The next day, someone went to Huixing Street to deliver charcoal. Two heavy baskets were carried to the door. Yu Shu came out to answer the door. She saw that the two porters were sweating profusely, but she was too embarrassed to ask them to carry the baskets back.
After breakfast, a few women in the alley came out to wash the dishes and pots. When they saw the baskets, they surrounded Yu Shu's door to look at them. They pointed at the neatly stacked black kiln charcoal in the baskets and clicked their tongues.
For ordinary people living in the south of the city, the charcoal they used in the winter was collected from the cooking stoves. Buying charcoal from the kiln to keep warm was a luxury.
"Yusheng, how much does one kilo of charcoal cost? Why did you buy so much? Can you burn it all?" Aunt Xu, who lived across the street, had dealings with Yu Shu's family and asked her in a familiar tone.
"It's cold this year. It's good to prepare more," Yu Shu joked. More and more people gathered in front of the door, so she quickly asked the porters to carry the baskets in.
Not only did Xue Rui send the charcoal over, he even meticulously attached two flat stoves. The stoves were squarish and had a charcoal pit dug out in the middle. The stoves were made of iron and were very heavy. It was no wonder that the two porters were sweating profusely.
Yu Shu asked someone to put the baskets and the iron stoves in the corner of the central room. She went into the room to get a handful of copper coins. After thanking the porters, she sent them away. She closed the door and returned to the room. She saw Jing Chen standing in front of the baskets, curiously looking at a piece of charcoal.
"Is this also used to keep warm?" Jing Chen turned to ask Yu Shu.
"Yes, to keep warm." Yu Shu walked in front of him and stared at the charcoal stove on the ground. She felt awkward.
Previously, she had been able to treat Xue Rui's kindness as a friendship between friends. But last night, she had made things clear. She couldn't accept his kindness with peace of mind.
But he had come from afar to carry it. If she refused, could she let him carry it back? That would be too pretentious.
She was very grateful to Xue Rui. After all, she owed him so much that she could write an account book on it. As the saying goes, 'the tongue is soft when the tongue is soft when the hand is short when the hand is taken' … She really didn't want to make things difficult for him unless it was absolutely necessary.
Jing Chen put the charcoal back into the basket and asked Yu Shu, "Did Mr Xue send these over?"
"Yes."
Jing Chen said, "He takes good care of you, brother and sister … He is a good man."
Hearing Jing Chen's evaluation of Xue Rui, Yu Shu's expression changed, and she tilted her head to look at him.
Jing Chen didn't know why she was looking at him like this, "What's wrong?"
"What a fool." Yu Shu whispered. She bent down to pick up an iron stove and planned to carry it into the bedroom … Jing Chen saw that it was heavy, so he hurriedly reached out to take it. Yu Shu wanted to avoid it, but she wasn't faster than him. Jing Chen took the iron stove from her arms and asked her, "Where do you put it?"
Yu Shu didn't have any temper with him. Seeing that he didn't need his injured hand, she pointed to the remaining iron stove on the ground and said, "Me and Xiaoxiu have one in the room, and you have one in the room."
Jing Chen hesitated and said, "I'm not afraid of the cold … No need. Put one in the living room, it will be warm when we eat. "
He was not afraid of the cold, but Yu Shu was afraid that he would catch a cold, so she said, "It will be colder in a few days. The mattress on your bed is not thick. It's better to put one in the room and burn it before going to bed. As for eating, you can move it out of my room."
So, one of the two stoves was placed in Jing Chen's room.
Before Yu Shu transmigrated, her family was very ordinary. When she was young, she lived in the countryside and used a charcoal stove in a relative's house. She tried to burn a few pieces of charcoal that Xue Rui sent over. After fiddling with it for a while, she found that there was no smoke, so she lit both stoves and closed the door … It didn't take long for the room to become warm.
The little guy, Kim Bao, came out of nowhere and squatted next to the stove. Yu Shu thought it was dirty, so she took the opportunity to grab it and put it in the hot water basin to wash it. The little Goldie was unwilling to take a bath in the winter, so it almost shouted until its throat broke. In the end, it still couldn't escape the bath.
Carrying the half-wet Kim Bao to the stove, Yu Shu dried its hair while telling Jing Chen about the safety precautions to pay attention to the ventilation when burning charcoal. She also taught him how to extinguish the stove.
When Yu Xiaoxiu returned home, she saw that there was a stove in the room. It was very rare. Before dinner, she moved a stool around the stove to warm her hands, and her little face was red from the smoke.
At night, Jing Chen sat alone in front of the window. Under the light of the candlelight, he flipped through the Taoist classics on the desk. He heard the sound of Yu Shu closing the door and bolting the door. He put the book upside down on the table and walked to the bed. At the foot of the bed, there was a red stove. It was Yu Shu who came to the room to burn it for him after dinner.
Jing Chen bent down and closed the iron lid. After a while, he opened it again. Seeing that the fire in the stove was extinguished, he returned to the table and continued to read.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the traders in the entire An Ling City finally welcomed the triennial Grand Yan Examination.
There was no grand prologue, but there was a different atmosphere everywhere in the city. The comprehensive examination of the six subjects became the biggest topic, and everyone had their eyes on this year's Grand Yan Examination.
