The Little First Grand Secretary in My House

This article has a subscription ratio of ≥50% and can be read normally. Otherwise, it needs to be delayed for three days. You can make up for it immediately. Generally, names are given by elders, and should not be chosen by the younger generation. If it is an ordinary villager, it is fine. But Xue Tingyan is He is a scholar. A scholar should know etiquette and observe etiquette. If he does not observe etiquette, he will read this book in vain.

Xue Tingyan's heart was extremely clear and he understood what the uncle meant. He chuckled and said: When my father was still alive, I asked my uncle and grandpa to help me choose a name. The uncle refused because he had a cheap name so that I could make a living. Now in the court My son is now fourteen, so he can’t keep using his nickname, so I picked one at random.”

As soon as these words came out, Xue Qingshan's face became a little ugly. Xue Tingyan was obviously saying that as an uncle, he did not want to name him, which was deliberately demeaning. After all, since you have received your education, you should never be without a name.

He smiled reluctantly and explained: Isn't it because my uncle has noticed that your health is not good and he wants to wait until you are an adult before naming you? You can't understand this painstaking effort, what if I don't choose one for you now?

As he said that, without waiting for Xue Tingyan's answer, he sighed and looked melancholy and said: You have been weak since you were born. When your father was alive, he hoped that you would be blessed and live longer, so your uncle named you Fushou. What do you think? ?”

The name was chosen so casually that it was not worthy of the name of Xue Qingshan, the only child in Yuqing Village.

Xue Tingyan hesitated for a moment and then refused: I still can't be uncle. Ting'er's name has been decided. I went to the grave to inform my parents before. There is no way to change it.

This remark also clarified why he went to the cemetery every year. Ever since Xue Tingyan saw that Xue Qingshan had invited so many people and made such a scene, he knew that the other party must have something up his sleeve.

Regardless of what he was planning, he just blocked all the ways that might be used to make a fuss by the other party, and waited to see what would happen.

Sure enough, the expression of Patriarch Xue next to him softened a little.

Before, he had always thought that this kid, Erfang, did it deliberately, just to compete with Juncai for the opportunity to study at Qinghe Academy. This time I came to see this young man who is gentle and polite, neither humble nor arrogant. Although Patriarch Xue has no fame, he still knows a few words. He has been the patriarch for many years, so he naturally has a good eye for people.

He was very surprised, because he had seen Gouzi before, but he was not deeply impressed by him. His only impression was that he was an inconspicuous young man. Now it seems that this child has grown up somewhat unexpectedly.

But no matter how unexpected it was, Patriarch Xue did not forget what he was doing here.

Just a good impression was not enough to make him shake the decision he had already made. He had asked someone to test Juncai, and he was much more knowledgeable than his two grandsons. If the next child in Yuqing Village could be named, Patriarch Xue felt that Xue Juncai was the most likely candidate.

Maybe he is not just a child, but a scholar.

With two future talents and a young boy who doesn't know how to deal with it, Patriarch Xue naturally knows how to answer this multiple-choice question.

However, the previous idea of ​​helping out was abandoned. If Xue Qingshan couldn't even handle a child, he wouldn't be worthy of his attention.

How could Xue Qingshan not see what Patriarch Xue was thinking. In his eyes, this old man is just a master who never sees rabbits but doesn't let go of hawks. He receives the benefits he brings to the clan, but never knows how to do him any favors.

If any clan has an ethnology, the clan will not subsidize one or two of them. On the contrary, he worked all day long. Every time a certain family in the clan would randomly bring some food, the clan leader would call him over and ask him to accept it.

Being generous to others, wasting other people's wealth, being ruthless to others, is of no use to oneself!

Xue Qingshan sneered in his heart, but with a respectful expression on his face, he invited clan leader Zheng Lizheng and others into the house.

Patriarch Xue and Zheng Li were sitting cross-legged on the kang, one on the left and one on the right, while the others were sitting on stools below. Yang and Zhou were busy pouring tea, and even Xue Taoer was sent to ask Mr. Xue to come home quickly.

Patriarch Xue and Zheng Lizheng both had the habit of smoking cigarettes, so they took out their cigarette bags when they sat down.

Xue Qingshan hurriedly took a bag of tobacco leaves from his mother, Mrs. Zhao, and while offering cigarettes to the two of them, he said: My father grew this by himself. It is usually very precious. My cousin and Uncle Li Zheng will try it.

