Chapter 53: Gains

Choked by the foul stench, Zhao Dacheng glared fiercely at Zhou Huaishan.

Turning around, he snapped at the bookstore assistant, "What are you standing there for? Get up here and count!"

The assistant calmly stepped onto the platform, walking first towards Zhao Dacheng.

"One, two..."

The assistant counted, and the crowd followed along.

"Thirty-four, thirty-five! Zhao Dacheng made thirty-five in total!"

Leaning back in his chair with his legs on the table, Zhao Dacheng sneered at Zhou Huaishan.

The assistant placed Zhao Dacheng's finished cages down and walked towards Zhou Huaishan.

"Huh?"

At the sight of Zhou Huaishan’s cages, the assistant couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

Hearing this, the crowd became excited and shouted, "What's going on? What's going on?"

Zhao Dacheng scoffed disdainfully, "He probably didn’t make any at all. He chose this contest himself, so he better not cry and beg me for mercy if he loses."

Zhou Huaishan ignored him.

After the assistant's initial surprise, he began counting.

"One, two..."

The crowd continued to count along.

"Thirty-four, thirty-five! Huh, they both made thirty-five."

The assistant turned to look at the bookstore shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper sat there with a dark expression, not wanting to look in their direction at all.

He wanted a poem, not cages!

This was infuriating.

Hearing that Zhou Huaishan also made thirty-five, Zhao Dacheng jumped up from his chair.

"Impossible! I’m renowned for my speed in making cricket cages in Qinghe County. I’m the best! How could this country bumpkin make as many as me?"

Saying this, he rushed to Zhou Huaishan’s table.

The crowd below shouted, “If the numbers are the same, then let’s see who made them better!”

Ignoring Zhou Huaishan's cages for the moment, Zhao Dacheng turned back to his own table, grabbed a cage, and held it up.

"Look closely, no one can beat my craftsmanship!"

The crowd expressed their discontent, shouting, "Your full-time job is making these cages. Is it really fair to compare?"

"He chose the contest himself, how is it my fault?" Zhao Dacheng smugly rolled his eyes.

At this moment, the assistant held up one of Zhou Huaishan’s cages.

The crowd immediately buzzed with excitement.

"Wow, cricket cages can be made like this!"

"Damn! You country folks really know how to play! I've never seen anything like that!"

"Wow! This cricket cage is so beautiful. It would look great with flowers and hung on the wall."

There were all sorts of praises from the crowd.

Zhao Dacheng’s eye twitched as he turned to look.

Someone actually made better cages than him?

Impossible!

As the thought of impossibility surged through his mind, Zhao Dacheng looked at Zhou Huaishan's cages and was nearly speechless.

Despite making cages for over ten years, he had never seen cricket cages this exquisite.

Moreover—

"Wow, look! Every one of Zhou Huaishan’s cages is different!"

"Yeah, they’re all so beautiful!"

"I really want to buy one!"

Zhao Dacheng, stunned, stammered, "H-how did you do this?"

Zhou Huaishan chuckled, "With my smart brain and nimble hands."

Zhao Dacheng felt like dying.

This guy is more shameless than me!

The crowd erupted in applause, "Second round, Zhou Huaishan wins!"

"You see, competing in my strength, I win, competing in your strength, I still win. Want to continue?" Zhou Huaishan earnestly asked Zhao Dacheng.

Zhao Dacheng couldn’t believe that someone was better than him at making cricket cages!

He was Qinghe County’s top dandy!

Losing at making cricket cages?!

If he couldn't redeem himself, how would he live in Qinghe County?

Glaring at Zhou Huaishan, Zhao Dacheng spat, "Don’t get cocky, you sly cheater. Dare to go another round?"

Zhou Huaishan, with an innocent smile, said, "Even if we go another round and you win, I still win two out of three. It’s meaningless."

Zhao Dacheng retorted, "Meaning or not, I decide. Do you dare or not?"

"Compete in what?"

"Dice throwing!"

The crowd below exploded in outrage.

"Shameless, shameless, shameless!"

"Get off the stage, get off the stage, get off the stage!"

"Rigged, rigged, rigged!"

Zhou Qing…

Ancient version of bullet screen comments?^[1]

The bookstore shopkeeper, nearly driven mad by Zhao Dacheng, felt his blood boiling up to his head.

Leaping from his chair, he strode onto the platform.

Glaring at Zhao Dacheng, he then turned to the angry crowd and gestured for silence.

"The competition ends here. Zhou Huaishan wins. The spot for this year's provincial exam goes to Zhou Huaishan."

As soon as the bookstore shopkeeper finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted.

Between a wastrel and a farmer, the crowd naturally hoped for the farmer to win from the bottom of their hearts.

Moreover, the wastrel was the bookstore shopkeeper’s brother-in-law.

Zhao Dacheng wanted this spot because of a bet.

Now, not only did he lose the spot, but he also made a fool of himself publicly. His face turned pale with anger.

"Zhou Huaishan, are you a man? If you are, then compete again!"

"Shut up!" the bookstore shopkeeper snapped at Zhao Dacheng.

Zhao Dacheng stubbornly said, "Do you dare or not? If you don't compete, you're not a man!"

Zhou Huaishan nonchalantly replied, "Well, I guess I'm not, then."

Zhao Dacheng…

He almost choked on Zhou Huaishan’s words.

"Will you compete or not!"

Zhou Huaishan smiled sincerely and shook his head, "No."

"Get him off the stage!"

Zhao Dacheng was about to protest, but the bookstore shopkeeper ordered the assistant.

The assistant immediately dragged Zhao Dacheng off the platform and into the bookstore.

"Everyone here can witness, on the exam day, Zhou Huaishan will enter with my recommendation." As soon as Zhao Dacheng left, the bookstore shopkeeper apologized to the crowd.

Inside, he cursed endlessly.

Damn, why did I even set up this competition in the first place?

What a stupid idea!

As the bookstore shopkeeper finished speaking, the crowd knew the show was over and began to disperse.

Just as the bookstore shopkeeper was about to approach Zhou Huaishan, a few nimble figures jumped onto the platform.

"Hey, big brother, are you selling these cages?"

The bookstore shopkeeper’s face darkened.

The ones who jumped up were the wastrels who had made a bet with Zhao Dacheng.

If it weren’t for them, Zhao Dacheng wouldn’t have fixated on the spot.

If it weren’t for them, today’s farce wouldn’t have happened.

Annoyed, the bookstore shopkeeper said, "Sure, ten taels of silver each!"

Zhou Huaishan looked at the bookstore shopkeeper in shock.

Ten taels?

Why not just rob them!

Meeting Zhou Huaishan’s gaze, the bookstore shopkeeper remembered that Zhou Huaishan was still copying books to pay for his tuition. 

Looking at the wastrels, he said, "Make it twenty taels each!"

Zhou Huaishan…

Before Zhou Huaishan could react, in the blink of an eye, a few pieces of silver were slapped down in front of him.

At twenty taels each, all thirty-five cages were quickly sold out.

Now there were seven hundred taels of silver in front of him.

Zhou Qing…

Zhou Huaishan…

Staring at the seven hundred taels, the two of them felt like they were dreaming.

The bookstore shopkeeper sighed, "They come from rich families, for them, twenty taels is nothing. Keep the money for your studies."

Zhou Huaishan felt at ease immediately.

Having lived in this era for a while, he had forgotten that dandies are meant to squander money. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be dandies!

_____

Footnotes:

[1] “Bullet comments”, or “dan'mu” (弹幕) in Chinese are comments that float across the screen, just like flying bullets.