Yu Shu got up when the sky was dim. She was the one who was going to take the examination, and Yu Xiaoxiu was even more nervous than her. He didn't sleep well the whole night. As soon as he heard the sound of her getting up, he immediately got up, hurriedly put on his clothes, and ran to the kitchen to prepare the stove. Jing Chen got up earlier than the siblings. He had already started a fire in the kitchen and boiled the hot water.
Yu Xiaoxiu went into the house to take out a string of copper coins. He carried a big bowl and ran to the street to buy breakfast.
The only one who was still in bed was Kim Bao. He was sleeping soundly under Yu Xiaoxiu's pillow.
The exam candidates were the oldest, so Yu Shu was happy to enjoy the special treatment. After washing up, she put on a new set of clothes. Although she didn't need to hide her gender in front of Jing Chen anymore, and the Grand Yan Examination was a female school, she still dressed like a young man and didn't change back into female clothes.
One reason was that she didn't have a dress for the winter, so she didn't have to change. Two, she felt that wearing a robe was more comfortable than wearing a dress, so she didn't waste money to buy one.
Yu Shu put the brush, ink, and paper she needed for the examination into a small bookcase. She carefully checked it and put away the most important exam paper. She leaned against the door of the bedroom and quietly looked at Jing Chen, who was arranging the bowls and chopsticks in front of the dining table, and Yu Xiaoxiu, who was squatting by the stove, adding charcoal. Her heart was at peace.
She couldn't help but think of many years ago, when she was still a young student, that big exam was in full swing. Her parents and younger brother were also like this … carefully surrounding her for two whole days and two nights. That was the last time she was nervous and timid when she said goodbye to her youth.
It was the same scene, but now she was in a different state of mind … After experiencing time and growing up, for a person who had crossed five hundred years of history, what she felt at this moment was more joy.
Joy that she had lived one more life, and joy that she could have today.
"Big brother, come and eat." Yu Xiaoxiu pulled out a stool and called Yu Shu over.
Yu Shu walked to the table and sat down. She took the spoon he handed to her and looked up at Jing Chen who was drinking soup … She turned to Yu Xiaoxiu and said, "Call me big sister, your Big Brother Jing already knows."
Jing Chen's movements stopped.
"… Ah?" Yu Xiaoxiu's mouth opened wide in hindsight. Yu Shu picked up a steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth, saying, "Eat quickly."
Putting the sweet porridge in front of Yu Shu, Jing Chen slightly raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile.
Although Xue Rui said that he would send someone to pick up Yu Shu, she still rented a carriage in advance in case of an accident … As it turned out, it was unnecessary. As soon as she got out of the alley, she saw a carriage waiting at the north end of the street … The red cover of the carriage was pulled by a strong horse. It was clearly not parked in a residential area in the south of the city. Although it was not the carriage that Xue Rui always sat in, Yu Shu had seen the thin and tall coachman standing outside the carriage several times. That time when Xue Rui took her to visit Xia Jiang's family, it was this coachman named "Old Cui" who drove the carriage.
Yu Shu wanted to take a detour, but the coachman had sharp eyes and waved at her from afar. She couldn't pretend not to see him even if she wanted to, so she could only walk up with a smile.
"Old Cui."
"Miss, please get on the carriage … I will send you to Taicheng Department." Old Cui smiled and rolled up the curtain of the carriage.
Yu Shu didn't want to embarrass a servant, so she got on the carriage. The inside of the carriage was warmed up, which was totally different from the outside. There was a small round table in the middle of the carriage, and the tea was warm … There were two plates of snacks, which looked so exquisite that people couldn't bear to eat them. The seat was lined with a thick layer of skin, which was smooth and soft, and she didn't know what animal it was.
Yu Shu sat on the seat for a while. She felt comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. She was indeed a person who liked to enjoy life. In her previous life, she did some wicked things and spent most of the money she earned on Yu Lei, but she never treated herself badly. She ate and wore what she needed, and as long as she could afford it, she was not reluctant to spend it. She became stingy after she transmigrated.
However, the enjoyment she liked was to be self-sufficient. Even if the money she earned was black-hearted, it was also her ability. She didn't want to sit around and enjoy the fruits of others' labor.
Fortunately, the carriage ran fast, and soon they arrived at the north of the city.
There were five departments under the Celestial Commissioner, and this Taicheng Department was one of them. It was also the largest department. It was located on the main street of Xihua Prefecture, occupying ten acres of land. In front of the door, there was a wide road that could accommodate four or five carriages.
But today, the street was very crowded. Everyone who came here were examinees. Not to mention the carriage, it was difficult for people to squeeze in. Yu Shu got off the carriage at the corner of the street, carried her book case, and followed the crowd to the gate of Taicheng Department.
In front of the gate, there were two rows of twelve officials. They had swords on their waists and sticks in their hands. They looked very dignified. Therefore, the gate was empty. No one was allowed to come close until the examination time.
There was a notice posted on the wall outside the gate. Many people gathered below to look at it. It was noisy and chaotic. Yu Shu hugged her book case and spent a lot of effort to squeeze to the front. She looked up at the notice. It turned out that there was an official ban on documents, similar to what examinees should pay attention to. Yu Shu noted it down one by one. If there was anything she didn't understand, she would smile and ask the people around her.
After a long time, the girls' school had to enter from another gate. Yu Shu hurriedly asked for directions and squeezed out again. When she was near the end of the street, she found the west gate of Taicheng Department.
There were a lot fewer people here. What she saw were all women. Of course, there were a few like Yu Shu who wore long robes and had their hair tied up in a bun.
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