"These bastards are so cruel... They must be jealous of my handsome face... hiss..."
Inside the inn, Fatty Xue Chi sat on a chair with his fat face twitching.
Zhu Pingan, who was helping the fat man apply medicine, twitched his mouth when he heard this. He really didn't know where this fat man got his confidence from! And his handsome face. If the fat man's family didn't have some money, Zhu Pingan would doubt whether this guy could find a partner!
"Okay, take this medicine back and apply it once a day. It will be cured in about three days." After applying the medicine, Zhu Ping'an threw the bamboo stick wrapped with the cotton ball into the trash can made of bamboo basket, plugged it, and threw the medicine bottle into the arms of fat man Xue Chi.
"Thank you, Brother Zhu." The fat man stood up from his chair and thanked Zhu Ping'an.
"No need to thank me." Zhu Pingan waved his hand nonchalantly, and then said, "The exam is only a few days away, so you should take care of yourself."
“The exam is coming up so soon…” Fatty Xue Chi exclaimed when he heard that, and then his fat face looked constipated.
After seeing off the drunk fat man who was staggering, it was already after dusk when the moon was above the willow branches. Because of the curfew system, the nights of the Ming Dynasty were much quieter. At this moment, everything was silent, and the whole street was quiet and deserted. People were either staying out or sleeping at home.
To be successful, you must be able to endure loneliness. There is no shortcut to success. Zhu Pingan sat by the window, lit an oil lamp, and recalled the Qing Dynasty champion papers he had seen in his mind. Then he chose an eight-part essay from one of them, ground it, and copied it on paper.
The title of the article copied by Zhu Ping'an is "Attract people from all over the world, gather goods from all over the world, trade and go home, each getting what he needs", which is from the Book of Changes. Xici II "At noon as the market time, attract people from all over the world, gather goods from all over the world, trade and go home, each getting what he needs, which is probably taken from the "Shi Ke" hexagram. The original meaning of this passage is: use noon as the market time, attract people from all over the world, gather goods from all over the world, trade with each other and go home, each getting what they need, which is probably taken from the "Shi Ke" hexagram.
This was the answer sheet of Liu Chunlin, the last No. 1 scholar in the Qing Dynasty. It contained good opinions and profound attainments in eight-part essays. Zhu Ping'an copied it down and read it over and over again. Then he tried to write one of his own for comparison and to find out the shortcomings. It was not until late at night that he turned off the oil lamp and went to sleep.
It is late at night, everyone is immersed in dreams, and the inky night sky is quietly nurturing the next dawn.
Zhu Pingan got up early in the morning, washed up briefly, and went out as usual, carrying his schoolbag and a black board. The students who got up early and read by the window in the inn were no longer surprised by Zhu Pingan's outfit. As they were both early risers and hardworking people, they naturally didn't get tired of seeing each other. Some students nodded slightly to Zhu Pingan, and Zhu Pingan responded one by one.
Zhu Ping'an carried the black wooden board through the lobby and walked along the Qinhuai River towards the woods where he used to practice calligraphy.
When passing by the bridge connecting the Qinhuai River to the Jinfenyulou on the other side, I saw several males returning from the gentle land on the other side. Their faces were full of satisfaction and fatigue. It seemed that they had been working hard all night.
He walked to the river and filled a bamboo tube with Qinhuai water, then turned away from the river bank and walked towards the woods.
"Hey, that half-grown scholar, you used a bamboo tube to fill it with our foot washing water, but you are going to go back secretly to drink it?" The two girls, one big and one small, on the other side of the river were washing by the river and found Zhu Ping'an. They couldn't help but laugh and tease Zhu Ping'an again.
A prostitute who is not bound by feudal ethics should not be underestimated, but I am tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.
"Remember to add sugar next time."
Zhu Ping'an didn't look back, but just shook the bamboo tube casually and left a few words lightly.
"Hehe... I thought you were a blockhead, but it turns out you're also a chatterbox." The young girl on the other side of the bank smiled, covering her lips.
"Little brother, I don't put sugar in foot washing water, but I do put sugar in bath water. Come and play with me, I'll give you some after I take a bath, haha..."
The older girl also giggled at Zhu Ping'an's words. He was ambitious but not dull, self-disciplined but not pedantic. It had been a long time since she saw such an interesting scholar, and she couldn't help but laugh.
Listening to the laughter of the girl behind him, Zhu Ping'an almost doubted whether this was the Ming Dynasty. Really, the fighting ability of this prostitute was no less than those modern big sisters who liked young handsome men.
Without paying any further attention, Zhu Ping'an walked towards the remote woods and came to the stone where he often practiced calligraphy. Zhu Ping'an put the black wooden board on the stone, took out the brush and began to practice calligraphy.
Ever since he met the old man fishing by the lake last time, Zhu Ping'an's calligraphy has been getting better and better, and he has developed a style of his own.
Although the forest chosen by Zhu Pingan is secluded, there are many mosquitoes, especially the vicious black-striped mosquitoes, which will swell up a big lump if bitten. When Zhu Pingan came to write, he was bitten by mosquitoes on his hands and neck. It was painful and itchy, very annoying, and the effect of practicing calligraphy was a little worse than usual.
Burning mugwort can indeed repel mosquitoes, but it is not very safe in the woods after all. Zhu Pingan thought that after breakfast, he would go to the pharmacy and buy some angelica, mint, perilla, calamus, lemongrass, star anise, tangerine peel, orange peel and the like and put them in the purse made by his mother. He could carry it with him and it was quite effective in repelling mosquitoes.
After practicing calligraphy, Zhu Ping'an stood up and walked while silently reading the Four Books and Five Classics to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes again.
When Zhu Ping'an was silently reading the Four Books and Five Classics, a scholar with a book in his hand came out of the woods. Zhu Ping'an greeted him from a distance and continued to read his book silently.
Then Zhu Ping'an heard the sound of reading aloud that echoed throughout the entire forest.
“Learn and practice it from time to time… Learn and practice it from time to time… Isn’t it a pleasure… Isn’t it a pleasure…” The song was repeated dozens of times. It was all just this sentence with nine words. The first five words were read dozens of times, and the last four words were read dozens of times.
Damn, why does this sound a bit like the one who howled like a wolf in the middle of the night and was scolded as a mother? Zhu Ping'an, who was reading silently, was stunned. He raised his head to glance at the scholar, only to see that he was shaking his head and reading with great emotion.
After reading this sentence dozens or even hundreds of times, the scholar finally changed the sentence.
“A friend comes from afar… A friend comes from afar… Isn’t it a pleasure? Isn’t it a pleasure?…” This sentence is also a single loop. Just like the previous sentence, the first five words are read a hundred times, and then the last four words are read a hundred times, without reading them together with a sentence.
I am impressed by this way of endorsing... He is truly a god-like scholar.
Zhu Ping'an spent the whole morning reviewing the Four Books and Five Classics with the scholar's single song on repeat. Moreover, the scholar only read five sentences in the whole morning...
Eight-legged essay selection
Imperial examination
I really don’t know what would happen if this kind of person also passed the imperial examination…
I'm afraid it won't be possible to go back to this forest tomorrow, Zhu Ping'an thought to himself as he packed up his things and left after his morning reading.