Granny Lu and Zhang Zhaoci led Xu Di and his two siblings to Zhang Zhaoci's courtyard. Zhang Zhaoci's courtyard was next to the old lady's courtyard, separated by a passageway. Some flowering trees were planted on both sides of the passageway. It was already autumn, and some of the flowering trees had begun to wither. When the wind blew at night, you could hear a rustling sound.
Not only was Xu Zhi a little scared, but even Xu Bai, who was fearless, quietly leaned against his mother's chest. Zhang Zhaoci stroked Xu Bai's back with some heartache and said, "Don't be afraid, it's nothing. I had some apples washed this afternoon, let's eat some apples."
Xu Di also felt that just waiting around wasn't going to work, so he said, "Xu Bai, go get the pen and ink. I'll give you a dictation test and see how many characters you can recognize."
Xu Bai pouted and said, "What kind of time is this? You still want to give me a dictation test? Are you even my real brother?"
Xu Di said, "Don't you know in your heart whether I'm your biological brother or not? Don't take advantage of your young age to argue with me all day long."
Xu Bai was still afraid of his older brother. Hearing Xu Di say this, he leaned closer to Zhang Zhaoci. Zhang Zhaoci sighed and said, "Alright, alright, don't be so impatient. Just do what you need to do. Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. No matter what, no matter where we are, as long as our family can be together, that's all that matters."
Granny Lu said with a smile, "Yes, yes, Seventh Young Master, I'll get you some pen and ink. The more this happens, the more we need to calm down. As long as we don't panic, everything will be fine."
Xu Bai thanked Granny Lu, who brought him the brush and ink. Xu Bai got up from his mother's arms and sat upright at the kang table. Xu Di calmed down, thought for a moment, and said, "You should start memorizing the Thousand Character Classic from the beginning. I'll watch over you and see how many characters you still can't write."
Xu Bai pouted and said defiantly, "I knew you looked down on me. Look, I can write it down. It's not like I've never written it before."
Seeing her younger brother's sullen face, Xu Zhi's heart calmed down instantly. She smiled and said, "Your brother can indeed write it down. I helped him write it last time."
Seeing that Xu Zhi's emotions had calmed down a lot, Xu Di said, "Since we're just killing time anyway, let's keep watch and see if Xiao Qi can write it all down. That's a thousand words."
Xu Bai sighed upon hearing this and could only focus his energy on the pen in his hand. Although the Thousand Character Classic only has a thousand characters, some of them are quite rare, and it is written in traditional characters. No matter how skilled he is, he is still practicing calligraphy from scratch. The characters he wrote vary in size, but after finishing the thousand characters, there were no omissions or typos.
Xu Bai wrote in front while Xu Di and Xu Zhi watched from behind. Xu Di only said after Xu Bai finished writing and put down his pen to rub his wrist, "There are no mistakes in your writing, but it's too ugly. Look, the big ones are big and the small ones are small. If you want to take the imperial examination in the future, you have to start practicing your handwriting now. You must improve your handwriting. If your handwriting is not good, no matter how good your essay is, you will not get a good ranking."
Xu Bai has been here for several years, so he naturally knows that the imperial examination and the college entrance examination are very different. In the college entrance examination, even if your handwriting is a little bad, you can still get a high score if your essay is well written. As for other subjects, the examiners look for scoring points when grading the papers. The appearance of the paper is important, but it is not so important that you will not get a good score if you do not have good handwriting.
The imperial examinations are no good, especially now. The imperial examinations have a fixed font, and those who aspire to take the imperial examination path must practice this official font from a young age. This font is square, clean, black, and uniform in size. Xu Bai once saw a top scholar's examination paper in a museum. The font on that paper was as if it were printed. No matter how many strokes there were, the characters were all the same size and the ink was even. Xu Bai's paper, with its large and small characters and even some places with a large drop of black ink, is truly a world apart.
Xu Bai sighed and said, "I'll start practicing calligraphy properly from tomorrow."
Xu Di said, "Knowing the gap between you and others, and being able to feel ashamed and then strive to improve, means there is still hope. We are urging you on because we really want what's best for you, so please don't hold a grudge against us."
Xu Bai said, "I am very grateful to you all for urging me to improve. I understand the principles, and with you as my older brother, you are both my role model and constantly motivating me. I will definitely be successful."
It was already past midnight, and there was still no sound coming from the old lady's courtyard. Xu Bai was so sleepy that his eyes were bloodshot. When Zhang Zhaoci saw this, she said, "Xiao Qi, come here, let your mother hold you and let you sleep for a while."
Xu Bai rubbed his eyes and said, "Mother, no need, I can hold on for a while longer."
Granny Lu sighed and said, "Why are you insisting, child? Listen to me, lie down here. Even if you don't want to sleep, close your eyes and rest for a while. Children like you won't grow tall if you stay up late."
Xu Bai couldn't hold on any longer. No matter how mature he was, he was still a child's body, and his energy was always limited. He leaned against Granny Lu, lay down, closed his eyes, and fell asleep in a short while.
Looking at Xu Bai, who had fallen asleep after closing his eyes, Zhang Zhaoci said to Xu Di and Xu Zhi, "You two should lie down and get some sleep too. Who knows how long they'll be talking over there."
Xu Zhi couldn't hold on any longer. She leaned against her mother, pulled the small blanket covering her legs up a bit, and closed her eyes. Xu Di looked at his younger siblings who were already asleep, poured tea for Zhang Zhaoci and Granny Lu, and whispered, "How about I go over there and take a look?"
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