"Fifth Aunt," Huang Qing pouted, "You have too good a temper. That kid is always taking advantage of people. Once he starts, I'm afraid he'll be impossible to shake off."
"It's just a little soup. We can just add a few more bowls of water later. It won't take much," Jiang Nuan reassured them. "Everyone has it tough. You guys eat the meat, so leaving them some soup is perfectly acceptable."
"Alright, alright," Lai Zi said impatiently. "The stuff belongs to Fifth Aunt. She can do whatever she wants with it. Stop nagging, it's annoying."
These people are too greedy. They don't even have to contribute anything, yet they won't even let go of a little soup.
Huang Qing blushed deeply after Lai Zi's words and remained silent.
He just didn't want outsiders to take advantage of him, so how come he's considered ungrateful in Lai Zi's eyes?
"Lai Zi, say less," Jiang Nuan turned her head to comfort him, "Make more tomorrow, so you won't go hungry, don't worry."
"Fifth Aunt," Huang Qing said softly, "you can decide these things."
After Huang Qing left, Lai Zi complained, "Fifth Aunt, there's no need to be so nice to them. Anyway, there's no benefit to it, and it's a waste of so much money."
People are forgetful; even the greatest kindness will become tiresome over time.
His father died fighting for his people in a clan war, and the clan had promised to support him until he reached adulthood, but in the end, they still despised him.
What's the use of fame if you have enough power and money?
“Lai Zi,” Jiang Nuan smiled, “Auntie will teach you a lesson today: money is just something you need enough of. Don’t take it too seriously. There are many things in this world that are more important than money, such as your reputation, which you don’t care about.”
“What’s the point of caring about reputation? It’s not like you can eat or drink it,” Lai Zi grinned slyly. “I’m much more at ease without it. I can do whatever I want, and the villagers will only be afraid of me.”
“Normally, this plan is correct,” Jiang Nuan changed the subject and continued, “but there’s always an exception. No matter what you do, if you want to go further, you must have a good reputation.”
"Why are literati so eager to participate in various literary gatherings? It's to gain fame, commonly known as cultivating one's reputation."
"The road from being famous from childhood to becoming famous throughout the world is extremely difficult, and there are so many scholars in the world. Those with bad reputations have long been eliminated along the way."
Upon hearing this, Lai Zi seemed to be deep in thought.
I had never explained these principles to him before.
All his knowledge came from the harsh realities of life, which ultimately couldn't compare to the guidance of his elders.
"Fifth Aunt," Lai Zi said, somewhat bewildered, "how can I possibly reverse my reputation, which is so rotten to the core?"
“If it’s a good reputation, once it goes bad, it’s incredibly difficult to get it back on track,” Jiang Nuan smiled meaningfully. “But for people like us with a terrible reputation, it’s much easier to turn things around.”
"Why?"
“That’s human nature,” Jiang Nuan said, a smile playing on her lips, her eyes filled with a sense of vicissitude. “People can easily accept bad people turning good, but they find it hard to accept good people turning bad. Even if they do the same thing, the order in which they do it will produce different results.”
These words had a significant impact on Lai Zi.
He thought about it carefully, and it seemed that it really was true.
At first, he hadn't thought about dividing the spoils, but for every step he took forward, the villagers took a step back, so...
He remembers that when he was a child, he would greet everyone with a smile. One day, he was so hungry that he didn't want to talk, but an uncle told him that he was being unreasonable.
Now, even if he's cold to everyone and speaks with veiled sarcasm, people will take it for granted.
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