"Good morning, Mr. Meng." The male teacher called Brother Su bowed.
"Mr. Meng, good morning." This was the owner of the rough voice.
Meng Zhengjun returned the greeting, "Mr. Su, Mr. Duan, good morning."
The two gentlemen who came in both looked young, probably under thirty years old, but their styles and temperaments were very different.
The one walking in front is called Su Changfeng. He is wearing a clean white Confucian robe, has a fair complexion and a baby face, and appears to have a bit of the immaturity of a young man.
He is the teacher of poetry and prose at Mochi Academy, and he also teaches poetry and prose at Suixing Hall.
The man who followed closely behind and called himself a 'lust-lover' was a tall and sturdy man, even more muscular than Gu Yiwu, more than nine feet tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, but a bald head. No one knew whether he did it out of necessity or on purpose.
If it is the latter, it is convenient and you can save the trouble of tying your crown every day.
His name is Duan Jiuling. Students of Suixingtang such as Zhao Rong are very familiar with him. He is the painting teacher of six schools. His shiny bald head is very recognizable.
On weekdays, when students walk in the school, they can spot Mr. Duan from a distance. He is considered a scene in the school and is talked about with great relish.
The two of them are not formal teachers of the academy at present, but "little teachers" of Mochi Academy. They have just arrived at Linlu Academy not long ago and can also be called "quasi-teachers".
There are several young masters like them in the school.
He is the reserve of the academy teachers.
This is the common practice of most Confucian academies. Every few years, they would recruit young Confucian scholars from the 72 academies in all nine continents of the world.
They are either the best among their peers, or simply the gifted scholars born in a certain academy, the chosen ones of heaven.
The selection criteria are strict, and the candidate's knowledge and accomplishment must far exceed those of his peers.
Even so, one must first start as a "small teacher", and either endure for decades, or have outstanding achievements and reputation, before being promoted to a formal teacher in a Confucian academy.
This is also the orthodox procedure followed by most of the current academy professors.
This is the path Meng Zhengjun took.
The Meng family is a well-known Confucian family in Wangquezhou and a family of scholars. Meng Zhengjun is of good family background and was once a promising student at Linlu Academy. After graduation, he stayed at Linlu Academy in the same continent and started as a junior teacher. He worked his way up to become the academician in charge of etiquette and law in the academy.
However, there are exceptions. For example, some great and pure Confucian scholars who were not from orthodox academies but were able to make great achievements and were well-known in the Confucian circles of several continents. Even if they were over 70 years old and had no spiritual cultivation, they would still be respected as masters in Confucian academies. But they are only a minority after all.
But there is an exception in Linlu Academy right now, and that is Zhu Yourong.
She was also hired into the academy not long ago, at about the same time as Su Changfeng and Duan Jiuling.
However, Zhu Yourong skipped the stage of "little teacher" and became a real academy teacher.
There is no other reason.
She was the first-class Confucian scholar recorded in the Confucian Temple.
She is in charge of any of the 72 academies in the world, and she will start as a college teacher in any academy. Even if her Snow-Eyed Nascent Soul did not lack those eyes, she could directly become one of the "Six Gentlemen" in a Confucian academy on a small island where Confucianism and Taoism are declining.
So what the girl in blue who had her snacks abducted was saying was right: the gentleman is just too lazy.
At the entrance of Jingchen Hall, Meng Zhengjun glanced at the two young teachers who had just arrived and asked, "How are the exam papers being graded?"
Su Changfeng nodded and said, "There are only a few examination rooms left."
Duan Jiuling agreed with a smile, "It will be soon."
Meng Zhengjun nodded.
The two young gentlemen returned to their workstations in the lobby.
They were seated next to each other, and although they came from different places, they were colleagues who entered the academy at the same time. After spending these days together, they had become familiar with each other.
Su Changfeng walked to his seat, used a small dust removal technique to carefully clean the seat, then sat down with peace of mind, and began to take out books and utensils and placed them on the table.
