Chapter 1600: Oppressed (Part 2 of the reward for the book friend “Never Give Up”)
"Mr. Manbao said there's a saying that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling a thousand miles. But I think that no matter what we do, we have to protect our lives. The grasslands are too dangerous. What if we encounter the Hu people?"
Mr. Bai couldn't help but say, "The grasslands are full of barbarians. Now we are no longer fighting with them, so you can relax."
Mr. Zhuang smiled, took the letter, looked at the three disciples who had slipped out, and said, "Manbao, you've all been busy lately, I forgot to check your homework."
When Old Zhou heard this, he immediately felt that this was serious business, so he pulled Mr. Bai to say goodbye, "Then Mr. Zhuang, you test them, we'll leave first."
Mr. Zhuang smiled and nodded. After looking at his three disciples, he turned around and went to the study.
The three of them looked at each other and followed silently. They always felt that the master was in a bad mood.
Sure enough, the questions Mr. Zhuang asked tonight were particularly difficult, and the text recitations he checked were exactly the ones they were not very good at.
Not to mention Bai Erlang, even Manbao and Bai Shan were scolded, not to mention Bai Erlang, who was scolded so badly that he could hardly lift his head, and then he took on a lot of homework and left.
The three of them walked out dejectedly. Manbao said aggrievedly, "I don't know who made the master unhappy. I was planning to take my parents out for a stroll around the capital tomorrow."
Bai Shan also sighed, "Don't think about it. If we don't want Mr. to be angry, we won't be able to go anywhere tomorrow."
Bai Erlang was also sad and asked, "Is it because we didn't listen to the master and knelt down and kowtowed?"
Manbao and Baishan glanced at him and said, "Can you come up with a more plausible reason? The master was obviously very happy when we kowtowed."
Bai Shan thought for a moment and said, "It must be because of Senior Brother Zhuang. Did Senior Brother Zhuang write something bad in the letter?"
Manbao also began to think, "Senior Brother Zhuang brought so many clothes and shoes to Mr. Master. It's definitely not that. I think Mr. Master wants his grandson to study in Beijing, but Senior Brother Zhuang doesn't want to?"
Bai Erlang whispered, "Brother Zhuang doesn't act like a teacher at all. He has a very stubborn temper."
Bai Shan said pertinently: "Everyone has their own aspirations, don't judge others behind their backs."
Bai Jilang shut his mouth.
Manbao sighed and said, "Forget it, let's think about tomorrow's homework. While it's still light out, why don't you all do some homework?"
Bai Shan thought for a moment and nodded, "Let's do it in my study. The back window faces the garden, so it's cooler at night."
Manbao and Bai Erlang agreed, each with their heads down, turned around and went back to pack up their textbooks and notebooks, and silently went to Bai Shan's study to do their homework.
Zhou Lijun didn't know what he was excited about. When he ran back happily, he saw his aunt looking listless. He stopped and asked with a smile: "Aunt, what's wrong with you?"
Manbao said, "My teacher gave me a lot of homework. I can't go shopping with my parents tomorrow."
Zhou Lijun said happily, "Grandpa and grandma didn't plan to go shopping tomorrow. They're going to the Qiu family tomorrow. Uncle Six has also returned from the restaurant, and we're going to visit the Qiu family together tomorrow."
Manbao said, "I will be returning to the palace the day after tomorrow morning."
Zhou Lijun didn't care. "What are you afraid of? Grandpa and grandma are going to live in the capital for a long time, waiting for Sixth Uncle to get married. If it doesn't work this time, it can be done next time when my aunt is on vacation."
Manbao nodded.
Seeing that he had persuaded his aunt, Zhou Lijun ran back to his room, took something and ran away.
Manbao went back to his room dejectedly to pack his things. He didn't meet anyone along the way. Everyone seemed to be still playing in the dining room.
Manbao stopped, stood on tiptoe to take a look at the bustling dining room, sighed again, and silently went to find Bai Shan and the others to do their homework.
The three of them each took a table in the study and began to do their homework. Manbao was distracted while biting the tip of his pen. When he looked up, he saw Bai Shan doing his homework with his head down. In just a short while, there were already several lines of words on the notebook.
Watching from a distance, except for the first two lines which were a bit sloppy, the following words gradually became neater, and it was obvious that his heart had calmed down.
Manbao lowered his head to look at his homework, sighed silently, and then picked up his pen to write.
By the way, she is an official now, and a fifth-rank official at that, so why does she still have to do homework?
Bai Erlang was a little restless and couldn't write a single word for a long time holding the pen. He really wanted to go out and play as he had just reunited with his father today.
But when he looked up, he found that Bai Shan and Zhou Man were both writing with their heads down, so he suppressed his annoyance and began to ponder the questions.
After a while, the only sounds in the room could be heard were the three people writing.
When they got tired of writing, Bai Shan and Man Bao took the text to be memorized and read it aloud in a low voice. After reading it through twice until they were familiar with it, they closed their eyes and tried to recite it.
When Bai Erlang saw how fast they were progressing, he couldn't help but speed up, shouting as he wrote, "Wait for me."
Bai Shan glanced at his homework and said, "Don't write too sloppily, or the teacher will ask you to rewrite it."
Bai Jilang had to slow down again, he felt it was too difficult.
The three of them were doing their homework until midnight when Daji came over to remind them, "If you don't go to sleep, the old lady will ask about it."
After hearing this, the three of them slowly packed up their things and dispersed, making an appointment to recite together in the garden early the next morning while the temperature was comfortable.
Mr. Bai stood by the window and watched his son return to his room with his books, a look of surprise on his face. "Erlang is so hardworking now?"
Bai Dalang, who was also reading, yawned and said, "Father, it's late. How about I take you home to rest?"
Mr. Bai said to Bai Dalang, "Dalang, you must also work hard and strive to pass the imperial examination in two years."
Bai Dalang nodded, "My son will work hard."
Finally, his father was sent to his room next door. Bai Dalang breathed a sigh of relief and picked up his textbook again.
It would be impossible to do so in two years, so he planned to sign up and give it a try next year. He was in Beijing anyway, and the cost of giving it a try was not high. What if he passed the exam by accident?
The next morning, Manbao got up from bed, washed up, and went to the garden to read.
As the sun rose and the heat grew, Bai Dalang wandered over to them, book in hand. Curiously, he asked, "Why are you all so diligent today? Don't you usually say you're busy enough at the palace and want to take a good rest when you get home?"
Bai Shan said, "It's the homework assigned by the teacher."
Bai Dalang looked at them with sympathy. The feeling of studying on one's own and being asked to complete a learning task is very different. With the former, he can be relaxed and set goals at will; as for the latter, you can tell by looking at his younger brother who has been concentrating on reading a book.
Manbao's throat was sore from reading that he stopped to drink a sip of water. Seeing Bai Dalang swaying around, Manbao looked around and leaned over to ask quietly, "Brother Bai, do you want to meet Miss Cheng Er?"
Bai Dalang: ...
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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