As soon as the mention of Hamtong Academy, the shop assistant immediately became spirited, with a look of envy on his face, saying: "Isn't that right? Hamtong Academy is the largest academy in our Xuzhou City, and there are hundreds of people who have passed the imperial examination to become scholars. The students inside are all rich young masters. Can their eyes be wrong? Young master, look at this ceramic inkstone, its color, its pattern, it's one in a hundred!

  Wang Pingan sneered, "From the establishment of the Tang Dynasty to now, it's only been a few decades. There are only a handful of jinshi (successful candidates in the imperial examination) each year. Even if you add up all the jinshi from previous years, there aren't even several hundred people. And yet, they claim that Guangxiao Temple has produced so many jinshi? This is really an exaggeration!"

  He took over the inkstone and said: "How much does this cost? If it's too expensive, I won't buy it!"

  "The shop assistant smiled and said: 'It's not expensive, it's not expensive. The price of this small store is the most reasonable. This high-quality inkstone is only sold for 120 yuan, and it's really a good value!'"

  Ding Dan suddenly spoke up from the side, her eyes wide with excitement, and said in a low voice: "One hundred and twenty taels is not expensive at all. If you go buy rice with that money, it's enough for a family of ten to eat for three years."

  "Miss, you're wrong! This is an inkstone, one of the Four Treasures of the Study. How can it be compared to rice?" The shop assistant added: "This ceramic inkstone sells very quickly. Just yesterday, three were bought by young masters from the Xiangtang Academy at this price."

  Wang Ping'an shook his head and said, "That's not right, I just entered Xiangtong Academy to study, but I haven't seen any of my fellow students use this kind of inkstone!"

  The shop assistant was taken aback, scratched his hair and said: "Young master just entered the Xiangtong Academy? That's not right, every year at this time Xiangtong Academy has already stopped accepting students. How did you get in, young master?"

  "I, I was originally studying at another academy, and later transferred to Xiangtong's." Wang Ping'an said casually, and then looked at the ceramic inkstone again. If the students in the largest academy in Xuzhou City used such precious utensils, then this academy must be full of pretentiousness. Such an academy is not worth attending.

  The shop assistant believed it to be true, and as a mere shop assistant, he wouldn't dare to pry into the matter of transferring schools. He took the ceramic inkstone from Wang Ping'an's hand and said: "Since you were already studying at Xiangtong Academy, then I won't need to... You, let me exchange it for something else!"

  Wang Ping'an smiled slightly and said, "You just took me for a fool, didn't you!"

  The shop assistant chuckled and said, "How dare I, young master is joking." But the expression on his face was: Yeah, I'm the one who took you for a fat sheep just now, that's why I made my move!

  This time, the shop assistant took out a long wooden box. When he opened it, inside was a complete set of Wen Fang Si Bao (scholar's four treasures). The workmanship of this set was exquisite, but not luxurious at all, looking very simple and unadorned. He said: "Young master, this is the standard equipment used by Xiangtong Academy, although it looks ordinary, it is actually very useful."

  Wang Ping'an saw that there were two inkstones inside, one large and one small. He took out the smaller one and saw that it had a lid, only about half the size of his palm, and was not heavy at all, feeling rather light and airy.

  "The young shopkeeper explained: 'This small inkstone is carried with you, it's most convenient when going out. Reading ten thousand volumes of books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles, this is a famous saying by the master of the house, I suppose the young master knows about it.'"

  Wang Ping'an nodded, thinking to himself: "This is more like it. The style of a school can be seen from the stationery used by its students. I almost got taken in by this guy just now." He said: "Not bad, I see that my fellow students are using this kind of stationery. Give me four sets."

  "Alright, here you are!" The shop assistant quickly wrapped up four sets and handed them to Wang Ping'an, saying: "Thank you, young master, that'll be two taels!"

  Ding Dan suddenly let out a cold snort and said, "These four sets are only worth two yuan, but earlier you sold us that inkstone for one hundred twenty yuan. Luckily my young master is clever, otherwise we would have fallen into your trap. Aren't you afraid that from now on we won't set foot in this store again?" As she spoke, she took out the money.

  The shop assistant smiled and said, "If you had just bought that inkstone earlier, it would be fine if you didn't come back. But now that the young master has bought these four sets of stationery, our small store will have to fawn over him. We hope the young master will come often to patronize our business!"

  Wang Ping'an took over the writing instrument and laughed, saying: "A fat sheep, one slaughter is enough, unfortunately you didn't even succeed once. To be honest with you, I am not a student of Xiangtong Academy, and this is the first time I have heard of the name of this academy. However, I do want to go there and take a look, can you show me the way?"

  The shop assistant was taken aback, then slapped his forehead and said: "Ah, I see! So you were trying to trick me earlier! You want to ask about the location of Xiangtong Academy. That's easy, sir. Once you leave my store, head west, turn north at the big intersection, and it's not far from there, very easy to find. However, sir, if you're thinking of entering the academy now, I'm afraid it's too late. You'll have to wait until next year when the academy reopens for new students."

