"Liaozhai Story - Wang Cheng", watching laziness can sometimes run the family

Wang Cheng is a son of the Pingyuan County family, extremely lazy by nature, living in increasing poverty, leaving only a few broken houses, and the couple can only sleep in hemp mats. One summer, the weather was very hot, there was a Zhou abandoned garden outside the village, Wang Cheng (to escape the summer) lived there, (one day) when the sun rose high, Wang Chengcai got up, grinding and rubbing ready to go home. Suddenly, I found that there was a gold noodle in the grass, picked it up and looked at it, and saw that it was engraved with the small characters "Yibin Fuzao". Wang Cheng's grandfather was a guest of honor in the HengWang Mansion, and most of the old things in the family had this symbol, so he hesitated with the gold noodles. At this time, an old woman came to look for the lost gold noodles. Although Wang Cheng had always been poor, his character was upright, and he immediately took out a golden noodle and handed it to her. The old woman was very happy, greatly praised his noble character, and said: "The gold noodle itself is not worth much money, but it is the relic of my husband." Wang Cheng asked, "Who is your husband?" She replied, "It is the late Yibin King Kam Zhi." Wang Cheng said in surprise, "That's my grandfather!" How can you meet? The old woman was also surprised and said, "Are you the grandson of Wang Kamzhi?" I was your grandfather's concubine, and after your grandfather died, I went into seclusion. Unexpectedly, when passing by here, I lost the gold noodles, and happened to be picked up by you, is this not providence? Wang Cheng believed her words and invited her home with him. The old woman followed him back. When he got home, Wang Cheng hurriedly asked his wife to come out to meet him. His wife was dressed in rags and her face was blue. The old woman couldn't help but sigh, "Alas, I didn't expect Wang Kamzhi's grandson to be so poor!" She saw that there was no food on the broken stove and asked, "The family is so poor, what do you rely on to make a living?" So he gave his own gold noodles to Wang Cheng's wife, and asked her to go to the market to exchange money for rice. Wang Cheng praised the old woman's benevolence and asked his wife to serve her as a mother-in-law.

The next day, the old woman said to Wang Cheng: "Grandson, you don't want to be lazy, you should do some small business, how can you sit and eat the mountain and the sky for a long time?" Wang Cheng told her that he had no money. The old woman said, "I have saved forty taels of silver, and you can take it all to buy Gebu and go into the capital to sell it on the same day, so that you can make some money." Wang Cheng obeyed her words and bought more than fifty gebu and returned. The old woman told him to pack up and set off immediately, calculating that he could reach the capital in six or seven days. He also told Wang Cheng: "You must be diligent, don't be lazy, act fast, and don't procrastinate: if you are a day late, it will be too late to regret it." Wang Cheng respectfully agreed.

He took Gebu on the road, but unexpectedly it rained on the way, and his clothes and shoes and socks were soaked. Wang Chengping had never suffered from wind and rain in his life, and was sleepy, so he temporarily stayed in the hotel to rest. Unexpectedly, it rained heavily overnight, and the rain under the eaves flowed like a rope. After a night, the road became more muddy. He saw the pedestrians passing by, the mud did not pass the calf, and his heart cried bitterly. After staying for two consecutive days before setting off on the road, when he was about to arrive in the capital, Wang Cheng heard that the price of Gebu had soared, and his heart was secretly happy. Entering the capital, he undressed and lived in the guest house, but the owner of the shop deeply regretted that he was late. It turned out that before this, the road to the south had just been opened, and there were very few Gebu transported to the capital. Baylor House was in a hurry to buy it, so the price of Gebu suddenly rose to three times the usual. The day before, the palace had just bought enough cloth, and the people who came after it were very disappointed. The owner told Wang Cheng the reason. After a day, Gebu arrived more and the price was lower. Wang Cheng felt that there was no profit and refused to sell. After more than ten days, the cost of food and lodging has been spent a lot, and it has become more and more depressed. The owner advised him to sell it at a low price and make another plan. Wang Cheng accepted his advice, and he lost more than a dozen taels of silver. The next morning I got up, planned to pack up and go home, opened my bag and looked at it, and the silver was gone. Wang Cheng was surprised and told the owner that the owner had nothing to do. Someone encouraged him to report to the officials and ask the owner of the shop to compensate. Wang Cheng sighed and said, "This is my life number, what does it have to do with the owner?" "When the owner heard about it, he was very grateful to him, gave him five or two pieces of silver, and advised him to go back. Wang Cheng felt that he did not have a face to see his grandmother when he went back empty-handed, he went in and out, wandering uncertainly, in a dilemma.

Just then he saw that there were fighting quails on the street, and a win was a few thousand yuan, and buying a quail often cost more than a hundred yuan. It suddenly occurred to him that the money in his bag was only enough to sell quail, so he discussed the matter with the owner of the shop. The owner tried his best to encourage him to do it, and Wang Cheng was very happy, bought a full load of quail, and entered the capital again. The owner was also very happy and wished him to sell out as soon as possible. At night, a heavy rain poured down, and it fell for several days without stopping. Wang Cheng got up to look at the cage, and the quail gradually began to die. Another day passed, and more died, leaving only a live quail in the cage. Wang Cheng thought to himself, the money has also been spent, and the family cannot go back, but only wants to find death. The owner repeatedly persuaded him, comforted him, and went with him to see the only remaining quail. After carefully observing the quail, he said to Wang Cheng, "This seems to be an unusual good species, and those quails are probably killed by it." You are idle now, it is better to take it out to fight, if it is a good fighting quail, you can also make a living from it. Wang Cheng did as he said. After taming the quail, the owner asked him to take the quail to the street to fight, and the quail was brave and often returned with great victories. After more than half a year, Wang Cheng accumulated more than twenty taels of silver. Wang Cheng's heart was even more relieved, he had already valued the quail as much as his life.

