Chapter 72 Chapter 72 Training

"If you ask for help, you naturally have to cook for them." Qin Run patiently explained, "That's the custom in the village."

"If we ask Uncle Fang and the others to work now, doesn't that mean we haven't cooked for them?" Xu Yunfan was confused.

Qin Run: "It's different. If you pay, you don't have to provide meals. If you hire for a day without paying, you have to provide two meals. Of course, some people pay less and only provide one meal."

"Oh, then we have to pay them. If we don't pay them, how can I have the nerve to ask them to work for me?" Then what has he become? Even Zhou Paopi wouldn't do this.

Hearing this, Qin Run gasped. "With so many people, how many days do you plan to keep them here? Do we have enough money?"

Xu Yunfan knew where Qin Run kept his silver. Sometimes when he came back from town and Qin Run was not at home or busy with other things, Xu Yunfan would consciously put the silver he earned and the remaining silver after shopping in the cabinet, in the box that Qin Run usually used to keep his silver.

As time went by, he got used to it and never told Qin Run about it. He thought Qin Run knew everything.

After all, he is a good man, and he also told Qin Run that all the money earned would be given to him to manage.

After hearing Qin Run's question, Xu Yunfan finally realized the problem. "How much silver do we have? Don't you know? I put all the silver I earned into the box you usually keep your silver in. As for how much, I don't remember it very clearly, probably about thirty taels."

Hearing this, Qin Run hurried back to the house, opened the cabinet and took out the box. Wow, Xu Yunfan was right, there were actually thirty-nine taels of silver in it.

Nine taels of silver were what Xu Yunfan had left over from selling cosmetics, and the other thirty taels were what he earned from selling four waist fans and vegetables.

During this period, he earned a lot, but also spent a lot.

There are so many jars and large vats in the house. Which one was not purchased and added by Xu Yunfan later?

Qin Run received so many surprises tonight that he quickly calmed down when he saw so much silver.

Xu Yunfan walked over and said, "So much silver, isn't it enough to hire them to work? I calculated it, it's enough. Twenty cents a day per person, how many people are there from three families? Hiring them for ten days, five taels of silver is the maximum. If we include meals, how much rice and dishes will we have to cook? I can't bear to let you work so hard."

Qin Run: “…”

It’s over, it’s really over, he is going to love Xu Yunfan miserably.

After all the work was done, Qin An and Xiaoye prepared bath water for Xu Yunfan and the others. After they washed up, they lay down comfortably.

Perhaps Xu Yunfan was stimulated by picking chicken mushrooms this afternoon, so that all night long, Xu Yunfan dreamed of searching for and digging chicken mushrooms all over the mountains. It was so beautiful that when Qin Run woke up early in the morning, he could still see him sleeping peacefully with a smile on his lips. He must have had a good dream.

Xu Yunfan, who was sleeping soundly, had no idea that he had been targeted.

…

The field holiday is over.

On the first day after the dean returned, Qi Xiu Ze prepared himself mentally early in the morning and went to the dean's study with Shen Ruxi and the others.

The four of them didn't sleep well last night, so when they woke up early in the morning, they were still a little dazed, unable to concentrate, and their brains were in a mess.

The dean of Qingfeng Academy is named Jiang Lanfang, a handsome uncle in his early thirties.

Of course, in the Dayan Dynasty, where people could get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen, Jiang Lanfang was indeed considered an uncle. But in modern times, he would still be a handsome man.

Jiang Lanfang, don’t underestimate him as just a dean, but what kind of a college is Qingfeng Academy? In modern times, it is similar to a 985 university. Do you think the president of such a key university is powerful?

Not to mention, Jiang Lanfang's father is the current Prince's tutor, and his brother is a second-rank official in the court.

With the blessing of multiple identities, Qi Xiu Ze is the legitimate son of the first imperial merchant family. So what if his sister is a royal concubine?

Shen Ruxi's father was a deputy first-rank official, Xie Baizhou's grandfather was the left prime minister, and Lin Xiaoran's grandfather was a first-rank official. So what? Jiang Lanfang could still suppress the four young masters, making them feel like mice seeing a cat when they saw him.

"Come in."

Knowing that Qi Xiu Ze and the others were coming, Jiang Lanfang put down his brush and waited for his four disciples to come in.

