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The Heluo Fei family had been rooted in Luoyang for a hundred years. Although they had never produced any of the top three dukes or similar high-ranking officials, they had their share of court dignitaries and local governors. Thus, they were considered a relatively notable family.
However, Fei Qian was from a collateral branch, so his treatment was naturally a step below that of the main family.
Originally, according to the rules, Fei Qian should have been assigned to the "Ding" category at best, as the "Bing" category was mostly reserved for the main family's descendants.
The "Ding" category meant six people sharing a room, while the lowest "Wu" category was a large communal room for ten people...
Even so, many people didn't even qualify for the communal room and had to pay for their own accommodations outside. These were the so-called "poor scholars"...
Fei Qian was assigned to the "Bing" category because he not only brought Uncle Fu but also a group of soldiers led by Zhang Zhao. Although Zhang Zhao and the others were only escorting Fei Qian to Jingxiang before parting ways, the Xun family's receptionist didn't know that. They assumed these soldiers were Fei Qian's personal guards for his travels, leading them to believe that Fei Qian must be an important member of the Fei family's main branch. Thus, he was directly assigned to the "Bing" category.
After all, traveling with a team of official court soldiers wasn't something that could be done with just money; it required some level of authority. So, by coincidence, Fei Qian was unknowingly upgraded...
The "Bing" category rooms at the Xun family's guesthouse were quite decent. A small courtyard was shared by three "Bing" category rooms, meaning nine people lived in one courtyard, divided into left, middle, and right rooms. Outside the rooms was a corridor with stone benches for resting. The courtyard wasn't very large, but it was acceptable. The corridors on either side led to the backyard, where the kitchen and toilet were located. There was also a small room in the backyard for the servants of the courtyard.
Since Xun Shuang's lectures weren't just an hour long but lasted an entire day, and before Xun Shuang, some people would come on the first day to give preliminary talks to warm up the audience, the final day was reserved for free Q&A. So, in total, the event lasted three days.
During these three days, meals were served at set times in the Xun family's dining hall, where everyone ate the same "communal meal." Naturally, everyone slept in their own rooms. Of course, if someone wasn't satisfied with the standard communal meal, they could pay to have the courtyard servants prepare additional food. However, it was important to note that drinking alcohol was prohibited for the first two days, and the ban was only lifted after the afternoon of the third day.
Violators would be expelled from the guesthouse, and their family heads would be notified—this was a serious consequence, akin to being called to the principal's office for misbehaving at school...
Fei Qian looked at the precautions written on the whitewashed wall of the room and couldn't help but guess that this rule was likely in place to prevent people from causing trouble due to drunkenness. By the third day, since everyone would be leaving anyway, the ban was lifted.
The older man from Runan, named Ying Yu, entered the room but didn't stay long or say much before leaving. It was unclear where he went.
On the other hand, the person close to Fei Qian's age sat quietly in the room, pulling out a blade of grass from his sleeve and examining it closely...
This was something new.
Fei Qian found it quite interesting. Among the scholar-officials, some liked to play with women, some were obsessed with horses, and others enjoyed taking drugs. Today, he encountered someone who liked playing with grass...
But then again, playing with grass was probably better than some other vices...
Seeing Fei Qian's curious gaze, Zao Zhi (also known as Zao Zijing) put down the grass and smiled.
Fei Qian realized that his staring was somewhat impolite, so he cupped his hands and said, "I was just curious, no offense meant. Please forgive me."
Zao Zhi waved his hand, clearly accustomed to such curious looks, and said, "No problem, it's just a hobby of mine."
Since there was still some time before the evening communal meal at the Xun family, Fei Qian decided to strike up a conversation with this grass-loving fellow.
It turned out that Zao Zhi had always been interested in agriculture and forestry. He was more fascinated by things related to farming than most people and had even planted a small field at home himself. For a scholar-official, this was quite unusual.
Of course, Zao Zhi's actions had attracted some criticism. Some said he was just seeking attention, trying to deceive the world for fame, while others dismissed him, saying he was neglecting his studies and focusing on trivial matters...
There were all sorts of opinions, but fortunately, his family neither supported nor opposed his interests, allowing Zao Zhi to continue.
The Zao clan wasn't a particularly prominent family, but its origins were quite ancient, dating back to the Spring and Autumn period. The Zao ancestors were granted land in Ji, and later took the place name as their surname. To avoid persecution, they eventually changed their surname to Zao.
Since the Zao family was located in Changshe, Yingchuan, they were considered part of the Yingchuan scholar-official circle. Therefore, the Xun family, out of local camaraderie, upgraded Zao Zhi to the "Bing" category. Otherwise, given that the Zao family hadn't produced any significant figures, he would have been assigned to the "Ding" category.
The blade of grass Zao Zhi was playing with was something he had discovered on his way to Yangcui in Yingchuan. He found it curious that there was still green grass growing among the rocks in autumn, so he picked it to study.
Fei Qian took the grass and examined it closely. Indeed, ordinary grass usually turns yellow in autumn and sprouts again in spring. Evergreen grass was quite rare.
This particular blade of grass had long, thin leaves with serrated edges, resembling wheat seedlings. However, it definitely wasn't wheat, as winter wheat was still small at this time and wouldn't be this long or large.
Fei Qian felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before. Of course, it wasn't during the Eastern Han dynasty but rather in his later life when he had visited a rural resort and seen someone cultivating this plant. It seemed to be some kind of medicinal herb, but he couldn't recall its name at the moment...
Seeing Fei Qian's expression, Zao Zhi asked, "Brother, do you recognize this grass?"
Fei Qian nodded and said, "...This grass seems to have medicinal properties, but I can't remember its name right now..."
Zao Zhi became interested. It was quite a coincidence that someone sharing his room also had some knowledge in this area, as most scholar-officials focused on studying classics, history, and philosophy, and generally had little interest in such specialized topics.
Seeing Fei Qian struggling to recall, Zao Zhi comforted him, "It's alright if you can't remember. I just happened to pick this by chance..."
Zao Zhi noticed a water jug and cups on the table in the room, so he got up and poured two cups of water, handing one to Fei Qian. "Please have some water first. There's no rush."
Fei Qian took the cup and, looking at the water, suddenly had an idea. He happily said to Zao Zhi, "I remember now..."