Goldfield
Chapter 83: Famous Scholars

At the dock, there were at least ten teams tasked with unloading cargo from the ship. The largest group is run by Foreman Sun and Old Six. Their largest number, there were at least about a hundred or so dock workers working under these two foremen, and they could load or unload five to six ships at the same time. So, the biggest customers were monopolized by these two men.

It was only natural that these two men considered each other as their competitors. Their fight is not out in the open, but behind the scenes, they are both fighting over business. The foreman Sun has successively acquired the business of two large clients over the past two days with the help of a little girl's food. He was as happy as a clam and began to ponder whether he should carefully bring this little girl to his side.

Pier workers work like crazy. Initially they took about an hour and a half to complete the loading and unloading of the ship they were working on. However, today they managed to finish it in less than an hour. The cargo owner was amazed and thought that this team of workers was more efficient than the others. Therefore, the man decided to ask this team at the time when he needed his goods to be loaded or unloaded. Inadvertently, Xiaocao had helped Foreman Sun retain another customer.

“Xiaocao, give me two servings of your meat dish today. Yesterday evening, I had brought some of your boiled food home to the family, and both of my children really liked to eat it. My wife even complained, asking why I didn't buy more of this boiled and inexpensive food and took it home! ” His first customer yesterday, Old Hao, rushed to greet him today. His entire body was sweating but he did not bother to wipe it.

“Good! Two servings of boiled food, Shitou, take the money! ” Xiaocao had noticed that there was a sea of people running towards him behind Old Hao and quickly gave his younger brother some work to do.

“Good! Uncle Old Hao, the two halves will be two copper coins! ” Little Shitou stretched out her hand and grinned until her large eyes formed the shape of a crescent moon. He looked like a prime example of a lucky little boy who brought good luck.

Old Hao happily paid the money and took two packs of oil paper from them. He then went to buy two steamed rolls and put the boiled food between the rolls, eating it in a big bite. When he opened the package, he found that the food boiled today was different from the package yesterday. In fact, today's food tastes better than yesterday. A bit of regret passed him, he should have bought an extra portion earlier …

He looked back to see where the two brothers were selling boiled food. At this point, the small stature of the two children had long been swallowed up by the sea of humans around them. If he tried to enter now, it was less likely that he could buy more. Old Hao sighed and began to slowly pick up a bit of the boiled food to eat, as if he was afraid he would miss enjoying the taste if he ate too fast …

“Xiaocao, I want one serving..”.

“Shitou, Shitou! Take my money first, haha.make sure you hold those two copper coins! ”

“I want three servings, make sure to leave me three! You are all animals, do not take everything, I did not have time to try it yesterday. ”.

“I just paid, give me some... hey !! Huzi, why are you pushing so hard? You almost pushed the little girl to the ground! ” ……

Little Shitou's hand started to hurt because of all the money she had to take. He felt like there were a lot of hands that were just pushing copper coins at him. After that, he didn't even know exactly who gave him the money. He frowned and puffed his face because of his inner pressure.

Fortunately, most dock workers knew the ways of the world, and none of them cared too much about one or two copper coins. So, no one made trouble for the two of them.

Fortunately, they had prepared more boiled food today than yesterday. After all the workers finished hurriedly buying, they still had about ten servings of boiled food left in the basket. Since they have some manufacturing issues, the portion sizes of one package are a little smaller than the one yesterday. However, it was still enough to fill about half the volume of a small bowl and it was definitely enough for one person to eat with their steamed bread.

The passenger ship arrived at the store. After all, this area was close to the city and the market. The passengers who got off the ship looked around with curiosity at the bustling scenery around them.

“Eh? There were a lot of people around the area, what was going on there? Ah, Yunxi, go and check the situation.. ”.

The one who spoke was an old man with a head full of white hair and a healthy reddish complexion. He had a bushy mustache and beard, and his eyes seemed to glow with wisdom. Every move he made was imbued with elegance that seemed to prove his scientific position. However, at this moment, the old man seemed to crave for gossip, which was somewhat at odds with his outer appearance.

The person he called by the name ‘Yunxi’ was a boy around ten years old. He was wearing a long white robe with a light blue striped jacket on it. Her little face was extremely beautiful and at first glance could be considered as male or female. His handsome lips conicaled into a straight line, as if he felt powerless looking at his grandfather's penchant for gossiping.

Although he personally had no desire to get into a group of manual laborers to find out what was going on, he understood his grandfather's personality quite well. If he didn't know it, his grandfather wouldn't give up until he got all the details. The ten-year-old walked steadily at a speed that was neither fast nor slow towards the crowd.

“Teacher Yuan! You must be tired after traveling far. There is a horse-drawn carriage there, please pass by here. ”A man comes from head to toe in decorated clothes and expensive clothes, a, it was as if he wanted to make sure everyone around him knew he had money.

Yuan Sinian was a famous scholar from the previous dynasty. In fact, the last emperor of the Yuan Dynasty respected him for his scientific achievements and had invited him several times to come to the imperial palace to teach the imperial princes. However, all of these offers have been politely declined on grounds of ill health. Later, when the country was in turmoil and the future uncertain, he had brought his family to live in seclusion deep in the mountains and had lived in hiding for several years.

When the Great Ming Dynasty was first established, emperor emeritus, who was still the emperor at the time, was obsessed with fighting on all borders. If he didn't have the illustrious prime minister as his left hand and the unshakable imperial teacher as his right hand, it was likely that the Great Ming Dynasty would collapse!

