Chapter 53 Truly Unlucky

Since the other party wasn’t here for the Bao Gen matter, then it was good.

The world is bustling with people, all for profit.

I’m not afraid of being used, I’m afraid of being useless. It’s all about mutual benefit.

Half an hour later, Qin Ruo, holding a newly signed contract for the sale of medicinal herbs with Si Heng, walked out of the Apricot Forest Hall with a light step.

After passing through the bustling East Street, she turned a corner and went to the most imposing teahouse on the South Gate Street of Taihe County, Qingfeng Residence.

The last time Qin Ruo came to Taihe County, she was still worried about a few taels of silver.

She had no time to appreciate the scenery, nor did she have the money to enjoy life.

Now she had money, eight hundred taels. The average person’s annual income was only twenty or thirty taels.

She had already earned in one day what others might not earn in decades, so of course, she had to reward herself.

Qin Ruo didn’t care if her simple clothes and hairpins were out of place in this teahouse.

With money in her pocket, she was confident.

As soon as she entered the teahouse, she went straight upstairs and found a window seat, instructing the waiter to brew a pot of good tea, and then ordered five or six signature snacks from Qingfeng Residence.

Qin Zian, who had just finished packing up his stall on West Street and was about to return to the academy, saw Qin Ruo enter the teahouse and felt a surge of anger.

He had spent the whole morning setting up his stall on West Street, and some people were here enjoying themselves.

What was Qingfeng Residence? It was a gathering place for literati and scholars, a place for students to exchange knowledge.

What was Qin Qiuxi, a crude and ignorant person, doing there?

Was she going to teach people how to farm? Or exchange experiences about hunting in the mountains?

Qin Zian’s anger was burning fiercely, and it was getting stronger.

He was already in a bad mood because his stall hadn’t been doing well today, and seeing Qin Ruo enter Qingfeng Residence made him even more furious.

In Qin Zian’s eyes, Qin Ruo’s behavior was undoubtedly a wanton waste of the Qin family’s money.

The Qin family’s money was his money. She was wasting his money!

He didn’t agree!

“Brother Qin, your face is so bad, are you feeling unwell?”

“It’s okay if you don’t make any money this time. Once you’ve been on West Street for a while, you’ll definitely have more people asking you to write letters for them.”

Standing next to Qin Zian was a student named Zhou Yuanshu, who was Qin Zian’s classmate.

Seeing Qin Zian’s bad complexion, he thought he was in a bad mood because he hadn’t made any money, so he quickly tried to comfort him.

Zhou Yuanshu’s words didn’t comfort Qin Zian at all, but instead made his face even worse.

This morning, he and Zhou Yuanshu went to West Street together. Zhou Yuanshu, who was next to his stall, had earned more than thirty wen in half a day.

But Qin Zian hadn’t earned a single copper coin.

Qin Zian felt that Zhou Yuanshu wasn’t comforting him, but mocking him.

Since he had gone home on vacation last time and was mocked by Qin Ruo for not earning a single copper coin, Qin Zian felt deeply humiliated.

After returning to the academy, he couldn’t swallow the anger in his heart.

Qin Zian wanted to prove with actions that he wasn’t incapable of earning money, but that he simply didn’t need to rely on brute force like Qin Ruo to earn a few copper coins.

So, after returning to the academy, he took the time to go to the bookstore with confidence, ready to copy books like other students.

There were many wealthy students at Luming Academy, but there were also many students from ordinary families who had managed to study with the support of their entire family.

Students from poor families would often go to bookstores to copy books for a fee to reduce the burden on their families.

In the past, earning money wasn’t something he had to do, and Qin Zian didn’t care. He thought that if he wanted to, he could just do it with a flick of his wrist.

But reality gave him a slap in the face. He went with high hopes and returned disappointed.

There were four or five bookstores in Taihe County, but they all had fixed partnerships with students and professional copyists.

The shopkeeper of the bookstore heard that Qin Zian had no experience copying books, and didn’t even give him a chance to try, so he simply sent him away.

After suffering a setback, Qin Zian had to find another way.

That was to set up a stall on West Street with Zhou Yuanshu, writing letters for ordinary people.

West Street and East Street in Taihe County were not on the same level in terms of prosperity and wealth.

Qin Zian considered himself a scholar, and he looked down on those commoners from the bottom of his heart, and he looked down on those few copper coins even more.

Think about it, a student from Luming Academy, for a few copper coins, actually ended up writing letters for people on West Street.

Although he had set up a stall with Zhou Yuanshu’s help, he still had a sour face.

As a result, no one came to his stall all morning.

“Brother Ziyan, do you want some tea? If you don’t mind, I’ll treat you to a bowl of tea at the tea stall in front, and then we’ll go back, how about that?”

Zhou Yuanshu watched Qin Zian, who was lost in thought, and invited him again with enthusiasm.

Although Qin Zian was a bit arrogant and didn’t like to interact with people, Zhou Yuanshu thought simply. Qin Zian was better at reading than him, so it was normal for him to be a bit arrogant.

Therefore, he didn’t mind Qin Zian’s attitude and thought that when he had time in the future, Qin Zian could exchange ideas with him about his studies.

Zhou Yuanshu’s family was poor, and he relied on writing letters for a living.

He couldn’t afford Qingfeng Residence, but the tea stall in front, with its two-wen-a-bowl rough tea, was still affordable.

Qin Zian was in no mood to drink tea now. His mind was filled with anger and extreme dissatisfaction.

“Brother Zhou, thank you, go back first. I have something to do, we’ll get together another day.”

After getting rid of Zhou Yuanshu, Qin Zian went into Qingfeng Residence teahouse.

Of course, he knew that Zhou Yuanshu couldn’t afford the tea at Qingfeng Residence. A pot of ordinary tea here would cost sixty wen, and a plate of pastries would cost at least thirty wen.

He had invited his classmates from the academy to have tea here, so he was so angry when he saw Qin Ruo in Qingfeng Residence teahouse.

Could she even enter this teahouse?

Look at her, dressed in new clothes from head to toe, how much did that cost?

What right did Qin Qiuxi have to spend the Qin family’s money like this?

Qin Zian’s mind was filled with Qin Ruo spending his money, and in his anger, he lost his reason.

At the same time, he blamed Old Lady Qin for being a head of the family without any backbone, unable to control a little girl.

Qin Zian looked around the first floor of the hall, but didn’t see Qin Ruo, which pushed his anger to the brink of explosion.

Qingfeng Residence teahouse had two floors. The second floor had private rooms and elegant seats, with a minimum consumption of three hundred wen.

Even he, who had been to this teahouse a few times, had only sat on the first floor because he was short of money.

Blinded by anger, Qin Zian ran up to the second floor.

As soon as he got upstairs, he saw Qin Ruo sitting by the window, leisurely drinking tea.

She dared to enjoy something he couldn’t even afford!

Qin Zian’s face turned pale, and he walked step by step towards Qin Ruo’s seat.

“Qin Qiuxi! Do you have any self-awareness? Is this a place you’re qualified to come to?”

Qin Ruo glanced at the person who suddenly appeared in front of her, and her good mood was gone.

She had encountered another idiot, what bad luck!