The Qins residence is located in the Jiulianfang area of Jiangzhou City, where the well-off middle class lives. Every household has a house with blue walls and black tiles, flying eaves, spacious courtyards, and deep yards.

  Zhou Xuan walked eastward with a leisurely pace, his mind still on the moment when Qin Xiao was startled, and he couldnt help but smile as he walked.

  Xiao Di straddled Zhou Xuans neck, her hands supporting his head. Hearing her brother-in-laws "heh heh" laugh, she asked: "Brother-in-law, are you thinking of my sister?"

  "Huh, how did you know?"

  "Xiao Di knew that her brother-in-law wanted to be a real brother-in-law."

  Zhou Xuan was a bit sweaty. This is what Sima Zhaos heart is like, and even little kids know it. Brother, your covering-up skills need to be improved!

  "Whats with this true brother-in-law and fake brother-in-law? I am now your real brother-in-law."

  "Not yet."

  "How did you know it wasnt?"

  "A brother-in-law who doesnt sleep with his sister isnt a real brother-in-law."

  Zhou Xuan wiped away his cold sweat, this was just a small kid, how did he know that!

  Xiao Di said: "Dont look at Xiao Di being small, Xiao Di knows everything. My dad and mom are sleeping together, they are a real couple, and my sisters husband and sister are not."

  Zhou Xuan asked: "Does Xiao Di want her brother-in-law to be her real brother-in-law?"

  "I want to!" Xiao Di replied without hesitation.

  Zhou Xuan said: "But you have an older male cousin, and that older male cousin also wants to be your real brother-in-law, what to do?"

  Xiao Di hugged Zhou Xuans head with both hands, as if afraid someone would snatch him away, and said: "Xiao Di only wants you to be her real brother-in-law, no one else will do. That cousin Xiao Di has only seen once, doesnt play with Xiao Di, Xiao Di doesnt like him. If he dares to come to our house to steal the role of brother-in-law, Xiao Di will shoot him with a slingshot."

  Zhou Xuan burst out laughing and patted the small leg hanging in front of his chest, saying: "With Xiaodi backing me up, Im very confident now."

  The house servant Lai Fu followed behind, covering his mouth and chuckling "heh heh" like a giant toad.

  Zhou Xuan turned his head and asked with a slanted gaze: "Whats wrong, Lai Fu? Do you have an opinion about me being your sisters husband?"

  Lai Fu hastily said: "No, no objection, Lai Fu wholeheartedly supports Young Master becoming the real Young Master."

  The three of them arrived at the side of a stone arch bridge nearby, which was called Mingyue Bridge. On the upper part of the Mingyue Bridge, there was a vegetable market that sold not only vegetables but also all sorts of things. At this dusk hour, it was still quite lively with people coming and going.

  Zhou Xuan asked: "Lai Fu, where is the place in Jiangzhou City that sells crickets?"

  Lai Fu said: "In the vicinity of Old Crane Pond, near the Yangtze River, there is a street called Half Idle Street, which is all about buying and selling crickets. From here, its over ten miles away, but we wont make it today. Ill accompany Young Master to take a stroll tomorrow."

  Zhou Xuan nodded, strolling around while teaching Xiao Di to play with a slingshot, shooting at an old tree by the river. One pellet bounced back from the tree and hit a young mans forehead.

  That young boy was fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a gray straight robe and black cloth shoes. At first glance, it was clear that he was the child of an ordinary family. He rubbed his forehead, not getting angry, but instead smiled at Xiaodai and said: "Little brother, there are many people here, dont play randomly, if you hit someone else, they will scold you."

  The young man also had a companion, who was about the same age and dress, holding a clay basin in his hand. The two of them turned around to leave.

  "Wait a minute." Zhou Xuan pointed at the earthenware basin in the young mans hand and asked: "Whats inside?"

  "The cricket." The young man who was hit on the forehead by Xiao Di said, "We caught it at the foot of Mu Fu Mountain. This cricket is very powerful and defeated three crickets in our village."

  "Oh, let me see, Ill buy it no matter what." Zhou Xuan had a good impression of this young man.

  Two young men from a distant mountain village rushed here, wanting to sell this cricket. Several people came to see it, but thought the crickets head was too small and didnt want it. At that time, they heard Zhou Xuan say he would buy it, and were overjoyed. They handed over the ceramic basin, lifted off the piece of pumpkin leaf covering it, and said: "Young master, please take a look. Although this cricket is not very big, its really good at fighting. Weve given it a loud name - Fierce General Zhang Fei."

  Do people of Southern Tang also like Three Kingdoms this much, even crickets are named after famous generals of Three Kingdoms?

  Zhou Xuan carefully looked at the small black insect at the bottom of the tile basin. Generally speaking, when looking at insects, one looks at their color first: green is top-grade, yellow is second-rate, red is third-rate, black is fourth-rate, and white is the worst - even if thrown on the ground, no one would want it.

  The young man caught a small-sized cricket with a black head and body, which was only equivalent to a junior officer rank, not even a lieutenant. It dared to be called General Zhang Fei, which was really ridiculous. No wonder nobody wanted to buy it, it wasnt even qualified as a sparring partner, only suitable for country kids to play with, not good enough for the arena.

  "This cricket is quite good, how much are you planning to sell it for?" asked Zhou Xuan.

  Two young men looked at each other, and the one who had been knocked on the head plucked up his courage and said: "Fifty cents?"

