Chapter 2: The Human Heart

  The old man finished speaking and left.

  Song Jiu was a bit dazed, if he had to choose, he would rather live in that world, although he couldn't be considered rich, but in the summer there was air conditioning, in the winter there were down quilts, and even if it was a bit poor, they could still use electric fans.

  But coming over, crossers always have the advantage of being a crosser.

  What have you done this year?

  It's wrong to think that way, in the future culture will be even more popular, and in this era culture is even more popular. Di Qing's status is still there every day, holding Spring and Autumn Annals and reading bitterly, which led Luo Guanzhong to write The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and forcibly put Di Qing's image on Guan Yu's body.

  Yue Fei was a military general, but he also wrote excellent calligraphy and articles. His writings were as good as those of the famous poet Xin Qiji. During his time in exile on Mount Lu, he exchanged poems with scholars and never fell behind them.

  Song Jiu thought he would spend his whole life in this notorious slum of Kaifeng, but this year was a waste of time. If he wanted to have a future, this year wouldn't be considered as wasting time. On the contrary, his current mindset is actually impatient.

  At least after a year of sedimentation, plus his previous foundation, writing four-six-body rhyming prose is still difficult. But being able to write general articles, even poetry, with a year of practice, can slightly improve, at least not losing face as a scholar. This will be very helpful for his future development.

  He is now daydreaming, thinking about those who have made a fortune overnight with just one stroke of luck...

  Song Jiuxu didn't believe in heresy, he was a cultured person in his past life and liked to run outside. Old Su once said that reading ten thousand volumes of books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles, seeing much and knowing widely, can't really do anything about it?

  Big sister saw Song Jiu spacing out and thought he was feeling unwell, so she said: "Jiu'er, go to my store, I'll make a few of your favorite dishes for you."

  Song Jiu didn't take that little girl from the Liu family seriously, but she came to his doorstep and apologized, saying they weren't a match made in heaven like dog tail grass. He felt a bit displeased in his heart and said, "Alright."

  Get up and go.

  "You're running around with your hair disheveled, do you want to learn from a Taoist?" Big sister pressed Song Jiu down into his seat, combed and smoothed out his hair, tied the front strands into a top knot, secured it with a silver pin, put on a Confucian hat over his hair, and looked at him in the copper mirror. The morning breeze blew, causing the two small ribbons on the hat to flutter, and big sister said: "Only like this can you be considered a scholar."

  Song Jiuyi didn't speak, and his three sisters thought he was going crazy thinking of himself as a scholar. However, this body inherited from that cheap old man had a large build, no matter how he dressed up, he couldn't look like a scholar much, but rather looked like a martial general at first glance.

  Arrived at elder sister's wine shop, first accompanied elder sister to buy vegetables and then returned.

  In the Song Dynasty, there were two main meals in the morning and evening, and few people ate lunch. Before the guests arrived at the wine shop, Big Sister cooked for Song Jiu, while Brother-in-law chose vegetables with an attitude that was neither cold nor hot, which was also his usual personality. However, Song Jiu at this time was not the bookworm Song Jiu of the past.

  He felt something beyond the indifferent gaze of his brother-in-law. In the past, when Song Jiu's father was alive, the family conditions were good, and several sons-in-law had benefited from it. Later, as the family's fortunes declined, several sisters secretly subsidized the family. The bookworm Song Jiu thought that in the past, the family had supported many people outside, now it was time to return the favor. When Song Jiu arrived at the Song Dynasty, he felt that something was not quite right, and he wanted to study, but there was no time, so he came up with a plan. The Song Dynasty had just been established for a short period of time, and from Zhou Wei to Chai Rong, and then to the Zhao brothers, all emphasized internal governance. The capital city of the Song Dynasty was not as prosperous as described in historical books, but it began to show some thriving scenes.

  The population increased, the commercial atmosphere was strong, and the number of migrant workers grew. Song Jiu's family had a large house, so he rented out the empty rooms and became a landlord. However, since their house was located on the south bank of the Bian River in Dongshuimen, the location was not ideal, and the rent was not high. The rent could barely cover Song Jiu's own living expenses, but it was enough for him to get by. As a result, apart from studying, he spent his days idling about.

