Chapter 20 Mr. Wen Mr. Wen
The two friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time chatted for a long time, and Wenzhu stayed for a vegetarian meal. They lingered until they would miss the closing of the city gate if they didn't go back, and then Wenzhu left reluctantly.
As soon as he left, Su Lanzhang sighed deeply and imitated an adult: "Finally, he's gone."
Su Fengzhang found it funny and pinched his cheek and asked, "Wenzhu even brought you some candy and snacks, why don't you like her?"
"He talks too much, louder than a hundred ducks. My ears are ringing." Su Lanzhang said with a bitter face. If he hadn't been so humble, would he have been forced to listen?
Su Fengzhang knocked his forehead and scolded him, "Don't talk about people behind their backs."
Su Lanzhang covered her forehead and stuck out her tongue: "I know."
Su Fengzhang didn't let him go, but instead called Su Huihui in: "Another month has come. While I have some time today, I'll test you guys."
It was agreed that there would be a test every month, and the two children who won would get candy. Later it became a habit, and Su Fengzhang even added chips.
Su Fengzhang asked them to stand side by side in front of two tables. He began to call out words, and the two children had to write them down on paper.
After he finished writing ten characters, Su Fengzhang walked over and commented: "Not bad, you wrote everything correctly. Lan Zhang's handwriting has improved, but you wrote too hastily. Some of the strokes are unclear. If it's not cursive writing, it shouldn't be like that."
"Huihui's performance this time is good. Her handwriting is neat and beautiful. It's better than your third brother's."
At the beginning of the written test, Su Lanzhang always had an advantage, after all, he had studied for a period of time before.
But slowly Su Huihui caught up. Su Fengzhang found that his sister's memory and patience were far better than his brother's. He felt sorry that she was a girl, otherwise if she took the imperial examination, her success rate would definitely be higher than Su Lanzhang's.
"Lan Zhang, come and take a look at Huihui's calligraphy." Su Fengzhang called him over.
Because paper was expensive, Su Lanzhang and Su Huihui had few opportunities to practice calligraphy. Most of the time, they would just dip a pen in water and write on the table. Su Lanzhang would usually run away after writing the required number of times, but Su Huihui would practice several times whenever she had free time.
Su Lanzhang walked over and took a look, and had to admit that Su Huihui's handwriting had caught up with him, or even surpassed him.
Realizing this, Su Lanzhang couldn't help but lower his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
Su Fengzhang patted his head and said with a smile, "It seems Huihui won this time. Lanzhang, you started earlier than Huihui and you're smarter. You need to study and practice more in the future so that you won't be caught up by your sister, okay?"
"Second brother, I'll remember it." Su Lanzhang nodded quickly.
"Okay, since you all wrote correctly, you can have some candy. Take it." Su Fengzhang placed two bags of candy in their hands and took out a purse. "This is a reward for Huihui."
Su Huihui reached out to take it, feeling the weight of the purse, and couldn't help but smile brightly: "Thank you, second brother."
"Okay, let's go out and play." After sending the two children away, Su Fengzhang started his day's study. He was busy with other things in the morning, and he had to make up for today's progress.
Su Lanzhang grabbed the bag of candies and ran out. His second brother would give him ten candies each time. At first, he ate them all by himself. Later, when he became good friends with some of the other kids in the village, he started taking the candies out to share with them.
Su Huihui returned to Aunt Bai's room with a bag of candy and a purse. Now the mother and daughter still lived together, but Su Lanzhang had moved next door.
"Aunt, look, I wrote better than my third brother today. This is a reward from my second brother." Su Huihui said happily.
Aunt Bai also smiled when she saw the candy and the purse. There were ten copper coins in the purse. It was not a lot of money, but it could make her daughter happy for many days.
"Only Erlang can be so focused and willing to take you out to play." Aunt Bai said with a smile.
"Second brother is the best, much better than eldest brother." Su Huihui said casually and hid the purse under the pillow.
Aunt Bai was startled and quickly warned, "Don't say that in front of Madam."
"Aunt, I'm not stupid." Su Huihui snorted, and her temperament became more lively than before.
Aunt Bai opened the candy bag and saw that it was the same batch that the county magistrate had sent earlier. She put one in her daughter's mouth and said with a smile, "It's good that you know. Erlang treats you well, so you should be more sensible."
"I know, auntie, you eat too." Su Huihui also stuffed a bite into her mouth.
Tasting the sweetness of the candy, Aunt Bai's brows relaxed, and she thought to herself that although her life had been hard, she was lucky at least. First, she met Mr. Su who was willing to marry her, and later she gave birth to such a pair of good children.
On the other side, Wenzhu finally got home before the city gate closed. He didn't even drink a sip of water and rushed all the way to his father's study.
Normally, Wenzhu would never come to this place, and Mr. Wen would always send someone to invite him.
"Dad." Wenzhu ran in sweating profusely.
Mr. Wen was painting when he heard the sound and his hand trembled, ruining the painting. He was so angry that he looked up and cursed: "What are you yelling about? You are so old, can't you be more steady? What's the point of running around like that?"
