On the second day, Wang Yu and Chen Yanwen needed to go to the town to pay a visit to the teacher. When the three of them arrived at the academy, Teacher Song was already waiting there. He had heard yesterday that his three students had passed the academy examination, and the top scorer was one of his students. He was very excited at this moment, as this had never happened before.
This ranking has spread throughout the town. It is estimated that soon people will come here to study. This will greatly enhance the reputation of his private school. After all, he is not the only scholar here who runs a private school to teach and educate people.
Master Song was in a good mood today, his face was flushed, and he was not as serious as usual. He looked at them with satisfaction and said hello three times.
He also said that he had nothing to teach them anymore, and fortunately the three of them could go to the provincial school, and studying there would only be better for them, especially Song Boyan, who was very pleased to see such an outstanding person coming out of his family, and the smile on his face never faded the whole day.
Then he explained to them the rules of the provincial school. The provincial school would admit the top ten students who passed the entrance examination for free. Others could also go to the provincial school to study but they had to pay tuition. The classrooms in the provincial school were divided into Class A, B and C.
The teacher asked them not to conflict with the students in Class C. Wang Yu realized that Class C was basically composed of young men from wealthy or noble families in the city. If a conflict arose, they would be the only ones to suffer. Wang Yu and the other two nodded.
Moreover, the provincial school cannot allow them to study there forever. If they fail the provincial examination three times, they still have to pay tuition to continue studying there. There are also small tests every month and a major test every six months, and the students will be re-divided into classes based on their ranking.
After listening to it, Wang Yu felt for a moment as if he was back in high school...
After talking about the things that need to be paid attention to in the provincial school, Master Song asked Wang Yu if he was about to reach adulthood. Wang Yu was also stunned when he heard this. He didn't remember anything about this at all, and farmers didn't care much about these things.
Only then did he realize that men from official families would hold a coming-of-age ceremony and invite famous scholars to give them a name, which is the modern coming-of-age ceremony.
When a man comes of age, it means that he has officially entered the society as an adult. He can get married and participate in various activities. He must practice the virtues of filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty and obedience to become a qualified member of society.
Master Song: "Did you have anyone to choose a name for you?"
When Wang Yu heard the teacher asking him, he thought to himself that he didn't take this matter to heart, so how could anyone take a name for it? He could only shake his head.
"I have a character here, I wonder if you would like it?" The teacher said this because although he was Wang Yu's teacher, he was not a famous teacher or a great scholar. He knew the situation of Wang Yu's family and that there was no clan to give him a character. Moreover, in the past two years, he felt more and more that Wang Yu was a man of great talent, so he said this today.
Wang Yu didn't have much thought about this matter. He didn't know any great scholars, and the elders in his family couldn't choose a courtesy name. He could choose his own courtesy name, but... he was not very good at choosing a courtesy name. Master Song had been wholeheartedly supporting him in his studies over the past few years, and Wang Yu still respected Master Song very much, so Wang Yu bowed to thank Master Song and expressed his willingness.
Seeing that Wang Yu was willing to choose his own courtesy name, Master Song was very happy and said the courtesy name he had chosen: "Xiu Zhi, Wang Xiu Zhi."
Cultivate it in the body, and its virtue will be true.... From the 54th chapter of the Tao Te Ching.
Wang Yu silently read it several times and found it very good, so he thanked the teacher again.
Once men have chosen a courtesy name, they can address each other by it. At this moment, Chen Yanwen kept repeating "Brother Xiuzhi, Brother Xiuzhi..."
Wang Yu, wearing his newly-appointed courtesy name, had dinner with the Master and others, and then formally said goodbye. From then on, he had fewer opportunities to meet the Master.
At this moment, Wang Yu didn't know that two uninvited guests had come to his home today. This matter started with the good news yesterday. Zhou Dayong's family in the village also saw this lively scene.
After returning, they discussed marrying their daughter to Wang Yu as a concubine. It would be even better if Wang Yu could divorce Cheng Chen and marry her daughter. After all, Wang Yu was young and a scholar, much more promising than the gentlemen in the town. I heard that he even got the first place in the exam, and maybe he could become an official in the future. Then her daughter would be the wife of an official, and her family would also benefit from it.
Moreover, the Wang family also has a winery and spends a lot of money to buy grain in the village every year. In any case, they are rich. He has only a brother as his wife, and they still don’t have a child in two years. It is obvious that he is infertile. It is better to have a daughter of his own, and he is dreaming happily in his heart.
At this moment, Qian Honghua was sitting in the yard talking to Wang's mother, saying that Cheng Chen had been married for two years and had not yet brought children or grandchildren to the Wang family. Their Xiaomei was beautiful and looked good at giving birth...
At first, the Queen Mother didn't know why she came. After listening for a while, she realized what she was talking about and frowned. Not to mention that they were originally a farming family and had no concept of taking concubines, even now they had some money, they had never thought of doing so.
She also knew that her son had a good relationship with Achen and was a man with his own ideas. It was Wang Yu's own decision whether to take a concubine or not. She had no say in the matter. She didn't want to be estranged from her son because of this matter. Moreover, Zhou Dayong's family did not have a good reputation in the village. The family was lazy and gluttonous, and the youngest son was idle. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that they were not a good family.
Aunt Zhou didn't even look at Wang's mother's expression. She enthusiastically praised the good things about her daughter Zhou Mei, as if Wang Yu would suffer a loss if he didn't marry her daughter...
"Sister Wang, we are from the same village. You have watched Mei grow up. If I hadn't seen Wang Yu's promising future, I wouldn't have given my daughter to be a concubine. I don't want a large gift, just fifty taels of silver. I guarantee Mei will have two children in three years!"
Hearing such shameless words, the Queen Mother stood up and refused, "Our family does not accept concubines. You can go back."
Not to mention that the family doesn't take concubines, fifty taels of silver for a betrothal gift, what's the difference between this and selling a daughter? Nowadays, the most a farmer can get for marrying a wife is eighty or ten taels of silver. Get up and drive the person out.
Qian Honghua watched the Queen Mother chase him away and said anxiously, "Hey, let's talk it over. Fifty taels is too much. How about forty taels? You also know where to find such a good marriage like Mei girl's."
The Queen Mother wanted to spit at her. Fortunately, the marriage was arranged. Everyone in the village knew about their family. The family was extremely lazy. They didn't even take care of the few acres of land and were just waiting to sell their daughter to make money.
After all, they were from the same village, and the Queen Mother didn't want to make things too awkward, so she just drove everyone out and called Zhou Mei out of the house, saying, "We don't take concubines in our family, so go back!"
Seeing that Queen Mother had closed the gate to the yard, the mother and daughter had no choice but to go home first. They didn't quite understand why they were unwilling to do so.
When Wang Yu got home in the afternoon, he felt that the atmosphere at home was not very good. His mother told him what happened in the morning. Wang Yu almost spit out water... Taking a concubine?
"It's good that you refused, mother. I will not take a concubine." Wang Yu took a sip of tea and said seriously. He only had Cheng Chen, so why did he need to take a concubine? In order to prevent this from happening, he told his mother very seriously that he would never take a concubine in the future. If this happened again, he asked his mother to reject it directly.
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