newbobooks Chapter 141 Even the most fervent vows of love cannot withstand the weight of a few pieces of silver
Chapter 141 Even the most fervent vows of love cannot withstand the weight of a few pieces of silver
At the entrance of the examination hall, a small stall was set up with just two tables and a pot.
Du Ruoling was shouting at the top of her lungs, "Don't miss out! Exclusive secret recipe, the only one of its kind in the capital! Come and see!"
"Slow-cooked in this old broth, a bowl of this is better than being a living god! If you miss it today, you'll regret it for a whole year!"
"What are you selling?" A young man in a long robe, holding a folding fan, stopped in front of the stall, his eyes curiously examining the steaming pot.
Du Ruoling smiled broadly and enthusiastically introduced, "Young master, this is my family's secret recipe for braised dishes. You can't find this anywhere else! The taste is absolutely amazing!"
The young master raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? That sounds intriguing. How much is this bowl?"
Du Ruoling held up two fingers and said crisply, "Only two qian of silver!"
The young master frowned slightly. Two coins were indeed a bit expensive. But if it was fresh food, it wouldn't hurt to try it.
As Du Ruoling lifted the pot lid, steam carrying an unusual smell filled the air.
The young master's face instantly turned ugly, and he blurted out with disgust, "Pig intestines?"
“That’s right, the pig intestines are the soul of our braised pork offal!” Du Ruoling was completely unaffected by the young master’s reaction. “These pig intestines may look unremarkable, but they’re very particular about how they’re prepared. They’re repeatedly rubbed with flour and salt, and cleaned inside and out until they’re spotless, without a trace of odor…”
Du Ruoling picked up a piece of pig intestine with long chopsticks and waved it in front of the young master, "Look how tempting it is! I guarantee that once you take one bite, you'll want a second..."
The young master's eyes were full of resistance, "No, no more..."
He had thought it was food he had never tasted before and wanted to try something new, but it turned out to be this filthy thing.
Pig intestines are something that even the lower classes who can't afford meat wouldn't want to eat.
She's still selling it for two taels of silver; we might as well just rob her outright.
Pig intestines are worthless in this era, and nobody wants them, but Du Ruoling used a lot of flour and salt to remove the fishy smell of pig offal.
White flour alone costs ten coins per dou.
Naturally, it will be sold at a higher price...
The young master looked disgusted, made a move to turn and leave, and muttered, "Disgusting! What bad luck!"
But before he could take a few steps, Du Ruoling grabbed his sleeve.
"Young master, please don't leave yet. Try it first. If you don't like it, you don't have to pay."
The young master was enraged by the sudden tug. He tried to shake his arm off Du Ruoling's hand, but found that she was holding on tightly.
"How can you be so shameless! Pulling and tugging in public like this is no proper behavior..."
Du Ruoling stomped her feet angrily. Not only had she lost customers, but she had also been scolded. When she turned around and saw Gu Cheng'an, who was wiping the table with his head down, she became even angrier.
"Didn't you see the customers have all run away? Why aren't you helping out..."
Gu Cheng had expected this to be the case. Although Du Ruoling's food tasted good, these literati and young masters wouldn't eat it.
He was once one of these people...
Du Ruoling was determined to set up a stall, saying that today was the day the results were announced and there were many people at the entrance of the examination hall, so she could take advantage of the buzz to promote her braised pork.
Seeing that Gu Cheng'an remained silent, Du Ruoling kept muttering, "Does he think he's some kind of pampered young master?"
Gu Chengyan stood not far away, coldly observing this farce.
Looking at Du Ruoling's aggressive demeanor, he thought, "This woman is not only shameful, but she even dares to complain about Gu Cheng'an."
His second brother, however, was like a coward, not uttering a single word of rebuttal.
He could no longer contain himself and strode forward, his voice filled with sarcasm and anger, "The dignified second young master of the Marquis of Anyang's mansion, actually stooping down to selling food, Gu Cheng'an, do you have any backbone at all? You've almost completely disgraced our Marquis's mansion!"
Upon hearing this, Du Ruoling instantly flew into a rage. She immediately put her hands on her hips and retorted without backing down, "We earn our living with our own hands and honestly, so how is that spineless? It's better than you being a parasite, living a life of luxury in the Marquis's mansion all day long, just waiting to die!"
Gu Chengyan was so choked by these words that his face turned red. "You..."
"What do you mean, 'you'?" Du Ruoling continued aggressively, "What are you so proud of? So what if you passed the imperial examination? And you were last in all of them. In our area, that's considered being a slacker, the worst student. What's so great about that!"
The words "last place" struck a nerve with Gu Chengyan.
His face instantly turned ashen, and he kicked over the table on the stall, scattering pots and pans all over the floor.
Seeing this, Du Ruoling became enraged and started throwing a tantrum, yelling, "You pay for my stall! You pay for my money! What right do you have to smash my things!"
Gu Chengyan completely ignored Du Ruoling's crying and fussing. He looked coldly at Gu Chengan, his tone carrying a hint of sarcasm and questioning.
"Is it worth breaking ties with your family and giving up the riches and honors of the Marquis's mansion for such a woman? Look at your pathetic state now, it's utterly ridiculous!"
However, until Gu Chengyan turned to leave, Gu Cheng'an kept his lips tightly pressed together and did not utter a word.
Du Ruoling rushed up to Gu Cheng'an, pounding his chest with her fists. "You just watched me get bullied by your brother and didn't say a word. Are you even a man? How can you be so spineless!"
Gu Cheng'an grew impatient with the beating. He grabbed Du Ruoling's wrist and forcefully shook her off, his voice tinged with exhaustion.
"Have you had enough trouble?"
“What am I making a fuss about? I’m just trying to earn money,” Du Ruoling retorted loudly. “Don’t you even look at yourself? You can’t carry anything, you can’t even support a family…”
This wasn't the first time such an argument had taken place.
Gu Cheng'an originally thought that Du Ruoling had become so unreasonable because he had broken his promise to her and married Lin Xingyao.
He naively believed that as long as they left the Marquis's mansion and got rid of those constraints, their relationship could return to what it was before.
But reality slapped him hard in the face.
Besides love, Du Ruoling's mind was filled with nothing but money.
The silver he brought from the Marquis's mansion was originally enough for the two of them to live a peaceful life for a while, and with some small business, they could make a living.
At that time, Du Ruoling kept clamoring in the courtyard to eat bird's nest and shark fin to nourish her body. Since the two of them did not have a stable source of income, if they continued to squander their wealth, they would naturally run out of money.
Du Ruoling kept asking him to prove his love for her in various ways, which made Gu Cheng'an feel extremely exhausted.
Gu Cheng'an raised his head and looked at the crowd of onlookers, many of whom were his former cronies with whom he used to indulge in debauchery.
He felt truly ashamed, grabbed Du Ruoling's arm, and turned to leave.
"Oh, my stall..."
The two continued pulling each other along, gradually disappearing from everyone's sight.
All that remained was the sound of laughter from the crowd...
Meanwhile, inside the Hongmeng Academy.
Chu Ruohan also learned that Gu Junze had won first place.