The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 43: The Miserable Scholar

Days passed, and Xu Zhizhi taught the villagers how to grow bean sprouts. However, the bean sprouts grown by the villagers, without the space spring water, naturally didn’t taste as good as the Xu family’s.

But most villagers had never tasted the Xu family’s bean sprouts anyway.

Drunken Fragrance Pavilion kept introducing new dishes, and the demand for the water-boiled fish series was inconsistent. So, they started growing their own bean sprouts, only producing as much as they needed, and stopped buying bean sprouts from outside.

The bean sprouts grown by the villagers could only be eaten by themselves, which made everyone believe Xu Zhizhi’s warning: if they couldn’t sell them, the bean sprouts would spoil, and they would lose money.

On the other hand, the sweet potatoes were growing well. Xu Zhizhi taught everyone how to pick sweet potato leaves to make porridge or stir-fry them.

When she taught the village aunties and sisters-in-law, she used leaves from her own field.

Xu Zhizhi’s barren mountain was now lush and green, making everyone envious. They regretted not thinking of buying that barren mountain themselves…

But they didn’t consider that for decades, nothing had grown on that mountain.

The Xu family’s foundation had been laid, and the house construction was in full swing. The craftsmen had been hired from town.

The house was being built according to Xu Zhizhi’s design.

She had originally thought construction would only start after the autumn harvest, but she didn’t expect the villagers to work so quickly.

They worked faster than modern excavators! Well, mainly because there were so many people helping.

It was only the beginning of August, and there were still over twenty days until the autumn harvest. The house could be completed within that time.

Recently, Xu Zhizhi had been busy selecting materials, buying supplies, and hiring craftsmen. She hadn’t had time to pay attention to other matters.

On the tenth day of August, a date chosen by the geomancer Qiu Dixian as auspicious for breaking ground, the construction of their house officially began.

Father Xu, now able to walk with a cane, took the first symbolic shovel of dirt after Qiu Dixian performed rituals to heaven and earth. Firecrackers were set off, and everyone started working.

Each person had their assigned task. Since the Xu family provided good meals and high wages, everyone was highly motivated.

On the first day of construction, it was customary to invite relatives and friends for a meal.

The Xu family, now well-off, invited the entire village. Several women who were close to Mother Xu came to help.

Xu Zhizhi, however, had little to do. Everything had been prepared in advance.

She leisurely watched her cousins and the aunties washing vegetables and cutting meat while chatting and gossiping.

Xu Honghua, as usual, only showed up when it was time to eat, never missing a meal.

As they chatted, Xu Zhizhi stumbled upon a juicy piece of gossip.

A few days ago, Jin Zijun had gone to the Wang family to ask Wang Shishi for money to take the imperial exams.

But Wang Shishi had secretly returned to Luocheng several days earlier. Jin Zijun, having been buried in his studies at the academy, hadn’t known. When he found out that the woman he adored had left without a word, he was devastated.

Not only was he desperate for money to take the exams, but he was also heartbroken that the woman he loved had abandoned him.

That kind of despair was the worst in the world…

In the end, the village chief and elders had to ask the villagers to pool together ten taels of silver for him to take the exams.

The subject of their gossip, Jin Zijun, was now squeezed among beggars…

Jin Zijun, carrying the ten taels of silver, first took an ox cart to the county town, then a carriage to Hengzhou Prefecture. Along the way, he needed food and lodging, which cost money. Eventually, he could only afford to buy a bag of dry buns and walk the rest of the way.

At this moment, Jin Zijun was in a dilapidated temple that barely shielded him from the wind and rain. In one hand, he held a book, and in the other, a dry bun that had probably been sitting there for days.

From time to time, he took a bite of the bun. When it became too hard to swallow, he picked up a chipped bowl beside him and drank some cold water.

The cold water and dry bun made him cough repeatedly, but he still managed to read his book. The exams were approaching, and he needed to study as much as possible. This time, he had to pass the provincial exams.

If he became a provincial scholar, he would receive a fixed stipend of silver, rice, and oil from the government. Then, he and his mother wouldn’t have to go hungry!

The top three scholars in the county exams also received stipends, but he had ranked in the teens…

Outside, some beggars returned with meat and buns they had begged for. Seeing Jin Zijun reading in a corner of the temple, one beggar said curiously, “Is this guy a beggar or a scholar? He looks like a scholar, but he’s eating worse than us.”

Another beggar said, “Who knows? We can’t even take care of ourselves, let alone worry about others.”

After eating their fill, the beggars went out to beg again and returned to the temple late at night.

The next morning, Jin Zijun packed his books and a few changes of clothes and left the temple for Hengzhou Prefecture. He had arrived early, with five days left until the exams. But staying at an inn was too expensive, so he found another dilapidated temple to stay in for a few days.

The exams were the next day, so he needed to find an inn to get a good night’s sleep, wash up, and then take the exams.

He went from one inn to another, but they were either too expensive or fully booked. Finally, he found a remote inn that charged twenty copper coins. Jin Zijun asked if there was anything cheaper.

The innkeeper, seeing that the man’s clothes were dirty but tidy and that he was quite handsome, thought, This scholar’s family must be really poor if twenty copper coins is too expensive for him.

In the end, the innkeeper agreed to eighteen copper coins. Jin Zijun settled in and asked the kitchen for some hot water. The innkeeper didn’t charge him extra. After cleaning up, he lay down.

But he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. His mind was filled with thoughts of Wang Shishi.

She had given him silver at the entrance of the academy in town, saying gently:

[Brother Zijun, focus on your studies. This silver is for you to nourish yourself. Buy whatever you want to eat. I’ve prepared the silver for your trip to the prefectural exams.]

If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t have spent all his money treating his classmates to meals, leaving himself penniless.

He also remembered their time in the bamboo grove, the sweetness of her lips, the softness of her body in his arms…

He had loved her so much, yet she had heartlessly left without a word.

He also thought of Xu Zhizhi. Though crude, she had been obedient and devoted to him since their engagement, always following him with her eyes.

She had gazed at him with adoration and a silly smile, serving him and his mother willingly and selflessly.

But after the engagement was broken, she didn’t even look at him anymore!

The villagers said she had moved the gods.

That she had received divine help and changed a lot.

Had the gods really enlightened her? Now her family had bought a mountain, grown delicious sweet potatoes, and was building a house!

[It wasn’t the gods’ doing. The gods are too busy to care about human suffering. It’s just that the person inside had changed.]

Wang Shishi was so beautiful, like a fairy descended from heaven, while Xu Zhizhi was just a crude village girl. What was wrong with choosing Wang Shishi?

[The thought process of a scoundrel is always unique. It’s always someone else’s fault!]

But at this moment, he hated Wang Shishi deeply. If she hadn’t seduced him and given him hope, he wouldn’t have broken off the engagement with Xu Zhizhi so quickly.

Then, a few days ago, he wouldn’t have had to squeeze into a dilapidated temple with beggars because he had no money…

Jin Zijun tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

His mind was filled with countless thoughts, tangled and unresolved.

Meanwhile, Wang Shishi, whom he hated so much, was now thriving.

(End of Chapter)