Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 210: Bear Boy's Study
"What does your father mean by this?"
"What does this mean, my father?"
When Zhang Shou and Zhang Chen walked a few steps away from the incense house, they asked the same question almost at the same time. Zhang Shou was shocked at first, then he laughed dumbly. When he saw that Zhang Chen seemed to be a little angry because of his laughter, he coughed and said, "You might as well just think about it. Compared with randomly matching couples, your father is very open-minded and gave you the autonomy of this important matter of marriage."
"Who said that? He obviously wants you to worry..." Zhang Chen suddenly shut up. Let Zhang Shou worry... Maybe it's because Zhang Chuan knows that Zhang Shou is not the kind of person who would mess around with other people. Before, Lu Sanlang also took a look at each other and agreed to do it. Of course, he would do the same thing. In other words, he doesn't have to worry about his father coming out to break up the couple!
But after the initial surprise, he became angry again: "He is such an easy-going father. He doesn't even care about my marriage!"
Zhang Shou was of course aware of Zhang Chen's awkward thoughts - it was nothing more than that the young man wanted the right to decide on his own marriage, but felt that his father didn't care. However, Zhang Chuan's thoughts were indeed hard to figure out, but he didn't want to care about what other people meant, so he just took it as a definite statement.
"Okay, don't be so ungrateful. If you don't believe me, tell others about it later and see if they are envious, jealous, or jealous?" Zhang Shou deliberately repeated the words "envious, jealous, and hate" twice. Seeing Zhang Chen shut up angrily, he casually said, "By the way, this box of Gastrodia elata is for your mother. You can deliver it on my behalf."
As he was speaking, he suddenly remembered that he had gone to see Qin Guogong Zhang Chuan on short notice, but he had not given Zhang Chuan anything just now. Instead, he had drunk a lot of tea. When he was leaving, Zhang Chuan also said that he would give him handmade incense later, and he had not been able to refuse. In this way, he met Qin Guogong with nothing in his hands, and he actually received a gift in return for nothing...
"Then, young master, please come to my study and sit for a while. I'll go see my mother." If it weren't for his father Zhang Chuan's sudden intervention, Zhang Chen would have intended to take Zhang Shou to see his mother Lin, but now he has changed his mind. He was really unsure about his father's inexplicable entrustment, so he planned to ask his mother. Of course, he was also to prevent his mother from talking nonsense to Zhang Shou.
Having made up his mind, Zhang Chen immediately called a servant and told him to take Zhang Shou to his study, then he ran away like a gust of wind holding the box of Gastrodia elata. Seeing this, Zhang Shou, who had originally planned to call him back, simply gave up the idea.
When he was brought to the door of a house with a plaque of "Banshanzhai", he saw a servant running up to greet him. He couldn't help but ask with a smile: "Is this your young master's study? Who gave it the name Banshanzhai?"
"The young master gave it the name." The handsome servant nodded and said, "The young master said that he was the head of the Banshan Hall of the Imperial College, so the study was renamed Banshan Hall, which is much more meaningful than the previous names such as Ningxin Hall and Jingxin Residence."
Seeing Zhang Shou burst into laughter, the young man saw that the servant who led the way was about to leave on tiptoe. He couldn't help but feel anxious and asked quickly, "Is this young master Doctor Zhang from the Imperial College? You are a distinguished guest, why come with you?"
"He went to see Mrs. Qin, so he asked someone to take me to his study. I'll be waiting for him here." Zhang Shou did not mention the gift. Seeing that handsome servant's face froze, he pretended not to know what was going on, but in fact he almost laughed his belly off.
Zhang Chen... can you let outsiders into his study? If it's all serious classics, it's fine, but with all the books in the bookstores these days, and Zhang Chen's unscrupulous behavior, could he be hiding all kinds of XX books? Even pornographic pictures? Besides, if he scribbled something, would he let outsiders see it?
Seeing that the servant who led him had already fled quickly, he ignored the servant and pushed the door straight into the Banshanzhai. After entering the door, he saw a soft couch against the wall, and immediately yawned and said, "It's a rare day off, but I got up so early. I'm sleepy. I drank a lot of tea in the Xiangshe but it didn't help. You don't have to come in and serve me. I'll just sit here and take a nap."
