Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 781 Resentment
“It’s so cold…”
Almost at the same time, the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen looked at each other, then snorted and turned away. Facing these two guys, Peanut and Xiao Cheng no longer had the energy to persuade them. After all, although the two had suffered a lot when they were young, they had been raised by Zhang Shou for several months. As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
Of course the most important thing is that both of them grew up in the city and had never seen how life was really like in the countryside in winter. So even though it was only a few days, they were also overwhelmed by this new living environment. On the contrary, Yang Hao, who grew up in Rongshui Village but had only been in Zhangyuan for half a year, became completely familiar with it in less than half a day.
For example , at this moment, the four of them were so cold that they were sitting here by the fire and staring blankly, but Yang Hao was happily hanging out in the village with a group of new friends, as if he didn't feel the cold at all!
When he found that Peanut and Xiao Cheng had no reaction to his complaints, the Fourth Prince could not help but feel discouraged, but he still complained quietly: "Teacher, you are kidding me. What kind of talents are worth cultivating? There is not even a single one in this small village! I taught them to recognize a few words, but they forgot them after I taught them. They can't even write straight! Not to mention memorizing, they make mistakes when reciting a few words in the Thousand Character Classic!"
As he spoke, he shouted angrily: "If you don't work hard, then of course you can only farm for the rest of your life!"
Peanut and Xiao Cheng looked at each other. Although they did not particularly agree with the Fourth Prince's last words, they were also shocked by the children in this place after being busy these days. They were not very talented people. When they were studying, one was scolded many times by Zhu Tingfang, and the other was punished many times by Zhang Shou. They were also often scolded by teachers in public school.
However, when they were in the intermediate literacy class in the public school, they already felt that the progress was extremely slow. But every time when the teacher kept repeating the same thing over and over again and their ears became calloused and they became impatient, they would remember that after all, they were classmates who rotated classes every seven days, while those classmates could only attend classes once every seven days, so they could barely endure it.
But now, they are obviously teaching the same group of people, but those students are either naughty, dull or ignorant. Even if they are told over and over again, they still look stupid. Even if they are asked to ask if they don't understand, the questions they ask are completely unrelated topics... It is only by Yang Hao's method of rewarding good performance that most people can barely come to the one-hour class every day.
However, after an hour, everyone left in a hurry. Even those who knew only one or two words did not stay to ask for more advice or learn more. Can such students in such a place really be talented?
Zhang Chen also had a hard time speaking when he saw the Fourth Prince complaining like this. He was really out of his mind to leave his job as a noble son and come to this remote place to make this damn bet with the Fourth Prince! He could see that the villagers were much more interested in Ye than he and the Fourth Prince.
Therefore, the reality is that it is meaningless to talk about education in such a place . No wonder he asked the village chief indirectly, but he learned that the last scholar here was fifty years ago. Listen, fifty years ago! The village chief even swore that they were a branch of Bai Juyi's descendants, who migrated all the way here to settle down...
If Bai Juyi knew that he had such stupid descendants, he would probably cry to death!
Even if people dislike the imperial examinations for being too rigid, this small village has never produced any other decent talents, not even a craftsman with particularly good skills. It seems that for decades, this place has been just farming and farming, but there has never been a skilled farmer with high yields per mu!
Zhang Chen thought as he sat there warming himself by the fire. Although he did not notice that his hands had become rough from the daily life of the past few days, he had no time to care about such trivial matters.
He only knew that if there was no change at all, then, let alone a fight with the Fourth Prince to determine the winner, he and the Fourth Prince might have to roll back to the capital together in disgrace!
Just as he was thinking about forging something, he suddenly heard the familiar yet annoying voice of the village chief outside: "The two young masters and their companions are inside. One of them has gone out to wander around the village. I'll ask my son to call him! Oh, everyone in our village is wondering why such a noble person would come to our place in such a cold weather..."
"Plus, the daughter of Mr. Ye from the city is staying here for a while. This small Baijia Village is so blessed! After hearing what you two said, I finally understood that they wanted to do something to impress their elders. That's amazing! Tsk tsk, ever since they came to our village, even the snotty-nosed kids in our village have become more polite in their speech!"
