My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 53 Contract

Chunfan gradually stopped crying: "A few days ago, when Xiaochunzi was serving a master, he accidentally injured him. The master punished him severely, and the brothel doesn't allow us to call...call a doctor. We don't have enough money...sob..."

After saying that, Chunfan covered her face and started crying again.

"Sister Chunfan, please don't cry. Can you take me to see Xiaochunzi?" Lin Ziping was at a loss when he saw Chunfan crying again.

Chunfan shook his head: "He's in the woodshed in the backyard. You can't go into the backyard."

Lin Ziping got up and paced back and forth, somewhat conflicted about whether Chunfan's words were true or false. How could her appearance resemble a pyramid scheme fraud?

But what if it's true, and the person dies because they didn't receive timely treatment?

Today, Ji Xun said he was coming to Chunhua Tower and brought three taels of silver. Even if he is cheated, he will only lose 6 yuan at most. Which is more important, 6 yuan or a life?

Forget it, there's no need to think about it too much, but Ji Xun will really need to make the payment later.

Lin Ziping made up his mind, took out the three taels of silver he had on him, and stuffed it into Chunfan's hand: "Take this and use it first."

After thinking for a moment, she took off the jade pendant that Granny Liao had hung on her when she came out: "Sister Chunfan, you can keep this. You can probably exchange it for some silver."

Chunfan held the silver and jade pendant, then knelt down and kowtowed.

"Sister Chunfan, get up quickly, there's no need for this. If you need more, come find me at the Lin residence in the west of the city," Lin Ziping said, helping Chunfan up.

Chunfan wiped away her tears: "Thank you, Young Master Xie Ziping. Consider this money a loan, and we will pay it back in the future."

Lin Ziping didn't say anything about not needing to return the cup, but pushed it towards Chunfan and said, "Sister Chunfan, have some water and some snacks."

Chunfan gave an embarrassed smile, picked up her cup and drank two glasses of water. After calming herself down, she returned to the zither table and continued playing.

About half an hour later, Ji Xun pushed open the door and came in.

When Lin Ziping saw Ji Xun come in, he asked with his eyes how things were going.

Ji Xun poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, and said, "The urinals at Chunhua Tower are a bit far."

Uh, the eye contact failed to convey the message.

The two stayed a while longer, watched a song and dance performance, and then Ji Xun paid the bill and left Chunhua Tower.

It's a little cheaper today, half a tael of silver, or 500 copper coins.

"How did your visit go?" Lin Ziping asked as he left Chunhua Tower.

"I'm starting to see some progress. I'll go back and think about it more carefully," Ji Xun said.

Lin Ziping nodded, thought for a moment, and decided not to tell Ji Xun that Xiao Fuzi was from Chunhua Tower, nor did he mention that he had given the money to Chun Fan today.

They strolled back to the Lin residence, and another day passed.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and winter officially arrived. During this time, it snowed once or twice, and people put on thick clothes.

In this era, academies did not have winter or summer vacations. Apart from fixed days off and two days off during each solar term, there were no extra holidays. Every day, students went to school and came home in an orderly manner, year after year, through spring and autumn, through cold and heat.

On this day, Lin Ziping followed Ji Xun to the academy's pond. The last time he came was in spring, when all things were reviving. Now it was winter, the grass and trees were withered and the leaves were falling.

"Take a look, this is the contract we drafted after discussing it." Ji Xun handed a stack of papers to Lin Ziping.

"Give me 20%?" Lin Ziping took it and looked at it in surprise. "I didn't contribute anything, so 20% is not acceptable."

"You provided us with the ideas, and you also came up with the playing cards," Ji Xun said.

"No, no, that wasn't my idea. I learned it from someone else." Lin Ziping waved his hands repeatedly, insisting that he didn't come up with the idea for playing cards on his own.

Ji Xun smiled meaningfully: "Okay, you learned it from others, so we'll give you 20% of it. This is something we've discussed and agreed upon. The teahouse is located in Huaizhou. You can go and take a look when you have time."