As he spoke, he didn't even look at the anxious face outside the door, and directly closed the door with his backhand. He looked around Zhang Chen's study with his hands behind his back with evil interest, and he saw that the huge place had no partitions, just like Zhang Chen's straightforward personality, it was spacious and transparent, but the books on the bookshelf were piled up in a mess, and the desk was even more messy.
Obviously, Zhang Chen is also the kind of guy who believes that no matter how messy the study is, outsiders are not allowed to clean it up... and with such a personality, how dare he let an outsider like him into the study?
Zhang Shou walked around the bookshelf with his hands behind his back. He didn't even look at the books that were obviously piled at the bottom as cushions. He just glanced at the books on the top. When he saw a copy of "Su Nu Jing", he couldn't help but twitch his lips. When he saw a picture of "Spring Night Secret Play" hanging openly on the wall next to the soft couch, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Looking at the desk again, there was a piece of paper with the story of Emperor Huangdi having sex with 3,000 women and ascending to heaven in broad daylight written on it. If you didn't know, just by looking at these things, you would think Zhang Chen was very licentious. Even if he wasn't licentious, considering that Zhang Chen was the only son in the family, he was probably not a virgin anymore, and he had at least two or three maids around him.
Having seen what he wanted to read, Zhang Shou stopped strolling and casually glanced at the books beside the desk. He picked up a volume of Mengxi Bitan and then leaned on the soft couch against the wall to read. He flipped through the book leisurely for a while, and then he heard the door being slammed open, and then a figure suddenly rushed in.
"Young sir!" Zhang Chen glanced around before he even stood still, and found Zhang Shou sitting quietly reading a book. He was stunned at first, then his face changed drastically, and he rushed forward in a hurry, wanting to reach out to grab the book, but halfway through his hand he felt something was wrong, so he simply squatted down without caring about his manners. When he found that it was a volume of Mengxi Bitan, he felt relieved.
But as soon as he stood up, he saw the picture of a secret love scene hanging above the couch, and his face immediately turned dark.
"Hang this kind of picture in the most conspicuous place, and put those messy books within reach. Zhang Chen, it's okay on normal days, but don't you think about what day it is today? Do you think that all the people who come to you today can be considered your best friends? If someone breaks into the study, sees the scene here, and spreads it, what do you think will happen?"
Zhang Shou threw down the Mengxi Bitan book. Seeing Zhang Chen was extremely embarrassed, he said unhappily, "You're lucky that I saw you. Why don't you clean up your kennel? You blamed your father for not caring about you. Just look at the way you throw messy books and pictures around. If your father really cared, you would have been beaten to death long ago!"
"Can't I clean it up right away? " Zhang Chen agreed with a bitter face, then hurriedly jumped onto the couch, took down the painting in a hurry, rolled it up, tied it up and threw it into the scroll.
Obviously, he knew very well the location of certain books on his desk. He quickly stuffed the most important ones to the bottom of the bookshelf, and then piled up a wall of books outside.
After he quickly cleaned up the desk and quickly rearranged the books on the other shelves, he came to Zhang Shou again with embarrassment. This time, he whispered, "I'm not a pervert. Whether it's a painting or a book, I put them out on purpose for my father to see. But I don't know if he really doesn't care or is just pretending. He never asked."
What is this bear boy thinking about all day long!
Zhang Shou felt that the father and son pair of Qin Guogong Zhang Chuan and Zhang Chen had even bigger problems than the father and son pair of Lu Wan and Lu Sanlang. But staring at that face full of dissatisfaction and disappointment, he suddenly remembered his past. Alas, who hasn't been a bear before?
"I don't care whether you are real or fake, put away these little tricks from now on. You are sixteen or seventeen, not just six or seven! If you want to test your father's mind, it's very simple. When you give him grandchildren in the future, hold them in front of him and see if he pays attention to you. If he is still like this at that time, it means that he really doesn't care, and you can give up!"
"After you give up, why not spend all your time on educating your children and show them through your actions that you are a better father than him? Isn't that a thousand times better than the childish quarrels you are having now?" Zhang Shou simply went along with Zhang Chen's temper and found another way. Sure enough, after a few words, he made Zhang Chen look normal again.
After the nobles and their sons arrived, Zhang Shou and Zhang Chen were busy dealing with them when a servant reported the conversation to Zhang Chuan, the Duke of Qin, who was still mixing perfume in the incense house. But after hearing it, Zhang Chuan just said without raising his head, "I understand. That's all. I don't want anyone else to hear it, including my wife."
