"Corrupt officials are truly despicable!" Zhang Moyan was furious, but it took a while for her to calm down. Then, she thought, "So, Dean Geng's ancestors also started out in Ruzhou, engaged in the porcelain manufacturing industry."
"Yes, but soon they all left Ruzhou and moved to Hangzhou."
Zhang Moyan was surprised at first, but soon figured it out: "Could it be related to the Southern Song Dynasty establishing its capital in Lin'an?"
"That's right," Xiao Xingyu said. "After all, officials serve the imperial power. After the Jingkang Incident, the Northern Song Dynasty fell, and the royal court established a new capital in Hangzhou. They soon built the 'Xiuneisi' on Phoenix Hill in West Lake, which was an official kiln specifically for firing porcelain for the imperial palace. That's when the Geng family moved to Hangzhou."
"The Southern Song Dynasty established its capital in Hangzhou in 1138. By this calculation, the Geng family has been in Hangzhou for over 800 years."
"When the Jin army marched south, the skilled craftsmen from the north either fled or died, and their art was long since scattered. This is also the reason why the art of celadon porcelain was lost. When the imperial court established the 'Xiuneisi' in Hangzhou, to be honest, the Geng family made a lot of efforts. They made great contributions to the stable development of the official kilns of the Southern Song Dynasty. After that, they continued to supply imperial porcelain to the palace while striving to revive celadon porcelain. They are truly unwavering in their dedication. Coupled with the fact that they later produced several reliable descendants, the Geng family gradually became prosperous around that time."
What happened over hundreds of years can be described in just a few words. However, whether it is the change of a dynasty or the transformation of a family, it was a drastic change that affected the lives of those who were involved at the time. People today, thousands of years later, cannot fully appreciate the ups and downs and hardships involved.
"Since Dean Geng's family has long been cleared of corruption, why hasn't your family changed the rule of taking water from Mingzhong?" Zhang Moyan couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Why change it?" Xiao Xingyu said disdainfully. "His family was a good official, but they still had a huge disagreement with our Xiao family on the research path of celadon porcelain. He refused to listen to good advice and was stubbornly opinionated. He often used his status as an official kiln to suppress us. To this day, his family still insists that the difficulty in conquering celadon porcelain lies mainly in the glaze and has nothing to do with the clay. So this grudge has been passed down to this day."
Zhang Moyan looked thoughtful. "Oh, so the initial feud between you and the Geng family was caused by a conflict between officials and the people, but later it became an academic dispute."
Xiao Xingyu: "Well, that's a good summary."
The flashlight beam followed Xiao Xingyu's steps, gradually descending the steps at a steady pace. Zhang Moyan, after all, worked in cultural journalism, and another question popped up in her mind: "Teacher Xiao, prominent families generally value ancient teachings and family traditions, and when naming their descendants, they use 'generations' to highlight the legacy. I noticed that the names of your father, uncle, and aunt seem to still follow tradition, with the character 'wei' in their names. Why didn't your generation use generation names anymore?"
"You have so many questions!" Xiao Xingyu turned his head and looked at her.
Zhang Moyan then realized that she seemed to have inquired too much. If she continued to inquire, she would feel that she had ulterior motives. She smiled awkwardly and said, "Sorry, I won't say any more. I also promise that I won't publish what I just said."
"You should have spoken more firmly!" I don't know why my voice was so soft, perhaps because I didn't dare to speak loudly in the dense forest at night.
I don’t know whether others will believe such a guarantee, but as long as I have a clear conscience, it’s fine.
I expected Xiao Xingyu to not answer the question, but then I heard him say, "The reason our generation is useless is because my mother strongly opposed it. Since I'm the eldest son and grandson, all the children born after me have followed my lead."
"Ms. Meng objected? Wow, that's impressive!" Career-oriented women are indeed strong. "Look at the result, she even succeeded in the revolution. Incredible!"
Xiao Xingyu said casually: "The main reason she was able to succeed is because the characters assigned to us in this life are so ugly!"
Zhang Moyan: "Ah? What's that word?"
"The generation name in our Xiao family is 'Looking forward to the country, we only watch the sun; returning home, we only trust the wind.' It's a good and encouraging idea, but the character 'kan' (seeing) is ours. My mother says 'kan' sounds so ugly and doesn't fit any other character in our name, so she absolutely refuses to accept it."
Zhang Moyan agreed wholeheartedly: "Indeed, if your name changed from 'Xiao Xingyu' to 'Xiao Kanyu'," she couldn't help but burst out laughing, "the artistic conception would be much worse."
Xiao Xingyu said calmly, "And with the development of the times, some words now have different meanings. Our generation wasn't that miserable. 'Look' just sounds a bit harsh. But the next generation will be truly unfortunate. What they sent to us," he suddenly paused, "is 'sun.'"
He made the first sound.
Zhang Moyan shrank back when she heard this, feeling that someone was being rude. However, judging from the relationship between the issue being discussed and the preceding and following statements, it didn't seem like that.
His face was red, but luckily it was pitch black around him.
"If your child was named '日', would you be willing?" Xiao Xingyu asked her with a raised eyebrow.
You've pronounced it that way, what else can she say? Stay calm and stick to the point: "Of course not."
"Well, I definitely can't give my child such a shameful name! The elders also took these factors into consideration. Plus, with society constantly progressing, modern people are becoming more open-minded and no longer clinging to dogma and traditional constraints. So, in the end, my mom succeeded."
He concluded happily, "Thank you, mother!"
Zhang Moyan couldn't help laughing at his smug mama's boy look. Just then, she caught a glimpse of a bead of sweat on his forehead. She shone her flashlight ahead a bit more and suggested, "Let's take a break. There's a big rock over there. Let's go sit on it."
"No need, I'm in great shape, so this little downhill walk is nothing!"
"..., I'm a little tired."
Xiao Xingyu glanced at her body and frowned: "You need to exercise well," but still said: "Let's go, go and have some rest!"
The little aunt had fallen asleep without anyone noticing. Zhang Moyan carefully took her down from Xiao Xingyu's back, sat down, and held her horizontally on her lap.
Only then did Xiao Xingyu feel his back a little wet. He took off his suit jacket and casually put it on his arm, then sat down next to Zhang Moyan.
He glanced sideways at the woman holding the child and said gracefully, "Come here, I'll sacrifice myself for you to lean on."
Zhang Moyan gave in instead: "No need, I can do it this way."
"Hey," someone said angrily, "I'm embarrassed by you doing this!"
Zhang Moyan was stunned and hesitated, then said: "Okay, thank you!"
He turned his body slightly and used the left third of his back to gently press against his right arm. He didn't dare to use all his strength, but used half of his strength to try not to let the little aunt's head hit him.
It was really more tiring than sitting alone holding the child, and the warmth of her skin was transmitted through the thin fabric, making her entire back feel hot. If she shone a flashlight on her face, it would definitely be super red.
Of course it’s because of the force!
Suddenly, there was a movement beside her, and she felt the arm that was supporting her back leaning up forcefully, absorbing the force that was holding her up in the air, and her whole body was held very solid.
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