Poor but talented scholar

Chapter 63 Settling Down

On the third day after registration, guesthouses in Qingyang County were already fully booked.

Although Master Zhao had reserved dormitories for Lu Chuan and others at the academy, the academy was still some distance from the examination hall because roll call would be taken at 3 a.m. on the day of the county examination.

Manager Sun led the students to find a large dormitory, but Lu Shouye and Sixth Uncle insisted on personally choosing a place for Lu Chuan to stay.

"Chuan'er, this county examination is a huge event. Our Lu family village has finally produced a literary genius like you. We absolutely cannot let you squeeze into a shared dormitory." Uncle Liu was wrapped in an old leather coat, with a few taels of silver in his pocket.

Lu Shouye nodded repeatedly: "Your father and your sixth uncle have inquired. The inn near the examination hall is a bit expensive, but it's convenient."

At this time, inns in the county town had already become highly sought-after businesses.

The group entered the Longmen Inn, the closest inn to the county government office, where the lobby was full of people.

"Manager, please prepare a quiet superior room," Lu Shouye called out.

The manager behind the counter was fiddling with an abacus: "A superior room? My friend, you're probably still half asleep. Let alone a superior room, even the benches in this lobby are rented out for people to lie on at night."

Lu Shouye wanted to plead again, but the innkeeper rolled his eyes and pointed outside the door, saying, "Now we only have two low-class rooms left next to the stable. They're drafty and cost twenty coins a night. If you want to stay in a superior room, you'll have to be a relative of the county magistrate."

"How dare you talk like that!" Uncle Liu was furious, glaring at him as he tried to reason with him.

Lu Chuan tugged at his sixth uncle's sleeve and shook his head.

He knew that innkeepers during this year of imperial examinations were mostly arrogant and conceited.

Lu Shouye gritted his teeth, leaned closer to the counter, and lowered his voice, saying, "Shopkeeper, is there really no other way? My son has an exam coming up. How much per day? Please give me a straight answer."

Seeing Lu Shouye's sincere attitude and noticing Lu Chuan's composed demeanor, the innkeeper finally stopped calculating and pulled out a key from under the counter: "Consider yourselves lucky. There's a room in the back courtyard reserved for distinguished guests; it's actually just a quiet side room. One hundred coins a day, no bargaining. Want to stay?"

"One hundred coins?!"

Uncle Liu was greatly alarmed.

One hundred coins—how many kilograms of coarse grains can that buy? How many eggs can that buy for the family? One hundred coins a day—and with three days of exams, plus preparation time, how much money would that cost?

Seeing this, Lu Chuan said, "Father, it's too expensive. Let's go find Manager Sun and squeeze into that dormitory room that costs twenty coins a day. It's not a big deal. I..."

"nonsense."

"We'll take this superior room," Lu Shouye said. "We'll rent it for five days. With the remaining money, we'll rent the cheapest room."

The shopkeeper took the money and casually pointed: "Then go to the servants' quarters next to the stables, twenty coins a day, only straw mats, no brazier."

After bypassing the noisy front hall, the backyard was indeed much quieter.

The small side room, which cost 100 coins a day, was spotless, and there were even a few winter plum trees planted under the window.

Lu Shouye and his sixth uncle worked together to lay out Lu Chuan's examination basket and bedding.

"Chuan'er, you stay in this room and don't go anywhere." Sixth Uncle sat on the doorstep. "Your father and I will keep watch in the 20-cash servant's quarters in the front yard. Don't answer the door for the next two days."

Lu Chuan followed them to the door of the servants' quarters in the front yard.

The so-called lower room was actually a semi-open shed.

Several moldy straw mats were laid on the cold, damp ground, next to a manger, and there was a pungent smell of horse urine.

Light shone through the cracks in the wall, and there wasn't even a decent place to step on the ground.

"Father, Sixth Uncle, how can anyone sleep here?" Lu Chuan's eyes suddenly reddened. "Come with me to the backyard, that room is spacious."

"Silly child." Lu Shouye shooed Lu Chuan back, chuckled, "Your father and your sixth uncle are tough; we can sleep through the night in the furrows. This place costs twenty coins a day, which is better than the cowshed in our village. As long as you sleep soundly, even the smell of horse manure smells good to your father."

After settling their luggage, Lu Shouye still wanted to take Lu Chuan out for a meal.

But Lu Chuan knew in his heart that a plate of ordinary stir-fried meat in that place could cost more than a hundred coins, enough to keep his family busy for more than half a month.

"Dad, Sixth Uncle, that restaurant is full of examinees, it's so noisy it's giving me a headache." Lu Chuan chuckled and tugged at his father's sleeve, pointing to a small stall with white smoke billowing from the alley entrance. "I think their noodle soup is pretty good, it smells like the aroma of home cooking."

It was a simple food stall that sold food specifically to traveling porters and impoverished students.

A few wooden tables blackened by smoke and a few long benches sell the most common vegetarian noodles with minced meat and cabbage and tofu soup in Qingyang County.

"This is too unfair to you." Lu Shouye rubbed his hands together, his eyes full of guilt.

He always felt that it was a sign of a father's incompetence to feed his son such ordinary food on the eve of this important day.

"What's wrong with that? This noodle soup is hot and comforting, it'll fill you up nicely." Uncle Liu noticed Lu Chuan's thoughtfulness and patted Lu Shouye on the shoulder. "Shouye, Chuan'er is right. Eating this kind of hearty meal is much better than those fancy restaurants."

The three of them sat down at the stall, and Lu Chuan ordered three bowls of steaming hot noodles.

A short while later, the stall owner brought up a blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

The noodles were rolled out very chewy, topped with a fried egg that was golden brown on both sides, sprinkled with chopped green onions, and dotted with bits of minced meat.

"Chuan'er, eat more, eat this too."

Lu Shouye moved extremely quickly, taking advantage of Lu Chuan's inattention to transfer the only poached egg from his bowl to Lu Chuan's bowl, and also transferred half a bowl of noodles to him.

"Dad, what are you doing? This bowl is enough." Lu Chuan tried to put the food back in his bowl.

"Dad doesn't like this oily stuff, it'll upset his stomach." Lu Shouye put on a stern face, deliberately pretending to be disgusted, and shoveled large mouthfuls of white noodles into his bowl, even though there wasn't a single piece of meat in it.

Uncle Liu was drinking his tofu soup with his head down. He listened to Lu Shouye's clumsy lie but didn't expose it. He just carefully scooped out the last bit of minced meat from his bowl and put it on top of Lu Chuan's bowl.

"Eat more meat to build up your strength. You'll be sitting in that cell for half a day tomorrow; without some meat to sustain you, you won't even be able to hold a pen."

The sun had completely set.

Lu Chuan looked down at the poached egg in the bowl.

He didn't refuse anymore. He ate the noodles in big mouthfuls, letting the steam from the scalding soup blur his vision.

He ate it all up, leaving not a single noodle or drop of soup.

"Are you full?" Lu Shouye looked at the empty bowl and finally smiled with relief. He took out a few polished copper coins from his pocket and gave them to the stall owner one by one.

On the way back to the inn, night had fallen.

Street vendors selling "Ding Sheng Gao" (a type of rice cake) roam the streets and alleys.

"Buy one basket." Without further ado, Uncle Liu took out a few copper coins and bought two.

This pastry is made of glutinous rice, and it's bright red. It's shaped like a gold ingot, which is a favorite auspicious symbol for poor scholars.

"Chuan'er, take this back to the house. Have a bite before you go to the venue tomorrow morning." Uncle Liu stuffed the pastry into Lu Chuan's hand.