Ding Sheng suppressed his heartbeat, shook his head, turned his eyes to the book, forced himself to calm down, and tried his best to make himself look calm.
Ma Xiaomi hugged Dabao and went out.
Seeing that they didn't close the door, Ding Sheng got up to close it. When he reached the door, Ding Youtian came over.
"Where are you two going?" He called out to Dabao and Ma Xiaomi. When he saw Ding Sheng at the door, he glanced into the room and said, "Come and review your lessons. The teacher asked them to come over. You should come too."
"Let's go pee first, and then we'll be back." Ma Xiaomi hooked her arm around Dabao's shoulder and turned to say to him.
"I need a companion to pee." Ding Youtian said to them, and the scene of him and Chen Yifan doing the same thing in the past emerged in his mind. They often went to pee together with their arms around each other's shoulders. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.
"Hurry up and come back soon, the teacher is waiting to test your homework."
"immediately."
Ma Xiaomi pulled Dabao and ran towards the backyard.
"Come with me." Ding Youtian nodded to Ding Sheng, "I, I'm going to the toilet too." After he said that, he ran to catch up with Dabao and the others, feeling a little scared.
If he hadn't stood up to close the door and put the medicine directly into the kettle, he would most likely have been caught by Ding Youtian, and who knows what would have happened.
I can’t think about it, it makes me break out in cold sweats.
The palms of his hands were wet. Maybe it was because he felt guilty, but Ding Sheng always felt as if there were a pair of eyes staring at him in the dark. He couldn't help but look around suspiciously.
In the toilet, Ma Xiaomi and Dabao were peeing side by side. The three of them were hugging each other's skirts, their hips raised, and accompanied by the sound of urination, Ma Xiaomi asked Dabao: "My brother said he wants to be a general in the future. What do you want to be?"
"Tell me first, what do you want to be?" Dabao asked him.
"My father said that I am my brother's military advisor, so I will be his military advisor and also be in charge of his finances and food."
"No wonder you are always so particular about arithmetic and willing to put in the effort. I think you can do well as an accountant, but I can't say you can be a military advisor. My father can be a good military advisor, but he has a lot of crooked ideas." Dabao rarely made such a joke, and he said it seriously, which made Ma Xiaomi laugh.
He stood on tiptoe and shivered, then lowered his clothes. "Since you said that, I almost wanted to ask your father to be my teacher, but your father didn't even pass the Tongsheng exam, so forget it."
Dabao lowered his coat, glanced at him, and said calmly, "He will pass the exam."
Ding Sheng finished peeing and followed them out. He heard Ma Xiaomi asking Dabao, "You haven't told me what you want to be yet. I've already told you. You can't cheat by not telling me."
As soon as Ma Xiaomi finished speaking, Ma Xiaodou rushed over like a gust of wind, "What are you talking about? Who wants to be what?"
"Your second brother said..." Dabao glanced at Ma Xiaomi, "Your eldest brother wants to be a general, and he wants to be your eldest brother's military advisor in the future. What do you want to be?"
“I am…” Ma Xiaodou scratched his head, “I am my parents’ son, and the third brother of the little sister in my mother’s belly.”
His words made Ma Xiaomi laugh out loud, and he himself laughed too, and even Dabao's mouth corners curled up.
Ding Sheng looked at them and suddenly felt a little envious of his brothers, envious of their easy and free life.
"Brother Sheng, what do you want to be?"
Ding Sheng was so frightened when Ma Xiaomi suddenly called out his name that he shuddered secretly.
"I want to be a Yuanwailang like Lord Ji." In fact, he didn't know what kind of official a Yuanwailang was, let alone how high his rank was.
But he was an official from the capital, and even the prefect and the governor were by his side, and the county magistrate and the lord of the town were constantly bowing and nodding to him. He guessed that the Yuanwailang was a very important and remarkable official.
Ding Sheng thought to himself, if one day he became such a high-ranking official, when he returned home in glory, the village head, clan leader and all the villagers would try to curry favor with him.
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard Dabao say, "Yuanwailang is the lowest official position in the Ministry of Revenue. If you want to be one, you should be the Minister of Revenue."
"What kind of official is Shangshu? Is he the highest official?" Ma Xiaomi asked.
"The highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Revenue," Dabao said, "is in charge of the entire Dayan Kingdom's land, taxes, salaries, and household registration."
"Wow, Dabao, how did you know that? That's amazing." Ma Xiaomi didn't know that Dabao knew all these official positions because the old man, the Grand Tutor, had told him when he was here, "I like this position. I want to be this position."
Ma Xiaomi yelled, thinking that when his brother became a general in the future, he would have a lot of people under him, and each of them would need to be paid and registered. He had to be an official like him so that he could take care of these things for his brother and make him worry less.
"Then I will be your official's younger brother." Ma Xiaodou chased after peeing and shouted after hearing it.
"You're my brother, you're so stupid!" Ma Xiaomi kicked him and cursed, "Idiot!"
"I'm not stupid. I'm going to play with Yaoyao." Ma Xiaodou ran away.
In the main room, Master Mo and Ding Youtian were chatting animatedly. He smiled at Ding Youtian so much that his wrinkles were all blooming. His student was really impressive. From now on, he could even meet officials without kneeling. This was enough for him to brag about for a while.
Mingyue sat next to her mother. Smaller families didn't have so many extravagant details, unlike the wealthy families where the women had to stay with the hostess in the inner chambers. Jian Ning didn't have the time for that. Besides, their family didn't have the financial resources to set up a special place for female guests.
"Hello, Master." Dabao led Ma Xiaomi and Ding Sheng in.
"Okay, okay, come quickly, come sit next to me." Master Mo stood up, pulled Dabao over, and sat him down next to him. He glanced at Ma Xiaomi and Ding Sheng, then back at Dabao. He stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "I heard from your father that the three of you spent your days off studying at home. Not bad, not bad. You have great potential, great potential! Haha."
"It's all thanks to Master Mo's good teaching." Dabao stood up, bowed to Master Mo, and replied respectfully.
"Yeah." Mr. Mo nodded, very satisfied.
Ma Xiaomi and Ding Sheng also bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Master."
Master Mo was even more satisfied. Seeing that the two of them were still standing, he quickly motioned them to come and sit down. He asked them if they had prepared any policy papers for tomorrow's meeting and let them give a rough talk. It didn't matter if they made mistakes.
After the three of them spoke in turn, Master Mo emphasized Dabao's praise. Mingyue also pursed her lips and smiled softly, "Senior Brother." She looked at Ding Youtian, "My father always praised Senior Brother for his intelligence, but he was always afraid of taking exams. Ding Cheng, however, is not like that. He can speak very clearly about policy papers. It's difficult for him at such a young age."
"What does this young boy know? He is just showing off his skills in front of an expert. Master and junior sisters, please don't praise him too much, lest he become ignorant of his own limitations and make a fool of himself." Ding Youtian said this, but an old father's smile appeared on his face unconsciously.
Ding Sheng was very angry. He thought that Dabao must have received some advice from the teacher beforehand, otherwise how could he speak so fluently?
He also hated that he had said before that Yuanwailang was the lowest official position in the Ministry of Revenue, but Dabao knew it, which he didn't know. For a moment, he felt that everyone was partial to Dabao. It was because his parents were good at making money. They were all looking down on others!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He wished he could immediately pour the medicine in the small porcelain bottle into Dabao's mouth to see if he would still be complacent!
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