Before the field holiday, Jiang Lan knew that the four of them would not return to Beijing, so he specially assigned them some homework, not much, but all of it was designed to address their weaknesses.

The four of them stood in a row in front of Jiang Lanfang, with their heads lowered, not even having the courage to look at Jiang Lanfang.

It’s not their fault that they are too timid. Maybe students are afraid of their teachers. No matter what time it is, it is something engraved in their bones.

What's more, if they behave badly with Jiang Lanfang, their families will find a way to punish them when they return. Just deducting their living expenses will make them furious. If they are punished with other things, do you think they will not be afraid?

When the four of them were sent to Qingfeng Academy, their family members told them that if they failed to pass the imperial examination, it would mean that they were not cut out for studying, and they would have to find another way out.

What the elders mean by finding another way out is nothing more than that, since you are not good at literature, you can only choose the path of a military general. In short, there is money at home, but this money is not used to support idle people.

Jiang Lanfang curled her index finger and tapped the desk gently, neither too hard nor too soft. The gentle tapping was not loud, but it seemed to strike at the hearts of Qi Xiu Ze and the others. The sound of "dong dong dong" made them nervous for no reason. "You came here so early in the morning. I thought you were here to hand in your homework."

"Yes, yes, Master, we are indeed here to hand in our homework."

As they spoke, the four of them secretly pushed each other for a while before placing the homework in their hands neatly on the desk in front of Jiang Lan.

There's nothing we can do. It's not that they don't want to be righteous, but being righteous is useless at this time. Whoever has the highest score on their studies will be scolded first, so everyone wants to live a little longer.

But they didn't know that the one at the bottom might be scolded even more severely, because a person's bad mood would accumulate. Jiang Lanfang might be able to endure one or two of the first three, but a person's patience is limited, and who knows, Jiang Lanfang might explode in the end.

Jiang Lanfang pretended not to see their little movements and picked up the one on top to look at it.

The first assignment was from Shen Ruxi. This guy was still the same when it came to government affairs. He wrote a lot of eloquent articles. If it were another teacher, they might think that he had made some progress. At least he hit the nail on the head on some things and wrote so much. At least he had an attitude.

But for Jiang Lanfang, who is a strict teacher, there is little progress, and his writing is still a bunch of shit, which is completely nonsense.

Jiang Lanfang held the homework in one hand and the writing brush in the other. He circled here and drew a horizontal line there. After finishing the whole paper, it was no longer readable.

The second one was Xie Baizhou's homework. This guy probably only had those bundles of sticks in his mind. Once the numbers in the problem were a little big, he couldn't get any of them right.

The third one belongs to Lin Xiaoran.

If the saying that handwriting reflects one's character really exists, then in Jiang Lanfang's opinion, Lin Xiaoran is so ugly that he is too ashamed to dare to show his face in public.

However, Jiang Lanfang carefully read the words on the homework and found that the words written in chicken claws had shown some improvement. It seemed that Lin Xiaoran had taken this homework seriously during this period. For this reason, Jiang Lanfang was somewhat comforted.

The anger accumulated from the first two assignments was slightly relieved.

When he saw Qi Xiu Ze's homework, he secretly looked at Jiang Lan Fang and found that the expression on Jiang Lan Fang's face kept changing, which was a bit mysterious.

If Qi Xiu Ze was asked to describe it, he really couldn't do it, so he didn't know whether Jiang Lanfang was satisfied or not with the homework he handed in.

Qi Xiu Ze was also very ashamed, after all, he cheated, but he had no choice.

He doesn't want to die yet.

Just when Qi Xiu Ze and the other three were extremely nervous, Jiang Lanfang suddenly slapped the desk. The "huge" sound startled the four "quails" so much that they shook all over and shivered.

Jiang Lanfang held up Qi Xiu Ze's homework, his face filled with shock and anxiety. "Who wrote this? Tell me!"

It was clearly a shocked face, but in the eyes of Qi Xiu Ze and the others, Jiang Lanfang's widened pupils clearly showed that he was angry.

Looking at the homework in Jiang Lanfang's hand again, Xie Baizhou, who had nothing to do with it, decided to demonstrate the principle of silence is golden to the fullest.

The other two were even less righteous. Some of them looked up at the sky and the earth, but none of them looked at him.

Qi Xiu Ze: “…”

Look, this is his brother. This is what happened to him because he made the wrong friends.

