Chapter 22
Xue Shun handed in his homework, and nothing happened next.
When he came back in the evening, Shen Jiao specifically asked him if he had been found out.
Xue Shun said, "I don't know."
Shen Jiao saw that he had a grim expression and seemed unwilling to talk more, so she didn't ask any more questions.
Jin Yu secretly told her that as soon as the teacher saw the homework, he started to scold his handwriting, saying it looked like it was scratched by chicken claws. He also read a passage and said that his writing was nonsense. Then he started to teach him, saying a lot of gibberish but he couldn't understand it. The teacher said that he was playing the lute to a cow and asked him to memorize the things first.
It's hard to say how much Xue Shun learned after a day of class, but he turned into a beast many times.
"Is Mr. Song so strict?" Shen Jiao was a little surprised.
She thought that these gentlemen were all kind and amiable.
When the Valley Master was still the Young Valley Master, Shen Jiao had met several teachers who taught him. Each one had a better temper than the other, and their tempers were completely different from when they were facing their disciples.
Why is Mr. Xue Shun so fierce?
He is the master after all. How can he treat me as worse than pigs and dogs?
Jin Yu sighed, "Once a teacher, always a father. You have to endure any temper. Moreover, Mr. Song is a famous scholar in Qizhou. I don't know how many people wanted to become his disciples, but he refused any of them. After he got old, he has been idle at home to enjoy his retirement. If the owner of the manor had not been kind to him, how could he be willing to teach our Seventeenth Young Master? When we first met, our young master could hardly read. When asked about poetry and songs, he recited all kinds of nonsense. It was so embarrassing."
"No wonder Mr. Song is so strict. All the young masters in the village took his classes when they were young. Even the ones who disliked studying the most were better than our young master."
Yinhua shook her head.
Shen Jiao disagreed, "Young Master has never been to school before, so starting from scratch is bound to make him look clumsy. If Mr. Song is always strict, won't he be even less interested in learning?"
"That's true... but other young masters have also gone through the same thing. Except for the talented Third Young Master and Sixth Young Master, few have never been scolded.
I heard that when the Eleventh Young Master was a child, he would often go to Zheng Xiaoniang crying when he was scolded. Once, he was so angry that he chased Mr. Song with a knife. The owner of the manor almost beat him to death because of this. Fortunately, Mr. Song pleaded for him, and the Eleventh Young Master realized his mistake and corrected it. He has been very respectful since then.
Otherwise, there would only be sixteen young masters in this village now."
Jin Yu was so serious that it didn't seem fake at all.
Shen Jiao: "They were all hacked to pieces with knives. With all the commotion going on, didn't the owner ever think of giving them a new husband?"
Jin Yu: "Probably not."
Yinhua said, "Mrs. Zheng and the others have thought about this. The teachers who are teaching in the family school now are the ones they hired with money. They said they were helping Mr. Song share the burden, but in fact they felt sorry for the young masters. The smart and clever children in the village can also go to study. There are also several young masters from wealthy families studying here. There are good-tempered teachers there, but we can't let Mr. Seventeen sit and study among a group of children.
You, stop worrying about it. Others may want to be scolded like this, but they may not have the blessing to do so.
There’s a saying, Jade…”
Seeing her scratching her head and unable to figure it out, Shen Jiao continued:
"If jade is not polished, it cannot become a useful object."
"That's right. If jade isn't carved, it won't become anything useful. Even if he's a piece of wood, he still needs to be carved with a knife to look presentable. Mr. Song is doing this for his own good. Didn't he see he brought his family? It turns out that he couldn't even invite them. After the other young masters learned enough, he went back home. This time... I guess he feels like he can't go back, so it's normal for him to be angry."
Yinhua's mouth is always so poisonous.
After Shen Jiao heard her say that, she suddenly remembered to ask, "I heard that Mr. Song stayed at home for half a year before coming back. Why is that?"
"It's for Old Master Song. The old man is old and prone to illness. Mr. Song is a filial son and doesn't trust others. Every time he hears about it, he rushes back, tastes the medicine himself, and serves him until the old man recovers. This time the illness is more serious, and Mr. Song's daughter is about to get married, so he has a lot of things to do and stayed for a long time before returning." Jin Yu explained.
Shen Jiao: "So when he went back, the young master was idle all the time?"
"...He's not idle, Mr. Song will give him some homework to do."
When Shen Jiao asked this, Jin Yu felt that something was not right and spoke hesitantly.
Yinhua waved her hand: "Who cares? The young master is happy to be idle. He has been idle for half a year without doing any homework. In the end, he wants you to write for him. It is obvious that he doesn't care about this matter."
Shen Jiao: "It's not all mine, so please don't tell anyone."
She had finally found what Xue Shun wanted, and she couldn't let herself become useless.
"Don't worry, who said that? It's not like I'm bored, would I deliberately cause trouble?"
Yinhua rolled her eyes, thought for a moment and said,
"I'd better go and tell them, once you're done cleaning up, go to bed and leave the door open for me."
She put on her clothes, got up and went to where the maids lived.
Jin Yu went to splash water for washing his face.
When Shen Jiao closed the window for ventilation, she glanced at the main house. The candle was still on, casting Xue Shun's shadow on the window.
The little maid who was keeping watch in the corridor had already dozed off, her head nodding and she was almost lying down.
This is the worst thing. I stay up late and work hard, but I don’t learn much.
But...why didn't he do his homework while practicing calligraphy?
Shen Jiao couldn't understand it at all.
Without thinking any more, I covered my head with the quilt and fell asleep.
After about an hour or two, he was woken up again.
The little maid who was on night watch stood by her bed with a lantern in her hand: "Sister, sister, wake up, don't sleep any more, the young master is calling you over."
"Why are you calling me? I didn't provoke him..."
Shen Jiao sat up in confusion, and heard the little maid say -
"I told you to do your homework."
"How much homework? Didn't he start working on it as soon as he got home?"
I didn’t eat much of the meal and gave it to the maid.
Could it be that Mr. Song had gone mad, not satisfied with scolding him but also leaving him with endless homework to do? That was too much, wasn't it?
Shen Jiao felt a little bit of sympathy for him.
With a heart full of anger and sympathy, she went over and saw that Xue Shun was exhausted, so she immediately took the responsibility and said, "Master, go and rest. I will take care of the homework. How much is it?"
"Two poems, anything is fine. Just copy the book once, put it in the bookcase when you're done, and then go back. I'll give you half a day off. Rest well before you start working again."
Xue Shun stood up, yawning. He was quite humane, but...
"That's... all?"
Xue Shun: "If you want to write more, that's fine. I'll save it for later."
"That's not what I meant. I meant that today's homework is... just this?"
"Ah, what's wrong?"
Xue Shun opened his eyes and looked at her, tears welling up in his eyes.
Shen Jiao: "Then when the young master came back, he was..."
"Practicing calligraphy," Xue Shunli said, even glaring at him fiercely, "What do you want to say?"
"Good practice." Shen Jiao said sincerely.
Xue Shun: "That's about right."
After saying that, he went to bed with a proud look on his face.
Shen Jiao really wanted to slap herself before going to sleep.
So confused!
Why not do your homework?
I don’t want to do it!
If you sympathize with him, who will sympathize with you?
What the master said is indeed right. Don’t sympathize with anyone, especially your master!
No matter how pitiful he is, can he be more pitiful than you?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