Seeing the servant hurriedly agree and leave, Zhang Chuan put down the jade pestle used to crush the spices in his hand, slowly straightened up, raised his head, and a somewhat melancholy expression appeared on his face.
He really didn't expect that Zhang Shou would actually teach his stubborn son how to be a good father?
This small banquet in the garden of Duke Qin's mansion was held in a grand manner under Zhang Chen's special instructions and the careful flattery of the people in Duke Qin's mansion. Even the people who originally thought that Zhang Chen was overbearing and rude could not help but feel that the eldest son of Duke Qin was quite easy to get along with. However, after all, they were competitors, and the atmosphere at the banquet was not really harmonious.
Zhang Shou, who seemed to have drunk a few too many cups, said with a smile, "Just remember, don't shrink back or be timid in front of the emperor. Just be upright, frank and sincere. This is not an imperial examination, the emperor will not ask you about the Four Books and Five Classics. Show some courage as a real man."
When the others responded, whether genuinely or not, he then slowly recited, "There is one more thing, you should remember. The willow fluff on the branches is blown away, and there are beautiful girls everywhere. The girl you are waiting for may still be in the dimly lit place, waiting for you to look back suddenly. So, don't be discouraged because of a marriage, you must know that there is a long way to go."
There are so many poems in the Song Dynasty, maybe those young men have not read every one of them, but they have heard many of the beautiful and meaningful lines. At this moment, Zhang Shou first used "There are beautiful flowers everywhere in the world" to start the poem, and then ended with "Where the lights are dim". After they were stunned for a moment, some of them started laughing unconsciously.
After the luncheon, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu volunteered to stay and help Zhang Chen clean up, while Zhu Er, smiling, invited Zhang Shou to ride with him back to the Duke of Zhao's mansion. When the car was only an arrow away from the Duke of Qin's mansion, Zhu Er suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Dr. Zhang, have you thought about how to arrange your wedding with Yingying?"
Zhang Shou was thinking about the emperor's selection of a son-in-law as the carriage was shaking . He was distracted for a moment and didn't hear Zhu Er's words clearly. He thought he was talking about the marriages of princesses and county ladies, so he answered casually, "Of course, we will do whatever the emperor says."
Zhu Er's eyes widened immediately: "Do you really want the emperor to personally help you arrange your wedding?"
What is this? Zhang Shou finally came to his senses. After asking Zhu Er about his previous question, he was immediately embarrassed. However, Zhu Er did point out his biggest problem now. He had no money, no friends, and no house... In a place like the capital where prices are high, let alone a doctor of the Imperial College, even if he was a third-rank minister, he couldn't even think of getting married based on his salary alone.
Of course, compared with these material things, the most important thing is that although he has become accustomed to the bright girl and has gradually fallen in love with her, he is still missing the step that will come naturally.
Seeing Zhang Shou silent, Zhu Er thought that Ah Liu had squeezed out the driver and was driving the car himself, so he coughed and muttered in a very low voice, "Don't blame me for not reminding you. My grandmother and mother are secretly preparing for Yingying's marriage. Maybe when my father comes back, she will get married before my eldest brother and I get married."
At this point, he looked at Zhang Shou with some rebelliousness: "If you want to marry Yingying, you should at least show some sincerity! Although I shouldn't say this, Yingying obviously likes you very much, but getting married and living together requires various expenses. Yingying has been spoiled for so many years, can you bear to let her suffer with you?"
"Of course I can't bear to do so." Zhang Shou smiled slightly, then said calmly, "She deserves the best. So, she and I are still young, there is no need to rush." I had originally thought that if I married her in the future, I would naturally give her a grand wedding.
“Tsk…”
Zhu Er was about to laugh at this empty talk, but he noticed that Zhang Shou's eyes were blurry, as if he was in a daze, so he finally shut up. It might be fun to talk nonsense now, but he would be controlled by Zhang Shou later. Moreover, when the emperor summoned him, as long as Zhang Shou said a few words, he would be in trouble! So he quickly changed his tone.
"I don't mean anything else. I just want to remind you to be prepared. Don't wait until you are urged to get married before it's too late. My grandmother has been preparing Yingying's dowry for who knows how many years. It must be at least a hundred loads of dowry. As for the betrothal gift, you don't have to worry about it at all. Over the years, scholars from poor families have often married ladies from wealthy families. Does it mean that they have to empty their family's savings to do so?"
"Just wait patiently for her to marry into your Zhang family!"
