao Sun and studied hard. The students at the academy laughed at him for being stupid, saying that he would be fine after sleeping in the punishment room for three days. He was especially despised by Duan Meng, the young master, who laughed at him the most.

Duan Meng has liked this place since he came to the academy. It’s not because he likes to read, but because there is no psychological burden in bullying people here. Everyone’s status is similar, and no one will say that he bullies others. Duan Meng’s biggest taboo is this. As a Chang’an man, he always thinks of himself as righteous and likes to stick his nose in when he encounters injustice.

Last time, some rascals didn’t pay their bill at the tavern, so the young master Duan stepped in. Several rascals were broken and the tavern was trashed. The young master had a heroic bearing. After beating the rascals, he picked up a jar of wine on the counter and, feeling happy, he drank it down, and said to the owner, “This is good wine,” and then left, leaving the owner and his wife crying in grief. The rascals owed only ten coins for their meal, but the jar of wine that Old Duan drank cost three hundred coins, not to mention the fact that he smashed the shop to pieces.

When he first came, his father had warned him to study hard and not to get into trouble, or he would regret it. He had also heard of the reputation of several old teachers and knew that they were not to be trifled with. After a few days, he found that the academy was not as strict as he had imagined, but rather a bit loose. The final punishment was just a few days in a dark room. What’s the big deal? As long as I don’t get a beating, what’s the big deal with a few days in a dark room? I’ve been locked up by my father before, so it’s nothing more than a few sleeps.

The second son of the Liu family accidentally stepped on his foot when he was getting his meal. Before he could apologize, a fist the size of a casserole flew at him, and then he lost consciousness. Yun Ye diagnosed a concussion, Lao Sun diagnosed a headache, and Liu Xian diagnosed 30 strokes of the bamboo paddle or four days of confinement.

The big-hearted Duan Meng was convinced by the punishment of the academy and decided to accept the punishment. He decided to take the 30 strokes, but he had already suffered a lot from the pain of the punishment, especially since the executioner was a master from the Qian Niuwei. He decided to sleep in the dark room for four days.

Yun Ye kindly advised him to choose again. Duan laughed and said that a man’s word is his bond, and he would not change his name.

Yun Ye was speechless at such an idiot, and sincerely hoped that he would come out of the room by himself.

Now, it is Duan who is smiling at everyone. In just four days, the infamous prodigal son was transformed into a sheep. When he came out, he couldn’t even speak, and he would fall over after taking a few steps. He is still recovering.

Li Tai has always believed that the wise labor in the mind, the fool labor in the force, now has a few Yun Ye’s style, can lie down never sit, can use the brain to solve the never use the strength, so he has a pair of sliding pole, leisurely leisurely sitting on it, a nap, a nap of time, from time to time urge the palanquin bearers to speed up, regardless of the hard work of the people who lift the sliding pole.

There is no power game in the academy. This is a red line. Once it is touched, it will be removed without mercy. There is no financial transaction. If it is discovered, it will also be removed. Everyone only has 500 wen of food tickets, from the prince to the accompanying students, no exceptions.

But the academy absolutely does not prohibit using one’s intelligence to make one’s life better. There is never a shortage of fools in this world, such as the two men who carried the sedan chair.

Li Tai said he could lift himself up, and even bet two hundred rice tickets. Immediately, there were fools to test it. After pulling his hair countless times, he found that it was impossible. Even the strong Yuchi couldn’t do it. Yuchi was angry and wanted to bet with Li Tai, but was taken away by Huo Zhuo under an excuse.

Li Tai was a little disappointed, but there were so many fools, and there were also smart people. After setting the conditions, the bet began. Li Tai didn’t want their food tickets, he just needed to use the sliding pole to lift himself back after following Sun Taoist to pick herbs. lifted back, and he even deliberately chose four men with big shoulders and round waists, so that they could be replaced. In full view of everyone, Li Tai hung a rope on the horizontal bar, tied one end around his waist, and pulled the other end with his hand, easily lifting himself up.

Yawning and stretching, Li Tai turned to look at the weasel, which had also gained a few pounds of flesh and was no longer as wretched as when he first saw it.

Now that Liu Xian has placed it on the outer edge, if there is a wolf or tiger, the weasel can still warn everyone and prepare for it. As for whether the weasel will be taken away by the wolf or tiger, it is not within the scope of Mr. Liu Xian’s consideration.

