allonlinenovel Chapter 477 The Future No. Scholar
Chapter 477 The Future No. Scholar
Chapter 477 The Future Top Scholar
The madam smiled and said, "Sir, wouldn't you like to settle your bill first? We're a small business and we don't offer credit."
The madam didn't recognize Wang Wenzhou and the others. Seeing that they were unfamiliar faces and that she wanted two of the top courtesans, she was afraid that Wang Wenzhou would try to dine and dash. Besides, the people who came to this kind of high-class brothel were all scholars and gentlemen; who would come in wanting to sleep with girls right away? Judging from Wang Wenzhou's appearance, he was clearly a nouveau riche bumpkin. So the madam wanted to swindle Wang Wenzhou out of money.
Wang Wenzhou asked, "How much?"
The madam replied, "Both of these girls are our top courtesans. In addition, there are two tables of fine food and wine. The total comes to two hundred taels of silver."
Wang Wenzhou nodded and casually took out two hundred taels of silver notes.
"Wait!" Jin Jizhong's expression changed, and he quickly grabbed Wang Wenzhou's arm and said, "Brother, we still have some things to do today, let's come another day."
Although Jin Jizhong frequently visited brothels, he only frequented ordinary, lower-priced ones. This particular brothel, with its exorbitant prices, was beyond his means, and even if Wang Wenzhou were to pay, he would still feel the pinch. It was just sleeping with a girl, yet it cost a hundred taels of silver! That amount could buy a dozen or twenty respectable young women.
"Brother Jin, we're fine today!" Wang Wenzhou was completely confused, not understanding what was wrong with Jin Jizhong.
Jin Jizhong quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Brother, it's too expensive! A hundred taels of silver to sleep with a girl is not worth it!"
Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Brother Jin, I will never forget your life-saving grace. It's my duty to treat you to a top courtesan. Don't be so polite, you're being too formal!"
Ignoring Jin Jizhong's advice, Wang Wenzhou handed the silver notes to the madam and said with a smile, "Make sure it's the top courtesan here. Don't try to cheat me; I'm a Ming citizen!"
The madam quickly replied, "Sir, please rest assured, we run a legitimate business and won't cheat you. You speak such fluent Mandarin, you must be from the Ming Dynasty, how could we dare to cheat you?"
The madam curled her lip. "Another show-off pretending to be from the Ming Dynasty. You think I'm a country bumpkin? I've seen it all. I can tell from your accent that you're not from the Ming Dynasty."
If Wang Wenzhou knew what the madam was thinking, he would definitely curse her out: "I am a native Chinese, I was Chinese before I transmigrated, and I am still Chinese after I transmigrated. How come I am not speaking Mandarin?"
Having already paid the money, Jin Jizhong felt a pang of heartache, but there was nothing he could do. He secretly vowed to sleep with the girl properly; one hundred taels of silver was no small sum, and he couldn't let it go to waste.
Wang Wenzhou, with his arm around Li Mei, was about to enter the room when the madam hurriedly said, "Sir, you shouldn't bring these three dogs into the room. What if they bite the girl?"
Wang Wenzhou curled his lip and said disdainfully, "These three puppies are still nursing, how could they bite the girl? Don't worry, their mother is a heroine, they don't bite people."
The old duck shook its head helplessly. Who can blame it when money talks? This country bumpkin is really something else, actually bringing three little dogs to a brothel.
Wang Wenzhou and the others went into their respective rooms. Wang Wenzhou carried Li Mei to bed and started sleeping, while the poor top courtesan could only watch from the sidelines with her puppy. It wasn't that Wang Wenzhou didn't want to sleep with her, but the key was that he hadn't even won over his own girl yet, and it would be too much for him to sleep with another girl.
Wang Wenzhou suddenly heard someone crying softly outside the door.
Wang Wenzhou frowned and instructed the girl who was playing with the puppy, "Baby, look who's crying outside the door. How annoying!"
