Chapter 100
As soon as Hao Desheng shouted, the others reacted and immediately rushed over.
This was an opportunity for them to show off.
Ji Xiucai held significant prestige at Anhe Academy and only taught Class Jia. Class A was filled entirely with people like Hao Desheng, who had hopes of passing the provincial exam.
He had produced several xiucai, and his usual commentaries and notes were only lent to students from Class A.
Students from classes like theirs, Class B, although also taught by a xiucai gentleman, there were still thresholds and gaps between different xiucai.
Ji Xiucai, having taught for many years, naturally had more experienced and sophisticated methods.
Moreover, back in his academy exam, he had ranked ninth, which spoke volumes about his ability.
What were they trying to achieve by currying favor and flattering Hao Desheng? Weren't they just hoping he would get some benefits from Ji Xiucai and let a little trickle down to them?
At this moment, six people swarmed forward. Fang Zichen showed no fear at all, but Shopkeeper Yang grew anxious.
He had never seen Fang Zichen fight and didn't know that when this person started throwing punches, he was a real troublemaker. Even the hoodlums and riffraff outside would steer clear and give him a wide berth upon seeing him.
He was just about to call the waiters for help when Wang Xiaojiu, Sun Dahu, and the others had already charged over.
They were on the best terms with Fang Zichen. On their own turf, how could they just stand by and watch their eldest brother get beaten without doing anything?
"Don't fight inside the restaurant!"
"Brother Fang... Brother Fang... stop fighting."
"Gentlemen, let's talk this out properly, please stop."
By now, not only the guests from the first-floor hall but even those from the second floor had come down to watch the commotion.
The words coming out of Wang Xiaojiu and Sun Dahu's mouths sounded like they were trying to break up the fight, but with many people, things get chaotic. These scholars had come to eat before and had been disdainful and picky towards them. Even after the tables were wiped clean, they would demand these waiters wipe them again right in front of them.
If that was all, it wouldn't be a big deal, it was just part of the job. But these scholars insisted they weren't deliberately making things difficult. They claimed it was because 'people like them' were most likely to slack off and cut corners. If they didn't wipe the table again in front of them, they just felt it wasn't clean.
Hearing this made everyone unhappy.
What did they mean, 'people like them' were most likely to slack off?
What kind of people were 'people like them'?
Damn it, it was simply looking down on people.
But no matter how aggrieved or angry they felt, they didn't dare act out easily.
They weren't like Fang Zichen.
Put in modern terms, Fang Zichen was the kind of high-priced, hard-to-find senior technical talent hired by the company. The work he did wasn't something just anyone could do.
But jobs like serving dishes and wiping tables were different, anyone with limbs intact could do them.
If they laid hands on a guest, they could be kicked out of Zuixiao Restaurant the very next day.
Seizing this opportunity, under the pretext of breaking up the fight and pulling people apart, Wang Xiaojiu, Sun Dahu, and the others specifically targeted those scholars to hit.
They hit while shouting.
"Stop fighting, stop fighting, let's all talk this out properly..."
It was like playing around.
Shopkeeper Yang, with his old bones, ultimately didn't dare get involved, afraid a stray punch or kick might leave him half-paralyzed.
He could only stand to the side and shout 'helplessly'.
Everyone was enjoying the fight too much to listen to him. It wasn't until Yang Mutao, who had been drinking tea at a tea house with Yang Mingyi, was informed and rushed over, bellowing a command, that this 'battle' came to an end.
Those scholars, with no strength to truss a chicken—gentle, weak, and refined—were no match for people accustomed to manual labor.
They were all beaten black and blue, with disheveled hair. Their academy uniforms, which signified their status, were torn to shreds, hanging on them like rags.
"You... just you wait!" Hao Desheng, supported by others as he left, tried to save face by throwing out a threat as he went.
"What a stupid cunt you are!" Fang Zichen cursed.
Hao Desheng looked like he was going to go back and get reinforcements.
But among the ten thousand people in Fu'an Town, there were very few Fang Zichen was afraid of.
Right now, the only one he didn't dare provoke was the County Magistrate, the top authority in Fu'an Town. Anyone else who came to cause trouble on his head, he would still beat up all the same.
Hao Desheng wore an academy uniform with a green liuli (colored glaze or glass) pendant carved with the character for 'loyalty' hanging from his waist. It had a glossy, moist-looking sheen and seemed quite valuable. Wherever he went, he was surrounded by a crowd, like some privileged scion from a powerful family. But Fang Zichen, a genuine, orthodox heir raised through comprehensive training from a proper prominent family, could tell the other's approximate worth with one glance.
That liuli pendant, to be blunt, was only worth eight or nine taels of silver.
It might fool those who hadn't seen the world, but trying to fool him? Their skills weren't nearly enough.
He had already found out: the County Magistrate only had two sons. The older one was fourteen, said to be sickly, and the younger one was only ten.
As long as it wasn't the County Magistrate's family, he had nothing to fear!
At worst, if the other party was connected to the County Magistrate, so be it. He'd just take Zhao Ger and Guaizai and 'flee into exile'.
There were only three people in the family anyway, and the decrepit house they lived in wasn't his. He could just roll up the bedding and flee overnight. In this era, where imperial examinations weren't advanced and travel anywhere meant walking or horseback, like a pilgrimage to obtain scriptures, who would be able to find him?
If Hao Desheng had the capability to issue a nationwide manhunt for him, he could just flee to the mountains and become a caveman, the progenitor of humanity.
If this place doesn't want me, there are places that will.
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