Only Qi Xiu Ze felt a heat on his back, and began to sweat.

Shen Ruxi silently mourned for Qi Xiu Ze beside him for a moment, and he said that Qi Xiu Ze's behavior was not advisable.

Putting aside the question of whether cheating is right or wrong, just look at Qi Xiu Ze’s level. How could that pig brain write such a good poem?

Unless the teacher is out of his mind, he would not believe that Qi Xiu Ze had made a qualitative leap in poetry writing in just ten days.

No, I guess this is no longer a qualitative leap, or it would be more appropriate to say that it is a step to heaven.

Qi Xiu Ze was clearly crawling on the ground, but now he can fly into the sky. Don’t you think this is amazing?

How could someone as smart as Jiang Lanfang not see it?

If he can't see it, he must be either crazy or blind.

Qi Xiu Ze wanted to cry but had no tears, and was panicked. "Master, please listen to my explanation!"

"I don't want to hear your explanation. I want to ask you, who wrote this poem? Tell me!"

Another "say" with a higher ending tone made Qi Xiu Ze's heart tremble.

As the saying goes, for friends, one must stick by one's side and go through fire and water for them without hesitation. Betraying a friend is simply shameful. However, there is also a saying that goes, "I would rather die poor than let my friend die."

Qi Xiu Ze had a brief inner struggle, but after analyzing the severity of the situation, he finally compromised and gave in.

There's no way. If he doesn't tell me, I guess he'll have a hard time next month and will have to work like a dog.

I said, maybe the Master will give him a lighter punishment because he gave out the names of his accomplices?

Moreover, even if the teacher knew that it was Xu Yunfan who did it, he couldn't do anything to Xu Yunfan.

"He's a friend of mine."

Jiang Lanfang narrowed his eyes slightly, "Oh, you actually have a friend like this, how come I never knew about it?"

It is said that birds of a feather flock together. If Qi Xiu Ze had such a friend, the poems he wrote would not be worse than shit.

"Really, Master, I tell you..."

Qi Xiu Ze was absolutely unequivocal when it came to selling his friends, detailing every detail. Fearing Jiang Lanfang wouldn't believe him, he even dragged Lin Xiaoran into the conversation, "Xiaoran, tell me, am I right? Yun Fan is not only a brilliant poet, but his calligraphy is also exceptional. He taught you, too, didn't he? Tell the teacher I didn't lie to him."

Lin Xiaoran: “…”

Good man, is there anyone who treats friends like you?

If Xu Yunfan knew about this, do you think he would give you an extra piece of meat next time?

He is definitely different from Qi Xiu Ze and would never do something like betraying his friends.

"Yes, Master, Yunfan is indeed amazing. If you don't believe me, you can ask Xiuze to bring me the poem Yunfan wrote. The one you have is just a copy that Xiuze copied."

"Is this person really so powerful?" In fact, Jiang Lanfang already believed it in his heart. If not for anything else, just for the poem, it was simply wonderful.

"Have you not seen the Yellow River's water rising to the sky..."

"When life is good, you should enjoy it to the fullest, and don't let the golden cup face the moon empty."

"I was born with talent that will be useful. Even if I lose all my money, I will get it back."

Jiang Lanfang read so many things from this poem, including heroism, lamentation... It would be impossible to integrate such complex emotions into a poem without some artistic conception.

When Qi Xiu Ze brought the poem Xu Yunfan had written yesterday, Jiang Lanfang was even more amazed, "Beautiful calligraphy, beautiful calligraphy."

Seeing such beautiful words, and then looking at what Lin Xiaoran wrote with chicken feet, it really feels like an eye-catching thing. It would be a pollution to the eyes if people looked at it for a second longer.

After carefully studying it, Jiang Lanfang picked up Lin Xiaoran's homework, holding it in one hand and tapping it with the backs of four fingers with the other hand, scolding Lin Xiaoran and the others, "Look at what you wrote, and then look at what others have written. Even a chicken with ink on its claws and just stepping on it twice would look better than your handwriting."

“Puff…”

Shen Ruxi, Xie Baizhou, and Qi Xiu Ze's handsome faces turned the color of pig liver. Finally, they couldn't help it and turned their backs to laugh.

"Laugh, what are you laughing at? How can you think you are so good? Don't you know your own weight? And you still have the nerve to laugh."

