The three of them had eyes bigger than their stomachs. After eating for a little under half an hour, they couldn't manage another bite and slumped in their chairs, clutching their bellies.
"That was delicious. Let's come back tomorrow."
The two little ones sat up straight. "Auntie, I still have to go to the academy. I can't come here and wash dishes every day."
"Wash what dishes?"
Meng Anci's little face turned bright red. He glanced at the dishes covering the table and pressed his lips together without a word. For once, Jin Shanyao's mind was quick on the uptake, and she burst out laughing.
"You don't need to wash dishes. Auntie has money." She waved to the shopkeeper. "The bill."
The shopkeeper came over with his ledger and smiled. "Miss, that comes to twenty-three taels of silver."
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci both breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they hadn't eaten more than they could afford. Jin Shanyao took out the fifty-tael silver note the county yamen had given her and handed it to the shopkeeper.
"Please pack up these dishes for me."
"Certainly." The shopkeeper hurriedly called for a worker to pack up the food and take it to the ox cart.
Jin Shanyao led the two little tots out of the Top Scholar Tower. The stableman who had just tried to stop them from parking there instantly changed his tune and fawningly led the ox cart over.
The ox cart had been swept spotless, and even the straw had been neatly arranged. Rows of food boxes stood out on the cart.
Jin Shanyao discreetly coated them in a layer of Spiritual Power to make sure the food wouldn't spoil.
Meng Anci stared at the ox cart in a daze. So it wasn't the ox cart they looked down on, but the people riding in it. If he had enough money and power, no one would dare slight him, even if he rode in an ox cart.
Meng Anci understood...
At the academy, Meng Anci took out Standards for Students and reviewed what he had learned that morning. He hadn't read even two pages when Zhao Zhiyuan walked in. He was slightly surprised to see Meng Anci.
But he said nothing. After sitting down, he opened his book and began reading attentively.
Shortly before class, Shiyan came bustling in with a crowd of little tots. He spotted Meng Anci at a glance and snickered.
"Meng Anci, why don't you take a look at yourself in the mirror? Zhao Zhiyuan is Master Zhao's nephew, and he comes first on every exam. Are you copying him and reading because you want to come first too?"
As he spoke, he sat down in front of Meng Anci and leaned back hard. The desk scraped with a screech, squeezing Meng Anci into the gap between the two desks.
Bracing himself against the desk, he smiled and asked in a soft, sweet voice, "Shiyan, do you want to play a game?"
Shiyan asked warily, "What game?"
"A hand-slapping game."
"What kind of game is that?" Shiyan had played plenty of games, but he had never heard of one where you slapped the back of someone's hand.
Meng Anci smiled. "It's simple. I'll teach you. Two people play together, and each holds out their right hand. One holds their hand flat in the air, palm down, and the other presses their palm against it from below.
"The person with their palm facing up tries to slap the back of the other person's hand. If they miss, the two switch roles and keep playing."
Shiyan's eyes darted around. "Your hand is dirty. I won't play with you."
Meng Anci wasn't annoyed. "Since you're scared, forget it."
"Who said I was scared? Go wash your hands, and I'll play with you when you're done." Shiyan was itching to play. The game Meng Anci had described sounded like fun.
"All right." Meng Anci obediently got up, stood outside the courtyard for a while, then came back.
The room was noisy, and every now and then he could hear the sound of hands being slapped. He looked through the window and saw Shiyan playing the game with a classmate.
The two of them traded turns, making quite a lively scene.
They didn't even notice Meng Anci enter the room. Zhao Zhiyuan had already set the desk straight. Seeing Meng Anci go back to his book, he asked in puzzlement, "Aren't you going to play with him?"
"There's no rush," Meng Anci said calmly.
When fierce beasts hunted their prey, they always moved in silence.
After playing for a while, Shiyan grew bored. When he saw Meng Anci reading, a calculating look flashed in his eyes. "Didn't I tell you to come over after washing your hands? Why are you reading?"
Meng Anci said, "You were having fun, so I didn't interrupt."