Before this, the Grand Prince was a fighting quail, and every time on the First Yuan Festival, he always released people who raised quail into the palace and fought with him. The owner of the shop then told Wang Cheng the situation and took him with him to the prince's mansion, instructing him: "If the fight is lost, you will think that you are unlucky to come out." If he is lucky enough to win, the prince will definitely buy your quail, and you should not agree to it; if he insists on buying it, you will look at me and act, and you will not agree until I nod. Wang Cheng said, "Good." ”

When I arrived at the Prince's Mansion, I saw many quail fighters standing under the steps. After a while the prince came out and sat down in the temple. His retinue beckoned, "Those who are willing to fight quails come up." "Immediately a man with a quail took a small stride and ran forward, and the prince ordered the release of the quail, and the man also released the quail; as soon as the two quails jumped into battle, the quail on the guest side was defeated. Wang Ye laughed. After a while, several people's quails had been defeated by the prince's quail fight. The owner of the shop said to Wang Cheng, "It's okay." The two took the stage together. Wang Ye looked at Wang Cheng's quail and said, "Full of murderous eyes, he is a good fighter, and he should not be taken lightly." He ordered his entourage to put "iron-billed" quails to fight. After a few rounds of fierce fighting, the prince's quail was defeated. A better quail was chosen to fight, and two were exchanged, and both were defeated. The prince hurriedly ordered the quail in the palace to be taken. After a moment someone came out with it. The jade quail was like a heron, with snow-white feathers, and the god was extraordinary. Wang Cheng was timid in his heart, and he knelt on the ground and pleaded not to fight, saying: "The great king's jade quail is a god, and he is afraid of hurting my quail and smashing my rice bowl." The prince smiled and said, "Let the quail go." If your fight dies, I will compensate you heavily. Wang Cheng released the quail. The jade quail saw Wang Cheng's quail out of the cage and ran straight over. When the jade quail just rushed over, Wang Cheng's quail was like an angry chicken crouching down to fight; when the jade quail pecked fiercely, Wang Cheng's quail took off like a crane and fought back. The two quails either advance or retreat, or attack or defend, and hold each other for about one volt. The jade quail gradually relaxed, while Wang Cheng's quail became more angry and attacked more urgently. After a while, the hair on the jade quail fell like snowflakes, and it fled with its wings hanging down. Hundreds of people watched the battle, all admiring and envious.

The prince then put Wang Cheng's quail in his hand and played with it himself, from mouth to claw, and after carefully examining it, asked Wang Cheng: "Can your quail be sold?" Wang Cheng replied: "The villain does not have any fixed family property, only depends on it for his life, and is not willing to sell it." The prince said, "Reward you with a good price, and the property of the middle-class family will be in hand at once." You're particularly willing, right? Wang Cheng looked down and thought about it for a long time, and said, "I didn't want to sell it, but since the king likes it so much, and if the king can really let the villain get a worry-free property, what else do I have to ask for?" The prince asked the price of the sale, and Wang Cheng replied that he wanted a thousand taels of silver. The prince smiled and said, "Idiot! What kind of treasure is this, worth a thousand taels of silver? Wang Cheng said, "The Great King does not regard it as a treasure, but the little man thinks that it is more valuable than the priceless Jade." The prince asked, "Why?" Wang Cheng said: "The little man I took it to the city to fight, every day I can get a few silver, in exchange for a liter and a half bucket of grain, the family will not have the worry of freezing and starving, what treasure can be like it?" Then the prince said, "I will not treat you badly, but I will give you two hundred taels of silver." Wang Cheng shook his head. The prince added another hundred taels. Wang Cheng peeked at the shop owner, who looked unmoved. Then he said, "By the king's command, allow me to subtract one hundred taels." The prince said, "Forget it! Who would exchange nine hundred taels of silver for a quail! "Wang Cheng pretended to be a quail and was about to leave." The prince shouted, "The one who raises quails is back, the one who raises quails is back!" I will really give you six hundred taels, and you will sell it, otherwise you will forget it. Wang Cheng looked at the owner again, and the owner of the shop still looked unchanged. Wang Cheng's heart was already extremely satisfied, lest he lose this opportunity, he said: "With this number of transactions, the villain is really dissatisfied in his heart; but if the bargaining is not successful in half a day, it will definitely greatly offend Wang Ye." There is no other way, just do as the prince said. The prince was overjoyed, and at once he had the silver weighed out and handed it to him. Wang Cheng put on the silver, thanked the reward and came out. The owner complained to him, "What did I say?" You are so anxious to make your own decisions and sell. Hold on a little longer, and eight hundred taels of silver will be in your hand. Wang Cheng returned to the shop, put the silver on the table, and asked the shop owner to take it himself, but the shop owner did not want it. Wang Cheng insisted on giving it again, and the shopkeeper calculated that Wang Cheng had accepted the meal money for several months.

Wang Cheng packed up and went home, and when he got home, he recounted his experience in 1510 and took out silver for everyone to celebrate. The old woman asked him to buy three hundred acres of good land, build a house, buy utensils, and actually restore the ancestral family situation. The old woman got up very early every day and asked Wang Cheng to supervise the hired workers to cultivate the land, and let the daughter-in-law supervise the family to weave cloth. If the two were a little lazy, the old woman would reprimand them. Wang Cheng and his wife were also at ease and did not dare to complain. After three years of this, the family became richer.

Yi Shishi said: "Prosperity comes from hard work, but Wang Cheng's wealth comes from laziness, which is also an unheard of thing." But people don't know that this is because although Wang Cheng is destitute, his sincere and sincere disposition remains unchanged, so shangtian abandoned him at first, but finally pitied him. Can there really be wealth in laziness? ”