The first volume of pearl curtains rolls up the western mountain rain at dusk Chapter 4: Reading is easier
The next morning, Taoist Changmei brought Li Diudiu to the door of Zhou Huaili's house and waited there. Along the way, he repeatedly warned Li Diudiu that if he met the famous Mr. Gao later, he must not be rude, and should stop talking nonsense and not act presumptuously.
Li Diudiu looked unhappy. He didn't want to go to the Four-Page Academy. He just wanted to accompany his master.
"Master really doesn't want me anymore?"
“No, no.”
Taoist Long Eyebrows waved his hand and said, "I finally have the chance to send you out."
Li Diudiu asked: "Then Master, will you leave Jizhou?"
"That……"
Taoist Long Eyebrow thought about it carefully and shook his head: "That won't happen. There is a Wuwei Temple in Jizhou. The master of the temple is also an old friend of mine. After I send you to the academy, I will register my name in the Taoist temple. You live your good life and I live mine."
"oh……"
Li Diudiu lowered his head and after a while, he tried to force a smile: "Master, you see, you still need me to take care of you on weekdays, such as boiling water for washing your feet. You will not be able to adapt without me."
"There will naturally be someone in the Taoist temple to boil water for me. I am of a higher generation."
"Master, I can help you read people's fortunes. Look, we worked together so well before, it was seamless."
"Lying is not a long-term solution. I will never lie again, and you should also stop lying."
"oh……"
"Master, I..."
"Stop talking!"
Taoist Longmei's tone suddenly became serious. He stared into Li Diudiu's eyes and said word by word: "Can you be more ambitious? If you have learned it and become capable in the future, wouldn't it be better for you to support me?"
"ah?"
Before, the master said that he didn't want him anymore, but now he suddenly asked him to support the master after he finished his studies. Li Diudiu suddenly felt tempted.
"After graduating from the Four-Page Academy, will there really be a bright future?"
"Of course, Mr. Gao of the Four-Page Academy is considered a leader in the entire Great Chu. His disciples are all talented. Mr. Zeng, the governor of Jizhou, is Mr. Gao's disciple. Don't you think he is amazing? I don't expect you to be a governor, but it's enough for you to have a proper identity."
Taoist Changmei softened his tone and said, "Master hopes that you can be an upright person."
"good."
Li Diudiu nodded vigorously: "Be an upright person."
An hour later, at the Four-Page Academy.
After Li Diudiu was brought in by Zhou Huaili, his eyes were not enough . The academy was huge, with pavilions and towers, and everywhere was beautiful. The most important thing was that the disciples here all looked so clean and exquisite, wearing moon-white academy uniforms, walking in groups or reading under the trees. Compared with the refugees outside the city, this place seemed like a fairyland. Li Diudiu even had an illusion that this place was not in the human world.
"You have to remember this later. Don't be stage-frightened. Answer whatever Mr. Gao asks you. Don't talk nonsense. Mr. Gao doesn't like people who don't follow the rules."
As Zhou Huaili walked, he said, "The people who came with you to see Mr. Gao this time are the eldest grandson of the assistant military officer of Jizhou, surnamed Sun, the son of the deputy governor of Jizhou Prefecture, surnamed Liu, and the grandson of the director of the Water Affairs Department of Jizhou Prefecture, surnamed Zhang. The three of them..."
Zhou Huaili looked at Li Diudiu and sighed: "Forget it, just do your best."
After walking a few steps, he asked again: "What did your master teach you?"
"Reading and writing, the five elements and the eight trigrams, fortune-telling ..."
"Alright, alright, stop talking."
Zhou Huaili looked up to the sky and sighed: "What a pity for that post about climbing the Quetai."
Xiao Li Diudiu muttered to himself in a low voice: "There are also medicine, acupuncture, sword skills... My master is amazing."
"No matter how powerful your master is, he still wants to send you to the Four-Page Academy, right?"
Li Diudiu doesn't like this man named Zhou Huaili, but his master said that since he is here to help, you can't give him a bad face. But he doesn't like to hear Zhou Huaili talking about his master.
"What if my master has Gao Shaowei's identity?"
He asked Zhou Huaili: "Does my master still need help from others? My master may not be inferior to Gao Shaowei, but his birth is not decided by others."
Zhou Huaili stopped walking, turned his head and said to Li Diudiu with a stern face: "Are you talking to me? Do you know who you are?"
Li Diudiu opened his mouth and endured it.
Zhou Huaili pointed towards the gate of the Four Pages Academy and said, "If your master hadn't helped me in the past, would I have put aside my own dignity and not come to ask for a favor for you? If you are not satisfied, you can just turn around and leave, or just shut up."
Li Diudiu chose to keep silent. The teenage boy told himself in his heart that if he could become successful one day in the future, he would make his master proud.
He followed Zhou Huaili all the way into the academy, which was a separate small courtyard where the world-famous scholar Gao Shaowei lived. Zhou Huaili asked Li Diudiu to wait here while he went in first. When he spoke, his voice was so cold, as if he was going to hit someone.
After Zhou Huaili entered the study, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one else had arrived yet. He smiled and bowed, "Sir, I have brought the child here."
"Wait a moment, I will test them when everyone arrives."
Gao Shaowei stood up and said, "Come, sit down and talk first."
Zhou Huaili did not sit down, but still leaned forward and said humbly: "Sir, this child is lonely and wild, and he speaks without manners, but he is smart and has learned a lot. If he offends me in the slightest, please forgive me."
