noffsinger Chapter 1272 Humanity and Sophistication
Chapter 1272 Humanity and Sophistication
"Rules are dead, people are alive."
At this moment, Xue Li truly understood those words.
"Father, do you have any connections elsewhere?" After thinking it through, Xue Li realized she had to make good use of her family's connections: "For example, the West Market, brokerage firms, teahouses, and other government offices?"
Father Xue stroked his chin: "There are some in the West Market and the brokerage shops. As for teahouses... go sit down and order a bowl of tea, and the news will come to you on its own. It's best to go there in the afternoon."
Xue Li lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then nodded.
As the father and daughter were talking, the carriage arrived at the dock, and the cheerful laughter of the boatmen drifted into the carriage.
Xue Li pulled back the carriage curtain and looked out. Her gaze had just swept over a breakfast stall when a familiar figure caught her eye.
"Manager Yan?"
Upon seeing Yan Qiao alight from the carriage, Xue Li knew she had come to the right place and quickly stopped the carriage, jumping down herself.
Yan Qiao turned around upon hearing the voice and saw that it was Xue Li who had called her. She slowed her pace and smiled gently, "Miss Xue, are you here to gather information as well?"
As Xue Li waved for her father to get out of the car, she nodded and said, "I originally wanted to go to the West Market first, but my father said that there are too many people in the West Market right now, and it's not convenient to gather information. So I changed my mind and thought I'd try coming here first. By the way, Manager Yan, my father said he has a few acquaintances here. If you don't mind, you can come with us."
Yan Qiao was slightly surprised upon hearing this. Before she could speak, two hurried figures swept past them and headed straight for the platform.
One of the men, dressed in a blue robe, strode onto the platform. Ignoring the manager's surprised look, he asked directly, "Manager, could you please tell me if there have been any major events in other prefectures recently? Such as war or disaster? I urgently need this information!"
The manager's face darkened: "What are you doing? Why are you wishing for chaos in the world?"
The man in the blue robe choked for a moment, then quickly shook his head: "No, you misunderstood. I'm gathering information. By the way... this information must be from within the last three days; information from three days ago or more is not acceptable."
"What?"
The steward looked the man in the blue robe up and down, utterly bewildered: "Have you gone mad from reading too much? Where am I supposed to find you news from three days in advance?"
The man in the blue robe blushed instantly: "Why are you swearing at me... What I mean is, you can't fabricate some unfounded information for me; the information must be true."
"No way, are you sick in the head?!"
The manager raised his fist, his brows furrowed, and yelled, "Get out, get out! If you don't get out, I'll call for backup! You only show up this early in the morning? Are you still asleep at home?"
The man in the blue robe looked at the fist, which was bigger than a sandbag, shrank his neck, and retreated step by step off the platform.
His companion shook his head and whispered, "This guy won't do. Let's go ask at the food stalls."
The man in the blue shirt looked pained: "Then we have to pay for those people. Even if we don't pay, we should at least treat them to a steamed bun."
“This…” His companion also hesitated.
One steamed bun, two steamed buns, three steamed buns equal one baozi (stuffed bun).
Thinking about it this way, it's really not worth it.
The two exchanged a glance and made a decision: "Let's go further in; maybe we'll run into a kind-hearted manager."
The two had only been gone a short while when Xue Li and his daughter, along with Yan Qiao, went up to the platform.
Mr. Xue walked happily toward the steward and handed him the meat buns he had just bought: "Brother Zhou, you haven't had breakfast again, have you?"
"Old Xue?" Manager Zhou didn't stand on ceremony, taking the meat bun and eating it heartily. "Hey, you're one to talk. I was just about to buy some food when some idiot showed up and said a bunch of nonsensical things to me... By the way, Old Xue, what are you doing here? Looking for goods? Several ships arrived today, and a lot of the goods are still fresh. You've come to the right place. Come on, come on, I'll take you to see them..."
As he spoke, Manager Zhou turned and walked off the platform, but was stopped by Mr. Xue: "Brother Zhou, I'm not looking at the goods today, I have something else to do!"
"Other matters?" Manager Zhou was taken aback, swallowed the last bun, and asked, "What is it? Please speak freely."
Mr. Xue grinned, waved to Xue Li and Yan Qiao, and introduced them: "This is my daughter, Xiao Li, and my niece, Yan Qiao. Well... you've seen a lot at the docks, so they wanted to ask you for some information."
"Niece, niece?" Steward Zhou stared blankly at Yan Qiao.
If he remembered correctly, this was the manager of the Tong'an Cloth Shop, right? When did she become Old Xue's niece?!
Yan Qiao smiled, bowed, and greeted, "Greetings, Steward Zhou."
Xue Li quickly followed suit, greeting, "Hello, Steward Zhou! I'm counting on you for the news!"
"Huh?" Manager Zhou hadn't quite reacted yet, and nodded subconsciously, "No trouble at all, no trouble at all..."
After saying that, he seemed to finally realize something: "You guys are here to gather information too? That idiot from earlier was one of them too..."
Xue Li quickly explained that this was an assessment by the government newspaper, and many people would be coming to gather information today.
Manager Zhou suddenly realized what was going on and invited them to sit down on the stone steps.
After gazing at the riverbed and pondering for a moment, he said, "If I had to pick the most important and reliable news in the next three days, it would be that the water level has dropped..."
Upon hearing this, Yan Qiao and Xue Li immediately looked towards the river.
Manager Zhou continued, "You see, there's been little rain lately, and today the water level is suddenly two feet lower than usual, making it difficult for some deep-draft cargo ships to pass..."
Xue Li quickly took out a booklet and pen and ink, and wrote down words such as "less rain", "water level drop", and "large ships are blocked from passing".
Yan Qiao whispered a reminder from the side, "Make sure to remember the source of the information."
“Yes, yes, yes…” Xue Li then wrote down the five characters “Manager Zhou of the dock”.
Manager Zhou found this extremely interesting and asked, "What other information do you want to know? I'll take you to ask."
"Really?" Xue Li's eyes lit up. "We also want to know about the other prefectures! Thank you, Steward Zhou!"
“That’s easy.” Manager Zhou got up, dusted himself off, and walked toward a ship. “There are all sorts of people at the dock, and the news is still fresh. Come on! I’ll take you there.”
Xue Li jumped up and pulled Yan Qiao along to follow.
......
"Boom-thump-thump-"
At dusk, as the sun began to set and the evening drum sounded, a long queue formed at the entrance of the government office.
The expressions on everyone's faces varied. Some sighed, some looked worried, and some were excited, as if they were determined to win.
Amidst the chatter, Fang Xianyue stepped out of the government office and scanned the crowd: "Line up, hand in your prepared messages, and leave immediately without lingering."
Upon hearing this, everyone hesitated to speak.
Fang Xianyue added, "Two days from now, the government will announce the list of those who passed the exam."
"Two days?!"
Everyone was surprised by the quick results and became even more anxious.
As for why the results came out so quickly...
"Let's see how many fools have believed those fake news." Inside the government office, Shen Zheng and Yu Shizhang grinned as they flipped through the first batch of "newsbooks" they had collected, ready to find out the truth.