The words revealed a clue, and the three brothers immediately understood the truth behind this fox spirit’s enthusiasm. She wanted them to stay at her home.
However, did they need to think too much when comparing?
A mess of random people staying in one room, versus four of their own people staying in one room, and the prices were about the same. The comparison naturally led to a choice.
So the three big ones and one small one followed Hu Youli again.
After seeing Hu Youli’s home, the three big ones and one small one could only stand on the road and look up.
There was no other way. Hu Youli’s home was above a street. It was the type of house they had seen before on the street, the kind where the street passed underneath the house. It was an aerial pavilion squeezed between two buildings.
“Come.”
Just as the three brothers were wondering how this fox spirit normally entered and exited her home, Hu Youli called out and led them to the side of the house by the road. There was a pillar against the wall. Only when they drew close did they discover grooves on the pillar.
Carrying a large bag, Hu Youli was the first to climb up, hugging the pillar with both hands and stepping on the grooves. She climbed to the top, unlocked and pushed open a floorboard beneath the house, then crawled inside. She turned back, showing her face through the hole above, and waved at the three of them, signalling them to come up.
The three brothers standing by the road looked at each other. They seemed somewhat unsure whether they still wanted to stay in this kind of house. If they stayed for a long time, would they have to enter and exit on the street in this manner all the time? Would they not be mistaken for thieves?
Seeing the three were slow to react, Hu Youli did not urge them either. She half-crouched there and waited quietly.
“Forget it. When poor, one’s ambitions are short. Let’s not be fussy about poverty. Let’s first see if it is suitable.” Nan Zhu muttered softly. He reached out and grabbed Little Black, then leaped up with a single bound, directly jumping to the underside of the house about four zhang high. With one hand he hooked the frame opening, pushed Little Black to Hu Youli inside, then crawled in himself.
There was no other way. Yu Qing and Mu Aotie also flew up one after another and crawled into Hu Youli’s home.
Hu Youli, having removed the bag from her body, covered the hole in the floor again, then began to introduce her home.
Hu Youli could tell these few somewhat looked down on her house, so from the start she emphasised that although her house was an aerial pavilion in a crack, it was worth at least ten million taels. In the capitals of Yin Kingdom and Jin Kingdom, one could buy a mansion with it.
The tone in her words showed considerable arrogance. The meaning was that no matter how inconvenient the houses here were to live in, they were still valuable. Houses elsewhere, no matter how good, were countryside places. Her house could at any time go to their places and exchange for a mansion. Their places’ houses put here were worth nothing. Then she spoke of how prosperous this place was, how many people yearned to come here to live, and so on.
The three brothers did not know why she, living in Sea Market, needed to compare with other places. Seeing her maintaining her dignity through self-praise, they could not say much either. They looked around awkwardly, occasionally raising their hands to scratch their faces.
The house was divided into three rooms in total. Together they formed a “pin” shape running lengthwise against the street. In fact, this was also because the structure of the buildings on the left and right limited the size.
The reason Hu Youli’s parents could build such a house was that they had risked their lives for a somewhat high-status person from Qianliu Mountain back in the day. Unfortunately, that person’s status was not very high either. They could not give anything good, and only managed to secure the right to build between the two houses.
It was also because land in Sea Market was too scarce. Everywhere people were squeezing into every gap. They would not even spare a long, straight road. How could it be easy to get a house?
Even so, the owners of the buildings on the left and right were still very unhappy. They protested for a long time. The final result was that the house squeezed between them was restricted from exceeding their height and width. It also had to help reinforce the walls on their side, otherwise they feared it would damage their houses.
Although the house was not large, one could tell thought had been put into it. The upper and lower floors had four small balconies front and back, and on the balconies some flowers and plants had been grown.
Of the three rooms, whichever they wanted to stay in, Hu Youli let them choose themselves. The three brothers chose the topmost one, feeling the privacy would be somewhat better.
No problem, but Hu Youli put the unpleasant words up front. “Four people in one room, one thousand two hundred taels a day. Pay for ten days first. If you do not stay the full time, the money can be refunded. Additionally, a deposit of ten thousand taels is required. If you agree, we will sign the contract immediately.”
The brothers discussed briefly and agreed. So both sides quickly drafted the contract, after which Yu Qing took out twenty-two thousand taels in banknotes and gave them to the landlord.
Having received the money and confirmed the banknotes were fine, Hu Youli immediately began to work. She wanted to clear the clutter from the upper room and move it all downstairs.
The three grown men felt embarrassed watching a woman work, so they helped out a bit.
Once they seriously got to work tidying up, the three brothers discovered that this upper room should also count as the woman’s study. She had written and drawn quite a few things.
“Ahem, Old Fifteenth.”
A voice making some kind of hint suddenly came from Nan Zhu. Yu Qing turned back to see Nan Zhu repeatedly making pouting motions towards a piece of calligraphy hanging on the wall, clearly signalling him to go over and look.
Not knowing what the problem was, Yu Qing immediately walked over and asked, “What is it?”
“See for yourself.” Nan Zhu indicated with his chin.
Yu Qing’s gaze swept across the wall. He was somewhat speechless. He discovered it was actually that “Facing the Heavenly Palace” he had written when taking the metropolitan examination in the capital. Looking at the handwriting, it seemed somewhat imitative of his own. The problem was that it had actually been mounted and hung here.