After the current emperor ascended the throne, Prime Minister Yuan was given the title of duke with unlimited succession rights. In an instant, he had become the most favored official in the court and received no opposition.

On the other hand, the famous scholar, Yuan Sinian, had just reached the age of seventy, but had long gotten used to the leisurely life of the moment. In the small town of Tanggu, he founded Rongxuan Academy. Initially, she would teach classes every day, take care of her garden, and have a comfortable and relaxing life.

Later, as word of the quality of his teachings spread, more and more students enrolled. Many high-ranking officials from the capital did everything possible they could to use their connections to let their children into school. As the student population of the academy grew larger and larger, its operations became even larger. In addition, many famous scholars recommended themselves to the academy to become teachers, among whom included his former students…

When Great Scholar Yuan realized that Rongxuan Academy had almost deviated from its original vision, he set out a stringent set of requirements for admission. If you want to enter the academy, it is possible! However, you must pass a series of difficult entrance exams or attract his attention with your talent and potential. If not, no matter what position you have, or how much money you have, this parent will still not allow entry …

Although Yuan Sinian was naturally the perfect example of a famous scholar, in his bones he was actually a mischievous old sea urchin. He has an insatiable curiosity and enjoys following gossip. Besides, she likes to eat good food — only few people know about this aspect of her. Otherwise, parents who wanted their children to enter the academy would look for good food to tempt him. It's really gonna be fucked up!

Parents who would think of any possible method to curry favor with Grand Scholar Yuan for the sake of the future of their children could be found everywhere. For example, a fat man with a shimmering golden wrap on the dock is one of them.

Great Student Yuan frowned and silently rolled his eyes. He coldly snorted and said, “Don't I say that I don't need anyone to meet me at the dock, eh? Shopkeeper Jin, you are openly against my wishes now! ”

In him roasting the man, ‘You fool, how about you use gold to make a harness for yourself? The eyes of this old man are not very good, do you want to blind me with all the gold in your body? ‘

Jin's round and curvaceous attempts to flatter became chaotic. Instantly, sweat began to drench his plump and plump cheeks. For the past six generations, the Jin Family have all been merchants. Although they had a lot of wealth and material goods, they still belonged to the lowest class of society in the four classes — scholars, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants.

After the current emperor ascended the throne, he had issued a rule that increased the status of merchants in the society. Merchant children could also participate in the imperial examination. Shopkeeper Jin was overjoyed to hear the unexpected good news and wanted to hire the best tutor for his son, who had been clever and intelligent since childhood, so that he could escape the fate of a merchant.

He had heard that Tanggu City had the Rongxuan Academy, founded by a Great Scholar from the previous dynasty who was wise and knowledgeable and well versed in things of the past and present. In addition, the current prime minister of the dynasty has been raised and educated entirely by its founder. Shopkeeper Jin had taken his son on a long journey to get to Tanggu City. To his delight, his son had passed the academy entrance examination in one try and officially became a student in the academy.

But something bad happened soon. Shopkeeper Jin finds it difficult for his son to stay away from home to go to school. Moreover, she was afraid that her son would feel guilty because this was the first time her son had left the house. So, she had repaired her son's dorm room in the school to be full of luxurious materials and furniture. Everything had been diverted to the best that money could possibly buy, even ink stones and pens were expensive antiques. In the academy, few people had ever seen such items.

When Master Yuan, who had a gloomy personality, found out about all this, he sent Shopkeeper Jin's son with a comment, “Academy is a place to study, not a place to vacation. If you're afraid your son can't endure any hardships, bring him home to live comfortably! ”

Shopkeeper Jin was stunned silly. He had relied on his son to bring honor and glory to the family, but who knew after entering the academy for a few days, his prospects had been ruined due to his own mistakes! His son was so angry that he did not eat and drink for several days in a row and just lay in his bed. Shopkeeper Jin was so sorry for his mistake that half his head turned white overnight. In order not to be the cause of his son's destruction, the Jin Shopkeeper would daily go and see what he could do to correct his mistake.

However, there was very little chance of meeting Master Yuan. Before a few days had passed, the academy had closed for the annual holiday. Master Yuan had brought his granddaughter home to visit the family. However, Shopkeeper Jin was unwilling to give up, and did not even go home to celebrate the New Year with his family. He lives in Tanggu City in the hope that he can find a chance to redeem himself.

For an entire month, he stayed at the pier of Tanggu City, waiting and hoping Master Yuan could see his sincerity and give his son another chance. Finally, he had a chance. However, he would never think .. he had apparently made the scholar unhappy again.

Shopkeeper Jin was so anxious that he wanted to jump around in frustration, but he had no idea what he could do to remedy the situation. As he was worried that he would get sick on the side, Master Yuan's grandson, Yuan Yunxi, slowly came back and spoke to his gossipy grandfather, “It's okay, you know, just someone selling something called ‘boiled food’ ..”

“Boiled food? Is this some kind of dish? I've never heard of it, does it taste good? There are so many people waiting to buy it, it must taste good! ” Yuan Sinian's eyes suddenly sparkled with excitement upon hearing there was a new type of food to try. It instantly shattered his elegant and scientific temperament and showed him as greedy crazy and fanatical.

Shopkeeper Jin, who was in the midst of worrying about how to make Grand Scholar Yuan like him, hurriedly interrupted, “Master Yuan, please find a place to sit down and rest for a while, I'll go see what happens ..”

His extremely fat body, which looked like a golden-coloured ball, shot swiftly towards Xiaocao's side. He said, “Little girl, boiled food you are selling now, I will take all that is left ..”