My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 33 The Banquet (1)

Time flies like water, day after day, and seven or eight days have passed in the blink of an eye.

It was a day off, and the night before, Lin Zhong had arranged for Shunzi to come and explain that he would be attending a banquet organized by Magistrate Ji the following day.

Lin Ziping didn't sleep much. Just like when he was in school, he got up early and trained with Master Li in the yard. After six months of practice, Lin Ziping clearly felt that his punches had become more powerful, his physical fitness had improved significantly, and he had even grown three centimeters taller.

I secretly hope I can grow up and reach 1.7 meters tall, so I won't have to wear height-increasing insoles when I dress up as a boy →_→

At 9:00 AM, Lin Zhong led Lin Ziping towards the outskirts of the city.

The banquet hosted by Magistrate Ji was arranged at a manor on the outskirts of the city. This was Lin Ziping's first trip outside the city since arriving in this era, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. However, remembering Liao Mama's worried expression before his departure—she had not only prepared spare clothes, a cloak, and a hot water bottle, but also placed a small dagger tied to Lin Ziping's ankle and some pills in his pocket—this elaborate preparation made Lin Ziping feel as if he were heading to battle. He couldn't help but wonder if this was no pleasant banquet, but perhaps a trap.

Regardless of Lin Ziping's myriad thoughts, the carriage continued to move forward with a "clatter". After leaving the city, Lin Zhong lifted the curtain on the side of the carriage, and Lin Ziping grabbed the edge of the carriage and looked out.

The road was not the familiar cement and asphalt road, nor was it paved with bluestone slabs like in Qingyang City. Instead, the road was paved with pebbles, and in some places, you could see the soil underneath the pebbles.

On both sides of the road were neat fields where farmers were busy with spring plowing. A group of children, about three or four years old, followed behind the carriage. When they saw Lin Ziping sticking his head out, some of the bolder children waved to him with smiles, and Lin Ziping smiled back at them.

The carriage continued on its way and soon arrived at a courtyard built with blue bricks and white tiles.

Lin Zhong led Lin Ziping down from the carriage, and two servants rushed forward upon seeing this.

"Greetings, Master Lin." A servant bowed to Lin Zhong.

"Where is Lord Ji?" Lin Zhong asked.

"The master is in the front yard. Master Lin, please come with me."

Lin Zhong, Lin Ziping, and Steward Tao followed a servant into the courtyard.

Lin Ziping clicked his tongue in admiration. He had thought it was just a high-class farmhouse, but upon entering, he discovered a hidden gem. Alas, he had to admit that his ancestors had a keen eye for aesthetics. The flowers, the water, the path, and the mountains complemented each other perfectly, creating a landscape painting full of artistic conception. He thought of the saying he had heard before—"Alas, I have no culture, so I can only say 'amazing' to get by in the world"—and now that saying was a true reflection of his own feelings.

As you enter the front courtyard, you can see Magistrate Ji and his attendant standing in the hall greeting the guests.

"Greetings, Lord Ji." Lin Zhong bowed forward, and Lin Ziping followed suit.

"Master Lin, you've arrived. Today is just a family banquet, there's no need for such formalities." Magistrate Ji stroked his beard and smiled. "Ah Xun, quickly greet Master Lin. Master Lin also put in a lot of effort when we were looking for you."

Ji Xun bowed to Lin Zhong with a smile.

Lin Zhong quickly helped Ji Xun up: "This must be Young Master Ji. Even at such a young age, he already shows the composure and magnanimity of Master Ji."

"Not at all, Ziping is the truly composed one."

Magistrate Ji and Lin Zhong began exchanging compliments. Lin Ziping turned his gaze to Ji Xun. It had been about half a month since he last met Ji Xun at the academy. At this moment, Ji Xun was smiling and looked like a gentle and refined young master. However, having witnessed Ji Xun's changeable behavior in the cave and the academy, and combined with his nearly ten years of experience in faking smiles, Lin Ziping found Ji Xun's smile to be completely fake. He subtly curled his lip.