Wen Zhu was startled by him and took a few steps back and shouted, "Father, I have something to ask you."
Mr. Wen was amused by his behavior and scolded him, "I told you to study hard for the imperial examination, but you didn't pay attention. I don't know what you're thinking about all day. Look at what nonsense you've learned."
"Dad, why are you here again?" Wen Zhu felt uneasy. Because of his failure in the provincial examination, his father had been scolding him for many days and was almost about to beat him with a board.
Ever since he failed the exam, his father has become more and more dissatisfied with him, and Wenzhu is also unwilling to see him.
When Mr. Wen saw him like this, he snorted coldly and cursed him inwardly as a loser.
"Okay, okay, what's the matter?" If it wasn't disrespectful, Mr. Wen really wanted to say, "If you have to fart, fart quickly and get out of here."
Wen Zhu then said, "Dad, this time it's a serious matter. Didn't I go out of town to see Su Erlang today?"
Upon hearing this, Mr. Wen sighed, "What a pity for the Su family. Dalang was such a promising young man, but... well, now there's only Erlang left. I guess their family is in trouble."
"Dad, can you please listen to me and finish what I have to say?" Wenzhu was unhappy.
Mr. Wen coughed and said, "Okay, okay, how about you tell me how Feng Zhang is doing recently?"
"He's taller, thinner, and darker. When I went over there, he was threshing rice," said Wenzhu.
"But he's determined to study. He's made a packed schedule that makes me dizzy. According to his schedule, he'll probably have to wake up earlier than the chickens and sleep later than the dogs."
Mr. Wen was surprised when he heard this, after all, Su Fengzhang was not a person who loved reading very much before.
But when he thought about the fact that the Su family was now empty, it was normal for him to grow up as a male, and he was very relieved: "That's good. When God wants to give a man a great responsibility, he must first make his heart and mind suffer, his muscles and bones tired, and his body hungry. If he can persist, he will eventually succeed."
Wenzhu said strangely, "Dad, what are you talking about? He's not hungry."
Mr. Wen was immediately furious: "I always told you to read more but you didn't listen, and now you don't understand what I'm saying."
Wenzhu felt even more aggrieved, but still remembered her mission: "Okay, okay, you have the final say."
"Dad, Fengzhang has written many contemporary essays, but he was working on them alone at home, and it's hard to tell whether they are good or not. He asked me to take a look at them for him, but I couldn't make sense of them either, so I brought them back. How about you take a look at them for me?" Wenzhu asked.
Mr. Wen was taken aback when he heard this. He frowned and asked, "He's already started writing policy essays? Has he memorized the Four Books and Five Classics?"
Wenzhu naturally didn't ask, but still answered firmly: "Then he must have memorized it thoroughly."
"I don't believe you." Mr. Wen cursed, but still said, "Never mind, bring it here and let me see it first."
After all, he has been a student for several years, and the Su family is in that situation now. Mr. Wen is not a cruel person and he is willing to take care of him. If Su Fengzhang is really willing to study, he doesn't mind giving him some guidance.
Originally, Mr. Wen had no hope. After all, Su Fengzhang was still in a private school years ago. He had not finished reading the Four Books and Five Classics, and his contemporary essays were a mess, even worse than his son's.
It's only been half a year, how much progress can he make?
But when Wen Zhu placed the stack of essays on his desk, Mr. Wen looked down and was surprised: "Your handwriting has improved. You can tell that you haven't slacked off these days."
After taking another look at the content, Mr. Wen was even more surprised. He knew exactly what Su Fengzhang's previous foundation was. This progress was too great. Could it be that the loss of his father and brother had such a great impact on him, it was like a person opening up his Ren and Du meridians.
Mr. Wen read it carefully, and Wen Zhu asked anxiously, "Dad, how is his writing? I think it's pretty good."
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Mr. Wen cursed angrily and continued reading.
After he finished reading one article, he commented: "The idea is novel but not abrupt, and the content is meaningful. It's acceptable."
After hearing this, Wenzhu asked again, "Is it good or bad?"
Who knew that this remark would actually trigger Mr. Wen's anger, and he cursed: "Su Fengzhang has learned it well, why don't you learn from him, you little brat?"
Wen Zhu touched his nose and muttered, "His family has gone through a drastic change. His father and eldest brother are both dead. How can he not learn from his mistakes?"
"Are you dissatisfied with the fact that I've lived too long?" Mr. Wen was furious and grabbed a paperweight and threw it at him.
Wenzhu quickly dodged and shouted, "Dad, then you can take your time to look at it. When Fengzhang comes in a few days, you can give me some advice. I'm leaving now. Mom is waiting for me to have dinner with her."
Mr. Wen was extremely angry, but he was helpless and finally sat back down.
The more he read Su Fengzhang's articles, the more he liked them. Although his writing style was a little immature, the meaning was there. With some polishing, it would become a good policy paper. When would his son be able to reach this level?
Do young people really have to experience drastic changes in their family before they learn the importance of studying hard?
Mr. Wen shuddered and thought to himself, it’s nothing, he values his life and wants to live a few more years.
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