Chapter 6: The Calamity of Traveling

  It can be confirmed that Du Hong is a good official.

  In the 14th year of the Hongzhi era, Du Hong was transferred to be the magistrate of Shanyin County. During his three-year tenure, he was fair in reward and punishment, and his cases were clearly and meticulously handled. He vigorously promoted water conservancy projects, supported agriculture, loved the people like his own children, and his moral character and literary writings were also outstanding. His official reputation even reached the ears of the high-ranking officials in the capital. In the 15th year of the Hongzhi era, the Minister of Personnel, Ma Wensheng, specially submitted a memorial to the throne to praise Du Hong's achievements.

  It is said that Qin Kan was fortunate enough to fall into the hands of such a good official, and a good official must be reasonable.

  Unfortunately, Qin Kan forgot one thing: good officials are not always good at every moment, and even good officials have times when they reveal their ferocious and evil faces, such as towards those who harm the precious things in their hands...

  Qin Kan walked out of the Yamen of Shanyin County with a very low mood.

  Not all crossers are well-received as soon as they appear, at least in Du Zhi County's eyes, Qin Kan is as insignificant as a speck of dust.

  The old master of the blue sky made a judgment, fined Qin Kan twenty taels of silver. Considering that Mr. Qin had no money on him, County Magistrate Du generously gave him an extension of ten days to gather the fine, otherwise he would be served with a big board in the yamen.

  When Qin Kan walked out, he clearly saw the official's daughter, Du Yan, standing behind her father, gritting her teeth and hatefully flashing a small fist at him, completely pretending to be fierce.

  A young man with twelve taels of silver in his pocket, dreaming of making a fortune, had just entered Shaoxing City for less than two hours, but became penniless and even owed the government twenty taels of silver...

  Du Hong was a very generous county magistrate, he wasn't afraid of Qin Kan running away to escape debt, the debt owed to the government wasn't that easy to escape from. The strict household registration system of the Ming Dynasty nailed Qin Kan firmly to the land of Shanyin County, want to escape? Go ahead and try to get a road permit from the county yamen first.

  This lesson tells us that time travelers must never underestimate ancient societies, and when they are proudly showing off their modern strength, it's best to turn around and see if there are any pickpockets from ancient times stealing your wallet...

  There's another lesson, which is don't mess with women, especially those who are being pursued by thugs. Offending this kind of person will result in a worse outcome than having your wallet stolen.

  Life is so cruel, whether in modern or ancient times. People like Qin Kan make up a large part of those who end up going further and further down the path of crime. To be honest, Qin Kan now has a strong urge to rob the Shaoxing government treasury...

  …………

  …………

  The streets were still bustling with people coming and going, but Qin Kan's mood was completely different from when he first entered Shaoxing City, directly falling from the bright spring to the cold winter.

  Forget about getting rich for now, we'll talk about paying back the silver to the government later. The biggest problem right now is... where to stay tonight and what to eat.

  No money, of course, can't afford a house or food. What's even more frustrating is that stealing chickens in the city is much harder than in the countryside, and Qin Kan also doesn't dare to risk getting into trouble with the law again.

  The survival issue is very serious, this is Qin Kan's top priority that must be solved at present.

  Luckily, Qin Kan is a very easy-going person. Easy-going means that he doesn't have high requirements for material conditions. He can sleep in a luxurious house or a humble cowshed, eat shark fin or plain congee.

  What's even more rare is that he has a fearless and carefree attitude, as if having many debts doesn't worry him, and having many lice doesn't make him itch.

  Qin Kan wandered around Shaoxing city for a long time, and when passing by the busy street stalls selling baozi, he casually grabbed two white mantou. Finally, he found a secluded alley with no one around, sat down at the end of the alley with his arms around his knees.

  This was Qin Kan's first day in Shaoxing Prefecture.

  The spring in Jiangnan is not cold, but the continuous spring rain is mixed with a chill that seeps into the bones.

  Qin Kan lifted his head, gazing up at the grayish fog in the sky. The fine raindrops fell gently on his face, a bit cold. After a long while, Qin Kan's mouth actually curled into a faint smile.

  Qin Kan is an optimistic person, he believes that there is no absolute fate, so after graduating from university, he joined a company as a salesperson, living in the cheapest shared apartment, eating the least nutritious instant noodles. In just two years, he became the indispensable right-hand man of the boss, a hot and popular white-collar manager. A person who admits defeat to fate would never be able to achieve this.

  Life's adversity, life's hardship, to him is just a kind of practice, an upward momentum. When he succeeds and looks back, those adversities, hardships have become his precious wealth in life.

  So, Qin Kan can still laugh now, it's a smile of not giving up, and he deeply believes that he will be the last one to laugh, happiness will only favor those who can still laugh in the most difficult times, because they deserve to have happiness.

  The alley was very cold, and Qin Kan sat for a while before standing up decisively.

  When you're penniless, you mustn't fall ill again; otherwise, you'll really have nothing to smile about.

  Then Qin Kan exercised his hands and feet, taking advantage of the fact that it was not yet dark, he slowly ran towards the main street. On the bustling and noisy main street, passersby and merchants looked at a young man wearing thin long shirt running, like a madman, making people glance sideways in surprise.