  Wang Ping'an smiled and said, "Let's go explore the way first, get familiar with it, and see if we can enter the academy later!" He took Ding Danruo out of the stationery store and followed the direction indicated by the shop assistant, searching all the way.

  It was indeed as the shopkeeper had said, and the Xuantong Academy was not difficult to find. Before long, they arrived at the academy. The academy occupied a vast area of land, but its exterior did not appear particularly grandiose. As the largest academy in Xuzhou, one would expect it to have a more impressive facade. However, the Xuantong Academy had white walls and was rather low-lying, with peeling black lacquer on the mountain gate. At the entrance, there was only an old man sitting on the steps, with a rattan chair beneath him, holding a teapot in his hand, drinking tea while muttering to himself with his eyes closed.

  "This is the largest academy in Xuzhou City? Look at this gate, it's not even as good as ours!"

  Wang Ping'an stepped up onto the steps and came before the old man, saying: "Sir, may I ask, is this the Xiangtong Academy?"

  The old man opened his eyes, looked at him, put the teapot to his mouth, took a sip, and nodded: "That's right. Young master is visiting friends or wants to come in and read books. If you want to visit friends, please report your name. If you want to read books, come again on January 16th next year."

  Wang Ping thought to himself, "Well, I've been tricked into next year." He said, "I'm not here to visit friends or sign up for anything. I just came because of the temple's reputation and wanted to take a look around. Can you make an exception for me, old man?"

  The old man shook his head and said, "This is where students come to study, not a place for sightseeing. Young master, please leave!" After finishing speaking, he closed his eyes again, no matter how Wang Ping'an tried to persuade him, he refused to open his eyes or respond.

  Wang Ping'an asked a few more questions, but seeing the other's attitude was cold and uninterested, he felt bored and had to step down, saying: "It's getting late, let's go home."

  Ding Dan, with a young girl's temperament, seeing the young master being treated coldly, couldn't help but say: "Look at this shabby and dilapidated academy, if the young master doesn't want to enter, that's fine. In the future, when they ask us to enter, we won't be interested in entering!"

  Wang Ping'an nodded silently, thinking to himself: "Just by looking at the old gatekeeper's demeanor, I can tell that this academy must be producing exceptional talents. Otherwise, why would a mere gatekeeper be so arrogant? He must have something to rely on." With a sigh, he took the little girl out of the city and back home.

  －－－－－－－

  The gate of the Wang residence was bustling at this moment. Aiding knocked on the door and called out, "Mrs. Wang, please open the door! I'm Aiding, the person who was treated by the young doctor at the Precious Pagoda Temple a few days ago. I've come to visit you today with an urgent matter!"

  No matter how loudly he knocked on the door, there was no response from inside. Yang was resolute and refused to open the door!

  Aiydin shouted in front, and the car behind him burst into loud laughter, but the laughter grew weaker and weaker, as if the person inside was about to collapse.

  Just then, someone suddenly said: "Hey, who are you, blocking my door and doing what?" The speaker was the owner of the Wang family, Wang Youcai, who had returned after inspecting his fields!

  Appendix: Whitening and Beauty Tonic Recipe - Poria and Pear

  Ingredients: Tuckahoe 15g, Fritillaria cirrhosa 10g, pear 1000g, honey 500g, ice sugar in moderation.

  Production:

  1. Rinse the tremella, cut into small cubes; clean and remove impurities from the Fritillaria, wash and peel the pear, cut into small pieces.

  2. Put the tremella and Fritillaria into an aluminum pot, add appropriate amount of water, cook over medium heat until cooked, then add pear, honey, and rock sugar, continue cooking until the pear is cooked through, remove from heat and serve.

  Characteristics: soup is fresh and sweet, can be eaten with pear and Chinese angelica, drink the soup.

  Note: When cutting pears into small pieces, remove seeds and cores.

  This dish is made from pears as the main ingredient, combined with Tricholoma and Fritillaria, after cooking. It is a good folk remedy for clearing heat, moistening lungs, and relieving coughs. Pears have the effects of clearing heat, generating fluids, moistening lungs, resolving phlegm, relieving coughs, and calming asthma. Tricholoma has the functions of tonifying spleen, benefiting stomach, diuretic and dampness, calming mind and spirit, strengthening body, beautifying complexion, and adding vitality. Tricholoma contains polysaccharides, which can enhance human immune function and have certain anti-disease effects, especially for treating senile edema and obesity. Fritillaria is a good medicine for relieving coughs, resolving phlegm, calming asthma, clearing heat, and moistening lungs. The combination of these ingredients enhances their effects of clearing heat, moistening lungs, generating fluids, relieving coughs, and calming asthma. Regular consumption can beautify complexion, resist aging, make skin smooth and delicate, and rich in elasticity.