Mu Aotie noticed the commotion and also came over to see what was happening.
Hu Youli, having carried things downstairs, came back upstairs. Seeing the three gathered in front of that piece of calligraphy admiring it, she said somewhat unexpectedly, “You also like A Shiheng’s works?”
“…”
This question was truly asked of the right people. The three brothers turned back to look at her together, all somewhat dazed, dazed by her question. For a moment none of them knew how to answer.
Mu Aotie turned and walked away, looking like it was none of his business.
Hu Youli also walked to that piece of calligraphy. Looking at it, she said, “A Shiheng’s authentic works are really too few and far between. The largest and best inn in Sea Market, ‘Langhuan Residence’, does collect one authentic work of A Shiheng. There are also complete reproductions of A Shiheng’s capital examination treasures, placed as decorations in some of the finest guest rooms. I also managed to sneak in and work as an inn helper for a period of time, and only then was I fortunate enough to see them.”
Speaking of these things, she actually had a somewhat spirited and excited air.
Mu Aotie on the side quietly tilted his head and glanced over.
One could see Yu Qing’s mouth corners twitching slightly.
Nan Zhu’s face showed a strange expression. He asked in return, “To see A Shiheng’s calligraphy treasures, you actually went to work as an inn helper?”
Hu Youli: “Otherwise how could I go in to see? Pay to stay there and see? Do you know how much it costs to stay one day at ‘Langhuan Residence’?”
Yu Qing slowly came out with a sentence, “Actually A Shiheng is just like that. There is no need to think too highly of him.”
Hearing these words, Hu Youli was clearly somewhat displeased. She asked him in return, “Do you think the greatest talent under heaven is child’s play? From ancient times until now, how many people have been publicly acknowledged by all under heaven as the greatest talent? Throwing away the crown and disdaining kings and nobles, abandoning literature for martial arts, a true man. In literature he can be number one under heaven. In martial arts he can go to Little Cloud Room with Qianliu Mountain, Si Nan Fu, and Da Ye Si, and still emerge unscathed. How many people under heaven can do that? Only when the seas run turbulent does a hero’s true colours show. Have you not heard of Tan Hua Lang saving the myriad people from fire and water?”
These words left the three brothers staring at her in a daze.
Especially Yu Qing, his mouth open in an “oh”. He had not expected that in some distant corner there were still people who praised him so highly.
Nan Zhu raised a hand and slowly scratched his chubby face, thinking inwardly. Clearly the three of them had been captured together by Qianliu Mountain, Si Nan Fu, and Da Ye Si. They had been escorted into Little Cloud Room. How did it become in other people’s mouths that Old Fifteenth alone emerged unscathed? This fox spirit’s words were a bit too biased, were they not?
Of course, he also saw that Hu Youli was probably truly unhappy, because Yu Qing had belittled the person she admired.
He immediately coughed and said, “Miss Hu, that is not what he means. Actually, he also quite likes A Shiheng. He often practises calligraphy imitating A Shiheng’s brushwork.”
“Is that so?” Hu Youli was somewhat doubtful. Staring at Yu Qing, she said, “Can you get A Shiheng’s calligraphy treasures?”
Nan Zhu thought inwardly about the signature on that contract just now. He somewhat suspected whether this fox spirit had really seen authentic works.
Yu Qing could only go along with Nan Zhu’s words. “No, no, just copybooks, copybooks.”
Hu Youli’s bright eyes lit up. “Did you bring the copybooks?”
“Uh…” Yu Qing was startled, then again dissembled, “Came out on business, did not bring them with me.”
Hu Youli had no choice but to let it go with regret. She did not suspect he was lying, because there was no need to tell such a lie. So she continued to move things and clear the room.
After she went downstairs, Nan Zhu sidled up to Yu Qing again and teased, “If you revealed your identity, could you save on the rent?”
Yu Qing said disdainfully, “Do you think I would do such a thing for a bit of money?”
If people knew he was so poor he could not even afford an inn, where would his face go if word got out?
Nan Zhu scoffed and did not say much more, afraid Hu Youli would hear.
Also, he felt it was indeed not appropriate to make it known everywhere. If wherever they went people stared at them, it would be hard to get things done.
Yu Qing flipped through the other calligraphy and paintings in the room. He discovered that indeed many of his poems and essays had been repeatedly copied here.
After the room was cleared, there were not that many beds either. They could only sleep on the floor.
The three brothers had no objections to this.
Everything was settled. Before going downstairs, Hu Youli reminded them again, “If you want to eat something, you can tell me in advance. I can cook for you. Eating outside is very expensive. I can buy cheap ingredients, and cooking them myself will definitely be much cheaper.”
Little Black immediately shouted, “I want to eat meat pies.”
The three brothers wanted to cover his mouth, but they were in front of an outsider.
Hu Youli smiled beautifully, pointing at Little Black. “Arranged. Tell me what kind you want to eat. Big Sister can cook everything.”
Little Black immediately ran over with shining eyes. Hu Youli had just turned around when she turned back again to tease the three brothers, “When you have time, you can go outside and look around. See if there is any lodging with better value for money than mine. If there is, you can check out at any time.”
After speaking, she casually hooked her arm around Little Black’s shoulder and left.
The point was, the three brothers watched with their own eyes as Little Black also casually wrapped his arm around her slender waist. The big one and small one went downstairs together, leaving the three of them in dead silence.