Chapter 2 I Want to Drop Out

  A mother's teachings to her son are never severe.

  Xu Yuansuo was able to walk on the ground after taking medicine at dinner time. He just held his waist and dragged his legs, looking a bit comical.

  Mother has cooked the dishes. Sister is putting the meal on the table.

  With the dim light outside, Xuyuan Zuo still saw the white hair at his mother's temples and the sparkling sweat on her forehead.

  It's a strange feeling, familiar yet distant; resistant in heart, yet unusually close.

  Xu Yuansuo felt that he was likely to split his mind.

  "What's the point of still standing there! Sit down and eat!" Mother shouted at Xu Yuanshuo with lingering anger.

  Xu Liangzuo has already taken his seat and is casting a schadenfreude smile at his brother.

  Xu Yuansuo took it one step at a time, gritted his teeth and sat down, thank goodness, the pain was slightly better than expected.

  Dinner was just a bowl of coarse rice, but the vegetables and fish were very fresh.

  The vegetables are grown in the empty space behind the house, and the fish were caught this afternoon.

  Jiangnan water town, push the door and see the river, it's just this convenient.

  "After you finish eating, follow me to apologize to your father." Xu's mother said after eating half of her meal.

  Xu Yuansuo remained silent, while Xu Liangsuo made faces and winked at his brother, looking like he was asking for a beating.

  "Didn't you hear?!" Xu's mother was furious.

  "Mother, don't be angry... " Xu Yuansuo saw his mother getting angry and making a gesture to hit him with chopsticks, so he hastily leaned back and said: "Okay okay, whatever you say is fine. Just don't get angry while eating, it's bad for the stomach."

  Xu's mother was so angry and worried that she couldn't help but cry and laugh at the same time. She thought of her husband who had left with a flick of his sleeve just over a year ago, and felt a pang in her heart, saying: "He didn't finish school, yet he learned to be so frivolous."

  Xu Yuansuo cried out in his heart, but he didn't say another word. The 450-year-old generation gap made it difficult to grasp the degree of shallowness and humor.

  It's better to say less and make fewer mistakes, best not to say anything at all.

  Xu Yuansuo was delayed for a moment, and the dish of green vegetables had been eaten by his sister and brother. Although the green vegetables were bitter due to the poor quality of the salt, eating fish was even more painful. In this environment, fish was so cheap that it was almost given away, with two or three catties of large fish costing only one or two cents of silver, and some diligent children would catch fish themselves in the river.

  It stands to reason that freshly caught wild river fish steamed is extremely delicious. Unfortunately, the ginger and wine used for cooking are even more expensive than the fish itself.

  Just two scallions, a pinch of salt, and a dash of soy sauce, and the flavor of this fish is beyond words.

  He had only eaten two mouthfuls when Xu Yuansuo completely lost interest, forcing himself to finish the rice, considering his task complete. His family thought he was just punished and didn't have an appetite for food, so no one encouraged him.

  Everyone ate dinner in silence, outside the sky was still not dark, Xu's sister went to the river at the back door to wash dishes, Xu's mother called up two sons, gritted her teeth and carried a basket of eggs, about four or five, just about to go out.

  "Mother, I've thought about it and decided not to go." Xu Yuansuo looked at the eggs in the basket and couldn't move a step.

  At home, only I and my younger brother can eat eggs. My father is rarely at home, usually just washing the dust and making two eggs during Chinese New Year.

  Xu's mother's eyes widened instantly.

  "Daughter, I won't go." Xu Yuansuo said: "It's too hard for our family to support two people studying, let Ah Niu study instead."

  Ah Niu was Xu Liang's milk name, and it had been a long time since anyone called him that. When he heard his brother call him that, the faint sense of emotion that had just risen up in him vanished without a trace.

  "Anyway, you're not cut out for studying either." Xu Liang retorted.

  Xu Yuansuo used his body weight to squeeze out his brother and said to his mother: "Mother, I was enlightened today, I deeply feel that my brain has not been used in the right place in the past. I plan to change my mind and try again. However, this life is not waiting for people, and I cannot die in the academy either. So, I will stop my studies first and wait until my brother passes the imperial examination, then I will go back to reading and studying."

  Xu's mother slowly straightened her arm holding the basket, and this blue egg was indeed not light in weight.

  Xu Yuansuo took over nearly 90% of the new brain and suddenly discovered that the "reader" who grew up in the Jiajing Longqing period was far inferior to him, a future person 450 years later.

  Reassessing his own classical Chinese level and familiarity with the classics, Xu Yuansuo believed that if he were in a northern mountainous area, it would be possible to pass as a scholar, but in Jiangnan, the land of literature, it would be hellishly difficult.

  Even if the small exam goes smoothly and mixes up a Shengyuan, wanting to get a Juren in the talented Nan Zhili is extremely difficult. Once you step onto this path of no return, it's likely that you'll be stuck here for the rest of your life. It's better to pause for a moment and see if there are other things you can do while reading books and self-studying to make up for the foundation from scratch.

  It can be said that this is the most responsible and efficient way for family and oneself.

  "The Son of Heaven values heroic spirit, and literature teaches you Cao...". Madam Xue recited softly, with tears welling up in her eyes.

  Xu Yuansuo was quite surprised, looking at the woman in front of him who had a daughter and two sons, was over thirty years old, and had a slightly plump figure.

  Tsk tsk, in the land of Jiangnan where literature thrives, even a housewife like you can recite two lines of poetry encouraging learning. With a brain that's 90% new, do you still want to take the imperial examination?

