Notes on Longevity

Chapter 12 You'an loses the bet, Cheng Ru leaves a letter

Yang Youan jogged along, bypassing several alleys, and finally ran into a place called Bailai Inn.

After entering the inn, he went straight to the second floor, then ran to the leftmost room, pushed open the closed door, stepped over the threshold, and panted as he said to the man by the window who was staring outside, "Brother Li, I'm willing to accept my loss!"

Li Chengru rested his chin on his hand, calmly observing the passersby downstairs. When he heard Yang Youan's words, he smiled slightly, then looked away, turned to him, and said with a smile, "Give me the money."

Yang Youan smiled awkwardly, clutching his clothes helplessly with both hands: "Brother Li, Youan is still young. Since the preliminary examination, I have been relying on the help of the villagers and the people in the government offices along the way. Ten taels of silver is really a bit difficult. How about I owe you these ten taels of silver for now? When I pass the imperial examination next time, I will definitely repay you tenfold or a hundredfold."

"That won't do. We agreed that it would be paid on the day you failed the exam. How can you go back on your word now? Besides, even if I agreed, when will I ever get the ten or a hundred times the amount you promised? Even if you become the top scholar and become an official, how much is your annual salary? When will I ever get that hundred or a thousand taels of silver? Unless you become a corrupt official, then those hundred or a thousand taels of silver are just a matter of talking to him."

Li Chengru stood up, his face grave, and approached Yang Youan step by step, speaking slowly and deliberately. Yang Youan was startled by his appearance and unconsciously backed away as he drew closer.

He suddenly felt that Li Chengru was a stranger. He wasn't like this when he first met him, including when they made the bet.

As he was thinking, he didn't notice the slightly high threshold behind him, and ended up tripping over it.

Seeing that he was about to fall, Yang Youan grabbed the door frame in terror to keep himself from collapsing. But to his surprise, Li Chengru quickly reached out a hand, caught him by the waist as he fell, and helped him up.

After escaping the danger of falling, Yang Youan swallowed hard, looking at Li Chengru with a terrified expression and a sense of helplessness.

Li Chengru turned around, took a few steps forward, then turned back to Yang Youan and laughed loudly, "I was just kidding! But you actually took it seriously. You're really something else. With such a simple mind, I'm really curious how you even made it to the provincial examination. Are you perhaps a genius at studying?"

"Brother Li, what are you saying?" Yang Youan was completely confused and didn't understand what Li Chengru was talking about.

"It's alright! It's alright!" Li Chengru laughed until he was almost out of breath, then waved his hand at Yang Youan and asked, "So, how much money do you have left?"

Yang Youan took out a money pouch from his pocket, opened it, and took out three strings of copper coins and some loose silver. He looked at Li Chengru with a sincere expression and said, "That's all."

Li Chengru walked up to Yang Youan with a smile and snatched all the money from his hand, saying, "It's enough for me to drink for a few days, even if nothing else happens."

"Then, what should I do..." Yang Youan hadn't even reacted when he found that Li Chengru had taken the money bag from his hand.

After taking the money, he walked straight downstairs, his voice gradually fading away.

Yang Youan watched his departing figure with disappointment, touched his empty stomach, sighed, and had no choice but to close the room door. He walked to the table in the room, poured himself some tea, took a sip, and then slumped into a chair, feeling tired, hungry, and sleepy.

Yang Youan was dragged out of bed early this morning by Li Chengru, who told him to go and check the results.

When they arrived at the destination and wanted to buy some food, they discovered that the alleys where the notices were posted were packed with people and traffic.

In the end, if it weren't for a kind person who saw that he was young and brought him some steamed buns, he probably would have gone hungry. But before he could even take the buns from him in the crowded throng, he heard someone shout, "The results are out!"

The person also turned and ran as soon as they heard the sound, and ended up falling because of the crowd.

In the end, only Yang Youan was left standing there dumbfounded.

Finally, when it was time to announce the results, Yang Youan stood at the back of the crowd, looking up at the two people on the platform announcing the names of the three top scorers. As soon as he knew who came in first, he immediately ran towards the inn.

But who would have thought that before he even had a chance to eat at the inn, Li Chengru would steal his money again? What a miserable life! Just when Yang Youan was feeling utterly hopeless, there was a knock on the door.

"Young Master Yang, Young Master Li asked us to prepare a meal for you."

Upon hearing this, Yang Youan immediately jumped up from his chair and rushed to the door.

Upon opening the door, one sees a young waiter carrying a tall food box in one hand and a round wooden tray with snacks and a pot of tea on it in the other.

Yang Youan took the tray from the waiter, who thanked him repeatedly and placed the food container on the table, saying to Yang Youan, "Please enjoy your meal. Just call me if you need anything."

Yang Youan nodded, watched the waiter close the door and leave, and then immediately opened the food container.

Upon seeing the abundant food inside, they quickly brought it out and began to wolf it down.

After a satisfying meal, Yang Youan leaned back in his chair, patted his stomach, then got up and walked around the room for a while before coming to the window.

As he looked down at the noisy crowd, he suddenly noticed Li Chengru talking to a woman downstairs.

Just as he was about to call out, Li Chengru looked up at him, smiled and waved, then led the woman forward.

After Li Chengru left, he looked at the sky and thought it was still early, so he decided to go out for a walk and see what was going on.

Even though I didn't have any money on me, I still had time to wander around.

As he opened the door and was about to leave, the waiter who had delivered the food earlier rushed over, carrying a rather large sandalwood box.

"Young Master Yang."

"Is there something you need, sir?" Yang Youan asked, puzzled as to why the waiter would come looking for him.

The waiter bowed and said, "This was given to the shopkeeper by Young Master Li downstairs. He said he would give it to you after he left."

Yang Youan was even more confused, "For me?"

Waiter: “Yes.”

Left with no other choice, Yang Youan had to accept the box.

The waiter handed the items to Yang Youan and then hurriedly left.

He glanced at the waiter, scratched his head, and returned to his room, full of doubt.

When Yang Youan received it, he felt it was quite heavy. When he placed it on the table and opened it, there was indeed a money bag inside.

There was also a letter under the money bag.

(End of this chapter)