Chapter Thirty-Three Response

  Lin Zhubi was furious when he heard that the food served yesterday was actually pig's feet. He had some appreciation and admiration for Wang Kuang, thinking that this young man could help Rich Come Inn become so prosperous in less than two years, and now it has a reputation as one of the top inns in Jiangnan. Even officials from Jian'an County benefited indirectly from the inn's development: the growing fame of Rich Come Inn also influenced traveling merchants, who were willing to take a detour to rest for a day or two before heading south or north. Scholars and poets often chose Jian'an as their meeting place because of the inn. As a result, tax revenue increased significantly compared to previous years, and the gathering of scholars and poets brought fame to officials in Jian'an County, making it a win-win situation for everyone.

  But that trotter is really delicious. Never mind, considering he's still underage, I'll let him off the hook this time, but still need to teach him a lesson, so he doesn't think it's easy to fool officials. Hmm, heard he wants to make some kind of iron box, just to make things difficult for him and let him understand that official authority is not to be trifled with.

  "Master Li, Wang Dalang has arrived and is waiting in the side hall." The steward reported as he entered the study.

  "Oh? Then let him wait for now." Lin Zhubu didn't rush to see Wang Kuang, continuing to read his book. He had to give Wang Kuang a warning first: "You go and observe his behavior when he's alone in the side hall, then come back and report to me."

  Wang Kuang waited in the side hall for a while, but didn't see Lin Zhushi come out, not even with tea. In his heart, he secretly laughed: You're playing this trick on me? This trick has been seen many times in movies and TV shows later on.

  So he didn't rush either, originally planning to sit there properly and wait for you. You're not coming, so I won't sit either. Sitting on the ground in this cold winter is really uncomfortable, although it's a tatami mat, but Wang Kuang still feels cold. He got up and focused on looking at the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall in the side hall with his hands tucked into his sleeves. In fact, he didn't understand calligraphy and painting, but he had an idea to take a look at Lin Zhongbo's family to see if there were any works by Wang Xizhi, the Saint of Calligraphy. If so, he would think of ways to get them in hand, this is a national treasure after all. As for other famous calligraphers and painters, to be honest, he didn't have much impression.

  He looked at the paintings, but didn't find any that seemed to be signed by a famous artist. He curled his lip: "Really poor, not even one." Feeling it was quite uninteresting, he lazily stopped looking. This was also Wang Kuang's assumption, thinking about it, if someone really had a painting by a famous artist, where would they dare to hang it out? It must be hidden away for personal enjoyment. Moreover, the reputation of a famous artist is loud enough, and the Lin family isn't some wealthy or noble family, whether they have one or not is debatable.

  The side hall was simply decorated, an ordinary cedar house with only a layer of tung oil applied, the floor was also very ordinary with green bricks paved, several tables and rush mats were placed, and there were just a few calligraphy and paintings on the wall. However, Wang saw a large jar next to the main table, inside which were placed several volumes of book and painting scrolls. He glanced around, then walked over, picked up one volume, spread it out to look at it, couldn't understand it, put it down and exchanged it for another volume.

  Li, the housekeeper, who was hiding behind, almost had his eyes popping out: he had seen bold people before, but never as bold as this one, daring to rummage through things when the master was not at home. He hurried back to report.

  Actually, Wang Kuang had already discovered Li Guanjia hiding behind the door to sneak a peek. It wasn't that Li Guanjia hadn't hidden well, but rather that another common advantage of the traversers helped Wang Kuang: the suspenseful detective work of later generations, whether in books or on screen, was all-pervasive, and after long-term exposure, it's needless to say that their observational skills were generally better than those of people from the Tang Dynasty who were cut off from information. Wang Kuang also deliberately did it for the person sneaking a peek: "Lin Zhubu, if you don't come out, I'm afraid I'll damage your calligraphy and painting soon." When he saw that the person sneaking a peek was gone, Wang Kuang secretly smiled, but after smiling for a while, he couldn't smile anymore. He actually still didn't know how to face Lin Zhubu's accusations later, after all, rummaging through someone else's home was extremely impolite behavior. Wang Kuang had no choice, because he had made a promise with Sun Mingqian earlier that he would return within an hour, and if Lin Zhubu kept him here for an hour, Sun Mingqian would probably be so anxious that he'd want to hang himself.

  Lin Zhubu heard that Wang Kuang was in a state of turmoil, and indeed he was extremely angry. He ordered Li Guanjia to go first to calm down Wang Kuang, and then he himself hurried over slowly but hastily.

  "Is this Wang Dalang?" Just as Wang Kuang was enjoying himself, he heard someone say this and looked up to see a man walking in from the side door. The man's face was thin and gaunt, with some white hair and a small mustache. He seemed to be a steward or manager based on his attire. However, there was something vaguely familiar about his appearance. Moreover, as he spoke, he even gave Wang Kuang a sly wink.

  "It's exactly the young master." Wang Kuang saw him making eye contact, although he didn't know why, but he also guessed that Lin Zhugong was about to arrive. He thought: "Aren't you deliberately pretending to be confused? I, Wang Kuang, am on the streets every day, unless you rarely go out, otherwise you must know that I am Wang Dalang. Moreover, who else is in this side hall besides myself?"