"We must have burned incense for several lifetimes to have such a great thing happen to us !"
Zhang Chen himself hated reading, but he still felt out of place in this village. The only person who made him feel a little bit pleasing was the village chief who knew a few words, had a little knowledge, and could at least talk to him. At this time, he heard someone talking to someone outside, and even made up a set of very bluffing rhetoric for them, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
If the person who came was Zhang Shou, he would definitely know that what the village chief said was not entirely true, but if not, he and the fourth prince's embarrassing situation could probably be covered up a little. But the next moment, when he heard that the people brought by the village chief did not speak, the village chief started to talk again, and when he heard those two names, his face changed.
"You two are my uncle and teacher. You are worried about my nephew and students in this cold weather, so you came to persuade them to go back. You are really kind-hearted..."
This time, even the Fourth Prince jumped up. The word "teacher" was easy to understand, wasn't it Zhang Shou? But what did the word "uncle" mean? When he thought of a possible candidate, he couldn't help but pat his dusty hands quickly, and at the same time tried to tidy himself up a little more presentable.
However, his efforts had not yet fully paid off, as the greasy black cotton curtain at the door was lifted high. However, before he could see who was coming, the cold wind blew him in the face and made him shiver. When he saw the dark-faced middle-aged man next to Zhang Shou, he could not help but secretly complain.
Why did the teacher call the emperor's uncle over? He had offended the King of Jiangdu before!
As the pampered King Jiangdu walked on the frozen ground in the village, he was absent-mindedly thinking about how to go back to see Ye Shi, and didn't care about the situation of the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen at all. At this moment, when he finally adapted to the huge difference in light between the outdoors and the indoors, and saw the boys in front of him clearly, he was stunned at first, and then he couldn't help it at all.
“Hahahahaha… Why are you guys so dirty?”
How could Zhang Chen tolerate being laughed at so blatantly? Even if the person was the Grand Master of the Jiangdu King, he would have been stubborn and retorted in the past. However, when he saw Zhang Shou standing beside the Jiangdu King with a half-smile on his face, he put away this very unwise impulse, but he did not stand up or speak, but just lowered his head and sulked.
Why bring the Prince of Jiangdu, the indifferent Grand Secretary, here? Do you want to laugh at them?
However, the Fourth Prince could not ignore the King of Jiangdu like this - he was afraid that his father would use the King of Jiangdu, his uncle, to teach him a lesson. Therefore, he bowed his hands obediently, called him uncle, and called Zhang Shou teacher.
Peanut and Xiao Cheng, who also recognized the King of Jiangdu, didn't know what to call him. They looked at Zhang Shou. Seeing that he didn't say anything, the smarter Peanut called out tentatively, "Sir, did you invite Mr. Zheng as well?"
Mr. Zheng! King Jiangdu was simply shocked by this title. But if they didn't call him Mr. Zheng, would they still call him Mr. Zheng or Mr. Zheng? He could only hum unhappily as a response, and then he looked at him carefully. Only then did he find that the Fourth Prince looked haggard, and Zhang Chen, who was lying on the ground in silence, was not much better. It was obvious that he had suffered a lot here.
Although he was deceived by Zhang Shou, but facing this scene, the anger in his heart was relieved a little - this was probably because he saw that someone was also deceived by Zhang Shou, and was even more unlucky, so his heart finally balanced a little, or he felt a little gloating.
So he cleared his throat and said earnestly, "Silang, have you had enough of making trouble? If you have, go back. It's almost the New Year, how long do you plan to quarrel with your father? Admit your mistakes and be submissive. Between a father and a son, are you afraid that you can't make up for your previous mistakes?"
"I'm not wrong!" The fourth prince muttered softly. Especially when he saw the village chief actually looking out through the curtain at the door but not leaving, he couldn't help but be unwilling to lose face in front of such irrelevant people. He held his head high and said, "I said I would do something to show him, so I will do what I said!"
