Zhou Shuren and Jiang Ming came together. Everyone who came today saw it and naturally linked Zhou Shuren and Jiang Ming together. When Zhou Shuren went downstairs, many people watched him.

Zhou Shuren had signed up for this competition early in the morning.

Fortunately, Jiang Ming kept his promise, otherwise, he would have to pay for an antique if he withdrew from the competition. He felt that he was lucky, at least he had successfully participated in the competition.

Looking at the antiques again, Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows. His luck was unstoppable. He was weakest in calligraphy and paintings. Among the ten antiques, only the calligraphy and paintings were his. Hey, great!

Jiang Ming could see clearly from upstairs. Zhou Shuren was the first one to write and was also the one who made the fastest appraisal. From time to time, he could hear discussions. Some people said that Zhou Shuren was just guessing, but he didn’t think so. It seemed that Zhou Shuren was indeed very capable. He smiled more often. If he was really right, it proved that Zhou Shuren was indeed very capable, and he wouldn’t have to ask others for appraisal in the future. That was great, really great!

Zhou Shuren was the first one to put down his pen after looking at all the antiques. All ten antiques had been appraised by masters. Zhou Shuren handed over the antiques as soon as he entered the door.

The appraisal results were in the hands of several appraisal masters.

To be cautious, Zhou Shuren looked at the other nine pieces carefully again. He was not arrogant enough to say that they were all correct.

Fortunately, after looking at it carefully again, the result was the same as the first time, and Zhou Shuren was the first to submit his answer.

Then, after another quarter of an hour, everyone handed in their answers one after another.

Among the ten people, Zhou Shuren was not the oldest. The oldest was a juren in his fifties, and the youngest was less than twenty years old. It could be seen at first glance that he was a young master who came to participate in the competition to broaden his horizons.

The answers of the ten people were announced quickly, starting with the name of the person who made the most mistakes.

Zhou Shuren perked up his ears and listened carefully. Sure enough, the works of the five people who made mistakes all included his paintings and calligraphy. As the third-to-last name was read, Zhou Shuren grew increasingly nervous.

The third from the bottom was the youngest candidate. He got two things wrong which were still his calligraphy and paintings.

Although Zhou Shuren was a calm person, he was not at peace in his heart. The key name was his. If it was his name, he would lose. He couldn’t help but pray to Buddha for help.

The jǔrén opposite him also had sweat on his forehead.

Fortunately, the calligraphy and painting that Zhou Shuren brought was a real scam. Few scholars studied Master Xiheng’s calligraphy. Without studying it, they naturally could not identify whether it was real or fake.

The mistake of the jǔrén was the calligraphy and painting.

The scene was boiling. No one expected that all nine people who got it wrong got the same thing wrong!

Zhou Shuren suppressed the corner of his mouth and said, “I won and I have money, that’s great.”

Jiang Ming laughed, very good, Zhou Shuren was capable and did not let him down.

The appraisal master in the building explained why the calligraphy and paintings were fake, and the nine people who competed with Zhou Shuren were convinced.

Zhou Shuren was overjoyed. He had appraised them all. Although there were no antiques of high value this time, the nine antiques were pretty good. He thought that except for the young and experienced, no one would bring antiques of high value. No one was stupid!

Although there were no antiques worth buying by the organizer, the organizer was more interested in the fake calligraphy and paintings in Zhou Shuren’s hand. Because of Jiang Ming’s presence, Zhou Shuren took advantage of it and bought the other nine antiques without bargaining.

He even gave a fair price for the fake calligraphy and paintings.

Zhou Shuren sold them happily. He knew that even with Jiang Ming’s help, there were many people interested in calligraphy and paintings today. To avoid trouble, it would be better to sell them directly.

Jiang Ming waited for Zhou Shuren to take the money, and then they got on the carriage and left. Jiang Ming said, “I’ll take you back.”

Zhou Shuren thanked him: “Thank you, Lord Jiang.”

Although none of the ten antiques were valuable treasures, they were worth a lot of money. Ruffians would inevitably be tempted. What if someone took the risk? This was also another purpose of his borrowing Jiang Ming’s power. He didn’t expect Jiang Ming to be so considerate and personally sent him back without waiting for him to ask. It seems that he has caught Jiang Ming’s eye.

