The weather was too hot, especially since Tang Shiyue and Zhou Niangzi had been cooking all day and smelled too much oil, so they wanted to eat something light.
So he fried the meat dishes that were left over and served them to them to eat first. Tang Shiyue stayed and prepared to cook noodles.
First, mix sesame oil, salt, sugar, vinegar, sauce, and peppercorns, pour in the boiled oil to make a sauce, prepare fermented tofu, sesame paste, and mashed garlic for seasoning, cut the cucumber into shreds, cut the chicken breast into shreds, and spread a thin egg skin and cut into shreds to make the "noodle topping".
Then cook the noodles until they are 70% to 80% cooked, but don't overcook them. Then take them out and rinse them with well water... Now she has begun to get used to drinking raw water occasionally.
Just bring it up with cold water, put the seasoning in the middle, and serve everyone a small bowl. After tasting it, Tang Junchen was the first to shout out: "Delicious! So delicious!"
Everyone praised it, quickened their pace, and enjoyed the meal very much.
Among them, probably only Qi Jing noticed little Qi Yang's actions.
After all, the child has established a personality of "not eating eggs". Every time he sees that Tang Shiyue is not paying attention, he dares to pick up the egg shreds. He picks up a big spoonful, and when he wants to pick up the second spoonful, Qi Jing taps his chopsticks.
Qi Yang looked at him expressionlessly.
His brother looked back expressionlessly.
...
...
The moment Tang Shiyue looked up, Xiao Qi Yang quickly moved the chopsticks to the cucumber.
He didn't like to eat any vegetables, but he could only pick them up and put them into the bowl silently.
The word "brother" is really the most annoying... I wonder if I can switch with A-Yao...
A bowl of cold noodles was finished in a short while. After eating, everyone did not leave, but continued to sit and drank the mung bean soup slowly.
Tang Shiyue had previously hired a stonemason to make some stone tables and benches for her.
It was not an ordinary round table, but a large eight-immortal table. It did not have four legs, but a pillar in the middle. There was a small hole on the tabletop, so you could put a leaf umbrella in it. There were four benches, so a group of people could sit there without feeling crowded. And the table in the west wing was at the back, so it was convenient to put some things.
It was cool by the mountain, so there was no need to fan ourselves, so we just sat there and chatted.
Madam Zhou asked, "What should we do next?"
Tang Shirong said, "There is a school in the county town. I heard it's not expensive, but it's a little far away."
"That's too far," Madam Zhou said. "It's said that it takes a day and a half by carriage to get to the county town. In that case, won't I be able to go home even for a day off? It will take several months."
"Yes," said Fourth Uncle Tang, "It's too far away. If something happens, we can't take care of it."
Tang Shirong said, "There is also a clan school in the neighboring town, and I seem to have heard that there is a village school somewhere."
"There is a village school in Dayue Village," said Madam Zhou, "but don't go there. I heard that the teacher there is just a figurehead, and he goes around doing things and drinking, and he's not seen all day."
Qi Jing said, "There are good and bad private schools in the countryside. They are OK for children to get started, but as for you...some of them don't even have the title of scholar. I'm afraid they are not as good as you."
Tang Shirong said: "Otherwise, we can go to the county school. We are not children anymore. Besides, there are so many students studying here. What can happen?"
Tang Junchen hesitated: "We've been gone for half a year. Not only do our families not know about our situation, but we also don't know about our families' situation. How can we feel at ease?"
Tang Shirong looked at Tang Shiyue and began to hesitate.
Tang Junchen said, "Anyway, it's the Four Books and Five Classics, the 'Classics, History, Philosophy and Miscellany'! It's the same if we study at home. We just need to memorize the entire Four Books and then memorize the annotations!"
Qi Jing said in a deep voice: "The academy has a special collection of essays on the examinations, which contains essays of all the successful candidates. How can you study on your own? Moreover, if you really become a disciple, he will teach you many examination skills and how to measure the examiner's character. There are many tricks everywhere, which you can't learn by rote learning. Studying hard and passing the examination is the pinnacle. There is no one to guide you in the future. It is too difficult for a poor student to succeed."
