Regardless of whether Fourteen was willing or not, within two days his father sent him to work as a handyman under his fourth brother. What kind of place is the Ministry of Revenue nowadays? In Yinzuo's words, it is a gathering place for cattle and horses. Once you get here, no matter how powerful you are, you can't get out without fiddling with abacus beads for a few days. Fourteen's hands are good at shooting bows and arrows, but asking him to fiddle with abacus beads is like asking Zhang Fei to embroider. He had only worked for two days, and he ran to his fourth brother to complain with tears on his face.
Who was Yinzhen? He was a ruthless man who could make himself spit blood. It was impossible for a spoiled Fourteenth Prince to get any favors from him. So, not only could he not complain, but he also received a gift package of abacus and mental arithmetic tutorials. Not only was he forced to practice every day by his fourth brother, but he also had to face the occasional spot checks from his sixth brother, who always liked to watch the fun. In just a few days, Fourteenth Prince truly understood the saying, "When it rains, it pours." In short, his mentality collapsed.
"Sixth brother, please be kind and have some pity for your poor little brother, okay? I have to be enslaved by fourth brother at the Ministry of Works during the day, and I have to be tormented by you when I come home at night. Let alone a human being, even an animal can't stand this. Come, look at the dark circles under my eyes. Aren't they almost as dark as that of the iron-eating beast? Look at the resentment emanating from my body. Isn't it greater than that of Sadako in the story you told us? I don't care. Anyway, starting tomorrow, I will go on strike. Sixth brother, if fourth brother makes trouble for me, you must help me, otherwise I will find a rope and hang myself at the door of your Shufengxuan..."
Yinzuo was drinking tea from his cup, and when he heard Fourteen's words, his movements paused. He had only two feelings about Fourteen's words: first, isn't this my word? Second, my younger brother has made great progress.
"Hang yourself at the door of my Shufengxuan? Fine, Dexi, go find your Fourteenth Master a sturdy rope and hang it on a tree in our yard. I want to see how he hangs himself today."
Well, now Fourteen was dumbfounded. He had never expected his Sixth Brother to react like this. That wasn't right. Why did he remember that the last time his Sixth Brother said this to his Khan-Ama, it hadn't resulted in this? But now wasn't the time to dwell on this. Didn't he see Dexi already walking out the door? If the rope was finally set up, would he hang himself on it? Or would he hang himself on it?
"Ah, ah, ah, why did you get hung up? Sixth brother, wasn't I just joking with you? Why did you take it so seriously? Come and have tea with me, Sixth brother, and just treat what you just heard as inhuman words. Please be magnanimous and forgive your younger brother this time, okay?"
Yinzuo had no intention of making a fuss with Fourteenth Brother. After all, no matter how much this guy talked, he still had to go to the Ministry of Revenue early tomorrow morning. If he really dared to quit, it would not be as simple as his fourth brother causing trouble for him.
"Alright, Sixth Brother knows how hard you've been working under Fourth Brother these past few days, so I won't bother with your outspokenness this time. Oh, and by the way, starting tomorrow, the abacus mental arithmetic practice will be adjusted from two hours a day to three hours. Fourth Brother's schedule will remain the same. After your shift, bring your abacus to my place, and I'll be guiding you for the remaining hour."
Guidance? Then I really have to thank you, Sixth Brother. Actually, if you want to deal with me, you can just say it directly. After all, no one understands this better than me. There is really no need to use such a polite word as guidance to comfort me.
Should I say that Yinzuo, as the older brother who had watched Fourteenth Prince grow up, had a pretty thorough understanding of him. Look, the guy who was still complaining about being worse than an animal yesterday got up early the next morning and went to work at the Ministry of Revenue. You ask why Fourteenth Prince is so obedient? Haha, of course it's because he's not stupid. You have to know that although this job was begged for by Yinzuo, isn't Kangxi also watching? If he dared to quit, let alone whether his two brothers would agree, he wouldn't be able to pass the test of his Khan Ama. He can't even endure this little hardship, and he still wants to be a general leading troops on the battlefield to kill the enemy and make great achievements. You wish you could be a bald prince until the end of your life.
Fourteen had originally thought that his Sixth Brother would take this opportunity to teach him about mental abacus and give him a good beating, but he soon realized that he had been misjudging his Sixth Brother. If he said it was guidance, then it was genuine guidance, without any personal feelings mixed in. Of course, everything has two sides. Not taking the opportunity to retaliate was true, but so was his ruthlessness...
"Fourteen, those ears of yours are for venting anger, right? Tell me how many times I've read this list of numbers, and how could you still make mistakes? People say a master can only lead you to the door, but the practice depends on the individual. With your level of comprehension, do you think I, your master, can trust you to practice on your own? No wonder Fourth Brother hesitated when he mentioned you last time he came to me. So you're torturing him like this every day, aren't you? Dexi, come here and read to him. If you make a mistake today, he'll skip dinner."
Fourteen's heart was filled with two words at this moment - wronged. What did he mean by "this is how he tortures his fourth brother every day? Aren't you two torturing me every day?" And what did he mean by "if he makes another mistake, he can skip dinner?" He is still growing, what if he doesn't get enough nutrition and can't grow into a good old man?
But even if Fourteenth was nagging Yinzhen and Yinzuo in his heart, would he dare to resist? He didn't dare, so in order to grow up to be a good old man, there was only one word - practice. Yinzuo didn't care how aggrieved Fourteenth was in his heart. He now questioned his ability to be a teacher. In other words - his defense was broken.
Did Fourteen eat dinner? Hmm… Judging from the way he wolfed down the rice bowl, he must have eaten. Yinzuo rested his chin on his hand and watched Fourteen devour the food like a glutton. He repeated to himself countless times that he couldn't talk to a child while he was eating, otherwise it would affect his digestion. Only then did he swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
"Have you finished eating? If you have, leave now. My head is buzzing just looking at you. When you come over tomorrow, just go find Dexi. We won't see each other for the time being while you're studying. I finally understand the meaning of the saying that you pose no threat to me in the academic world, but will definitely embarrass me in the education world. Okay, let's stop here for today. I have a terrible headache. Dexi, help me go to the back to rest."
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