Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 62: A Last-Minute Cram
The second drum is also the busiest time of the night market.

Despite being tired, Old Man Song's face was full of smiles.

Although in his heart Yang Yuan was still not the best candidate for a son-in-law, his daughter liked him anyway.

Old Man Song has now completely let it go and the important thing is to save up some dowry for his daughter.

In the evening, when Yang Che came back, he told him that he had already discussed it with Liu the matchmaker, and that Liu the matchmaker would come to propose marriage in the next few days.

Old Man Song was not too worried about the engagement, he just hoped that his daughter could get married later.

In this way, his dowry can be prepared more decently.

Yang Che wanted Luxi and his second brother to get married earlier, hoping that his second brother would become more stable after getting married.

People come and go in the bluestone alley.

Suddenly, a sedan chair entered the alley.

Two burly men were carrying the sedan chair, and a servant was following them carrying a book box.

On the sedan chair, Mr. Qu crossed his legs, swaying with the movement of the sedan chair, looking very stylish.

Old Man Song was seeing off a few guests and when he saw Mr. Qu, he couldn't help but be delighted.

Father Song waved to him and called out, "Old Qu, do you want to come to my place for some midnight snack?"

He, Qu Jianlei, Lao Ji and Xiao Gou, all served in the army and were in the same army, so they were very familiar with each other.

Even the name of Old Song's beloved daughter, Luxi, was given by Mr. Qu.

Although Mr. Qu is now well-known in Lin'an City, there are not many tourists and common people in this alley who know him.

Even most of the residents in this lane have only heard that he seems to be famous now, but they still don't know what the actual situation is.

Nowadays, those who can see Mr. Qu and listen to his stories in person are all powerful and wealthy officials.

Even though many people have heard of Mr. Qu, who is known as "Shuo Sanfen", they do not recognize his appearance, let alone associate him with the old Qu from Qingshi Lane.

Mr. Qu stepped on the pedal and the two big men put down the sedan chair.

As soon as Mr. Qu got off the sedan chair, two big men lifted the sedan chair and placed it against the window, waiting there.

Mr. Qu walked into the shop, and the servant followed him in carrying a book box.

Old Man Song laughed and said, "Old Qu, you really feel like you fell into an ice hole in the coldest days of winter. You are shaking and now you are sitting on a sedan chair."

"Hey, I just had something to do today and I was in a hurry to come back."

Qu Jianlei asked, "Is that kid Yang Yuan back?"

Father Song was surprised and asked nervously, "Why are you looking for him? Does he owe you money?"

Lu Xi couldn't help but roll her eyes at her father and said coquettishly, "Dad, can't you think of him a little better?"

Qu Jianlei said, "That's right. I think that boy has great potential. Don't look down on him."

Hearing that he recognized his sweetheart, Luxi became happy.

She called sweetly, "Uncle Qu, my second brother has just finished practicing martial arts and is washing himself in the backyard. You can go over there by yourself."

"Okay, I'm not an outsider, why do I need you to greet me? Just go about your business."

Qu Jianlei waved his hand and led the servant to stroll to the backyard.

Old Man Song said to himself in confusion, "Why did Old Qu look for him? Rare!"

When Qu Jianlei walked to the backyard, he saw Yang Yuan, wearing a pair of calf-nose pants, a towel around his neck, and holding a wooden basin in his hand, walking back from the back door.

As soon as he saw Qu Jianlei, Yang Yuan smiled and said, "Oh, it's Mr. Qu here."

"Ok!"

Qu Jianlei put his hands behind his back and agreed calmly.

Yang Che heard the noise and poked his head out of the side room. Seeing that it was Qu Jianlei, he hurriedly greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Qu."

Qu Jianlei waved at him and said, "Just do your thing. Uncle has something to do and wants Xiaoyuan to run an errand for him." Qu Jianlei turned and walked towards Father Song's room and said to Yang Yuan, "Let's go and talk here, the two of us."

Yang Yuan put down the basin, grabbed the towel to wipe his hair, and followed him in.

