Chapter 71 Borrowing Books
Su Lanzhang had just sat down to eat a bite of breakfast when Su Zhaoshi came over and asked, "Sanlang, have you met Mr. Lin?"
Su Lanzhang quickly swallowed what he had in his mouth, nodded, and said, "Yes, Brother Lin also gave me a book as a gift."
When these words were spoken, Aunt Bai was delighted and said, "This Mr. Lin is really good. He looks like a scholar."
Su Zhao glanced at Sanlang's bitter face and smiled in her heart. In the past, Wenzhu and Gu Beichen gave children small toys that they liked, and Su Lanzhang was very happy. Who knew that this person would give a book.
However, in comparison, Su Zhaoshi also liked this scholar-looking Lin Xiucai. She even said, "I saw that Lin Xiucai was very uncomfortable when I came in. When you finish eating, bring some tea to your second brother and the others."
Aunt Bai also said, "There's no need to rush them out after they're sent in. It's good to listen to them study."
Su Lanzhang's face became even more bitter, but Su Huihui next to him lowered her head, grabbed her pigtail and said nothing.
Su Lanzhang ate breakfast in a hurry, picked up the tea and snacks prepared by Su Zhaoshi and went into the study.
Su Zhao glanced over there, then turned back and said, "We have to buy a servant for the family. Otherwise, we can't always let Sanlang run errands. Sanlang also needs to study."
Their family is full of women, and some of them are widows, so it is always a bit inconvenient for them to deal with people.
Aunt Bai also said after hearing this: "That's right, Zao'er will be leaving home soon, and we need a new maid. We might as well buy them together when the time comes, so we can save the hassle of going back and forth."
Su Zhaoshi agreed when she heard this. It was said that studying was expensive, but after Su Fengzhang started preparing for the imperial examinations, the family's money did not decrease but increased, so they could afford to buy two children.
"Zao'er has been here for seven or eight years. We have watched her grow up. We should give her a dowry when the time comes. It doesn't need to be too much, so that others won't look down on her." Su Zhaoshi said again.
Aunt Bai also laughed: "Madam is so kind. Not only did she return her indenture, she also gave her an additional dowry. How many girls from rural families have dowries? This is considered a face for her."
Thinking this, Su Zhaoshi went out and called Zaoer into the next room to talk. After she left, Aunt Bai noticed that her daughter was acting strangely.
"Huihui, what's wrong? Why are you so absent-minded?" Aunt Bai asked, touching her daughter's head.
Su Huihui pursed her lips, looked up at her, and then whispered, "Auntie, why can't I meet my second brother's friends?"
Aunt Bai was stunned for a moment, then replied as a matter of course: "You are a girl, how can you casually meet a man outside of your family?"
Su Huihui looked a little disappointed. Aunt Bai continued, "Huihui, you are different from Lan Zhang. He is a male and will have to support the family in the future. He will take the imperial examination like your second brother. It would be better for him to meet more people now, but you are different."
Su Huihui really wanted to ask what was different. She was better at studying and had a better memory than her third brother. Even her second brother often praised her, but why couldn't she go out to study or even meet her second brother's friends?
But in the end, Su Huihui didn't ask, she just lowered her head and said, "I know."
Aunt Bai didn't understand her daughter's complicated thoughts. She just thought she was competing with her son for favor and comforted her: "Huihui, don't worry. Your second and third brothers are successful. Only then will you have a good future."
On the other side, Su Lanzhang came in with tea and snacks, and saw his second brother sorting out many books and carefully placing them one by one in the bookcase.
Hearing the noise, Su Fengzhang said without even looking up, "Put it on the small table over there, don't get the book wet."
Su Lanzhang put down the tea and asked curiously, "Second brother, why are you organizing these books?"
The books at home are the second brother's treasures. It's okay for Su Lanzhang to be naughty, but if he dares to damage the books, not only will his mother beat him, but his second brother will also be angry, and even Su Huihui will beat him.
