Qingyuan Mansion is a first-class academy. The academic atmosphere is open; on the road, you can see students debating classics and reasoning, their reading voices loud and clear.
Li Xian asked, "Is there a restaurant in the academy?"
"Let’s eat outside," Liu Shu hurriedly said.
Li Xian said, "Alright." Knowing that the group was strapped for cash and inevitably felt inferior. Within the academy, there were many classmates; being seen by others, gossiping around, would always be uncomfortable.
The five of them set out on the road together. On the way, Li Xian asked about Xiaofan’s daily life. Xiaofan faithfully reported everything.
Life in the academy was peaceful, mostly reading and writing, and debating with others. Liu Shu, Hong Chengbing, and Lu Xuan’s gazes darkened. What Xiaofan said was only one aspect of academy life.
"Brother Xian, this noodle shop is really delicious, let’s eat here!" Lu Xuan pointed to a noodle shop at the end of a small alley.
The aroma was fragrant.
Tables and chairs were laid out in the alley, with quite a few students sitting, all dressed in simple linen clothes, their attire plain.
Li Xiaofan said, "Brother, this noodle shop has spicy oil noodles, which our Qingning County doesn’t have. They’re really fragrant!"
Lu Xuan, Hong Chengbing, and Liu Shu were about the sa age as Li Xiaofan. Their family backgrounds were also similar. Seeing Xiaofan’s brother, although his appearance was outstanding, his attire was simple and did not resemble that of a wealthy family.
They also had so understanding of Xiaofan’s family background. The four of them often chatted idly, inevitably talking about their respective family situations. Lu Xuan, Hong Chengbing, and Liu Shu were in similar circumstances, poor yet managing to have clothes and food. Li Xiaofan was the most downtrodden.
Furthermore, they knew that Xiaofan’s brother had sold himself into servitude to help Xiaofan study. Though Xiaofan had picked a flower afterward, his brother must have left his status as a servant, but in such circumstances, how could the family’s financial situation be prosperous?
Thus, they deliberately guided him to the noodle shop outside the academy. The shop owner was an old couple, kind-hearted, with cheap noodles. Prices in the Prefecture City were high; thanks to the old couple’s favor, impoverished students barely had food to eat.
Li Xian laughed, "The noodle shop is quite nice, but coming here rarely, we should eat sothing more sumptuous. I’ll be staying in the Prefecture City for a few more days; I’ll co back to try the spicy oil noodles next ti."
"This... but..." Hong Chengbing wanted to speak but stopped.
Li Xian laughed, "Co on, we should go to a proper restaurant and treat you all to a feast."
Hong Chengbing, Liu Shu, and Lu Xuan looked at Li Xiaofan. Li Xiaofan lowered his voice and whispered, "Brother, things are very expensive in the Prefecture City!"
"Don’t worry. Your brother has money." Li Xian patted Xiaofan’s shoulder; his wife had given him a hundred taels, and he had prepared another hundred taels while leaving Qingning, thinking he should be able to handle a al.
The three of them couldn’t refuse and had to follow. They walked on the street, slightly blushing and looking down at their feet, feeling very uncomfortable. They always felt like soone was watching them.
Li Xiaofan was distracted, thinking, "Brother hasn’t seen for a long ti; this al will surely cost him a lot of money. I have to find a way to get so silver to help brother gather enough travel expenses."
Before long.
They arrived at "Treasure Fragrance Restaurant." The restaurant was bustling; the waiter inside was also neatly dressed, at least without patches. Seeing this, Hong Chengbing and the others beca even more anxious, not daring to enter.
Li Xian gracefully stopped a waiter, asking, "Is there any space inside?"
The waiter was busy delivering dishes, quickly glanced at Li Xian’s attire, and then at the four young n behind. He was about to speak and drive them away but suddenly sensed Li Xian’s extraordinary temperant; he changed his tone and asked, "Guest, this is Treasure Fragrance Restaurant, are you sure you haven’t co to the wrong place?"
"We..." Liu Shu’s cheeks turned red, shy and nervous, feeling embarrassed.
Li Xian laughed, "We’ve co to Treasure Fragrance Restaurant."
The waiter said indifferently, "Alright then, there’s a table upstairs, you’re welco to go upstairs yourself."
Treasure Fragrance Restaurant had four floors; in the Prefecture City, this restaurant wasn’t considered remarkable. On Red Candle Street in Qingning County, a few buildings could be found like this. Li Xian only had two hundred taels at hand, naturally being prudent, though in Hong Chengbing and the others’ eyes, it was already out of reach.
On the second floor, near the balcony, a table was vacant.
After sitting down, Li Xian called the waiter to order dishes: braised pork, spicy beef... all at dishes. Estimating it would cost over thirty taels, it seed manageable.
This was already very expensive.
Li Xian laughed, "This restaurant, opening a business, we are guests, what’s there to fear when coming here for a al."
"A man can be poor in body, but not in spirit. If the spirit isn’t poor, where can’t you go?"
The three of them, hearing this, gradually relaxed.
At this mont, a voice suddenly sounded, "Not so, not so." A man in a blue robe walked over slowly, holding a folding fan, gently waving it.
This man was dressed splendidly; on closer look, he wore beast boots, a jade pendant sachet on his waist, and a hairpin inlaid with pearls and jewels. He exuded an indescribable nobility.
Liu Shu, Lu Xuan, and Hong Chengbing saw him and imdiately changed color, showing fear, Li Xiaofan also clenched his fist.
Suddenly tensed up. Li Xiaofan and Liu Shu exchanged a glance and both whispered, "Oh no, how could we encounter him here!"
Li Xian, astute with a smile, calmly asked, "Dare to ask, brother, what guidance do you have?"
The man in the blue robe said, "Guidance is not appropriate; it should be corrections instead." He paced back and forth, speaking gracefully, "Brother is even less appropriate; I’m not your brother."
Li Xian calmly said, "What corrections do you have, feel free to say."
"You just said, ’A man can be poor in spirit, but where can’t one be at ease?’ The man in the blue robe said, ’I say, a poor man has short aspirations; there are so places you are born not to set foot in.’"
"But there are so who don’t know the height of the sky and the vastness of the earth, wanting to peek into the palatial halls, declaring that ’a man can be poor in spirit,’ shalessly trying to patronize style."
"But it’s a role like a clown, jumping around singing, annoying others."
"Wang Cheng, don’t go too far!" Li Xiaofan, with excellent composure and past grievances with this Wang Cheng, once defeated him in a debate, since then Wang Cheng has harbored resentnt.
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