In the early morning, before the cockcrow sounded, Chen Ji opened his eyes and saw five small silver ingots placed beside his pillow.

It was the reward Yunyang promised, but he didn't know how the other party sneaked into the medical center, nor when he sneaked in. It was as if these five silver ingots appeared here out of thin air.

This is not only Yunyang's reward, but also a warning to the other party.

Chen Ji stood up silently and put on the new clothes he had received from the wedding cake. When he unfolded them, he saw that it was a navy blue robe with a stand-up collar and a large placket. The two buttons on the stand-up collar were made of silver jewelry, which was a lot better than the clothes he wore before.

I'm afraid this set of clothes will cost several taels of silver, right?

It's a pity that the wedding cake only came with clothes, bras and trousers, but not boots and belts. So after Chen Ji put on the stand-up collar and placket, he still had the same pair of rag shoes on his feet and a wide hemp belt around his waist.

…

Chen Ji was happy, he seemed a bit nondescript.

No matter what, what does it mean for a young apprentice to be poor? He can make up for it later when he makes money.

When the rooster crows, Chen Yi goes out and happens to see that the door panel of the grain and oil shop opposite is being removed.

"Good morning, boss lady," Chen Ji smiled and entered the grain store.

"Hey, what do you want to buy, Dr. Chen?" The proprietress was busy opening the business. When she saw him coming in early in the morning, she immediately put down what she was doing.

"How much does a pound of millet cost?" Chen Ji asked.

"It's eight cents for others to ask. If I give it to Dr. Chen, it's six cents for you," the landlady said with a smile.

"How much does a pound of rice cost?"

"Jiuwen, this is not cheap, please forgive me."

Doctors are scarce these days, and their professional status is relatively high. Chen Ji's master is a serious seventh-rank imperial doctor in the imperial court, so the neighbors are quite polite to Chen Ji.

"Then bring me five kilograms of millet, five kilograms of rice...and a pot of sesame oil, and by the way, there's also a bunch of bacon!" Chen Ji said.

The landlady smiled happily: "Okay, the total is one hundred and ninety-five cents, and I'll charge you one hundred and ninety."

Chen Ji broke open the one-tael silver ingot, exchanged it for a few strings of copper coins, and left them at the grain and oil shop to pick them up in the evening, while he left carrying large and small parcels.

The straps made of straw made his hands hurt a bit when he put them on, but he was still in a good mood.

The purpose of buying things was to take a break and go home. Chen Ji thought about it. Judging from his own living situation, the conditions at his home were probably not very good.

According to the information revealed by Master previously, his father should be working on the river embankment, right?

Under such conditions, the other party also helped me to give the apprenticeship ceremony to the master and find a good future. It should be the effort of the whole family.

This made Chen Ji a little touched, and even a little curious about his family in this world.

The Chen family lived in Cuiyun Lane. He asked the owner of a street shop for the location and walked all the way to the north of Luocheng.

In the morning, Luocheng was a little more lively. He saw someone driving an oxcart passing by. There were several sacks on the oxcart, and he didn't know what they contained, as if they were going to a market.

There are also caravans entering the city from the north, with stretched leather goods piled on the carriages. Winter is about to come, and these are the most sought-after goods among the nobles.

It is said that the most famous place with wooden tiles in the East Market is called Hongyi Lane. The top girl usually does not accept customers, but if a wealthy businessman offers a piece of white mink fur, he will definitely kiss her.

There were urchins chasing and playing on the roadside, shouting nursery rhymes and holding home-made windmills in their hands.

Women were washing clothes, joking and chatting by the river that ran through the city, and burst into laughter from time to time.

When Chen Ji came to Cuiyun Lane, he looked for a stall owner and asked: "Uncle, which household in Guandong does the Chen family live in?"

The uncle glanced at him: "Isn't this a trace? Why do you need to ask where your home is?"

Chen Ji: "..."

The co-author is an acquaintance.

He hesitated for a long time and did not dare to ask any more questions. He just carried his things and walked into the alley.

At this time, there was a noise ahead: "Butler, butler, where is this lantern hung?"

A man's mean voice said impatiently: "Do I have to teach you everything? There are hooks on the eaves above the heads of the stone lions! Hurry up, the two young masters will be back soon. Let's ink again.

