Chapter 64: Weighing (Part One)

  After finishing their meal, some students went to the small garden behind the study room to play and have fun, while others returned to the study room to take a nap on the table.

  It wasn't until just before class started in the afternoon that Mr. Shen reappeared, standing at the door and saying in a deep voice: "You few, come out."

  The old men who were so hungry that their front and back hearts were stuck together, quickly went out in a hurry, faced Mr. Shen, and stood in a row against the south wall root.

  His gaze swept across several faces, and Mr. Shen said with a dark face: "Go eat...". The crowd was like being pardoned, thinking that it would be fine like this, and they ran to the small cafeteria.

  "Who would have thought that Shen Lian would say: 'Shen Xiang, come to my place after dinner, and as for that one called Shen Mo, you stay here.'"

  Under Shen Jing's gaze of "be careful, brother", Shen Mo reluctantly turned around, lowering his head and saying: "Is there anything else you'd like to instruct, sir?"

  "This title is undeserved." Shen Lian coldly said: "I haven't received your courtesy as a master yet."

  "Want to look for trouble, huh......" Shen Mo's heart skipped a beat. What is the greatest thing in this world? 'Heaven, earth, ruler, parent, and teacher', and a teacher is one of them. Although he dared to play tricks on the county magistrate, he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of Shen Lian, so he had to lower his posture and say: "The student will kowtow now..."

  "It's not necessary." Shen Lian's voice was still cold as he said, "To be honest, I didn't want to let you, a cunning person, into this school. It would have been better if you hadn't come and corrupted the other students... In the end, it was my elder brother who used his authority as the head of the household to pressure me, so I had no choice but to agree to let you attend for three months."

  Silent face burning with fire —— In his past life, he was highly respected wherever he went, so why couldn't he just enter the eyes of this Mr. Qingxia?

  Shen Lian didn't even look at his face, and continued: "In these three months, you don't have to pay homage to a master, but you must strictly follow my requirements. If there's anything that isn't done, please leave automatically, and when you go out, don't say that you were ever Shen Lian's student."

  His lips were tightly pursed, obviously suppressing sarcastic remarks - if possible, he would have turned and left. But his ambition was in officialdom, so he had to follow this set of game rules... If he stormed off today, the news that he was expelled by Master Qingxia would spread throughout Shaoxing City tomorrow. A big hat of "rebellion" would be put on him.

  I'd rather ask, which school would still accommodate him? Which teacher could still accept him? I'm afraid even Li County Magistrate, who once regarded him as a precious treasure, would immediately view him as dirt and discard him like a worn-out shoe!

  So he can't leave! Silently swallowing the bitter fruit, he bowed deeply to Master Long and said: "I will definitely make you satisfied... Student withdraws."

  He watched him walk into the classroom with his head held high, and then Shen Lian turned around expressionlessly and left.

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  After having a big meal, Shen Jing patted his belly and rushed into the school, only to see Shen Mo sitting there with a face as cold as ice, intently reading something.

  "What are you looking at?" He sat down beside him in silence, and then asked with a tilt of his head: "The Shen Family Rules."

  He nodded slightly and said softly, "Let me take a look."

  "Don't look anymore," Shen Jing said in a low voice, "look what I've brought for you." As he spoke, he secretly pulled out a golden-yellow oil pancake from his pocket and said, "Eat it quickly."

  "The eighth article: The dignity of the teachers in the school is inviolable, and eating, drinking, or relieving oneself is not allowed."

  "That can't be starving either." Shen Jing said with a bitter face: "I will feel guilty to death."

  Silent and unmoved, he didn't even glance at the oil cake until Shen Lian reappeared in the school.

  Shen Jing thought he had gotten himself angry, so he simply threw the oil cake into a hole in the ground, and for a moment his mood was somewhat down.

  "It has nothing to do with you." Shen Mo comforted in a low voice, then sat up straight and didn't say another word.

  As usual, the afternoons were for lectures by the master, different from the individual lessons in the mornings, but rather a collective listening session... The content of the lectures was fixed within the Four Books and Five Classics, every few months, they would repeat one cycle. For children who had just started learning to recognize characters, this was a prelude to formal learning. For students who had already memorized these books, this was a process of seeking deeper understanding, how much subtle meaning and grand principles they could understand depended on their individual talent and aptitude.

  Shen Lian sat back in his chair and said in a low voice, "Today we should discuss the Book of Songs."

  Because the teacher wasn't explaining word for word, sentence by sentence, the students didn't take out their books, they just sat there with their hands behind their backs listening, understanding as much as they could, remembering as much as they could...

  Mr. Shen said in a gentle tone, "Among the Six Classics, the Book of Poetry is the most important. The Master said, 'If one does not study the Book of Poetry, he will have nothing to say.' The Master believed that only those who had been educated in the teachings of poetry would be warm and kind, and would be able to serve their lord from afar and their father from near, and thus have the qualifications to ascend to the court and represent a country in domestic and foreign affairs. In short, the three hundred poems can be summed up in one phrase: 'Think without evil'!"

  Silent concentration, the original distractions and discomfort have all disappeared, leaving only one conviction in his heart: "Do it to the best!" Let this old man be convinced!

  But he, Shen Si, ate his fill and began to doze off, forcing himself to listen for a while to something called "Thoughts Without Evil", before finally falling asleep with his eyelids fighting each other.

  Mr. Shen looked around and immediately saw the sleeping child, clearing his throat he said: "Shen Jing."

  "Ah......" Shen Jing woke up with a start, wiping his mouth while hastily getting up and saying: "The student is here."

  "Recite a poem for your fellow students." Mr. Shen said in a deep voice.

  "Oh..." Don't mention it, Shen Jing really knew how to do it. He just shook his head and said: "Guan Guan Ju Jiu, in the river's continent. Secluded and elegant girl, a gentleman's delight..." Then he stopped, that was all he could recite.

  Classmates began to secretly laugh at him, especially Shen Zhuang and those three idle ones who laughed the most exaggeratedly.

  "Shen Zhuang, wake up!" But then Mr. Shen said in a deep voice: "Let's have everyone recite the first two lines of 'Shen Jing'."

  Shen Zhuang was stunned... He and Shen Jing were considered to have changed the gate of the Shen family, and their studies were extremely poor. Until now, they couldn't even recite the Four Books, let alone understand their meaning.

  But Mr. Shen insisted on making things difficult for him, and had to force himself to explain: "It's probably like this... There was a birdcage with a spotted dove locked in it, hanging at the house of a certain Governor He..."

  Division line

  I'd like to declare to everyone that after I finished reading "Ming Shi" and "Qing Xia Ji", the character of Shen Lian had already taken shape in my mind. So it's not that I wanted him to be a certain way, but rather this straightforward and sometimes unreasonable old brother made his own decisions.

  This old brother's biggest shortcoming is that he won't conceal his likes and dislikes. Does everyone think this kind of person can be used to provoke others?

  We can't let everyone appreciate the protagonist from the start, that's too unrealistic. Respect should be earned through one's own efforts, and biases should also be eliminated by one's own abilities!