Wang Cheng, a native of Pingyuan, turned out to be an official. This man was lazy and lazy, and became poorer and poorer as time went by. He was so poor that he only had a few shabby rooms left, without quilts, so he slept in coir raincoats.
His wife thinks he is lazy, and the couple often quarrels.
It was the dog days of summer at this time, and the heat was unbearable. There is a Zhoujiayuan house outside the village. The courtyard walls and houses have all collapsed, leaving only a pavilion. People in the village want to stay cool, so many people stay here, including Wang Cheng. At dawn, all the villagers who were sleeping in the cool air left. When the sun came out and was three poles high, Wang Chengcai woke up, wiped his eyes, yawned, dragged his shoes, and lazily walked out of the pavilion. After walking a few steps, I saw a golden hairpin in the grass. I picked it up and saw that there were small characters engraved with "Made in Yibin Mansion". Ancestor Wang Cheng was the son-in-law of the royal family, and most of the original objects in his home were marked with this type of inscription. This is strange, where did this thing come from? I held the golden hairpin and started thinking about it.
Suddenly, an old mother came over, looking for the golden hairpin. Although Wang Cheng was poor, he was very upright. He stretched out his hand and handed over the gold hairpin. When the old lady received it, she was very happy and said: "You are really a good fortune picker! The gold hairpin is not worth much, just because it is a souvenir from your deceased husband, you can't bear to throw it away!" Wang Chengcheng asked: "Who is the old man's husband? Who is it?" He replied: "It's the original Yibin Wang Jianzhi!" Wang Cheng was surprised: "That's my grandfather! How do you know him?" The old mother was also surprised: "You are Wang Jianzhi! Your grandson! I am the Fox Immortal, and I had a close relationship with your grandfather a hundred years ago. After your grandfather passed away, I lost my gold hairpin when I passed by here. Isn’t it a lucky coincidence that you found it?” Cheng also heard that his grandfather had a fox fairy wife, so he believed what she said and invited her home to have a look.
The old mother followed him home. Wang Cheng asked his wife to come out to meet him. When the old mother saw that her daughter-in-law had a sallow complexion and was wearing patchwork clothes, she sighed and said, "Hey! Wang Jianzhi's grandson is so poor!" And seeing that there was no fire in the stove, she said, "The family has fallen into such a bad state. How can we live like this?" Wang's wife described the poverty situation in detail, sobbing. The old woman handed the golden hairpin to her daughter-in-law: "You can use it as some money to buy rice first, and I'll come back in three days." Wang Cheng persuaded her to stay, but the old mother said: "You can't even support your daughter-in-law, so I'll stay and look after you." What good does an empty house do to you?" After that, he left.
Wang Chengcheng told his wife that he met his old mother while picking up hairpins in the garden and that the old mother was a fox fairy. She was very scared. Wang Cheng said that the fox fairy is very loyal, don't be afraid, you will serve her as an old woman. The wife agreed.
Three days later, the old mother came as expected. He took out a few taels of silver and bought a few stones of food, and slept in the same bed with his wife at night. The daughter-in-law was a little worried at first, but seeing her old mother being so affectionate, she no longer had any doubts.
The next day, the old mother said to Wang Cheng: "Grandson! You have to be more diligent and start a small business. How can you last long with just food, clothing, and food!" Wang Cheng told her that he had no capital. The old mother said: "When your grandfather was alive, money was spent casually: I am a foreigner, I have no need for this money, and I have never taken much. I have 40 taels of silver saved here to buy flowers and powder, and I can save it." It's useless. You can buy it all into linen and go to the capital immediately. You can make some money." Wang Cheng took the silver and bought fifty bolts of linen. The old mother packed his luggage for him and calculated that he would arrive in the capital in six or seven days. She told him: "Be diligent, don't be lazy; go quickly, don't be slow. If you are one day late, it will be too late to regret." Wang Cheng agreed. Taking the goods with him, he headed for the capital.
It started to rain halfway through, my clothes were soaked through, and my shoes were covered with wet mud.
Wang Cheng has never experienced such hardship. He is tired and tired. I went to the hotel to rest for a while and wait for the weather to clear before leaving. Unexpectedly, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, until it was dark, and the eaves were dripping like ropes. After one night, the ground was even muddy. Looking at the passers-by, their ankles were covered in mud. Wang Cheng was afraid of suffering. By noon, the ground was a little drier, and then the clouds began to clear again, with heavy rain pouring down. After another night, we were on the road. We were almost arriving in the capital. I heard that the price of linen was very high, and Wang Cheng secretly liked it.
entered the capital, put down his luggage and checked into an inn.The shop owner said: "It's a pity, it's a pity!
