"What water? What ladle?" Ah Chou looked at the painting on the cup curiously, his black eyes turning around and around, "Where is the ladle? Why can't I see it?"
Chen Qingxuan couldn't help laughing because of her. But because he was afraid that Ah Chou would worry that he was making fun of her, he held back his laughter and patiently explained to Ah Chou: "There are three thousand rivers. Take only one scoop. This saying comes from the Buddhist scriptures. It means that you may meet many beautiful things or people in life. But you can't be greedy. You just need to grasp one of them carefully. So the water and the scoop here are just metaphors. In fact, it's not about water and scoop."
"Oh, so that's the truth." Ah Chou suddenly realized. He stared at the fish on the teacup for a while, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that what Chen Qingxuan said made sense. When he looked at Chen Qingxuan again, he couldn't help but admire him. "Mr. Chen, you are really knowledgeable. Oh! By the way, you are a gentleman, so of course you are knowledgeable! You see. I called you a gentleman all the time, but I almost forgot that you are a gentleman."
"Hahaha!" This time Chen Qingxuan couldn't help laughing. But he was very measured and stopped after a moment, so as not to make people feel embarrassed.
Ah Chou had a better impression of Chen Qingxuan. While holding a teacup, he asked Chen Qingxuan, "But Mr. Chen, why don't I see any students in your private school every time I come here?"
"They have already finished their classes and gone home," Chen Qingxuan said with a smile, "Our Jixian Bookstore opens at 5 a.m. every day and closes two hours later. It's already past noon, so naturally there are no students."
"Oh, you must have worked hard," Ah Chou said as he took a sip of tea. Then he suddenly widened his eyes and said in surprise, "Mr. Chen, this tea smells so good. It smells even better than the hair oil made from jasmine flowers! And it's fragrant but not greasy. It's really good!"
"Since you like it, then drink a few more cups. There's still plenty in the teapot." Chen Qingxuan said as he put the teapot on the table.
"Then I won't be polite," Ah Chou didn't hesitate, she took the teacup and drank a cup of it, then she didn't ask Chen Qingxuan to order her to drink another cup, and then a jasmine flower flowed into her teacup from the spout of the teapot. She was so busy that she put down the teapot, lay on the table, stared at the jasmine flower floating in the teacup, and muttered to herself, "How can it be so beautiful?"
Chen Qingxuan had never seen a girl like Achou. Before he was twenty years old, he studied very hard and rarely even went out, so he had no chance to meet any girls. At the age of twenty, he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. He was the first such person in the small Chenjiatun. Even the prefect sent someone to congratulate him, saying that in time, Chen Jialang would be able to serve as an official in accordance with the emperor's orders.
From then on, his home became lively. He heard from the matchmakers that the girl from the Li family was a good housekeeper, the girl from the Chen family was as beautiful as a fairy, or the girl from the Zhou family was virtuous and dignified. He felt indescribably annoyed in his heart, and he didn't know whether he was annoyed by the endless chattering of the matchmakers, or by the powerful parents who couldn't wait to put their daughters into the arms of a mere scholar like him. As a result, he didn't like the girls in the village very much. That's why he came to the foot of the mountain and built such a private school, which he could consider as a quiet place. However, he could avoid those matchmakers, but he could definitely not avoid Grandma Chen in his family.
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