Poor but talented scholar

Chapter 107 Little Sister's Questions

Lu Shouye was beaming with excitement when he returned from the meeting at the clan chief's house.

Upon entering the house, she went straight to Lu Chuan's room without even taking off her shoes.

At this moment, Lu Chuan was holding the letter, pondering what would happen next.

"Chuan'er, Chuan'er, are you asleep?"

Lu Shouye pushed open the door, his voice filled with elation, and rattled off everything that had just happened in the meeting:

"Our village is going to open an ancestral hall to worship our ancestors. The old clan chief has said that this time we must make it a grand and glorious event for you."

"Tomorrow morning, your second uncle will take some people to the county to buy half a pig and twenty chickens. Erzhuzi will go down the back mountain to catch them tomorrow."

"We're going to throw a huge banquet and invite all the neighboring villages over so we can all have a good time together."

Seeing his father's excited expression, Lu Chuan couldn't help but chuckle.

At this moment, Lu's mother came over and tugged at Lu Shouye, scolding him, "You old man, keep your voice down, don't scare the child."

"What do you know, you woman?" Lu Shouye waved his hand, his expression turning serious as he looked at Lu Chuan and continued, "Chuan'er, the clan chief just gave me a special instruction. He said that now that you're a scholar, you'll inevitably need to build connections when dealing with people in this county."

"So the clan chief instructed you to do this tonight, to personally write several invitations and invite all the prominent figures from the nearby villages."

After listening, Lu Chuan agreed without hesitation.

He originally thought it was just a lively event in the village, but he didn't expect that although the clan chief had spent his whole life in the mountains, his understanding of human relationships was excellent.

Although he has now passed the imperial examination and become a scholar, if Lujia Village wants to establish itself in this area and not be bullied by outsiders, it is not enough to rely solely on the county magistrate's approval. He also needs to build his own network of relationships locally.

If the surrounding landlords and gentry knew that the Lu family had produced a scholar, they would naturally be more cautious in their actions and would not dare to easily cause conflict.

"Father, the clan chief uncle has considered everything carefully. This invitation is indeed necessary."

He immediately stood up, walked to his desk, and began to grind ink and pick up his brush.

"When I was in the capital, I learned the rules of this invitation from others."

"I guarantee that the format and wording will be flawless. I'll finish writing it tonight and then I'll trouble you to deliver it first thing tomorrow morning."

As Lu Chuan spoke, he wielded his brush, and under the oil lamp, lines of beautiful official script appeared on the paper.

Lu Shouye stood aside, feeling his excitement burning even brighter.

He felt that if he continued to stay indoors, he would definitely get sick from being cooped up.

"Alright, then you can write in peace. My heart is burning. Go out for a walk and get some fresh air."

Before he finished speaking, he rushed out the door like a young boy.

Lu Chuan could only shake his head helplessly as he watched, and continued writing under the lamp.

Little did he know that his father's trip led him directly to the information exchange center under the big tree at the village entrance.

Lu Shouye swaggered over, plopped down on the bluestone, coughed twice in a mysterious manner, and then revealed everything about opening the ancestral hall the next morning, buying half a pig, catching twenty chickens, fishing in the pond, and Lu Chuan writing invitations.

Soon, a large group of villagers surrounded Lu Shouye.

Some of the women even had their babies, who had just woken up, in their arms, their eyes wide with curiosity.

Lu Shouye's vanity was satisfied like never before at this moment.

He cleared his throat, shifted to a more comfortable position, and vividly recounted his experiences in the prefectural city to the villagers.

"You all don't know, our county town is big enough, right? But compared to the prefectural city, it's just a small kiln at best."

As Lu Shouye spoke, he made a circle in the air, spitting as he spoke: "The city walls of that prefecture, my God, are all made of bluestone. You can't see the end of them, and people walking down them look like ants."

"And the streets were so wide that ten oxcarts could run side by side, and the ground was covered with blue bricks."

The villagers watching all gasped in shock.

An old man who had never left the county town in his entire life listened with wide eyes: "Shouye, huh? Do all the people in the prefectural city wear silk?"

"Of course!" Lu Shouye said, getting more and more excited.

"The nobles on the street were dressed in dazzling clothes, especially on the day of the exam, that was truly awe-inspiring."

"Several thousand talented young people from all over the prefecture and counties were crowding outside the examination hall."

"That display was incredibly impressive!"

At this point, he changed the subject and began to talk about the examination venue, which was of most concern to the villagers.

"You think it's easy to become a scholar? The body search before entering the examination hall is so strict that it can peel off a layer of skin from a person. Even a proper scholar has to take off his shoes and socks and shake out his clothes piece by piece."

"The officials carried iron sticks and even cut the dry rations they brought into the area into small pieces, for fear that there might be cheat notes hidden inside."

"Our Chuanzi is the youngest, but he wasn't flustered at all when he entered. Even the official in charge of inspection thought highly of him."

He spoke with such enthusiasm that he gestured wildly, making his story even more captivating than those told by storytellers in teahouses.

After Lu Shouye went out to boast.

Lu Chuan had already neatly placed the invitations aside.

The room was quiet when the door was pushed open.

The one who came in was the younger sister.

This girl lost her baby teeth this year and has grown quite a bit taller. She's also very lively and active.

"elder brother."

She skipped and hopped to the desk.

"Brother, you look really dashing in that outfit, so different from us."

She plopped down on the nearby bench and fired off a barrage of questions:

"Brother, tell me quickly, what is that prefectural city like?"

"My parents always say that the city is so big you can get lost. Are the buildings there really as tall and grand as they're portrayed in operas?"

"Also, what clothes do those scholars and high-ranking officials in the city wear and what kind of sedan chairs do they ride in when they go out? Tell me quickly, I'm so curious."

Lu Chuan couldn't help but smile as he looked at his younger sister's impatient expression.

He put down his pen, casually pulled out a piece of paper, and handed the ink stick to her.

"Want to hear a story? Sure, first grind this inkstone." Lu Chuan teased her with a smile.

"Let's grind it out, who's afraid of who?"

She rolled up her sleeves and began polishing in a very professional manner.

Although her movements were somewhat clumsy, her large eyes remained fixed on Lu Chuan, their expression clearly conveying her desire to hear more details.

Seeing this, Lu Chuan helped her correct her gestures and started talking about the interesting things: "The city is indeed magnificent. The city walls alone are three zhang high, and the gate openings are deep enough to hide several large oxcarts."

"The busiest place is Gongyuan Street. The shops on both sides don't just sell mountain products. There are shops that specialize in spices from the Western Regions, and there are shops that sell foreign trinkets."

"Those gentlemen and noblemen in the city wear very fine clothes. In summer they wear Suzhou silk and in winter they wear fur coats. They don't ride in oxcarts, but in sedan chairs carried by four people."