My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 51 Friendship

I don't know how they talked to their families, but their parents agreed to let them set up a teahouse.

Not long after returning, Zhang Mo brought a few people to Lin Ziping to teach him how to play cards. These people were servants trained by Zhang Mo's family gambling den. This time, the playing cards were made by Fang Zhili, and they looked much more exquisite.

Seeing how actively others were preparing for the teahouse, Lin Ziping understood that nothing could be done without money. He also realized that he couldn't keep receiving pocket money from the Lin family forever. As Fang Zhili had said, he still had to rely on himself.

Having figured all this out, Lin Ziping didn't hold back. Since he didn't have any money for the teahouse the group was running, he offered his technical skills as investment. He went through all the card games he knew, recalling how to play Texas Hold'em, Run Fast, Bullfight, Guandan, and Landlord, and then taught them all to the group Zhang Mo had brought.

As expected of the young men trained by the gambling den, they were familiar with the game after Lin Ziping only showed them the game twice. Some of them were even able to apply what they learned to create new ways to play.

Lin Ziping felt ashamed again. His knowledge, which was ahead of its time, was merely standing on the shoulders of giants. If he had stayed here, he might not have known how to survive.

"Young Master Lin, Young Master Lin, is this alright?" asked a child who looked to be eleven or twelve years old among the group.

Zhang Mo introduced, "This is Hu Zi. He's been with my family for three years."

Lin Ziping looked over and saw that he was indeed as good as his name suggested. He had a chubby face with a somewhat honest look, and he even had two tiger teeth when he smiled. At that moment, he had just won a card game against the others and was looking at Lin Ziping with excitement.

Lin Ziping nodded and praised, "That's right, you learn very quickly."

Tiger puffed out his chest and smiled even more broadly: "Thank you, Young Master Lin. I will study hard and become a croupier like Uncle Ma in the future."

The others, who all looked older than Hu Zi, laughed upon hearing this: "Such a big mouth! You'll have to be like Uncle Ma in the future, knowing how long Uncle Ma practiced his specialty."

Tiger retorted, "I'll train for a long time too, and become the best dealer, so I can buy a big house in the city."

The others laughed even harder, teasing, "When Tiger buys a big house in the future, he can find a beautiful wife."

Seeing that the group was getting carried away with their conversation, Zhang Mo coughed twice, and the room quieted down.

"Study hard, everyone, so you can all buy big houses in the future," Zhang Mo said.

"Yes, young master," the group replied in unison as they stood up.

Zhang Mo gestured for everyone to sit down.

He turned to Lin Ziping and said, "Let's go."

The two left, walking side by side. Zhang Mo glanced at Lin Ziping from time to time, as if he had something to say.

"Zhang Mo, just say what you have to say." Lin Ziping stopped and looked at Zhang Mo.

"Hehe, I always felt you were different from before. How do you know all this now?" Zhang Mo asked, looking at Lin Ziping.

"How well did you know me before? How do you know I wouldn't?" Lin Ziping said calmly.

Zhang Mo seemed a little embarrassed: "You used to... well, ever since you hit He Jinbao, I've felt something was different."

"Heh, do you expect me to keep bullying you like this?" Lin Ziping sneered.

"Oh, oh, that's not what I meant. Anyway, you look much better to me now. I didn't mean to look like that before," Zhang Mo stammered.

"Is someone forcing you?"

“I don’t need to explain Fang Zhili and Ji Xun’s identities, right? Although He Jinbao’s family is also in business, they have connections in the capital. My family runs a gambling den, and my mother only has a few shops. That’s why we have to rely on them for everything,” Zhang Mo explained.

Lin Ziping understood immediately; no wonder Zhang Mo's father had been trying to curry favor with He Jinbao's father the last time he saw him.

“I’m not like you. Although your uncle is… he came from the palace after all, so everyone gives him some face. Sigh, I was wrong to you before, but I’m also telling you the truth. You were also very stupid, not knowing how to fight back. If you had the same ferocity you showed when you beat people up the first time, who would dare to mess with you?” Zhang Mo rambled on. “It’s better now. Young Master Xun protects you, so no one else can do anything to you. But you should also curb your temper. The young masters can tolerate you once or twice, but they can’t tolerate you every time. You always have a sour face, like someone owes you something.”

“I…” Lin Ziping wanted to refute, but was interrupted by Zhang Mo.

"Don't rush to refute us. We were wrong in what we did earlier, but don't you think about who you are and who they are? That's enough. Young masters have tempers too. If you don't build good relationships with them now while they're interested, it'll be difficult later when the friendship is gone. You should learn from Zhao Xiancheng."

"Don't you have any feelings for them?" Lin Ziping didn't know how to refute Zhang Mo.

“Heh, friendship, there is, isn’t there?” Zhang Mo looked into the distance for a long time before saying, “You and Tao Ju’an have friendship, but you know he has problems with the prefectural exam, yet you can’t do anything about it. The friendship between you can only allow you to go see him, but whether he wants you to see his situation is another matter.”

“If Tao Ju’an has problems with the prefectural examination, I can help him go to the prefect…” Lin Ziping argued, but his voice grew softer and softer as he spoke.

"Ha, how can you help? You don't even have the confidence to say it yourself. You probably haven't heard about that student who demanded to have his exam papers reviewed during the prefectural examination. He can never participate in the imperial examinations again. What good is it for you to help Tao Ju'an find the prefect?" Zhang Mo said, picking a leaf from the roadside. "Something similar to Tao Ju'an's could happen to you and me. Do you think it could happen to Fang Zhili and Ji Xun?"

Lin Ziping shook his head, knowing that neither Fang Zhili nor Ji Xun's families would allow such a thing to happen.

"So we can only be with them. We don't think it's important whether there's affection or not, but they need to feel our affection." Zhang Mo threw away the leaf in his hand. "Alright, think about what I said. I'm only saying this because I like you now. If it were someone who wanted to be with you before, they could leave."

Following behind Zhang Mo, Lin Ziping pondered his words. He had to admit they made a lot of sense, adapting to the trends of the times. However, he felt that relationships shouldn't be so utilitarian. He agreed from the bottom of his heart, but could they really be like that? Lin Ziping mocked himself, saying that perhaps his life had been smooth from childhood to adulthood. Although he had lived for thirty years, he still retained some naivety and foolishness. Perhaps the feelings of this era were really as Zhang Mo said. He really couldn't do anything but talk. It was a pity that he didn't see things as clearly as a child.

"Zhang Mo, how do you know all this?" Lin Ziping caught up with Zhang Mo.

Zhang Mo rolled his eyes at Lin Ziping: "Don't be sarcastic. I know you want to say I'm opportunistic, calculating, and sycophantic. My father has several concubines, and I have several brothers. If it weren't for this, my mother and I would have been devoured long ago. I thought you were a bit smarter, but who knew... Tsk tsk, let's go. We still need to tell the others what's going on here. You have Young Master Xun protecting you, but I don't."

Lin Ziping nodded awkwardly and followed Zhang Mo's footsteps.