Chapter 223 Can You Speak Properly?

Old Mrs. Chen shook her head and waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, money doesn't matter. My son Zhancai finally passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. We must make good use of the situation and make the villagers happy."

"Yes, your aunt is right. My son Zhancai studied very hard, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty..."

Old man Chen also took over the conversation and counted on his fingers seriously.

"It seems like I've been studying hard for thirty-two years. Think about it, how many thirty-two years are there in a lifetime? Zhancai finally passed the imperial examination, so the whole village should celebrate!"

When Wu Baoan heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched and he almost couldn't help laughing.

If you think about it carefully, it is true. Chen Zhancai has been taking the exam for more than 30 years. It is just that the Chen family is partial to him. If it were an ordinary family, they would have given up long ago.

Seeing that the old couple insisted on holding a grand wedding, Wu Baoan knew what they were planning.

One reason is that he wants to show off in front of others. After all, he has been ridiculed by the villagers over the years. Now that he finally gets the chance, he naturally wants to satisfy his vanity and feel praised.

Secondly, they wanted to take advantage of this grand event to make money.

Seeing Chen Zhancai sitting there without making any statement, Wu Baoan thought to himself,

If he had any self-awareness, he would have strongly opposed his parents' actions.

After all, he still has to take part in the provincial examination in the future. It would be good if he passed it in one go, but if he failed, his family's life would become even more difficult in the future.

Wu Baoan wanted to hear his opinion, so he asked in a negotiating tone, "Zhancai, what do you think we should do about this?"

Chen Zhancai cleared his throat, put on a pretentious and elegant look, shook his head, and put on a big clove of garlic.

"There's an old saying, 'Respect the elders with courtesy, honor the elderly with virtue.' Lao Tzu said, 'Filial piety is the foundation of the world.' Mencius said, 'If you can't get along with your parents, you can't be a human being; if you don't obey your parents, you can't be a son.' I will always let my parents decide."

Seeing him talking nonsense, Wu Baoan was so angry that he wanted to slap him in the face.

I cursed in my heart, this guy is hopeless, he has hair in his belly button and is pretending to be cool!

Old Lady Chen's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she couldn't help but praise him, "After all, he's a scholar. The way he speaks is different. This 'yun', that 'hu', sounds so elegant."

Old man Chen smiled and rubbed his hands. "That's true. It sounds nice, but I don't understand anything else besides the sentence 'my parents have the final say'!"

"You ask me, how would I know?" Old Mrs. Chen rolled her eyes at Old Man Chen, then looked at Chen Zhancai, "Son, quickly explain it to your father. If you don't let him know what it means, he'll get up in the middle of the night and scratch the wall again."

"You are truly blind!" Chen Zhancai shook his head and sighed helplessly, explaining, "Yun and Yue mean to say. Remember this in the future. If outsiders knew that the scholar's parents knew nothing, they would laugh their heads off."

"Okay, okay, Dad will remember this." Old Man Chen nodded hurriedly, then frowned and asked, "Son, what did you say just now?"

"Laozi said, 'Filial piety is the foundation of the world.'" Chen Zhancai said it casually.

Old Man Chen's brows gradually furrowed, his face full of confusion. "Son, I don't remember ever saying anything like that. Why are you saying it was me who said that?"

Old Mrs. Chen was so angry that she gritted her teeth and cursed, "What are you talking about? It makes my head hurt. Can you please speak properly to me?"

Old man Chen scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "My son said, 'said' means 'said', 'said' means 'said'. I said this to appear knowledgeable!"

"Fools are to be feared, truly fools are to be feared!"

Chen Zhancai's words completely confused Old Man Chen.

"Son, what do you mean by 'fools are to be feared'? This, this, this is almost confusing me."

Old Mrs. Chen couldn't help but join in the conversation, "Yes, Zhancai, your parents are both rough people, it's fine if you just talk to them like you usually do. Otherwise, we'll have to figure it out now, and the key is that we still can't figure out what it means. Don't you think it's a waste of effort?"

"Okay, okay, I think that's all you have to do." Chen Zhancai sighed helplessly, "Dad, listen carefully, I am a great thinker..."

"You're right. I'm the head of the family. How can I not miss home when I'm away from home?"

Before Chen Zhancai finished speaking, Old Man Chen couldn't help but interrupt.

"Take me for example. When I was young, I wanted to follow the merchants in my village to Huaiyuan County to sell kang mats. The trip back and forth would probably take more than a month. As soon as I left home, I regretted it. I felt so reluctant to leave.

Less than three days after I left, I missed home so much that I couldn't stand it anymore. I turned around and came back, thinking of doing business for nothing.

Since then, I haven't left Nanshan Village. Tell me, how can I not be great for someone who misses home so much?

"You are so stupid and ignorant." Chen Zhancai was furious and slammed the table and stood up. "I am a great sage. How can you compare to me?"

Old man Chen was so frightened that he stood there speechless for a long time...

Wu Baoan couldn't stand it any longer and started to persuade him, "Zhancai, please speak properly. You were just saying 'respect the elders with courtesy and honor the elderly with virtue', but now you're slamming the table and glaring at them. Sit down quickly."

Old Mrs. Chen sensed the atmosphere was not right and glared at Old Man Chen fiercely. "Look at you, old man. You're not doing your job and you're just talking nonsense. If you don't understand, just listen. You keep asking questions here and there. Aren't you annoying?"

"Okay, okay, I was wrong. Can't I just keep quiet?" Old man Chen shrank his neck and stopped talking.

Old Lady Chen smiled and said to Wu Baoan, "Baoan, you have experience. Can you tell me how to arrange this banquet?"

Seeing that none of the family members were reliable, Wu Baoan stopped trying to persuade them and agreed with them, "Auntie, since you want your guests to eat well and still look respectable, how about a twenty-eighth banquet?"

"Good, a 28-table feast is good, with eight dishes and eight bowls, four cold dishes and four hot dishes, four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes. This is balanced." Old Mrs. Chen nodded in satisfaction, a big smile on her face.

Old Man Chen also agreed and said repeatedly: "Yes, this is a good idea. Let's set up a 28-table banquet. This way, our family will look more grand."

Chen Zhancai stood up and said with a smile, "It's settled then. We'll have a big banquet in three days, and I'll have a surprise announcement then."

Chen Zhanliang was confused as he listened, not understanding what Chen Zhancai was up to.

What good thing has happened to him over the years except asking for money from his family?

He frowned and thought. His third brother always did things in an unexpected way. Although he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he did not receive any salary from the court and did not receive any rewards.

He was so mysterious that he must not be able to show his true colors, but he racked his brains but couldn't figure out what it was.

Chen Zhanliang couldn't help but ask, "Zhancai, what's the good news? Just tell me directly."

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