Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 45 Apprenticeship (Additional update)
  "You must discuss such a big matter with your parents." Li An said with a smile.

"That's a state's academic affairs, and my parents will definitely agree." Li Ping said.

"You know, you know, you still need to ask for permission. Let's not talk about it anymore, brother, do you want to study?" Li An asked.

"Studying?" Li Ping was stunned, shook his head and said, "I'm so old, why should I study?"

Li Ping will be fourteen years old during the Chinese New Year, and he should start a family in two years.

"Age is not a problem, what matters is do you want to read?" Li An asked.

As a time traveler, he didn't have much confidence in passing the imperial examination. At Li Ping's age, if he was studying now, it would be difficult to achieve anything without extraordinary talent.

But read some books, whether you are doing business or doing anything else, you can use it.

After hearing this, Li Ping was silent for a while, shook his head and said, "I don't want to study. It's good to do business with my parents."

For him, he is very satisfied now that he can do business every day, have enough food and clothing, and is not as tired as he was when he was farming.

Li An said: "Brother, since you want to do business, you should go to school. It's okay for our family to do a small business. If we do a bigger business, we can't even do the accounting. I mean, you can do it. Go to the academy to study, mainly to learn how to calculate accounts and so on."

He can also hand in these, but he usually has to study and doesn't have time.

Li Ping was silent for a while and said, "Let me think about this matter carefully."

"Well, you think about it yourself. Don't be afraid that your parents won't agree. If you want to read it, I'll go and tell them." Li An said.

"Brother Li San, I also want to go to school." Shi Zhu said.

"Haha, why do you want to study?" Li An said with a smile.

"I heard that there are many people in the academy, so I can have someone to play with me when I study. There was no one to play with me when you went to study." Shi Zhu said with a longing look on his face.

Li An was a little silent when he heard this. He had indeed ignored this. However, it was simply not feasible for Shi Zhu to go to the academy to study.

All the children in the village despised him, let alone the students in the academy.

If Shizhu goes to study and is isolated and laughed at, he will be in trouble if he beats them again.

However, letting him stay at home alone every day without peers is really not conducive to his growth.

"I'll ask the master when I get back."

Looking at Shi Zhu's expectant eyes, Li An couldn't say no.

"Great, if you tell my father, he will definitely agree." Shi Zhu said happily.

Li An was not so optimistic. He sighed inwardly and said, "It's already dawn, let's go back quickly, otherwise my father, mother, master, and the others should be worried."

……

"You brat, why don't you agree to such a wonderful thing? Do you think you are stupid?"

Mrs. Liu learned that Liu Xuezheng wanted to accept Li An as his disciple, but Li An didn't agree. She was so angry that she didn't bother to clean the pig's waste. She wiped water on her apron and grabbed Li An's ears.

"Ah~ Mom, let go, my ears are about to be ripped off." Li An quickly begged for mercy.

"You deserve to be ripped off. This is a good thing only when smoke comes out of ancestral graves. You don't agree. Do you want to make me angry to death?"

Although Mrs. Liu said this, she still let go of Li An.

Li An rubbed his ears and said, "Mom, it's not that I don't agree. I just want to come back and ask you and dad. If you agree, I will just go find Liu Xuezheng to become a disciple tomorrow."

"Why wait for tomorrow? Go now." Mrs. Liu glared.

"Ah~" Li An said speechlessly: "Mom, I didn't sleep all night last night."

"Why sleep? What if someone changes their mind?"

After Mrs. Liu finished speaking, she saw that Li Nan was still cleaning the pig's water, and said angrily: "Didn't you hear that your son is going to become a disciple, so why didn't you pack up and go with him? I heard that the apprenticeship requires some training. You can do it later." Buy more things and don’t let others think we don’t understand etiquette.”

"oh oh."

Hearing this, Li Nan quickly washed his hands, scratched his head and said, "I don't know what I want to buy." "There are so many people in the city and you don't know how to ask, why do you open your mouth?" Ms. Liu rolled her eyes at him angrily and said Went into the house to get money.

"Mom, I can just go by myself. The family won't be busy even if dad is gone." Li An shouted.

"Goudan will come to help in a while. You are still studying. How can your father not go to such a big thing?" Mrs. Liu said in the room.

"Okay then, I'll help Goudan wait for the master."

"Don't go, let Tieniu go. There is hot water in the pot for you. Wash up and change clothes quickly." Mrs. Liu said.

……

Not even half an hour after Li An returned home, he changed his clothes and went out again with his father.

Because he was going to Liu Xuezheng's house, Li Nan was worried that the donkey cart would be stolen outside, so he picked up a bamboo basket and walked to the city with Li An.

"Aniu, do you know what Shu Xiu wants to buy?" Li Nan asked.

Apprenticeship is different from entering an academy, and you definitely cannot pay directly.

Li An thought for a moment and said, "Just buy a few strips of pork."

Shu Xiu was originally set by Confucius, and usually consists of a few strips of salted pork.

Li An thought that it would be enough to buy a few strips of pork according to ancient rituals.

"No, that's academic politics. How many pieces of pork can people like? I'll go to the city later to find someone to ask." Li Nan shook his head, feeling that Li An was unreliable.

"Dad, Liu Xuezheng is a seventh-grade official. If it was really for the benefit, he wouldn't accept me as a student. Giving me too much would be bad," Li An said.

Li Nan didn't understand this, but he thought what Li An said made sense. He thought about it and asked, "How many pairs do you think it would be appropriate to buy?"

"Let's take six." Li An thought for a while and said.

He had only seen it in his previous life, saying that when Confucius accepted disciples, he always accepted a few strips of salted pork. He didn't know the specific number.

But I think six should be enough.

Although Li Nan felt it was a bit small, he still agreed after Li An's persuasion.

After entering the city, he found a pork shop and bought six strips of meat.

Well, one weighs seven or eight pounds.

Because of the Chinese New Year, pork is a lot more expensive, 28 cents per pound.

The six strips of meat totaled forty-five kilograms, costing one tael of silver.

Although Liu Xuewen left him an address, Li An was not familiar with Yangzhou City. Although Li Nan went to the city every day, he bought pigs and went back, so he was not familiar with it, so he had to ask someone.

Half an hour later, the father and son arrived at a house with a Liu family plaque hanging on it.

Looking at the closed door, Li Nan asked uncertainly: "Is it here?"

"It should be right. The name on the plaque is Liu's Mansion. I'll knock on the door and ask."

Li An said, stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"You are?"

After a while, the courtyard door was opened, and a stooped old man opened the door and looked at the father and son.

Li An bowed his hands and said, "Old man, Li An, is this Liu Xuezheng's family?"

"Yes, who are you looking for?" the old man asked.

"Li An, Liu Xuezheng said that he would accept me as his student. He came here specially to be his disciple. Please let me know." Li An said with a cupped hand.

(End of this chapter)