My Husband is a Drama King [Book Transmigration] 40p1

Chapter 40 p1: Daily Life in the County Town

Song Changxu got up early, washed up, and left with his book box. There weren’t many people in the dining hall. He bought a meat bun and a steamed bun, which was just enough for him. After eating, he went back to the classroom. Teacher Zhou had pointed out a place for him and Feng Xin’ou yesterday. Since they had arrived late, a new row had been opened up for them at the back.

He put down his book box, took out a book, and began to review. People started to arrive one after another. They saw Song Changxu but didn’t rashly ask him anything. When Feng Xin’ou arrived, he also put down his book box and began to review.

Cheng Maoxue, Luo Shuang, and Xie Feng were all in this class. In fact, most of the newly minted xiucai were in the same class.

Seeing the new classmates, they all went about their own business.

After Teacher Zhou arrived, he briefly introduced Song Changxu and Feng Xin’ou and then began the lesson.

Hearing Teacher Zhou’s words, Xie Feng gave an ambiguous smile.

Luo Shuang and Cheng Maoxue had different expressions, while the other scholars were a bit curious.

It was Song Changxu’s first time attending a lecture at the Jinhe County School. He found it a bit difficult to adapt to Teacher Zhou’s teaching style. Teacher Zhou liked to expand on the topic while explaining an essay. Since he was lacking in this knowledge, he was in a fog.

After Teacher Zhou finished his lecture, they had some free time. Xie Feng took his fan and went to find Song Changxu, a smile on his face. He wanted to see what kind of person this was.

Song Changxu was looking at his notes with a troubled expression. A good memory is not as good as a bad pen. He had written down everything he didn’t understand.

Someone was standing in front of him. He looked up and saw Xie Feng.

Xie Feng was handsome and outstanding. Many of the women and ge’ers in Jinhe County were infatuated with him.

“Brother Song, I’ve long heard of your great name,” Xie Feng said with a smile.

He thought sarcastically, I didn’t expect Song Changxu to be a young and handsome gentleman. I thought he was an old, dark-faced scholar who had failed the exam several times and had finally become a xiucai this time.

Song Changxu hesitated. “You are…”

Xie Feng maintained the air of an aristocrat. “My name is Xie Feng. Brother Song has a fine demeanor. I would like to get to know you.”

Song Changxu remembered. In the county and college exams, Xie Feng had been the top scorer. Then he must understand the knowledge that Teacher Zhou had expanded on.

He cupped his hands seriously. “Brother Xie, I have a favor to ask.”

Xie Feng was surprised, and then he sneered. How can my reputation be so great? What is it that you need my help with? If it’s too difficult, then I’ll just have to laugh at him, say that he’s delusional, and turn around and leave.

Song Changxu: “Brother Xie, could you explain some of these to me? I didn’t understand.”

Xie Feng: “?”

He looked down at the content on the paper. He had thought it was some difficult problem, but this was a piece of cake.

Xie Feng cleared his throat and said calmly, “Of course.”

Xie Feng had originally come to find trouble, but now he was explaining allusions to Song Changxu.

Song Changxu listened attentively. After Xie Feng had finished, he said, “Thank you for your guidance, Brother Xie.”

Xie Feng fanned himself and said with an air of nonchalance, “It’s nothing.”

“Can I still ask for your guidance in the future if I don’t understand something?”

Xie Feng noticed that the gazes of the scholars in the classroom were all on him and Song Changxu. He pretended to be generous. “Of course.”

Song Changxu thanked him again with delight.

Xie Feng went back to his seat in a huff and stuffed his fan into his desk. He hadn’t been able to put him in his place, and instead had been pulled to give a lecture. What a shameless person.

Cheng Maoxue couldn’t help but laugh a few times, and there was also a smile in Luo Shuang’s eyes. Xie Feng was embarrassed and angry.

Could this Song Changxu be deliberately trying to make a fool of me?! But if anyone was being made a fool of, it should be him, for not even understanding such a simple allusion.

After a day of classes, Song Changxu and Feng Xin’ou were both a bit tired, especially since the county school also taught the Six Arts. In Lingshui Village, they had only learned knowledge from Scholar Li and had not paid any attention to the Six Arts.

The Six Arts referred to rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. The two of them were forced to learn on the spot. Fortunately, the teacher who taught the Six Arts took extra care of them.

On the other side, after Song Changxu had gone to study, Xu Zhizhou had cooked a bowl of egg noodles, added a little of the chili oil he had brought from home, and it tasted just right.

He tidied himself up and went out to find Jiang Zhuo. When he knocked on the door, Jiang Zhuo was already tidy. He was a ge’er from the town, with fragrant balm on his face, fair skin, and large eyes. He was not very handsome, but he was pleasant to look at.

Jiang Zhuo had originally planned to go and look for a job after breakfast this morning. He was a little surprised to see Xu Zhizhou when he heard the knock.

“Have some water,” Jiang Zhuo said, sitting on the side and asking, “Song Furen, what can I do for you?”

Xu Zhizhou said, “You can just call me Zhizhou. Can I call you Jiang Zhuo?”

Jiang Zhuo nodded.

Although Song Changxu and Feng Xin’ou were very familiar, the two of them were not.

Xu Zhizhou said, “We’ve come to the county town and found that the expenses here are too high. In the past, my elder brother and I sold food in the town and could earn up to six hundred copper coins a day. Later, when there were more competitors, we earned about a hundred copper coins a day.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhuo’s heart stirred.

Xu Zhizhou continued, “So this time, I still want to do a food business. I want to invite you to do it with me. We’ll see how much we can earn each month. Because I don’t know how it will go, I’ll temporarily set the wage at two taels of silver a month. If it goes well, we can adjust it later.”

