The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 468 Two completely different people
Time is like sand, the tighter you hold it, the faster it passes. Before you know it, the dinner bell rang, and all the candidates put down their pens, walked out of the lecture hall, and headed to the cafeteria to get their meals.

The sun was setting and the west wind was blowing. The temperature had dropped significantly, becoming even colder than at noon, and the breath turned into mist.

In ancient times, there was no electricity, and the lights were dark at night, so everyone went to bed early. Although some people read at night with candles, ordinary people generally did not do so. First, it was a waste of lamp oil, and second, it was too cold at night in the cold winter. It was not worth it if you got sick. It was better to go to bed early and get up early.

Therefore, people usually finish their dinner before the sun sets, and go to bed as soon as it gets dark. Generally, only people in the upper class have a real nightlife, while ordinary people can only make love in the dark in bed.

Jia Huan followed everyone out of the lecture hall and came to the cafeteria of the academy to get food. At this time, most of the students in the academy had gone home for the winter vacation, so there were very few people getting food.

While Jia Huan and others were eating together and discussing academic matters, Liu Yi, who was drunk, walked in, went straight to the kitchen window, got a meal, then turned and left, probably intending to take it back to the dormitory to eat. As a result, his steps were unsteady and he stumbled and was about to fall. Fortunately, Lu Xiangsheng reacted quickly and rushed forward to support him in time.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this. Zhang Zhilong rushed forward, snatched the bowl from Liu Yi's hand, and asked with concern: "Big Brother, are you okay?"

"No...it's okay!" Liu Yi shook his head with his tongue sticking out. He didn't even want his bowl and staggered out of the cafeteria.

Zhang Zhilong had no choice but to follow him out with his bowl in hand, and turned back to say to Jia Huan and the others, "You eat first."

One of the candidates could not help but shake his head and sigh, "Ten years of life and death, I can never forget you without thinking of you. A thousand miles away, lonely grave, nowhere to talk about my sadness. Even if we meet, we will not recognize each other, with dust on our faces and hair like frost. Last night, I had a dream that I was back home, and I saw you dressing up in the window. We looked at each other without words, but tears in our eyes. Alas, Junior Brother Liu is so affectionate, it is really touching!"

The candidate's name is Huang Cong, courtesy name Xiaoming. He is 36 years old and has been a candidate for the 14th year of Kangping. He is not only the oldest among all the candidates present, but also the one with the longest qualifications. He has participated in four imperial examinations in total, but unfortunately failed each time. Next year will be his fifth time, and he is a complete imperial examination holdout.

"Brother Huang seems so deeply moved, and it seems to be from the bottom of his heart. Could it be that you have a story to talk about?" another candidate joked.

Huang Cong stroked his beard and said solemnly: "There is a story, but unfortunately there is no wine here. It would be great if Junior Brother Li could take out the bottle of osmanthus wine in the book box and share it with everyone."

Junior Brother Li's face suddenly changed, and he said in a lost voice: "How did you know? Oh no, my wine."

The man turned around hastily and rummaged through the bookcase behind him. Sure enough, he took out a flat porcelain bottle the size of a palm. He pulled out the cork and looked inside. He immediately cursed with red eyes: "Damn you old yellow man, how dare you steal my osmanthus wine? I, Li Baidu, will never let you go."

Huang Cong stroked his beard and coughed lightly, then said sanctimoniously: "Brother Yanhong, please don't slander my innocence out of thin air. When did I secretly drink your wine?"

"You didn't drink it secretly, so how do you know it's aged osmanthus wine? Obviously you must have drunk it secretly, and my bottle of wine was still full at noon. I only took a sip, and now only half is left... No, that's not right." Li Baidu smelled the wine in the bottle, took another sip, and immediately went crazy, cursing: "You old idiot, you not only drank it secretly, but also mixed it with water. This is intolerable!"

It turns out that this Junior Brother Li is named Li Baidu, courtesy name Yanhong. He is 32 years old, but he is a newly-appointed scholar this year. He likes to have a couple of drinks, but he is not that addicted. People who are familiar with him know that he always has a bottle of wine in his bookcase. When he is tired of reading, or has no ideas for writing, he will take it out and take a sip. It is like coffee for energizing. He treasures it so much that he will never let anyone touch it.

It just so happened that Huang Cong also loved wine, and he mentioned as soon as he opened his mouth that there was sweet-scented osmanthus wine in Li Baidu's bookcase. Naturally, the latter suspected him, so he put down the bottle of wine, pounced on him and started to pull Huang Cong's beard.

"Junior Brother Li, don't get excited. Let's talk it over. A gentleman uses words, not fists... Ouch! It hurts, let go!" Huang Cong screamed in pain from being pinched.

Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng looked at each other in bewilderment. Seeing that Huang Cong's beard was about to be pulled off, the other classmates just laughed, and no one stepped forward to dissuade them. It was a bit too cold.

"Brother Li, please calm down. It's just a bottle of wine. Why do you have to do this?" Jia Huan had no choice but to step forward to dissuade him. Lu Xiangsheng also stepped forward and held Li Baidu's hand.

Li Baidu said angrily, "My two junior brothers, please don't interfere. Today, I, Li Baidu, and Old Huangtou will never coexist."

Jia Huan had no choice but to say, "How about this? On behalf of Senior Brother Huang, I will compensate Senior Brother Li with a bottle... no, a jar of aged osmanthus wine?"

The two men who were twisting their arms stopped at the same time and looked at Jia Huan and asked, "Are you serious?"

Jia Huan nodded: "Once a gentleman speaks, he cannot take it back."

