The Hidden Immortal

Chapter 38 A Little Good News

The crow spread its wings and flew high, heading towards the Songliu River.

Chu Xun stood there for a moment, picked up the kitchen knife from the ground, and turned to go to the woodshed.

Near the Songliu Water God Temple, Zhang Anxiu sneaked around like a thief and found the old man who "guarantees sons".

The old man had already packed up the banners and the wooden cabinet, preparing to leave.

Zhang Anxiu quickly stopped him and asked in a low voice, "You only care about having sons? What about anything else?"

The old man in the worn Taoist robe grinned at her: "What's wrong? Can't you have a baby?"

Zhang Anxiu was somewhat reserved, clutching the hem of her clothes, and nodded almost imperceptibly.

The old man chuckled and said, "My secret recipe works for everything. If it doesn't work, I'll give you your money back. I'm honest and straightforward!"

Zhang Anxiu hesitated, and Chu Xun said that this was a liar.

But what if?

What if it isn't?

Even if the villagers didn't gossip, she couldn't bear the thought of not being able to have a child for five years.

Gritting her teeth, Zhang Anxiu took out three taels of silver and bought a small bottle of pills.

It was dull and unremarkable.

Feeling somewhat uneasy, she asked again, "If you're useless, where should we look for you?"

The old man patted his chest confidently: "Come on, this is it. I'm going to do this business for a long time. Why would I cheat a little girl like you?"

Seeing his reaction, Zhang Anxiu didn't say anything more.

He put the pills in his inner pocket, turned around, and went home.

When Chu Xun arrived home, he was just coming out of the woodshed with dishes.

It's a very ordinary pork stew with cabbage and vermicelli, not expensive, but in Songguo Village, only Chu Xun can afford to eat like this every day.

Unfortunately, in the first few years after the founding of the Jing Kingdom, the emperor, who valued people's livelihood and agricultural products, prohibited the private sale of beef.

Those who violate this rule will be punished with fifty strokes of the cane, and may even have their property confiscated and be exiled.

Li Shoutian, whose hair was already gray, and his son Li Guangmao were both present.

The father and son had already taken their seats at the table and poured themselves some fine wine.

A jar of Baijia Laopu liquor weighs three ounces, and each jar contains twenty catties. They themselves wouldn't be willing to drink it every day, so they could only come to Chu Xun's house to mooch off him.

Or perhaps they felt embarrassed to freeload drinks, so they would bring some pork head meat or something similar each time.

"Village Chief, Brother Guangmao is here too," Zhang Anxiu greeted.

Li Shoutian quickly replied, "I came here to bring good news to A-Xun, not just for drinking."

Li Guangmao nodded repeatedly in agreement, "That's right, that's right!"

"What good news?" Zhang Anxiu asked curiously.

Li Shoutian chuckled and said, "The county magistrate asked me to pass on a message to A-Xun: go to the county office in a few days to discuss the matter of promoting him to the rank of Jiebin."

As mentioned before, the honorary title of "Village Drinker" is divided into three levels.

The lowest rank is that of the guests, which is Chu Xun's current position.

Above that is the Jiebin, which indicates that the person already has a considerable reputation in the countryside.

Above that are the most prestigious guests, reserved only for the most senior and influential local gentry and powerful figures.

However, even for a prefect, promotion is not so easy.

With this title, taxes can be reduced by another 20%, and one of one's children or grandchildren can attend a private school run by the county government.

For people in the countryside, these are all real benefits.

Although attending a private school may seem insignificant, the Jing Kingdom is divided into three classes and fourteen categories, with the lowest category, the "lowly category," being forbidden from studying.

Even fishermen, whose social status was considered "lowly water dwellers," were not allowed to live on land and were not even permitted to marry people on land.

Agricultural registration is divided into primary households and secondary households.

The main households were farmers or landlords who owned their own land, and they were divided into five classes according to their family property.

The customers were the tenant farmers who didn't own their own land and could only rent it.

Although there were no restrictions on studying and taking the imperial examinations, there were prerequisites.

