Chapter Eleven: The Artistic Girl

  Zhou Ping somewhat at a loss, took over the backpack, the weight of his hands made him somewhat at a loss, he had been thinking about saving up travel expenses to escape to the south, but did not expect it to be so easy to make up for, after half a sound, he finally thanked Xue Liangchen: "Thank you, sir!"

  "Don't thank me!" Xue Liangchen laughed and said: "You also heard what my father just said, you are already my Lang Dang. I remember that the daughter of Chen Tiejiang's family is suitable for you in terms of appearance, age, and temperament. If you think it's okay, go propose to her in a few days and invite me to drink a cup of wedding wine, that would be the real deal!"

  "Yes, yes!" Zhou Ping hastily nodded his head. He watched as Xue Liangchen walked away, but in his heart, he felt no joy at having escaped with the travel expenses. Was he really going to take this money and flee south, leaving this family to be trampled under the hooves of the Jin people?

  Zhou Ping walked towards his residence with a complex mood, carrying his backpack. As soon as he left the courtyard gate, he saw a familiar figure standing under the tree in front of his house - it was Yun Niang, the daughter of Chen Tie's family, whom Xue Liangchen had just mentioned.

  "Ge Niang, it's so late, what are you doing here?" Zhou Ping asked in puzzlement.

  Perhaps due to her birth in a blacksmith family, Yunniang was a slender and tall girl with slightly dark skin, but she had a proper appearance with fine eyebrows and big eyes. Upon closer inspection, she was quite a pretty girl. Just then, Yunniang's gaze swept over Zhou Ping's backpack on his hand, stretched out her right hand and said: "Ah Ping, the backpack in your hand is the reward money given by your father-in-law, bring it here!"

  "Not bad." Zhou Ping nodded instinctively, then reacted and asked, "Yunniang, what do you mean? That's the reward from my father-in-law to me, why should you take it?"

  The young woman smiled slightly: "Ah Ping, you're so extravagant, how can you save money? Your father-in-law's money won't last a few days before you spend it all recklessly. It's a waste to put it in your hands."

  Zhou Ping was taken aback by the words, and it turned out that when he had just crossed over from a modern society with extremely abundant material resources to Northern Song Dynasty, an agricultural society with extremely scarce material resources, he naturally felt all kinds of discomfort. Even selling off the few rare items in his hand for a hundred or so copper coins to buy wine, meat, and pastries to fill his belly was considered a lavish and wasteful behavior by the surrounding villagers.

  "Why don't I keep it for you, and when you need it urgently, you can get it from me?" As she said this, Yunniang quickly stepped forward and snatched the backpack from Ah Ping's hands. Zhouping only reacted now, just as he was about to rush over to grab it back, but Yunniang had already put the backpack behind her back and laughed: "What's wrong, are you afraid I'll swallow your reward?"

  Zhou Ping saw Yunniang's clever smile, her eyes shining with amusement, and her face involuntarily flushing slightly red. He smiled wryly and said: "It's not that I'm afraid you'll swallow it all, but since I've received the reward money, I should at least save some to treat everyone to a drink!"

  The nun's eyes rolled around and she smiled, "That's also true, I suppose those lazy ghosts have already received the news to come find you!" As she spoke, she had already opened her backpack wanting to take out some loose copper coins for Zhou Ping, revealing a string of brand new copper coins inside. She was suddenly shocked, almost dropping the money bag in her hand.

  "How did you get so much? How much money did your father-in-law give you?"

  "Fifty taels!" Zhou Ping replied with a bad temper, looking at the shiny copper coins and thinking to himself that his plan to run away was ruined by this woman.

  "So much!" Yunniang's mouth was agape in surprise: "What on earth did you do, that your father-in-law rewarded you with so much money?!" It's no wonder Yunniang was so surprised. Taking the officials of the Eastern and Western Capitals of the Northern Song Dynasty as an example, their basic salary was only 300 guan per month, plus twenty bolts of silk for spring and winter clothing, thirty bolts of satin, and one hundred taels of silver in winter. For a farmhand like Zhou Ping, fifty guan was simply an astronomical figure.

  "Arts girl, Ah Ping is already my Lang Party!" At this time, a voice suddenly came from behind Zhou Ping. Zhou Ping turned around and saw that it was Xue Liangchen. He was smiling at Arts Girl: "Father not only gave him a reward, but also gave the fields and houses in the east of the village to Ah Ping, letting him find a wife and start a family soon. Arts Girl, you haven't promised anyone yet, what do you think of Ah Ping?"

  "Pah! Who wants to marry this rogue!" Yunniang's face was already completely red, she spat and turned her head to run away.

  Xue Liangchen looked at the distant back of Yunniang and turned his head to smile: "Aping, Yunniang is not bad, right? Her figure, appearance, and embroidery skills are among the best in several nearby villages, she's a good match for you."

  Zhou Ping was taken aback, and his heart couldn't help but hesitate: "Could it be that he really had to marry her? What about the plan to escape south?" Just as he was dazed, he heard Xue Liangchen laugh and say: "A man should get married when he comes of age, a woman should get married when she grows up. What's there to be ashamed of? If you're shy, I'll go propose on your behalf tomorrow. Since you don't have any relatives, it's only right that I, as your master, take the initiative."