Jiang Ming said playfully, “You took advantage of the situation today.”

Zhou Shuren said openly, “Yes, I did take advantage of it. I have studied and found that few children of officials participate in the competition. Most of them are scholars or businessmen. The rich and powerful like Master Xiheng’s calligraphy more. Ordinary people will not study it after reading it. I did take advantage of it today.”

After he had his calligraphy and paintings appraised in various antique shops, he became more determined to enter the competition, with a keen eye on trying to cheat.

Jiang Ming thought that his father-in-law was optimistic about Zhou Shuren not because of their relationship, but because this man was indeed very capable and his calculations were enough to make him look at him with awe. However, from the information he had learned, this man had great ambitions and it seemed impossible to recruit him for his own purposes. He could only wait. There was no rush at the moment. He would talk about it after he found out whether he passed the imperial examination.

Seeing that Jiang Ming had no intention of talking further, Zhou Shuren didn’t want to be annoying. He held the box, his heart flying with joy. This was all silver money, Zhulan would definitely be happy.

Thinking of Zhulan, he felt light-hearted and his eyes were full of smiles.

The carriage came to Zhou’s house, Zhou Shuren got off the carriage, bowed, and thanked: “Thank you Lord Jiang for your help twice today.”

Jiang Ming smiled and said, “We are all in-laws. It’s getting late, so I’ll go home too.”

Jiang Ming decided not to stay any longer. He suddenly realized something he had overlooked: Zhou Shuren was his mèifū’s father, and not just any mèifū, but his wife’s sister’s husband. In terms of seniority, Zhou Shuren was technically his elder, which made the situation truly awkward!

Zhou Shuren waited until the carriage had gone far away before he happily returned to the yard with the box in his arms.

Zhulan just came out to check the time. Seeing Zhou Shuren coming back with the box, she smiled and said, “You won?”

Zhou Shuren patted the box and strode into the house arrogantly, “Don’t you even look at who I am?”

Zhulan chuckled. This man was showing off, “You are my master.”

Zhou Shuren found this pleasing to his ears, “Guess how much money it was sold for.”

Zhulan guessed it must be a lot, otherwise, they wouldn’t put it in a box, “Three thousand taels?”

Zhou Shuren shook his head, “It’s too little. Although there are no valuable treasures today, it’s still good. One piece is worth six hundred taels.”

Zhulan’s heart was flying, and she kissed Zhou Shuren excitedly, then froze.

Boss Zhou was standing at the door of the house. He didn’t expect that the door was not closed. He saw his mother and father as soon as he came in. Oh my god, he felt that he was going to be miserable. He didn’t even need to think about it. He ran away, muttering, “I didn’t see anything.”

Zhulan wanted to sew up the boss’s mouth, damn boy, the voice was loud enough for everyone in the yard to hear it, Zhulan’s eyes were full of anger, “I support you in beating him up.”

Zhou Shuren laughed out loud. It was the first time he saw Zhulan so angry with the boss. Seeing Zhulan’s little hand trying to twist him again, he said with a strong desire to survive: “Okay, okay, I’ll take care of the boss.”

Boss Zhou ran back to the house and slapped his head. He had done something stupid again. What was he shouting about just now? Wasn’t this just trying to cover up his mistake? This time, not only was his father going to punish him, but his mother also didn’t like him. He was going to be the most pitiful person in the family.

Li Shi frowned, “Boss, what did you do?”

And what did he mean by shouting just now? Didn’t he go to talk to his father?

Boss Zhou looked like he had lost all hope in life, “Don’t ask me, I want to die.”

Li Shi, “.”

This was going to anger his father.

Boss Zhou didn’t wait for his wife’s consolation. He just saw his wife continue to fiddle with the newly sprouted seedlings. “You don’t want to comfort me?”

Li Shi, “Is comfort useful?”

“It’s no use.”

“That’s it.”

Li Shi acted as if whatever you asked was nonsense.

Boss Zhou, “.”

In the main room, Zhulan was counting the silver bills, and her anger disappeared. She counted each bill, each of which was worth one hundred taels.

Zhou Shuren, “You counted twice.”

(End of this chapter)

---