Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 722: Sweet-mouthed, Smart-hearted
Although the Fourth Prince patted his chest loudly when he took on this task and had one idea after another, when it came to implementing it, his weakness of lack of worldly experience was fully exposed.
But the naughty kid at least had self-awareness. While Peanut was trying to get information from Chen's parents, he simply acted cute in front of them. He looked like the golden boy in the New Year pictures, so he forgot his identity and followed Peanut's example, calling them Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen. Naturally, he managed to fool the two honest people in the Chen family.
The serious Xiao Cheng was responsible for answering questions from Chen's father and mother about Chen San's study in the public school. As a result, the three of them performed their duties and achieved remarkable results. The honest father of Chen couldn't help but sigh in his heart that his son had three such good classmates, but he couldn't stay in the public school for a long time.
When they came out of Chen's house, Chen's father, whose eyesight was already very poor, insisted on seeing them off to the door. Chen's mother even insisted on sending them to the other two houses, but when she saw a group of children outside the door staring at the bag of candy in Xiao Huasheng's hand, she understood.
They were all children from the neighborhood. Mother Chen gave them some careful instructions and watched as a group of children skipped and led the way for her three sons' classmates. When those figures were completely out of sight, she turned around and saw her husband's dejected face. She whispered, "The three classmates of Xiao Sanzi are polite and well-dressed. They all look like they come from good families. I know you feel sorry for him."
"How can it not be a pity? The school does not accept the tuition fees, but instead subsidizes the students. There is also a respected old man in the court in charge, and there are new talents like Zhang Xueshi who stay there every day. It is said that they can take other classes in the future and learn various skills. How rare is it? Just to have a few coins a month to go to that Gusu Restaurant as an apprentice, isn't it a waste of Xiao Sanzi's precious time?"
Seeing his wife was silent, Father Chen sighed and said, "Besides, he only goes to school one day out of seven, and the remaining six days he works very hard. It's not easy for the child. And these days, there is no school that can send people to visit students' homes, let alone in Beijing. Even if there are two children who came today who are younger than Xiao Sanzi, it shows that they are caring. Otherwise, forget it!"
Mother Chen raised her sleeve to wipe the corners of her eyes, but shook her head firmly.
"I know you're thinking about your son, but you have to know that Fang Sijia also found such an opportunity with great difficulty, and she is willing to send her own son over , which shows that it is absolutely true. Besides, the third son is still young, even if he is an apprentice for three years, he can still study, and he can continue to be an accountant like you in the future."
"Three years of apprenticeship, one string of coins per month, that's thirty-six strings of coins, it sounds like a lot, and you can even steal the skills from a master, but do you know that if you get caught beaten up, not to mention that you're taking someone else's wages, but you're stealing their skills, don't you feel guilty?"
Seeing that his wife didn't say anything, he raised his voice and said, "You said that three years can be made up quickly, but think about it, you miss at least fifty days of classes a year, which means one hundred and fifty classes in three years. Does Xiao Sanzi have that much time?"
"When I was learning to read, write and do accounting with an uncle, a cousin from my family wanted to learn too, but his family was unwilling to pay for it, so he was sent to work. While I was working in the accounting office of a business, protected from the wind and rain, he was working outside, pushing a cart to deliver goods for others in the wind and rain. He was less than 30 years old and looked so haggard!"
"My eyesight is almost failing, but he...he has lost his life. He caught a cold just because he was delivering goods in a rainstorm. I originally planned to teach Xiao Sanzi myself, even though my eyesight is getting worse. At this time, there is actually a public school that does not accept the tuition and provides three meals a day. If you miss it, you will be punished by God!"
Seeing that Chen's mother remained silent, Chen's father turned back to the house angrily. However, after crossing the threshold, the huge difference in light inside and outside the house made his eyes blurry, and he stumbled and lost his balance. Fortunately, he hurriedly stretched out his hand and grabbed around a few times, and he actually touched the door frame, so he took advantage of the situation to pull it, and then he slipped to the ground.
When Chen's mother heard the noise and rushed in, she saw her husband sitting on the ground in dejection. She rushed over to help him up, but she saw her husband suddenly punch the ground with his fist.
Seeing this, Chen's mother squatted down with the others, and couldn't help wiping away tears: "Okay, then I'll listen to you! The Fang family always loves to take advantage of others, and they like to gossip about other people. They seem to know a lot of people, but they are actually unreliable. Maybe this is not a good opportunity for her, maybe someone deceived her... Forget it, the family will hold on a little longer, and we can always survive!"
