Chapter 39 Wang Cheng

Wang Cheng, living in Pingyuan County, lived in Pingyuan County. His ancestors had been an official and passed on to his own generation. His family was in decline, leaving only a few broken houses and living in poverty. In addition, he was lazy and gradually could not make ends meet. He didn't even have a quilt to sleep, and only a broken straw mat would make do with it.

Not far from the Wang family, there is a manor, which is in disrepair, most of which is destroyed, and there is only one pavilion left. In midsummer, it was extremely hot. In the evening of this day, Wang Cheng went to the pavilion to cool down and slept until the next day before he became lazy. When I was about to return, I suddenly saw a flash of light in the grass. I looked closer and harvested a golden handpin with exquisite style, with the words "Made by Yibin Mansion" written on it.

Wang Cheng lived a rich life when he was a child. He saw a lot of Jin Zai and was not greedy for property. He thought, "I don't know who lost this Jin Zai. The owner must be very anxious. I'll wait here. If I meet someone who comes to look for something, I will return the golden matter to him.

After a while, an old woman came slowly, with her hands divided into thatched grass, as if she was looking for something. Wang Cheng asked, "Old woman, are you looking for a golden spin? No need to look for it. I'm here." He said that he would return the golden clothes to her.

The old woman couldn't help but praise Wang's finished product and said, "Although this golden pin is not worth much money, it has been cherished around because it is a relic of her deceased husband."

Wang Cheng asked, "Who is your husband?"

The old woman said, "Lord Wang Jian."

Wang Cheng shouted, "Lord Wang, that's my ancestor. How do you know each other?"

The old woman said, "Are you the grandson of Wang Jian? I am a fox fairy. I met your grandfather a hundred years ago. Later, he died of old age, and I lived in seclusion alone. It happened to pass by here, lost my hairpin, and was picked up by you. Isn't it God's will?

Wang Cheng laughed and said, "I heard Grandpa mention that he does have a fox wife. You are my grandpa's widow, but also my grandmother. Please go to your grandson's house for a chat.

The old woman couldn't refuse. She followed Wang Cheng to her home. Her wife came out to greet her. The old woman saw that the room was simple. The king's wife was dressed in rags and shoes, and she had a dish on her face. She sighed, "I didn't expect that after the old friend, she would have fallen to such a point?" Seeing that there was no rice in the pot, he asked, "My family is so poor. How can I live on?"

The king's wife said, "What's the way?" It's just a day."

The old woman took out the golden hairpin and said, "Take it to the market pawn, exchange it for a few taels of silver, buy some rice noodles, and I'll come back in three days."

Wang Cheng said, "Grandma, it's rare to come here. Please finish your meal and rest for a night before leaving."

The old woman smiled and said, "Good grandson, you can't even support your wife. There is only one bed in the room. Where do you want me to sleep? Is it possible for me to lay on the floor? After saying that, I took care of myself.

Three days later, the old woman visited again and said to Wang Cheng, "Sun, a man must not be lazy and not do his job. He should do some small business. It is not a long-term solution."

Wang Cheng said, "Although I have the intention to do business, I don't have the capital."

The old woman said, "In the past, I followed your grandfather and saved forty taels of pollen money. You can buy some cloth and sell it in the capital. You can leave immediately and make some small profits."

Wang Cheng agreed and bought more than 50 pieces of cloth and put them in the burden. The old woman said, "If you go to the capital, you can arrive in six or seven days. Don't be lazy during the journey. You must walk quickly. If you arrive in the capital a day late, you will regret it.

Wang Chengnuonuo took the order and set off with a burden. It rained heavily along the way, and his clothes were all wet. Wang Cheng has always been used to being lazy. At this moment, he was drenched by the rain and exhausted, so he found a small inn to rest. Who would have thought that it rained heavily all night, but it was still endless. When I got up the next day, there was stagnant water everywhere, and the official road was muddy and difficult to pass through. I thought, "How can I get on such a rainy day?" It's not too late to wait until the rain stops.

The rain fell for two days and two nights. When the sky cleared up, Wang Cheng came to the capital on foot and missed the opportunity. He stayed in the inn. The shopkeeper said, "The guest officer came late. If he came a day earlier, he would definitely make a fortune buying and selling cloth."

Wang Cheng asked, "What's going on?"

The shopkeeper said, "In the past few days, it has been rainy, there is a shortage of goods, and the supply of cloth is in short supply. The price of cloth has increased to three times as usual, and many cloth sellers have made a lot of money."

