Chapter 122 Childlike Innocent
"Erlang, get up quickly. It snowed heavily last night and everything outside is white." Su Arong shouted excitedly. It was no wonder that he didn't get to blame. It only snowed a few days a year in their Hushan County.
Su Fengzhang got up in a daze and only became more sober after washing his face.
When I opened the window, a cold wind blew towards me. Perhaps because it had snowed the night before, the cold wind seemed particularly fresh, and there were still some snowflakes mixed in it.
After arriving in the Great Zhou, Su Fengzhang also saw the white snow for the first time, and for a moment he was somewhat fond of it: "The moon is bright outside the crystal curtains, and layers of snow are on the branches of the crabapple trees."
Su Arong, who was standing next to him, scratched his head and said, "Scholars are amazing! I can only say 'it's snowing heavily,' but Erlang, you can express it in a fluent way. It sounds more impressive and dignified than what I can say."
Su Fengzhang laughed heartily and said, "I am just pretending to be elegant by borrowing other people's poems."
As they were chatting and laughing, a head popped out from above. It was He Tang: "Brother Su, you are in a very elegant mood. Don't forget to stay up with us tonight."
"It's already Chinese New Year in the blink of an eye." Su Arong sighed, then added, "If we were in Hushan County, my aunt would have already prepared a large table of food and drinks."
Su Fengzhang also laughed when he heard this, and he missed his family at home a little: "I don't know what they are doing now."
Su Arong smiled and said, "I don't know about others, but my aunt and the others must be thinking about Erlang and worrying that you are not eating well or wearing warm clothes."
Su Fengzhang thought so when he heard it. His mother must be worried right now. His two younger siblings would not be able to get the New Year's envelopes he gave them this year. Fortunately, he asked his mother to send them out before he left.
Last New Year's Eve, Su Fengzhang was imprisoned. His best friend died tragically and he himself was imprisoned. He spent the whole year in misery.
This year was different. Although all the relatives in the Scholars' Building who were in the capital had gone to have the reunion dinner on this day, there were still many people who stayed in the building. They all came out on this day, and the building seemed more lively than usual.
Early in the morning, Su Fengzhang burned three incense sticks in the house to comfort Lin Changqing, and went downstairs in the afternoon.
At this time, the lobby was already very lively. Scholars from the north and south were sitting on both sides in a clear distinction. The southern side was filled with plates of fruits, sugared rice cakes and other things, while the northern side had a pot burning.
"Brother Su, you are finally here." He Tang stood up and greeted him, holding a handful of melon seeds in his hand.
Su Fengzhang lifted the thing in his hand, and He Tang looked at it and exclaimed in surprise: "Is this a spring roll? Where did you get it from?"
"My cousin made this himself, just to add to the dishes," Su Fengzhang explained, then jokingly said, "Didn't you say you wanted to have some green ant wine and a red clay stove in the yard? It's going to snow tonight, can you have a drink?"
Before He Tang could say anything, Bai Yu, who was standing behind him, burst into laughter and teased, "Come on, the cold wind from the north is unbearable. It will break your bones if it blows for a while."
He Tang said listlessly, "Who would have thought that the wind in the north would be so strong and cold, even wearing fox fur would be useless."
"It's not bad inside the house, it's warm and lively, there's food, drinks, fun and noise." Su Fengzhang also smiled.
After sitting down, a few people clinked glasses of wine. No one was having a proper meal at the moment, as there were plenty of snacks.
There was also a lively sound coming from the other end. Su Fengzhang turned around and met Lin Yuye's eyes. This guy was looking at him, or it would be more appropriate to describe him as staring at him.
At this time, Bai Yu came over and said, "Brother Su, what's that look in his eyes? Is he looking for trouble during the New Year?"
"It doesn't look like it." Su Fengzhang said with a smile. After the literary battle between the North and the South, he didn't have much contact with the northern scholars. It was mainly because the northern scholars felt embarrassed. Except for Su Juan, most people turned around and left when they saw him.