  Ran until slightly out of breath, feeling warmer, and then casually stole two more buns from a passing vendor, Qin Kan returned to the secluded alley with a satisfied smile, found a sheltered spot and continued to huddle.

  "But it's just starting from scratch." Qin Kan gazed up at the rain falling from the sky and muttered to himself.

  A faint and helpless sigh came from the entrance of the alley: "Are you an idiot? Don't you know to pawn something at a pawnshop to get through the difficulties?"

  Qin Kan was taken aback and then immediately realized who the speaker was.

  This woman is the source of all his misfortunes.

  "What else can I pawn? The only thing left is this long shirt on my body. If your father doesn't treat me for my injury, I don't mind running naked in the streets."

  Du Yan's face turned red with anger and she said: "Hmph! You look so refined and elegant, how can you speak without any shame or modesty?"

  Qin Kan slanted his eyes and glanced at her, his gaze without any kindness: "How did you find me?"

  Du Yan smiled and said: "I heard that there was a madman running around in Shaoxing City, so I came out to see the excitement and followed you all the way here."

  Qin Kan raised an eyebrow: "Come to collect debts?"

  "You've fallen to this state, can you still afford it?"

  Qin Kan sighed: "Of course I don't have any money. If you press for debt now, I can only think of two solutions..."

  Du Yan seemed to have come up with an idea and smiled: "What method?"

  "Firstly, I'd rather die in front of you..."

  "What's next?"

  "Secondly, I'll take out the creditor..." paused for a moment, Qin Kan very seriously added: "Personally, I'm more inclined towards the second option."

  Du Yan was startled, then her eyebrows furrowed, she bent down to pick up a wooden stick as thick as an arm from the ground, and with a swift hand knife, she chopped it down fiercely. The wooden stick snapped in response. After doing this, Du Yan didn't say anything either, but just stared at Qin Kan with an unrelenting cold smile.

  Qin Kan was shocked and stunned. He had known that this official's daughter was arrogant, but he hadn't expected her to have such a high martial value.

  A domineering woman must have her own capital for being so.

  Du Yan sneered: "Now what?"

  Qin Kan could only rub his nose and smile wryly: "It seems the second method doesn't work either. If you're interested, miss, I can try banging my head against the wall for your amusement?"

  Du Yan snorted and said: "You bookworms have no skills at all, only a hard mouth is left."

  Qin Kan hadn't spoken yet, but saw a flash of silver light in the dusk, which landed right on the ground in front of him. He stared intently and found it was a silver ingot, weighing about four or five taels.

  "In the yamen, they just tried to scare you, twenty taels of silver are not worth your compensation, take the silver I gave you and quickly find a restaurant to grab a bite, buy some hot food." Du Yan's tone was icy, her eyes didn't even glance at him.

  After finishing speaking, Du Yan turned around and left. Today's events were just a small episode in her life. She had teased people enough and donated silver coins, without pushing anyone to the end of their rope. For her, this episode was already over.

  As soon as Du Yan took a step out of the alley, she heard Qin Kan's low voice behind her: "Miss, wait."

  Du Yan turned around, just in time to see a silver light flying towards her from mid-air. She subconsciously stretched out her hand to catch it, and found that it was the silver ingot she had just thrown away, returned by Qin Kan.

  Qin Kan revealed a smile, with two rows of white teeth standing out particularly in the darkness.

  "The young lady was wrong in what she said just now; apart from being sharp-tongued, scholars still have some elegance and refinement."

  Du Yan's expression was quite colorful, gradually changing from shock to a cold sneer: "Does the virtuous not accept food that comes from nowhere?"

  Qin Ke sighed and said, "This realm is a bit high, I currently can't reach it. Actually, I really want this silver ingot, but unfortunately my damn self-esteem won't let me stretch out my hand..."

  Du Yan's face was full of sarcasm: "Forget about the twenty taels of silver, it was also my fault for meddling in other people's business?"

  "It's not called meddling in other people's business, but rather turning over a new leaf."

  "You...!" Du Yan burst into rage, her two rows of fine silver teeth chattering with anger, her eyes staring at him like fire. After a long silence, she spoke in a gloomy tone: "You ungrateful wretch, fine! I won't be a good person for nothing. You can stay here and hide, but ten days later, you'll go to the yamen yourself and pay twenty taels of penalty silver. If you dare to escape, I'll get my father to issue a warrant for your arrest."

  Qin Kan smiled coldly: "No need for ten days, tomorrow I will send the silver to the government office."

  "It turns out that bookworms are not only stubborn but also like to brag..."

  Du Yan came with great enthusiasm and left in disappointment, storming off in a huff.

  Qin Kan shrunk into the depths of the alley, watching her lovely back disappear. After a while, the dark wall corner transmitted the sound of slapping, accompanied by sentences of painful regret, echoing in this desolate and uninhabited dark corner...

  "Why! Why so... pretentious!"

  PS: Starting from last night, this book has become A-sign status. Thank you to all the book friends for their generous rewards. I won't mention them one by one here. Whether new or old friends, everyone is welcome. Subscription and reward are both emotional connections, and the old thief will remember them in his heart.

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