Outside the Chen family's door, Liu looked at the thin cotton curtain with a complicated expression, then turned around and left quietly.
He said that he would not go with the Fourth Prince and Xiao Huasheng, but that was just a claim. Although the place in front of him was not the scariest slum in the outer city, it was also very messy. He could not be completely at ease with the Fourth Prince, a noble and beautiful woman, wandering around in it, even with Xiao Huasheng and Xiao Cheng accompanying him!
Zhang Shou did not expect the three children to really achieve success in one fell swoop. In fact, he also hoped that he could find out the situation from the side.
But the fourth prince didn't know that his every move was actually under the surveillance of a pair of eyes - perhaps more than one pair of eyes. After the success in the Chen family, they then found the second family, the Fang family, under the guidance of those children.
Unlike Chen's father and mother who were honest and easy to deal with, the Fang family had a scholar named Fang Da who claimed that he was going to take part in the county examination. He was very wary of their arrival. When he heard that they were his younger brother's classmates, he directly asked them about what they had learned.
With his limited knowledge, Xiao Huasheng couldn't understand the other party's questioning mixed with allusions, so he was out of luck. Xiao Cheng had memorized a lot of ancient poems, but he was not good at quoting from classics.
So, it was the Fourth Prince's turn to take the blame. Although it was impossible for him to read the Four Books and Five Classics and memorize millions of words at such a young age, the naughty boy had one strength, which was his ability to make up stories. In addition, the books he had read were indeed quite diverse, which was worthy of Xiao Huasheng's claim that he was a child prodigy. He made the other party dizzy with his miscellaneous quotations.
After a few rounds, the scholar who was about to take part in the county examination gave up.
Seeing that her eldest son, who had always been regarded as the family's greatest hope, was embarrassed by a child, Fang's mother could no longer stand by and watch the fun. She stepped forward with a smile on her face to smooth things over, saying, "My Fang Xiaoxiao has been in public school for so long, and I didn't know I could meet such respectable classmates as the three young masters. You're here, but what are you bringing with you?"
She said this, but she had already put the egg tofu that Xiao Huasheng brought with her in a bamboo basket, and now she was holding it tightly in her arms, as if she was afraid that others would leave. When she saw that the three children opposite had no intention of doing so, she signaled her eldest son Fang Da to go back to the house to study, but he seemed to not understand and refused to leave at all, so she could only worry.
When the Fourth Prince saw the nerd opposite him, who was at least ten years older than him, looking at him unkindly, he wanted to retort, "What are you looking at me for?" But thinking about the purpose of his visit, he could only continue to deal with Fang's mother, who looked very shrewd, and lied to her without hesitation.
"The school's chief priest Lu said that in order to put some pressure on the students, the school will officially start the assessment. From the beginner class to the intermediate class, there will be regular exams. When we recruited students in the past, we said that if you are not serious, you will be fired."
Seeing that Fang's mother was obviously showing some strangeness, the Fourth Prince smiled and said, "But those who do well in the exam will be rewarded! Originally, we were going to give out pens, inkstones, paper, and inkstones, but it was Master Zhang who suggested that Master Lu give out bacon, chicken, and pickled vegetables to the top three in each class, in addition to scholarships."
When she heard that pens, ink, paper and inkstones would be distributed, Fang's mother was a little disdainful. But when she heard that those who did well in the exam would actually receive meat and seaweed, she couldn't help but be excited. When she heard that there would be scholarships, her eyes began to sparkle.
However, Fang Da, the eldest son of the Fang family, frowned and said, "Isn't it really shameful to give such an assessment and reward?"
Although the Fourth Prince is a prince, he has always been lively. Unlike the Third Prince, who was shy in the past but now is steady, he is widely praised by officials. He dares to criticize some court officials for being pedantic in front of the emperor, not to mention that he is facing a mere nerd at this time. He smiled and said calmly, "Then may I ask Fang Dalang, can you live without food and drink every day?"
Without waiting for anyone to reply, he said loudly, "Food is the most important thing for the people. So what's wrong with the public school rewarding students with bacon and pickled vegetables after the assessment? Besides, according to ancient etiquette, isn't the salary for teachers also bacon?"
Fang Da was choked by the Fourth Prince and could not speak. After a long while, he said coldly: "Rewarding with pickled meat or something is fine, but rewarding with money is nothing!"