In fact, what he said is really good advice.
However, with the current knowledge of Tang Shirong and others, they are unable to understand this point.
Tang Junchen said: "According to what you said, everyone needs to seek personal gain?"
Qi Jing looked at him quietly and did not answer.
Tang Shiyue rolled up his sleeves and said, "What is scheming? Brother, do you have any misunderstanding about scheming? Aren't you studying for the purpose of passing the imperial examination? The question bank and the Wenfu have collected the pearls and jade of the predecessors, just like famous teachers on paper, precious success experience. Do you think this is useless?"
"No, that is of course useful," Tang Junchen muttered, "I mean the latter part. I just feel that... if one cannot express one's true feelings while reading, but instead has to guess the examiner's mind and write some flattering articles, then, then what kind of character can a scholar have?"
Tang Shiyue glared at him.
If Tang Shirong had said this, she would not be surprised, but she did not expect that it was the relatively knowledgeable Tang Junchen who said it.
"Fawning on the superior? Integrity? Are you kidding me?" Tang Shiyue said, "Let me ask you, when you visit someone's home, do you have to give them gifts that they like?"
Tang Junchen said: "How can this be the same?"
"What's the difference?" Tang Shiyue said, "Studying is for passing the imperial examination, but in the end it is for self-cultivation, family harmony, governance of the country and peace in the world. Is this true?"
Tang Junchen said seriously: "Yes."
"Well, let me ask you, why are there people with great talent and fame who fail the exams time and again? You will definitely say that this is because of bad luck... But what is bad luck? If you write a bad essay, make mistakes in your handwriting, or stain your paper, that's not bad luck, that's not good enough."
"Knowing that the examiner likes radical things, he wrote conservative things. Knowing that the examiner likes splendid things, he wrote simple things. Forcing things that don't suit his taste on others is not called bad luck. This is called asking for trouble! He deserves to fail!"
Tang Shirong and Tang Junchen were both speechless.
Tang Shiyue continued, "Have you ever heard of the saying, 'Fate is an excuse for the weak, and luck is a humble word for the strong'! Of course, there are people who insist on 'speaking their mind' from beginning to end and still pass the exam, but how many people are like that? How difficult is it to 'just happen' to meet such a mentor? It's rare, right?"
"What's the difference between expecting such luck and expecting pie in the sky? So what you should do most is to change yourself and strive for it. In addition to studying hard, I think it is inevitable and necessary to figure out the taste of the examiner and the general direction of the court! This is not flattering the superiors!"
"Don't you think about it? The imperial examination is just a door. Once you enter this door, you may be able to rise to the top. The chief examiner is just an introducer. He himself doesn't like you and thinks your writing is not good. Why would he worry about introducing you to the higher-ups? And take the responsibility? Are you his long-lost biological son?"
Tang Shirong and Tang Junchen burst out laughing.
Qi Xiaolang also curled his lips slightly and picked up the bowl to cover it up.
The child's voice is tender, delicate and sweet, and he speaks crisply and clearly without any joking. Listening to what he says is really refreshing, and the whole body feels relaxed and happy.
The ancients always valued reputation more than life and death. Her words were really unheard of, but upon closer thought, they made some sense.
Tang Junchen was still a little unconvinced: "If I ask you to say that character is useless?"
"Integrity is valuable, but you have to know what integrity is." Tang Shiyue put down the bowl. "When two armies are facing each other, someone is captured and would rather die than reveal our military intelligence. This is integrity. When sending envoys to neighboring countries, we must not lose our national prestige and must fight for every inch of land. This is also integrity... If you think you are very talented before you can even recognize all the characters, and write whatever you want without caring about what others want to read, then you are a fool."
Someone chuckled, and Qi Jing glanced sharply to the west, but no one else noticed.
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