Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 43 Cat and Dog Submissive Hand

Back in Moyang City, Zhao Yifu had a good meal to feel alive again. The extreme hunger he'd felt earlier had made him reluctant to try again, and he decided to use this trick less often, as it always felt a bit unorthodox.

It’s not that this method of catalyzing qi and blood is bad, but Zhao Yifu instinctively felt some danger from it.

He was very worried. What if this feeling of extreme hunger got out of control?

"Master, we have to find a way to continue making money. We've been having trouble making ends meet lately."

While Zhao Yifu was eating meat with big mouthfuls, the loyal servant beside him spoke worriedly.

Zhao Yifu asked, "Why? I earn at least one ounce of silver a day, but that's not enough for the two of us to eat."

Wu Zhong sighed, "Just the two of us are enough, but aren't there those little ancestors as well?"

While he was speaking, Zhao Yifu had already picked up a piece of meat and handed it to Dahei under the table.

This big black cat is still small, and its furry and silly appearance is quite cute.

Hearing what the loyal servant said, Zhao Yifu said disapprovingly, "Then I'll find a way to make more money. Raising them is cheaper than raising servants to guard the house, right?"

"By the way, isn't Dahei a little dirty? Didn't you give him a bath?"

Wu Zhong smiled and shook his head, saying, "Dahei was raised to look after the family, why does he need to be so spoiled?"

While chewing the braised meat, Zhao Yifu bent down, picked up Dahei and held him in his arms. He swallowed the meat in his mouth and said, "This is not being spoiled. Since Dahei is here to guard our house, he is our face. Of course, he must be kept clean and presentable."

At this time, the dog, who had been lying on the ground and under the table, finally enjoyed the embrace of his owner, which he had never enjoyed before. He excitedly shrank his neck, clamped his ears, and swung his tail like a propeller.

When Zhao Yifu saw the dog so excited, he felt sorry for it, so he reached out and used his special skill on it: the Crane Claw Cleansing Hair Hand from the Eight Styles of Renshui!

This messy name has the function that all pet lovers envy the most.

His claws started from Dahei's head and slowly combed downwards...

The dog immediately rolled its eyes in comfort, and then a small wave of water passed through the gaps between the dog's fur, filtering out all the dust and debris mixed with the swept fine hair.

When Zhao Yifu's hand reached the tip of the tail, a solid little ball of fur was placed in his palm.

Dahei's fur is jet black and shiny, making him look clean and beautiful.

"Meow~"

Yiyi looked at Dahei unhappily on the table, raised a paw and wanted to hit the dog on the head but thought better of it and didn't do it.

Dahei was startled and quickly turned over and jumped out of Zhao Yifu's arms.

Yiyi gave Dahei a look that said "you're smart" and told him to figure it out. Then she jumped into Zhao Yifu's arms and meowed in a baby voice.

It seems to be saying: You are such a good poop scooper, you have a new trick but don’t try it on me first!

Zhao Yifu said unhappily, "Can't you lick your own fur?"

But he still did it.

But when he really combed Yiyi's fur, he found that although cats like to lick their fur, it will still be a little dirty after all.

Besides, how can you wash it clean with water after licking it with saliva?

When his hand stroked from Yiyi's back to the tip of its tail, the ball of hair he rubbed off was even bigger than Dahei's.

He laughed, thinking that this skill was well developed, at least it was very useful to him.

……

Perhaps people who are kind to small animals will have good luck. In any case, Zhao Yifu got a big job when he set up his stall the next day.

Song Jie whispered to Zhao Yifu, "Brother Junxin, you came late today and didn't see the person. A wealthy family asked me if I would be willing to write a eulogy for someone, and asked me to ask if you would be willing to paint a portrait of the deceased." Zhao Yifu was puzzled and asked, "Why is that? If they are such a wealthy family, why don't they ask one of the famous artists in the city to write the eulogy and paint the portrait of the deceased?"

"Although we brothers are somewhat famous, we are still just a minor figure."

Song Jie looked around and then whispered, "Don't tell anyone, brother."

"I asked this question as well, but the family didn't explain the specific reason. I just vaguely knew that the man's death was not dignified."

"It seems he died on the pleasure boat..."

Zhao Yifu fell silent all of a sudden.

Others might gossip about the undignified death of the son of this wealthy family, but he would only think of the boat full of corpses he saw yesterday.

Song Jie asked, "Brother Junxin, are you unwilling?"

Zhao Yifu shook his head and sobered up a bit before saying, "Why wouldn't I want to have the chance to make money?"

"Which family, and how much money?"

Song Jie said, "It's Mr. Xu's family in the east of the city. They gave us twenty taels of silver!"

Zhao Yifu's expression changed when he heard this. He said, "Mr. Xu's family... the one who died was his son, Xu Shida?"

Song Jie replied, "That's right... How come, my dear brother Junxin knows him?"

Zhao Yifu sighed and said, "I'm not that familiar with Xu Shida. I just met him once when all the classmates came to greet Master Zhou."

"I heard that his score in this year's exam was only second to the top of the list. He is expected to take the annual exams consecutively and then pass the provincial exam in one go to become a juren. He also has a great chance of getting his name on the imperial examination in the future."

Song Jie sighed after hearing this and said, "He was indeed a man of great potential. How could he die on a pleasure boat?"

The atmosphere suddenly became sad, probably because of the saying "birds of a feather flock together".

However, Zhao Yifu changed the subject: "The Xu family is almost going to have two successful candidates, and Master Xu is only giving us twenty taels?"

The sad atmosphere disappeared, and things became visibly materialistic.

Song Jie paused, and finally managed to keep his emotions in line with Zhao Yifu's jumping thoughts.

He held up two fingers and said, "That's twenty taels per person, not a small amount!"

After hearing this, Zhao Yifu said with a gloomy face: "Alas, we are from the same period after all. Since Shida has encountered such a thing, it is time to go to his house to pay a visit."

Song Jie felt very awkward, but then he remembered that he had been away from this circle for too long and had forgotten that what these people said was not important; the key was to see how their honest bodies moved.

He said speechlessly: "Then let's put it this way, let's go to Xu's house together to take a look?"

This is a big business. If they can make enough to earn a month's income, they won't bother setting up a stall here anymore.

Zhao Yifu naturally agreed.

They packed up their things together and headed towards Xu's house.

Colleagues along the street were all envious when they saw this, knowing that the two had received another big order.

It's a pity that they can't envy them enough, after all, these two can be said to have reached the level of "the bosses" on this street, and ordinary people really can't compete with them.

After all, this job is like writing a eulogy for the son of a successful candidate. If your writing skills are poor, no one will look down on you!

So, Song Jie actually found a stable and good livelihood, at least Zhao Yifu was relieved.

(End of this chapter)