  Dream on!

  "If you don't study hard, you'll end up with no good prospects." Madam Xū gently wiped away tears and said: "Your father... took on a humble occupation, just to accumulate some silver coins, so that you two brothers can make a name for yourselves and change your circumstances."

  "Mother, the path of reading has three difficulties." Xu Yuansuo gently pulled his mother's sleeve and sat down beside her, slowly persuading: "The first difficulty is at home. Jiangnan is a land of literature, and even before children from good families can speak, they are already listening to the 'Poetry' and 'Book', and when they start learning to write, they are already copying Jin and Tang calligraphy. In their free time, everything they see is Song and Yuan paintings and books, so by the time they enter school and begin their studies, who knows how far behind they will be?"

  Xu's mother's expression turned gloomy and she said coldly: "Letting you be born in this humble household is really not doing right by you."

  Xu Yuansuo smiled: "A son who can get his mother's love and affection is far better than being born into a wealthy family." Seeing that his mother's expression had slightly improved, he continued: "Secondly, it's difficult to surpass others in terms of natural talent. Those talented scholars who have walked the path of imperial examinations, which one of them isn't able to memorize everything at a glance and has exceptional talent? They are precisely people like my son. Look at Ah Niu, he entered school two years after me, but now his progress has already surpassed mine by far. My brother Ah Niu and I are twins, yet our natural talents are so uneven, let alone compared to those talented scholars?"

  Xu Mu furrowed her brow and said quietly: This is indeed not bad. Logically speaking, they are all my sons, there's no reason for them to be so different, I'm afraid this natural talent is really determined by heaven, not a bit dependent on ordinary people.

  "Thirdly, it's about diligence." Xu Yuansuo spread his hands: "Mother, those talented young men with deep family learning and exceptional talent also have to start reading books from an early age, then study by candlelight at night, and after finishing their studies, they still need to copy and write. Just the cost of candles, lamp oil, brushes, ink, paper, and other stationery is over two taels of silver per month!"

  "You're just lazy!" Xu's mother glared at him with round eyes.

  "What's more... I'm just lazy!" Xu Yuansu hastily followed his mother's words and agreed.

  Xu's mother put the basket on the table and let out a deep sigh. She had obviously accepted the reality of her eldest son not attending school, but in her heart she still couldn't let go.

  Xu Liang suddenly felt that his brother's words were quite reasonable, absolutely not what an outsider would say as "foolish and stupid". However, when he put these three phrases on himself, it was also a moment of dizziness in his heart.

  Needless to say, he and his brother are from the same mother, so their family background is naturally the same. In terms of natural talent, I'm actually a bit better than my brother, but I'm still far from being able to memorize things at a glance. As for effort, well, I'm probably not as diligent as my brother.

  In that case, doesn't it mean that I myself also don't have any hope of standing out from the crowd?

  "Mother," said Xu Yuansuo, "as the saying goes, 'one who chases two rabbits catches neither.' If our family can produce a scholar who can change our fortunes, it should be Ah Niu. Instead of spreading ourselves too thin, let's focus on letting Ah Niu study hard and make a career for himself. By the time he achieves something, I'll also have made some progress, just in time to take the imperial examination."

  "What can you do now?" Xu's mother looked at Xu Yuanshuo with some disdain: "Can't lift his hands, can't bear the weight on his shoulders."

  "The son is clever." Xu Yuansuo lightly tapped his temple and added in his heart: He's still 90% new!

  Xu Mu smiled and laughed.

  Xu Yuansuo accompanied him with a smile and said: "Actually, the son has already had an idea, wanting to go into business with his father."

  Xu's mother's face, which had just relaxed, was suddenly clouded over. She said with a dark expression: "Your father went into business because he had no other choice, do you think he did it willingly?"

  Xu Yuansuo gritted his teeth lightly. Just now, his mother said that his father was engaged in a humble occupation, obviously looking down on businessmen.

  Alas, despising merchants is the privilege of wealthy families. We can't even afford to eat eggs openly, what qualifications do we have to despise merchants?

  Xu Yuansuo slightly shook his head and said, "Mother, a country cannot be stable without farmers, nor can it be rich without merchants. Since Confucius said that the four occupations of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants are the pillars of the state, it is clear that none of these four occupations can be lacking."

  Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. This is the saying of Guanzi. Xuyuan Zuo feared that his mother had not heard of Guanzi and lacked persuasive power, so he deliberately attributed it to Confucius.

  Who would have thought that Mrs. Xue glanced at the lamp with a slanted eye and said disdainfully: "The theory of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants originated from Guanzi."

  See? I knew it was right not to take the imperial examination!

  The liberal arts elementary school tyrant was also not embarrassed, and with a face full of admiration said: "Mother is truly erudite, son admires her!"

  "It's no use flattering me!" Madam Xue said: "If you don't want to study and make progress, then go learn a trade or do business, but don't mention it again!"

  Xu Yuansuo would never be willing to be a craftsman.

  "Mother, isn't it bad for a son to take over his father's business?" Xu Yuansu said.

  "What's your father's job! Look at this family, look at us women! It's already hard enough to make ends meet, and he's always away from home for a year or two, there's not even anyone to take care of the household...” Xu Mu said, unknowingly touching that sensitive spot in her heart, tears streaming down her face as she wailed: "I'm so miserable!"

  Xu Liang rushed forward to pat his mother's back, and his sister also put down her kitchen work to comfort their mother. Only Xu Yuan, the culprit, sat stupidly on the side, speechless.