Chapter 21 Etiquette
Su Zhaoshi sorted the mooncakes one by one. No matter how she looked at it, she felt that the gift was too small. She frowned and asked, "Feng'er, isn't just mooncakes a bit too little? How about adding something else?"
Su Fengzhang shook his head and said, "Everyone knows our situation. Giving expensive gifts would be strange. Besides, for those who want to continue the relationship, the size of the gift is not important. For those who don't want to continue the relationship, it's useless for us to just give them money."
"That's true." After Su Dianli passed away, the Su family also experienced the warmth and coldness of human nature.
Madam Wei and Zao'er had already moved boxes of mooncakes onto the ox cart, and Uncle Su was waiting there.
Su Fengzhang picked up the last two boxes and said, "Mom, I'm leaving now."
"Go, be careful on the road, and come back early." Su Zhao said, standing at the door to see them off.
Second Uncle Su drove the carriage and said with a smile: "Your mooncakes look good. A pack like this makes them look high-end."
In fact, these mooncakes were made by Aunt Bai herself. Although she didn’t have any other skills, she had a talent for making these pastries.
However, after the mooncakes were made, Su Zhaoshi wrapped them in an oil paper box, and Su Fengzhang personally copied a Mid-Autumn Festival congratulatory poem and pasted it on the outside, making it look more upscale than ordinary mooncakes.
"If Second Uncle thinks it's good, take a few more boxes back later. They're all homemade anyway and aren't worth much." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
Uncle Su shook his head after hearing this: "That won't do. Oil and rice are free. Just have a box to try. Mooncakes can't be eaten as a meal."
After saying this, Second Uncle Su said, "Now that your family has also entered a period of mourning, it's time to go out and pay respects to the family. The connections your father left behind will all be gone if you don't visit them in a few years."
"Yes, it's because the rules of the Great Zhou are good. If it were in the previous dynasty, you wouldn't be able to leave even if you wanted to." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
The rules were different in each dynasty. In the previous dynasty, people were not allowed to visit relatives and friends during the three years of mourning. In the Zhou Dynasty, the rules changed a lot during the mourning period. People were still not allowed to visit relatives and friends during the warm mourning period, but after one hundred days, the rules were not so strict. As long as they did not attend banquets or drink, they were allowed.
"Let's go to the county government office first." Su Fengzhang said.
Most of the connections that Su Dianli left behind also lived in this area, the most important of whom was the magistrate, Mr. Cai.
Su Fengzhang made these mooncakes to send to the county government office, so that they would not completely forget the Su family after three years.
Uncle Su's ox cart swayed to the gate of the county government office. He was familiar with this place and had come here often before.
The backyard of the county government office was where the officials lived, and Su Fengzhang almost grew up in this place.
As soon as he got out of the car, the yamen runner guarding the door took one look and recognized him: "Isn't this the Second Young Master Su? Why are you here?"
His attitude is quite friendly.
"Brother Wang, Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and my mother has prepared some mooncakes for me to give to the county magistrates and uncles." Su Fengzhang smiled and handed over a small purse, adding, "It's not convenient for me to come in right now. How about asking Brother Wang to take the trouble and pass them in for me?"
Wang, the yamen runner, pinched his purse and was very happy about this. "It's no big deal. When Su Dianli was here, he took good care of us. It's natural for me to help with this little favor."
"This one is for the county magistrate, and the rest are for all the other gentlemen. Thank you for your hard work, Brother Wang." Su Fengzhang handed it over with a smile.
Wang Yayi: "Hey, no matter how hard it is, it's what I should do."
After Wang Ya'en left with the things, Second Uncle Wang asked worriedly, "Erlang, what if he threw the things away along the way? Why don't you go in and deliver them yourself?"
"Uncle, that's not necessary." Su Fengzhang said with a smile. If he didn't want them to come in, he could just not let them in. Why bother with so much trouble? After all, at the beginning of the year, the county magistrate specially sent people to pay tribute to Su Dianli, which naturally represented the direction of the county government.
"Wouldn't it be more sincere if you delivered it yourself?" Uncle Su insisted.
Su Fengzhang smiled, shook his head and said, "You'll know later."
Uncle Su slapped his head, feeling that his nephew was becoming increasingly difficult to understand.
After waiting for a while, Su Fengzhang said, "Let's turn around and leave."
"Not waiting anymore?" Uncle Su was even more surprised.
"No more waiting." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
As a result, when Second Uncle Su just turned around and was about to leave, two people came out. One was the housekeeper Ding who had been to the Su family before, and the other one Su Fengzhang also remembered, who was the long-time attendant of Ding Dianli.
"Second Young Master, please wait." Butler Ding shouted.
Su Fengzhang looked back, jumped off the ox cart and bowed, "Butler Ding, Brother Lu."
"Since you're here, why don't you come in and sit down?" Butler Ding said with a smile.
"I think the magistrate is busy right now, so I won't go in to disturb him. As long as I can send my sincere greeting, that's all that matters." Su Fengzhang said with a smile, and then said, "I still have to go to Mr. Wen, so I'll take my leave now."
"Since the second young master has other plans, I won't force him. I'll visit him again in a few days." Butler Ding said with a smile.