  Big sister was displeased, Song Jiu said a sentence: "Big sister, you can protect me for the time being, but can you protect me for life?"

  The elder sister was speechless and still occasionally stuffed some money for him to use.

  In this case, it's not easy for brother-in-law to say anything, and besides, most of the affairs inside and outside the family are managed by sister, so he doesn't dare to say anything.

  As time goes on, her brother-in-law will definitely be unhappy in his heart.

  "What can be done about it?"

  Song Jiuzhen gazed out at the Bian Embankment, where willows lined the riverbank, their green leaves rustling in the breeze. A few small black swallows flitted back and forth, their agile silhouettes like tiny sprites dancing in the air.

  A few options, the first is to become an official. To become an official, one option is to go to the battlefield. Song Jiuzhen was not someone to be trifled with in his past life either, but he wanted to make a name for himself on the battlefield, how difficult it was. The second option is to take the imperial examination, this...this shouldn't even be considered. After participating in the imperial examination once, he found that this thing was purely a waste of time for him.

  The second is business.

  In the Song Dynasty, the commercial atmosphere was prosperous, and being a wealthy merchant was also a good choice.

  But is doing business really that easy?

  It's easy, if Big Sister hears that she has to go into business, she'll probably take a knife and chase herself to death.

  Thinking of this, he felt a sense of despair, people always need a goal, where is his own goal?

  Song Jiuyi was touring the heavens outside when his seven-year-old nephew rushed in and said loudly, "Uncle, mother said you would become a high-ranking official if you passed the exam. Have you become a high-ranking official?"

  Big sister wants to hit, Song Jiu stretched out his hand to stop her, and the outsider's nephew still stared at Song Jiu with a naive and innocent look in his eyes. Song Jiu chuckled: "It's not possible now, but I'll definitely be an official in the future."

  "Why?"

  "Uncle is still young and it's not time for him to take office."

  My brother-in-law grumbled quietly.

  Song Jiu saw it and thought to himself, this won't do, if we continue like this, even relatives can't get along.

  Just then, Seventh Sister ran over and shouted: "Elder sister, brother-in-law, it's not good! The two rivers are fighting again."

  It refers to the fights between porters on both sides of the Bian River for a living.

  Kaifeng was also a commercial city during the Tang Dynasty, and it became more prosperous as the capital in the Five Dynasties period. The population increased rapidly. Originally, there were the Imperial City and the Inner City. In the Later Zhou Dynasty, an Outer City had to be built, and the old city area was expanded and divided into three types: 50 steps, 30 steps, and 25 steps, which improved the transportation system.

  Although the Jiangnan region has not been obtained, there are many materials transported to the capital city from the two Huai regions, so Bian Shui is very important. However, Bian Shui divides into two branches at Xia Tu Bridge, with the main stream in the north and a tributary in the south, which only reunites several miles outside the city.

  During the Later Zhou, the country's energy was focused on fighting external enemies and could not focus on building the capital city. The south bank of the Nan Canal was a warehouse district, further west was a prosperous commercial district, the north bank of the Bei Canal was a residential area, and further north was a commercial and handicraft district. The river island between the two canals seemed very desolate, initially it was a vegetable garden wasteland, later as the population increased, the area between the two canals began to be filled with common people, but these common people were mostly immigrants from other places. One was an immigrant, one was native, and there were some contradictions between them.

  In a big city like this, with so many people, not farming or weaving, they have to think of ways to make a living. Those with ability become officials or merchants, while those without it can only join the army or do hard labor, and even force their wives to become prostitutes to support the family.

  People who do hard labor also rely on the mountains to eat from the mountains and rely on water to eat from the water. The people of Hebei and Henan provinces make a living by relying on this Bian River. Ships loaded with goods come from all over the country, need to be unloaded from the ship, and the people on both banks come to unload them, helping the owners move them to warehouses or various commercial districts and handicraft districts, earning labor costs.

