Notes on Longevity

Chapter 13 Chengru Inn tells riddles, two ingots of silver tie a perfect knot.

Yang Youan picked up the money bag with a puzzled look and weighed it in his hand. Judging from the sound it made, it was a bag of loose silver, and its weight should be around fifty taels.

He raised an eyebrow, put the money bag aside, and picked up the envelope addressed to Zhenghe Qin.

He opened the envelope, looked at the contents of the letter, and suddenly found it a little funny, thinking to himself: Brother Li is really a strange person.

Perhaps Li Chengru was the most interesting, and also the most incomprehensible, person he had encountered along the way.

He was a strange person. On the surface, he seemed carefree and easygoing, but in reality, he was a very profound individual. He enjoyed a life of pleasure and revelry, yet he also loved reading. In his spare time, he would often sit in a corner reciting his poems or essays to the crickets; he would also frequently chat with them, discussing the past and present. In short, he was strange and unique. This deeply influenced Yang You'an, leading to many of his later habits being related to him.

When Yang Youan first went to the capital to take the imperial examination, after passing through the magnificent and imposing city gate and moving between several inns, he finally arrived at the Bailai Inn. It was here that he first met Li Chengru, who was chatting with other candidates who were also on their way to the capital to take the examination.

"Young Master Li, you're quite the veteran who's come to the capital for the imperial examinations. Are you confident you'll come in first this time?"

As Yang Youan carried his satchel into the Bailai Inn, he saw a crowd gathered around a square table. In the center of the crowd stood a man dressed in a greyish-blue robe, holding a closed folding fan and gently tapping it on the table. In his other hand, he held a teacup, inhaled the aroma, then drank it all in one gulp. He then stood up and laughed loudly at the candidates surrounding him, saying, "Hey! I'm not very talented; I dare not dream of first place, but second place is a sure thing!"

“That’s not right,” one of them said, staring at Li Chengru with a puzzled look. “You said you dare not even think about the first place, but why are you so confident about the second?”

“Hey! You don’t understand!” Li Chengru walked up to the man, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “Because you don’t know what kind of people go to the capital for the imperial examinations. For example, there’s Di Qingyun, who was the prime minister thirty years ago and is now the prime minister.”

"At sixteen, he went to the capital for the imperial examination for the first time and came out on top in the provincial examination. During the palace examination, even His Majesty was amazed, saying, 'Such talent at such a young age.' So dare you say that such a person won't appear this year?"

Upon hearing this, the man frowned and pondered for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "I have also heard about Prime Minister Di's matter. If that is the case, then what Young Master Li said..."

As he said this, he suddenly realized something was amiss and continued to ask Li Chengru, "Even so, how do you know for sure that you can win the Asian Yuan title?"

"Hehe, guess." After saying that, Li Chengru turned around and walked through the crowd upstairs.

Yang Youan frowned and pouted when he saw the scene before him. He found this person quite interesting, like a storyteller who only tells half the story and leaves a riddle for others to guess.

When Yang Youan saw the crowd begin to disperse, he went to the inn's lobby and asked the shopkeeper behind the counter, "Shopkeeper, how many copper coins is needed for daily check-in here?"

"Three hundred coins, four hundred coins including three meals." The innkeeper was a middle-aged man with a goatee and a rather thin build.

"There's still half a month until the exam, which is six thousand coins, or six taels of silver."

Yang Youan muttered to himself, but then he heard the innkeeper say, "This is already very cheap. Now is the time for the imperial examinations, and other inns are charging a full day for check-in."

Yang Youan thought to himself, "That's true. I've been to several inns before, and they're usually one or fifty coins a day. But here it's four hundred coins a day, and they even include three meals, which is already pretty good."

But when he touched the money pouch in his arms, he gave an awkward smile. Since leaving home, he had only been able to get here with the help of government officials or fellow candidates along the way. But now he was the only one left who had traveled with him to the capital. He had spent almost all the money they had given him along the way, and he was really short of money. He was afraid he couldn't afford to stay any longer.

"Sorry to bother you, shopkeeper. I'll go look around somewhere else." Yang Youan bowed awkwardly to the shopkeeper and turned to leave, but was stopped by the shopkeeper.

"You don't look very old, and you're carrying a trunk. Judging from your clothes, you look like a scholar. Are you here to take the exam too?"

The shopkeeper looked at Yang Youan, who was not tall but had a handsome appearance and was dressed as a poor scholar, and asked him a question.

Yang Youan paused for a moment before replying, "Reporting to the shopkeeper, my name is Yang Youan, I am fifteen years old, and I have won first place in the provincial examination of Yunzhou. I am indeed a candidate who has come to take the exam."

"First place in the provincial examination?" The innkeeper looked incredulous, but before he could speak, a shocked voice came from upstairs in the inn.

The two looked up and saw Li Chengru staring at Yang Youan in disbelief.

Upon seeing Li Chengru, Yang Youan wondered if he had gone back to his room. Despite this thought, he still bowed to Li Chengru and said, "Indeed."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengru immediately ran downstairs, looking at Yang Youan with great curiosity, as if he were looking at some kind of monster.

"Why are you staring at me like that, young master? Is there something wrong with me?" Yang Youan asked, puzzled, and looked down at himself. He felt that apart from his somewhat shabby clothes, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him.

"You entered the provincial examination at fifteen, which means you came to take the preliminary examination at twelve?"

Li Chengru thought he was already a genius for passing the preliminary examination at the age of thirteen and forging his way to the metropolitan examination at the age of sixteen. But he never expected that the boy in front of him had passed the preliminary examination at the age of eleven and was able to enter the metropolitan examination at the age of fourteen. He thought to himself that this person was not only a genius, but also an eccentric.

"I passed the preliminary examination when I was eight years old, but my family makes a living by hunting and doesn't have much money. My uncle was appreciated by a wealthy man in the last two years. He only needs to hunt some game for the wealthy man every day to exchange for some silver. Although it's not much, it's enough for me to take the exam."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengru was first speechless, then incredulous, and continued to ask, "Eight years old? You passed the preliminary examination at the age of eight?"

“Yes,” Yang Youan replied, “But what’s wrong with being eight years old?”

"It's nothing! It's nothing!" Li Chengru rubbed his forehead, feeling troubled. He really hadn't expected that the boy in front of him had passed the preliminary examination at the age of eight. He himself considered himself a genius because he had passed the preliminary examination at the age of thirteen, but he never expected that there would be someone more capable than him.

And it just so happens to confirm what he said in the crowd earlier: because you don't know what kind of people are going to the capital for the imperial examinations. And Yang Youan is definitely that kind of person.

The reason he said that was because of someone else, but he didn't expect Yang Youan to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"Shopkeeper, arrange a room for him, and deduct it from my silver every day."

As Li Chengru spoke, he took out a money bag from his sleeve and placed it in front of the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper quickly took the money bag, opened it, and saw that besides half of the loose silver, there were two ingots of silver.

(End of this chapter)