I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 32 Lin Xue

Therefore, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai became good sisters and often played together.

Soon, Lin Daiyu arrived at Lixiangyuan.

Since she is a regular visitor, there is no need to report.

Lin Daiyu walked into Xue Baochai's study. Coincidentally, Xue Baochai's two personal maids, Ying'er and Wenxing, were sent away by Xue Baochai to do some work.

Xue Baochai was the only one in the study.

Lin Daiyu saw Xue Baochai staring at a painting so intently that she didn't even notice that she had entered the room.

Lin Daiyu couldn't help feeling puzzled, wondering what kind of painting it was that could have so engrossed her.
Lin Daiyu walked behind Xue Baochai and looked around. She saw that the person in the painting was Xue Baochai.

But this painting was different from all the portraits she had seen before.

It would be fine if the Xue Baochai in the painting was vivid and lifelike, but what is even more surprising is that the person in the painting seems to be a real person with flesh and blood, and the whole painting seems to stand out from the paper.

"This? What kind of school is this? How can it be so realistic?"

Lin Daiyu was so shocked by the painting that she couldn't help but ask.

Although the voice was not loud, it still scared Xue Baochai, who was completely immersed in the painting.

She almost jumped up, and it took her a long time to come back to her senses.

She turned to look at Lin Daiyu and said with some resentment, "Sister Lin, do you know that scaring others can kill you?"

"How come you walked so quietly? I didn't even know you came in."

Lin Daiyu laughed and said, "Sister Bao, it's not that I walked without making any sound. It's obviously that you were too absorbed in your thoughts!"

"I wonder which master painted this portrait of Sister Bao? What school of painting is this? How could it be so vivid?"

Xue Baochai couldn't help but say, "I don't know about this either. My brother asked a painter to paint a portrait for me outside and came home to show off to me."

"I thought the painting was excellent, and it was a new way of painting. So I asked my brother to take me to find the painter and paint a portrait for me."

"The painter is painting on the east side of the front street. If Miss Lin likes this style of painting, she might as well go find him and have a portrait painted for her."

"The painter is very young, probably only about 15 or 16 years old. It's hard to believe how he can paint so well."

After hearing what Xue Baochai said, Lin Daiyu's eyes dimmed.

She was now living under someone else's roof, how could she be as free as Xue Baochai, who could go out whenever she wanted?
She was very careful every day in the Jia Mansion, fearing that she would say one too many words or take one too many steps.

Even so, there are bound to be some shortcomings, which will cause those villains to gossip behind your back.

How could she dare to ask for a painter to paint for her?

Thinking of this, Lin Daiyu couldn't help feeling depressed.

When Xue Baochai saw Lin Daiyu's mood change, she quickly guessed the reason and couldn't help but sigh that she had said the wrong thing.

So she quickly changed the subject and started discussing paintings with Lin Daiyu.

They did recognize some techniques in the painting of the portrait, but not much, and they still could not find out how the painter made the portrait stand out on the paper.

That is the three-dimensional sense of later generations.

This made the two of them even more curious.

……

Jia Cong went to school again today, and Jia Dairu gave him special lessons.

Jia Dairu said to Jia Cong, "Brother Cong, you have no problem with the interpretation of the classics now. The county examination for the Tongsheng exam only tests the interpretation of the classics, so I think you will have no problem passing it."

"But when it comes to the provincial examination, you will be tested on the three parts: copying scriptures, essays, and policy essays. At this time, your ability in writing eight-part essays will be tested."

"So, next, you will learn to write eight-part essays from me. And eight-part essays require a lot of effort to write well."

"Eight-part essays are also called Zhiyi, Zhiyi and Shiwen. They have a fixed format: they are composed of eight parts: breaking the topic, continuing the topic, starting the lecture, entering the topic, starting the section, middle section, back section and ending section."

"Each of the last four parts has two parallel parallel texts, totaling eight parts. Eight-part essays must speak for the ancient sages, and the four couplets must be in parallel and antithetical. You cannot use romantic allusions to blaspheme the saints."

"You are absolutely not allowed to express yourself freely, and the length of sentences, the complexity of characters, the pitch of voice, etc. must all be relatively fixed." "In eight-part essays, the most important thing is the introduction. A good introduction is half the success of the article. Next, I will teach you how to introduce the introduction."

Hearing this, Jia Cong's face suddenly showed understanding.

This eight-part writing style is similar to the online writing in later generations.

In later generations, online writing also pays attention to the three golden chapters. A good title, introduction and three golden chapters equal half of the success.

Next, Jia Cong patiently followed Jia Dairu to learn the eight-legged essay.

Soon, a hint appeared in front of Jia Cong's eyes.

Eight-part essay experience +1
【Eight-part essay (beginner): 1/100】

Before the end of the school day, Jia Dairu gave Jia Cong ten questions and asked Jia Cong to solve them after returning home.

He also took out several collections of contemporary essays and asked Jia Cong to go back and read them carefully, so as to learn the ideas and writing methods of these excellent contemporary essays.

After returning home and having dinner, Jia Cong went out to paint as usual, and earned another fifteen taels of silver that day.

After dark, Jia Cong returned to his study.

Jia Cong felt that time was not enough.

He had to write solutions to ten questions, read current affairs essays, read medical books, practice Hunyuan桩功, and Ba Duan Jin.

How can I find the time?
Especially the Hunyuan Posture, which is quite time-consuming.

Otherwise, why not temporarily activate the Hunyuan Posture?
But if that were the case, I wouldn’t be able to explain myself to Master Zhao.

Finally, Jia Cong suddenly thought of a clever idea.

Next, he answered the ten questions posed by Jia Dairu.

Next, Jia Cong practiced Hunyuan Zhuang Gong while reading contemporary essays.

In this way, you can achieve both cultivation and study.

Of course, it is also possible that the Hunyuan Zhuang Gong is not practiced well and therefore one cannot read contemporary literature.

At the beginning, that was true.

If you put your energy into Hunyuan Zhuanggong, you won’t be able to read contemporary literature. If you put your energy into contemporary literature, Hunyuan Zhuanggong won’t be able to be smooth and consistent.

Fortunately, Jia Cong did not give up easily. After some attempts, the Hunyuan Zhuang Gong inadvertently began to flow on its own, and Jia Cong was also immersed in contemporary literature.

Hunyuan Zhuanggong experience +1
Eight-part essay experience +1
Ba Duan Jin experience +1
……

It was not until two quarters of an hour later that Jia Cong felt the aching muscles all over his body and finally stood up.

Next, Jia Cong stopped practicing Hunyuan Zhuang Gong and continued reading current affairs.

After resting for a while, he stood up again to practice Hunyuan Zhuang Gong.

Until the second watch, he practiced Ba Duan Jin a few more times and then opened the proficiency panel.

【Name: Jia Cong】

【Four Books and Five Classics (Minor Achievement): 35/500】

【Ba Duan Jin (Dacheng): 431/1000】

【Calligraphy (Dacheng): 512/1000】

【Sketch (Complete): 758/1000】

【Medical Skills (Entry): 71/100】

【Hunyuan Zhuanggong (beginner): 21/100】