The Prince of Jiangdu was only trying his best to give some advice because he was already here, in order to avoid the emperor finding out where he was and ignoring his younger nephew.
Therefore, the Fourth Prince was so stubborn that he was too lazy to argue with him. He smiled and looked down at Zhang Chen: "Zhang Dalang, it's already the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. Are you really planning to wait until the end of the year to go back?"
Zhang Chen stood up with a stern face, clapped his hands, and said in a voice that was even sterner than his face: "Once the words are spoken, they cannot be taken back. Since I said I want to compete with Zheng Yan, I certainly can't give up halfway."
"Even though you suffer hardships here, you have even lost weight?" King Jiangdu deliberately emphasized this point. Seeing that Zhang Chen simply ignored him with a disdainful smile, he was too lazy to waste words with this big naughty kid. He smiled and glanced at Zhang Shou.
"Jiu Zhang, it seems that our trip today was in vain."
Zhang Shou knew that the King of Jiangdu was preoccupied with the affairs of the Princess of Hailing County and had no intention of talking to Zhang Chen and the Fourth Prince. Therefore, when he heard what people said, he sighed and said, "It's all my fault for not teaching these two students well. I troubled Mr. Zheng to make such a trip in such a cold weather."
After a few polite words, he changed the subject and said, "By the way, Miss Ye is staying here temporarily. Your daughter and Miss Ye have been friends for a long time. Would you like to go visit her, Mr. Zheng? If you want to go, I'll let Xiao Huasheng lead the way for you."
This sentence finally touched the heart of King Jiangdu. He agreed without even thinking about it. After Zhang Shou beckoned over Peanut and told him to lead the way, he didn't even bother to say any more nonsense to the Fourth Prince and Zhang Chen, and just ran away.
After seeing this person off, Zhang Shou looked at the village chief who was looking around. Seeing him, he shrank his head and quietly retreated with a dry laugh. He had just stepped forward, but he unceremoniously squeezed the seat of the fourth prince just now, and put his hand on the charcoal basin to warm it. Seeing his action, Zhang Chen, who had just turned his face to King Jiangdu, hesitated for a moment, and finally sat down again, while the fourth prince quickly moved to the seat vacated by Xiao Huasheng.
However, just as he finished his flattering words, Zhang Shou suddenly raised his head and asked with a half-smile, "I heard that you are not happy here? Do you think these students are not interested in studying, have no future, and can only farm for the rest of their lives?"
The fourth prince was shocked. Was it that Zhang Shou had come here to eavesdrop, or was he really so accurate in his guess? Zhang Chen knew that Zhang Shou had brought the King of Jiangdu with him, so he couldn't have eavesdropped, and he just guessed their predicament. So he simply said the truth: "There is no way this broken place can have any decent talents. They are all so stupid. Asking them to study is like asking them to die!"
"What about when your father asked you to study?"
Zhang Shou asked back lightly. Seeing Zhang Chen fell silent, he continued, "How do you think I discovered Xiao Qi and Deng Xiao Dai when I was in Rongshui Village? How long did it take?"
The Fourth Prince thought that Zhang Shou was using his own experience to blame them for their misfortunes, so he was discouraged and whispered, "I heard that you started teaching people to read and write in the countryside after you recovered from a serious illness. It was only three years in total. It couldn't have taken you three years to discover Senior Brothers Qi and Deng, right?"
"Of course not that long." Zhang Shou held up a finger and said calmly, "Just one month."
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Chen's indignation froze on his face, and the same thing happened to the Fourth Prince. At this time, Zhang Shou just stood up, walked around behind the Fourth Prince, patted the back of the naughty boy's head lightly, and then walked behind Zhang Chen and did the same thing.
"This is Baijia Village, not the capital! The children here are not going to take the imperial examinations. If you don't give benefits to their families, and let these children study with you...what's the point of studying? It's a waste of time to work. Will they be happy? Just look at the village chief's character of not doing anything without benefits. He is waiting for you to give benefits, and then he will help you behind the scenes. Who knew that you two would only scold people fiercely, not as smart as Yang Hao!"