Bai Yu said, "This Lin Yuye is unworthy of being a scholar. How could a scholar be so prone to violence? He doesn't even understand the principle of a gentleman using words instead of fists. He deserves to be disgraced."
Su Fengzhang shook his head and said, "That's an exaggeration. It's not to this extent."
But today, Bai Yu wasn't sure if it was because of the few glasses of wine he'd had, so he didn't stop while he was ahead. Instead, he sighed and continued, "After that competition, Brother Su, you naturally became famous, but you don't know how hard it is for us."
Su Fengzhang turned to look at him and asked with a smile, "Brother Bai, you're going too far. We all have to participate in the Spring Examination next year. Ultimately, that's when the true test will be revealed. What's the value of our current reputation?"
Bai Yu said, "Having a good reputation is naturally good. If you have a good reputation, the examiners will take it into consideration. Otherwise, why are so many people so busy submitting their papers, fearing that others will not know their reputation?"
The so-called "xingjuan" actually means that before the spring examination, candidates would write their poems and essays into scrolls and send them to dignitaries in the court to gain reputation. It was called "xingjuan" because although the names were covered in the examination, they would be revealed and determined at the time of final admission.
In the previous dynasty, the practice of submitting examination papers was very popular. Whether the candidates could pass the exam was closely related to whether they succeeded in submitting the examination papers. This led to the recommendation of candidates in the court and the establishment of numerous schools of thought.
In this dynasty, Emperor Taizu felt that this trend was not conducive to the selection of talents, and he suppressed it vigorously for a time, which made the practice of circulation gradually fade away.
But where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. Everyone knows the use of a good reputation. Slowly, the signs of circulation began to emerge again, and they had a close relationship with the ministers in the court.
Su Fengzhang just smiled when he heard this, then said, "Today is New Year's Eve, why are you talking about all this? Come, I'll peel a peanut for you. If you eat it, you will win the first place in the imperial examination next year."
Bai Yu was stuffed with a peanut, and felt embarrassed to continue being sour.
He Tang, who was standing next to him, was still joining in the fun and said with a smile, "Brother Su, peel one for me too, so I can share in your luck."
"Okay, I'll peel it for you." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
Bai Yu saw him peeling the fruit seriously and smiled, "Then I'll peel one for you too. I hope we can all enjoy the happiness together next year."
At this moment, Lin Yuye suddenly stood up and walked over, holding a wine glass in his hand. Bai Yu suddenly became nervous and whispered, "Why is he here? He's not really looking for trouble, is he?"
He Tang also stood up and said, "Brother Lin, what are you doing? Meng Ting is not here today, so I'm afraid there's no one to drink with you."
Lin Yuye ignored them and walked straight to Su Fengzhang: "Su Fengzhang, let me offer you a glass of wine. Do you dare to drink it?"
"Brother Lin, I am honored to come and toast you. Of course I have to drink this glass." Su Fengzhang stood up and said with a smile, drinking the glass of wine in one gulp without any intention of refusing.
Lin Yuye was stunned by his straightforwardness. He then finished his glass of wine and said with a smile, "You are quite straightforward."
Just as he was about to turn around and go back, he saw Su Fengzhang reaching out to grab his arm. Lin Yuye subconsciously glared at him, the hostility in his eyes was obvious, like a wolf cub who was about to get his hands on his fur at the next moment.
Su Fengzhang smiled widely and asked, "Brother Lin, you didn't seem to have eaten anything just now. Drinking on an empty stomach is not good for your health. Why don't you sit down and try some of our southern snacks?"
Lin Yuye looked at him strangely: "Are you inviting me to sit down?"
"Brother Lin, are you unhappy?" Su Fengzhang asked with a smile.
"Why should I be unhappy?" Lin Yuye sat down with his butt, and his expression seemed to say that there was something he was afraid of.
Su Fengzhang picked up a piece of rice cake for him and said with a smile: "I heard that people in the north eat dumplings during the New Year, but we eat more rice cakes over there. It's a good omen. I wish you a prosperous next year."
