Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 26 The Aftermath of a Hundred Taels of Silver

At dinner, Fan Ning honestly handed over the two topaz rings to his mother. In order to protect the other treasures, he had no choice but to throw away the car and sacrifice the two rings.

"Let me make it clear. These are Jinshi rings. Zhou Yuanwai wore them and passed the Jinshi exam. If mother sells them, I won't be able to pass the Jinshi exam in the future, so don't blame me."

Zhang Sanniang tapped him on the head with chopsticks, "Boy, do you think mother is so greedy for money and unreasonable? This is a gift from someone else, will I sell it?"

"Then what do you want it for?" asked Fanning, muttering.

"Of course it is for you to save it, lest you lose it!"

Zhang Sanniang looked at the two rings carefully with a smile on her face. It was the first time she saw such a delicate topaz. Even if she didn't know the goods, she knew that these two rings must be very valuable.

"It's just a pair. When you marry a daughter-in-law in the future, you will have one for each of you."

Fan Ning was speechless. The mother relied on marrying a daughter-in-law for everything. How much did she want to be a mother-in-law?
"You don't need to leave it to your future daughter-in-law. You and Daddy each have one. I think it's just right!"

'cough!cough! Fan Tiezhou, who was eating with his head down, suddenly choked and coughed repeatedly.

Zhang Sanniang glanced at her husband and said dissatisfied: "If this ring is given to your father, it will definitely be worn by your fourth uncle in the end."

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Fan Tiezhou took a sip of the soup before he stopped coughing. He blushed and said, "This is the kindness I gave to Ning'er. Sending it away casually will offend others."

"You also know that you will offend people, so you want to distribute the hundred taels of silver to your parents and 30 taels, have you considered my feelings?"

"Didn't you not agree? Now you are still talking about what it does!"

Fan Tiezhou's face sank, he slammed his chopsticks on the table, got up and left.

Zhang Sanniang was stunned for a moment, and suddenly tears fell down like broken pearls, choked up and said to Fan Ning: "Look at your father being unreasonable!"

Fan Ning was silent for a moment and said, "Why don't you hire a maid to cook and do laundry for Grandma, so that both you and Daddy will feel better, and I am also very happy!"

Zhang Sanniang nodded and agreed after thinking about it, "That's fine too. I only help for one or two hours a day, and I don't need to live at home. Thirty Wen a day is enough."

"It's only the same money every month. From next year, I will bear the money!"

"Don't talk stupidly, you are a child, what money can you earn?"

Fan Ning smiled, "If it wasn't for me, where did the mother's 100 taels of silver come from?"

Zhang Sanniang snorted, "Your father picked up the stone from Taihu Lake."

Fan Ning said triumphantly: "When I learn the skill of distinguishing stones from Zhou Yuanwai, I collect high-quality stones from the countryside for five pennies, and sell them for one hundred pennies. Mom, will I make money?"

"That's easy to say!"

Zhang Sanniang didn't want to listen to her son's nonsense, so she took a bottle of wine from the cabinet and handed it to Fan Ning, "Give it to your father to drink, so that he won't lose his temper."

Fan Ning walked out of the room with the wine bottle, and Zhang Sanniang sighed softly, one penny in a month, and twelve pennies in a year, I calculated carefully every day, and worked hard to save ten pennies for three years, what is this called? ah!
Fan Ning walked out of the room with the wine bottle in hand, and saw his father sitting on the well platform in a daze, with a sad look in his eyes.

"Ning'er, your grandma is aging too fast!" Fan Tiezhou sighed softly.

Fan Ning can understand his father's sadness. At his grandmother's age, he still has to wash, cook, and do all the housework, and he is exhausted to serve the family. Of course, his father will feel heartbroken, and of course he wants to help his mother.

But the father's method was wrong. Giving the silver to the grandfather would not change the life of the grandmother, and it would only make the prodigal son cheaper in the end.

Filial piety itself is right, but blind filial piety is meaningless.

Fan Ning sat beside his father and handed him the bottle. Fan Tiezhou shook his head and did not take the bottle.