You're late!" It turns out that the war in the south had just stopped, and pedestrians had just been able to come and go, and there were very few linens. The palace was in a hurry to buy goods, and the price soared, three times more expensive than usual. times. On the first day, as soon as I bought enough, the palace stopped accepting it. Hearing the news, Wang Cheng felt like a brick was stuck in his heart. What a coincidence! One day later, more supplies of linen came in, and the price dropped. Wang Cheng calculated it and found that the price was unprofitable and could not be sold. After more than ten days, I calculated the food and shop expenses and found that I had spent a lot of money. It was really frustrating! The shop owner advised him to sell it at a low price and buy other goods. Wang Cheng had no choice but to sell all the linen and lost more than ten taels of silver. I woke up early in the morning and packed my luggage. When I looked at my money bag, I saw that all my money was gone. Wang Cheng hurriedly told the shop owner. The shop owner was surprised and couldn't think of a way. Someone advised Wang Cheng to file a complaint. The owner of the hotel should pay compensation if the hotel was stolen. Wang Cheng sighed and said, "It's my own fault for this misfortune. How can I blame the shop owner?" The shop owner was very grateful and gave Wang Cheng five taels of silver and advised him to go home.
Wang Cheng wondered to himself, how could he go back to see his grandmother like this? Coming out and going in, I can't make up my mind. Suddenly I saw a quail fight. A bet often costs thousands of dollars.
Selling a quail is worth hundreds of dollars. He calculated that the money in his hand was only enough for selling quail, so he discussed it with the shop owner. The owner of the shop agreed very much and encouraged him to do it, saying: "I don't want any money for the shop or food." Wang Cheng was so happy that he immediately went out to sell a load of quails and returned to the capital. The shop owner wished him to sell it soon and make some money.
That night, it started raining heavily again, and it rained all night. At dawn, the water on the street turned into a river. The rain is still pouring down, and it won't clear up for a few days. Wang Cheng opened the cage and took a look. Some of the quails were dead. Wang Cheng was very frightened and didn't know what to do. Another day passed, and more quails died. Only a few quails remained, and they were kept in a cage.
I looked again after one night, and there was only one left. Wang Cheng was extremely frustrated and hurriedly went to tell the shop owner, crying sadly as he spoke. The shop owner also sighed for him. Wang Cheng was obsessed with losing all his money and not being able to go home, so he just wanted to die. The shop owner persuaded him and took him to watch the quails together. The shop owner looked at it for a while and said: "This quail seems to be a valuable thing. If those quails die, it may not be the result of a fight with it. Anyway, you have nothing to do, just hold it. If you can fight, bet on the outcome, you can also make a living. " Wang Cheng listened to his words, cooked the quails, and took them to the market to gamble and eat. This quail can fight, and often defeats other quails. The shop owner was so happy that he gave Wang Cheng a few taels of silver and asked him to bet on quail fights with the children of wealthy families. He fought three games in a row and won every game.
After half a year of this, I saved more than twenty taels of silver. Wang Cheng became more and more happy. He regarded this quail as his lifeblood, took good care of it and raised it carefully.
At that time, the eldest prince liked quail very much. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, he often let people bring quails into the palace to fight with quails. The shopkeeper said to Wang Cheng: "Now you can make a fortune immediately, it depends on your fate!" Wang Cheng asked: "What is it?" The shopkeeper told him the reason, led Wang Cheng there, and said: "If there is a fight, If you lose, just accept the bad luck and come back. If you win the fight, the king will definitely buy it, so don't agree to sell it; if you have to buy it, just look at my eyes, I nod, and then agree to sell it to him. "
Wang Cheng said: "Okay!"
The two of them entered the palace and saw that there were quite a few quails coming, crowding the courtyard. After waiting for a while, the eldest prince came out of the palace and sat down. The waiter announced: "Anyone who is willing to fight quail can come up!" A man held the quail and bowed up to the hall.
