Master Li said helplessly, "This is also due to the farmers' narrow-mindedness. They only think about letting the wheat ripen more. In previous years, there were locusts, but there was no locust plague. They are just taking a chance."
Su Yong looked at the distressed people, who were sitting on the ground in despair, and felt a pang of sympathy for them.
"After working hard for half a year, the harvest in the fields is only half as good. It's really tough being a farmer."
He continued, "Compared to them, I am quite fortunate. I have experienced the hardships of studying, but compared to the hardships of farming, it is nothing. I grew up in the countryside. During the busy farming season, the whole family pitched in. My father and grandfather would spend the whole day bent over in the fields cutting wheat, then winnowing, carrying, and grinding it. After that, there was the sowing and tilling of the next season. Each task required a lot of time and physical strength. It was so tiring..."
Master Li sighed, "Fortunately, you studied hard and succeeded; you are exceptionally intelligent."
Su Yong waved his hand: "I am naturally dull-witted, so my family named me Yong. What I rely on is the accumulation of a lot of time, such as staying up late to memorize, practice articles and calligraphy. Compared with my classmates, my only talent is perseverance."
Master Li was even more impressed.
As a scholar who had suffered greatly from the imperial examination system, failing the exams for several years and forced to become a staff member, he did not admire the sons of officials, but rather the diligent and hardworking commoners who rose from the bottom of society. Such people truly possessed a special quality.
His backbone is what keeps him from being crushed.
Su Yong casually asked the butler, "What are Wenhao and the other man doing?"
Butler: "Young Master is reading and practicing martial arts."
Su Yong asked doubtfully, "Really?"
Suddenly, I felt all the fatigue I had been feeling lately vanish.
Smiling, he said to his advisor, "I now realize I have no talent for being an official. I'll probably remain a county magistrate for the next few decades until I retire. But now, I think that if my two sons can enter officialdom through the imperial examinations, I can say I've done right by their mother..."
The backyard was quiet.
Young Master Su asked curiously, "Brother, why do you keep flipping through this same storybook? Is it really that good?"
Young Master Su said calmly, "Brother, you don't understand. This storybook is no ordinary storybook. The author's thoughts are not those of a half-baked Confucian scholar who groans without cause and makes wild fantasies."
Young Master Su was even more curious.
I was covered in sweat when I took over the task.
Not long after, I suddenly felt someone poking me from behind, or even tapping me on the head.
"What are you doing? Stop messing around, bro."
He casually reached back and grabbed something.
His expression turned strange, and he turned around to see a large man staring at him.
"father?"
Young Master Su said in a daze, "This must be a dream."
He squeezed Su Er Gongzi's arm hard.
A shout.
"Dude, are you crazy?"
"Not a dream?"
Without making a sound, he pushed the storybook in front of the Second Young Master Su, then said with a serious face, "Father, you have no idea, while you were away, my younger brother was reading storybooks every day. I just took it away to give him a little criticism, and then you came over..."
Su Yong said calmly, "I should have had a quarter of an hour to stand here."
Young Master Su was getting anxious.
"Father, let me explain!"
Su Yong was exhausted, his voice was calm, and his heart ached so much that he could hardly breathe.
"Eldest brother, you two have disappointed me greatly. You're wasting your time reading novels and indulging in frivolous pursuits. Instead of using your precious time to study, you're trying to pass the imperial examinations. Farmers like us, who come from peasant backgrounds, don't have the savings of three or five generations. How can we talk about enjoying ourselves? Every time you indulge in pleasure, the road to the imperial examinations becomes even more difficult. It seems like I'm going to let you two experience the hardships of the common people."
"Tomorrow I'll have the housekeeper send you back to your hometown to farm!"
"Dad, what do you mean? I don't want to go to the countryside! I want to farm!"
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