Chapter 39: The Ocean's Capacity Cannot Be Measured (Part 2)

  An opportunity to be promoted from a seventh-rank county magistrate to a fifth-rank prefectural magistrate is right in front of him, and even Li Xianling, the county magistrate with a long beard, has opened his eyes wide in surprise, not to mention Lu Zhixian, the young and vigorous one.

  The two adults then became more intense and insisted on distinguishing themselves in front of the Magistrate!

  But Shanyin and Kuaiji are two counties in one, originally just a single city of Shaoxing. If you're rich I won't be poor, if you're stable I won't be chaotic, even when you have big floods I'll also experience the overflow. In every aspect it's half a catty versus eight taels, fundamentally unable to distinguish who is good or bad. The two county magistrates can only focus on education to avoid trouble.

  Although both counties are renowned for their talents, you did well and I also became a jinshi. However, the two most outstanding scholars in the world were both from Shanyin - Xu Wenqing was unparalleled in poetry, painting, and literature; Zhu Duan was a genius with profound knowledge, worthy of being called the top scholar. These two men seemed like two great mountains, suffocating Kuaiji County, making Magistrate Li feel extremely stifled.

  Later, it was easy to produce a Tao Yuanchen who could compete with Zhu Dianfu in academic achievements. However, there was never anyone who could rival Xu Wenqing's elegance, which was a heartache for County Magistrate Li.

  But from the moment he saw Shen Mo, Li County Magistrate had a premonition that this kid was the one he needed. Although he also knew that this feeling wasn't quite right, but now it's not about being picky, even if it's just packaging, he has to package a genius!

  County Magistrate Li, having made up his mind, forthwith summoned all the gold and silver craftsmen, as well as the tin foil craftsmen in the county to the county government office at night, offering them a hefty reward to gild the strange bottle.

  Under the heavy reward, there must be brave men. The craftsmen came up with plans and strategies, some said to use gold-plating method, others said to use gilding method, they argued for half a day without convincing each other. They had no choice but to ask County Magistrate Li, who believed in "governing by doing nothing", to make a decision. With a wave of his hand, he said: "Try them all." and handed over several bottles to let them try separately.

  Magistrate Li first went to see the craftsmen who were using the gold-foiling technique and found that their solution was to re-forge a long, thin tool, insert it into the bottle, and tap the gold foil onto the wall of the bottle bit by bit. However, the wall of the bottle was too thin and fragile, and cracks appeared after just a few taps. The craftsmen then heated the tool red-hot, wanting to scorch the gold foil onto the bottle, but the neck of the bottle was too long and the belly was too round, making it impossible to reach many places, and they were still unable to succeed.

  Magistrate Li shook his head in dismay and went to the other side to watch. The craftsmen on this side used the technique of gilding, first processing mercury and gold into a silver-white gold paste, which was then smoothly applied to the inner wall of the bottle.

  Magistrate Li looked at it and saw that there was hope, and he excitedly said: "How can we restore this gold to its original appearance?" The craftsman who was in charge of gilding respectfully said: "Just heat it up and the mercury will be driven out." Magistrate Li was overjoyed and said: "Hurry up and do it!" Then, with great excitement, he waited for that moment to arrive.

  The craftsman then put the bottle on the fire to burn, but unexpectedly this foreign goods couldn't withstand the heat, and before the mercury in the gold powder was forced out, the bottom of the bottle had already been burned through.

  After repeated attempts, the craftsmen had no choice but to declare defeat as they couldn't solve the problem.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and no matter how hard the skilled craftsmen of Shaoxing City tried, they couldn't crack the difficult problem. The two county gambling houses also raised the odds of Little Tong's victory to 1:9 and 1:10. In fact, the gambling house didn't think anyone would bet on this game, so they raised Little Tong's odds high just for show.

  But still, some people couldn't resist the temptation of huge gains and placed a bet of five taels of silver each at the two gambling dens in the two counties on the previous night. The two major gambling dens naturally accepted them. This was also the end of all the bets they received until the two parties met again for comparison.

  The eyes of the whole city are once again focused on the two parties who will meet again.

  After the heavy rain, the sun comes out, and there are crowds of people at Xuan Ting Kou.

  Hou County Magistrate, beaming with pride, and Zhang County Magistrate, looking haggard, appeared punctually under the archway. After exchanging greetings, Hou County Magistrate chuckled and said: "Zhang Zan Gong doesn't look too well, don't overwork yourself."

  Magistrate Zhang snorted and said, "Don't worry about it! Let's get started quickly." After finishing speaking, he closed his mouth and refused to say another word... For the sake of that bottle, he had been running around day and night for three days, asking people for help, and even serving as a punching bag for County Master, but still hadn't gotten anywhere. Today was definitely going to be a loss.

  The county magistrate was fine, and he simply didn't come to see him. He still had to endure a humiliating scolding for no reason, and in his heart, he couldn't help but hate Shen Mo again and again.

  Hou Xian Cheng was not slow or hasty, dragging on for half a day. After stalling for a while, he finally opened his mouth and said: "Today, we will witness the result of the first trial between the two parties." He cleared his throat and asked: "Where is Wang Gui Fa from Shanyin?"

  "The students are here, the students are here." With twice as many bodyguards as last time, Wang Lao Hu came out with his head held high and sang a fat tune: "I've seen the two county magistrates." Hou County Magistrate nodded with a smile, while Zhang County Magistrate simply ignored him.

  "What's going on with Hui Shen?" County Magistrate Hou raised his voice and laughed strangely: "He can't have escaped, can he?"

  Before he had finished speaking, a clear voice said: "Why should students run away?"

  Hou Xian Cheng was startled and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a white-clad young man with a smile on his face walking out slowly, holding a wooden box in both hands. He bowed slightly and said with a smile: "I am Shan Yin Shen Mo, a student, greeting the two honorable gentlemen." As soon as he appeared, everyone's attention was drawn to him, and people like Wang Lao Hu and Hou Xian Cheng became mere background figures.

  Everyone couldn't help but rub their eyes, thinking: "My dear, won't it be a replacement?" So they stared hard with wide eyes, taking a closer look at the young man for the first time. He was only about 13 or 14 years old, although his eyebrows and eyes were clear and elegant, he wasn't absolutely handsome; he wore an ordinary moon-white shirt, but that warm and jade-like temperament was beyond what any dashing young master in brocade clothes could match.

  Think again about that awkward little boy, those two are indeed the same person. But just three days have passed, how can there be such a huge difference?

  "His demeanor has changed!" someone shouted, reminding the bewildered crowd, and people nodded in agreement. Indeed, the timid and fearful attitude of that day had been replaced by today's confident and elegant demeanor, a timid and fearful child had transformed into this extraordinary and outstanding young man!

  If he hadn't seen this side of him, why would Old Master Shen suddenly be so kind and deliberately try to win him over?

  If he hadn't seen this side of him, how would County Magistrate Li have risked everything to try and lift him up?

  For a moment, everyone was stunned and didn't know what to do, only then did they realize that there were still such elegant and refined young men in the world.

  --------------------------------------------------- Divider ---------------------------------------------------

  It's been pulled down, everyone voted to support Shang and I'm rushing to code the third chapter, covering my face and leaving.