Chapter 84 The Day I Forgot to Pay Rent
"It's not anything particularly valuable."
Although that's what he said, Chen Zhonghua cherished the box as he touched it.
Even opening the small lock hanging above and carefully lifting the lid was done with great care.
She opened the box, and the people who had been sitting gathered around. After seeing the dozens of books stacked inside, they all looked at her with some confusion.
Chen Zhonghua took out the top book and explained, "These are books left by my father many years ago."
I've kept these books carefully all these years, and when the weather is nice, I take them out to air them in the sun to prevent them from getting infested with insects.
Therefore, the books inside the box have been well preserved over the years.
"Oh!" Guo Xiaohua nodded.
She wasn't particularly interested in books, and seeing that the box was full of thread-bound books, her curiosity faded, so she decided to take Yang Xiaonu and Chen Baoyue back to continue chatting.
"You all continue with your work, I'll head back now." Guo Baiwen glanced at the time and, seeing it was almost time, got up to say goodbye.
As they approached, they noticed the title of the book Chen Zhonghua was holding.
Originally intending to leave, I found myself unable to take that final step.
“Aunt Chen,” Guo Baiwen said with a hint of urgency and disbelief, “the book you’re holding, could it be the complete collection of the Four Books and Five Classics?”
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhonghua glanced at the blue thread-bound book in his hand and nodded, somewhat puzzled.
Then he took out the other eight books that were under it, and touched the covers of the books with great care. "Yes, these are also handwritten copies that my father used when he was studying."
As soon as she finished speaking, Guo Baiwen couldn't move his feet. "Auntie, could I borrow these books for a while? Just for three days—no! One day! One day is fine too. I'll go back and finish copying them tonight, and I'll return the book to you tomorrow!"
Chen Zhonghua glanced at the nine books in his hand, which, when stacked together, were thicker than a brick.
With so many books, even working late into the night, it's impossible to copy them all in just one day.
So she thought for a moment, "Wait for me a moment."
He turned around and took a clean piece of gray coarse cloth. After carefully wrapping the nine books, he handed the bundle over and said earnestly, "As long as you promise that when you return the books to me, they will be the same as the ones I gave you now, I won't hesitate to lend them to you for a month, let alone just three days."
Upon hearing this, Guo Baiwen couldn't contain his joy. He anxiously rubbed his hands together and then wiped them on the hem of his clothes.
After making sure there was nothing dirty on his hands, he carefully took the wrapped bundle with a look of delight.
Guo Xiaohua, puzzled, asked curiously, "Brother? Are these books really that rare?"
"It's more than just rare!"
Guo Baiwen had prepared all the books he would need for the Buddhist academy in advance.
It was only after visiting the bookstore that he realized that the calendars he had previously thought were expensive were nothing compared to these books.
He bought the entire set of the Four Books and Five Classics for only five taels of silver because he chose cheaper handwritten copies.
However, compared to these, the supplementary textbooks for the Four Books and Five Classics are even more expensive.
Guo Baiwen had inquired and found that the official detailed explanations of the Four Books and the Five Classics published by the imperial court a few years ago cost at least sixty taels each.
Moreover, there is a market for it but no price.
This bookstore doesn't even have a handwritten copy, let alone the original.
There is another incomplete copy, which is on its way to the bookstore. However, not only are there missing pages, but because it was recorded orally, some of the words are also incomprehensible.
Even so, this incomplete copy was priced at forty taels of silver... The bookstore clerk told him that there were many people lining up to make handwritten copies of this incomplete copy.
Moreover, this was originally reserved by someone who had received advance notice and had already spent a large sum of money to secure it.
When he was in his early education, he felt that although studying was expensive, he could still continue his studies if he was frugal.
Now that he was going to the academy, Guo Baiwen realized why everyone said that studying was expensive.
It would be best to have supplementary teaching materials, but if not, there's nothing you can do about it.
So, after browsing through the bookstore, Guo Baiwen finally chose two relatively inexpensive books, "Introduction to the Classics" and "Collected Annotations by Zhu Xi," which were also widely used, as supplementary teaching materials for his future studies.
Because it is a relatively basic book, the price of "Introduction to the Interpretation of the Classics" is not high; a handwritten copy costs two taels of silver.
But "Zhu Zi" was expensive. It didn't look much thicker than "Introduction to the Master", but the bookstore clerk could easily quote a light yet heavy number: "This book is twenty-two taels and eight hundred cash."
? !
How much did you say?!
This number caught Guo Baiwen off guard.
He had just opened his mouth, ready to strike up a conversation and try to bargain.
As it turned out, the bookstore clerk knew what he was thinking at a glance. He shook off the sunflower seed shells on his body, stood up and said, "There's no shortage. Besides, this is the last copy of 'Zhu Xi' in our bookstore."
"It will take at least ten more days for the new manuscript to come out. If you don't want it, there are plenty of other people who will!"
Is it really this difficult to buy a book these days?
Guo Baiwen wanted to visit other bookstores, but the shop assistant persuaded him not to.
He had been to this bookstore quite often, and the shop assistants recognized him.
Seeing that the person had put down the book, he looked around to make sure no one was watching, then pulled Guo Baiwen aside and said, “I’m telling you the truth. Although this is not the original, handwritten copies are not so easy to come by.”
