Chapter 8 Li Banxian

Ergouzi finds all kinds of things in the town very interesting and full of freshness.

At this time, he wandered to a fortune-telling stall.

I saw an old man with a white beard sitting in the stall, looking at the passers-by with half-squinted eyes. A flag was erected next to the stall with three big characters written on it.

"Wood Banshan"

Ergouzi read the words on the flag softly.

"Young man, I think you have extraordinary abilities and will become a great person in the future!"

The old man behind the fortune-telling stall was still squinting and sitting still as he spoke.

"Are you talking to me, sir?"

Ergouzi looked around and determined that he was the only one here.

"Of course it's you!"

"However, even though you have extraordinary abilities, you will probably accomplish nothing without the guidance of an expert."

Ergouzi listened to the old man's elegant speech. Like the teacher, Ergouzi felt a sense of respect in his heart.

"Please give me some advice, old gentleman!"

"I will teach you two words today."

"Look, these three words on the flag, the first one is "Youzi under the wood", which is read as "Li", and the last one is "人在山", which is read as "Xian".

The old man pointed to the three words on the flag and explained them to Ergouzi one by one.

"Li Banxian!"

Ergouzi muttered it again, his face burning, and then he realized that there were only three words on the flag, and he recognized two of them wrongly.

"It turns out that you are the famous Li Banxian!"

Li Banxian was good at writing, arithmetic, and knowledgeable. His name was known to almost everyone in the surrounding areas.

People usually come to him when they have headaches, headaches, children crying at night, weddings or funerals, or to check for auspicious days in the zodiac, etc. It is said that he is extremely miraculous.

"It's just a false name, not worth mentioning."

"Young man, I see that your heaven is full and your land is square. You were originally destined to be rich and powerful, but... alas!"

Li Banxian was only halfway through his words. He stroked his beard and sighed, acting enigmatically.

Er Gouzi felt it deeply in his heart and his calculations were so accurate. No wonder he was called the old god by everyone.

If his parents hadn't died suddenly and his family had dozens of acres of land, he would have been at least a little wealthy.

well!

Just when Er Gouzi was about to continue asking Li Banxian for advice, some gongs and drums came from the end of the street.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

The sound is getting closer and closer, the gongs and drums are loud in front, and there is a lot of people shouting. Many people join in the excitement and run forward.

Er Gouzi was still a young man at heart, so he immediately put aside his destiny and followed him out of curiosity to watch the fun.

More and more onlookers filled the streets, and even Li Banxian stood on tiptoe at the stall to watch.

Ergouzi already had a general idea from the conversations of people around him.

It turns out that this year's Wu Xiucai exam was released today, and someone here in Sanchazi Town successfully passed the exam.

Ergouzi has limited knowledge, he only knows that the scholar master is a great official, not an ordinary person. Their Shexi Village has not produced a martial scholar in a hundred years.

As for the specific kind, he, who feeds pigs, cuts firewood and cultivates land, has not had a chance to see it yet.

"I wonder whose ancestral graves are smoking, and who is admitted to be a scholar."

"Scholars do not kneel when they meet officials, they are exempted from corvee service, taxes are reduced, and their ancestors are honored..."

At this time, the onlookers stood on tiptoes one by one with envy on their faces.

Naturally, some of them did not know the heights of the world and had the idea of ​​taking the Wu Xiucai exam.

"I also want to learn martial arts and take the exam..."

"Dream your spring and autumn dream. The first item of the Wu Xiucai exam is to lift a 500-pound boulder. Do you have this talent?"

Ergouzi listened, feeling envious and yearning in his heart. He was tired even after carrying a stone of rice, and he didn't know anyone who had such great ability.

Out of curiosity, he stood on tiptoe in the crowd and looked around.

"Dang! Dang Dang Dang..."

The sound of the gong opened the way, and then a group of people was seen approaching surrounded by a young man.

The boy has big ears, wears a big red flower on his chest, and is high-spirited!

It turned out to be my cousin Zhang Youliang!

At this time, my cousin's face was full of joy, and he was surrounded by a dozen people who looked like country squires.

Zhang Youliang was talking politely to the squires, as if they were a family, when suddenly he glanced at Er Gouzi, who was crowded in the crowd.

