Chapter 55: Trial Operation of the Confectionery and Reports from the Academy
Faced with Guo Baiwen's indignation, Grandma Guo seemed particularly assertive, "Wenzi, you yourself said you would go to school in the summer, didn't you?"
"Doesn't the Beginning of Summer count as summer?"
With a hint of earnest advice, and having apparently heard it from somewhere, she turned the tables on him, using her own somewhat broken Mandarin: "Mi ri er fu mi ri er oh—"
Hmm? Miri'er, hmm? ? ?
Guo Baiwen was amused by this whole charade.
He couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from turning up in a crazy smile. Seeing Grandma Guo's puzzled expression, he deliberately teased her with an indescribable meaning, "Grandma—can you repeat what you just said?"
"Did Grandma say something wrong? It should be 'Mi Ri Fu Mi Ri Sai'?"
"Hahahahaha," Guo Baiwen couldn't hold back any longer, but afraid that his grandmother would overthink things, he could only bite his lip tightly and nod several times to show his affirmation, "Tomorrow it will be tomorrow! I know what Grandma is saying!"
Seeing him like that, Grandma Guo knew perfectly well what he was laughing at.
She glared at him coldly, and seeing that he was still standing there with his head down, his shoulders shaking wildly, Grandma Guo slapped his arm hard.
"Alright! Wenzai, you've grown wings! You're even laughing at your grandma now!"
"Ouch, Grandma! It hurts!"
Fine, let it be Summer Solstice then.
He had originally planned to go after the Dragon Boat Festival, but since he had already paid his grandmother's tuition, it wouldn't make a difference whether it was a month earlier or a month later.
However, although the time for going to the academy was set, Guo Baiwen moved up the opening time of his family's confectionery shop, also setting it for the beginning of summer.
They sell sweets during the day and spicy hot pot at night.
If the dessert business is good, we can talk to our regular customers before the Dragon Boat Festival to stop serving spicy hot pot in the evenings and resume the business when the weather gets cooler.
A transition period like this is much more acceptable than a sudden, unannounced notice.
Guo Baiwen shared his thoughts with Hu Qingshan and the others. Hu Qingshan thought his idea was good and planned to bring his fellow apprentices from his woodworking workshop to support him when the dessert shop opened.
Putting everything else aside, ever since Abao ate that caramel pudding last time, although Sister Lin Yue tried to make it for him a few times at home with steamed eggs and brown sugar.
But the taste was always a little off. Although she finished the steamed egg custard, her little mouth was still pouting.
Once the candy shop opens, they won't have to worry about pacifying Abao anymore.
It was only at this time that Guo Baiwen realized that his dessert shop had already gained a loyal little customer even before it opened.
Therefore, the next day, he specially asked Xiaohua to bring some of the prepared food to Lin Niangzi's house.
Unlike hot pot, which is difficult to pack even if you want to give it away as a gift, the soup and all is not easy to pack.
If you wait until it's sent out, it will cool down and won't taste the same as when it was freshly cooked, not to mention its appearance will become much less appealing.
But these sweets are still delicious even when they're cold, and they can be kept for a while so you can enjoy them slowly at home.
In addition to delivering gifts to Hu Qingshan's family, Guo Baiwen also delivered gifts to every family he knew in the county town before the start of summer.
Needless to say, he sent gifts to Tongfu Restaurant and Sun Ya's family, and even sent two gifts to Arui at the pawnshop, one for his grandfather.
The family has lived in the county town for generations, so this is a way of indirectly helping to promote the place.
After all, it's not a new store opening. If we don't spread the word, people won't specifically come to the mala tang restaurant to buy sweets.
Add to that the regular customers of the mala tang (spicy hot pot) at the shop, and thinking about the good reviews of the cream cake last time, Guo Baiwen felt that even if sales were poor, they should still be better than the mala tang in the summer.
But no matter how worried he was, on the day of the Beginning of Summer, his grandmother urged him to go to school early in the morning.
Grandma Guo and Xiao Hua both rolled up their sleeves and busied themselves in the kitchen.
Yang Qiaomai was also holding a small knife in her hand, peeling a pear.
He could never let go of his worries.
Just as they were about to leave, they couldn't help but turn back and ask, "Grandma, how about I help you finish getting your things done before you go out?"
It won't make a difference if it's just a little while longer.
But in response to his words, the kitchen door slammed shut, and his grandmother's urging voice came from inside, "Hurry up and go to school! If you don't leave now, Grandma will hit you with this rolling pin!"
Okay—
So he could only leave the house looking back every few steps, and by the time he arrived at Yangzheng Hall, it was only the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).
Yangzheng Hall doesn't look big from the outside, but once you go inside, you'll find that it's surprisingly spacious.
This place not only has a school for enlightenment education, but also a classics hall for teaching strategies. The main room, which houses a portrait of Confucius, is separated from the other two.
Outside is a not-so-small courtyard with two or three old trees and some wildflowers and weeds whose nature is hard to discern. To the right are a latrine, a study, and a kitchen.
Yangzhengtang was considered one of the larger private schools in Xiuning County.
Years ago, I heard that the teachers here all had impressive backgrounds.
The most famous one was a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations), who was just one step away from becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest-level imperial examinations).