The weasel is now filled with fear of the academy. This fear has penetrated deep into his bones. He thought that the last time he dug a hole was seamless, but who knew that while he was working hard to dig a hole in the ground, others were easily doing their studies on the ground, and even used him as a living example for lectures, exposing him nakedly in public. At that moment, he even thought about dying. What kind of people are these? More than once, Huangshu prayed to the heavens, hoping that the heavens would be merciful and allow him to leave this terrifying place. The woman who sold fermented rice wine appeared in his dreams more than once.

He dared not escape, even when Liu Xian had sent him to the Blue Mountains to look for jade. He was always afraid that there was a pair of eyes watching him. He wanted to work hard to impress these demons and hoped to be pardoned. After wandering in the mountains for half a month, he finally found a large enough piece of jade with his many years of experience.

He has no intention of running away now, and the academy has not treated him badly. Just the day before yesterday, he actually received a salary, a full one guan, although each of the gentlemen has six guan, he only has one guan, but it makes him ecstatic, knowing that he has no way to compare with the gentlemen.

The accountant was rude. He threw the new hemp bag of money at him without counting it. Then he asked him to put his thumbprint on it. Oh my god, I have put my thumbprint countless times in my life, but never once because I was receiving money. After carefully putting his thumbprint on it, he was afraid that it would stain the account book. Then stood aside to watch how the gentlemen received their money. Each gentleman had a servant with him, who carried the money, while the gentleman casually picked up a brush and made a few casual strokes. The accountant bowed and scraped to see the gentlemen out, but then turned around and angrily told the weasel to get lost.

The weasel walked along the grass and watched the teacher writing. He thought the teacher’s writing was very beautiful, and then thought about the way he pressed his hand and blushed.

That day, the manager of the academy said that he would have a day off tomorrow. What is a day off? The weasel didn’t understand. He saw the gentlemen taking a day off either rushing to Chang’an with their families in a bullock cart, or hiring a small boat with a few familiar companions and drifting on the Dongyang River for a day, reciting poems and painting during the time. This is the way to live! This is the way to live! If he could live like this for a day, the weasel felt that it would be worth dying right away.

The 300 strings of cash under the ghost willow tree no longer worried him as much as before, but he was always worried about the one string of cash buried in the room of the academy. He had to dig it out every day, count it, and then bury it carefully. Maybe it would be a good idea to use the one string of cash to buy a hairpin for his wife in Xinfeng City on his day off tomorrow.

The waterfall was reached. A small stream of white water washed over the green stones below, splashing up crystal clear water droplets. The heat had long since dried up the students’ last shred of patience. Seeing water rushing down like a swarm of bees, some buried their heads in the water, some jumped in with a splash, and rolled around in the water. The cool stream of water chased away the heat in an instant. No one drank Raw water is forbidden in the academy. If you don’t want to be locked up, you’d better not do it. So people who come out of the academy never drink raw water. They dip their water bottles in the stream to cool them down. Yuchi holds a fire stick and jumps under the waterfall. The water column as thick as a bucket hits his head, making the two guys scream and fall down.

The two men carrying the pole saw the stream and forgot that there was another person on the pole. They threw it to the ground and jumped into the water. Li Tai, who was rubbing his waist, cried out in pain and climbed out of the pole. He didn’t get angry, and in a few seconds, he was only wearing underwear. He jumped into the water and splashed huge waves.

Liu Xian stood on the highest rock, never letting go of his bow and arrow. The other guards also spread out the security line far away. Lao Sun lit a small fire with pine branches, and the boy next to him carried a pot of clean water from upstream and placed it on the fire. After a while, the water boiled. Lao Sun took out a bamboo tube from his backpack, pulled off the plug, Sun put his nose over it, took a deep breath, and was intoxicated. He took out three bamboo cups, carefully picked out some tea leaves with a clip, and evenly divided them into three cups. He told the boy to give Liu Xian a cup, and then a cup to the weasel who was soaking his feet downstream alone.

The weasel was flattered, holding the cup with tears in his eyes. This was tea from Sun Zhenren. He treated him like a person, giving him tea even though he was not a student. He did not care about the heat, but smelled it. It was indeed immortal tea. He drank the tea in one gulp, then took out the tea leaves inside and chewed them slowly, savouring the aftertaste.