"Seeing that you and I are only thinking about ourselves, Ziping and Axun must be getting impatient by now," Magistrate Ji said with a smile, looking at Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping also switched to professional smiling mode and said against his will, "No, what Master Ji and my uncle said was very interesting."

Magistrate Ji laughed heartily: "Ziping is not quite the same as before."

Lin Ziping's heart skipped a beat. So many people had said this that he now felt like he had PTSD about the phrase "different from before".

"Yes, he's much more outgoing than before, a bit bolder, and much more sensible." Lin Zhong patted Lin Ziping's head and said to Magistrate Ji, "Ziping, what gift did you prepare for Master Ji?"

"Ziping prepared a gift for me?" Magistrate Ji asked in surprise.

Lin Ziping glanced at Lin Zhong, took a gift box from Steward Tao, stepped forward, and presented it to Magistrate Ji with both hands: "Thank you for your help, Magistrate Ji."

Magistrate Ji accepted the gift box: "Ziping has indeed become more sensible than before. What's inside?"

"I don't know what it is either. Ziping prepared it himself, saying he wanted to give Lord Ji a surprise," Lin Zhong said with a smile. "Why don't you open it and take a look, Master Ji?"

"This was given to me by Ziping. Does Ziping agree to open it now?" Magistrate Ji asked.

Lin Ziping nodded.

Magistrate Ji opened the gift box; inside was a pen and a piece of ink.

Magistrate Ji took out the inkstone and examined it: "Jade, black gold?"

Lin Zhong said, "This was brought to me from the capital by Ziping. He said he had heard that most of the teachers and students at the Imperial Academy used jade and black gold, and he was curious and wanted to try it. It turns out it was intended as a gift for Master Ji."

Lin Ziping was puzzled. He had only bought a pen, not ink, and he had never heard of jade or black gold.

But this was not the time to undermine him, so Lin Ziping nodded reluctantly, meeting Magistrate Ji's gaze.

“Ziping is very kind. My mentor prefers to use this jade and black gold. Xun, take Ziping to find your classmates and other friends. Ji Wu, put away the gift Ziping brought and take it back to the county government study in a while.”

"Yes." A middle-aged man stepped forward and took the gift box from Magistrate Ji.

"Go play with Young Master Ji and the others," Lin Zhong said to Lin Ziping.

After bowing to Magistrate Ji, Lin Ziping left with Magistrate Ji.

"Lin Ziping, you're quite the flatterer, aren't you?" Ji Xun said sarcastically as they left the front yard.

“I’m afraid Young Master Ji doesn’t understand social etiquette,” Lin Ziping retorted.

"You!" Ji Xun glared at Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping innocently shrugged (￣▽￣)?

The two arrived at a courtyard, where they could already hear the commotion inside from outside the gate.

"Ah Xun, you're here." A head peeked out from the doorway, greeted Ji Xun quickly, and then shrank back inside.

A short while later, voices of "Young Master Ji is here" and "Ah Xun is here" could be heard from inside the courtyard, and then the noise gradually subsided.

Lin Ziping walked into the courtyard, where a dozen or so teenagers were gathered. Among them were familiar faces like Fang Zhili and He Jinbao, others who looked familiar but whose names he couldn't recall, and still others he didn't recognize.

Upon seeing Lin Ziping and Ji Xun enter, the boys all put down what they were doing and looked at them.

"This is Lin Ziping," Ji Xun introduced Lin Ziping to the boys.

"Greetings, Young Master Lin." Several young men came up and greeted Lin Ziping.

Seeing that Ji Xun had no intention of introducing him, Lin Ziping returned the greeting with a cupped-hand salute.

"Ah Xun, we're playing pitch-pot, come join us!" Several people surrounded Ji Xun, and Lin Ziping moved a few steps to the side upon seeing this.

"Lin Ziping, Zhao Xiancheng and the others are inside. Go in and find him." Ji Xun said to Lin Ziping before leaving with the other boys.