Chapter 200: Checking In
After having a meal in the restaurant, they next had to consider the issue of lodging.
Cui Rong had a separate courtyard here and invited them to stay.
Su Yaoguang knew that it was hard to rent a house at this time of year, not only was the price two or three times more expensive than usual, but supply fell short of demand, so there were none available to rent even if they wanted to.
Su Yaoguang leaned close to Zhou Wangshu and said, “Young Master Cui’s invitation is hard to refuse, how about we…”
“I’ve already rented a house, and if we back out now, the landlord won’t refund our silver.” Zhou Wangshu said.
“When did you rent it?” Su Yaoguang asked in surprise.
“Half a month ago, I already sent my bookboy ahead to rent a house. Brother Wangshu heard we were coming to rent, so he asked us to rent two households for him as well, and the money has already been paid.” Zhong Chushan said, “We came half a month early to rent, the price is much cheaper than now, very cost-effective. Most importantly, that area is full of scholars, so we can exchange ideas. Also, because that house isn’t big, Maternal Aunt and Maternal Uncle-in-law have a separate house next door.”
Zhou Wangshu continued, “With so many of us, it’s not good to go disturb them. Although you have business cooperation, human favors are hard to repay.”
Su Yaoguang nodded and said to Cui Rong, “Since they have already rented a house, we won’t disturb you then, thank you, Cui Rong.”
Cui Rong was a bit disappointed, but thinking that he still needed to discuss business with her in the provincial capital, that bit of disappointment quickly dissipated.
“I’ll come pick you up tomorrow, and by the way, introduce you to the boss here.”
“No rush for now, these few days I’ll first accompany Wangshu to get familiar with the place, and after he enters the examination hall, I’ll consider business matters.” Su Yaoguang said.
“Then I’ll see you there, and recognize the place, so it’s easier to keep in touch.”
Chen Buyu leaned close to Zhong Chushan and said in a low voice, “This boy’s offensive is fierce, our Wangshu won’t really have the wall pried, will he?”
“I think this is an opportunity.” Zhong Chushan muttered, “If we don’t stimulate him a bit, he’ll never understand his true feelings.”
The house that Zhong Chushan and the others rented was right in the area where scholars gathered, and the nearby places were full of scholars from all over who had come to take the local imperial examination.
In fact, the houses here were all custom-made by the local people for the scholars taking the exam, each one not big, but fully equipped despite its small size.
Zhou Wangshu rented two households, Maternal Aunt and Maternal Uncle-in-law lived alone in one, Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu lived next door. Chen Buyu and Zhong Chushan lived opposite.
While everyone was moving things in to settle, the people from the next-door household also arrived. When the other side got out of the horse-drawn carriage carrying large and small packages, time seemed to freeze. The few people stared wide-eyed at each other, clearly all stunned by such ‘fate’.
Jiang Yihuan held Xiao Yanci’s arm: “Husband, such a small house actually cost us five taels of silver, it’s way too expensive.”
Xiao Yanci hummed: “Move the things in first!”
Su Yaoguang frowned: “How is it they keep popping up like bad pennies?”
Zhou Wangshu hadn’t expected the two sides to have such deep bad karma, running into them wherever they went. However, they hadn’t seen this family for a while.
It was said that Zhong Lanhua had followed Jiang Yihuan into the embroidery shop, the mother and daughter embroidered from morning till night, earning quite a bit of money. But all the money they earned went to pay debts.
Additionally, that master craftsman called Yang Quan was still following Jiang Yihuan. He rented a house in Jiang Yihuan’s courtyard, making cosmetics every day to sell at a stall.
The house that Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu rented had only one room, but besides a bed in the room, there was also a sofa.
The weather was still hot now, so there was no need to buy bedding, just lay down a mat and cover with a thin cloth.
Having just arrived in the provincial capital, after the long tiring journey, they were quite exhausted, so that day they decided to simply eat something at home and didn’t want to go out, so they each did their own thing.
Su Yaoguang knew that Maternal Uncle-in-law was even more nervous than the other scholars, spending almost all his time on schoolwork, so she didn’t disturb them and gave them absolute space.
Zhong Chushan and Chen Buyu both had bookboys to take care of them, and even if she was on good terms with them, she wouldn’t worry about their affairs, so she didn’t inquire about theirs.
Zhou Wangshu came out of the bathroom wiping his body, and saw Su Yaoguang asleep leaning on the windowsill, her hair still wet, so he took a towel to wipe it for her.
Su Yaoguang was woken by him, squinting at him: “You’re done? You go sleep quickly, I can air it here and it’ll dry on its own.”
Zhou Wangshu didn’t move, still wiping her hair.
“Although the weather is hot, blowing wind here can still easily give you a common cold.”
“The wind blowing on my face is all hot air, I’m not that delicate.” Su Yaoguang sat up, yawning. “I’ll sleep on the sofa, you sleep on the bed.”
Zhou Wangshu dried her hair for her and rubbed her cheeks.
“What are you doing?” Su Yaoguang, who had been very sleepy, was woken by him.
“To wake you up a bit, you can only sleep after your hair is completely dry.” Zhou Wangshu said.
Strange sounds came from next door. At first the two didn’t pay attention, but the commotion from that side got louder and louder, to the point that even they noticed something was off.
Next door.
Xiao Yanci pressed down on Jiang Yihuan, his eyes bright red.
The scene he had just seen flashed in his mind.
Su Yaoguang carrying a meal out of the kitchen, Zhou Wangshu taking it from far away and even wiping her sweat for her.
That scene was too eyesore.
He wanted to prove this way that he hadn’t made the wrong choice. In his previous life, he chose Jiang Yihuan and treated Su Yaoguang as a decoration, his choice was not wrong. His misfortunes in this life were definitely not retribution for abandoning Su Yaoguang in his previous life. Only Jiang Yihuan could bring him satisfaction, she was the woman he wanted.
Zhou Wangshu’s face grew darker and darker.
Shameless next door, but he still wanted to keep face!
He grabbed Su Yaoguang’s hand and made her cover her ears: “Cover them, don’t dirty your ears. I’ll go out for a bit, back soon.”
Su Yaoguang was indeed a bit embarrassed.
But what was Zhou Wangshu going out for at this time?
No need to cover for such a minor scene. Once Zhou Wangshu left, she closed the window, then started packing the luggage they brought.
With that shameless pair next door making such a fuss, her sleepiness was gone, and she had the energy to pack things.
Not long after, noisy sounds came from outside.
Curious, she opened the window and looked, only to see Zhou Wangshu bringing several scholars over.
“We are all scholars, we can’t see danger and not help out? But I’m also a weak scholar with no strength to bind a chicken, really can’t catch the thief alone, so I can only ask brothers to accompany me for courage, let’s catch this thief together.”
“Brother Zhou is right, us scholars should help each other when out and about. Don’t worry, with so many of us, that thief definitely can’t escape.”
With that, those several scholars rushed into Xiao Yanci’s room.
Screams came from inside.
Zhou Wangshu stood at the courtyard gate, without meaning to go in and soil his eyes.
Su Yaoguang: “…”