However, what caught the attention of the gentlemen around was that Mr. Su quietly took out a wooden ruler from his sleeve and carefully measured some places on the table.
Then the test papers, paper, ink, brush and inkstone were placed in a specific place according to some spacing pattern that others could not understand.
Looking at the way he carefully checked and calculated, it should be accurate to the millimeter.
Everyone: ...
The bald man next to him, Duan Jiuling, didn't have such a sense of courtesy. He just leaned back in his chair, threw the candidates' papers on the table, and started to review one of them. He didn't even bring everything with him. He turned around and said:
"Hey, Brother Su, can I borrow your red brush to write on? I was so absorbed in painting last night that I forgot to bring it with me when I went out this morning."
"Why don't you forget yourself?"
Su Changfeng made a sarcastic remark without even raising his head. After putting everything in place, he breathed a sigh of relief and started a new day's work perfectly.
Duan Jiuling saw this and laughed and scolded: "Brother Su really took off his pants to fart."
Su Changfeng frowned: "The table is in a mess, don't you feel uncomfortable? You are such a vulgar bunch."
Duan Jiuling raised his hand and touched his bald head. "Don't you feel bad for spending your precious time on this? You are such a mediocre bunch."
"snort."
On the other side, Meng Zhengjun saw that the time was almost up, so he called over a few errand boys and gave them a few instructions. The boys responded and went to the six schools to inform them.
Meng Zhengjun looked back at Jingchen Hall. It seemed that everything that was supposed to happen had arrived. He nodded and went to close the door.
At this time, a woman's figure appeared at the door.
Inside Jingchen Hall, whether it was Su Changfeng and Duan Jiuling who were chatting with each other, or Mr. Chen and Mr. Zeng who were carefully grading test papers, everyone turned their heads to look at the door.
Because he is a rare guest.
"Why are you here?"
Meng Zhengjun asked Zhu Yourong in confusion.
The latter stopped gracefully, put his hands behind his back, looked up at the plaque at the door, and asked curiously: "Is this Jingchen Hall?"
Meng Zhengjun nodded.
"Oh, then you are not in the wrong place. Mr. Meng, please make way."
Zhu Yourong put his hands behind his back, walked past Meng Zhengjun with a smile, and walked into the lobby on his own.
"Hello, Mr. Zeng, Hello, Mr. Chen, Hello, Fellow Daoist Duan, Mr. Su..."
The gentlemen responded with a smile.
Zhu Yourong was not afraid of strangers either. She behaved elegantly and calmly. She bowed and said, "I was busy recently, so not many people came here. Please don't blame me, Mr. Meng and everyone else."
"When I was leaving this morning, my servant Jingzi came up to me and stuffed some cakes from Jixiangzhai into my hand, telling me not to come empty-handed and to bring some for the gentlemen to taste. Alas, I am not as sensible as a maid..."
Mr. Chen smiled and consoled him, "Mr. Zhu, you are too polite. It is normal that you are busy and can't come. We are not always here. We just happened to be grading papers today. Mr. Zhu is still very dedicated."
There were also some gentlemen sitting around nodding their heads, "Yes, Jingzi seems to be very impetuous in the academy, but I didn't expect her to be so well-educated, modest and sensible."
Su Changfeng suddenly took over and said with a smile: "Jingzi is a good child, very sensible, but Mr. Zhu who can teach her is of course more sensible, Mr. Zhu is modest."
Zhu Yourong responded with a few words with a smile to warm up the atmosphere, then distributed the pastries to colleagues to try, and chatted with them, which created a lively atmosphere.
Meng Zhengjun watched silently and said nothing.
On the other side, Su Changfeng frowned and said to Duan Jiuling: "Can you please stop staring at Mr. Zhu?"
Duan Jiuling asked curiously, "Ms. Zhu is a great beauty recognized by everyone in and outside the academy. I am a man, and I can't stare at a beauty, but can I stare at you?"
