Fine Diet and Vegetables, Yingtai is Rich

Led by a servant, Liang Shanbo, Zhu Yingtai, and Yin Xin walked along a path paved with bluestone towards the backyard.

The Jiazhai school dormitory area consists of two rows of single-story houses with blue bricks and gray tiles, built against the mountain and facing south.

The servant led the three to the last schoolhouse on the west side of the front row of bungalows. Several banana trees were planted along the courtyard wall outside the schoolhouse, which was lush and elegant.

The servant pushed open the door and stepped aside, saying, "Gentlemen, this is the room."

Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai went inside.

The room was not small, measuring about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) square, and was divided into an inner room and an outer room. The furnishings were simple but clean and tidy. In the inner room, there was a wooden couch on each of the two walls facing north, with a small table at the head of each couch. In the outer room, there was a long desk under the window facing south, and a bookshelf stood against the wall.

Liang Shanbo looked around and nodded to himself. This schoolhouse was much better than his bedroom at home in Shanyin.

Zhu Yingtai also looked around the schoolhouse, her gaze lingering on the two wooden beds, her expression somewhat subtle.

After Cangtou left, only Liang Shanbo, Zhu Yingtai, and Yin Xin remained in the room.

Yin Xin glanced at Zhu Yingtai, then at Liang Shanbo, and whispered to Zhu Yingtai, "My lord, let's go outside to talk."

Zhu Yingtai understood and walked with her to the entrance of the school.

Yin Xin lowered her voice and said, "How can a young lady sleep in the same room as a man? In my opinion, he should sleep in the outer room, and the young lady and I can sleep in the inner room."

Yin Xin, as a "book boy", also lived in Zhu Yingtai's school dormitory.

However, according to custom, the pageboy would usually lay down on a straw mat on the floor in the outer room.

Zhu Yingtai hesitated for a moment, then shook her head: "That won't do. How can we let Brother Liang sleep alone on the floor in the outer room while you, his 'student servant,' sleep in the inner room?"

Yin Xin sighed, "I know this is inappropriate, but what other choice do I have?"

Zhu Yingtai was in a dilemma.

Seeing Zhu Yingtai and Yin Xin acting suspiciously at the door, Liang Shanbo chuckled inwardly, understanding their concerns.

He didn't point it out.

A moment later, Zhu Yingtai re-entered the schoolhouse.

Liang Shanbo walked to a wooden couch on the north side of the inner room, placed his luggage beside it, and turned to Zhu Yingtai with a smile, saying, "My dear brother, I'll sleep on this couch, and you can sleep on the one opposite me, how about that?"

Zhu Yingtai nodded.

Yin Xin placed Zhu Yingtai's luggage beside the wooden couch, squatted down, opened the luggage, and began to take things out. There were two sets of clothes to change into, a small bronze mirror, a horn comb, a box of face cream that men could also use, and a small bundle containing some odds and ends for women.

When she took out the small bundle, Zhu Yingtai's expression changed. She quickly glanced at Liang Shanbo and saw that he was packing his bags with his back to Yin Xin and hadn't noticed her. She quickly went over and hid the small bundle.

Silverheart stuck out her tongue, finding it amusing.

Liang Shanbo chuckled inwardly. Although his back was to them, he still sensed their actions.

He deliberately kept his back to them for a long time so they could organize or hide their belongings.

Everything has been put away.

The servant brought over a straw mat, a cloth quilt, and a mattress, which were all put away neatly.

At this moment, only Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai were in the inner room.

Liang Shanbo leaned back on the couch, reflecting on the day's events: from meeting Zhu Yingtai at the Grass Bridge Pavilion and becoming sworn brothers, to paying respects to Meng Wenlang and undergoing his examination, and now, sharing a room with Zhu Yingtai. Everything had happened so fast, as if someone had been pushing him forward.

Zhu Yingtai sat on the edge of her wooden couch, looking at his profile opposite her.

Liang Shanbo seemed to sense her gaze, turned around, smiled at her, and said, "Brother, from now on, we will study together during the day and rest together at night. If there is anything I can do for you, please call me anytime. Don't forget that we are not only classmates, but also sworn brothers."

Zhu Yingtai forced a smile: "Thank you, Brother Liang."

"What are you thanking me for?" Liang Shanbo laughed. "We're brothers, no need for thanks."

……

……

Shen Shi (3-5 PM).

The servant arrived at Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai's schoolhouse and said, "Gentlemen, it's time for your meal. You should go to the dining hall to eat."

Liang Shanbo, Zhu Yingtai, and Yin Xin left the school together and walked along the blue stone path toward the dining hall.

Wansong Academy had a communal dining hall where servants cooked and served food.

Two meals a day, divided into breakfast and lunch.

Breakfast is eaten in the middle of the day, and lunch is eaten around dusk.

The meals are covered by students' meal fees. The tuition fee only covers the cost of meals.

The canteen is a separate courtyard with low walls.

Upon entering the courtyard, one finds a central courtyard. In the center of the courtyard is a stone well with a wooden pulley on its edge, the water of which is clear and cool. Several wooden buckets filled with water are placed beside the well, used for the students to wash their hands.

The so-called "wo guan" is an ancient ritual of washing hands before meals. One person holds a water vessel and pours clean water onto the hands of another person, with a plate underneath to collect the dirty water.

Although Wansong Academy did not adhere to such cumbersome rules, washing hands before meals was an ironclad rule. Every student had to scoop water from the well to wash their hands before entering the dining hall to eat.

The main building of the canteen consists of three rooms, facing south, arranged in a row.

Above the door of the middle room hangs a wooden sign with the words "Fine Cuisine Kitchen" written on it.