Jiang Zhuo had asked a few places for work last night. They usually didn’t need helpers, so the wages were very low. It was difficult to even earn fifty copper coins a day. He could follow Xu Zhizhou for a few days first. If it didn’t work out, he could look for something else.

He made up his mind and said, “I’ll do the food business with you.”

On the surface, Xu Zhizhou was calm, but inside, he was overjoyed. It was not easy to find a trustworthy person to do a food business with.

He immediately told Jiang Zhuo what needed to be done for the Bobo Chicken. They could start preparing the ingredients now and test the waters in the afternoon and evening.

Xu Zhizhou said, “On the first day, we’ll make a small amount to see how it goes. If it goes well, we’ll make more next time.”

Jiang Zhuo nodded. Since Xu Zhizhou was the boss, he would just listen to him and be a little more diligent.

The two of them went to the market to buy vegetables and then went to the courtyard to wash them. Xu Zhizhou left the washing to Jiang Zhuo, while he himself went to brew the tea and make the seasoning.

One had to be on guard against others. The recipe for the Bobo Chicken seasoning would not be revealed to anyone else.

Jiang Zhuo sat on a small stool and washed the vegetables. Xu Zhizhou also steamed some rice. The two of them were busy.

Jiang Zhuo’s family owned a small noodle shop, so he knew that a food business required working from morning till night. Especially the ingredients, which were usually picked out at the market early in the morning. The soup base was also made by themselves. For example, they usually made chicken and pork bone broth.

After a while, the two of them had a simple lunch, and then they boiled the washed vegetables.

The herbal tea was already made and was now cooling. Xu Zhizhou served a bowl to Jiang Zhuo, who took a sip.

“The taste of the herbal tea is similar to that of some restaurants.”

Xu Zhizhou’s tail went up with pride. “It’s not that exaggerated. I learned this from my elder brother.”

He took the vegetables out, mixed them with the seasoning, and gave a skewer to Jiang Zhuo to taste.

As soon as Jiang Zhuo took a bite, he felt the flavor lingering in his mouth. It was fragrant and spicy, and the vegetables, coated in the sauce, were very refreshing. Although it was a cold dish, the flavor was not diminished at all.

Xu Zhizhou said, “Our price is three copper coins for a vegetable skewer and six for a meat skewer. Ten vegetable skewers will be twenty-seven copper coins. There’s no discount for the meat skewers.”

Jiang Zhuo nodded. The meat in the county town was more expensive than in the town. One catty of chicken was thirteen copper coins, and one catty of pork was sixteen.

“Herbal tea and rice are two copper coins a portion.”

It was all white rice, not mixed with anything else. The price was very reasonable. It was a pity that his husband hadn’t finished class yet. Otherwise, he could have asked him to write a price sign.

Xu Zhizhou asked Jiang Zhuo, who found a board and wrote the prices on it.

“Now we can set up our stall,” Xu Zhizhou said, finding a spot at a corner. Around them were stalls selling groceries, noodles, rice cakes, rouge and powder, fresh flowers, and medicinal herbs. Their stalls were scattered.

Xu Zhizhou set up five tables and then started to hawk his wares. “Delicious Bobo Chicken, delicious Bobo Chicken! You can have a free sample now and then buy. Refreshing and spicy, with herbal tea and rice, both vegetable and meat. Come and see, come and buy!”

Jiang Zhuo: “…”

He swallowed. He hadn’t expected Xu Zhizhou to be so bold. He saw people on the street, drawn by the aroma or the hawking, coming over.

Jiang Zhuo followed Xu Zhizhou and started to shout. After a while, his face was completely red, like a red apple.

A curious passerby came for a free sample and his eyes lit up. He had already had lunch, so he didn’t buy any rice.

“Ten vegetable skewers, two meat skewers, and a portion of herbal tea.”

Xu Zhizhou agreed readily. Jiang Zhuo was quick at calculating. He said, “That’ll be forty-one copper coins in total.”

After all, his family owned a noodle shop. Before he married Feng Xin’ou, he had often helped with the accounts.

Xu Zhizhou was even more satisfied with his choice of Jiang Zhuo as a business partner.

When a customer came, Xu Zhizhou started to hawk his wares again. The people on the street, seeing someone sitting and eating, also came to join in the fun.

Basically, everyone who had a sample would stay to buy a few skewers. Xu Zhizhou was handsome and a vibrant ge’er, which was pleasing to the eye. Many people, seeing his appearance, were also willing to try what this Bobo Chicken tasted like.

And once they had a taste, they couldn’t leave.

They had never had such a thing in Jinhe County.

In the afternoon, customers came one after another. Some were children who, drawn by the smell, pulled their elders over to eat.

Xu Zhizhou was pleasantly surprised to find that they had sold nearly two-thirds of their Bobo Chicken in two shichen.

The remaining one-third would be sold out by the evening. They had sold less rice, because when they had set up their stall, it was already past lunchtime. They had sold about fifteen portions of rice, and the rest they kept for themselves.

Also, now that they were selling rice, they had to think of a way to keep it warm. Otherwise, it would easily get cold.

Five tables were enough. They usually ate the skewers as they walked. They had to sharpen more skewers tonight.

“Are you setting up your stall here tomorrow?” a person asked, wanting more.

This Bobo Chicken was a novelty. They had only had it once, which was not enough. They wanted to have it again tomorrow.

Xu Zhizhou said with a smile, “We’ll be here tomorrow too.”

The person nodded with satisfaction and left.

The vegetable and meat skewers were all sold out. There was still one-third of the herbal tea left, but they had already made back their cost.