  Originally, there were some contradictions between the people on both sides of the strait. If it was off-season and there weren't many ships, they would fight for a living and conflicts would arise. Eldest sister's husband came from a relatively good family background. With the support of Song Jiu's father, he opened a wine shop by the Bian River embankment and their life was okay. Fifth sister's family was also doing well, thanks to the support of Song Jiu's father, they opened a small inn inside Zhuque Gate. After Seventh Sister got married, her father-in-law passed away soon after, and the Li family's fortunes declined day by day, so Seventh Sister's husband had no choice but to make a living as a porter.

  Big sister loves Song Jiu dearly and also loves this little sister. Upon hearing that, she immediately said: "I'll go take a look."

  Song Jiu and his elder sister arrived at the dock, where the bailiffs had already arrived to intervene. The fight in the area was gradually subsiding. Seventh Sister found her husband in the crowd, who had been hit on the head with a wooden stick by someone, and although he covered his forehead with his hand, fresh blood still flowed from between his fingers. Fortunately, the injury was not serious, and upon seeing Song Jiu, he asked with concern: "Ninth Brother, did you pass the exam?"

  Song Jiu looked at him with a mixture of anger and amusement, saying: "Brother-in-law, you should take care of your injuries first."

  "This group of Hebei people, all deserve to die, Jiǔér, did you pass the exam?"

  "It's not that easy to deal with, come quickly, I'll help you bandage the wound." The elder sister quickly found a piece of cloth and wrapped it around Qiye's forehead, roughly covering the injury. In this era, medical conditions were backward, so there was no hope for disinfection anyway.

  Another group of officers and soldiers arrived, shouting non-stop, and the clash subsided.

  Then another official came over, constantly asking and drinking, and took away several leaders of the conflict. But the government was also unable to solve this situation, and at most, they would be flogged dozens of times before being released.

  Seventh sister is shedding tears, eldest sister is sighing.

  The seventh brother-in-law could not stand the two women, picked up the carrying pole and went back to work.

  Song Jiulang sighed: "Life."

  Life is tough for myself, but it's even tougher for my sister and her family. However, the sibling bond between us is quite strong, and this familial relationship brings a sense of warmth to people.

  Big sister and Seventh Sister were whispering to each other. Big sister suddenly looked at Seventh Sister's belly and exclaimed with surprise: "Is it true?"

  "Seventh Sister, is it true?" Song Jiu also asked excitedly.

  Seventh Sister blushed and looked down, while Eldest Sister used her finger to knock on Song Jiu's forehead: "Go away, it's none of your business."

  "Yes, yes," the one in front was Song Jiu's elder sister, and this Song Jiu was afraid of his elder sister. The more he owed her, the more afraid he became, it was a debt of gratitude! However, he also felt happy, Seventh Sister had married into the Zhong family for several years, until now there was no news, but this time finally something happened, it was a great joy. But thinking about one unpleasant thing, his sister's husband's family was poor, and adding another child, how would they manage?

  "Money!" Song Jiu exclaimed in his heart.

  Having money is definitely a good thing, this money isn't conjured up, it's earned. How to earn it, he stared blankly at the river surface. It was only March, the peach blossoms had just started to bloom, and the water level of the Bian River was very low, so the porters had no choice but to unload the goods from the boat and carry them along the riverbank, slowly making their way up to the shore. Actually, this didn't matter, the difficulty increased, but the wages also went up, and the cargo owners didn't mind either, the cost increased, they could just add it to the price. But Song Jiu thought of an idea.

  I don't dare tell Big Sister, and I don't even dare tell Seventh Sister. The three sisters are of one mind; if one person knows, they all know.

  First, find a pawnshop, some houses in the pawnshop, exchanged for some money.

  They arrived at the blacksmith's shop, and there were still some shops and workshops by the river, but very few. They were all neighbors, and many of the workshop owners knew Song Jiu. After hearing what Song Jiu had to say, Li the blacksmith asked in surprise: "Jiulang, what do you want to make?"

  "Li Dalang, just follow my instructions and you will be paid in full."

  Nothing has been done yet, but the news spread quickly. Eldest sister came to ask, and Song Jiu said: "No other reason, just making a small fortune."