After watching their ox cart leave, Steward Ding walked towards the back yamen, thinking to himself that the second son of the Su family was quite resourceful. Although he had not met Lord Cai, the gift had been delivered, so he could at least make an appearance and prevent Lord Cai from forgetting the Su family.
Lord Cai is a kind-hearted person with a gentle heart. He will definitely return the gift when he sees it. With this return gift, the Su family will gain both face and money. I just don’t know whether Su Erlang did it on purpose or unintentionally.
Su Fengzhang did it on purpose. The county magistrate's face is useful, but if there is no movement for one, two, or three years, it would probably have expired long ago. In this case, he naturally had to take the lead.
Uncle Su was getting more and more confused and asked him, "Butler Ding invited you in, why aren't you going yet?"
Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "Second Uncle, it's not the right time yet. There's no point in going now."
He is still in mourning and hasn't even finished his studies. What good will it do him even if he goes in and meets the magistrate?
Uncle Su sighed and said, "I don't understand what you are saying now."
Mr. Wen’s house is not far from the county government office, and it only takes a quarter of an hour to get there by carriage.
Su Fengzhang jumped out of the car with the box in his hand. "Second Uncle, I have some questions for Mr. Wen. I'm afraid it will take a long time to explain them. Would you please come in with me?"
Uncle Su said quickly, "Why would I go in? My legs are shaking just seeing Mr. Wen. How about this? I'll go to the city and do some shopping. I'll meet you under the big tree at the city gate when I'm done."
"That's fine." Su Fengzhang knew that Second Uncle Su was a little afraid of Mr. Wen, so he didn't force him to go with him.
After knocking on the door of the Wen family, the doorman quickly welcomed Su Fengzhang in. Perhaps someone had instructed him to do so, so he led Su Fengzhang directly to Mr. Wen's study.
"Student greets you, sir." In front of Mr. Wen, Su Fengzhang behaved very honestly.
Mr. Wen nodded without saying a word: "I heard from Zhu'er that you have made up your mind to take the imperial examination?"
"That's right. The students have been studying hard these days, hoping that one day they can inherit their father's aspirations." Su Fengzhang said.
Mr. Wen was pleased to hear this: "It's good that you have this determination. They say the road to the imperial examination is as difficult as ascending to heaven, and no one will care about you for ten years of hard study. But as long as you can endure the loneliness and persevere, you will eventually succeed."
Su Fengzhang also said: "That's right. In fact, it's not easy to succeed in any of the 365 professions. Studying is hard, but doing other things is also hard. Since students have made up their minds to take the imperial examinations, they will naturally be single-minded and will not waver."
"Good!" Mr. Wen smiled, a rare moment. "When you go on horseback parade, your father will be pleased to know."
Riding a horse and parading through the streets is a privilege only granted to those who have passed the imperial examination. Mr. Wen’s expectations of him are too high.
"I've read the contemporary essays you wrote. They're clever but lack poise," Mr. Wen commented.
Pulling Su Fengzhang to the desk, Mr. Wen opened a stack of papers, which were the current affairs papers that Wen Zhu had sent back before.
Now there are densely packed comments on these papers. It is obvious that Mr. Wen has not been idle in the past few days. He not only read them, but also corrected them word by word.
The original owner had a bad impression of Mr. Wen in his memory. After all, he was very strict and his words were harsh. But when he saw these papers, Su Fengzhang felt a little more touched. You know, he is no longer Mr. Wen's student.
"Come and look here." Mr. Wen pointed to one of the places on the paper.
He glanced at Su Fengzhang and said critically, "I'm afraid you've forgotten everything I taught you in the past, haven't you?"
Su Fengzhang was ashamed: "It's all the students' fault. When we were young and ignorant, we only thought about playing. When we needed to learn, we regretted not having learned enough. Now it's too late to regret."
The more sincere his attitude was, the happier Mr. Wen became. He added, "It's not too late. I'll teach you again. It won't be a big deal. But you have to listen carefully this time."
Su Fengzhang was overjoyed and listened carefully with all his attention.
Mr. Wen was born into a family and had been teaching for many years. He even took part in the imperial examinations twice, but unfortunately he failed both times. However, it must be said that he has rich experience in taking examinations and is a rare good teacher.
When Su Dianli sent Su Fengzhang to Mr. Wen, he also wanted his son to become a talented person. Unfortunately, Su Fengzhang was not cut out for it. He studied for many years but did not make any achievements. Instead, he dragged down the atmosphere of Mr. Wen's school.
What is rare is that Mr. Wen did not care about his previous mischievousness, and after reading his contemporary essays, he was deeply impressed by his talent.
Once he started talking, he couldn't stop, especially when Su Fengzhang responded, which made him want to continue talking. It was really exciting.
"There are rules for syntax and sentence length for contemporary essays. It's best to use parallel sentences. Although this isn't a rule, examiners generally find it clearer and more likely to be selected."
"You can break down an essay into ten parts: introduction, continuation, introduction, introduction, beginning, middle, end, conclusion, topic, and conclusion. If you feel overwhelmed at first, tackle each part separately. Once you're comfortable with them, practice putting them together. That way, the next time you pick up an essay, you'll know exactly how to start..."
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Then Mr. Goldfinger and Mr. Goldfinger appeared
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