Ah Yan grabbed a heavy gold ingot out of curiosity.
The gold ingots are of very high quality and weight, and cannot be held in one hand.
He has never seen this thing.
Look at the teacher with a questioning and inquiring look.
The old man smiled coldly and curled his lips: "Your 'senior brother' really thinks that we are poor relatives who come to ask for money. After treating us to a meal, he sent us a plate of this food. It's obvious that he wants us to get out of here. Humph, it's new."
Everyone knows what's going on in Sibao County.
He has a very comfortable life as a county magistrate. He spends two hundred taels of gold at a time. He really regards money as dirt!
Ah Yan said, "Brother, very good."
He had a lot of delicious food today.
The old man was both angry and amused. He poked his forehead with his finger and asked, "In your opinion, whoever gives you food is a good person?"
Ah Yan chewed and pondered these words twice in his heart.
After a long pause, he nodded firmly: "Yes."
After a while, he added another sentence.
"But the teacher is the best."
The teacher not only cooked for him, but also taught him many things. Although he didn't know what the use of learning these things was, for him it was a rare pleasure in his boring daily life.
"Yes, the teacher knows."
He let out a heavy breath.
Although he had heard Ah Yan say this many times, he always felt warm in his heart and his unhappy mood improved a lot.
It's ridiculous to say that he had a smooth career, with countless students and former officials, many of whom called themselves his students and respected him as their master and teacher. But in the end, he ended up in such a miserable situation.
He never dreamed that he would be "sent away" like this.
Shouldn't he be relieved that Xiaocheng, his student, still had a "little conscience"? At least he cared about his reputation and was willing to use silver to send people away instead of handing the master and apprentice over to Zheng Qiao to seek credit.
Thinking of this, the old man couldn't help but shake his head and sigh -
In the past, he tipped off others and took advantage of their misfortunes, but now he is treated generously and treated as a "guest of honor", and is even willing to spend money to give them travel expenses.
Ah Yan was acutely aware of the old man's complicated mood at the moment.
He didn't know how to comfort her, he just clumsily held the teacher's big hand full of wrinkles with his little hands, and looked at him with eyes full of admiration. The old man pinched Ah Yan's little face and laughed at himself: "Whether it is the world of mortals or the treacherous officialdom, there are always more people adding flowers to the icing on the cake and less people helping in times of trouble. It is the norm to follow the red to cover the white... I am now a poor old man..."
Facing Ah Yan's eyes full of doubt, he said: "Ah Yan is still young now, you will know when you grow up. However, in your situation, you should retire with me. The world outside is not suitable for you. If you enter the world, you will be skinned and torn apart."
Skinning and bone removal
There was a hint of fear in Ah Yan's eyes.
He buried his head in the old man's knees and said in a muffled voice: "Don't peel off the skin and bones, teacher, Ah Yan doesn't want to be eaten..."
"Okay, okay, Ah Yan is so cute, I won't eat you." The old man laughed at Ah Yan's innocent words and said, "Although I don't have many years left to live, it will be no problem for me to raise you. If anyone wants to eat you in the future, you can punch and kick them back."
Ah Yan asked, "Fight back?"
"Yes, no matter who it is, beat him!"
Ah Yan listened carefully, as if he wanted to remember these words deeply in his mind, as if they were an imperial decree: "Well, fight back! Beat him!"
As the master and the disciple were talking, there was a knock on the door.
"Sir, I've got the wine."
Old man: "Wine?"
Servant: "Yes, the master ordered me to buy it."
In order to establish a good relationship with the old man, the county magistrate had made great efforts to find out what the old man liked, hoping to please him and make him more visible in front of him, so that he could be promoted in the future when he entered the officialdom. Even if it didn't work out, it would be good to leave a good impression.
Because of his humility, diligence, pragmatism and ability, the county magistrate reaped many benefits from the old man and received a lot of secret care, which made his first entry into officialdom less embarrassing.
Once I remember it, I will remember it for many years.
But things are different now.
He specifically ordered his servants not to buy good wine - the host was smart, and he had tasted all kinds of good wine. If he just tasted the ordinary cheap wine, the host would know his attitude.
But he didn't know that the old man stopped drinking after raising Ah Yan.
The old man was about to refuse, but Ah Yan looked at the round-bellied wine jars with sparkling eyes and said, "Teacher, sugar."
"It's not sugar, it's wine."
Ah Yan was stubborn: "It's sugar."
The old man: “It’s wine.”
Ah Yan lowered his head: "I want to eat."
Old man: “…”
He asked the servant to bring in the wine jar, opened the red cloth cork, and the strong and overbearing wine aroma filled his nose, and it seemed that even his clothes were stained with the smell. The old man was slightly surprised. Based on his understanding of the disciple, the wine sent was either bland or had a mixed smell and was of poor quality. Ordinary people could buy two taels of wine for a few cents.
But this is clearly a rare fine wine.
The smell alone aroused his drinking addiction, which he had quit for many years.
The old man looked at Ah Yan, then at the wine jar.
It's a dilemma.
Ah Yan pointed at the wine jar and said, "It's sugar."
The old man laughed and said, "You said it was candy, so I'll let you try it."
Ah Yan's eyes lit up: "Okay."
When I said I was going to taste it, I just dipped a little with my chopsticks.
Ah Yan opened his mouth and whimpered, then took a bite and took a sip. Immediately, the spiciness made his face wrinkled, the corners of his eyes turned red, and he stuck out his tongue in embarrassment.
The old man laughed.
"Wine is a good thing. Drink it when you grow up."
The old man was not polite about the good wine brought to him by his cheap disciple. He filled the glass and drank two bowls in one breath. He sighed, "Your senior brother is good in every way, except his character. He has worked so hard to get to this point, and I don't know how many people he has brought down by his tricks. I wanted to remind him to be careful of your senior brother, but he regards us as a scourge, so it's not good to stay with him..."
Whatever you step on to get up, don't blame it for knocking you down.
Ah Yan looked at the wine jar as if he were looking at a flood or a monster.
I was confused after hearing what the teacher said.
He didn't quite understand what the teacher said.
The old man: "After we finish drinking this, let's go."
"Senior Brother? Senior Brother?"
How come there are two senior brothers
The old man looked accustomed to it.
"There are many old officials who are your disciples. Although our relationship is superficial, they are all your senior brothers. Is it rare for Xiaocheng to have two senior brothers? I just didn't expect it... "
The old grudge between Qishan and the governor of Xiaocheng County had caused quite a stir in a small circle back then, and the old man knew a little bit about it. When he entered Xiaocheng, he subconsciously opened the way of the scholar and found Qishan nearby, so he knew that the governor's disciple was in trouble.
The old man said: "Your senior brother surnamed Qi likes to plan before taking action. He dares to appear in the enemy's territory, which means that he is confident that he can hit the target with one strike and avenge his previous shame..."
Ah Yan listened with a blank expression.
"Stay away from them." The old man smiled and murmured, not knowing what past events he was recalling, "You are not a good person, how can I befriend you?"
Ah Yan: “Ah?”
Still confused.
At the same time, Qi Shan and Gu Chi had sorted things out. The atmosphere was no longer as tense and tense as before, but instead had a bit of the relaxed feeling of old friends meeting again.
Gu Chi frowned when he saw Qi Shan accepted it well.
Qishan seemed to be better at reading minds than he was: "Are you curious now, why I am not afraid of your way of the scribe?"
Gu Chi said: "A little bit."
Qishan: "Because I've seen more frightening things."
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