Lin Changqing suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, but Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "I'm exchanging some books with Changqing."
After saying this, he put all the books away and explained, "Let's take these for now. They're mostly the official journals and current affairs articles given to me by Mr. Wen and Mr. Cai. They're quite helpful for the imperial examinations."
Lin Changqing naturally knew how precious these things were, and was even more grateful that Su Fengzhang was willing to lend them to him: "Fengzhang, thank you very much. I will take good care of them and will not damage them in the slightest."
Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "You don't have to be so careful. These are all copies I wrote myself."
He had a habit of copying a book as he read it. This was partly for memorization and partly to prepare for the possibility that the book would be damaged. After all, ancient paper books were too easily damaged.
After hearing this, Lin Changqing felt relieved, but said a little embarrassedly: "What I can take out for exchange are just common goods. I guess you have seen them all."
Su Fengzhang shook his head: "That's not necessarily true. The poetry books you treasure are not ordinary ones."
Lin Changqing couldn't help but laugh and said, "Those books are indeed good. I actually memorized them while reading in the bookstore, and then wrote them down after I got home."
Su Fengzhang suddenly realized: "No wonder I've never seen it in the county school. So that's how it is. You have a good memory."
Lin Changqing was not often praised, so he said a little embarrassedly, "I just like this. I'm taking advantage of the bookstore because I always just look at it and don't buy anything."
There are many poor scholars these days. Bookstores are open to the public and usually do not prohibit scholars from entering to read. As long as you don't damage or dirty the books, the bookstore people will not care. After all, they all know that you can't afford to be poor when you are young.
Lin Changqing was short of money, and this was often the case. He had an excellent memory, but he could not memorize many books, most of which were classic poems. The main reason was that pens and ink also cost money.
Su Lanzhang was amazed as he listened to this. He thought it was exaggerated enough that his second brother could copy a book after reading it, but he didn't expect that his friend was even more exaggerated. He could even write down the books he read in the bookstore. It was simply amazing.
Thinking of this, Su Lanzhang looked at Lin Changqing with a bit of admiration in his eyes.
Lin Changqing stayed at the Su family for half a day and left after lunch. He insisted that Su Fengzhang not send him off, but the box of books was quite heavy, so Su Fengzhang finally asked Su Arong to send him to the county school.
After sending the person back, Su Fengzhang saw his brother's admiring look and couldn't help laughing and said, "Sanlang, why are you so weird?"
Su Lanzhang quickly said, "Second brother, I just think being a scholar is too difficult. You are already very good, but Brother Lin is even better. He can recite a book he has only read once."
"Well, second brother, I'm not saying you're not as good as Brother Lin, I'm saying he's really too good."
Su Fengzhang didn't mind his younger brother becoming someone else's fanboy. He smiled and said, "Changqing is truly remarkable. He came from a poor family and couldn't even afford a pen, ink, paper, or inkstone when he first started studying. Yet, he's managed to make it this far. Natural talent is certainly important, but hard work and study are even more valuable."
After saying this, Su Fengzhang took the opportunity to criticize his brother: "So, Sanlang, you have to work harder."
"People who are smarter and more talented than you study harder than you. If you don't work harder, won't you be left far behind?" Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
Su Lanzhang's face turned bitter. He frowned and looked at his second brother, feeling that his second brother was a little scary at the moment.
Looking at Aunt Bai who was very approving and her younger sister who was looking envious in the corridor on the other side, Su Lanzhang could only bite the bullet and say, "Second brother, I will remember this. I will definitely work hard in the future."
Su Fengzhang smiled: "That's good. How about this, you recite yesterday's homework ten times first."
Su Lanzhang had no choice but to go into the study to memorize the lessons in a dejected manner. She once again envied Lin Changqing's talent. If he could memorize the lessons after reading them once, wouldn't he have to memorize them every day?
Just at this moment there was a knock on the door. Su Fengzhang thought to himself that maybe Lin Changqing had dropped something, but when he opened the door he saw it was Gu Beichen!
