Chapter 44: Poetry Gathering 2/3

Xu Qifei instantly understood what Zhu Xunmiao meant. He said the most profound words in the book, unlike anything Master Zhu could say.

At this moment, Zhu Xunmiao added, “Brother Li also helped Uncle Ding write an autobiography. I was reading it all night last night, and it was almost dawn when I fell asleep!”

Subconsciously, Xu Qifei asked, “Could I have a look?”

The autobiography of Uncle Ding wasn’t finished by Uncle Ding himself, so Xu Qifei couldn’t see it.

However, Xu Qifei could have a good conversation with Li Qingzhi, the author.

Xu Qifei liked the book written by Li Qingzhi and admired Li Qingzhi’s ability to improve his writing skills during the writing process.

Although Li Qingzhi was still thin and obviously hadn’t fully recovered physically, his handwriting was now on par with that of Zhu Xunmiao!

Upon learning that Li Qingzhi had an eidetic memory, Xu Qifei became even more excited. “At the poetry gathering later, Brother Li will surely shine!”

“I don’t know how to write poetry; I don’t have that skill,” Li Qingzhi replied with a smile, then asked Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei not to mention his eidetic memory.

He wasn’t anything special right now, and he didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself.

Zhu Xunmiao and Xu Qifei both agreed.

Zhu Xunmiao woke up late today and hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. After chatting, he planned to grab something to eat and invited Li Qingzhi to join him.

Li Qingzhi was more than willing to have another meal.

He had eaten quite a bit at home in the morning, but now he felt like he could eat a few more bowls of rice.

Xu Qifei had also eaten before coming, but being a teenager, he felt he could eat a little more.

“If you don’t mind, come with me to the kitchen to eat,” Zhu Xunmiao said. “We can also order some dishes over there.”

Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei didn’t mind, so the three of them went to the kitchen.

Although they said they would eat in the kitchen, they actually ate at the tables outside the kitchen where the managers ate.

Chef Zhou, had prepared breakfast for Zhu Xunmiao, which consisted of steamed dumplings and tofu pudding. But now that two more people had joined, it wasn’t enough.

Glancing at Li Qingzhi, Chef Zhou smiled and said, “Young Master, shall I make some egg pancakes for you?”

“Sure,” Zhu Xunmiao agreed without hesitation.

The “egg pancakes” Chef Zhou mentioned were actually pancakes made by mixing flour, eggs, and water into a paste, then adding salt and chopped green onions before frying them.

The pan was greased, and the batter was poured in and spread out with a spatula. After a while, it was flipped over… It didn’t take long for the batter to cook, emitting the fragrance of eggs and spring onions.

These egg pancakes were cooked quickly. Chef Zhou had a plate of them ready in no time and brought it over to them just as Li Qingzhi and the others finished eating the steamed dumplings and tofu pudding.

Xu Qifei had only eaten one steamed dumpling, but after a bowl of tofu pudding, he felt quite full. Seeing Chef Zhou starting to make more egg pancakes, Xu Qifei asked Zhu Xunmiao, “Do we need more pancakes? Aren’t we full already?”

Zhu Xunmiao coughed lightly and said to Xu Qifei, “Don’t worry, we can finish them!”

Xu Qifei was puzzled. He often ate with Zhu Xunmiao, and while Zhu Xinmiao had a good appetite, it wasn’t that big!

Li Qingzhi smiled and, using the bowl emptied of tofu pudding, skillfully scooped some porridge from the nearby pot. Then, he said to Chef Zhou, “Uncle Zhou, your pancakes are really delicious!”

“Mr. Li, please have as much as you like!” Chef Zhou was delighted.

“I will,” Li Qingzhi smiled, and after Zhu Xinmiao couldn’t eat any more, he finished off the remaining pancakes.

He needed to eat more to gain some weight. No matter what, he had to be heavier than Jin Xiaoye!

After finishing their meal, they still had some time left, so they went to Zhu Xunmiao’s study.

This time, Li Qingzhi brought back the books he had borrowed from the Zhu family before and planned to borrow more books this time.