That means that there must be no lowly status within three generations, and a local scholar must act as guarantor.

If there is no scholar in the village, the county magistrate will act as guarantor.

In every village and town, there are people who have been promoted from the status of "lowly" to "farmer" by chance.

For example, someone from a lowly social class who joined the army could transfer to military service and, after making meritorious contributions, be able to leave their lowly status and become a farmer.

However, if the number of generations does not exceed three, the descendants will still be unable to participate in the imperial examinations.

However, once one entered the private school run by the county government, the county magistrate could recommend one to participate in the children's examination, thus bypassing this restriction.

This can be considered a small privilege granted by the imperial court to local officials, making it easier for them to win over the hearts and minds of the people.

If Chu Xun could be promoted to the rank of Jiebin, there would be many benefits, so it would certainly be good news.

Zhang Anxiu, however, was feeling guilty because she had a small medicine bottle tucked in her arms. She said, "Then you guys eat first, I'll go to the woodshed and get you some more snacks to go with your drinks."

"No need, no need, that's enough." Li Guangmao stood up and shouted, but Zhang Anxiu acted as if she didn't hear him and hurriedly went into the woodshed.

Chu Xun laughed and said, "Don't worry about it, let's eat first."

Zhang Anxiu entered the woodshed, picked up a kitchen knife, and seemed to be chopping something, but her mind was elsewhere.

Finally, he couldn't resist, took out his small medicine bottle, poured out a grayish pill that looked like a lump of mud, frowned, and gritted his teeth.

Finally, I gritted my teeth and put it in my mouth.

It didn't taste like much, almost like eating dirt, making her wonder, "Could it really be made from mud?"

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Li Shoutian, his face flushed, drunkenly put his arm around Chu Xun's neck: "Of all the young men in our village, you're the one I like the most! You'd better take over the village chief position someday, no one else can have it, understand?"

Li Guangmao, a little slurred from drinking, asked, "Father, what about me?"

"You?" Li Shoutian wiped his face. "If you just follow A-Xun and learn a little bit, our family will benefit for generations."

Li Guangmao chuckled and came over to hug Chu Xun's arm: "From now on, you're my big brother! Come on, have another bowl with me!"

The father and son were both extremely drunk, but they still supported each other and refused to be taken away.

Not long after, Li Shoutian suddenly vomited violently.

Zhang Anxiu asked with some concern, "Is the village chief alright? He's not a young man anymore, why did he drink so much?"

More than a decade has passed since Zhang Shigen entrusted her to Chu Xun.

Li Shoutian has grown from a middle-aged man into an old man, and he is indeed not as energetic as before.

"I heard that Li Erdan went to take the provincial examination. I wonder if he might pass and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination)." Zhang Anxiu said.

Erdan is his nickname; his real name is Li Chang'an. He is Li Tianjian's youngest grandson and has just turned thirteen.

He was intelligent from a young age, able to read at the age of three, and by the age of eight or nine, he had already grasped many principles, making him a well-known child prodigy in the surrounding area.

Li Tianjian and his family raised over one hundred taels of silver and donated it to become students of the Imperial Academy.

Although the provincial examination had just begun, the family had already been showing off in the village for several days.

Especially when passing by Chu Xun's house, Li Tianjian's wife would always call out, "Chu Xun, my grandson will be taking the provincial examination in a few days. What if he really becomes a successful candidate? He's so young, I can't bear to let him go out and become an official."

Chu Xun would chuckle whenever he heard this, saying that not only was passing the imperial examination extremely difficult, but even if one did pass, it didn't guarantee an immediate official position.

Tang Shijun had told him that there were many talented people in the world.

Even many successful candidates in the imperial examinations waited at the Ministry of Personnel, hoping to find a vacancy and then quickly use money to pull strings, even if it meant becoming an eighth-rank county magistrate.

Some of the successful candidates in the imperial examinations had been waiting for four or five years without receiving an official position.

He was able to become an official that year only because the emperor personally selected him as the second-place scholar.

However, the Ministry of Personnel intervened again, and they were transferred to the desolate Zhangnan County.