"Young Master has a keen eye. Thirty taels of silver is what you get."
The man who opened the odds walked through the crowd, came to Zhu Ping'an, and handed Zhu Ping'an ten times the winnings from his bet with both hands.
"Thank you." Zhu Ping'an took the purse and bowed to express his gratitude.
The gambling money was in a small purse, which contained the loose change from everyone's bets, totaling thirty taels.
"How dare I? You have a keen eye, which is admirable. May I ask your name?"
The man who opened the betting market slightly stepped aside, not daring to accept Zhu Ping'an's gift. Regardless of whether the bet made by the young man in front of him was a wise one or simply out of courage, in any case, this young man who looks simple and honest has unlimited future.
"I don't deserve the name, I'm Zhu Ping'an from Xiahe." Zhu Ping'an weighed his purse and said casually.
"ah?"
The man who opened the market was extremely surprised. He never thought that the honest young man standing in front of him was the lucky young man in the firewood room who was bitten by a snake and heard a bird cry, which he had heard from others and recorded in a book.
It doesn't match at all.
"Young Master is Zhu Ping'an." The man who opened the market murmured to himself, and was silent for a moment, then bowed and said, "If there is anything in the book that offends you, I hope you will forgive me."
Zhu Pingan put the purse in his arms, looked up at him, and said with a simple smile, "How could it be? I can't thank you enough. Thanks to you, I now have the money for the provincial examination."
"Young master is magnanimous, an extraordinary person." The man who opened the market thanked him again and left.
At this time, Uncle Zhu Shouren finally accepted the fact that Zhu Ping'an had once again passed the imperial examination, but he felt mixed emotions. This reality was too hard for them to accept. Zhu Ping'an was only thirteen years old, and he had eaten less rice than they had eaten salt. But if he was lucky the first time, how could he understand this time? Lucky things are rare in the imperial examination hall, so how could he pass the imperial examination twice... But how could someone who ate and slept in the examination hall pass the imperial examination twice...
"Congratulations, An Ge'er. It's us who have been waiting for Meng Lang for several times."
The person who failed the exam this time seemed to have lost his original frivolity and become more stable after the blow of failing the exam. He also had a new opinion of Zhu Ping'an. He thought that bad luck can't happen twice, which showed that Zhu Ping'an also had some real talents and knowledge. So he congratulated Zhu Ping'an with an apologetic look on his face for being on the top of the list again.
"No, it was just luck."
There is nothing better than being able to correct one's mistakes. Zhu Ping'an was not a petty person, so he responded calmly, giving others a way out.
However, not everyone thinks so. The other three people on the list, including uncle Zhu Shouren, insisted that Zhu Ping'an might have been lucky again in this exam, or he just happened to encounter the original questions, just like a bull that will not turn back even if it hits a wall.
"Ping'an was lucky enough to win some prizes this time, so I'll keep twenty taels for myself as a gift for the trial. The remaining ten taels are probably your gambling money, so you can take them back." Zhu Ping'an kept twenty taels of the thirty taels he won, and returned the remaining ten taels to his uncle Zhu Shouren and others.
In fact, it is not that Zhu Ping'an is so generous, nor is it that the Virgin Mary Sue is so great for repaying evil with kindness, but it is the situation that makes it so. On the one hand, after all, it is a lucky draw. He won thirty taels with three taels of silver, and it is enough for him to keep twenty taels. He should not be too greedy. On the other hand, this is the ancient times after all, an era that emphasizes benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trustworthiness. He repays evil with kindness and wins a good reputation with ten taels of silver. Why not
As for my uncle Zhu Shouren and others, haven’t you heard of Duke Zhuang of Zheng in the Spring and Autumn Period
Sometimes indulgence is also a means.
As soon as Zhu Ping'an said this, his uncle Zhu Shouren reacted immediately. He took the ten taels of silver in his hand, and then distributed it to everyone one by one according to their bets. In the end, uncle Zhu Shouren kept half a tael of silver in his hand, and put it in his sleeve without saying a word.
This time, the list was reviewed again, including the A and B lists, and there were more than 500 people on the list. Those on the list returned to the inn happily to prepare for the next exam, while those who failed returned home in despair. Only Zhu Ping'an was calm and looked the same.
"Some time ago, we didn't recognize the gold and jade. I hope An Ge'er won't blame us. This time, we will return home."
After Zhu Ping'an's behavior of returning the bet just now, the failed students had a greatly changed opinion of him. Before the three students packed up and returned to their hometown, they specially came to Zhu Ping'an's room, bowed and said goodbye to him.
"How could that be? It's my fault for not behaving so well." Zhu Ping'an was reading a book in the room. He immediately put the book down, stood up and returned the greetings one by one.
"Ang'er, do you have any message? We can take it back to your home." The scholar who failed the exam asked kindly.
"Well, thank you very much. Please tell my parents that I am doing well outside and have the money for the provincial examination. You don't have to worry about me at home." Zhu Ping'an was not polite and asked them to take a message home, asking them to save the money for his eldest brother's marriage and not to worry about him anymore.
"Ang'er is very kind." The failed student praised.
When it was almost time to leave, a student looked at the Four Books and Five Classics spread out on Zhu Ping'an's desk, as well as the rice paper that he had used repeatedly on both sides, and said with emotion: "We are blinded by a single leaf and fail to see the big mountain. Brother An'er's hard work is far beyond our reach."
"I don't have enough talent, so I can only work harder. As the saying goes, learning is like a bow and talent is like an arrow." Zhu Ping'an spread his hands and said casually.
Unexpectedly, as soon as these words came out, the eyes of the failed students lit up, and they kept muttering: "Learning is like a bow and arrow, and talent is like an arrow. What a good sentence. An Ge'er is very talented."
Uh, looking at the admiring expressions of the three failed students, Zhu Pingan realized belatedly that he had accidentally said a famous quote by Yuan Mei of the Qing Dynasty, but once the words were spoken, they could not be changed, so he could only explain:
"That's not what I said. I just heard it from someone else."
It is not known how much of Zhu Ping'an's explanation the three failed students believed. In any case, Zhu Ping'an did not notice it when they said goodbye and left.
After seeing off several students who failed the exam, Zhu Pingan returned to his room to read. The Four Books annotated by Zhu Xi were really a headache to read. Because some of the annotations were probably a flash of inspiration when Master Zhu was squatting on the toilet to exert himself; or it was probably an epiphany after Master Zhu had nothing to do and pondered over a certain sentence for ten days or half a month. Many times, if he hadn't written it down, he probably wouldn't have understood it himself, let alone others. This led to the situation that students who were working hard for the imperial examinations worked hard to study Zhu Xi's version while greeting Zhu Xi's family in various languages.
But no matter how much of a headache it is, if he wants to take the imperial examination, he has to study hard and calmly, because the book he is annotating is a reference book for the imperial examination.
The sunlight came through the window, dyeing Zhu Ping'an's body golden, and leaving a shadow of a man who could not put down his book on the ground and wall.