Fan Ning said with a smile: "I just agreed with my mother to hire a helper for grandma, who will only be in charge of cooking and washing. The money will be consistent for a month, and my mother agreed."

A bright color flashed in Fan Tiezhou's eyes, yes!Why didn't I think of this way.

"Your mother agreed?"

Fan Ning nodded, "Mother is not an unreasonable person. Although she is a little dissatisfied with Grandpa, she is very kind to Grandma. She even offered to give Grandma a pair of cloth shoes. Daddy forgot?"

"Yes! When your mother first got married, your grandma treated her the best. People praised her for being virtuous, and your mother was filial to her. The clothes grandma is wearing now were all made by your mother before."

A big stone fell to Fan Tiezhou's heart, and he felt much better. He reached out and snatched the wine bottle, gulped a few swigs, and said with a smile, "It's been a long time since I drank so happily."

"Let me give Dad a suggestion! Don't rent land, just buy a few acres of land."

Fan Tiezhou shook his head, "Shangtian costs eight yuan per mu, but you can only buy ten mu at most, which is too little for me."

"But dad, have you ever thought about it? It's very hard to plant [-] acres of land. How many days can there be in a year's slack? There's no time to run a boat. When you're busy, you have to hire helpers. Why don't you plant less at home and have time to run a boat?" gone."

Fan Tiezhou was right when he thought about it. He only cared about the maximum bearing capacity of his own farming, but forgot that he had to run a boat, and it was really too busy to plant [-] acres.

He patted his son's head, "You're still smart, this time Daddy will listen to you, buy ten acres of farmland, add our family's three acres of land, a total of thirteen acres, and then run the boat."

"Daddy had better go get some medicine and boil a few bottles of that bruise ointment. Maybe I can make a lot of friends with it."

Fanning knew that his father was warm-hearted and loyal, so he never mentioned using it to make money.

"it is good!"

Fan Tiezhou readily agreed, "I'll go up the mountain tomorrow to have a look!"

As the saying goes, husband and wife are the two skirts of clothes, and children are the buttons. Under Fan Ning's go-between, Fan Tiezhou and his wife reconciled.

． ． ． ． ． ． ． ．
Two days later, Zhang Sanniang sent her son and husband to the boat at the entrance of the village before dawn.

Zhang Sanniang thought of her son leaving her side, her tears rolled down again, Fan Ning said with a smile: "Mom, it's not that I'm going to the capital, I'll be back in a few days."

Zhang Sanniang wiped away her tears and said: "You brat, if you don't study hard, mother will beat you when you come back."

"Don't worry, mother! I promise to save you another ten bucks next year."

Zhang Sanniang nodded, and then told her husband, "Come back early after seeing off Ning'er."

"I know. I'll stop by to see the boat."

"Be careful, don't be fooled by others."

Uncle Shui Gen, who was rocking the boat, smiled and said, "I said eldest niece, but you are talking about me!"

"Uncle Shuigen, why would I say you, you guys go away! Don't delay your child's schooling."

The boat shook and drifted away on the water. Zhang Sanniang watched her son's back disappear with reluctance, and then went home.

． ． ． ． ． ． ．

Uncle Shuigen, surnamed Zhang, is Zhang Sanniang's cousin. He is about 50 years old. He was also a fisherman at the beginning. He is Fan Tiezhou's master.

Zhang Shuigen has been in the passenger boat business for more than ten years. He knows that passenger boats are more profitable than fishing boats, and he can take care of his family easily, so he has been persuading Fan Tiezhou to switch to passenger boats with him.

Zhang Shuigen said with a chuckle: "This year, the young people in our village are all good, and five of them are going to study in the town."

"Who else but Ning'er?" Fan Tiezhou asked curiously.

"There are Jiang Agui, the son of Yuanwai Jiang, Zhao Xiaoyi, the son of Zhao Qiu, and two boys from Han Zhuang's family. All four of them go to the government-run school in the town. Of course, it is not as good as the Yanying School."

Fan Tiezhou nodded and asked again: "What about the elementary school in the village?"

