The servant and Uncle quickly found the area near where Li Juren lived.

This courtyard originally belonged to an old granny; Li Juren only rented one room and cooked for himself every day.

The servant and Uncle waited outside for a long time, but never saw Li Juren come out.

They gnawed on dry rations in the cold wind and continued to wait.

When the sun had set, the courtyard door creaked open, and both of them jolted to attention.

Uncle didn’t care whether it was the right person or not, he just picked up the basket and slowly walked over.

The one who came out was indeed Li Juren.

He had been writing all day and intended to come out to stretch his limbs.

He walked forward slowly, and Uncle caught up from behind and bumped into him.

Uncle’s acting had become more and more polished; as he bumped into him, he let himself fall backward and plopped down on the ground.

Li Juren turned back in shock and saw an old man on the ground, with a basket beside him holding half a basket of broken eggs.

Li Juren first reached out a hand to help Uncle up.

Uncle got to his feet, pointing at his own basket and babbling while gesturing nonstop.

Li Juren watched Uncle and shook his head. "Old sir, I was walking in front. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. You’re the one who ran into me yourself."

Uncle tugged at Li Juren, repeatedly pointing at the eggs on the ground.

Li Juren sighed and looked at Uncle’s jacket, tattered in many places with cotton sticking out. "Fine, even if you’re just trying to extort me, I’ll accept it."

He fumbled in his bosom and took out a dull grey money pouch, then fished out a handful of Copper Coins and shoved them into Uncle’s hand. "Old sir, it’s getting late, hurry on home."

"Take these Copper Coins as me buying your eggs."

After he finished, he suddenly added, "Old sir, wait a moment."

He turned and ran back into the room, took out a bowl, and scraped the yolk and egg white stuck on top of the bamboo basket into the bowl, even using his fingers to dig hard at the basket.

When he went back inside with the bowl, Uncle and the servant also left with the basket.

The servant walked along laughing. "This Li Juren is really stingy. I’m sure Young Madam won’t fancy him."

When they returned, the servant reported everything to Gu Yunjiao without leaving out a word.

Jiang Youzhi was reading at the side. After hearing the servant finish, he couldn’t help but laugh. "You really went to the trouble of coming up with this scheme."

Gu Yunjiao slanted him a look. "What, you think my scheme is no good?"

Jiang Youzhi waved his hand to dismiss the servant.

He put down the book, came over, and pulled Gu Yunjiao into his lap to sit, first kissing her on the cheek. "You’ve gone to a lot of trouble for San Ya. I think this plan is very good."

"Among these three scholars, which one do you think is better?"

Gu Yunjiao looped her arms around his neck. "What do you think?"

Jiang Youzhi’s hand was pinching Gu Yunjiao’s slender waist. "I think Li Juren is not bad."

"First, he knows how to argue his case. Second, he has sympathy for the elderly. And lastly, he took the eggs back—this shows he knows how to run a household."

Gu Yunjiao nodded. "I also think Li Juren is good."

"Then it’ll be him."

Jiang Youzhi kissed Gu Yunjiao’s face again. "Mm, I happen to have a rest day tomorrow. I’ll summon him to the house and have a talk with him, see what his learning is like."

Early the next morning, Li Juren was squatting in the courtyard cooking porridge when he saw, at the open gate, a man dressed like a servant. The servant saluted him and said, "Are you Mr. Li?"

Li Juren stood up. "I am."

The servant handed over an invitation. Li Juren took one look, and his eyes flew wide open; then he raised his head to stare at the servant in disbelief.

The servant smiled. "My master has heard that Mr. Li’s literary talent is quite good. He asks that you bring your own writings and make a trip to the Duke Mansion."