"The diligent are quick to virtue and righteousness, and most people in the world use diligence to help their poor..."
On a cliff in the sea of clouds, a young man in a simple light blue robe is basking in the sun, holding a scroll in one hand. The curled cover of the book has the word "Warning" written on it. The wind blows, and the old pine tree sways gently, and the withered and yellow pine needles fall on the scholar's shoulders.
“… A frugal person is indifferent to gaining profit, but people in the world pretend to be frugal to cover up their stinginess. A gentleman’s moral integrity is used as a tool for others to be selfish.”
Lu Liangsheng flicked the pine needles off his shoulders with his fingertips. In his peripheral vision, he saw the young man sitting behind the desk, supporting his chin with his hands and nodding his head. Then he walked over his mentor's tombstone with his robe open and tapped Li Sui'an's head with the book in his hand.
"wake up!"
The young man suddenly woke up and saw his master looking at him seriously. On both sides, Yuwen Tuo glanced at him with a snort. Qu Yuanfeng held back his smile and clenched the pen, writing the warning he had just heard on the paper.
"Master... I didn't sleep well last night, so I feel a little sleepy."
On the opposite side, Lu Liangsheng shook his head, held the scroll behind his back, and walked towards the thatched cottage.
"You are quibbling. I punish you by making you copy the seventh word of "Supreme Virtue" fifteen times and hand it in to me when it gets dark."
Li Sui'an's shoulders slumped, his face fell, he lowered his head and said "oh" softly. Seeing him being humiliated, Yuwen Tuo and Qu Yuanfeng wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, their faces turned red.
"Let's stop here for today's morning class." Lu Liangsheng changed his solemn and strict teacher's expression and softened it. "There is a wedding banquet in the village today, so I won't keep you here any longer. Go down the mountain and change your clothes."
"yes!"
The three young men stood up and bowed respectfully, picked up the paper, ink, brush and inkstone on the table, put on their small bags and walked a few steps quickly. Looking back, they saw their master entering the room. They cheered and ran away, swinging the small bags in their hands like crazy, and ran down the mountain.
The thatched cottage behind her was covered with lush branches and leaves, which swayed gently in the wind. In the half-open window, Hong Lian, wearing a painted skin, supported her chin with her hands, stared absentmindedly at the small fenced courtyard outside.
Lu Liangsheng tapped her head and said, "Come back to your senses."
"Young Master!!!"
The startled female ghost seemed to be interrupted. She stamped her feet on the ground, looked at the young man in front of her, and then went back into the painting in embarrassment.
"Uh, what's going on?"
Lu Liangsheng put the book down and looked at the scroll in confusion. On the soft couch over there, the Toad Taoist was lying with half his eyelids half opened. He turned over lazily, revealing his soft belly.
"How would the teacher know?"
At this point, he suddenly sat up and scratched his belly with his webbed head: "But, my teacher also had a wife back then."
Lu Liangsheng was stunned for a moment, then immediately became interested.
"Then how did Master marry his mistress? How do they get along with each other on a daily basis?"
The toad smacked his lips, rubbed his short chin, narrowed his eyes, sat up straight, and his expression became serious.
"It's not that complicated. I asked her if she was willing to marry me, and she didn't say anything. That meant she agreed, and then we got married... As for getting along, hmm, it was mostly me talking outside, and she was listening quietly inside."
"Then what?"
"Then? You must be dead, otherwise I would not stay with you to live out my old age?" The Toad Taoist lay down again, crossed his legs and put them on the other leg, shaking: "Ask a demon cultivator like me about love between men and women, ah..."
Lu Liangsheng slapped his forehead. As expected, why ask the master about such a thing? He tidied up the room, changed into a robe of a slightly darker color, and looked back at the bed.
"Master, let's go down the mountain and return to the village to attend the wedding banquet."
"No, bring some back for me when the time comes. Remember to put more braised pork, the fatty kind!"
After instructing about the dishes he wanted, Toad Taoist yawned and crawled back into bed. Over there, Lu Liangsheng probably thought that his master was affected by the transition from autumn to winter, so he didn't take it seriously. He nodded and went down the mountain.
Hearing the footsteps outside the door fading away, the Toad who was dozing under the quilt suddenly opened his eyes, then lifted the quilt and slid down the foot of the bed to the ground, ran to the back of the door, put his face close to it and listened for a while. After confirming that Lu Liangsheng had left, he hurried to the bookshelf compartment, stuck his butt out and took out the gourd from it.
