Xu Yijie, with nothing to do, hid near the Zhou mansion and along Wu Caiwei's usual path to the clinic, secretly observing them. He saw one becoming a highly praised divine doctor and the other living in a large house with many servants, while he himself had become a rat scurrying through the streets, reviled by all.
Originally, both women had a connection with him. Why were they thriving while he was falling further behind? The more he thought about it, the more unbalanced he felt. So, he dressed in rags and mingled with the beggars. At first, seeing them begging on the streets every day, he felt a sense of shame, after all, he was a scholar.
But when someone threw a copper coin into his broken bowl, he suddenly felt that this life wasn't so bad. He didn't have to worry about making a living; money came to him just by lying there. And by making himself look disheveled, no one recognized him.
Of course, he got along well with these beggars, but he didn't want to be a real beggar. After all, who wouldn't want to live comfortably as a lord? The thought of the culprits made him hate them in his heart.
Looking at the idle people lying in the dilapidated temple, he ingratiatingly said, "My name is Wang Liu. I've been here for a few days. From now on, we'll be living in the same broken temple. For this, I specially bought many steamed buns. One for each of you as a welcome gift. Please don't mind."
After speaking, under their curious gazes, he pulled out a sack from the corner and opened it. Inside were clean white steamed buns. Everyone instinctively swallowed and slowly surrounded him.
Xu Yijie was startled by their gazes, his heart skipped a beat. Almost simultaneously, he quickly tried to push his way out. His feeling was not wrong; in the next second, they pounced on the sack like hungry wolves. Those at the back, afraid of not getting any, frantically pushed forward, quickly knocking him to the ground.
After a while, only an empty sack remained on the ground, along with Xu Yijie, who had fallen and was rubbing his aching arm. The beggars in the temple were all sitting in their own corners, devouring the steamed buns ravenously.
To be honest, in his entire life, he had never seen such a scene. He had thought that by buying them steamed buns, they could all share one each and he could slowly eat the rest. He didn't expect them to deviate from the norm and simply snatch them. Looking at the dark sky outside and feeling his rumbling stomach, he resigned himself to bad luck. At this hour, where else could he find food?
After everyone finished eating, their gazes all turned towards him. Seeing this, Xu Yijie quickly waved his hand and said, "There are no more. I haven't had dinner yet. I made a little money today from a benefactor, but unfortunately, it wasn't much, and it all went into buying steamed buns."
Seeing that they were still staring at him even after he said this, Xu Yijie quickly showed them his clothes one by one, proving that he really had no silver on him. He was almost ready to strip naked for them to search.
Only then did the beggars relax and lean back against the wall. In fact, if he hadn't voluntarily offered, they were ready to strip him bare just then. Such things had happened before. Once, a beggar had gotten some silver, bought some things, and was eating them alone, only to have them snatched away, and he was beaten up.
The temple became quiet again. Xu Yijie, still somewhat shaken, touched his head. As he expected, he was covered in cold sweat. He had originally imagined that after taking his offerings, they would all sit together and chat nicely. But now, they had all returned to their own territories, minding their own business, which was contrary to his original intention.
He gathered his courage and said with a forced laugh, "Brothers, Heaven is too unfair. Some are born lords, while we have fallen to become beggars."
These were things they had already thought about countless times, lamented the unfairness of fate countless times. But what could they do? They could only vent, and then continue being beggars the next day.
Seeing that everyone didn't even lift their heads, Xu Yijie continued to talk to himself, "If we're talking about the wealthiest people in this city, it's definitely the Zhou family. Unfortunately, Old Master Zhou's head is covered in green grass."
As he spoke, he shook his head repeatedly and made clicking sounds with his mouth. This indeed attracted a few younger beggars, who had a common resentment towards the rich and would pay more attention whenever any lord was spoken ill of.
Someone couldn't help but tease, "Judging by your tone, do you have some inside information?"
Seeing that someone was engaging him, Xu Yijie became energetic and said proudly, "Of course. I used to beg in the area of the Zhou family. Several of my close friends saw Madam Zhou frequently dining out with different men, engaging in unspeakable acts. Don't be fooled by the seemingly harmonious relationship between Old Master Zhou and Madam Zhou; they both have their own agendas and have long been strangers to each other."
Another person said with some surprise, "That can't be right? The Zhou family is a prominent household. If his wife was always fooling around outside, how could Old Master Zhou tolerate it?"
Xu Yijie looked at him meaningfully, "You wouldn't know this. Madam Zhou's maternal family are high-ranking officials in the capital. A daughter of an official marrying into a merchant family, if there wasn't some hidden story, no one would believe it. Think about it, really think about it."
Who wouldn't be interested in hearing gossip? They were idle anyway. Immediately, a handsome and very young man said with some envy, "Since you know so much, can you tell me what happened to those men who got involved with Madam Zhou?"
Seeing his interest, Xu Yijie knew what he was thinking: he was day-dreaming, imagining that one day he could also get involved with Madam Zhou and soar to prominence.
He secretly scorned him, thinking he was a toad lusting after swan meat. However, he patiently recounted every detail of his interactions with Madam Zhou, including how they met. Because he described it so vividly, everyone was deeply immersed, as if those events had happened to themselves.
However, Xu Yijie embellished the outcome, saying that although they eventually parted ways, Xu Yijie still had a house and silver, and lived very well.
A look of longing appeared in everyone's eyes. If only they were Xu Yijie.
After this conversation, Xu Yijie found that their attitude towards him had changed and they were much friendlier. This was an unexpected surprise.
Beggars were a group of people looked down upon by others, with plenty of free time. What Xu Yijie told them yesterday spread throughout the beggar community the next day. When no one was around, they would also make crude jokes, fantasizing about how good it would be if they could also get involved with Madam Zhou.
These beggars were scattered throughout the streets and alleys, and they didn't pay attention when they spoke. Soon, people with ulterior motives overheard them, and the news naturally spread.