Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 183 Reply
That morning, Chen Xuan and his companions came to the city gate to wait. As the sun rose higher, the already bustling area around the city gate became even more noisy.

The academy has a five-day holiday. Students who have the conditions will come to Mocheng to relax after spending more than twenty days of boring study in the academy. Therefore, since the morning, there has been no stop of horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts coming from the direction of the academy.

Soon, the sharp-eyed Zhao Erhe pointed in the direction of the city gate and said, "Xuan Ge'er, is that the young master and his group?"

"Well, let's go over there," Chen Xuan nodded. In fact, he saw it earlier than Zhao Erhe.

Gao Jingming and his companions were riding in a passenger oxcart, which was slower than a horse carriage. After it stopped, Chen Xuan stepped forward and said, "Master, have you been well on the journey?"

"What could happen on this road? How's A Xuan doing?" Gao Jingming said with a smile as he jumped off the carriage.

Taking the book basket from Xiao Ye, Chen Xuan saw that Xiao Cai was holding a few rolled-up scrolls in her hands. He guessed that they were the drafts that Gao Jingming had made in the past few days, so he took them as well and said, "Master, the layout here is almost done. You will be able to see it later. If there is anything you need to modify or add after you have read it, please let me know."

"I trust Xuan to do the job. Let's go and take a look first," Gao Jingming said impatiently.

Xiao Cai, Xiao Ye and the others are also looking forward to where they will live in the next few years. Although they spend most of their time at the academy, this is a private residence after all, and it has a different meaning.

The group walked to their residence. After Geng Hong and his group, who were lagging behind, exchanged pleasantries, Geng Hong whispered, "Xiao Zhang, Xiao Jiang, how have you been discussing things lately? Who's staying and who's going back?"

After exchanging a glance, Zhao Erhe shook his head and said, "Brother Geng, you must stay. As for us, we haven't discussed it yet, and Xuan Ge'er hasn't mentioned it, so it's not appropriate for us to ask without authorization."

"Well, I think Brother Xuan has his own plans. You just need to follow his arrangements later." Geng Hong nodded and said no more.

Not long after, they returned to the courtyard. From a distance, Chen Xuan pointed it out to Gao Jingming and the others. Everyone's eyes lit up. After entering, they looked up and down, and became more and more satisfied.

"The accommodation arranged by Xuan Ge'er is really good. The street in front is convenient, and there is a small river behind it, and the environment is also good," Xiao Cai said in surprise.

Xiao Ye also said with joy: "The yard is also well decorated, with a pavilion and a bamboo forest. It will surely be very beautiful after the flowers and trees grow in a while."

Gao Jingming praised him generously, "Ah Xuan, thank you for your trouble. I feel this place is better than home, especially the large windows above and below. It's very transparent. When I go home in a few years, I will also renovate my home like this."

"As long as you are satisfied, young master, that's basically it. Let's see if there are any personal items that need to be purchased," Chen Xuan said with a smile, thinking that money had been spent, a lot of it, and it was your money, Xiao Gao.

Chen Xuan could do nothing about personal belongings. Although he was a personal secretary, he couldn't take care of everything, including eating, drinking, defecating and urinating.

These are all small things. After getting familiar with the environment, Gao Jingming arranged for Xiao Ye, Xiao Cai and others to go to the streets outside to buy some small items. Geng Hong and others would accompany them to protect them and pick up the things. It was not far and there was no problem with safety.

In fact, things like robbing women in the streets are rare after all. They don't happen every day, and the government is not a pushover.

Gao Jingming then said impatiently, "Come on, Xuan, let's go to the study. I've finished the first draft at the academy while you were away. Come and help me review it."

After the two arrived at the study, Gao Jingming showed Chen Xuan the results of his work over the past few days, a two-foot wide and three and a half foot high painting of pine and cranes symbolizing longevity.

This is just a rough draft, which simply outlines the general framework and layout. The real work of improvement is still to come.

Overall, the bottom of the drawing is dominated by rocks, with a crane standing on it, and then a green pine standing on the left.

Most of the right side of this picture is left blank, occupying about one-third of the entire picture, and will eventually be outlined with some light clouds and mist. Anyway, in this picture, whether it is mountains, rocks, pines, cranes or clouds and mist, they will all be composed of different longevity characters.

"A Xuan, what do you think?" Gao Jingming asked expectantly.

After reading it, Chen Xuan said: "Very good, let's do it this way"

Although Chen Xuan had also learned calligraphy and painting, he was not proficient in them and could not give any better advice. Gao Jingming was better than him. There was no other way because Chen Xuan's talent was in martial arts.

Gao Jingming didn't make things difficult for him and nodded, saying, "Okay, that's settled. Next, we'll start the real work. I've asked Xiao Cai and the others to prepare the paints. Ah Xuan, help me grind the ink. We'll try to finish it during the holiday. Returning to the academy is almost the deadline for handing in the gift."

Chen Xuan had no objection at all. As a servant, it was his job to help Gao Jingming spread paper and grind ink.

Then the two of them set to work, taking a fresh sheet of drawing paper and spreading it out, writing different characters for longevity with different pigments, pieced together the outline of the pine and crane longevity painting bit by bit. They consulted with each other from time to time, and the progress was slow. After all, the orientation and color changes of each character were very particular. The final product should appear to be a complete ink painting at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it is composed of different characters for longevity. Every detail must be controlled.