Above the doors of the east and west rooms hangs a wooden plaque, both inscribed with "Vegetarian Kitchen".

It was lunchtime, and many students were already coming and going in the courtyard. Some walked in twos and threes, chatting and laughing; others walked alone, hurrying along. The sounds of scooping water, footsteps, and conversations mingled together, creating a lively atmosphere.

The academy had about one hundred students, with only about twenty in the first dormitory and the rest in the second. Many of these students had servants.

Yin Xin followed behind Zhu Yingtai, her gaze sweeping across the west side of the courtyard. There was a covered corridor there, with a tiled roof and wooden pillars, open on three sides. Inside the corridor, a group of servants were engrossed in eating from rough earthenware bowls. Yin Xin memorized this scene.

Liang Shanbo stopped outside the canteen, his gaze sweeping over the crowd in the courtyard, finally settling on a student with a gentle face.

The student was of medium height, with fair skin, curved eyebrows and eyes, and a natural smile at the corners of his mouth; he seemed to be a good-tempered person.

Liang Shanbo stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Please wait a moment, sir. I am a new student here today, and there are some rules I am not yet clear about. May I ask, sir, what is the difference between the fine cuisine kitchen and the vegetarian cuisine kitchen?"

The student stopped, looked Liang Shanbo up and down, then glanced at Zhu Yingtai behind him, and grinned: "New here? No wonder you look unfamiliar."

He spoke loudly and clearly, with a local Qiantang accent: "I'm Sun Yuangui, a native of Qiantang. You're asking about the difference between a fine cuisine chef and a vegetarian chef?"

He pointed to the fine kitchen in the middle, chuckled twice, and said, "Fine kitchen, the food is good. The staple food is wild rice, millet rice, and wheat rice; the meat dishes include chicken, dried fish, and fish paste, as well as mutton; the vegetables are mostly soups made with mallow, broad bean sprouts, and scallions, served with some soy sauce and vinegar."

He then pointed to the east and west rooms: "The vegetarian kitchen serves simpler food. There's no wild rice as a staple, but there's millet rice, wheat rice, and if all else fails, there's bean rice. The vegetable soup is the same as in the fine kitchen, but there's no meat."

He paused, then added, "By the way, there's an unwritten rule at the academy: if you're dining in the main kitchen, you have to order meat dishes, not just vegetable soup."

After he finished speaking, he laughed first, his laughter was hearty.

Liang Shanbo understood immediately after hearing this. Mutton and wild rice were expensive and were generally only eaten by wealthy students; students from middle-class families usually ate millet rice and wheat rice, and sometimes chicken, dried fish, and fish paste; poor students could only eat cheap bean rice with vegetable soup.

What he didn't know was that Wansong Academy had only a handful of impoverished students, all of whom were from Wu County. Now that he had arrived, he had become the only impoverished student from another county in the academy.

He nodded and bowed to Sun Yuangui, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Brother Sun."

Sun Yuangui waved his hand and then asked, "Where are you two from? What are your names?"

"I am Liang Shanbo, from Shanyin, Kuaiji." Liang Shanbo stepped aside to let Zhu Yingtai pass. "This is Zhu Jiuling, from Shangyu, Kuaiji. We have come to the school together today."

Sun Yuangui's eyes lit up: "From Kuaiji? What a wonderful place! I went there once last year, and the water in Mirror Lake was so clear that you could see your reflection in it."

He exclaimed in admiration, then suddenly seemed to remember something, patted his forehead, and said, "Oh dear, I've been so busy talking that I need to eat now, or the mutton will be gone. Let's talk another day!"

After saying this, he cupped his hands in greeting to the two men, then turned and walked into the fine kitchen.

This Sun Yuangui came from a prominent family in Qiantang and always ate in the finest kitchens.

Zhu Yingtai watched him enter the fine kitchen, then turned to Liang Shanbo and asked, "Brother Liang, which room shall we dine in?"

Liang Shanbo did not answer immediately.

He watched the students coming and going in the courtyard, some going into the fine cuisine kitchen and others into the vegetarian kitchen. Those who went into the fine cuisine kitchen were mostly dressed in fine clothes; those who went into the vegetarian kitchen were mostly dressed simply.

"I'm eating at the vegetarian kitchen," Liang Shanbo said calmly. "My family is poor, and I can't afford the food from the fine kitchen."

Zhu Yingtai looked at him, and a strange feeling welled up in her heart.

This Brother Liang is clearly full of talent, enough to earn the praise of Mr. Meng Wenlang; he is handsome and composed, in no way inferior to those from wealthy families. Yet, he comes from a poor family.

Yet he showed no shame in it. He spoke these words with an expression of normalcy, neither feigning superiority nor feeling ashamed. It was as if he were simply stating a fact, like saying, "The weather is nice today."

Zhu Yingtai took a deep breath and suddenly laughed.

When she smiled, her eyebrows curved, revealing a row of neat pearly teeth, just like when she called out "Brother Liang" in the Grass Bridge Pavilion.

She said to Liang Shanbo, "Brother Liang, now that we have become sworn brothers, from now on, I will treat you to all your meals. We will all eat at the finest kitchen."

Liang Shanbo was slightly taken aback, then shook his head and said, "How can this be? Studying here will take at least two or three years, every day like this. How much money will that cost you, my brother? I appreciate your kindness, but this is not appropriate."

Zhu Yingtai raised her chin slightly and said in a cheerful tone, "Brother Liang, there's no need to worry. I can afford such expenses!"

The Zhu family was a prominent family in Shangyu, and she was deeply loved by her parents. Although the amount of money was large, she could afford it.