An Jingzhi, who had just come through and pretended to read a book, finally sorted out the memories in his mind.
A wandering Taoist priest who was passing by heard the conversation between the An family and the midwife, and learned that the An family had just given birth to a son. Wanting to ask for some wedding money, he stepped forward and said that the An family was blessed with purple energy and that the star of literature was reincarnated.
Sure enough, Grandpa An and Grandma An were very happy to hear the Taoist's words and gave the man ten cents.
The wandering Taoist priest's nonsense made Grandpa An and Grandma An believe it for the rest of their lives.
With the Taoist priest's advice and the fact that the original owner was the only boy in the family, the An family decided to support his education.
He has two cousins and a younger cousin, and his uncles and aunts all hope that he will study hard and have a bright future so that he can support the family in the future. They have no objection to the whole family supporting his studies.
Otherwise, the original owner's father was idle all day long, and his mother gossiped everywhere and was nowhere to be found at home. It was impossible for them to support the original owner's studies.
The original owner was indeed quite clever. He passed the Tongsheng exam on his first try at the age of fourteen.
This made Grandpa An and Grandma An even more convinced that their grandson was the God of Literature who had descended to earth, and other members of the An family also began to believe it.
The original owner had never done any housework since he was born. Everything was done by him at home. Whenever he was at home, everyone in the family would subconsciously lower their voices for fear of disturbing his studies.
But the original owner did not know how to be grateful. Instead, he thought that all this was taken for granted. He despised the uncles and aunts who supported him for their dirtiness and rudeness, and he had no good face for the aunt who took care of him and washed his clothes. He maintained his so-called noble attitude as a scholar.
He doesn't even have much respect for his own parents.
He behaves well and sensibly in front of Grandpa An and Grandma An, because these two old people decide whether he can study in the college.
He won the title of Tongsheng on his first try, and he began to get carried away. In addition, Grandpa An and Grandma An talked to him so much that he also believed that he was born extraordinary, and maybe he was really the incarnation of Wenquxing.
He began to neglect his schoolwork, losing his former enthusiasm. A few compliments from his classmates made him feel flattered, and he started hanging around with them. As a student, he wasted his money on pens and ink and neglected his studies while participating in poetry and prose clubs.
Unsurprisingly, he failed the scholar examination the following year.
The original owner's family, fearing his sadness, comforted him and avoided putting too much pressure on him. However, due to his own vulnerability, he felt his family looked down on him. He wouldn't go home unless it meant getting money, didn't study at school, and even became addicted to gambling.
In the end, he owed a lot of debts. The people in the gambling house did not dare to touch him because he had the title of Tongsheng, so they ran to his house to collect the debt. Finally, Grandpa An sold the family’s land to fill the hole, and the whole family also learned about what the original owner had done.
In fact, his aunts and uncles had long seen through his contempt for others, but they had been tolerant of him only because they hoped that he would have a bright future and be able to help the family. Now, the money that the family had worked so hard to earn for his education, which they had been reluctant to spend by living frugally, was actually used by the original owner to gamble, and he also owed the family a lot of debts and sold all the land.
These people had had enough and no longer relied on the original owner. If they continued to support his studies, they would have to split up.
Grandpa and Grandma An were naturally very sad. But they still believed that their grandson was the god of literature and insisted on supporting his education, changing his family status, and agreed to the division of the family.
After selling all the land, they divided up some of the pots, pans, and utensils. Grandpa and Grandma An only took out a portion of the money they had saved, leaving the rest to support their grandson's education.
According to the rules in the countryside, the old man separated and lived with the eldest son. The eldest daughter-in-law of the An family did not treat the two old people badly. Although she was not happy that the two old people used their own money to subsidize the original owner, she did not say anything.
After the original owner lost all his family's land, he felt guilty every time he saw his aunt, and would deliberately avoid her when she came to ask for money.
He kept paying for the old couple's coffin, and when he saw that they were running out of money, he never came again.
In the county, he not only learned how to gamble, but also how to drink.
One night, he drowned in a pond while drunk. Grandma An and Grandpa An only learned about the original owner's death three days later. The two old people aged ten years overnight and passed away the next day. It was the eldest daughter-in-law of the An family who took care of the funeral of the original owner and Grandpa An and Grandma An.
An's father and mother stared at their son's body in a daze and didn't eat or drink a drop of rice or water for three days.
From then on, An's mother, who loved to go out and chat, never went out again, and An's father also became taciturn.
…
In ancient history, a 14-year-old boy was not considered that impressive, and there were many 10-year-old scholars.
But most people are born into prominent families and have no shortage of educational resources, or are lucky enough to have famous teachers to guide them.
The original owner's teacher was just an ordinary old scholar. The original owner was able to pass the examination and become a student on his first try at the age of fourteen under his guidance. In fact, he was a rare and intelligent person.
Unfortunately, he thought his family protected him too well, allowing him to focus on studying and become completely resistant to external temptations. He could easily become flattered by others and forget about everything else, ultimately harming his entire family. However, if he could continue to study diligently, it would only be a matter of time before he could settle down and improve his family's fortunes.
An Jingzhi put down his books and prepared to pack his bag to go home. Today was the school's once-a-month holiday.
Suddenly someone patted An Jingzhi's shoulder, "Jingzhi, are you ready? Let's go? We'll be late if we don't go now."
An Jingzhi calmly removed the hand that was patting his shoulder and said with a faint smile, "No, I have something to do at home today so I won't go. Brother Sun, please apologize to everyone for me."
Sun Tingwen looked at him strangely. Hadn't he been so excited the last time he took him to a poetry reading? He'd even begged him to remember to take him next time. If it weren't for the fact that he'd passed the exam and seemed a bit interesting, who would have bothered with him? Why was he so calm this time?
"What happened at home? Didn't we agree on this yesterday? If you suddenly don't go, people might have a bad impression of you and won't invite you again in the future."
An Jingzhi smiled and said, "It really happened for a reason. I'm really sorry, Brother Sun. Please go now. Don't let me spoil everyone's fun." What does it have to do with him if he has a bad impression?
As far as I can remember, these people didn't really regard the original owner as a poetry friend. They just took him over to tease him because he was young and acted like a fool after being praised by others.
If he remembered correctly, they had specially prepared a topic for him to compose a poem on this occasion, first encouraging him by saying that since he had passed the examination for a Tongsheng degree at such a young age, he must have some extraordinary talent in poetry. Then they asked him to compose a poem on the spot, someone who had never even read the rules of poetry.
How could the original owner do that? Feeling flattered and yet unwilling to lose face, he ended up blushing crimson and, unsurprisingly, failing to write a single word, fleeing in despair amidst the mocking gazes of the crowd.
They knew the original owner cared about his reputation, so they deliberately praised him and then gave him difficult problems to embarrass him. Otherwise, a student who had never written poetry would never have done it. Is this a strange thing?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com