Here was sugar rice cake. The fried rice cake with brown sugar tasted wonderful. Lin Yuye actually lowered his head to taste it and said, "It tastes really good. I thought people in the south only eat spicy food."
Su Fengzhang was not angry and explained, "People in southern Sichuan like spicy food, while people in the south of the Yangtze River prefer a lighter, sweeter taste."
"Isn't it effeminate to eat sweets?" Lin Yuye said subconsciously.
He Tang next to him was unhappy, "Hey, what do you mean by that?"
Lin Yuye's face darkened, but Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "Brother Lin, I believe you didn't mean to mock me, otherwise you wouldn't be eating so happily. Come, have another bite?"
Lin Yuye took another bite and looked up at Su Fengzhang. He thought this guy was really weird. Was he pretending, or was he trying to be friendly because he didn't want to quarrel during the New Year?
Su Fengzhang didn't seem to notice his thoughts and asked with a smile, "Brother Lin, do you like to drink? Our Qingzhou Prefecture's Linjiangchun is very good and has a long aftertaste. If there is a chance in the future, I would like to treat Brother Lin to a drink."
Lin Yuye is indeed a wine lover. After hearing this, he said, "Then I'll wait."
After a pause, Lin Yuye continued, "I thought you didn't like northerners."
Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "How can you say that? We have no grudges against each other, so how could there be any dislike? In fact, I have long admired the talents of you northern scholars and have always wanted to learn from you."
Lin Yuye sneered, "No grudges? Asking for advice? We'll be rivals in next year's Autumn Examination."
"Aren't all the people present today opponents? Does this count as a grudge?" Su Fengzhang asked back.
"What you said does make sense." Lin Yuye thought about it and agreed. The scholars from the north and south were indeed rivals, but the southern scholars and the northern scholars were also competitors, so it would be an exaggeration to say that they were enemies.
Everyone present was a shrewd person. Regardless of the affairs of the court, there was indeed no hatred between them. They just disliked each other.
Bai Yu was the first to react and said with a smile, "That's right. I also want to make friends with you northern scholars, but I can't speak up because of the relationship. Today is a good opportunity."
Su Fengzhang smiled again and said, "Today is New Year's Eve. It's fate that we can gather together. Why don't you, Brother Lin, be a broker and help both sides talk so that we can celebrate the New Year together."
"Maybe we'll be colleagues in the future, and there'll be opportunities to work together."
Lin Yuye didn't know how things had developed to this point. He hesitated for a moment and went back to tell them about it. He thought that the northern scholars would definitely not be willing to share a table for a gathering, but who knew that as soon as he opened his mouth, someone responded.
The tables on both sides were put together, and more than a dozen scholars from the north and south sat together. The hot pot and snacks together seemed more sumptuous. Seeing them chatting and laughing happily, there was no trace of the previous tension.
Lin Yuye was very puzzled and asked someone privately, "Don't you dislike southerners?"
The northern scholar replied, "How could I not like you? Su Fengzhang is right. We don't have any deep hatred. The Spring Examination hasn't even started yet, and we all live in the same building. Why would we make such a fuss?"
Lin Yuye really wanted to ask, you didn’t say this before, you used to be very disgusted with southerners in private, how come you are so close like brothers now.
But before he could ask, he saw Su Fengzhang coming over to toast him, saying with a smile, "Thanks to your lobbying, Brother Lin, today, scholars from both the north and the south have gathered together. Come, let me toast you."
Lin Yuye drank the glass of wine in a daze, and until he passed out, he was still wondering what he had done. How come the scholars from the north and south who were fighting each other reconciled because of him?
The one who was even more surprised than him was Shopkeeper Liu. He was originally very nervous about this New Year's Eve dinner, fearing that there would be some conflict between the scholars from the north and the south. Especially when Lin Yuye went over, Shopkeeper Liu almost came over to stop him.
Who would have known that after just a few words, scholars from the north and south would be enjoying themselves together at the table, and the tensions of previous years had completely disappeared. Looking at the way they recited poems and composed couplets, Manager Liu was amazed!
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