Su Changfeng kept his eyes averted, not looking at Zhu Yourong who was politely handing out cakes not far away. The latter gradually approached them. Su Changfeng focused on the test paper and corrected it seriously, but he couldn't help but scolded in a low voice: "Stop talking nonsense. Okay, stop talking now."
Duan Jiuling looked at Brother Su who seemed to be examining the papers seriously, and then looked at the polite and generous female teacher not far away.
Under the round bald head, a very conspicuous thick eyebrow was raised.
He looked at Brother Su meaningfully, then suddenly changed his expression and nodded seriously: "Why don't I ask Mr. Zhu."
“Don’t, you…”
Su Changfeng suddenly became anxious, but Duan Jiuling spoke without giving any more information:
"Mr. Zhu, can I keep my eyes on you?"
Zhu Yourong was just bringing the last of the cakes over to share with them. Upon hearing this, she smiled and said generously, "Of course, please feel free to do as you please, Fellow Daoist Duan."
She called Duan Jiuling "fellow Taoist", which was a common title in the mountains. However, in the eyes of some people who were obsessed with Taoism, they would only call someone a fellow Taoist if they recognized and respected the other person's Taoism.
Obviously, Zhu Yourong was not unfamiliar with the bald man who taught painting at Ruexingtang and had some understanding of him.
Duan Jiuling grinned, turned around and raised his eyebrows proudly at the reserved Su Changfeng: "That's strange, Mr. Zhu himself agreed, but Brother Su is trying to obstruct it in every way."
Su Changfeng looked up, his expression normal, and frowned slightly: "Brother Duan, what nonsense are you talking about."
He turned to Zhu Yourong and said, "Mr. Zhu, don't pay attention to this guy. He was talking nonsense this morning, saying that he had recently read a certain indecent book and started to study the beauty of women. Today, when he was walking on the street, his eyes were wandering everywhere. His eyes were indecent and unworthy of his status as a gentleman, so I told him to look less and not look at anything inappropriate."
Su Changfeng paused, looked into Zhu Yourong's eyes and said, "Alas, there is really nothing we can do about him. Learning to paint has made him stupid. Please don't blame me, Mr. Zhu."
Zhu Yourong shook her head. "Mr. Su has said too much. I don't think so. Fellow Daoist Duan can openly say that he likes beauty. He is a man of temperament. Besides, the beauty of mountains, rivers and people is the most beautiful thing in the world. In the eyes of excellent painters, they are all equally beautiful. It is understandable that he can't help himself."
She turned her head to look at the bald painter who was more than nine feet tall, and suddenly smiled, "Painting is a very delicate job, no less than calligraphy. A close friend of mine once said this: There is a tiger in your heart, but you can still smell the roses. I think this is the best way to describe Daoist Duan's meticulousness!"
"There is a fierce tiger in my heart, but I can still smell the roses..." Duan Jiuling muttered to himself, his eyes lighting up!
The next second, Su Changfeng and Duan Jiuling asked almost in unison: "Who is Mr. Zhu's confidant?"
However, their expressions were different, the former looked calm, while the latter looked curious.
"A certain junior brother." Zhu Yourong smiled faintly and said nothing more.
Su Changfeng and Duan Jiuling looked at each other, and knowing that it was not appropriate to ask further questions, they gave up.
Hmm, the future... a certain lady who created a 'brother' out of nothing added in her mind.
Afterwards, seeing Meng Zhengjun stand up and look at him, the three of them didn't talk much. After a few polite words, they returned to their seats to mark the papers.
Zhu Yourong saw that after the cakes were distributed, her goal of becoming familiar with her colleagues had been achieved. It also laid the groundwork for her to ask them to take care of someone in class later, and she smiled inwardly.
In a good mood, she turned around and started marking the remaining papers.
On the other side, the book boy that Meng Zhengjun ordered to pass on the message also arrived outside the Suixing Hall. Inside the hall, a certain assistant teacher Zhao, who had no idea that a gigolo was coming, was teaching the calligraphy class...
…