Qu Jianlei asked the servant to put the book box into the house and told him to wait outside the store.

As soon as the boy left the room, Qu Jianlei rushed over, closed the door, and took down the lever.

Then, he quickly ran to Yang Yuan and started complaining.

"My dear little ancestor, you are so patient! Your uncle Qu is like an ant on the hot pot!"

Yang Yuan wiped his hair and asked knowingly, "Uncle Qu, what's making you so anxious?"

Qu Jianlei said in annoyance: "Can you please stop pretending to be ignorant when you know the truth?
"Today I have finished explaining the 'New Three Kingdoms' that you taught me.

"What shall I say tomorrow? You say!"

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "Uncle Qu, don't you take a day off?

"I just finished talking about one and I'm about to start again. The donkeys in the mule and horse trade are not as diligent as you."

Qu Jianlei smiled apologetically and said, "You are just afraid of being poor. It took a lot of effort to become famous, so you need to attract people."

Yang Yuan shook his head and found a bench to sit down. "You've worked too hard, too hard, Uncle Qu. You're old now, and your health is more important."

Qu Jianlei was furious: "You eat lamp wick ash, and you fart so easily!
"Oh, you pushed me up, and now you don't want to care about me?

"I'm telling you, all the seats in the Lotus Tower for the first lecture tomorrow at noon have been reserved. If you want to add more people, you'll have to put it on the wall.

"Uncle, I'm telling you this today. If you dare to let me catch you blind, I will hang myself on your door frame tomorrow night."

After saying those harsh words, Qu Jianlei immediately began to show his weakness: "Uncle, I won't let you work in vain. Here, this money is for you, don't think it's too little."

Qu Jianlei took out a thick stack of official coins from his arms and handed it to Yang Yuan.

The people of the Song Dynasty were good at economics and understood that paper money should not be issued indiscriminately. The official Jiaozi of the Song Dynasty all had reserves.

Unlike the "Qianyin" which has no reserve requirement, cannot be exchanged, and can be issued at will,

Official Jiaozi can be exchanged for equivalent value at any time and is real currency.

Yang Yuan pushed Qu Jianlei's hand back and shook his head, "Uncle Qu, I don't want your money."

"You deserve this, if you hadn't taught me..."

Yang Yuan said sincerely: "Uncle Qu, if I wanted to make this money, couldn't I have just told stories myself?
"You, Uncle Ji, and Uncle Gou are all comrades, right?
"Mr. Ji has back problems and wears plasters all year round.

"Uncle Gou has lung problems and needs to drink medicine frequently.

"You have enough money now, just give them a hand."

Qu Jianlei pursed his lips for a few times, then suddenly smiled and said, "Okay! I won't be polite with you anymore. I'll remember this favor, Uncle Qu."

Yang Yuan half-jokingly said, "I just want your uncle Qu to owe me a favor. There will be times in the future when I need your help."

Qu Jianlei patted his chest and said proudly: "It's just a matter of one word! Even if you ask Uncle Qu to trick Luxi into being your wife, Uncle Qu will help you."

Yang Yuan smiled but said nothing. Luxi, do I need to force that melon?
That's what I have been protecting since I was a greenhorn.

Yang Yuan said: "Uncle Qu, if you want to tell a story, I have a few here.

"I thought about it and decided to tell you about this one first. You can listen to whether it's suitable or not."

When Qu Jianlei heard this, he was immediately cheered up. He actually had several stories?
Frankly speaking, even just this one "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" would be enough for Old Qu to live on for the rest of his life!

It’s just that his reputation is already too high now, and he has a bit of an idol burden.

If I continue to talk about the Three Kingdoms in a different venue without coming up with anything new, he will feel a huge psychological gap.

Now that Yang Yuan actually said that he had several more stories in his hands, Qu Jianlei suddenly felt relieved.

He hurriedly pulled over a stool and sat down properly.
He took out a notebook from his arms, opened it, held the pencil, and looked at Yang Yuan expectantly like a primary school student.

(End of this chapter)