The tobacco your father grew is good, but there is too little. After lighting it, Zheng Lizheng took a deep breath and said with a smile.

Xue Qingshan replied: If Uncle Li Zheng likes it, I'll pretend to be a little bit better with you when I leave later. Just don't dislike it.

These were all polite words, and everyone knew what they were talking about. Zheng Lizheng nodded with a smile and went straight to the topic: What is Shanzi planning to do by inviting us old guys over this time?

Looking at Zheng Lizheng's smiling face, Xue Qingshan cursed the old fox in his heart.

He would never believe that things would turn out like this. If the man surnamed Zheng did nothing inside, he would never believe it. But it was precisely because of this that he even invited Zheng Lizheng here today. After all, he was Lizheng from Yuqing Village and his surname was Zheng, so he could avoid being said to be covering up.

Including several villagers present today, Xue Qingshan was thinking about inviting them. There were some with the surname Zheng, some with the surname Xue, and two others with mixed surnames in the village, but they were all popular in the village.

Is there something that some elders need to make the decision about? Should I wait for my father? He is in the fields and will be back soon.

As he was talking about Mr.

I feel ashamed to say this. Some things in my family recently made everyone laugh.

Upon hearing the beginning of these words, except for Patriarch Xue and Zheng Lizheng, everyone here couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. After all, this is someone else's family matter. Although this family matter has been brought to the public, it can be discussed in private and discussed on the stage. They are two different things.

Actually, to put it bluntly, it's all caused by poverty. If our family's previous situation was like this, we wouldn't be like this. If we give one baby as a gift, we won't give another baby as a gift.

An old man named Xue Lianhe, also named Xue and a contemporary of Mr. Xue, sighed: Lian Xing, don't say that, your family is in trouble too.

Old Mr. It’s a difficult problem.”

With trembling hands, he took out the dry pipe from his waist, lit it and took a puff, and then said: The palms and backs of my hands are full of flesh. It makes me feel bad to lose any of them. In fact, this matter was discussed last year, and I have been putting it off. I did it because I was afraid that my son would feel uncomfortable. It is not easy for a family like ours to provide for a scholar. It was not easy for our family to provide Shanzi. Although he did not live up to expectations and failed to pass the exam several times, in the end he still worked for the village and for us. Everyone did something.

Everyone has noticed how our family has been doing in the village over the years. We won't mention the distant ones, just the private school in Shanzi. As long as you are from the village and your family is not well-off, your education will be delayed or even less. , our family never mentions it. Why? It’s because we country people have a hard time making a living. We face the loess and our backs to the sky. If God doesn’t show mercy, the whole family will suffer from starvation. After a year of exhaustion, some of us can’t even pay taxes.

Actually, I'm not afraid of the laughter of a few brothers and sisters. I worked hard to support Shanzi's education. I just thought that if I could pass the exam, I would be able to exempt my family from some taxes.

These words were just to the point. They seemed to be spoken lightly for a few words without going into any more depth, but they made everyone feel mixed.

What Mr. Xue said was all the truth, and it was the truth that was realistic for people. That's what made it particularly complicated.

Someone finally stood up and spoke out about the previous incident, Brother Lianxing, please stop talking. We still can't trust your character? When someone in the village spread rumors, we told all the children at home, Brother Lianxing. Not that kind of person. There are grandfathers who don’t care about their grandchildren.

Yes, yes, everyone can understand it. It's not difficult for anyone.

Seeing that everyone was echoing Mr. Xue's words, only the man named Zheng remained silent. Zheng Lizheng's eyes flashed and he said with a smile: Everyone in the village is watching Shanzi's contribution to our village. They all know that Shanzi is benevolent and righteous. My duty is to think about everyone. I just have one sentence that I, as an elder, should not say.

Uncle Li Zheng, you are the Li Zheng of our village. There is nothing inappropriate to say.

Zheng Lizheng nodded: Logically speaking, this is your family's business, and I, an outsider, should not interfere. But Lian Xing also said before that the palms and backs of the hands are full of flesh. He suddenly sighed and said seriously: Shanzi, don’t forget why your second child is missing. We all here can understand it because we have lived for decades and have never seen anything ups and downs in our lives, so we are afraid that outsiders cannot understand.”

