Grandma Chen shook her head and waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, money doesn't matter. My Zhancai finally passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. We must make a good impression and let everyone in the village be happy."
"Yes, yes, your aunt is right. My son Zhancai studied hard for years, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty..."
Old Chen chimed in, counting on his fingers with a serious expression.
"It seems like he's been studying hard for thirty-two years. Think about it, how many thirty-two years does one have in a lifetime? Zhancai finally passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. Shouldn't the whole village celebrate?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Baoan's lips twitched involuntarily, and he almost burst out laughing.
Thinking about it carefully, it's true. Chen Zhancai has been taking the exam for over thirty years. It's just that the Chen family is biased. If it were an ordinary family, they would probably have given up long ago.
Seeing that the elderly couple insisted on holding a grand celebration, Wu Baoan knew what they were up to.
Firstly, he wanted to show off in front of others. After all, he had been ridiculed by the villagers for many years, and now that he finally had the chance, he naturally wanted to satisfy his vanity and find the feeling of being praised.
Secondly, they wanted to take advantage of the occasion to hold a grand celebration and make money.
Seeing that Chen Zhancai remained seated without making a statement, Wu Baoan thought to himself,
If he had any self-awareness, he would have strongly opposed his parents' actions.
After all, he still has to take the provincial examination. If he passes it on his first try, that would be great, but if he fails, his family's life will become even more difficult.
Wu Baoan wanted to hear his opinion, so he asked in a consultative tone, "Zhancai, what do you think we should do about this?"
Chen Zhancai cleared his throat, struck a pose of self-important refinement, and shook his head, acting all high and mighty.
"As the ancient saying goes, 'Respect elders with courtesy and honor the elderly with virtue.' Lao Tzu said, 'Filial piety is the foundation of the world.' Mencius said, 'One who does not obey his parents cannot be considered a person; one who does not follow his parents cannot be considered a child.' I will leave all decisions to my parents."
Seeing him spouting classical Chinese phrases, Wu Baoan was so angry he wanted to slap him a few times.
I was cursing under my breath. This guy is hopeless. He's got hair growing out of his belly button, trying to show off!
Grandma Chen listened with shining eyes and couldn't help but praise, "He is indeed a scholar. His words are different. He uses 'yun' and 'hu' so elegantly."
Old Chen chuckled and rubbed his hands together. "That's true, but it does sound nice. Apart from the part about 'listening to one's parents' decisions,' I didn't understand anything else!"
"You're asking me? How would I know?" Old Mrs. Chen rolled her eyes at Old Mr. Chen, then looked at Chen Zhancai. "Son, hurry up and tell your father. If he doesn't know what it means, he'll get up in the middle of the night and start scratching the walls again."
"You guys are really blind!" Chen Zhancai shook his head and sighed helplessly, explaining, "Yun and Yue mean 'saying'. You'd better remember that in the future. If outsiders knew that the scholar's parents didn't know anything, they would laugh their heads off."
"Yes, yes, yes, Dad got it." Old Man Chen nodded hurriedly, then frowned and asked, "Son, didn't you just say something like 'What did I say'?"
"Lao Tzu said, 'Filial piety is the foundation of all things under heaven,'" Chen Zhancai said casually.
Old Chen's brows furrowed, his face full of doubt. "Son, I don't remember ever saying anything like that. How could you say it? It was me who said it."
Old Mrs. Chen was so angry that she gritted her teeth and started cursing, "Go ahead and talk nonsense! It's giving me a headache. Can't you speak properly?"
Old Chen scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "My son said that 'saying' means 'to speak,' and 'speaking' means 'saying.' I was just saying it to appear knowledgeable!"
"Fools are terrifying, truly fools are terrifying!"
Chen Zhancai's words completely baffled Old Man Chen.
"Son, what do you mean by 'the fool is fearsome'? This... this is almost bewitching me."
Grandma Chen couldn't help but chime in, "Yes, Zhancai, your parents are both roughnecks. It's fine if you just talk like you normally do. Otherwise, we'll have to figure it out ourselves, and the worst part is we still won't be able to figure it out. Isn't that exhausting?"
"Fine, fine, I see you're all set in your ways." Chen Zhancai sighed helplessly. "Father, listen carefully, I am a great thinker..."
"You're right. I'm the head of the family. How can I not miss home when I'm away from home?"
Before Chen Zhancai could finish speaking, Old Man Chen couldn't help but interrupt.
"Take me for example. When I was young, I wanted to go to Huaiyuan County with the merchants in the village to sell kang mats. It would take more than a month to go back and forth. As soon as I left home, I regretted it. I was filled with a thousand nostalgia and ten thousand reluctances."
After only three days, I couldn't stand being homesick anymore, so I turned back and went back.
Since then, I haven't left Nanshan Village. Tell me, how can someone as homesick and attached to their family as me not be considered great?
"Utterly foolish and utterly ignorant!" Chen Zhancai exclaimed angrily, slamming his fist on the table. "I am a great sage, how could you possibly compare to me?"
Old Chen was so frightened that he stood there speechless for a long time...
Wu Baoan couldn't stand it any longer and spoke up to persuade him, "Zhancai, speak properly. You were just saying 'respect your elders and treat them with courtesy,' so why are you slamming the table and glaring at them now? Sit down quickly."
Old Mrs. Chen sensed that the atmosphere was not right, so she glared at Old Mr. Chen and said, "Look at you, you old fool, you don't do anything important and you just keep babbling on and on. If you don't understand, just listen. You keep asking this and that. Aren't you annoying?"
"Alright, alright, it was my fault. I won't say anything, okay?" Old Chen shrank his neck and stopped talking.
Grandma Chen smiled and said to Wu Baoan, "Baoan, you have experience, what do you think is the best way to arrange this banquet?"
Seeing that the family was unreliable, Wu Baoan stopped trying to persuade them and echoed their sentiments, saying, "Auntie, since you want your guests to eat well without losing face, how about a 28-table banquet?"
"Good, good, a two-eight feast is good. Eight dishes and eight bowls, four cold and four hot, four meat and four vegetable dishes, this is just right." Old Mrs. Chen nodded with satisfaction, her face beaming with joy.
Old Chen agreed wholeheartedly, saying repeatedly, "Yes, yes, this has a good meaning. We should set up a 28-table banquet to show our family's grandeur."
Chen Zhancai stood up, smiling broadly, and said, "Then it's settled. We'll have a grand banquet in three days, and I'll have a surprise to announce then."
Chen Zhanliang listened from the side, completely confused, not understanding what Chen Zhancai was up to.
All these years, besides asking his family for money, what good things could he have done?
He frowned in thought. His third brother always did things in unexpected ways. Although he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he received neither a salary from the court nor any reward.
His mysterious nature suggested he was someone who couldn't be discussed openly, but he racked his brains trying to figure out what it was.
Chen Zhanliang couldn't help but ask, "Zhancai, what's the good news? Just tell me."
......
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