The girl nodded, pouted, walked to the door, looked around, turned back, and replied, "Sir, it's the young master who came with you."
"Haha!" Wang Wenzhou laughed loudly, "Sister-in-law, I bet Lao Jin is a quick shooter. He's crying outside the door, feeling wronged. Shall we go out and comfort him?"
Li Mei rolled her eyes at Wang Wenzhou, thinking, "That rascal is really unreliable."
Li Mei helped Wang Wenzhou get dressed. When Wang Wenzhou opened the door, he saw Jin Jizhong squatting outside, wiping away tears.
Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "Old Jin, don't be sad. Take more tonics and exercise more. Sooner or later, you'll be full of energy again!"
“Brother, what are you saying?” Jin Jizhong looked up at Wang Wenzhou and asked.
"Huh?" Wang Wenzhou pointed at the bruises on Jin Jizhong's face and asked in a deep voice, "Old Jin, what happened to your face? Who hit you? Who the hell is so blind as to hit my brother!"
Jin Jizhong waved his hand and stammered, "No...no, it wasn't someone else who hit me. I bumped into it by accident."
Li Mei whispered in Wang Wenzhou's ear, "Husband, Brother Jin is shy, something must have happened to him."
"Hmm!" Wang Wenzhou nodded and asked, "Brother Jin, we've been through thick and thin together, and you're my savior. What happened? Tell me!"
"Sigh..." Jin Jizhong sighed, hesitant to speak, finding it difficult to say anything.
“Brother Jin, it’s even more embarrassing for you to just squat here crying instead of saying anything!” Wang Wenzhou said with a smile.
With a mournful face, Jin Jizhong began, "The story goes like this, it all started decades ago..."
Wang Wenzhou learned what had happened from Jin Jizhong.
Jin Jizhong has a classmate named Han Chengtao. The two are about the same age and have the same interests. Just like in many melodramatic stories, they happen to fall in love with the same girl.
Later, Jin Jizhong successfully won the heart of the beauty, while Han Chengtao failed, thus severing their friendship. Jin Jizhong was successful in love but unsuccessful in the imperial examinations. He repeatedly failed the exams, while Han Chengtao passed and became a scholar.
So every time Han Chengtao saw Jin Jizhong, he would make sarcastic remarks. Just now, Jin Jizhong was carrying a girl and was about to go into the room when he happened to run into Han Chengtao.
Han Chengtao mocked Jin Jizhong, saying that he had no other skills but was good at sleeping with girls. Instead of studying at home, he spent all his time frequenting brothels.
Jin Jizhong, thin-skinned and unable to refute, blushed with embarrassment at Han Chengtao's words and fled, covering his face. He reached Wang Wenzhou's door, but then remembered that he had spent a hundred taels of silver, and the girl still hadn't slept—what a waste! Yet, he was too embarrassed to turn back, so he wept pitifully in front of Wang Wenzhou's door.
"Pfft!" Wang Wenzhou burst out laughing. He laughed and scolded, "Brother Jin! How old are you? You're not a child. How can you be so easily offended by a few words?"
Jin Jizhong felt embarrassed and regretted telling Wang Wenzhou about it earlier.
"Brother Jin, how dare you stand here?" Han Chengtao walked over with a smile at this moment.
Han Chengtao sneered, "Meiyan spends all day weaving cloth at home for you, while you take the money and go to brothels to have fun. You are utterly shameless! No wonder someone like you fails the imperial examinations every time. All you can think about is men and women."
"Hey, who is this guy? So arrogant! He acts like he can pass the imperial examination with top honors!" Wang Wenzhou naturally had to speak up for his brother.
Han Chengtao cupped his hands and said, "My name is Han Chengtao. May I ask your honorable surname, sir?"
Wang Wenzhou said in a serious tone, "Listen up, I am Wang Wenzhou, the top scholar this year! My elder brother Jin Jizhong, because I also participated in the imperial examination this year, and because he dotes on me, his younger brother, gave up his top spot to me and can only be the second-place scholar."