"Oh, don't you know, Fang Dalang, that all the academies in Jiangnan also provide financial aid to students based on their family background and academic performance? Besides, aren't the grain subsidies given to the scholars also money? But if outsiders are as taboo about talking about money as you are, then I will go back and report to Lu Jijiu and ask the public school to give a stone of rice as a scholarship to the top three students in each class!"
"Hey, my eldest son is only interested in reading sage books, and doesn't understand these things in the market. Young son, don't listen to him!" Fang's mother was immediately anxious. She pushed her eldest son into the house and whispered to him when they reached the door, "Have you forgotten how many literary gatherings you have to participate in before the county exam next year? How can you not need money? If Xiaoxiao can get into the top three, wouldn't it be better to give him money?"
"But didn't mother say before that you wanted me to be an apprentice?" Fang Da raised his eyebrows in confusion. Seeing that Fang's mother suddenly showed an embarrassed expression, he said seriously, "But in fact, I opposed mother letting me drop out of school before. The two old masters in the public school are very famous figures. If I were not too old and had graduated from the private school a long time ago and could not take the advanced class, I would also want to go."
The Fourth Prince and Peanut pricked up their ears and listened at the side. They looked at each other and thought they had heard the key point. But what they didn't expect was that Xiao Cheng suddenly appeared behind the mother and son without knowing when.
"Why did Xiaoxiao drop out of school?"
Fang's mother turned around in a hurry and saw Xiao Cheng standing behind her. She instinctively wanted to scold him, but he had clear eyes and a calm face. She couldn't help but feel guilty. She forced a smile and said, "What do you know, kid? We are from a poor family. Poor families can't be like you, who only care about studying..."
Xiao Cheng asked confidently, "But isn't Brother Fang studying? I just heard that he seems to be taking the county exam?"
Fang's mother was almost green with anger because of this constant pressure, but her own son Dalang was still ignorantly chiming in: "That's right, mother, I only attend one day of class in the public school every seven days, and the other six days he is still..."
"What do you know!" Fang's mother couldn't help but change color suddenly. "If he becomes an apprentice, he can earn one guan of money a month. Not only can he make up for the family expenses, but your father won't have to work from dawn to dusk, and the expenses of your study and friends will be much easier. What's more, as long as he learns one or two tricks..."
"You have to learn skills in an upright manner. How can you steal?" This time, it was Fangda's turn to be angry. "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. Since I'm an apprentice and have received wages, how can I steal the skills?"
"You...you heartless boy, you...you are going to piss me off to death!"
The Fourth Prince and Peanut were stunned to see the mother and son actually confronting each other. After realizing what was happening, the Fourth Prince immediately gave Xiao Cheng a thumbs up, and then, without paying any attention to the confused little guy, he hurried forward to act as a peacemaker. Both of them were sweet-mouthed and smart people. Peanut comforted Fang Da, and the Fourth Prince comforted Fang's mother. After a while, the mother and son, who were about to quarrel, finally calmed down for a while.
It was only at this time that the Fourth Prince asked curiously, "Aunt, what exactly is going on with Fang Xiaoxiao dropping out of school to become an apprentice? Can you tell me about it?"
Without giving Fang's mother any chance to hesitate, he said sincerely, "In fact, the intermediate class only has classes once every seven days. If we can convince the store that recruits apprentices to let Xiao Fang take one day off every seven days to go to the public school, and deduct his wages for that day, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds? The wages for four days less each month are also limited, right?"
Seeing Fang's mother's heart beating, Peanut, who was standing beside her, began to talk eloquently, and with the help of Fang's eldest son Fang Da, who was a bit of a traitor, Fang's mother's weak defense was soon completely broken. So, this overly shrewd woman began to pour out her heart without realizing it.
But when he heard that someone claimed to be the owner of Gusu Restaurant and the third manager of the Hua family, the richest family in Suzhou, and took Fang's mother to the kitchen of Gusu Restaurant for a tour, and then promised Fang's mother a lot of wonderful-sounding treatment and promises, and even the fact that he was stealing knowledge was instilled in Fang's mother, the Fourth Prince felt that something was wrong.
He quickly glanced at Peanut and saw the person gently shook his head at him. He smiled and said, "If it's the Hua family, then it's easy. Mr. Zhang in the public school has always had some friendship with the Hua family. I'll go back and ask around with the people around Mr. Zhang, and I'll give you a reply later!" He felt that there must be someone pretending to be a member of the Hua family trying to steal my girlfriend... How audacious!