"Master Toad, what are you doing?"
Hearing the ding-dong sounds, Hong Lian leaned out of the scroll and looked curiously at the Toad Taoist with the gourd on his back. The latter ran across the ground on his flippers and glanced at her.
"How can a little ghost like you know my affairs?"
He opened the door, slipped out, ran through the sunlight, and went into the woods. He followed the familiar path, his tongue dragging at the corner of his mouth with excitement, ran back to the cave he had been in, and slammed the boulder shut.
…
The sun rose above the clouds. Lu Liangsheng's figure became blurred and condensed. It was only a moment after he returned to the village that he heard festive sounds from the suona. A red cloth was hung at the entrance of the village, with a big red flower in the middle hanging high above the village square. Several children were chasing and playing barefoot below with their trouser legs rolled up. They only behaved themselves after being scolded by the women who were helping to wash dishes and cook.
Amid the clamor, someone shouted, "Slaughter the pigs and sheep and prepare them for the pot!"
There were several pigs and sheep tied not far away. Lu Pan, along with Lu Xi, Lu Qing and others, went over shirtless and picked up the pigs and sheep.
Hehehehe!
The big fat pig looked at the sturdy men with knives, struggled, kicked its hooves and screamed loudly in his arms. Soon, it lay naked and quietly on the long table without moving.
Lu Pan patted his pants that were dirty from the pig's trotter, turned around and saw Lu Liangsheng coming towards him, with stubble on his face and a mouthful of big yellow teeth exposed.
"Liangsheng, go back and call your parents, they will come out to the wedding banquet later!"
"When will we have your wedding banquet? We're still waiting." Lu Qing and Lu Xi laughed at the side.
Lu Liangsheng just smiled and walked towards the courtyard which was almost completed.
From afar, one could see his father Lu Laoshi squatting outside the yard fiddling with the fence and planting it back into the ground. Li Jinhua, wearing new clothes, was coming out of the house, holding Mingyue by the hand. When she saw Lu Liangsheng coming back, the little girl quickly ran to greet him.
"Hello, sir!"
"Hello, too." Lu Liangsheng touched his head gently, "Are you used to it here?"
Mingyue also became familiar with the family and was often taken around by Li Jinhua to visit relatives and friends. This cute little girl had a sweet mouth and was loved by the women in the village.
"I'm used to it." Mingyue raised her little face and ran back to pull Li Jinhua, "Mother has been coming to see Mingyue at night recently. Look, she's outside."
The little hand pointed outside the yard. Li Jinhua on the side had a natural expression. After all, she had seen ghosts and monsters before, so there was nothing to be afraid of a harmless fox spirit. However, if the other party came at night, she just had to stop her husband from going out.
After a while, Yuwen Tuo, Li Suian and the other two also came down from the attic. They changed into clean clothes and finally looked like handsome young men. While waiting for their sister to come out of the room after dressing up, Li Jinhua pinched her husband's ear and dragged him up from the ground, cursing at him, before going to the wedding banquet with her son and a group of young men.
Most weddings and funerals in the village were held in the sunbathing area with more than ten to twenty tables set up. Tables, chairs and benches were collected from every household. Pillars were set up at the four corners, tied with red ropes and hung with lanterns and red cloth. The family of Erniu, who had just married, had even pasted a lot of "囍" characters on the wall. Lu Liangsheng naturally recognized him. He was a few years younger than him, with a simple and honest face, a big red flower hanging on his chest, and he smiled so hard that his back teeth were visible when he saw anyone.
Afterwards, the bride came in from the village entrance. She was a girl from the North Village, wearing a red veil. Amidst the laughter and excitement of the crowd, the couple worshipped the heaven and earth, their ancestors, and their parents. Then, Lu Pan shouted loudly:
"The groom has gone to the bridal chamber, let's have a feast and drink wine!!"
Under the golden autumn sun, a bustle rose above the village. Various vegetables and meat were sizzling in the pots, and the noisy voices were mixed with the scolding of children being called back to their seats by their parents.
Sitting in this bustling atmosphere, Lu Liangsheng was slightly stunned, feeling the simple and noisy atmosphere. He had been practicing in the Golden Core Realm, and he clearly felt a slight increase.
"The smell of fireworks... Humanity..."