sbdcsierra Chapter 507 The friendship between gentlemen is as light as water
Chapter 507 The friendship between gentlemen is as light as water
Chapter 507: A Gentleman's Friendship Is As Light As Water
A woman who had just finished her noodles walked straight up to Tian Guilan with a bowl in hand, handed it to her, and said, "Okay, give me a bowl of soup."
"Okay! I promise to let you drink delicious vegetable soup. I, Tian Guilan, have always been generous and never stingy!" Tian Guilan responded readily, but her hands were very stingy. She scooped a spoonful of vegetable soup from the pot and gently poured it into the woman's bowl.
The woman looked down at the floating vegetable leaves in the bowl and frowned instantly. "Tian Guilan, these are not vegetables at all! They are clearly wild vegetables! Who in our village still eats wild vegetables nowadays?"
When Tian Guilan heard this, she immediately felt embarrassed. You know, in the whole village, she and those few ignorant children were probably the only ones still eating wild vegetables.
She panicked and quickly defended herself, "This... no... I was just trying to change your taste! I'm telling you, I added a special secret recipe to this wild vegetable drink. It not only tastes like fresh vegetables, but also has a hint of floral fragrance."
Everyone gathered around curiously, their eyes fixed on the cauldron in front of Tian Guilan. Sniffing carefully, they could indeed smell a faint floral fragrance in the air, and it was strangely familiar, as if they had smelled it somewhere before.
"Then let me try it." The woman who had just spoken picked up the bowl, tilted her head back and took a sip. However, the next second, her expression changed drastically, and with a "puff" sound, the soup in her mouth sprayed straight towards Tian Guilan like a fountain.
Tian Guilan hadn't anticipated this, and unable to dodge, was sprayed all over her face. The sticky liquid trickled down her cheeks, making her look incredibly funny. To make this soup, she'd poured most of the flour-like substance she'd secretly brought in, and she couldn't even bear to eat it herself. How could these women be so ungrateful?
Tian Guilan, furious, rolled up her sleeves and was about to step forward to teach the woman a lesson. Sun Dasao hurried over. She reached out her hand, gently dipped a little of the soup, and carefully put it into her mouth. Then, her brows furrowed tightly as she questioned Tian Guilan, "Tian Guilan, did you put laundry detergent in the pot?"
"What? Washing powder? I don't even know what kind of powder you're talking about. Anyway, I put a lot of good stuff in this soup." Tian Guilan stiffened her neck. How could the things Xiuying prepared be bad?
Mrs. Sun sneered, turned around and shouted to the sisters around her, "Sisters, Tian Guilan put the laundry detergent we used to throw at the bandits in this pot of soup for everyone to eat! Just now, when I was throwing the laundry detergent water at the bandits, I accidentally splashed a mouthful into my mouth. This tastes exactly like the one in the pot!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Aunt Li hurried forward, stretched out her finger to dip a little of the soup in the pot, put it in her mouth to taste it, and then looked at Tian Guilan, "Tian Guilan, where did you get this laundry detergent?"
Faced with everyone's questioning, Tian Guilan began to panic. "I... I just want to nourish everyone. I didn't say I was eating alone. I didn't plan to eat with everyone."
Hearing her sophistry, Mrs. Sun became even more furious and shouted, "Tian Guilan, I think you are in cahoots with those bandits outside! Are you planning to poison us all?"
Tian Guilan's hands trembled with fear, and the soup spoon in her hand fell to the ground with a clang. She said in horror, "What did you say? How could I possibly help those bandits? I don't even know them..."
After saying this, she pinched the corner of her clothes nervously, praying in her heart: I must not let these people see any flaws.
Mrs. Sun spat angrily, "Tian Guilan, this laundry detergent is poisonous. Don't think everyone is unaware of your little scheme."
Aunt Li also shook her head and said, "Tian Guilan, you have to remember that this thing is poisonous. It's already this late, and you're still obsessed with taking advantage of this little thing."
Everyone was talking at once, criticizing Tian Guilan. Ultimately, no one thought much about it; after all, they were all villagers who had lived in the same village for decades and knew each other well. In their opinion, Tian Guilan was simply a cheapskate who had mistaken the laundry detergent for flour.
……
On the small road leading from the capital to Nanyang Prefecture, a blue carriage with a box was swaying forward. A flag was high on the carriage's shaft, with the four characters "Wenyuan Academy" embroidered on it in ancient and vigorous handwriting.
From inside the carriage, a heated argument erupted between two elders. One of them was Wen Yuan, Yang Qingfeng's instructor at the Fucheng Academy. He rolled his eyes at Master Bo Wen, who was standing beside him at Wenyuan Academy, the premier academy in the Great Yan State. "Hmph, who's the one who boasted earlier about our friendship? And now, what happened? He's just dismissing the two granaries I painstakingly sourced!"
Upon hearing this, Bowen's face suddenly showed a trace of embarrassment. He quickly explained, "Brother Wen, we've known each other for many years. Can't we call this friendship just that of gentlemen? Besides, you didn't specify in your letter that those two scholars from the countryside were the 'granary' you had specially found for me."
For many years, Bowen single-handedly supported Wenyuan Academy, recruiting talented individuals for Crown Prince Fusu and cultivating a large following. However, feeding so many people became a major issue, and a famine hit, making food increasingly scarce. In desperation, Bowen turned to his classmate Wenyuan for help, hoping he could recommend two students from well-off families, preferably those with more than enough food.
After much deliberation, Master Wenyuan recommended Yang Qingfeng and Li Shenghui to the capital. After all, one was the son of the Futian Village chief, and the other was Xiuying's younger brother. Wenyuan considered them to be walking granaries. After all, the Crown Prince's ambitions depended on food and fodder. With these two men among his retainers, that problem would be easily solved.
But who could have thought that Wen Yuan later learned that these two treasures, whom he regarded as "walking granaries", were actually sent away by Bowen. Wen Yuan was immediately furious.
Wen Yuan snorted coldly, "Humph, a gentleman's friendship? Is this really just a gentleman's friendship between us?"
Bowen looked at Wenyuan with a puzzled expression. He really didn't understand why he was so angry, and asked, "Is there anything wrong with this?" In Bowen's heart, he felt that he and Wenyuan had known each other for many years, and they had always acted uprightly for the country and the people. It was really appropriate to describe their friendship as "a friendship between gentlemen."
Wen Yuan sighed helplessly and said in a more serious tone: "The friendship between gentlemen is as pure as water! Don't you understand?" His tone was full of complaints.