Chapter 584 Arrival
After registering, Bai Shanbao was officially enrolled. Mr. Zhuang dropped him off at the prefectural school and asked him to familiarize himself with the classroom first. He then took Manbao and Bai Er away.
After losing a disciple, Mr. Zhuang felt a lot more relieved.
He didn't go home, but took the man directly to the bookstore. After taking a look at the bustling bookstore, he said, "I'll go in and take a look. Manbao, help Shanbao pick out the books he needs. I'll ask the shopkeeper to issue the bill later and ask him to pay when I get back."
Then he asked, "How are you doing with the homework assigned to you?"
Manbao's scalp tightened, and he immediately said, "We have been writing it all the time."
Mr. Zhuang nodded. "Although I don't want you to hand it in right away, you can't slack off. If you have any questions, please ask me."
Indeed, Manbao asked, "Sir, I've been looking up Li Guang recently. Do you know of any other books besides the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han where I can find information about him?"
Mr. Zhuang was surprised. "Why are you investigating him? Didn't I ask you to write about the ministers who were killed by the court?"
"Yes, but my second apprentice brother and I both feel that Li Guang's death is closely related to the Han Dynasty at that time, so we want to include him in the list."
Mr. Zhuang thought for a moment and said, "It is indeed recorded in some collections of essays and historical books, but collections of essays are different from historical books. They often contain traces of comments from previous generations, which inevitably deviates from the authenticity and is far inferior to historical books."
Mr. Zhuang made a list of books for Manbao, handed it to her, and said, "Read these three books first. They'll be enough for you to finish. By the way, do you have the money to buy them?"
Manbao blinked, "Should I buy it?"
Can't I watch it here?
Mr. Zhuang was delighted when he heard this and said, "No need. It's up to you to do whatever is convenient for you."
He often read books for free.
Manbao took two book lists to choose books.
Mr. Zhuang's gaze fell on Bai Erlang.
Shirojiro:......
Mr. Zhuang smiled and took out a piece of paper and handed it to him. "You didn't ask Zhou Silang to bring books this time, did you? But it doesn't matter. You can buy them now. You don't need to buy too much. Just buy these for now."
Shirojiro:......
Manbao selected Bai Shanbao's books, put them in a book basket and handed it to the clerk, then went to look for the book she wanted to read.
The clerk was already familiar with her, not because Manbao came more often than other customers, but because she was one of the few women visiting the bookstore.
Although there were other young ladies coming to the bookstore to buy books, most of them would just buy and leave, and rarely would they stay.
Manbao not only came more often, but also came with a young man of similar age every time, and the two of them usually stayed for half a day.
Occasionally buy some books or pens, ink and paper. You don’t have to go there often, the guy will remember them after two or three times.
He knew that she would usually buy the books in the book basket.
The waiter brought the book basket to the front, put a bamboo stick in it for her, and then continued to greet other customers.
Manbao found the books that the gentleman mentioned, selected one that seemed interesting, glanced at the price, and then found a place to sit down and read.
There are many scholars like him who come to read books in the bookstore for free. The owner usually does not chase them away because most of the customers who come here will buy something. Even if they don’t buy something this time, they will buy it next time.
Moreover, no one dares to damage books, and people generally take good care of them.
Otherwise, if it is damaged, you will have to buy it.
No one paid attention to Manbao. She sat down in the seat she usually sat in, and then started reading the book with relish.
It’s a pity that the bookstore didn’t allow her to copy it on the spot, otherwise she would have copied a copy to take back.
Mr. Zhuang stayed in the bookstore for most of the day, until the afternoon, when he saw the sunset appearing in the sky, and then he took his two disciples to pay the bill and go home.
Although they had already celebrated once, Mr. Zhuang felt that today was the day his disciple started school and it was time to go out for a good meal, so he decided to take the whole family out to eat in the evening.
As a result, when I returned to the alley, I heard that their house was very lively.
The master and his two disciples looked at each other and quickly quickened their pace.
The courtyard gate was wide open, and many people gathered inside. Zhou Silang was taking something out of a sack. "These are all grown at home. Please feel free to come in."
One person stuffed a bundle of bean pods, all of which were fresh and looked like they were picked just today.
Erya then put some bundled bean pods aside and said, "Fourth Uncle, I'll take these to other neighbors."
"Go ahead, go ahead," Zhou Silang said to the neighbors with a smile, "We'll be living here permanently from now on, so please take good care of us. I have a lot of children, so if they bother you, just tell me and I'll take care of them."
"No, no, the young masters and young ladies in the mansion are all scholars. Just listening to them reading in the courtyard every day is a kind of enjoyment. Oh, Mr. Zhuang is back..."
Zhou Silang then noticed Mr. Zhuang standing behind the crowd and immediately went to greet him. "Sir, you're back. Master Shanbao is back too. Daji is boiling water in the kitchen. Would you like me to make you some tea?"
Mr. Zhuang nodded blankly and greeted his neighbors.
Erya also hurried over to greet Mr. Zhuang, then looked at Manbao happily and called out, "Auntie!"
"Er Ya, no, Li Jun, why are you here too?"
"Grandpa asked me to take care of my aunt." Erya said happily.
Manbao was also very happy when he heard it. He took her hand and said, "Great, I'll take you to my room."
The neighbors then remembered to ask Erya's name. They found out her name was Zhou Lijun, and that she had also studied with Mr. Zhuang. Suddenly, their eyes changed when they looked at her. They smiled and complimented her, "Your family is indeed a family of scholars. You can even send your daughter to school."
Zhou Lijun knew that they had misunderstood, but she didn't say anything. She just smiled at them foolishly.
After seeing off this group of neighbors, Zhou Lijun stood at the door and watched them go into their homes. Then he took note of the neighbors who had not arrived yet, turned around, filled the basket with the remaining bean pods, and gave them away.
Before coming, grandma specifically reminded them that they would be living in Yizhou City for a long time. There were many old people and young people in the house, and there was no woman to take charge of the household. They would not know if they were bullied in the future, so they had to maintain good relations with their neighbors. It didn't matter if they suffered some losses in normal times, as long as they didn't suffer any losses at critical moments.
That's why they brought a lot of vegetables from home. They are not expensive and they have them at home. It's thoughtful and not painful to give them away, which is just right.
Zhou Lijun knew that the other two young masters who were classmates of his aunt were not cut out for this kind of thing, so he packed his basket and went out, delivering it from one end of the alley to the other, even delivering a basket to the family outside the alley that his fourth uncle had mentioned.
Then he walked to the door opposite and knocked.
Bai Erlang, who was helping to move things, saw this and said, "Stop knocking, there's no one on the other side."
Zhou Lijun then took the remaining bean pods home and asked, "Is the house across the street also for rent?"
"I don't know. Most of their family members were arrested and taken to the county government office, and the remaining two divorced, so this is an empty house." Bai Erlang looked at the bean pods in her basket and asked, "What should we do with these?"
"We can eat it ourselves," Zhou Lijun said with a smile, "We brought a lot of vegetables from home this time, so we don't have to go out to buy vegetables later."
They didn't buy anything in the first place, they just ate out all the time, okay?
The next update will be around 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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