These words made Xue Qingshan look ugly on the spot, but since he could arrange this situation, he didn't have no countermeasures.

He immediately said: Uncle Li Zheng is right, so I discussed it with my father and planned to give the two children a chance. Let the two compete, and the winner will be admitted. If they fail, they will learn from me at home. I’ll talk about it later when I have the opportunity.”

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked at each other without much opinion. Especially with the previous foreshadowing, Xue Qingshan's words seemed reasonable and reasonable, leaving people with nothing to choose from.

After all, no family is rich, and money does not come from a river.

Everyone went to see Zheng Lizheng. Zheng Lizheng looked at everyone with a smile and said, What are you looking at me for? Since the Lian Xing family has an idea, let's look at his family's. But how does this compare? We old guys don't If you are literate, should Shanzi be the referee?

After a pause, he shook his head: No, no, Shanzi is Juncai's father. He should avoid suspicion. It is better to choose another talent to convince everyone.

He looked up at Xue Qingshan and smiled: Shan Zi, don't you blame me, Uncle Li Zheng, for being too busy and talkative? In fact, I do it for your own good. We should be honest and upright when doing things.

Xue Qingshan wanted to throw out this person who always ruined his good deeds. How could he not complain? But on the surface, he couldn't say that. He could only seem to ponder for a moment and said: What Uncle Li Zheng said is, although I am an uncle, so I still have to avoid suspicion. If not, let me invite one, and then Uncle Li Zheng will invite one, and the two of them will set the questions on the spot and test the two minors.

Zheng Li was looking at Xue Qingshan with squinted eyes. Seeing how confident he looked, he had a bad feeling in his heart. But he had already interfered too much, and it would be too obvious to be picky anymore. He could only agree with a nod and a smile, and also praised Xue Qingshan for being a scholar and having a different mind.

Now that the matter has been settled, the rest of the conversation is just gossip.

Since someone was invited to the house, it was unjustifiable to skip lunch at noon, so Mr. Xue ordered several of his daughters-in-law to go down and pack lunch.

Just now these elders were talking inside, while Xue Tingyan and Xue Juncai were standing outside, so they naturally knew what was going on.

Zhao'er's face looked a little ugly, but Xue Juncai looked at Xue Tingyan proudly, then went in and talked with his father beside several elders, and naturally received another round of praises, not to mention them.

Zhao'er couldn't help but pulled Xue Tingyan back to the house, and said anxiously: What can we do? If I had known this, I would have resisted beating the talented boy. Dog, it's all my sister's fault. She brought you trouble.

She became anxious and mentioned things like Sister Gou'er again.

Don't be afraid, it's okay.

Are you really okay? Zhao'er turned around and said, But, what if we lose?

Xue Tingyan narrowed his eyes: Don't you believe me? Do you think I'm not as good as him?

Zhao'er immediately said: How is that possible! My dog ​​is the smartest. He will be a scholar in the future and become a high official. My sister is still waiting to enjoy the blessings of a dog!

Zhao'er and Xue Tingyan have said this countless times.

When he was a child, she would encourage him like this every time he showed signs of discouragement. She even thought so in her heart, so when everyone disliked him and everyone thought he was not good, she was the only one who kept talking to him and even kept doing it with actions.

It's a pity that she didn't enjoy his blessing, not even for a day.

Obviously, none of that happened to him, it was just a dream, but every time he thought about it, Xue Tingyan felt a huge sense of sadness.

He closed his eyes and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: Since you said so, are you still afraid that I will lose?

==Chapter 12==

Yes, the worst case scenario is that if he loses, she can just find the money for him to study. Wasn’t that the original plan? !

Thinking of this, Zhao'er suddenly thought about it and said: Then prepare well. If you can win, win. Don't be afraid if you can't. The worst is that I will find money for you to study.

Zhao'er had never been a person who liked to look for trouble. She turned around and saw that the cow excrement in the house had not been cleaned yet, so she went to find the brush that was used to clean the kang and brushed it clean. Then she went out to get a broom and a dustpan to sweep the floor.

There was a sound of chicken clucking outside, but it was Sun who slaughtered the chicken and let it run away.

Xue Tingyan looked out of the window and saw that the chicken's neck was still bleeding, but it was running around the yard, with Sun chasing after him in a panic.