"Well, I'll give Junior Brother Jia a favor and spare you, Old Huang." Li Baidu let go of Huang Cong's beard, and the latter also let go of Li Baidu's collar, coughed lightly, clasped his fists and said, "Junior Brother Jia is generous and righteous, I am grateful!"

The classmates all around burst into laughter. Jia Huan felt strange, but he still clasped his fists and said, "Brother Huang, you are too kind. It's just a small favor. But there is no wine shop here, so I don't know where I can buy wine."

Immediately, one of the candidates laughed and said, "Turning left outside the mountain gate, there is a wine shop that sells wine, and the proprietress is known as the wine-selling Xishi. Junior Brother Jia, go there quickly before it gets dark. A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. You can't break your promise, haha!"

Jia Huan felt that he had been cheated, but he still kept his promise. While the sun was still setting, he quickly walked out of the academy gate, turned left and walked about a hundred meters. Sure enough, there was a small market. Most of the shops in the market were closed at this time, but the tavern was still open, so he went up and asked, "Do you have osmanthus wine?"

"Of course there are. How many do you want, little scholar?" A heavy voice came from inside the house, and then a burly fat woman came out, which scared Jia Huan. Damn, is this the so-called Xishi who sells wine? Those guys are really bad friends!
"Let's have a jar!" said Jia Huan.

"Hehe, young man, you look unfamiliar. Could you also be a scholar from Diecui Academy? Is this your first time drinking here?" Aunt Xishi threw him a coquettish glance and asked in a Li Kui voice.

"Well, yes!" Jia Huan nodded awkwardly.

"Wait a moment." Aunt Xishi went back into the house and brought out a jar of wine, handing it to Jia Huan. She said in a rough voice, "This jar of sweet-scented osmanthus wine costs one tael of silver. It's almost the New Year, and you haven't had your day off yet, young man?"

"Almost there!" Jia Huan paid the silver, picked up the wine jar and hurried away. There was no other way. The eyes of this fat lady Xishi were too aggressive. As a pretty boy, Jia was really afraid that she would give him a bear hug and drag him into a dark room.

When Jia Huan returned to the dining hall, everyone asked with a smile, "Junior Brother Jia, how pretty is Xi Shi, the wine seller?"

"It's okay!" Jia Huan said with a wry smile.

Everyone burst into laughter again, and Huang Cong had already stepped forward to take the wine jar from Jia Huan's arms, and said with a smile: "Junior Brother Jia, thank you for your expense."

At this time, Zhang Zhilong also came back and was eating there. He said with a smile: "Ziming, you have been tricked this time. Lao Huang and Lao Li have already cheated everyone out of a lot of wine with this trick."

Jia Huan suddenly realized what was going on. No wonder Huang Cong and Li Baidu started fighting. None of these guys tried to persuade them to stop. They were just watching the fun. It turned out that they had all suffered this kind of loss before.

"Hahaha, Junior Brother Jia, don't be angry. It was just a joke. We will treat you to a meal and apologize another day." Li Baidu laughed and opened the jar of wine and filled everyone's glass.

Huang Cong raised his glass and said, "Come on, come on, now that we have wine, let's toast to Junior Brother Jia and Junior Brother Lu. Just treat it as a welcome for the two junior brothers. When we finish school and return to the city, I will host you and invite you two to the restaurant for a drink."

Everyone raised their glasses to toast Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng, and the two happily responded. Although he was tricked, Jia Huan was not angry. Instead, he felt that the atmosphere was good. If these were all old-fashioned and pedantic nerds, that would be boring.

Soon, the whole jar of sweet osmanthus wine was drunk by everyone. They walked out of the canteen slightly tipsy and became more familiar with each other. They recited poems and talked about everything while returning to the dormitory under the sunset.

"Senior Brother Zhang, is the eldest brother okay?" Jia Huan asked in a low voice while pulling Zhang Zhilong.

Zhang Zhilong hesitated and said, "It should be fine. I'll go to bed after dinner."

"That's good." Jia Huan nodded.

Everyone returned to the dormitory, washed up and went to bed, and no one took a shower. Although Jia Huan was used to taking a shower every day, it was not necessary to do so in such a cold weather, so he just wiped his hands and feet with a towel and went to bed.

The next morning, before daybreak, everyone rushed to get up for morning reading. After breakfast, they rushed to the lecture hall to wait for the arrival of the dean.

At about 7:30 in the morning, the headmaster Sun Chengzong stepped into the lecture hall on time. He first subconsciously glanced at Jia Huan who was sitting upright, nodded slightly and said, "Since everyone is here, let's start the lecture. The first lecture today..."

Before he finished speaking, a man carrying a table and chairs hurriedly came in and said apologetically, "Shanzhang, I'm late!"

Everyone was stunned, because this person was none other than Liu Yi. However, Liu Yi had shaved his beard, combed his hair meticulously, tied it into a bun, put on a Confucian scarf, and wore a scholar's gown. He looked energetic and refreshed, and was completely different from the day before.

Sun Chengzong's eyes flashed with a strange light, and he asked, "Shouzheng has decided to participate in the Spring Examination next spring?"

Liu Yi nodded.

Sun Chengzong smiled and said, "Good, sit down and listen!"

Liu Yi hurriedly found an empty seat and put down the chair and table, then sat upright, with a calm temperament and gentle as jade, just like he did in the past.

Zhang Zhilong was extremely happy when he saw this. He leaned over to Jia Huan's ear and whispered, "It's all thanks to the portrait that Brother Ziming drew yesterday. Haha, after the holiday I'll invite you to Zuiyan Tower to drink wine and sleep with the most popular prostitute. I won't break my promise!"

"Get out!" Jia Huan said the word silently.

(End of this chapter)