Watch your skin carefully!"

Chen Ji looked at the lanterns and colorful decorations in this house and didn't know what was going on. However, the more he looked at it, the more he felt that something was wrong. However, he saw that the plaque in front of this house said... Chen Mansion.

Are there two more Chen mansions in Cuiyun Lane?

Although this house has bright lintels, a red lacquered front door and stone lions, it is certainly not an ordinary house.

"...This shouldn't be my home, right?" Chen Ji muttered.

"Chen Ji?" The steward with a mustache looked over and asked doubtfully, "Why are you back?"

Chen Ji hesitated for a second: "I will take a rest today."

The housekeeper said: "It just so happens that you are taller. Come and climb up the ladder to hang the lantern."

"oh."

Chen Ji put the package in his hand aside on the ground and climbed up the ladder to hang the lantern.

The housekeeper was directing the other maids: "Come on, come on, bring a basin of water and sprinkle water in front of the door, so as not to raise dust when the two young masters come back later. This group of clumsy people belong to the Tongzhi family in Luocheng after all.

Slaves, if anyone sees you, they will laugh at you for not knowing the rules!"

As he said that, the housekeeper saw the packages on the ground and said, "Whoever put them here, please take them aside quickly so they don't get in the way."

Chen Ji calmly came down from the ladder: "Butler, I..."

The butler suddenly realized: "I came here to learn how to bank. The master told me about this a while ago, but you see I was busy and forgot about it, so I didn't send it to you."

He ordered someone to bring out a bunch of copper coins from the accounting room. There should be three hundred coins: "Save some money. The world is difficult now, and it is not easy for our Chen family."

Until this moment, Chen Ji still didn't understand what his status was in the Chen family.

The sound of horse hoofbeats was heard in the distance, and noisy discussions came from outside Cuiyun Lane: "The eldest young master of the Chen family, the second young master is back! It has been three years since he went to Donglin Academy, and he is a little unrecognizable when he comes back.

Woolen cloth."

"Eldest Young Master, Second Young Master is getting more and more handsome."

Chen Ji looked around and saw two young men riding white horses into the alley. They were wearing blue brocade robes with quiet and elegant patterns embroidered on them. The embroidery workers alone knew they were expensive.

The two young men wore cloud-toe boots, each had a piece of sapphire hanging on their belts, and a jade pendant collar hung on their chests. They looked to be no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, and they were very handsome.

The steward stepped forward and took the reins with a smile: "After completing their studies at Donglin Academy, these two young masters will surely be a blockbuster in this year's competition!"

The two young masters jumped off their horses, handed the whips in their hands to the maid's hands, and said with a smile: "The housekeeper has gained more gray hair in the past few years. It seems that he has worked hard for the house."

"Everywhere, everything is within your scope... I was supervising the water conservancy work on the river embankment. I heard you were going back a few days ago, so I made a special trip back to wait for you. Go and say hello to him!"

Amidst the commotion, everyone followed the two young masters into the house. They didn't even look at Chen Ji when they passed by.

It wasn't a pretense, they really didn't seem to recognize who Chen Ji was, or it didn't matter whether they recognized him or not.

The originally bustling Chen Mansion had become deserted, and Chen Ji stood silently at the door, as if the world had forgotten him.

Chen Ji thought carefully, the master should know about his family background, but the master seemed to have never mentioned that his family could not afford to pay the tuition fee because of poverty, nor did he say what his father did on the river embankment.

The reason why the master was so angry at the beginning was because he knew that his family was obviously rich, but he was still reluctant to pay the student loan.

Tongzhi of Luocheng, like Liu Mingming, was a fifth-rank official.

Chen Ji looked at the plaque "Chen's Mansion" above his head, but in the end he did not step into the red door. The young man just bent down and placed the string of three hundred copper coins at the door, then picked up the packages he had brought and left.

The old man at the alley looked at his back and sighed: "There is a huge difference between a legitimate son with a mother and a bastard without a mother."

Chen Ji returned to Anxi Street and took out copper coins from the grain and oil store. The proprietress was a little surprised: "Dr. Chen, why did you bring the things back as they were? We can't return them."

He smiled: "Don't retreat, take it back to honor Master."