Shiyan put on a haughty expression. "At least you know what's good for you. Come play a couple of rounds." He had thought the game would be difficult, but none of them had been a match for him.
Now, only Zhao Zhiyuan and Meng Anci were left in the room.
He didn't dare play with Zhao Zhiyuan, but he did dare play with a country bumpkin like Meng Anci. Shiyan was eager to try, determined to slap Meng Anci until he cried.
Meng Anci closed his book and held out his hand.
Shiyan rolled his eyes and said spitefully, "I'll slap yours first."
Meng Anci readily turned his hand over and placed it against Shiyan's palm. Shiyan's eyes flickered, and he quickly swung his hand around, landing a smack on the back of Meng Anci's hand.
The back of his hand immediately turned red. Zhao Zhiyuan glanced at Meng Anci.
Shiyan burst out laughing at having landed the slap. He put his hand underneath and stared fixedly at the back of Meng Anci's hand. In an instant, he swung his hand around to slap it, but missed.
He stamped his foot in anger and glared fiercely at Meng Anci, then reluctantly placed his hand on top.
Smack...
"Ah..." With a shriek, Shiyan clutched his hand and blew on it. "Meng Anci, how are you so strong?"
Meng Anci said apologetically, "My family lives in the countryside. I've done hard work since I was little, so I'm a bit strong. Why don't we leave it at that?"
"What do you mean, leave it at that?" Shiyan refused to accept it. "You think you can hit this young master and walk away? No chance. Again!"
A trace of mockery curled at the corner of Meng Anci's lips as he placed his hand on top.
Smack...
"Ah..."
"Again..."
Smack...
"Ah..."
"Again..."
Smack...
"Ah..."
"Again..."
Smack...
"Ah..."
"Again..."
By the time the teacher arrived, Meng Anci had slapped Shiyan's chubby little hand swollen. It looked like a little steamed bun as he held his brush, and he grimaced in pain with every character he wrote.
Tears welled in his eyes as he thought bitterly that if the teacher hadn't come, he surely would have managed to slap Meng Anci.
Every force had an equal reaction, and Meng Anci was no better off. His palm had gone numb from all the slapping. Fortunately, Shiyan was a little fatty. How much would it have hurt to hit bone?
Jin Shanyao bought a cloth banner at a fabric shop. On the left, it said "Finding lost objects and missing people," and on the right, "Free medical treatment."
The ox cart was parked outside a medical hall. Meng Anzhi wanted to study medicine, but there weren't enough patients for her to treat, so this was the only way.
The two sat cross-legged on the ox cart. Jin Shanyao held up the banner and listlessly waved a palm-leaf fan.
"Master, is it really you?"
A man suddenly rushed up to the ox cart and seized Jin Shanyao's hand, tears glistening in his eyes.
Jin Shanyao pulled her hand free with force and wiped it twice on the banner. "Say what you came to say. Keep your hands to yourself. You nearly stripped the bark off."
The man's face flushed bright red at her words, and his dry lips moved. He had waited outside the county yamen for four hours. Everyone else had left, but he had stayed.
The gatekeeper knew his situation and couldn't bear to see him wait in vain, so he had told him Jin Shanyao's address.
The man had hurried home, intending to bring silver notes for a visit, only to run into the master outside his own door.
Overcome with both joy and sorrow, he dropped to his knees at Jin Shanyao's feet. "Master, please help me. I truly don't know what else to do."
The man's name was Li Dequan, and he owned the medical hall. Six months ago, during the Lantern Festival, his eight-year-old son had been swept away from him by the crowd and had never been found.
He had reported it to the authorities and hired people to search privately. He had even put up notices offering a reward of a hundred taels, but he still hadn't found his son.
Li Dequan was truly out of options. He had tried every method he could think of.
Just when he had reached a dead end, he heard the astonishing news that a master diviner at the county yamen had found a culprit with a single divination. He had rushed to the yamen like a madman, begging for just one reading.
Just one reading, enough to tell him where his son was.