  "A certain Li, the steward of the Lin household, was the same person who had come to Chang'an a few days ago as Li Guan Shi. The newcomer took another step closer and whispered something in Wang Kuang's ear before retreating again, raising his voice to say, 'The young master will arrive momentarily, please be at ease, Mr. Wang.' This last sentence was meant to reassure Wang Kuang, who understood its meaning, but the previous sentence had left him perplexed for a moment before he realized that this Li Guan Jia was actually the older brother of Li Guan Shi, who had brought Hua Rong Dao over some days ago. But why did he say such a thing? Was it to remind himself or warn himself? Wang Kuang didn't have time to ponder this when another person appeared at the door."

  The person who came in had a chubby face, which formed a stark contrast with the thin face of Li Guan's family on the side, and somewhat resembled Lin Han. This should be Lin Ming, the chief clerk of Lin. He was wearing a black hat, a lake-blue robe with a round collar and knee-length, and a brown leather belt around his waist, which seemed to be made of cowhide. The buckle of the leather belt was made of jade, but the jade looked dull and not very good quality. His feet were clad in black soft leather boots, which were much more beautiful and warm than the hemp soft boots Wang Kuang was currently wearing on his feet, making Wang Kuang drool with envy.

  "You're Wang Dalang? You've got quite a nerve." Lin Zhuobo took the teacup from the servant behind him, took a sip, and put it on the table, staring at Wang Kuang for a long time before finally saying this.

  "Haha, as Ming Gong said, I was bold and daring since childhood. I often took my second brother to the mountain to dig out beehives and eat honey, and got stung by bees many times." Since you don't say it clearly, I'll pretend to be ignorant too.

  "Oh? Is that so? No wonder, probably hasn't been to school before?" The implication being that you, Wang Dalang, lack manners.

  "It's clear to everyone, I'm from a poor family and can't afford it. Most people in the countryside are like this. Because of poverty, children are often left to play on their own. If the family labor is insufficient, they start helping with household chores at the age of 8 or 9."

  "Look who's talking, you have an education only because your family has money to support you. If your family were as poor as mine, wouldn't you be just like me?"

  One sentence made Lin Zhongbo speechless, and he picked up his tea cup again, pretending to be calm: This Wang Dalang is not simple, every sentence is sharp, it seems that I underestimated him.

  Li, the manager of the household, seeing that the situation was a bit awkward, hastily interjected: "Lang Jun is unaware that usually only larger family estates can afford to pool their resources and hire a teacher for the whole village. If it's a smaller one, children are often left to play in the wild. These two brothers were also able to study because they benefited from Lang Jun's good fortune..." The tone of his words was actually helping Wang Kuang out of this predicament.

  Lin Zhubu glanced at Li Guanjia and chuckled: "It turns out that someone is indeed ignorant, but Wang Dalang, you haven't been to school, yet you remain calm in this situation, which is truly not easy. Rare, rare." Li Guanjia quickly shut up and retreated to the side.

  "My young master's father once taught me that if a superior is wise, he must be gentle and kind to people, loving his subjects like his own children. I often hear on the streets that you are a wise official, so I have become bolder. Whatever you think, first put me in my place and then we'll talk; if you want to make things difficult for me, then you're not a wise superior."

  After going back and forth, Lin Zhushi finally found himself trapped in the result. Now this is good, scolding him isn't right, making things difficult for him would make me seem narrow-minded.

  "Haha, what a sharp tongue! Not bad, not bad." Alright, let's hurry up and get rid of this Wang Dalang. This mouth is really something else, or else we'll end up getting ourselves into trouble and losing face. Fortunately, everyone in the hall is a trusted person, otherwise if today's conversation were to spread out, where would my, the chief steward's, face be?

  "My little kid at home said, Wang Dala, you want to buy some iron to make an iron box? What's the use of making this iron box? You're still young, I'm afraid you don't have any valuable things, unless it's for your uncle?"

  "Returning to the gentleman, this iron box has two major uses. Firstly, it is fireproof and secondly, it is theft-proof. The iron box is divided into two layers with a gap in between which can be filled with sand, so even if there is a big fire, the items inside the iron box will not be damaged. If enough iron is added to increase the weight of the iron box and then a large lock is installed by skilled craftsmen, ordinary thieves will also not be able to open it."

  "It's quite clever, filling it with sand and gravel can indeed isolate the fire. But how did you come up with such a clever method at such a young age?" After hearing Wang Kuang's explanation, Lin Zhubu's eyes lit up, if this is true, presenting the iron box method to the county magistrate would bring him even closer to the position of county magistrate.

  "Returning to the topic, I've been fond of eating since childhood." Wang Kuang said with some embarrassment: "I often sat in front of the stove helping my mother cook, and saw that the fire inside was raging, hot air pressing down on people, while outside it was only warm. So I guessed that the sand and stones in the middle were playing a role. This time, just as we're making an account cabinet for the inn, I thought about trying this method out. Fortunately, Uncle has always doted on me, so he let me have my way."

  "Hmm, this method is worth a try. You go back first and let them make it at the iron shop tomorrow. I'll take care of the rest. If what you said is true, there will be a reward." He waved his hand, not wanting to say more, and turned to leave. He took one step, but then remembered that he hadn't even asked why he was given the pig's feet to eat in the first place. So he turned back again and asked: "One last thing, can you explain why you sent me the pig's feet?"

  Division

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