Wang Cheng asked, "Does Baylor House still need to buy cloth now?"

The shopkeeper said, "No, I bought the full amount yesterday, and the guest came late. Well, when many businessmen heard the news of buying cloth in Baylor House, they came to join in the fun. At present, the cloth in the capital is piled up like a mountain, and the price has plummeted. I'm afraid that the guest official will have no money on this trip. Listen to the advice of the little old man and quickly dispose of the cloth in your hand at a low price, otherwise the longer you wait, the greater the loss.

Wang Cheng nodded and walked around the street. Sure enough, there were cloth sellers everywhere. At this moment, it was impossible to make money. He had no choice but to deal with the cloth in his hand at a low price, calculate the reward, and lost more than a dozen taels of silver.

Wang Cheng failed in business for the first time, and he couldn't help but be depressed. Unexpectedly, the house leaked and it rained all night. He was not vigilant enough when he slept at night. He was robbed by a thief and didn't leave any money left.

Someone gave Wang Cheng advice, "If you lose money in the inn, the shopkeeper can't get rid of the responsibility, but you can go to the government to sue him."

Wang Cheng was kind-hearted and shook his head and said, "I lost all the money. What does it have to do with the shopkeeper? How can you rake it upside down?" So he didn't listen to the coward and left.

This matter quickly came to the shopkeeper's ears. Seeing that Wang became an upright man, he couldn't help but have a little good impression in his heart. When he parted, he specially gave him five taels of silver as a travel expenses.

Wang Cheng returned home with poor five taels of silver and thought, "I look like Luo Tuo. How can I have the face to go home to see my wife?" It's better to turn around. Maybe there will be a turning point.

Thinking of this, I wandered aimlessly to the corner of the street. I saw several princes on the ground fighting quail. The bet was very big. There were thousands of copper coins in and out. I thought, "A quail is only dozens of yuan. I might as well buy more quail and sell them to the rich young master. I will definitely make a lot of money." So he poured everything, bought sixty or seventy quail, kept them in a cage, and prepared to go to the street to sell the next day. At that time, it was already dark, and he returned to the inn of the shopkeeper to settle down.

Who would have thought that it rained heavily at night for several days in a row. It rained continuously. Many quail were locked in the narrow space in the cage. They ate and drank and squeezed together. The air was turbid and lacked exercise. A lot of people died of illness. Later, more than 70 quail died, and only one survived.

Wang Cheng was sad and annoyed. He wanted to cry but had no tears. The shopkeeper comforted him: "Sir, don't cry. Let's see the quail."

The two came to the side of the cage and saw that the only quail in it was energetic, and there was no decadence at all. The shopkeeper analyzed, "I look at this quail, and my eyes are full of fighting spirit. It is by no means ordinary. If you are not right, it should be a 'fighting king', and there are many dead people in the cage. The quail may have been killed by it. Raising it well and gambling in the future is also a way to make a living.

At this point, although Wang Cheng did not believe the words of the shopkeeper, the quail in front of him was his only hope. He had no choice but to take good care of and train and teach him fighting skills.

It didn't take long for the quail to become very tame and brave. They took it to gamble with people on the street. They won a lot of wine, rice and cloth, and also won a lot of gold and silver. In half a year, they have accumulated more than 20 taels of gold.

Soon, Wang Cheng's quail became famous and heard from far and near. It happened that there was a prince in the capital who was very happy to fight quail. Hearing that Wang Cheng's quail was very powerful, he specially asked his men to go to the palace to compete and compete.

The shopkeeper privately told Wang Cheng, "The opportunity to make a fortune is coming. As long as our 'fighting king' defeats all the quail in the royal palace, the prince will definitely spend a lot of money to buy it when he is happy."

Wang Cheng said, "If the prince really plans to buy quail, how can he bargain with him?"

The shopkeeper said, "Look at my eyes and act then."

The two came to the royal palace and stared at it. There were many guests who were ordered to fight quail. It was not just Wang Cheng. The birds gathered. The prince took out a quail and said, "Who has the courage to compare with me? Come up and show your hand."

A prince came forward to challenge and released the quail. He couldn't fight a few battles and was defeated. Then there were many guests on the stage, all of whom were defeated by the quail under the prince's hand, and they came back one by one.

The prince laughed and said, "All the quail is vulnerable. Isn't there anything decent?"

The shopkeeper quietly said to Wang Cheng, "It's your turn to take action."