"Didn't you tell your fourth son to be a husband, you didn't know?"

Fan Tiezhou was stunned, what's going on?

He suddenly looked back at his son.

Fan Tiezhou immediately understood that his son must have found Yuanwai Zhou, and he pointed at his son, saying, "You brat, you're hiding this kind of thing from me!" '

Fan Tiezhou was in a good mood immediately, and the fourth child finally had something to do, so he didn't have to drag his parents down anymore.

During this period of time, everything was going well at home, and Fan Tiezhou was suddenly full of confidence in his future.

. . . . . . . . .

When the boat arrived in Mudu Town, it was already bright, and Fan Tiezhou arrived at the gate of Yanying Academy with his suitcase and son.

A teaching assistant ran out from the school, and said with a smile: "The headmaster said that Fan Shaolang is coming today, and I have been waiting for it."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, sir."

"It's okay, leave the rest to me! Parents can go home."

Fan Tiezhou hesitated for a moment, then handed the box to the teaching assistant, and then told Fan Ning: "If you need anything, go to the pier and find Mr. Shuigen, and he will help you."

"I see, if Dad has something to do, go and get busy!"

Fan Tiezhou smiled and waved to his son, then turned and walked towards the pier. He made an appointment to see the boat today. If it is suitable, he will buy it directly.

"Young man, please follow me!"

Fan Ning nodded, followed the teaching assistant to the classroom, "You report to the professor first, and I will come to you to arrange a dormitory at noon."

"Thank you, sir!"

Not long after, Fan Ning met the first professor in the school.

Apprenticeship and study in the Song Dynasty were two different things. Generally speaking, a literati had only one master in his life. He had to hold a ceremony and perform the ceremony of worshiping a teacher. He was a teacher for one day and a father for life.

While studying in the school, you will meet many gentlemen. These are ordinary teachers, usually called "Sir". The main teachers in schools and county schools are called "professors". Mr. or TA.

The teaching assistant introduced today's professor to him, "Fan Shaolang, this is Professor Yan, who teaches "The Analects of Confucius" in the school, and his deep research on "The Analects of Confucius" is also one of the best in Wu County."

As his name suggests, Professor Yan is a stern-faced old man. He is not tall, thin, and has silver hair. He looks very knowledgeable, but he has a rosacea, which ruins his image a bit.

Fan Ning had no choice but to kneel down and salute, "Student Fan Ning pays his respects to the professor!"

When meeting for the first time, you have to kneel down to salute your husband. This is the rule of the world school, and it will not be used in the future.

Professor Yan nodded, "According to the usual practice, you have to take a test once you enter the door, but today is the classroom test, so I don't have to give you a separate question, you come with me!"

Carrying his book bag, Fan Ning followed Professor Yan into the school. There were about 30 students in the school, all of whom were admitted last year, and they were about to be promoted to a higher level.

Everyone is writing with their heads down, they are taking an exam, and there are exam questions hanging on the shelf opposite, five chapters of "Shuer", "Tabo", "Zihan", "Xiangdang" and "Jianjin".

The school is the same as the schools of later generations, there is a table for two people, but there is a chair for each person.

Professor Yan took him to the first row of seats by the window, and there was only one person sitting at this table.

He pointed to the empty seat and said to Fan Ning, "You will sit here from now on!"

"Students know."

"The test questions are hanging in front, and the papers are on the table. Let's start!"

Fan Ning sat down, and Professor Yan turned and left. Before he got used to it, he started the exam.

Helpless, Fan Ning had to take out the pen and inkstone, but found that he had no ink and had to grind ink, but where was the water?
Professor Yan had already gone out. Fan Ning looked around but couldn't find the bucket. At this moment, his deskmate gently pushed a plate of ink over.

"Thank you so much!"

Fan Ning was very grateful in his heart, and looked up at the tablemate, only to see that the tablemate had picturesque eyebrows and handsome face, he was an extremely handsome young man.

Fanning was 'Ah! 'I jumped up with a bang, my eyes widened, why is it you again?
(End of this chapter)