When he returned to the hospital, Old Yao raised his eyes and glanced at him: "Didn't I ask you to take a rest and come back so soon?"

Chen Ji counted five hundred and sixty copper coins and came out: "Master, this is the money my family gave me to make up for the money I owe you for school and medicine. These packages in my hand were also entrusted to me by my family to bring to you."

Old Man Yao curled his lips: "Your family is finally sensible. I didn't expect that your father could repair his brain while supervising the construction of a river embankment."

Chen Ji: "...You were demoted to Luo City because you were too venomous, right?"

…

…

At night, Chen Ji was sitting in the main hall of the medical clinic, quietly excerpting knowledge points about the pathology of typhoid fever. When he turned around, Wu Yun was already squatting on the counter behind him, with a small blue cloth bag in his mouth.

"Are you planning to run away from home?"

"What are you thinking about?" Wu Yun hesitated for a few seconds and asked, "Can you take me to Qingping Alley?"

"It's already very late and I'm afraid of the dark."

"Do you think I believe it or not?"

Chen Ji sighed: "Okay, I'll take you there, but why are you going to Qingping Lane?"

"I don't want to say it now!"

Where is Qingping Alley? This is a very serious question.

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Well... I'll take you there tomorrow night. It's not very convenient today."

"Why not today?!"

"I don't know where Qingping Lane is..." Chen Ji said, "You don't have to look at me like that. Although I can't explain why, I really don't know where Qingping Lane is."

Wuyun thought for a moment: "I know."

A watchman passed by outside the door. While knocking the clock, he shouted: "The weather is dry and things are dry, be careful of the candles."

It's Yin time, 3 o'clock in the morning.

Luo City is no longer as lively and prosperous as it was during the day.

Chen Ji quietly closed the door of the medical center and followed the dark clouds into the night.

He tied the small blue cloth package on the back of the dark cloud. It looked quite cute, and it also prevented him from losing the trace of the dark cloud in the dark night... The dark cloud was too dark.

Along the way, the dark clouds seemed to be relying on memory to identify the direction, sniffing here and there.

One person and one cat walked for a full hour, and even took the wrong path several times.

Chen Ji did not rush him. He could see that going to Qingping Lane tonight must be very important to Wu Yun.

He has enough patience.

Finally, the dark cloud stopped in a small alley, staring blankly at the closed door.

"Is this here?" Chen Ji asked.

"This is it."

"Shall I knock on the door?"

"no!"

Dark clouds called twice toward the door, calling for something.

But apart from attracting two wild cats, nothing happened.

"I want to climb in and take a look. You wait for me here." The dark cloud leaped to the yard with a little help from the wall. The speed was as fast as pulling out an afterimage, which was particularly vigorous.

Chen Ji leaned in the alley and waited calmly. After a while, the dark clouds came back again, and his mood was obviously much lower: "Let's go."

"Is the matter done?"

"Um."

"What's up?"

Wuyun stopped and looked back at the door: "I miss my mother."

If there is no trace of silence, the cat will also miss its mother.

Wu Yun said in a daze: "She may not miss me, but I just want to come and have a look...and don't I want to travel with you in the future? I have to bring you here and let her see you."

Chen Ji asked: "Is she not at home?"

Wu Yun's voice gradually became lower: "She must have been sold too. Her cage and rice bowl are gone."

"Help you find her?"

"If you don't look for it anymore, this is the fate of cats."

"What's in the little baggage you brought?"

"I secretly hid some dried fish and wanted to bring it to her."

Chen Ji stood silent in the darkness of the alley. He bent down and held Wu Yun in his arms and walked towards the medical center.

The dark cloud didn't struggle, it just curled up into a small ball and covered its head with its fluffy tail.

The footsteps on the bluestone were pattering, and the young man's back was thin but straight.

"Chen Ji, what kind of person is your mother?"

"She... is a very gentle person," Chen Ji didn't want to say anything more, as if the memory was a warm airflow like breathing, and they ran away as soon as he said it from his mouth.

He was walking on the Long Street of Luo City with Wu Yun in his arms. The several-month-old Wu Yun was so small that when it shrank down, it was only as big as two palms.

Chen Ji suddenly wanted to live a good life.

"dark clouds?"

"Um?"

"Let's live together."
Chapter completed!