351 Unexpected Person
After what happened with Mu, Wang Qing asked Ping An for a bottle of facial cream and applied some thinly on himself. His originally fair skin became much darker, and his good complexion was instantly diminished by three points.
Just right.
Ping An also thinks that Brother Wang is the best. They are from an ordinary wealthy family, and their only supporters are themselves and their master. It would be better for them to keep a low profile. After two years, when he passes the imperial examination and returns to the local county to become a county magistrate, he won't have to be so cautious.
Besides, as I get older, my appearance won’t be as outstanding as it is now.
Ping An doesn't have these concerns, but he also uses some on a daily basis. However, on the day of receiving the award, he still dressed up nicely. It's okay to show off occasionally.
The awards were presented in the auditorium of the Imperial College.
There were not many people, including the top ten students, eight math masters who were the examiners that day, the Lord Jijiu, Zhou Siye, Mr. Li and two officials from the Ministry of Rites.
Ping An heaved a sigh of relief. This was good. It was much better than having a huge crowd of people in the audience and the award recipient having to go on stage to receive the award in fear.
There were only about twenty people here, with snacks and tea, so it felt more like a party.
The atmosphere was very relaxed. Ping An was the first place winner, and his prize money was two hundred taels, as well as a set of top-quality pens, ink, paper and inkstone. The second and third place winners received a prize money of one hundred sixty taels, as well as a set of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, but theirs were obviously much worse than his.
The fourth and fifth place winners will receive a prize of 120 taels, which is a good inkstone. The sixth and seventh place winners will receive a prize of 100 taels, which is also an inkstone, but one level lower in quality.
In the end, the eighth, ninth and tenth places won a prize of eighty taels, and also a nice pen.
For students, such a bonus is very good. Ordinary families cannot save much money in a year. The tuition for studying in the Imperial College for one year is only 20 taels. The cost depends on the individual. Those who are not well off can't spend much even if they save a little.
The library of the Imperial College is good, and you can borrow books for free. If you are diligent, you can copy a book, which can save a lot of money on buying books. The most expensive things for scholars are books, pens, ink, paper and inkstone.
Ping An no longer cares about this little bit of money. What he cares about is the reputation, and being a big shot who comes from a real scholarly family in the Great Zhou.
He will grow up and enter society in the future. These people will be invisible helpers and you never know when they may be useful.
The same is true for Wang Qing.
Among the remaining eight people, more than half probably had good conditions, and only a few were good at arithmetic from poor families. They had no teachers to teach them in this field. They basically learned the Four Books and Five Classics and arithmetic, but what they learned was more basic common sense.
After the awards were presented, everyone talked and laughed, recited poems and composed essays. Ping An naturally also wrote a poem. He wrote the poem himself. His poems are now quite good, but they cannot be compared with those famous works.
So he received a lot of praise today, but he was not outstanding. This was also the result he wanted in his heart. Arithmetic had already stolen the limelight, so he should keep a low profile on poetry for the time being.
"Ping'an, come here and help me take my pulse. I've been feeling a little tired lately and not in good shape." The Lord Chief Priest called him with a smile.
Ping An walked over with a natural smile.
Today he was wearing a moon-white brocade robe with a wide waist belt of the same color, which made him look more upright. He only accessorized his whole body with jade hairpins and jade pendants, looking clean, refreshing and charming.
Everyone would praise him in their heart, what a handsome and elegant young man.
Ping'an helped Master Jijiu to diagnose for a while, and fortunately there was nothing serious, just some minor problems. When he told Master Jijiu about these minor problems, Master Hu was stunned.
He was just in a spur of the moment and had no intention of really asking Ping An to diagnose anything, but everything the kid diagnosed made sense, as he had all these conditions.
"Ping An, are these important to me?"
"Sir, these are just minor problems. My master is the best at treating them. When you have time, go to my master and ask him to prescribe some medicine for you. You will be fine after a while."
Hu Jijiu was happy. He was already fifty years old. What older people worry about most is their health. It doesn’t matter when they are young, but when they get older, they are afraid of death. What they are even more afraid of is being neither dead nor alive. That is the real suffering. There are many such people nowadays, and no matter how much money you have, it will be useless.
It seems that he is really going to go see the eldest young master in a couple of days.
Soon, Ping An became a doctor in the hall, examining patients one after another. Fortunately, there were no major problems.
The basic parts of the safety diagnosis were correct. The young man was calm when taking the patient's pulse, and spoke softly, making the patient feel as if he were in spring breeze.
The atmosphere in the hall has become better.
No matter how proud Wang Qing was, he was still proud. Ping An was just like his biological brother. The other eight people also looked interested. They were young and did not need to be diagnosed, but no one would be foolish enough to be jealous and hate such people.
Such people can only be friends.
The lunch was very sumptuous, and Ping An was treated like a treasure by these gentlemen. Only then did he know that people who loved arithmetic in the capital actually had an arithmetic gathering. They would get together every month to discuss difficult problems in arithmetic.
They all urged Ping An to participate, and Ping An naturally would not refuse, but he also said that he might have to go on a long journey in the first month of next year and might not be able to attend in the short term.
He also thoughtfully wrote down the addresses of these people. When the greenhouse vegetables in the village are ready to be sold in a few days, he will send some to these gentlemen's homes. No one doesn't like a sensible child.
*
Just when Wanli went to meet Wan Changsheng and his wife.
Sun Sicheng also met two unexpected people.
"Master Bao Da? Master Bao Er, why are you here together? Are you feeling unwell?"
He already had an idea in his mind. It was said that the old immortal of the Bao family was already dead, and the remaining one should be that beast.
Bao Wangfa forced a smile and said, "Young Master, can you please go to the side and talk?"
Sun Sicheng took the two to the back hall and said, "Please take a seat. There is no one here. Just speak directly."
Bao Wangfa suddenly became overwhelmed with grief, tears welling up in his eyes: "My dear, it has been two and a half years since we last met. My father passed away a few months ago. Who would have thought that my eldest son suddenly became ill and went crazy. I can only think of you.
You cured him with acupuncture that time, so I thought I should bring him to you."
As he spoke, he pretended to kneel down, but Sun Sicheng would never let him kneel.
"Master Bao, there's no need to be like this. If you have something to say, please speak slowly. Please explain clearly why you didn't bring the person here?"
Bao Wangjiu said, "To be honest, I couldn't bring my nephew out. He was always making trouble. When he was doing well, we had people watching him. When he got really bad, we had to tie his hands and feet. I don't know how many things were smashed at home."
After saying that, he let out a long sigh.
Sun Sicheng said, "Well, I have something else to do today, so I'll go over to your house tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, it may not be cured. Madness is most taboo if it recurs. I thought it would be fine at first."
Bao Wangfa's tears suddenly flowed like a spring.
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