"Ji Xun, I really don't deserve 20%, it's too much. Let's change it and give me 10%, that's enough. You can divide the other 10 among yourselves, or save it for later use." Lin Ziping handed the contract to Ji Xun.

Ji Xun thought for a moment: "Save some for future use. Your suggestion is good. I'll think about how to divide it. The elementary school assessment is coming soon, so you should prepare well."

The elementary school exam... sigh. Although I've been here for a year, I still feel somewhat out of place with the teaching methods of this era. Elementary school is just about recognizing characters and connecting them to previous knowledge. Lin Ziping eavesdropped on two classes at the elementary school, but the teacher's explanations were like gibberish; he couldn't understand a word. He already had a fixed knowledge system and years of study habits that couldn't be changed in a year or two. Oh well, as long as he passes the exam, that's fine. He originally thought that with so many more years of learning than others, becoming a top student shouldn't be difficult. But now, oh well, oh well, you can't force things when it comes to learning.

"What's wrong? Are you worried about failing the exam?" Seeing that Lin Ziping didn't speak, Ji Xun assumed that he was worried about the elementary school exam. After thinking for a moment, he comforted him, "Don't worry, elementary school isn't that difficult. Besides, you're still young. You can start elementary school later."

Lin Ziping sighed. That was all he could do. His old saying, "Sixty points is enough, any more is a waste," perfectly reflected his current state of mind.

“This year’s prefectural exam candidate, Jia Daneng, studied in elementary school for five years. Now he has passed the county-level exam and become a scholar. Ha, what used to be a laughing stock has now become proof of his late success. Isn’t that ridiculous?” Ji Xun’s tone was tinged with sarcasm.

"You know Jia Daneng?" Lin Ziping's focus was on whether Ji Xun knew Jia Daneng.

“What’s so strange about that? My father is the magistrate of Qingyang. His family are merchants, and they usually invite my family to banquets and such,” Ji Xun explained. “When I first heard that he was Jia Daneng, I thought he was Jia Daneng. Later I found out that the Jia family had another child named Jia Daneng. He is Jia Daneng.”

"Does he have other brothers?" Lin Ziping asked.

Seeing Lin Ziping's curiosity, Ji Xun said, "This is what I heard from others when I went to his house. The Jia family only has one child, but this child is mentally challenged. Master Jia found a child from somewhere and named him Jia Daneng to protect his son from disaster. Jia Daneng, doesn't Jia Daneng look a lot like him?"

“Jia Daneng, Jia Daneng…” Lin Ziping repeated twice, the two names were very similar.

“Some people say that Jia Daneng is an illegitimate son of the Jia family, and that he was brought back by Master Jia to inherit the Jia family business. Alas, there are many different opinions, and it is hard to tell the truth. You should not tell anyone about this. Although many people know about it, they are all discussing it in private. The Jia family is quite protective of its own. If this gets to their ears, who knows what kind of trouble it will cause?” Ji Xun added.

Lin Ziping nodded: "Should we call on Young Master Zhili, Zhao Xiancheng, He Jinbao, and Zhang Mo to discuss the contract again later?"

Ji Xun patted Lin Ziping on the shoulder: "No need, Zhili is preparing to become the headmaster's disciple, and Zhao Xiancheng and the others don't care about these paltry sums."

"Become an apprentice?" Lin Ziping asked, puzzled.

“He and I are about to begin our studies and will be learning from the Master. The headmaster is a great Confucian scholar of our time, so it’s perfectly normal for us to become his students,” Ji Xun explained.

"Young Master Zhili is already preparing to become an apprentice, what about you?" Lin Ziping looked at Ji Xun.

Ji Xun said calmly, "The headmaster is my grandfather's student, and I studied under him many years ago."

Lin Ziping...

Sorry to bother you, I thought you were just a beginner, but there's a hidden master behind you, and a professional tutor has already been booked.