I studied abroad in modern times

Everyone filed into the waterside pavilion.

Two middle-aged men were already standing in front of the hall. One of them had no beard on his face and was wearing a green shirt. His thin body stood upright.

The other one has two carefully groomed mustaches on his lips and is dressed in satin, making him look like a somewhat wealthy member of the Communist Party of China.

Seeing them come in, Mustache spoke first: "Each of us find a place."

Everyone looked for the cases, and Zheng Fa also found an empty seat in the corner and knelt down in front of the case.

Zheng Fa has always felt that the most stressful moment in an exam is before the exam papers are distributed.

For example, right now, the waterside pavilion is so quiet that only the sound of slightly heavy breathing remains.

"I am Madam's butler, my surname is Wu, and this is the seventh young master's teacher, Mr. Shen." He pointed to the middle-aged man in green shirt beside him: "Today's examiner is Mr. Shen."

Mr. Shen nodded slightly, with no expression on his face. He said nothing else and said directly: "Today we are selecting a book boy for the seventh young master. Your family backgrounds are very different."

He glanced at Zheng Fa's short shirt, and then glanced at the young men wearing silk clothes.

“Learning is also mixed.”

His eyes lingered on the scarves on the heads of the three boys for a while.

"Therefore, for the sake of fairness, there will be no other tests today." He pointed to the cases in front of Zheng Fa and the others: "This is a Taoist book "Qingjing Jing". I will lead you to recite some chapters of it, and then you need to Write down the chapters and sentences that you can remember.”

After speaking, he didn't care how these teenagers reacted, and started reciting directly without holding a book in his hand.

The young men hurriedly opened the "Qing Jing Sutra" in front of them and read it along with Mr. Shen, struggling to keep up with his speaking speed.

"The great road is invisible, giving birth to heaven and earth; the great road is ruthless, moving the sun and the moon; the great road is nameless, nourishing all things; I don't know its name, so I call it Tao. The Taoist: there is purity and turbidity, movement and stillness; the sky is clear and the earth is turbid. The sky is moving and the earth is quiet. The male is pure and the female is quiet. The pure is the source of turbidity, and the moving is the foundation of tranquility.

After reading four chapters, he suddenly stopped and said:

"Okay, hand over the book in your hand and start writing silently."

It started suddenly and ended so unexpectedly.

Many young people sighed, but looking at his dull face, they didn't dare to say anything. They just obediently placed the unfinished scripture in front of him.

…

The waterside pavilion became quiet again, except for the sound of grinding ink and the rustling of paper.

Mr. Shen and Butler Wu stood side by side in front of the hall, looking at the dozen or so young men sitting at desks in front of them. Their lips moved slightly, but only each other could hear the conversation. It was obvious that they both had extraordinary martial arts skills.

"Mr. Shen is very angry," Butler Wu said.

These 17 or 18-year-old kids could all see the other party's impatience.

"Find a mere book boy..."

"What can we do? After all, the seventh young master is Madam's eyeball, and he will be the head of our Zhao family in the future. How can the people around you not be cautious? Sir, it's not like you don't know that those book boys before were all taken by Madam Drive away."

"It's obviously him who is being naughty!"

At this point, Mr. Shen's expression became even more ugly.

Butler Wu didn't dare to answer this, so he just changed the topic: "This "Qing Jing Jing" is not popular. We have never read it. These little guys usually read Confucian classics and have never been exposed to the Taoist scriptures. Now they have to endure hardships." ”

"Hmph! Since your wife wants to find a good one, I will find a good one for her!"

Butler Wu smiled slightly, knowing that the other party was just complaining.

As a young master, I come to test these children. Isn’t it normal to think that they are overqualified and underutilized?

"This book is an excellent choice, but none of these children have read it. Who can say that we are unfair in today's assessment?"

Unexpectedly, Mr. Shen shook his head slightly: "To be fair, I think the ones who can stand out are the ones with some background."

"How to say?"

"You have also read books, how can you not know? Eating meat is better than eating vegetables. If you eat well, your memory will be better. What's more, reading can make you wise. Most of those who have gone to school are better than those who have never gone to school. Be smart."

Butler Wu also knew that Mr. Shen was right.

"The three children in this scene each have their own origins. One is the child of the second housekeeper's family, one is the child of the seventh young master's aunt's family, and the other is also the grandson of the family shopkeeper. According to the teacher's wishes, these three People?"

Mr. Shen nodded.

"I think there is a guy who is interesting." Mr. Shen was startled and followed his gaze to the corner.

In the corner, Zheng Fa was slowly grinding ink.

"This kid?" Mr. Shen frowned and said, "Looking at his appearance, he is probably the worst among this group of people. You actually think he has a chance?"

Butler Wu chuckled and said, "I feel ashamed to compete with you in knowledge. But when it comes to looking at people, my eyes are still pretty good."

He raised his chin slightly and pointed at Zheng Fa: "This kid is afraid of others coming in, but although he is a little nervous, he seems to have adapted to the environment in two or three breaths."

"Sir, you just finished memorizing it. All the three children, including him, had sad faces. That's him. There is nothing difficult about his face."

"I'm afraid he has something in his stomach."

Mr. Shen took a closer look at Zheng Fa and felt that under the influence of Butler Wu's words, he really saw some composure on the child's face.

More importantly, he knew that Butler Wu was not bragging. He was deeply trusted by his wife and was in charge of almost all major and minor matters in the backyard of the big house. His ability to recognize people should not be underestimated.

…

Zheng Fa finally managed to grind the ink.

He is indeed not very nervous. In the five years since modern times, he has experienced at least hundreds of exams, large and small.

No matter whether you do well or not, your mentality in the examination room can be regarded as cultivated.

He is confident that compared to other teenagers, he has more experience in this area.

What's more, the test method this time is extremely beneficial to him - the "Qing Jing Jing" is certainly not easy to memorize, but when he first started learning English, it was called the Book of Heaven.

No matter how difficult it is, can it be as difficult as challenging high school mathematics at the kindergarten level?

Sure enough, even though he couldn't quite understand some of the words, Mr. Shen read and listened and memorized everything.

He was a little uncomfortable with having to sharpen ink before writing.

Others started writing, but he was still fighting against the inkstone.

After finally getting ink, Zheng Fa picked up the brush and remembered a very embarrassing question——

He doesn't know how to use a writing brush!

No matter which world he was in, he had never learned calligraphy.

Zheng Fa could only make do by pinching the pen.

Then he realized:

He doesn't know the words of this world.

It can't be said that he can't do it at all. After all, he has attended elementary school for one year, but in general, he doesn't know much.

The writing in this world is miraculously similar to modern writing, more like the writing style in modern ancient books.

When he read the "Qing Jing Sutra", he was not aware of this problem. Just like many modern people find it smooth to read traditional Chinese characters, he really understood it.

But when I picked up the pen, I felt a little desperate.

After completing compulsory education, do you want to be illiterate again?

"During the exam, I'd rather make mistakes and write all the 伱s than give me a blank paper!" Old Chen's earnest instructions were still in his ears. Zheng Fa gritted his teeth and started dictating in simplified Chinese characters.

In front of the hall, Mr. Shen watched Zheng Fa write crooked words on the paper, full of errors and omissions, and couldn't help but look at Butler Wu with a smile.

Butler Wu touched his mustache and said, "It's an eyesore. Where does this kid get his confidence?"