Gu Beichen dropped out of the private school and returned home two years ago. It was not because his family could not afford the tuition, but because he was getting older and older. Even Mr. Wen advised him to just go home, after all, he did not plan to take the imperial examinations.
After returning home, Gu Beichen began to help with the family business, so he came less often. It had been a year since they last saw each other. Gu Beichen's face was still frosted, and even after some corrections, a hint of aging could still be seen.
"Beichen?! You're back." Su Fengzhang was happy to see it was him.
Gu Beichen chuckled, his cheerful expression on his face: "Chinese New Year is almost here, my dad finally wanted to call me back, otherwise I wouldn't have had time to go home for the New Year."
"Come in quickly. How have you been this year? Is it hard doing business outside?" Su Fengzhang asked with a smile.
Gu Beichen said, "It's not so hard. Actually, traveling around doing business is quite interesting. You can make money, but it also brings a lot of worries."
"I won't go in. I brought back some local specialties. I hurried to send some over before the New Year. They'll be great for gifts or for our own consumption. They're not worth much money. I brought them all back from all over the place."
As Gu Beichen said this, Su Fengzhang saw two carriages following behind him, both of which were piled with things.
Su Fengzhang said quickly, "You can just come, why bring so many things? It makes us look like strangers."
Gu Beichen smiled and said, "It's not worth anything. It won't cost anything to bring it back with the caravan. Besides, I haven't congratulated you on winning the first place in the college entrance examination yet."
Seeing that he still didn't want to accept it, Gu Beichen opened the carriage and showed it to him: "This is not the same thing as before. Look at this, it's a specialty fruit from a small town in the north that I visited. It can be stored for a long time and tastes good. It's everywhere in the local area and you can buy a bag of it for a penny."
Although it is not valuable, it is still worth a lot of money after being shipped from far away.
Gu Beichen added, "I have something else to ask of you. Your calligraphy is the best in the area. Please write me a few more Spring Festival couplets. You can't refuse this."
The relationship between the two of them has always been good, and Su Fengzhang saw that it was indeed not the same thing as before, so he accepted it.
As soon as he left, Su Zhaoshi brought people out to pack up the things. These things did not look expensive, but they were a thoughtful gesture and were quite novel in Hushan County.
Su Zhaoshi couldn't help but say, "The Gu family really knows how to behave, and Beichen is such a real kid."
To be honest, Gu Beichen did not stop and visited the homes of several scholars with whom he had a good relationship. However, if you look closely, it is not difficult to find that the things he sent to the Su family are the best and most exquisite.
Among these gifts, only the ones from the Su family were prepared by him, and the others were just prepared by the housekeeper.
Of course, one of the reasons was that Su Fengzhang was the top scorer in the academy examination, but more importantly, it was because he and Su Fengzhang had a good relationship.
It was dark when he returned home after delivering the gifts. Master Gu saw him come back and nodded, saying, "You've been away all year. Now that you're back, move around more. Relationships are things that will gradually fade if you don't move around."
Gu Beichen nodded and smiled, "Feng Zhang really did win the first place in the academy exam. I had guessed long ago that he was no ordinary talent."
Mr. Gu also thought highly of him and said, "He has a promising future. It's a pity that his family doesn't plan to arrange a marriage for the time being. Otherwise, your cousins would always be able to pick out a good one."
Gu Beichen curled his lips and said calmly, "Come on, with their behavior, is it marriage or enmity? Sometimes I really don't understand how a smart man like Grandpa could raise such stupid people."
Master Gu glared at him and roared, "How dare you say that about your elders? Get lost. I get upset just by seeing you. Go back and be with your wife."
"Is that so?" Gu Beichen muttered and quickly left. If he were to say, although Su Fengzhang was only a scholar, he was only eighteen years old and could still make great progress. No one could predict what the future would be like, so why rush into getting engaged now?
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Author's words: First update
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