Kong Yiji came to the shop again, and the people drinking looked at him. He was still wearing that long gown that had been washed white, with a few new scars on his face.
"You still haven't taken off your long gown? Hahaha!" The people laughed at him. "Nonsense, can I be like you? A scholar should look like a scholar..." "Scholar... hahaha, bookworm is just a bookworm." The shop was filled with a lively atmosphere.
Kong Yiji ignored the people and asked the shopkeeper for a bowl of wine and a plate of fennel beans. He quickly finished eating and left with his hands behind his back. There was a cheerful atmosphere behind him.
Just as he stepped out of the shop, he saw a discarded newspaper on the ground. Kong Yiji shook his head, picked it up, and was about to mutter to himself when he suddenly saw a prominent headline: "Take off the shackles of the long gown, give up cheap dignity, and strive to create a new life!" -- Signed by a government official.
Kong Yiji blushed and thought, responding to the call of the country is not embarrassing. So he went home, took off his long gown, and borrowed Xiangzi's yellow cart from the next door, hoping to get a few fares today and earn a few bowls of wine.
When he got to the street, he found that the corner was full of yellow carts, and many of the people were familiar faces who were going to take the scholar exam. He waited all day, but not a single person took his cart. Kong Yiji thought to himself: Everyone would rather exhaust themselves walking than spend a penny to ride a cart? So stingy.
Dragging his tired body and pulling an empty cart, Kong Yiji walked towards home. As he passed by a hotel, he wanted to go in and have a bowl of wine to warm up his body. But when he touched his empty pockets, he shook his head and walked away. At that moment, he saw a person in the shop eating meat and drinking heavily, occasionally bursting into laughter with his greasy mouth.
Looking closely, wasn't that the person who wrote the article in the newspaper?