Wang Chengyi released the quail. The prince looked at it and changed his color and said, "The eyes are murderous. This is a master. Don't underestimate the enemy. Come on, let my 'iron beak' out.

The iron beak is the best among the quail under the prince. He is very brave, but as soon as he came to power, he was defeated by the "King of Fighting". The prince was furious and released a few quail one after another. All of them were brave and good fighters, but one failed one by one, and no one could take advantage of the "Fighting King".

Seeing the bravery of the "Fighting King", the prince nodded and said, "The chess meets the enemy. It seems that it is difficult to win without inviting the 'Jade quail' to come out." "Go quickly and invite the 'jade quail' to come."

Not long after, the subordinate brought a quail, and saw that it was snow-white, as big as an egret, and extraordinary. When Wang Cheng saw it, he couldn't help but be discouraged and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, this quail is a divine thing, and the little one is willing to admit defeat."

The prince smiled and said, "I haven't fought yet. What's the loss? Ah, I know. You are afraid that my 'jade quail' will bite your quail, and there will be no eating guy from now on, right? It doesn't matter. If your 'Fighting King' dies in battle, I'll pay you a lot of money.

Wang Cheng said, "In this case, the villain will fight bravely." Release the "Fighting King" and order him to fight hard.

Two quail met, and the "jade quail" rushed to bite as soon as it came up, and the "fighting king" braked quietly and waited for it. Suddenly, the "Fighting King" attacked in the air, like a crane for preying, and the offensive was extremely fierce.

Two quails fought in the air, flying up and down, and held each other for a long time. The "Jade quail" gradually lost their physical strength. The more they fought, the more brave they fought, the more anxious they became. They only heard the "jade quail" crying, and the snow-white feathers spilled one after another and fled in confusion.

The spectators gathered around and saw that the "King of Fighting" won, and they couldn't help clapping their hands and cheering.

The prince was also moved. He gently picked up the "Dou Wang", stroked it back and forth, admiring it, and asked Wang Cheng, "Do you sell this parrot?"

Wang Cheng said, "The villain and the 'fighting king' depend on each other and are unwilling to sell."

"I can pay a big price. You can think about it."

"Since the prince really wants to buy it and is willing to pay a high price, the villain has to bear to give up his love."

"You can make an offer."

"A thousand taels of gold."

"Idiot man! What kind of precious quail is worth a thousand taels of gold?

"The prince does not regard 'fighting king' as a treasure, but in the hearts of the little people, he thinks that even the city is not as precious as 'fighting king'."

"How to say this?"

"The villain walks on the street with the 'Douwang', and he will win every bet. He gets two pieces of gold a day, and a few buckets of white rice. A family of more than ten people live in food, clothing, housing and transportation, all depends on the supply of the 'Douwang'. Isn't this a rare treasure?"

The prince muttered and said for a long time, "Well, how about a price of 200 taels of gold?"

Wang Cheng didn't answer, just shook his head.

The prince gritted his teeth and said, "Three hundred taels."

Wang Cheng secretly observed the shopkeeper. Seeing that he was still, he said, "If the prince really wants it, nine hundred taels of gold will be fine."

The prince smiled and said, "Come on, who is willing to spend 900 taels of gold to buy a quail?"

Wang Cheng stopped talking, picked up the quail, and turned around to walk.

The prince was anxious and hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, don't go. I'll give you six hundred taels. If you want to sell it, leave the quail, or forget it."

Wang Cheng looked at the shopkeeper. Seeing that he was still silent, he thought, "There are already a lot of 600 taels. You can't be too greedy." So he said, "Okay, six hundred taels, deal."

The prince was overjoyed. The account room sent six hundred taels of gold, which was enough for a large package. Wang Cheng left a quail and said goodbye with gold.

Back to his residence, the shopkeeper complained, "Why are you so impatient? If you pay the price again, won't you get 800 taels of gold?

Wang Cheng smiled and said, "Six hundred taels is really not less. That's it. Shopkeeper, you can make a fortune this time. I put the gold on the table. Take as much as you want.

The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "The little old man is not greedy for money. It's not easy to get gold. Keep it all by yourself."

Wang Cheng refused to eat alone and insisted on giving gold to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper didn't want it. In the end, he was forced to be helpless and only received a few taels of money.

Wang Cheng returned to his hometown, built buildings and bought fields. The husband and wife worked hard, and the life was getting better and better. The old woman lived in Wang Cheng's family for three years, and finally left without saying goodbye because she missed her unrestrained life in the wilderness.