The prince ordered the quails to be released, and the guests also released his. The two quails flew up and fought for a few times. The visitor's quails were defeated, and the prince burst into laughter. After a while, the few who went up were all defeated by the eldest prince. The shop owner said: "It's time!"
led Wang Cheng and the quail onto the stage. The eldest prince looked at the quail and said: "Hmm! This quail has angry veins in its eyes. It can only fight, and you can't underestimate the enemy!"
ordered to take out the iron-mouthed quail to fight.Two quails flew up, you gave them a peck, they pecked them, they jumped a few times, and the fight was defeated. The eldest prince changed to a better one, but was defeated in a fight again; he changed to a better one, and was defeated in a fight again. The eldest prince became anxious and ordered the jade quails from the palace to be taken out! In a blink of an eye, the jade quail came out. I saw this jade quail, with white feathers all over its body like an egret, looking around with its head raised, looking majestic and unusual. Wang Chengke was discouraged.
He knelt down and begged: "Stop fighting! Your Majesty's quail is a sacred creature. How dare you fight with it!
If my quail is injured, I will have nothing to rely on!" He laughed and said: "Let's put it up and fight!
If I kill you in the fight, I will compensate you heavily!" Wang Cheng put the quail up. When the jade quail saw it, he rushed over and pecked it. At the beginning, Wang Cheng's quail lay there, fluttering its feathers and waiting; when the jade quail pecked, it fluttered its wings like a crane and pecked down suddenly. You advance and I retreat, you retreat and I advance, flying up and down, flying down to meet up, coming and going, the two quails fought for a long time. The jade quail's momentum gradually relaxed, but Wang Cheng's quail fought more and more fiercely, and the more it fought, the more urgent it became. After a while, I saw a lot of white feathers flying in the air, and the jade quail folded its wings and ran away. Thousands of people in the audience were stunned. When they saw Wang Cheng's quail victory, they were all talking with admiration and envy.
The eldest prince also left his seat at this time and asked for Wang Cheng's quail. He held it in his hand and looked at it carefully from the beak to the claws. Then he asked: "Do you want to sell this quail?" Wang Cheng replied: "The villain has no property in his family, and he depends on it for life, and he doesn't want to sell it." The prince said: "I'll give you more money! Give you a You are willing to pay for the money of a middle-class family." Wang Cheng lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "I was not willing to sell it, but since the king likes this toy, as long as the villain has no worries about food and clothing, what else can I ask for? !” The prince asked, “How much money?” It's a treasure, but in the eyes of a villain, even a priceless jade can't surpass it." The prince said, "How do you say this?" Wang Cheng said, "The villain takes it to the market to fight quails every day! If you win some money and buy some food, your family of more than ten people will not have to worry about food or clothing." The prince said: "I won't treat you badly, I will give you two hundred. Two pieces of silver!" Wang Cheng shook his head. The prince added another hundred taels. Wang Cheng looked at the shopkeeper, who remained calm. Wang Cheng said: "Since the king wants it, I will reduce it by one hundred taels!" The prince said: "Forget it! Who is willing to buy a quail for nine hundred taels of silver!"
Wang Cheng picked up the quail and walked out. The prince shouted: "Come back, those who played quail! Come back, those who played quail! I will give you six hundred taels. If you are willing, it will be considered a deal, otherwise I won't give it up!"
Wang Cheng looked at the shopkeeper again, but the shopkeeper still didn't nod. Wang Cheng felt that this amount was not small and was satisfied. He was afraid that it would lead to a deadlock and miss the opportunity, so he said: "Hey! I sold it at this price, and I was really dissatisfied. But if the sale failed, I offended the king. I have no choice but to press the price." Do what the king says!" The prince was so happy that he immediately weighed six hundred taels of silver and paid it to Wang Cheng, leaving the quail. Wang Cheng packed up his money, thanked him and walked out of the house. On the way, the shopkeeper complained: "What did I say? Why are you so eager to sell? After a little more arguing, you have eight hundred taels of silver in your hand!" When he returned to the inn, Wang Cheng threw the silver on the table. Please ask the store owner to take it yourself. The shopkeeper didn't want it. After giving in for a while, the shopkeeper settled the bill and only charged the meal.
Wang Cheng returned to his hometown, told the story in detail, and took out the money. The whole family was very happy. The old mother bought 300 acres of good land, built a house, bought everything, and actually became a wealthy family. The old mother got up at dawn and asked Wang Cheng to supervise the plowing and harvesting, and his wife to supervise the spinning and weaving. If the two slacked off a little, they would scold them. The couple was also very obedient and did not dare to complain at all. After three years of this, I became richer and richer. The old mother wants to say goodbye and go back.
The couple tried again and again to stay, until they started crying, and the old mother refused to leave. The next morning, the couple went to say good morning. When they opened the door, they saw that their old mother was gone.
