Chapter 650 Episode 1 Chen Ce Enters Beijing
“Baozi, hot baozi!”

“Sesame paste cake, fragrant and crispy.”

Chen Ce hadn’t had a proper meal for a long time. He kept swallowing saliva and came to a bun shop in tattered clothes.

“Two meat buns, quick.”

The shopkeeper squinted at Chen Ce and said like he was chasing a dog, “Go away, go beg somewhere else! It’s bad luck!”

Chen Ce swallowed again and said in a hoarse voice: “I’m not begging. Here, I’ll give you money. Give me the buns.”

Looking at the silver coins, the shopkeeper finally smiled and quickly took out two steaming buns for Chen Ce, saying, “Sir, please take them.”

Chen Ce swallowed the food without a second thought and finally felt alive again. He wiped his greasy mouth and asked, “You haven’t given me the change yet.”

“What’s the change?”

“You didn’t give me the change I gave you.”

“Who saw it?”

Chen Ce was silent for a moment, then he said, “Okay.”

“How much do the buns cost?”

“Two cents.”

Chen Ce took out two coins from his pocket and handed them to the other party, saying, “Is it ok?”

“Hey, sir, take care.”

After Chen Ce walked away, the bun shop owner said happily: “Little fool.”

He had just thrown the money into the cash box when he suddenly screamed, “Hey? Where’s my cash box? Where’s my cash box!”

……

Chen Ce threw the money box aside, put the coins inside in his arms, then went to a silk shop and bought a cotton jacket for thirty cents.

Wrapped in the cotton-padded jacket, warmth instantly flowed through his body, and Chen Ce felt comfortable all over.

He carefully counted the silver he had on him and found that he should have a little more than six taels.

This money can be used to rent a small courtyard.

After searching all the way, Chen Ce finally arrived at Huaihua Hutong.

Although this courtyard is a bit shabby, the rent is relatively cheap.

The host was a fat woman in her early thirties. When she saw Chen Ce, her eyes lit up and she said with a smile, “Hey, young man, you want to rent a house.”

“This house is the cheapest nearby. If you want to rent it, you have to pay 120 cents a month.”

Chen Ce: “…It’s a bit expensive, can you make it cheaper?”

Along the way, Chen Ce asked about the rental situation of many houses. This one was actually relatively cheap. The rent of slightly better houses in other places was more than 150 cents.

It’s just that theirs is cleaner and tidier than this! Your house only has a bed and a table, nothing else. The house is run-down and may even leak. How can you pay 120 coins for a house like this?

The fat woman shook her head and said, “This is already the cheapest one around. Don’t look at the shabby house, but look at the location! This is the best location in Peking, and it’s close to the imperial city. Young master is also a scholar, right? Maybe he will become an official in the future. How convenient will it be for him to go to court here?”

“But if you want it cheaper, that’s fine too. Tsk tsk, my husband is always away on business lately, and I’m itching to do it…”

Chen Ce quickly said, “Okay! I suddenly realized that one hundred and twenty coins is not that expensive, so let’s just take one hundred and twenty coins!”

The fat woman smiled and said, “If…” “No ifs, let’s just leave it like this.”

The fat woman looked disappointed and could only say helplessly: “Okay then, I’ll pay one deposit and three installments, and I’ll pay four months first.”

Chen Ce paid four hundred and eighty coins and finally had a place to stay in Peking.

The house was so messy that he had to clean it up first. During that time, he saw his neighbor next door, but he only knew that she was a woman and nothing else.

Chen Ce spent the whole day cleaning the room. By the evening, he had finally cleaned the house. Then he rushed to the market to buy quilts, sheets, pots, pans, spoons and other daily necessities.

All these cost one hundred and fifty coins.

The kitchen was not ready for cooking yet, so he had to go out to eat. He spent another three cents on steamed buns and porridge.

The next morning, Chen Ce got up early and went to the market to buy rice, grain, oil and noodles. He then bought some vegetables and cooked at home at noon.

On the third day he went to a pharmacy. There was an old doctor in the pharmacy. When he saw Chen Ce, he asked about his condition.

When the old doctor heard that the young man in front of him had tuberculosis, he was shocked and said, “Since you have tuberculosis, why are you here to harm others?”

Chen Ce had to explain a lot to convince the old doctor that his lung disease was not contagious. But even so, the old doctor covered his mouth and nose, sold Chen Ce one medicine, and told Chen Ce not to come to his pharmacy again.

This dose of medicine cost a total of thirty cents!
It seems that it is the same in any era. It is best not to get sick. The cost is simply too high!
These days, he only had a little over five taels of silver left. If he didn’t find something to do, this amount of money would not be enough for him to live for a few months.

But even if I am a time traveler, what can I do? I can’t do anything.

He created a small vegetable garden in his front yard and grew some vegetables in it.

Occasionally he would sit next to the vegetable garden and fantasize about how nice it would be if the plants growing in the garden were not vegetables.

Five days later, Chen Ce came to water his vegetable garden as usual, but to his surprise, other things really grew in the garden, which he could see but not touch.

“Mastering the Four Books”

what is this?
After Chen Ce picked the fruits, he felt as if a lot of knowledge that he had never had before suddenly appeared in his mind.

In his previous life, he only learned a little bit of the Analects of Confucius, and his knowledge of the Four Books was limited to the Chinese textbooks for compulsory education.

But now, he clearly felt that there was some more knowledge in his mind that he had never learned.

Moreover, the key points of the Four Books were all embedded in my mind. Not only did I learn them all, but I also understood the profound meanings contained in them, as if I had studied them for many years.

Did the wish come true? It really made something different grow in this vegetable garden…

Chen Ce had a smile on his face. For some reason, he always felt that this scene was familiar!

After acquiring more knowledge from the Four Books, Chen Ce began to wonder if he could use this knowledge to make some money.

But it was not enough for him to just know the Four Books. His understanding of classical Chinese was incomplete and he was not very good at writing.

So the next day, he gained proficiency in ancient Chinese literature in his own vegetable garden. Not only did he recognize ancient Chinese literature, but even his handwriting became particularly beautiful!
So Chen Ce went to the market in Beiping to buy writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, then came to Zhengyang Street and sat down in a corner.

Write letters for me!

Yes, the literacy rate in the Ming Dynasty was generally not high. Many people who wanted to ask someone to write a letter for them could only go to the streets to find a reader.

It’s just that the income is relatively low. Writing a letter for others is only a penny. But no matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. At least there is some income, so it’s not a case of only earning and not spending!

In this way, Chen Ce finally settled down in the Ming Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)