Cangshan Town, a town with only two streets, one horizontal and one vertical, is located in the southern part of Chu State, within the jurisdiction of Qingyang County. It's an obscure town among the dozens in Qingyang County.
The Wan family's leather goods store had its shopkeeper loudly announcing, "Insects eat, rats bite, bald fur shedswild wolf hide, fifty wen per piece."
Wang Hong gritted his teeth but chose not to engage in pointless argument. He extended his hand and took the fifty wen.
All leather goods in Cangshan Town were monopolized by the Wan family, and the pricing of all leather goods was determined by the Wan family's word.
Those who intervened in the leather goods business mysteriously disappeared; some encountered thieves, leaving their families bereft. After such incidents, no one dared to touch the leather goods business again.
After leaving Wan's store, Wang Hong went to the pharmacy to sell medicinal herbs. Three Astragalus plants sold for seventy-five wen, Kudzu Root for one hundred and thirty wen, and other herbs collected earlier for more than twenty wen.
Walking on the street, Wang Hong occasionally reached into his pocket, feeling the weight of the copper coins. A sense of accomplishment filled his heart.
Not far along, he saw a crowd gathered ahead, engaged in lively discussions.
Wang Hong approached and saw a large notice posted on the wall with a bright red official seal.
As for the specific contents, Er Gou Zi couldn't recognize a single character.
At the forefront of the crowd, a poorly dressed middle-aged scholar with a white face and a goat beard was loudly reciting.
Most of the onlookers couldn't read large characters, but at this moment, they were all ears, trying to listen.
Although the language was difficult to understand, Wang Hong roughly grasped the meaning.
Qingyang Academy in the county town would expand its enrollment next spring. As long as one was under fifteen years old and passed the entrance examination, they could enter the academy by paying ten taels of silver annually.
Before the age of twenty, those who passed the graduation examination had the opportunity to be recommended as local officials or enter the military, with a chance to become a military officer.
"I heard the County Magistrate graduated from Qingyang Academy."
"The County Magistrate studied liberal arts at Qingyang Academy. The most outstanding are the martial arts students. General Wu of the Northwest Army is also from Qingyang Academy."
"I regret being born a few years too early! Otherwise, I would definitely pass the examination and become a general. Riding a tall horse, carrying a precious sword, charging into battlehow majestic!"
A young man in the crowd, with triangular eyes and protruding front teeth, was lamenting.
"Forget it! Triangular Eyes, with your looks, you want to be a general? The real generals have broad shoulders and a strong waist. With your small frame, carrying a burning stick, standing in front of the formation. Here's Triangular Eyes. People might think that our great Chu State has no one." A dark-faced sturdy youth mocked.
Wang Hong ignored the noisy crowd and quietly left. He also began to formulate some plans in his mind.
"This is a good opportunity. The tuition is ten taels per person, so my little brother and I need twenty taels. We need to earn enough silver in the next few months."
"I have a piece of land, and time flows more than twenty times faster in this space. Wheat and rice can ripen in about half a year. One piece of land can yield twenty to thirty catties of grain each season. Even if we eat dry food every meal, half a piece of land is enough."
"The other half of the land needs to be planted with more valuable crops. The first thing that comes to mind is planting ginseng. There are about five months left until the examination next year."
He went to the pharmacy and spent a hundred wen to buy a hundred and fifty ginseng seeds, as well as some wheat seeds, rice seeds, rice, and coarse salt, concluding his visit to Cangshan Town.
He heard his little brother's shout from afar.
"Why did you just come back? I've already prepared the meal."
"Little brother is really capable!" He took out an oil-paper package from his pocket and waved it in front of his little brother.
"Guess, guess right, and I'll give you this sugar figure."
"Hmm... Pig head meat!" His little brother deliberately showed a sly expression.
"Brother! I'm already eight years old, not a three or four-year-old child. Don't play such childish games with me."
Wang Yi reached out to grab the oil-paper package.
"Give me the sugar figure!"
Opening the oil-paper package revealed an exquisite sugar figure inside.
The two brothers walked home with their arms around each other.
"Brother, it's so sweet. Take a bite."
Wang Hong glanced at the sugar figure, licked by saliva everywhere.
"Just take a bite, it's really sweet! I'm not lying to you."
"Crunch!" Wang Hong closed his eyes and took a bite.
"You bit its head off, I licked it for so long and couldn't bear to bite." His little brother, flushed, complained.
"I'll buy you another one next time we go to town."
"Is your word reliable?"
"Of course! Your brother here is always true to his word." Wang Hong patted his meager chest.
Back home, they had two bowls of wild vegetable porridge. Wang Hong thought, this porridge is thin enough that if spilled on the ground, not even a dog could catch up.
"Little brother, starting from tomorrow, we'll cook dry rice at home."
"Every meal?" His little brother was a bit surprised, not catching on.
"Of course, every day, every meal." Wang Hong proudly patted the rice bag, confidently saying, "From now on, our family will eat well and spicy. We'll eat whatever the landlords eat!"
"Old Xu just ate chicken legs a few days ago. I went to their village to dig wild vegetables, saw that fool holding a chicken leg on the roadside, gnawing as if afraid others wouldn't know. Even his snot dripped onto the chicken leg, but he gnawed with such gusto." His little brother complained with a hint of envy.
"In a few days, we'll eat chicken too. By then, we'll squat at the village entrance and eat chicken legs." Wang Hong licked his lips.
"Others slaughter pigs for the New Year!"
"Boasting! Brother! Boasting too often won't get you a wife." His little brother was thoroughly unconvinced. He had hardly eaten meat from childhood to adulthood.
"Your brother here never boasts. Besides, we can do our own laundry and cooking. Why do we need to get married?"
His little brother suddenly realized, "Right! Don't marry. If you marry, your wife will snatch our chicken legs. Next door, Niu Dan married a wife, and they fight every night, screaming so loudly, it's frightening."
Wang Hong felt something was wrong, but for the moment, he couldn't figure it out.
The two brothers each held a bowl of porridge, sitting on a stone at the doorstep.
After dinner, they discussed the matter of going to the academy next spring. His little brother eagerly looked forward to it, dreaming of becoming a chivalrous hero wielding a sword.
At night, Wang Hong entered the space again. The Astragalus planted earlier had grown well. After planting wheat and rice, leaving half a piece of land, he planted ginseng seeds and found a small piece of land still vacant. Er Gou Zi pondered, thinking about finding some other herbs to plant in the empty space. As a farmer, leaving land uncultivated was intolerable.
"Tomorrow, I'll go into the mountains and dig some other herbs to plant in the space."
The next morning, Wang Hong entered the space and found that the wheat and rice planted last night had grown a few inches tall. The rice was no worse than that grown in paddy fields, and the ginseng had sprouted green seedlings.
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