Gao Shaowei glanced at him and asked, "Is he really the son of your old friend?"
“I guess so.”
Zhou Huaili said, "That year I was transferred from Yongqing County to Jizhou for a post. On the way, my wife fell ill and was dying. It was this child's master who saved her and escorted her all the way to Jizhou. This child was an orphan , who treated him like his own child."
Gao Shaowei sighed, "Mr. Songming's Deng Quetai calligraphy was also given to you by your old friend, right? You sent it to me for this child."
Zhou Huaili said, "Teacher, Zen people say that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. This child has a spirit in his eyes, and he is willing to endure hardships and study hard. His master saved his life, which is better than building a seven-story pagoda. What about changing someone else's life? You are the one who changed his life. You are the one who changed the lives of all the students in the academy."
Gao Shaowei pondered for a moment and nodded: "If he is indeed a promising talent, I will keep him in the academy regardless of his background. If he is not promising... well, I will keep him in the academy as a chores, which is better than living in the open air."
Zhou Huaili bowed again: "Thank you, sir."
Not long after, those children with extraordinary family backgrounds also arrived at the academy one after another. There were four people in total. Li Diudiu was the youngest and the oldest was Sun Rugong. Among the four people, he had the best family background. After all, his grandfather was a fourth-rank official. Zhang Xiaolin was more than half a head taller than Li Diudiu. He must have practiced martial arts for a while and looked quite strong. Liu Shengying was about the same height as Li Diudiu. The three children were well dressed. Li Diudiu's clothes were all patched but washed cleanly. Compared with the other three children, he still seemed like someone from a different world.
"I'll ask the questions and you can answer them. Just say whatever comes to your mind. Don't worry too much."
Gao Shaowei looked at the four children and waved his hand, saying, "Except for these four children, everyone else should go out."
Other families were encouraging. Zhou Huaili glanced at Li Diudiu, said just one word, and walked out.
"Don't let your master be ashamed."
Gao Shaowei sat down and asked the four children to stand in a row in front of him. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "First question, if you were traveling alone and encountered something unfair on the road, would you intervene or not?"
Zhang Xiaolin was the first to answer: "Of course we should intervene when we see injustice. We are born to be useful. If we don't even dare to intervene when injustice happens, how can we have the courage to fight the enemy in the future?"
Sun Rugong smiled and said, "That's the courage of a reckless man. Of course, we should intervene when we see injustice, but we can't act rashly. We should first determine the cause of the incident before deciding whether to intervene or not. We need to use our brains."
Liu Shengying said: "I am still young, I should go home and tell my family, or report to the police."
Gao Shaowei looked at the silent Li Diudiu, waiting for the child to give an answer.
Li Diudiu hesitated for a moment and replied, "If I can manage it, I will manage it. If I can't manage it, I won't manage it."
Gao Shaowei frowned.
The other three children looked at Li Diudiu with contempt on their faces. In their eyes, what Li Diudiu said was just nonsense.
Gao Shaowei shook his head and continued, "Second question, if I give each of you one tael of silver and ask you to buy something worth five taels of silver, will you buy it?"
Sun Rugong said, "Why should you pay for the things you want to buy?"
Liu Shengying said: "I have to go home and ask my parents if they can give me some more money."
Zhang Xiaolin said, "Not to mention five taels, I'll buy it for ten taels."
Li Diudiu shook his head: "If the teacher is such a teacher, why should I come to the academy?"
Gao Shaowei frowned again.
"The third question is, do you think it is more important to learn literature or martial arts?"
This time, all three children answered in unison: "Learning literature is important."
Even Zhang Xiaolin, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, did not choose to answer practicing martial arts.
Li Diudiu was still thinking carefully. His master told him not to talk nonsense, and Zhou Huaili also told him not to talk nonsense, so he thought about each question carefully several times before answering.
"Practice martial arts."
Li Diudiu answered.
The three children looked at Li Diudiu again, this time there was not only contempt but also sympathy on their faces. This is an academy but he said that practicing martial arts is important. Only a wild boy like this would say such a silly answer. Learning literature and then governing affairs is one of the two sentences written on the screen wall of the academy.
Cultivate virtue to establish oneself, and learn literature to manage affairs.
The Chu State ruled the country with culture. People say that those who study culture can control others, while those who study martial arts will be controlled by others. Although the Chu State ruled the country with military power, that was hundreds of years ago. The highest rank of civil officials was first grade, or even above first grade, but the highest rank of military generals was only third grade. The Chu State had not had a military officer above third grade for hundreds of years.
"Since you want to learn martial arts, why do you come to the academy?"
Gao Shaowei looked into Li Diudu's eyes and asked.
"My master wants me to come."
Li Diudiu answered truthfully.
Gao Shaowei's frown deepened. This child... he somewhat disliked him. Just by hearing the words "My master wants me to come", he wanted the child to leave right away.
But he still asked one more question: "Why do you think martial arts is important?"
Li Diudiu was silent for a moment, then answered, "The three of them think that learning literature is important because they don't need to learn martial arts. When they go out, they will have someone to protect them. I am different. If I don't learn martial arts, I can't protect myself. If I don't learn martial arts, I can't protect my master. My master is very old. He could carry me on his back ten years ago, but now he needs to walk with a cane."
Then he added: "Studying is too easy, practicing martial arts is a little more difficult."
Gao Shaowei, whose expression had just eased a little, immediately widened his eyes: "Studying is easy?! Children, don't be so arrogant!"
…
…