"Even if you ask elsewhere, it will be the same. In fact, the price might even be higher."
It was at this moment that Guo Baiwen found out.
Originally, some books could only circulate among aristocratic families and wealthy officials.
They not only had one original copy of the same book, but also multiple printed and handwritten copies for daily reading and annotation.
For people like them, whose families lack resources and who don't have much spare money, the best option is to study hard and attend a better academy.
Just like the famous Ziyang Academy in the prefecture, because it was a key academy run by the government, it had a complete set of the Four Books and Five Classics stored in the library for students to read.
However, if they wanted to use it for daily purposes, they had to bring their own paper and pen to copy it, and their handwritten copies were not allowed to be taken out of the academy during their studies.
Learning from renowned teachers and filling in the gaps in classical texts—neither of these requires a large sum of money to pave the way.
While supplementary textbooks are not absolute, this comprehensive guide not only includes the official examination syllabus for the imperial examinations, but also various explanations and annotations of the Four Books and Five Classics.
Its gold content is self-evident.
Guo Baiwen had originally planned to wait until he was able to go to the provincial capital before slowly inquiring about their handwritten copies.
Who would have thought that things would take such a turn for the better? Today, during a visit to the Chen family, I unexpectedly discovered this set of books that I had been longing for.
Seeing her brother's overjoyed expression, Guo Xiaohua could only nod silently and turn to Chen Baoyue in a low voice, "It seems that my brother really likes these books."
Upon hearing this, Chen Baoyue and Yang Xianu nodded in agreement.
Chen Zhonghua, however, saw that he really liked it, and after thinking for a moment, he opened the wooden box again, "Take another look, what other books inside are useful to you?"
Whether it's one book or ten, it's still borrowing.
Anyway, these books are kept at home, and apart from the occasional time she takes them out to browse when she airs them out, they are mostly locked in boxes.
She watched as Guo Baiwen held those books like precious treasures, and couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.
If only my own father could have lived to this day...
When Guo Baiwen returned home with the books, Grandma Guo, who was startled by the two large packages, learned that these things were borrowed from the Chen family and immediately began to arrange to send some more things over.
Although I've sent quite a few things recently, none of them are quite the same as this one.
Guo Baiwen's foundation was relatively weak, and Master Cao of the academy was a decisive and efficient person, unlike Master Guo who assigned tasks to each student and then let them study slowly on their own.
On the first day of school, we started discussing the article according to the previous teaching schedule.
He was assigned to Class B. Although he had only been in the class for a short time, he naturally followed the learning pace of most students in Class B.
Although we are freshmen, as long as we memorize the key points of the article taught by the Master, we don't need to rush to start writing an article right away.
However, in accordance with the pace of Master Cao's lecture today, the relevant parts of the Four Books and Five Classics that were discussed in class should also be added.
Although he found it somewhat difficult to learn, he had some foundational knowledge from his previous life and was quite diligent, so it wasn't too hard.
During lunch break, the classmates all went to eat and rest.
Guo Baiwen would also bring his books to Master Guo for private tutoring to improve his knowledge. Once Master Guo started lecturing, he would become very talkative.
The two of them munched on their meat patties, occasionally forgetting about their meal, and started scribbling on their practice sheets.
Seeing that lunch break was almost over, Master Guo reluctantly stopped talking.
But then he turned around and found a thick booklet and handed it to Guo Baiwen. This was a separate assignment, different from the ones assigned by Master Cao.
It was Master Guo who meticulously searched through the academy's past courses to find detailed explanations and questions about the Four Books and Five Classics, all specifically for Guo Baiwen's learning progress.
These are all suitable for helping him build a solid foundation; a quick glance reveals at least several dozen pages.
I wonder how much time Master Guo spent in private preparing this for him.
When Guo Baiwen took the notebook, he was touched and decided that he would definitely buy his teacher a better inkstone and ink stick later.
But actually touching that thick booklet, one can't help but feel a bit of a headache.
Fortunately, Master Guo also knew that Master Cao assigned quite a lot of homework every day.
For this extra homework, Master Guo only said that he should do at least five problems every day, and finish them all by the end of the month at the latest, and then bring them to him for correction.
In addition, he borrowed books from the Chen family and had to set aside some time each day to copy them.
As a result, Guo Baiwen's studies became exceptionally regular during this period.
I would get up half an hour early every day to do the problems assigned by Master Guo, and during my lunch break I would start to think about Master Cao's lessons.
When I got back from school in the evening, I ate dinner, did some light exercise, and then went back to work on the homework I had finished in the morning and at noon to fill in any gaps. After that, I started copying books again.
Grandma Guo was worried that he would work too hard and not be able to keep up, so she prepared a variety of delicious meals for him every day. Even Guo Xiaohua gained a lot of weight from eating so much.
A few months passed, and during the small exams at the academy's main hall, Guo Baiwen's grades improved by leaps and bounds. Although he was not the best in Class B, he successfully squeezed into the top five.
While he was busy studying, Grandma Guo suddenly knocked on the door and said that there were several people outside looking for her.
Upon hearing this, Guo Baiwen suddenly looked up. He was so busy every day that he only remembered that these few days were the days when his farmers would come to pay rent after threshing and drying their grains.
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