“Brother Li, feel free to pick any books you want,” Zhu Xunmiao smiled and said they could put the books on the boat they would take to the Hong family’s poetry gathering. After the gathering, they would use the same boat to send Li Qingzhi back.

“Thank you.”

After chatting for a while and seeing that it was almost time, they took a boat to the Hong family’s residence.

The Hong family had a small house in the county town, but this time, the venue for the poetry gathering was a garden near the county town, a bit far from the Zhu family’s residence.

The small boat, manned by servants from the Zhu family, entered the garden. As soon as they entered, Li Qingzhi saw many chrysanthemums.

These chrysanthemums came in various colors and adorned the garden beautifully.

At the same time, a handsome young man in his twenties with an elegant demeanor walked towards them. “Brother Zhu, you’re finally here.”

This young man was Hong Hui, the eldest son of the Hong family. He exchanged a few words with Zhu Xunmiao with a smile, then took Zhu Xunmiao to meet the other literati who had come to participate in the poetry gathering. He even introduced Zhu Xunmiao to them, saying, “Everyone, this is Zhu Xunmiao. His family runs the Shunlong Trading Company. If you need any help, you can ask him.”

Hong Hui was very eloquent and took care of most of the people present. During their conversation, he even arranged for Zhu Xunmiao to provide a job for a poor scholar.

Zhu Xunmiao agreed readily, and the scholar repeatedly thanked Hong Hui.

Li Qingzhi had been following Zhu Xunmiao all this time.

He and Xu Qifei were brought in by Zhu Xunmiao. They didn’t know Hong Hui before, and they weren’t well-known either. However, Hong Hui not only greeted them at the beginning but also treated them well afterward.

In just a short while, Xu Qifei already admired Hong Hui greatly, but Li Qingzhi didn’t particularly like him.

He could sense that Hong Hui actually looked down on him. Not only him, but Hong Hui also seemed to look down on Zhu Xunmiao. 

Moreover, after Zhu Xunmiao provided a job for that scholar, the scholar thanked Hong Hui instead of Zhu Xunmiao.

Clearly, Zhu Xunmiao was being used as a pawn by Hong Hui.

But there were always many hypocrites, like Hong Hui.

In the apocalypse, Li Qingzhi, who lacked combat power, would stay as far away from them as possible. But this was Daqi.

Daqi couldn’t be considered a rule-of-law society, but it was still a peaceful era. Hong Hui wouldn’t suddenly come to attack him, kill him, or bite him for no reason.

That was good!

There were various snacks prepared at the poetry gathering, and they could also enjoy the flowers and scenery. Li Qingzhi ate and looked around, feeling increasingly better.

The only regret was that he couldn’t taste the flavor of those chrysanthemums in public.

Next to Li Qingzhi, Xu Qifei thought to himself, “…” Is Brother Li eating too much?

Seeing that all the snacks in front of Li Qingzhi were gone, Xu Qifei quietly pushed his own snacks over.

He had eaten too much in the morning and didn’t want to eat anything now.

Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei were just there to make up the numbers. Most of the people present didn’t know them, so no one talked to them. Even Zhu Xunmiao didn’t attract much attention.

In this poetry gathering, Hong Hui was definitely the center of attention. He even recited a poem publicly.

“The fragrance of osmanthus floats, the chrysanthemums are yellow, and the crabs are golden!” After Hong Hui finished reciting the last line, the literati present praised him one after another.

“What a great line—’the fragrance of osmanthus floats, the chrysanthemums are yellow, and the crabs are golden. Raise your glasses to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.'”

“Great poem! Hong Brother, could you prepare paper and a pen for us to write down the poetry?”

“Hong Brother’s poetry is truly extraordinary!”

Li Qingzhi: “…” How should I put it? Hong Hui’s poem is indeed not bad; at least he can’t write something like that now, but it’s not so praiseworthy.

“Osmanthus fragrance” is a common phrase, and as for “chrysanthemums are yellow, and the crabs are golden”… Usually, people say “chrysanthemums are yellow, crabs are fat, and crabs are red.” These three phrases are just put together randomly and don’t really match well.

This time, Zhu Xunmiao also prepared two poems in advance, and they are not inferior to what Hong Hui wrote.