Chapter 24: Letter from the Wild Geese
Ten years of hard study is not just talk. The study life is hard and boring, especially since Su Fengzhang is now at home in mourning. He doesn't even have the chance to go out and exchange ideas with his classmates. He can only bury his head in work every day.
Mr. Wen’s advice was like a timely rain after a long drought. He was experienced and many of his words were enlightening to Su Fengzhang.
Before leaving, Su Fengzhang not only took away the books, but also brought back his own papers.
Although they had already reviewed it in the study, the comments above were still very useful.
Studying is like this. The difference between having guidance and not having it is a matter of a hair's breadth. This is why famous teachers were highly regarded in ancient times. It is because with a famous teacher in front of you, students can make far more progress than others.
What Su Fengzhang needed most was precisely this kind of guidance. He came with the worldview and overall perspective of later generations. He had his own ideas, innovations, and all kinds of messy concepts. But in fact, on the road to the imperial examination, these could not help, but might even become a burden.
Because the imperial examinations of that year had begun to require contemporary essays, which restricted the freedom of expression of candidates.
It took Su Fengzhang three full days to digest Mr. Wen's advice, which was longer than the time it took him to write the test paper.
Gu Beichen's letter was delivered at this moment.
This time he did not show up in person. The person who delivered the letter was a servant who looked quite unfamiliar.
The servant was quite clever. As soon as he entered the room, he said, "Second Master Su, my young master said that a day without seeing you feels like three years, but it's not convenient for him to come visit you, so he sent me a letter. I also have four bunches of grapes grown at home, which my young master picked personally. Please accept them, Second Master."
Along with the letter came four large bunches of purple grapes, which filled a small basket and were emitting a fruity aroma.
Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows slightly and took the letter with a smile: "Okay, I accept the letter."
The servant did not leave immediately. Instead, he lowered his hand and said, "Second Master, please reply. If you have a reply, I can wait for a while and take the letter back with me."
"Then wait a moment." Su Fengzhang thought about it and didn't refuse.
When he returned to the room and opened the envelope, he saw that although Gu Beichen's knowledge was average, his handwriting was good. His handwriting was the kind that was square but round, and had a bit of uprightness. It looked nothing like him.
But I kept mumbling to myself for several pages, and it felt like a thick stack, but it was all gossip, with not a single serious thing in it.
This is consistent with that guy's temperament.
Although he had to reply to the letter, Su Fengzhang didn't know what to write for a moment. After thinking about it, he simply spread out a piece of paper and started drawing.
After he started studying, he picked up all the skills of Chinese painting and calligraphy from his previous life, and now he can barely show them off.
Soon, a basket of mouth-watering grapes appeared on the paper.
Su Fengzhang also inscribed a poem by an ancient poet: "The basket is full of round, smooth pearls, and the taste is as sweet and fragrant as ice and jade. If Wenyuan knew this taste, Luhua would not beg for gold."
After waiting for a while for the ink to dry, he folded it twice and stuffed it into an envelope. He used the same envelope that Gu Beichen had sent him because he didn't have any extra envelopes at home.
"Give this to your young master." Su Fengzhang handed the envelope to the servant.
Suddenly he asked again, "I haven't asked your name yet?"
The servant quickly said, "My humble servant Hongyan greets the Second Young Master."
Su Fengzhang was stunned when he heard the name, and asked with a smile: "Have you always been called this name?"
Hongyan chuckled and said, "My name used to be Zhaocai, but my young master said it was too vulgar, so he changed my name to Hongyan and asked me to help him deliver letters."
"Your young master is quite interesting." Su Fengzhang also found it funny that he changed the name of the messenger boy to Hongyan. If they were not both men, he would have thought that this one had some ulterior motives.
However, in ancient times, the use of wild geese to deliver letters did not originally mean a romantic relationship between men and women.
After sending off the Gu family's wild geese, Su Fengzhang walked into the house carrying the basket of grapes. Gu Beichen was a meticulous person, and he put a piece of fine cotton cloth under the grapes he handed over, making them look particularly clean.
"Lan Zhang, Huihui, come and eat some grapes." Su Fengzhang called out, and pinched one to taste. Although the color had turned purple, the taste was still slightly sour, which could not be compared with the sweet grapes of modern times. However, the fruity aroma was more intense.
"Why do you eat it without washing it?" Su Zhao glared at him in anger, snatched it away, washed it, and brought it back.
"It's not clean, but you won't get sick if you eat it." Su Fengzhang said with a smile, and then said, "Mother, Auntie, you can try it too, it tastes pretty good."
After eating, several people said they were delicious. Su Huihui especially liked it and ate more than ten of them in one go until Aunt Bai forbade her to eat any more: "You can't eat any more. You won't be able to finish your meal later. Save some for tomorrow."
Su Huihui pouted a little unhappily, but still put it down obediently.
Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "If Huihui likes to eat it, we can plant a grape tree at home, and then you can eat as much as you want."
When Su Huihui heard this, she said happily, "Second brother, is it okay?"
"What's wrong with that? Grape seedlings aren't worth much." It's just that their area isn't suitable for growing grapes, so the grapes don't taste as good or as sweet.
Su Lanzhang said beside him, "It's just like that, actually. I think the peach tree in our yard is better. The peaches it bears in the summer are much more delicious than these sour grapes."
The fruits from that peach tree tasted particularly good, and they filled your mouth with fragrance. I don’t know if it was because the harvest was good this year, or if the bowl of zero spring water that Su Fengzhang poured had an effect.
Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "From now on, we'll have peach trees and grape vines. If we want peaches, we can eat peaches. If we want grapes, we can eat grapes. We'll have fruit to eat from summer to autumn."
Su Lanzhang also suggested: "Second brother, we can actually plant some more jujube trees, plum trees, and persimmon trees. That way we can eat fruits all year round, don't you think?"
Before Su Fengzhang could answer, Aunt Bai retorted, "You have a nice idea. Have you memorized the words for today?"
So the child's happy face turned into a bitter one, but the adults found it funny and burst into laughter.
On the other side, the servant Hongyan rushed back to Gu's house without stopping. What Gu Beichen said before was that he and Su Fengzhang were going the same way, which was not entirely a lie. They were from the same village, and Gu's house was closer to the county town, only two incense sticks away from Su's house.
The Gu family was considered a wealthy family in the area and had originally been a large landlord. However, Gu Beichen's father had insisted on going into business and had a falling out with his family. Although their relationship had eased somewhat later, they did not live together.
Hongyan passed by several houses of the Gu family and finally walked into a large house with green bricks and red tiles.
Compared to the Su family's old house, this house is newer and more spacious. There are even stacked stones and springs in the yard, which already has some of the style of Jiangnan gardens.
Hongyan walked through the corridor familiarly and came to the door of Gu Beichen's study: "Master, I'm back."
"Brother Su, have you replied?" A lazy voice came from inside.
"Here is the letter from Second Young Master Su."
"Hurry up and show it to me." Gu Beichen shouted excitedly. He was stunned for a moment when he received the envelope, then smiled and said, "My brother Su is really not particular. He is not that pedantic."
When he opened the envelope and took a look, Gu Beichen was surprised again. Both the painting and the poem were very good, so good that it was beyond his expectations.
So much so that Gu Beichen couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that Brother Su had already drawn this?"
"That's impossible. The ink here hasn't even dried yet. Could it be that this is just a random doodle?"
"Young Master, isn't this painting good?" Hongyan asked curiously.
Gu Beichen shook his head and said, "It's not bad, it's too good, whether it's the painting or the words on it..."
"I've seen Brother Su's paintings and calligraphy before, and the difference is huge. He's made such great progress in less than a year."
"No wonder Mr. Wen took a liking to him and was willing to lend him his books. His handwriting alone is far superior to others."
Hongyan understood. He had been responsible for delivering letters for his young master, so he had naturally met many scholars. He smiled and said, "Second Master Su is very kind and even asked for my name. He is a little different from other scholars."
At least most scholars look down on servants. Not to mention being harsh on them, but ignoring and despising them is also normal.
"That's true. Sun Yaozu made things difficult for him that day, but Brother Su was able to handle it with ease." Gu Beichen said with a smile.
Just at this moment, Master Gu walked in. He looked very similar to Gu Beichen, but he was rounder and had a big belly. But now he was frowning, with a hint of anger between his brows.
Gu Beichen put down the painting in his hand and asked repeatedly: "Dad, what's wrong with you?"
Mr. Gu sighed and finally said lightly: "It's just some troubles, that's all, let's not talk about it."
As he spoke, he glanced at the painting on the table, his eyes lit up, and then he said, "What a beautiful painting! Why did you fold it into a T like this? It's such a pity to have wrinkles. Quick, use a paperweight to flatten it."
Even though Mr. Gu is now a money-grubber, he was well-educated and had aesthetic taste in his past.
He looked at the painting carefully and asked, "Why is there no signature? Whose painting is this?"
"It's a reply letter from my brother Su, Brother Su Fengzhang, who I mentioned to you a few days ago." Gu Beichen explained.
"He was Su Dianli's second son, wasn't he?" Mr. Gu liked him more and more as he looked at him. He nodded and said, "He looks like he has some knowledge. You studied in the same private school, so why haven't I heard you mention him before?"
"We weren't familiar with each other before." Gu Beichen said this. It was true that they were not familiar with each other before. Su Fengzhang didn't like reading and was not his main target.
Mr. Gu frowned slightly, but quickly said, "Since we are in contact now, you should maintain it well."
"Dad, I understand." Gu Beichen agreed. He was actually happy to play with Su Fengzhang.
Mr. Gu didn't know what he was thinking about. He sighed again, patted his son on the shoulder and said, "It was Dad's mistake back then that has harmed you now. Sigh, this business is getting harder and harder. I just hope..."
"Dad, why are you saying this? If you hadn't taken that risk back then, our family wouldn't be living the luxurious life we have today." Gu Beichen was quite open-minded. "Besides, even if I could pass the imperial examination, what could I possibly accomplish with my brain?"
"Let's not talk about anything else. My uncle and third uncle have so many sons, but not even one of them passed the imperial examination to become a scholar." Gu Beichen actually looked down on those two families.
Master Gu just sighed: "I used to think that money was good, but now that I have money, I know that being an official is really good. Without a backer at home, it's hard to give money. Too much money will easily burn your hands, and you won't know how you will die."
"Dad asked you to make more friends, hoping that a true scholar would emerge from Hushan County. Even without asking for protection, as long as he's willing to remember our friendship, our business will expand."
Gu Beichen's reputation as a spendthrift boy was backed by Master Gu, but his investment was too slow. After more than ten years, he hadn't even made a profit.
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Su Fengzhang: You are poisonous for naming your servant Hongyan
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