Er Gouzi had been beaten too many times since he was a child, and he even retaliated against Zhang Youxin more than ten days ago. Now that their eyes met, he instinctively wanted to shrink back.

However, in public, Zhang Youliang obviously had no intention of arguing with him. He glanced at Er Gouzi and continued to call him brothers.

But Er Gouzi could clearly feel the disdain in Zhang Youliang's eyes, as if he was no longer worthy of being looked at by him.

He stood in the crowd and watched Zhang Youliang being surrounded by the squires, playing gongs and drums and showing off around the town, and then they were surrounded by the squires and headed towards Snake Creek Village.

"Mr. Li, I also want to take the martial arts exam. Is there any way..."

…………

On the way home, Er Gouzi had a big iron pot on his head.

Wearing a brand-new set of cotton-padded clothes and trousers, I feel warm and comfortable all over, and I still have more than 1,000 coins hidden in my waist.

He has never been so rich in his life. If it were normal, he would have jumped three feet high with joy.

But today he couldn't be happy anyway.

Maybe it was jealousy, maybe it was hatred, but anyway, seeing his cousin admitted to Wu Xiucai made him feel unhappy all over.

The uncle took over the property left by his parents, and Da Gouzi died under mysterious circumstances. He lived in the uncle's house eating pig food.

Now my cousin has been admitted as a Wu Scholar and is an official. He is a mere tenant and cannot compare with others.

However, since my cousin passed the exam, I might as well do it myself.

He had just asked Li Banxian, a fortune teller in the town, that the government would hold an exam every year, and you could take the exam by paying a certain amount of money.

Er Gouzi also spent 10 coins to ask Li Banxian to tell his fortune.

Li Banxian was shocked by Er Gouzi's fate at that time, and wanted to return the 10 coins to Er Gouzi directly.

He said that some secrets could not be revealed, and he would rather not make this money.

Er Gouzi said a lot of good things and offered another 20 coins.

Li Banxian took the risk and made a decision that violated the ancestral precepts and leaked a little secret to Er Gouzi.

According to Li Banxian, Er Gouzi's fate is invaluable.

As long as he can get the attention of a famous teacher, his future prospects are limitless, far beyond the comparison of a mere martial arts scholar.

However, if you want to pass the martial arts exam, you must learn martial arts, and he currently has no way to learn martial arts.

Zhang Youliang was able to go to Zhengwu Hall to learn martial arts, but he also spent a lot of money back then, and he had to be recommended by someone to enter.

Er Gouzi could only beg Li Banxian again and again, and even offered the pork in his hand, before Li Banxian revealed a word.

It turned out that Li Banxian himself was actually a hidden master who knew the magic of immortals, and the mere mortal martial arts were just a piece of cake.

But Li Banxian did not easily agree to teach him martial arts, saying that the secrets of heaven should not be revealed, and the way should not be passed on lightly.

He also had to test his sincerity, and what kind of sincerity can open the stone.

As for the way to express sincerity, Er Gouzi originally did not understand it with his shallow life experience.

Fortunately, Li Banxian was very patient and did not despise him for being stupid. He hinted wildly for a long time before he woke up Er Gouzi.

It turned out that although Li Banxian was a god-like figure, he looked down on worldly wealth and regarded it as dirt.

But Er Gouzi was just a layman, and the best way for laymen to express sincerity was to pay money.

First, he had to offer a gift and hold a ceremony.

Then, he had to offer ten taels of silver, ten catties of the best pork fat, two jars of fine wine, one stone of fine white rice, a fat chicken, and a big goose every year.

Li Banxian was not greedy for his property, but just wanted to see if he was sincere enough.

With Er Gouzi's current financial resources, he could not afford the cost of showing sincerity.

In addition, the daily expenses of learning martial arts were also very high.

Take Zhang Youliang for example. He had to eat three meals of white rice every day, and he could eat several bowls at a time. He also had to eat meat every three or five days. If he didn't have some money, he would have been broke.

This time when he returned to Shekou Mountain, he had to speed up the reclamation of wasteland, plant more food, and then show his sincerity to Li Banxian.

Thinking of this, Er Gouzi quickened his pace again.