Yu Shu was not good at history, but she had experienced the miserable years of memorizing history and politics in middle school. She could probably count the number of dynasties in China. She also knew about the superstitions of feudal society, but she had no impression of any period where mysterious things such as Yin and Yang, the five elements, and the Eight Trigrams were treated as orthodox education.
Listening to the tone of Master Liu, it was not difficult for Yu Shu to imagine that the families of the boys and girls present were all studying such subjects. Judging from their clothes and the fact that they were all children of wealthy families, it completely subverted her impression that fortune tellers were all Taoist priests.
Yu Shu was puzzled. This kind of situation made her feel like a frog that woke up and found out that it had been thrown to the bottom of a well. No matter how hard she thought, she couldn't figure out how big the sky outside was.
While Yu Shu was depressed about her frog life, Yu Xiaoxiu had already packed up his things. Without saying a word, he lowered his head and left from the back.
Seeing him leave, Yu Shu hurriedly got up and followed.
"Yu Shu."
To be honest, Yu Shu had only been "Yu Shu" for a few days, so she was not as sensitive to this name as she had been calling it for more than 20 years. She didn't respond even after being called several times. It wasn't until someone threw something at her back and the sound of copper coins falling to the ground that she slowly turned her head and saw a little girl in a yellow shirt angrily walking towards her.
"Didn't you hear me! Are you deaf? "
Being shouted at by a stranger, if it was in her previous life, Yu Shu would have used the method to deal with lunatics. She would first dial 12-0, then 10-0. But now she was unfamiliar with this place, so she could only say to the little girl in a friendly manner,
"What's the matter?"
Ji Zhu glared at her snappily. She took off the money bag on her waist and took out a small piece of silver from it. She handed it to Yu Shu and arrogantly ordered, "Go to Changmenpu Street and buy me a box of rosin ink.
"Go to Changmenpu Street and buy me a box of rosin ink from Sanyuan Bookstore. Send it to my courtyard before lunch."
One tael of silver was ten jiao, and one jiao of silver was a hundred copper coins. Yu Shu did the math in her mind. She looked at the little girl who was obviously the young lady of the Ji family and said,
"I'm not going."
Hearing this clear rejection, Yu Xiaoxiu, who was already planning to go home, turned his head and looked at the back of Yu Shu's head as if he didn't know her.
Ji Zhu didn't expect that the person in front of her, who had always listened to her, wouldn't listen to her. She was stunned for a moment and asked stupidly,
"You're not going?"
"Yes, I won't go." Yu Shu bent down to pick up the copper coin that had fallen to the ground and openly stuffed it into the crack of her waist as compensation for the mental damage that the other party had done to her.
Yu Shu turned around and saw that Yu Xiaoxiu was standing at the door waiting for her instead of leaving her behind. She happily ran over and naturally took his hand.
Because Yu Xiaoxiu was surprised by her behavior just now, he didn't shake her off as usual and was pulled away by her in a daze.
Seeing that the siblings had left, Ji Zhu finally realized that she had been rejected by Yu Shu. She was so angry that she stomped her little feet. When she turned around and saw a group of people popping their heads out of the private school to watch the show, she felt even more humiliated. Ignoring her best friend who had run over to comfort her, she rushed out of the school.
***
On the way, Yu Shu noticed that Yu Xiaoxiu wanted to say something but hesitated. She pulled his hand and took the initiative to ask,
"What's wrong?"
Yu Xiaoxiu hesitated for a while and then slowly said, "Ji Zhu is narrow-minded. You offended her today, so she will definitely make trouble for you again. You'd better be careful these days. Ji Zhu has a lot of tricks up her sleeves. Second Master also spoils her. If she really bullies you, it will be in vain."
Yu Shu said, "Oh."
Yu Xiaoxiu waited for a while. Seeing that she didn't continue, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at her. When he met Yu Shu's smiling eyes, he suspiciously frowned and said,
"What are you smiling at?"
"I'm happy."
Yu Xiaoxiu was confused again, "Why are you happy?"
Yu Shu raised her hand and rubbed his head lovingly, "Because you care about me."
"I don't!" Yu Xiaoxiu denied, but his face was slightly red. He hurriedly turned his head, shook off Yu Shu's hand, and walked forward quickly.
Yu Shu shrugged indifferently and followed him with her hands clasped behind her back. She hung behind him and repeated,
"You care about me."
"No."
"Obviously you do."
"I said it's not."
"Exactly."
.....
It was almost noon. The shadows cast by the sun were short and cute. The sister and brother bickered all the way home. For the first time in years, the road from the school to the small door in the backyard of the Ji family didn't feel so empty.
***
Yu Shu went out after lunch with the only ten copper coins she had. Five of them were given to her by Mistress Cui when she came to see her the other day. Four of them were found in the copper box, and the last one was given to her this morning as compensation for mental distress.
Before she went out, she got a few words from Aunt Liu. She knew that the busy street to the west through the back door was the Changmen Street Ji Zhu mentioned in the morning.
Because she wanted to find a way to inquire about the situation here, she didn't take Yu Xiaoxiu with her.
The Changmen Street was as busy as when she came back for the first time yesterday. There were all kinds of handicrafts on both sides of the street. Silk shops, dessert shops, bookshops, jewelry shops, and stalls were much more exquisite than the handicrafts she had seen when she traveled before. This made Yu Shu, who had never seen the "market", almost dazzled.
However, she only had ten copper coins with her, and she had to rely on this to inquire about things. She could only suppress her desire to shop and concentrate on the business.
Several beggars squatting at the entrance of the alley attracted her attention. Although these people were at the bottom of the society, they hung out on the street all day, so they knew more than servants like Aunt Liu who stayed in the house.
Yu Shu wandered around the street, pinched a copper coin in her hand, chose a beggar who was alone, and walked over.
.....
For the whole afternoon, Yu Shu wandered around the street and found out what she wanted to know from the mouths of the four beggars.
The Da 'an Dynasty was prosperous, and the world was surnamed Chu. People followed Taoism, worshiped Yi Xue, and believed in Fengshui. Everything big and small depended on Yi Xue. The Celestial Commissioner, who was in charge of astronomical calendar, Fengshui Eight Diagrams, and good or bad fortune, had a high position in the court.
Any family with more than six generations studying Yi Xue was called Yi Xue Aristocratic Family. Most Yi Xue Aristocratic Families were rich and powerful. For generations, it was an honor for a member of the family to be an official in the Celestial Commissioner.
The Ji Family, where Yu Shu and her brother remarried with their mother, was such a Yi Xue Aristocratic Family in the upper middle position. It belonged to the Eccentric Sect. Great Master Ji Huaishan served as the Right Judge in the Celestial Commissioner, and was a third-rank official in the court.
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