"Children." Xiao Lingyu called softly and walked into the room.
"Mother, these five characters were taught to me by my second brother. He learned a lot of characters during his time away from Xishui County..."
Xiao Xier couldn't control her mouth and praised Su Ningjie in front of Xiao Lingyu.
Su Ningjie blushed when he heard this, "Sister, don't praise me, I will be proud."
Xiao Lingyu didn't expect that Su Ningjie would take the initiative to learn to read after returning to Huayang County because he couldn't recognize the words in the account book. He thought that he realized that it was very hard for his elder sister to manage the huge family business and wanted to help her share the burden.
Xiao Lingyu reached out and touched his little head, smiling and saying, "Brother Jie, you've grown up. You're great, you're excellent. Since you're studying so hard now, I'll work even harder to teach you how to read and write. I hope all three of you brothers will pass the Tongsheng exam next spring."
Su Ningjie said: "I will work hard."
It was still early, so Xiao Lingyu sat down and picked up a book annotated by Cui Xun that Su Ningjie brought back from Haoyue Bookstore, and explained it word by word to the brother and sister.
After half an incense stick of time, Su Ningjie said, "The books in the room were all brought back from the Lu family's Haoyue Bookstore. They are all annotated by Cui Xun, a scion of a prominent family in Huayang County. My shopkeeper said that reading books annotated by Cui Xun can easily help you pass the exam to become a scholar."
Xiao Lingyu quickly opened a copy of the Analects annotated by Cui Xun, frowning slightly. The annotations on it were just the literal meanings of the words and sentences. How could it be possible that one could easily pass the examination to become a scholar by reading a book annotated by Cui Xun?
Isn't this misleading the young people?
Or is the bookstore using this as a gimmick to attract business?
Seeing Xiao Lingyu's handsome face frowning slightly, Su Ningjie hurriedly said, "My shopkeeper said that the Cui family has a top scholar. Three years ago, Cui Xun was the top scholar in Huayang County and ranked first in the examination. He has been studying at Tianhong Academy for three years and has always ranked first in the academy's examinations. Cui Xun is very famous in Tianhong Academy. The books he annotated are printed and sold, and they are very popular at Haoyue Bookstore."
I see.
"Brother Jie, Haoyue Bookstore should no longer use slogans like 'Reading books annotated by Cui Xun will easily lead to passing the exam' to encourage students to buy books."
Su Ningjie asked, "Is Cui Xun's commentary very ordinary?"
Xiao Lingyu nodded. "Indeed, it's average. His annotations are merely the literal meanings of the words and sentences. Everyone understands and comprehends the deeper meanings of the words and sentences differently, and they still need guidance from a renowned teacher. Whether or not one can pass the exam to become a scholar depends entirely on their own hard work. What if students listen to that advice and buy the book with Cui Xun's annotations, but then fail the exam and come to the bookstore to demand an explanation, accusing it of misleading students?"
I wonder if ancient students had such "awareness" that they would go to the bookstore to ask for an explanation if they failed the exam?
Su Ningjie's mind slowed down for a moment. "Will those students who failed the exam really come to the bookstore to cause trouble because of this sentence?"
"It's hard to say. After all, the imperial examination is difficult, especially for children from poor families. There are always people who think they are not well-educated and will always find excuses for not passing the exam. The bookstore's rhetoric gives them an excuse, and they will think that the bookstore is misleading them."
Su Ningjie was unhappy. "They failed the exam themselves, so why are they blaming the bookstore? We are only responsible for selling books, not helping them pass the exam."
"That's right. Bookstores are only responsible for selling books, but there are always some people who make excuses for not passing the exam and refuse to admit that they are inferior to others. The saying 'reading books annotated by Cui Xun will easily make you a scholar' gives them an excuse."
Su Ningjie said angrily: "If they dare to cause trouble, send them to the government."
Xiao Lingyu shook his head. "Sending them to the authorities is easy, but if they come and cause trouble, won't that affect our bookstore's reputation? To prevent this from happening, we must also find out if we're at fault. Cui Xun's annotations are all about the literal meaning of the words and sentences. They can only help students understand the words and sentences, but they can't directly help students pass the exam to become scholars. The bookstore is promoting books annotated by Cui Xun so much, which means it's our fault. What do you think?"
"Second brother, what mother said makes sense. The bookstore is just giving others an excuse to publicize it like this. If someone comes to cause trouble, it will be a big trouble. How can the bookstore still sell more books? Do you still want to make more money?"
Su Ningjie was startled when he heard this. His Haoyue Bookstore was the largest bookstore in Huayang County, and its reputation was extremely important.
"Mother, I understand. We are only responsible for selling books. As for the annotated books that students want to buy, let them choose for themselves. The bookstore only provides reference suggestions."
Xiao Lingyu nodded, "Yes, if we don't make any mistakes ourselves, we won't give others any handles."
"Mother, take a look at these two copies of the Analects. They were annotated by Meng Zihe and Du Yufeng respectively. It is said that their knowledge is comparable to Cui Xun's."
Xiao Lingyu first looked at the Analects with Meng Zihe's annotations, with a flash of surprise in his eyes. He then picked up Du Yufeng's Analects, with no expression on his face.
"Mother, who among the three of them is the best at annotation?"
"Meng Zihe's commentary on the Analects is slightly better. It not only gives the literal meaning of the words and sentences, but also extends the deeper meaning. This allows students to quickly understand the profound meaning of the words and sentences and also allows them to draw inferences from one example to another. Take a look at this sentence..."
"Xiao Yu." Su Xing wanted the mother and her two children to study hard, so he didn't want to interrupt them, but he was hungry after all. "Can we have the tomato beef hot pot?"
"Let's go, the kids are going to eat hot pot in the yard."
After saying that, the two children ran out of the study.
Xiao Lingyu: ……
The two children, who were full of curiosity just now, finally couldn't resist the temptation of delicious food.
There were two dining tables in the yard. Xiao Lingyu, Su Xingyi, the two children, and Si Chuyu sat at one table, and Xu Mo, Zhu Xu and the other six sat at another table.
Everyone looked at the steaming tomato soup bubbling on the table, not knowing how to eat it.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Should they put all the lettuce and raw meat on the table into the tomato soup?
"Xiao Yu, this is tomato beef hotpot?"
Xiao Lingyu nodded. Seeing that no one had picked up their chopsticks, he took the lead without further ado to demonstrate to everyone how to eat hot pot.
A few minutes later, everyone woke up as if from a dream, and followed Xiao Lingyu's way of eating. They poured the lettuce and raw meat on the table into the tomato red soup and boiled them for a while, then took them out with serving chopsticks and ate them with Xiao Lingyu's secret dipping sauce.
Everyone seemed to have discovered a new world. No one spoke, for fear that if they opened their mouths, the meat in the pot would be taken away by someone else.
Xiao Xier had a small appetite, and it took her fifteen minutes to eat even with Xiao Lingyu feeding her.
Xiao Xier took a few sips of milk tea and looked at Feng Jinyu, seeing that his face was red. "Godfather, is the tomato beef hot pot that Mom made delicious?"
This was Feng Jinyu's first time eating hot pot, which was basically an extension of the hot pot in the palace. "It's delicious, very delicious. I guess this tomato red soup can be replaced with different flavors, right?"
Feng Jinyu looked at Xiao Lingyu, whose face was covered by the heat and flushed, and felt a little nostalgic. She wanted to stay, but...
"That's right. You can also make clear soup, spicy soup, milk and sea cucumber soup, beef bone soup. Any soup a chef can think of can be made into hot pot."
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