  Zhou Xuan tilted his head and instructed Lai Fu: "Lai Fu, give them 100 coins."

  Lai Fu thought: "Brother-in-law is foolish, others want fifty and you give one hundred!" Not daring to be slow, he quickly took out a string of copper coins to give to the two young men.

  Two young men stared blankly at the money in their hands, and it wasnt until a while later that they came to their senses, overjoyed and repeatedly saying: "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!" They handed the earthenware basin to Lai Fu.

  Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "No need to thank me. In the future, if you catch any good insects, you can also come sell them to me. I live in Qins residence over there, where there are three large Chinese scholar trees in front of the gate. My name is Zhou Xuan."

  Two young men were overjoyed, finding a steady patron was great, and this patron was particularly generous, saying in unison: "Good, well definitely catch some good insects for Master Zhou tonight."

  "Now that the heat has passed, there are more and more crickets in the wild. You guys catch a bunch of inferior crickets and try to sell them to me, thinking Im a rich fool. Let me teach you two tricks for catching bugs: first, choose a good location, preferably ancient ruins or broken bricks and stones, where the crickets that come out are generally not too bad. Second, listen to the sound, the crickets chirping should be loud and strong, good crickets wont chirp continuously, but rather after a long time, and theyre very alert, so if you want to catch them, you need to be careful and patient."

  Two young men looked at Zhou Xuan with admiration, nodded and said: "We remember, we will go to the Zhou Yu Pointing Platform on Gan Tang Lake tonight to guard, and must catch some good insects to offer to Young Master Zhou."

  Two young men, one named Tang Xiaosan and the other Hu Tong. Tang Xiaosan was the one who got shot in the forehead.

  Look at the sky, its getting late. Zhou Xuan took Xiao Di home, and Jia Ding came with a ceramic basin behind them, like a beggar, very funny.

  A horse carriage stopped in front of the Qin Mansion. This was not the single-horse carriage that belonged to the Qin Mansion, but a luxurious double-horse carriage. Had an honored guest arrived at the Qin Mansion?

  Lai Fus colleague, Song Da Chun, poked his head out of the door and saw Zhou Xuan and the other two returning. He quickly ran over to say: "Young Master, someone has been looking for you and has been waiting for a while."

  Zhou Xuan found it strange, who else in the world besides the Qin family would recognize him and come to find him? Walking in, he saw a stout middle-aged man wearing a black hat and light blue shirt pacing back and forth in the courtyard, seemingly restless. Hmm, isnt this the same middle-aged man he met during the cricket fight this morning? He must be here to buy an accordion, and has chased him all the way here!

  That middle-aged man smiled and came over to greet him, bowing and saying: "Young Master Zhou, I am Hei Shan from Xia Lin Rock, Ive come uninvited, disturbing you."

  "Ah, Mr. Lin, come on in! Its hot outside, have a cup of tea first."

  Zhou Xuan was a hospitable person who liked making friends. Although he knew that Lin Heishan had come for his harmonica, which he would never sell, why not make friends with him anyway? Even if the deal didnt work out, they could still maintain a good relationship.

  The host and guest have taken their seats, and the servant woman is serving tea.

  Lin Heishan was apparently a man who could contain his emotions, and he slowly drank half a cup of tea before speaking: "Master Zhou must also know the purpose of my visit. I, Lin, am deeply fond of your Eight-Tone Treasure Lute, so I humbly request that you part with it. As for the price, we can discuss it later. There are three thousand taels of silver in the carriage outside. What do you think, Master Zhou?" He said this while staring at Zhou Xuan, his face full of expectation.

  Zhou Xuan said: "Lin brother——"

  Zhou Xuan is a familiar face, and after two meetings, he calls him brother. "Brother isnt unwilling to give in, but for the sake of his elder brothers persistent love for music, even if its free, it should be given. However, this treasure piano has great significance to me, its an heirloom from my ancestors. I fled overseas and came here with no money or food, three days and nights without eating a single grain of rice, starving until my chest was stuck to my back, but I never thought of selling the treasure piano. Can Lin brother understand my difficulties?"

  Its been said so clearly, cant they understand?!

  Lin Heishan nodded, frowning and pursing his lips to show understanding. Although he was refused, his impression of Zhou Xuan actually improved. "So Brother Zhou is an overseas returnee, no wonder you have such rare treasures," he said. "But werent you too reckless this morning when betting on the cricket fight? What would you do if you lost?"

  Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Its not an adventure, its a judgment. Ive long seen that Lin brothers insect is a formidable opponent. If I didnt have 100% confidence, how could I use the ancestral treasure to take this risk!" In fact, he had at most 50% confidence, but since he won the bet, of course, he would brag about it. After all, the strong are always lucky.

  Lin Heishan raised an eyebrow: "So Brother Zhou is a master of the insect way, I thought you were just lucky. We will be holding a grand insect fighting tournament at my estate after the autumn coolness sets in, and I must invite Brother Zhou to participate. Also, if Brother Zhou ever wants to sell this precious zither, please look for me at the Shui Feng Lou teahouse where the insect fight was held this morning, and the owner will notify me immediately."

  Zhou Xuan said: "This goes without saying, if its going to be transferred, Lin Ge definitely has priority."

  Lin Heishan left the Qin Mansion with a face full of regret, while the two family servants, Lai Fu and Song Dachun, were even more regretful. They watched as the double-yoked horse carriage carrying 3,000 taels of silver disappeared into the distance, reluctant to part with it. In their entire lives, they had never seen so much silver!