  At this time, a small bundle of cloth was thrown in from the outer gate and fell to the ground. Zhou Ping picked up the bundle and found it was a piece of brocade handkerchief with a string of copper coins inside, about over 100 wen. The handkerchief had an embroidered plum blossom on it, which should be used by a woman. His heart skipped a beat as he looked up to see a slender figure standing not far outside the gate, vaguely resembling Yunniang.

  Xue Liangchen glanced at the silk handkerchief on the ground, then looked at Yunniang not far away, and couldn't help but laugh: "So that's it! I was worried for nothing!"

  "Wait, let me tell you!" Just as Zhou Ping was about to speak up and explain, Xue Liangchen wouldn't listen, and with a smile, patted Zhou's shoulder and said: "Alright, Ah Ping, take care of yourself. Don't disappoint the young lady's family's good intentions!" After saying that, he walked away, leaving only Zhou Ping alone in the courtyard.

  "It's not what you think it is!" Zhou Ping muttered to himself, looking around the courtyard where Fang Yuniang had been standing earlier, but she was already gone. With a sigh, he returned to his room, flopped onto his bed, and stared blankly at the dark ceiling, replaying their earlier encounter in his mind. Fang Yuniang's usual smile and demeanor kept flashing before his eyes, and suddenly he whispered to himself, "To stay or to leave, this is truly a difficult decision!"

  Bang! Bang!

  At this time, two light knocks came from outside the room, pulling Zhou Ping back to reality from his contemplation. He sat up on the bed with a start and asked, "Who is it?"

  "The old monk is very kind, and in the deep night when there's nothing to do, I don't know if Tan Yue has some free time to chat with me for a bit!" A thick male voice came from outside the house, it was that bold monk from just now.

  "Is that strange monk coming to see me so late at night? What business does he have?" Zhou Ping thought for a moment, then jumped out of bed. He opened the door and laughed: "Master Chan, please come in. My humble abode is messy, I'm afraid it's not suitable for you."

  "This humble monk is an outsider, to me the muddy stairs and the jade steps are all the same!" Zhi Shan walked into the house, lifted his cassock and sat down directly on a wooden stump used as a stool, smiling: "If this old monk hasn't seen wrongly, the patron is now having some undecided matter?"

  Zhou Ping was taken aback by the monk's words, but he couldn't believe that this monk could be so perceptive. Just as he was about to deny it, he caught sight of the monk's two eyes, which shone like clear water, seeming to see right through everything. Zhou Ping's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded slightly: "Indeed, Master, you have keen insight!"

  "Haha!" Zhi Shan smiled slightly, but didn't ask Zhou Ping about his concerns: "Tan Yue, just now when I was reading your fortune, I only told you half of it. Do you want to hear the other half now?"

  "Now that we've gotten to the main topic!" Zhou Ping's heart skipped a beat, knowing that this monk had come to visit him with ulterior motives. He didn't know how much the other man knew about his past, but he was certain that a monk from the Northern Song Dynasty wouldn't be aware of something as absurd as time travel. Thinking this, Zhou Ping forced a smile onto his face and said, "Please speak, Master Monk. I am all ears!"

  "I just said that the wealth and nobility of the Xie family brothers came from you, is that true? But then I said your future is uncertain, that's a lie!" Zhishan said, pausing for a moment before lowering his voice: "If I'm not mistaken, your future is one person below, ten thousand people above!" After finishing speaking, Zhishan fell silent, staring steadily at Zhou Ping's eyes.

  "Haha!" A burst of laughter broke the silence in the room, Zhou Ping patted his own thigh, and both eyes had already shed tears: "Under one person, above ten thousand people. Isn't that the current prime minister? Master, I'm already 26 or 27 years old, even if I immediately start studying diligently, it's probably too late, aren't you just joking?"

  "Zhou Tan Yue, the will of heaven is mysterious and subtle, not something that can be guessed by human power!" Zhi Shan smiled slightly: "The world has been at peace for a hundred years, but in my humble monk's opinion, the way of the world may change. If you want to become rich and noble, I'm afraid it won't do just to bury your head in the Six Classics."

  "This thief is indeed somewhat ingenious!" Zhou Ping secretly took a shock, if he said that there was anyone in the world who knew more clearly what would happen on this land in the future, Zhou Ping dared to say second, no one dared to say first. After all, the eighth year of Zhenghe's great Song Dynasty was still a peaceful scene, and no matter how you looked at it, you couldn't see that a few years later the entire Central Plains would become a battlefield.

  "Be careful what you say, Master!" Zhou Ping put on a tense and fearful look, looked around to make sure no one was listening, then whispered: "This kind of talk is not something that can be spoken carelessly, don't implicate me!"

  "Haha!" Zhi Shan suddenly grabbed Zhou Ping's right wrist, staring into his eyes and said: "Zhou Tan Yue is an extraordinary person, naturally I won't treat him as an ordinary person."

  Zhou Ping violently pulled his right hand, but that benevolent big hand was like a iron pincer, how could he struggle free? He had to beg: "Master, I'm just a humble farmer who depends on others for survival, what extraordinary person am I? Master, don't misjudge me!"