Chapter 19: Second Brother Yang Yue

  One day, Yang Yun was chatting with his landlord Fan Jun when a servant came to report that Yang's classmate Cai Baihua had come to visit.

  Fan Jun was taken aback for a moment before smiling and saying, "Yang Xian nephew, you're now famous outside, even the eldest son of Cai family, the first household in this county, has come to visit you."

  Yang Yun smiled gratefully, knowing that Fan Jun was afraid he didn't know the details about Cai Gongzi since he was new.

  "A noble guest is arriving, and I'll have to trouble Uncle Fan and you to go welcome them together."

  What's wrong with Fan Jun? Although he has a marine goods store and is considered to have some family property, compared to the Cai family, the first household in Jinghai, it's at least several streets away.

  Two people came down the steps and saw the butler leading a handsome young man in.

  Cai Baihua hastened two steps forward, cupped his hands and said, "I am Cai Baihua, I apologize for disturbing Mr. Fan and Brother Yang, please forgive me."

  "Master Cai has arrived, I'm so delighted! Please, come in," said Fan Jun.

  "I have long admired Brother Cai's learning, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to ask for his guidance." Yang Yun said some polite words as he welcomed Cai Baihua into the hall.

  After sitting down, the maid came over to serve tea, and Fan Jun made a signal with his eyes, and what was served was the treasured tea leaves.

  Before even opening the lid, a fragrance of tea wafted in, refreshing the heart and lungs. The color of the tea was deep brown. Yang Yun took a sip and felt that it was bitter at first but then turned sweet, with a rich aftertaste.

  "Today I benefited from Brother Cai's presence, Uncle Fan usually doesn't give me such good tea."

  Cai Baihua also tasted it lightly and nodded slightly: "It's Ye Lang's wild pick, indeed a rare good tea."

  Fan Jun was very pleased. Both Nanchang and Wu State were subordinate to the Great Chen, one in the southwest inland and the other in the southeast by the sea, almost a thousand miles apart.

  A night's output of black tea from Yelang must be transported from the southern neighboring country of Yelang, Guangxi, to the sea, and then shipped to Qinghai, with a price comparable to gold.

  After Fan Jun showed his face, he didn't say much. He knew that Cai Baihua's purpose in coming here was not for him.

  Since Fan Jun knew that Yang Yun had made a name for himself in Jinghai County after the incident of privately circulating his book, he knew it was only a matter of time before people came to visit him. He even instructed his maidservant to make various preparations for receiving guests.

  It just didn't occur to me that the first one to come would be the young master of the Cai family. Perhaps the Cai family got some news from their channels in the government? If Song Tingxuan is promoted to the position of Academician as he wishes, Yang Yunzhong's promotion will have at least 70-80% assurance. A young jinshi like him is indeed worth winning over by the Cai family.

  Thinking of this, Fan Jun was truly grateful to Wang Tuhou, thinking that he would find time to visit him and make up for his neglect in the past.

  Yang Yun and Cai Baihua had a pleasant conversation. Putting aside his identity as the young master of the Cai family, Cai Baihua indeed has real talent and learning.

  It's not surprising, after all. The Cai family is a large and wealthy household with many children, abundant resources, and a strong tradition of education. From a young age, the family's sons attend private schools, and if they show exceptional talent, they receive intense cultivation from the family to ensure that each generation produces several outstanding individuals.

  Yang Yun's learning did not disappoint Cai Baihua, although Yang Yun was still not sophisticated enough in some details of the classics, he had a strong memory and often had new insights that made people's ears and eyes open, showing his true talent and ability, which was beyond the reach of those who studied hard.

  Think back to when I was five years old and started school, now I'm nineteen, having studied hard for fourteen years. My family even specially invited a famous teacher from the prefectural city to instruct me, which is how I have achieved my current small accomplishments.

  Yang Yun is only sixteen years old. According to the family's collected materials, he didn't start his education in the village school until he was ten years old. It's really unclear how he acquired this knowledge.

  Cai Baihua was slightly disappointed, and the purpose of coming here had also been achieved. After a while, he got up to bid farewell, and Yang Yun didn't retain him much, and sent him out with Fan Jun together.

  Looking at Cai Baihua getting on the carriage waiting outside the gate, Yang Yun also felt a deep sense of emotion.

  "In my previous life, Cai Baihua was the top scorer of this province. When I looked at the list, the first name I saw was his, and then I searched the entire list but couldn't find my own name. At that time, I was truly heartbroken."