Jiang Lanfang picked up Shen Ruxi's homework and said, "Look at what nonsense you wrote. You actually have the nerve to laugh. If I were you, I would be thinking about how to improve myself right now. How can I still laugh?"

"And you," Jiang Lanfang said of Xie Baizhou, "don't ten fingers feel enough to count? Even if you got ten out of fifty questions right, let me ask you, aren't the little wooden sticks Zuo Sheng used to make for you enough to count?"

Xie Baizhou was terrible at arithmetic. The Left Prime Minister had no other choice but to personally cut a hundred wooden sticks for him, and tied them into bundles of ten. He was asked to use these to count when he had trouble counting large numbers and could not use an abacus.

Zuo Xiang loved this little grandson so much that he would personally teach him for half an hour every day after returning from court. However, Xie Baizhou's brain was so bad that he just couldn't learn no matter how hard he tried.

The Left Prime Minister was quite distressed about this. One day, when he was leaving court, he happened to meet the Prince's Tutor and couldn't help but go up and hold the person.

When it comes to teaching students, the Prince's Tutor must be more professional than him.

Maybe the reason why Xie Baizhou couldn’t learn was not because he was too stupid, but because there was something wrong with my teaching?

The Grand Tutor learned of the Left Prime Minister's distress, and seeing that the Left Prime Minister was already old, he not only had to help the Emperor solve his problems, but also had to teach his grandson at home after leaving court. He was really overwhelmed. So the Grand Tutor said that his second son had established an academy. Not to mention how strong the faculty of the academy was, his son had been a professional teacher since he resigned from his official position. Since Xie Baizhou couldn't learn no matter how hard he tried, and you were so busy, you might as well send him to his son.

In desperation, the Left Prime Minister could only pack up his beloved grandson and send him to Jiang Lanfang with tears in his eyes.

Before sending Xie Baizhou to Qingfeng Academy, Zuo Xiang packed the ten bundles of wood for him with tears in his eyes and asked him to carry them with him.

When Jiang Lanfang learned about this, his face turned blue and red, and he wanted to laugh but couldn't.

Who made him the left prime minister?

But after scolding Xie Baizhou, he no longer had any worries.

Xie Baizhou felt extremely aggrieved. He just couldn't learn arithmetic. He felt overwhelmed whenever he saw the questions. What else could he do?

Besides, the questions Jiang Lanfang asked included numbers in the hundreds, if not thousands, so those ten bundles of wood were definitely not enough.

The four of them took turns being scolded by Jiang Lanfang, but they didn't dare to say a word. "You...you are simply the worst students I have ever taught."

It's this sentence again.

Jiang Lanfang's original intention was to make them feel ashamed after hearing these words, and then work hard to become stronger, but the opposite happened. Qi Xiu Ze and the others didn't feel anything at all.

I've gotten used to it. After all, other teachers always say the same thing when they are dissatisfied with their students' grades.

After being scolded for the whole morning, Jiang Lanfang finally waved his hand with a dry mouth and tired heart, and asked them to go back to the classroom to attend the class.

…

Because he had to go with Uncle Qin and others to handle household registration, Xu Yunfan left home early today. After the household registration was handled, he asked Uncle Qin and others to go back first, and he went to Qingfeng Academy.

When he arrived at the stall at the academy and just put down his backpack, he noticed two people standing at the entrance of the academy.

My goodness, who else could one of them be but Sun Dahe, the man he kicked away a few days ago?

As for the other handsome brother, he was wearing a long white gown. With such attire and standing at the gate of the academy, he must be either a teacher inside or an elder of some student.

Sun Dahe would steal a glance at Xu Yunfan from time to time, the hatred in his eyes almost turning into reality.

Thanks to Xu Yunfan's kick, he had ten days off from farming. He worked in the fields for four days and spent the remaining six days lying in bed and being served by others.

If he hadn't been on duty today, he wouldn't have endured the pain and stood here all day.

Xu Yunfan snorted and didn't take Sun Dahe seriously at all. Sun Dahe was not a threat to him.

Jiang Lanfang walked up to Xu Yunfan, looked him up and down, and couldn't help but sigh. This Xu Yunfan was really as Qi Xiu Ze and the others said. Even if he was wearing coarse clothes, it couldn't hide his innate noble temperament.