It was personally handled by Gao Jingming, who had excellent martial arts skills and a steady hand was the foundation. He already had a rough draft, so it wouldn't be a problem to perfect it, though the process was a bit slow.

By the afternoon, I hadn't even finished one-tenth of the picture. It really tested my skills. After all, this is an extremely complicated puzzle game...

Xiao Cai and her friends cooked lunch in the afternoon. Their cooking skills were much better than Xiao Miao's. After lunch, Chen Xuan and Gao Jingming went straight into the study and continued working until late at night.

For Gao Jingming, this holiday was not a time to relax. Completing this painting was his most important task. He was oblivious to everything else outside and had no time to go to Mo City for a good look around.

After getting started, he gradually got into the groove.

However, on the third day after he arrived here, Chen Xuan said in the morning that he could not continue to work with him because the appointed time had arrived and they had to go to Datong Bank to withdraw money, otherwise they would not even have living expenses after the time limit.

Gao Jingming naturally had no problem with it, and he told Chen Xuan not to rush back and to help him take a walk around the city.

After hearing what he said, Chen Xuan sometimes felt that this young master was quite pitiful. He seemed to have everything he wanted, but in fact, many things bound him and he did not have so much carefree freedom. Unlike himself, although he was a servant for the time being, he actually had much more free time than him.

After taking the documents and leaving his residence, Chen Xuan went straight to Datong Money House. He had already inquired about the location, and the nearest one was near the north gate of Mo City.

It is normal for a money shop to be opened in such a place. There is a large flow of people near the city gate, making it convenient for people to deposit and withdraw money.

On the way, Chen Xuan sent a letter at the post station. It was to Tingfeng Jushi, a monk who was far away in the capital and whom he had never met before, regardless of gender, age or status. A few days had passed, so the reply had naturally been written.

As for the content of the reply, since both parties were not even friends now, there was naturally no excessive greeting. At most, it was just a simple greeting. Then, the author put forward some of his own opinions on the following content of the book Lingyun Ji. As for whether Master Tingfeng would adopt his opinions, Chen Xuan didn't know.

Considering the lack of entertainment in this era, Chen Xuan came up with the concept of breaking off an engagement in this letter to Mr. Tingfeng. If Mr. Tingfeng adopts it, and he (she?) polishes it himself and arranges for the publication of the rest of Lingyunji, who knows if it will bring a little shock to this era.

If the other party really adopts and implements it, it would be fine if the subsequent books of Lingyun Ji do not become popular. If they become popular, many wealthy families, especially those with daughters, may become uneasy.

After all, Chen Xuan actually delivered the saying "Don't bully the young and poor, things will change over time" to the other party. How terrifying is the destructive power?
Think about it, if the sequel of that book becomes popular, wealthy families with daughters will have to be more careful when choosing a son-in-law. The son-in-law's family may fall into poverty before he marries her, and the family may cancel the engagement for the sake of their daughter. Then, when the three-year period is up, the son-in-law who was kicked out of the house may turn around and come to destroy the family!
"If Master Tingfeng adopts this, and if this content becomes truly popular, it might become a source of inspiration for countless people..."

The letters were sent out, and Chen Xuan felt happy as he walked on the street. If it really worked, he didn't mind leaving something familiar to the world through the hands of others.

As they were walking, Chen Xuan suddenly slapped his forehead, hesitating whether to take the letter back and rewrite it. He suddenly remembered that Gao Jingming had said that when his sister came back to visit her parents this time, she would arrange a marriage for him. Don't let it backfire and end up on Xiao Gao!

"Forget it, it's already been sent, and the post office has already signed for it. It's going to be troublesome to get it back, so let it be. There are no such coincidences in the world."

After some consideration, Chen Xuan didn't dwell on it anymore. To be honest, it was just a sudden idea that made him discuss the plot of the novel with his new pen pal, Tingfeng Jushi. How could it reflect reality, especially when it happened right next to him...

After walking around the streets, Chen Xuan soon found Datong Money House.

The bank faces the street and has a large storefront. Many people come in and out, including businessmen and people from the underworld. The guards are also very strict. Chen Xuan senses two or three people with the aura of martial arts cultivation around the bank, similar to the black-robed old man who was killed that day. There is also one who is even more powerful. Naturally, there is no aura of the innate realm. How many people at this realm can afford to be security guards?

When it was Chen Xuan's turn to enter the money shop, he went to the counter and presented the account number opened with Gao Jingming's identity information. The money shop checked and compared it, and then presented the handover key. Chen Xuan then successfully withdrew the silver.

Unexpectedly, this time the Gao family paid a full 1,500 taels!

At first, Chen Xuan was a little puzzled. This was too much. But then he understood. The Gao family had clearly included the money for buying the house, as well as the travel expenses for the two guards returning. As for the one thousand taels when they came here, that was just the travel expenses.

In response to this, Chen Xuan had no choice but to say that the Gao family really had no shortage of money.

Chen Xuan withdrew a full 1,500 taels of silver in one go, weighing nearly 100 kilograms. He didn't take all of it, but mostly silver notes that could be spent directly. With the bank guaranteeing them, they could be circulated normally...

(End of this chapter)