But after failing the exam three times in a row, he worried that he would get stuck in a rut.
He wanted to find something else to do that would help him consolidate his knowledge and change his mood, so he agreed to the request of the local gentry who was in charge of Yangzheng Hall and went to teach at the academy as a teacher. He could learn from the new students and broaden his own thinking at the same time.
This teacher, although he himself failed the imperial examinations for many years, was eventually able to pass them and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examinations), and he studied diligently for many years.
The literary atmosphere in Qianzhou is not very strong, but the fact that the academy has such a teacher is almost as good as the county school.
During the six years this teacher taught, Yangzheng Hall produced three more Juren (successful candidates in the provincial-level imperial examinations) and more than ten Xiucai (successful candidates in the county-level imperial examinations), making it the most outstanding private school in Xiuning County.
However, since this teacher felt that he had thoroughly mastered all the knowledge he had learned after six years of teaching, he disregarded the local gentry's offer of a large sum of money to keep him and resolutely decided to take the exam again.
Sure enough, the following year, news came that he had passed the imperial examination and become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).
I heard that in the end, the whole family even moved to the capital.
After he left, Yangzheng Hall tried to invite a few scholars who had passed the imperial examinations, but most of them declined. In the end, they had to settle for second best and invite some scholars who had passed the county-level examinations to give lectures.
The difference between a Juren (举人) and a Jinshi (进士) is already as vast as a chasm, let alone a Xiucai (秀才).
Although they were all said to be well-read, there was still a considerable gap in their understanding and mastery of the Four Books and Five Classics, and naturally, they could no longer recreate the glory of the academy when that master was alive.
Many outstanding students who passed the county-level imperial examination through their own efforts would eventually choose to study at the county school.
Therefore, Yangzheng Hall has now simply shifted its focus to the enlightenment hall.
Although its former glory has faded, it has at least maintained a steady and solid foundation, so the academy enjoys a good reputation and positive word-of-mouth in the county.
He arrived relatively early, and after him, two or three more students dressed in shorts and casual clothes arrived one after another.
The gentleman, who was originally sitting in the main room, glanced at the time and estimated that it was about time, so he asked people to come in one by one to register.
The enrollment time and tuition fees were all arranged in advance. If there was no readily available money, food and cloth could be used to offset part of the cost.
Therefore, most of the students who came to report today were carrying cloth backpacks.
Several of the younger students were accompanied by their elders from their families.
Before the teacher came out, they would occasionally chat for a bit, but once they entered the house, everyone fell silent without realizing it.
The teacher held a booklet in his hand, which listed the names, hometowns, and basic physical characteristics of the students who were to report for duty that day.
After comparing each name, he would circle it to confirm that it had been reported and write down the date.
This batch of students are all short-term students, some are monthly students and some are quarterly students.
Grandma Guo enrolled Guo Baiwen in a six-month course, making him the student with the longest study period among the four or five students in this batch.
The teacher was already used to such short-term students of varying ages who enrolled temporarily.
After calling out names, I asked if they had brought their own calligraphy brushes, inkstones, Xuan paper, calligraphy supplies, and tracing books. These items are all things that students need to bring themselves.
If I haven't prepared it by today, I'll go out and buy some during my lunch break.
Xuan paper is not cheap; a sheet of ordinary Xuan paper costs ten coins. Master Guo used bamboo paper, which was cheaper, on a daily basis.
If you're short on cash, they also sell cheaper coarse paper at the academy for 70 coins for 100 sheets.
However, if you still think it's too expensive, then there's the cheapest printing paper. Although it's not as good, it can still be used for writing and drawing.
The same goes for books. In the academy's study, there are three hundred copies of books handwritten by poor students in their spare time, and the prices are cheaper than those in outside bookstores.
It was only at this time that Guo Baiwen realized that the academy also sold these kinds of things.
The teacher then checked everyone's calligraphy brushes one by one. Most of them were chicken feather brushes or sheep wool brushes. Although these two types of brushes were cheap, they were still too inadequate for making chains.
The wool is soft and weak, and the chicken feathers are short and even; they're only good for quick writing.
The bamboo pen in Guo Baiwen's bag, however, was passable.
After glancing at everyone's varied and patched outfits, the Master stroked his beard but didn't say anything to insist that they change.
After confirming that the number of people and their belongings were correct, on the first day of school, everyone first bowed three times to the portrait of Confucius before paying respects to their teacher.
Most students brought pastries or cured meat as gifts to express their respect to their teacher. After presenting these gifts, the teacher would pat the student's head and instruct them to "study diligently and respect their teacher," while also giving them an introductory book.
When Guo Baiwen straightened up, he realized that he was holding a copy of "Primer of Prosody". Others were holding "Thousand Character Classic" or "Standards for Being a Good Student and Child", most of which were books they didn't have in their schoolbags.
No wonder the teacher checked what they were carrying in their bags; now I understand.
These books for early learning generally cost around one hundred coins each.
I wonder if the teachers in other colleges are also this generous.
After the apprenticeship ceremony, the teacher would arrange the students' seats according to their age and order of enrollment. Since there were not many students in this batch of short-term students, a few more tables were added to the back of the classroom where the previous batch of short-term students had been.
They only let the younger children sit in the front, and in the end, they managed to fill a classroom with twelve students.
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