  Thinking of this, Yang Yun smiled and gently swung her sleeves, then walked back into the house hand in hand with Fan Jun.

  After Cai Baohua took the lead, many students from the same county came to visit, and some local celebrities from Wangshan Town who were famous in the county also came to join in the fun. Fan Jun even made a deal because of this.

  On this day, another merchant with the surname Gu came. His hometown was Jingyuan Village, adjacent to Xiaoyue Village.

  Fan Jun opened a marine products store, so he got along well with him and planned to purchase a batch of goods from him.

  It may seem a bit cold to Yang Yun, but Gu Hai Shang pulled back the topic and brought up something with Yang Yun.

  It turns out that Xiaoyue Village also has a Wang boss who runs the sea. One of his ships encountered strong winds in Heishui Bay in February and leaked at the bottom, now he can't afford to do business and wants to sell another ship to pay off debts.

  Yang Yun was shocked, and he knew clearly about the boss Wang that Gu Hai Shang mentioned, who was the richest man in Xiaoyue Village.

  What's more important is that Second Brother Yang Yue is on that Boss Wang's boat.

  Calm down, Second Brother should be fine. Come to think of it, around this time in my past life, Second Brother returned home for a visit, was it because of this matter?

  "Uncle Gu, do you know where the sailors on Old Wang's boat are? My second brother is on his boat smuggling."

  Gu Hai Shang was startled, "Wang Lao Ban's ship hasn't been sold yet and is still docked at the pier, maybe we can gather some information there."

  Yang Yun hastily bid farewell, and Fan Jun and Gu Hai Shang thought he was worried that his second brother was on the lost ship, and they kindly asked if they wanted to send someone to follow him. Yang Yun also declined.

  Upon arriving at the dock, I saw an old ship standing alone in the farthest berth from afar.

  On the shore beside the boat, there were a few people who looked like sailors chatting together.

  From afar, Yang Yun recognized the figure of his second brother, Yang Yue.

  "Second Brother - it's me!" Yang Yun shouted at the top of his lungs.

  "Third brother! How did you come?"

  A sturdy man with a dark complexion turned his head and exclaimed in surprise.

  "My family scraped together some money and sent me to study at the county library. I heard about Old Man Wang's situation, so I came over to take a look."

  "Oh——"

  He patted Yang Yun's shoulder and said, "No way, you're still so thin, come on - let's go have a couple of drinks with Second Brother."

  He turned around and said to several sailors, "You guys chat first, I'll go with little brother to prepare dinner."

  "Go on, hurry up." "I should."

  The dock was not far away and there were a row of small restaurants, Yang Yue led the way, without stopping.

  "Second brother, it's fine there."

  Yang Yun pointed at a house with her finger.

  "It won't work, today I finally got a chance to talk to you, it's been a year since we last met, how are your parents doing?"

  "It's okay, just a bit tired."

  "It's almost been a year, just now if you didn't call me, I was a bit afraid to admit it."

  "Haha, you want to see Little Lin, then you really won't be able to recognize her."

  "Yes, girls change a lot after they turn 18! Xiaolin is already 14 now, has anyone come to ask for her hand in marriage?"

  In the mountain village, girls get married early. Yang Lin, although pale and thin, has grown a bit taller, vaguely showing some beautiful features, indeed several families have come to inquire through intermediaries.

  Yang Yun smiled slightly, "You also know our family's situation, Father and Mother want to keep Little Sister for two more years to help out."

  "Let's pay attention to it first, if there is a good marriage, we can also set it down first. Alas, but speaking of which, in our poor village, what good marriage can come to the door?" Yang Yue sighed.

  Before coming to the county town, Yang Yun had a special talk with his parents and asked them not to rush to marry off his younger sister no matter what. Everything would be discussed after this year's autumn exam.

  Yang's father and mother also discussed it several times, originally thinking of settling Yang Lin's marriage as soon as possible, receiving the betrothal gift to turn around a bit. Eldest son Yang Shan should have proposed long ago, but due to poverty, he has been delaying. Although Yang Yun earned some money from selling medicine, most of it was given to Yang Yun for county use, leaving only three taels, and still having to pay off some debts. If adding Yang Lin's betrothal gift, it would be just enough.

  However, Yang Yun persisted. After the two old men counted together, if Yang Yun could really pass the imperial examination in autumn, both Yang Shan and Yang Lin would be able to marry well. Anyway, it was just a little more than half a year, so they gritted their teeth and endured it.

  There's no need to rush and tell Yang Yue about these things now.