Mr. Wu said nothing, but picked up the paper on which Jiang Jie had written his words and looked at it carefully.
This child's handwriting might not be amazing if it were someone older, but he is only four years old.
A little kid of four years old has such strong writing skills, even better than my own son when he was a child.
It would be a shame if such a promising talent were buried in the countryside.
Mr. Wu lowered his head and stared at Jiang Jie: "Would you like to be my student?"
Jiang Jie blinked, remembered his sister's instructions, and nodded: "Yes!"
My sister said that Grandpa Wu’s son might be a Jinshi, and Grandpa Wu must be a very capable scholar. If I am lucky enough to have him as my teacher, it will not be a problem for me to pass the examinations for a scholar or a juren in the future.
If he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, his family's land would be exempt from taxes. After he became an adult, he could wear colored clothes when going out, instead of having to wear only black and white like his eldest cousin, which did not look good at all.
Mr. Wu turned his head to look at Jiang Sanlang who was standing under the eaves in the distance and waved to him.
Jiang Sanlang hurried over and bowed to Mr. Wu and Mrs. Wu.
Mr. Wu stroked his beard and said, "Jiang Cunzheng, I would like to take your son as my apprentice. What do you think?"
Jiang Sanlang was stunned, thinking he had misheard. But he quickly reacted and bowed deeply to Mr. Wu, "It is his honor that my son has been favored by you. I am very happy, and my whole family is happy for him."
Mr. Wu nodded: "Okay, from now on Jiang Jie will be my disciple."
After hearing what Mr. Wu said, Yingbao was very excited. She gently pushed her brother, signaling him to kowtow and become his disciple.
Jiang Jie immediately understood what his sister meant. He knelt down in front of the old man, kowtowed three times, and shouted, "Master, I, Jiang Jie, kowtow to you!"
At the beginning, he knelt too quickly and fell to the ground. Fortunately, he got up quickly, knelt down, and kowtowed seriously.
Granny Wu covered her mouth and laughed non-stop, and quickly helped the little kid up. "Oh, slow down, your face is bruised."
“No…” Jiang Jie touched his face, feeling a little embarrassed.
Mr. Wu: "Since you are my disciple, you will live here in the future. Are you willing?"
Jiang Jie hesitated, turned to look at his sister, then looked at his father, and seeing that they both nodded, he nodded as well: "Yes. Then, can I still go home in the future?"
If he is not allowed to go home, he will regret it and be unwilling to go.
"Of course you can come back. I can give you a day off every ten and a half days." Old Wu said, stroking his beard.
Jiang Jie hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
Coming out of the inner courtyard of the yamen, Jiang Jie hung his head and remained silent.
Jiang Sanlang carried him into the carriage and asked his little girl to stay by his side and talk to him.
But Jiang Jie didn't say a word until he returned to Meihua Lane.
Yingbao knew that her brother could not accept leaving home and his parents to study, so she touched his head and said softly:
"If you want to take the imperial examination and become someone like the county magistrate, you must find a good teacher. Did you see the students in the county school yesterday? Some of them are older than my father and are still studying in the school. Do you know why?"
Jiang Jie said sullenly, "Because they didn't pass the exam."
"That's right. Do you think why they always fail the exam?"
"Because there is no powerful master."
"Haha, Xiaojie is so smart, he even knows this." Yingbao clapped her hands and laughed, "It's because they didn't have a good master when they were young, so they are still studying even though they are older than their father."
Jiang Sanlang: … How old do I have to be to be despised by my children
Then Yingbao continued, "Do you want to study till old age and never pass the exam, or do you want to have a master to teach you and pass the exam to become a scholar or a juren as soon as possible?"
Xiao Jie thought for a moment and said, "I want to pass the exam as soon as possible." He didn't want to study until he was older than his grandfather and then he wouldn't even be able to walk.
Yingbao patted her brother's shoulder and encouraged him, "Not bad, you have great ambition. In the previous dynasty, there was a child prodigy who passed the examination for a scholar at the age of ten, passed the examination for a juren at the age of thirteen, and went to the capital to pass the examination for a jinshi at the age of sixteen. Do you know how powerful a jinshi is? Each of them can become a high-ranking official."
Jiang Jie's eyes lit up when he heard this.
When he was a child, he often listened to his sister telling stories about students' studies, and he was particularly envious of the candidates who went to Beijing to take the imperial examinations in the stories.
Things like passing the imperial examinations or becoming the top three in the imperial examinations were not as attractive as the ghost stories he encountered on the way to the exam, so he had to go to take the exam early.
His primary goal at the moment is to pass the imperial examination.
"Sister, when will I go to study with Grandpa Wu?"
Jiang Jie, who had figured it out, couldn't wait to go to Grandpa Wu's house to become his apprentice.
Yingbao smiled: "Dad has gone to prepare the apprenticeship ceremony, we will go there early tomorrow morning."
Early the next morning, Jiang Jie put on new plain cloth clothes, combed his hair neatly, slung a cloth bag over his shoulder, climbed into the carriage and sat upright, looking like a proper little scholar.
Jiang Sanlang also put on a clean plain cloth garment and brought six gifts and a bundle of tuition.
Yingbao didn't go this time because that kind of occasion was not suitable for people other than the elders to watch.
It was not until noon that Jiang Sanlang came back.
He said to his daughter with a happy face: "Xiao Jie has become a disciple. Old Wu asked him to live in the inner courtyard of the county government office. We will take Xiao Jie home for a day on the first and fifteenth day of every month."
Yingbao was also very happy. "Then wait until the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month to bring A Niang to the county town."
Jiang Sanlang also meant this. He smiled and said, "Let's go home now and tell your mother the good news."
For children from the countryside like them, being able to have Mr. Wu as their teacher is a blessing they have accumulated over several lifetimes.
Although Jiang Sanlang didn't know what Mr. Wu did before, he knew that he was an extraordinary person since he could raise a son like County Magistrate Wu.
But then again, if it weren't for his own little girl, he wouldn't even be able to step into the threshold of the county government's inner courtyard, let alone establish a relationship with the county magistrate's family.
Upon hearing that they were going back now, Jiang Quan hurriedly climbed into the carriage.
Jiang Cheng was unwilling to leave, saying that he wanted to stay at Meihua Lane to look after his family, because carpenters came to his house every day to make furniture, and someone had to be there to take care of it.
In fact, there was another reason why he didn't return to his hometown. The last marriage made Jiang Cheng feel ashamed in the village, and he just wanted to stay in the county town for the rest of his life and never go back.
Jiang Sanlang gave Jiang Cheng some instructions and then drove the carriage out of the city.
We drove quickly all the way and finally returned to the village before dark.
The two puppies ran over to greet their little master, barking, and their tails wagging like propellers.
"Dad! Sister!"
Jiang Wu hadn't seen his sister for several days. Every evening he stood on the high wall and looked at the road into the village. Today he saw his own carriage from afar, quickly coming down the wall and galloping out.
Yingbao jumped off the carriage, gave her second brother a bear hug, then picked up the two dogs and petted them a few times.
Chunniang also ran out, and when she didn't see Jiang Jie, she was stunned: "Where's Xiaojie?"
Jiang Sanlang laughed and said, "Xiao Jie has found a master in the county town. He will live in his master's house from now on. You can come with me to the county town to see him on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month."
Chunniang was at a loss for a moment, remembering that her daughter had taken Xiaojie to meet the county magistrate's father, and asked in disbelief, "Could it be that Xiaojie has become Master Wu's disciple?"
Jiang Sanlang smiled and whispered, "Just keep this a secret within your family, don't let outsiders know."