Seeing that it was really bad, Mrs. Zhao came out of the room and said a few words. Mrs. Sun became even more anxious, knowing that she was really embarrassed in front of the clan leader, but the chicken had wings, and she didn't. Waiting until the chicken lost its strength, Mrs. Sun grabbed it and cursed: Run, run, run, you are destined to be the food in the pot, where are you going?

Xue Tingyan stopped looking and looked back.

He knew why his uncle was so generous and offered to let him compete with Xue Juncai, because if there were no accidents, Xue Juncai would definitely win this match.

In that dream, he had suffered such a loss before, but instead of competing with Xue Juncai, Zhao'er had worked hard to get the money and sent him to Qinghe Academy. At that time, he was so stupid that he always blamed his unsuccessful life on the harsh punishment of fate. He felt that it was not that he was not good, but that everyone did not give him a chance.

When he first entered Qinghe Academy, he was very ambitious. He thought that he would definitely surpass Xue Juncai and prove that he was the most outstanding person in the Xue family, but reality slapped him hard in the face. It was only then that he, who had never seen the world, understood his uncle's sinister intentions. He did teach him to read, and he did 'read' a lot of books, but he only read and did not understand the meaning of the scriptures.

Later I learned that after school children learn to read, reading the Bible is the basis.

First study Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, Thousand Character Classic, then Poetry of Thousand Family, Young Learning Qionglin, Longwen Whip Shadow, etc. After reading these, you can enter university and start Learn to read the Four Books and Five Classics.

At this stage, the teacher does not explain the meaning of the scriptures, that is to say, he just memorizes them by rote and clearly understands the meaning of the words but not the meaning of the scriptures. Because nowadays people tend to think that children are just learning. It doesn’t matter whether they understand it or not, as long as they remember it. After they read it more and for a long time, they will understand its meaning.

This is what is called reading a thousand times, and its meaning will appear by itself.

Once you can memorize all these books fluently and learn to interpret the Bible and write essays, you will get twice the result with half the effort.

This time-saving, labor-saving and effective teaching model is popular throughout Dachang, from high-ranking schools to low-level social studies and village studies. This practice is especially popular in rural private schools, because there is only one teacher, but it is necessary to teach several or even dozens of people. It is not realistic for them all to explain the meaning of the scriptures.

But in fact, a wealthy family with some background would never teach their children this way. Because this teaching model blindly emphasizes rote memorization, but ignores the truth of natural principles.

This was the pros and cons that he analyzed later, taking the position of chief assistant and looking at the overall situation.

But at that time, he had just entered the library, because his uncle delayed explaining the meaning of the scriptures to him and did not understand that there was any explanation of the scriptures. Therefore, when he first entered school, his teacher asked him if he had read it. He replied that he had read it, but his interpretation of the Bible was nonsense. He was scolded by his teacher for being as stupid as a pig, and was ostracized and ridiculed by his classmates.

But now, it seems that the uncle is also aware of his own shortcomings, so he deliberately proposed this competition. In fact, he already has a plan in mind, and he is sure to lose.

Unfortunately, there was an accident.

*

Because there were guests at home, everyone was busy except Mr. Xue and Xue Qingshan, father and son.

After the main room had eaten, the kitchen started to prepare lunch for others.

During this period, Xue Taoer was also ordered to drink. There was wine and meat on the banquet in the main room, and the men exchanged glasses with each other, showing no sign of their usual agility. Especially Patriarch Xue and Zheng Lizheng, they drank very affectionately, and in the end they both got a little drunk.

Okay, don't send it off, just walk up and be there. Patriarch Xue waved his hand.

After everyone was sent out of the courtyard, the table began to be cleared and food was served. Mrs. Zhao originally wanted to take away the leftover meat and vegetables, but was stopped by Mr. Xue, who said that he wanted to add vegetables for everyone. The people in the country are not rich, so it is commonplace to eat leftovers after the distinguished guests leave.

The adults were all fine, and Shuanzi and Maodan ate deliciously.

Zhao'er originally wanted to take the meal back to the house to eat, but was stopped by Xue Tingyan. The two of them just lowered their heads and ate as before, saying nothing.

Xue Juncai glanced at Xue Tingyan with disdain.

He had just dined with Xue Qingshan and naturally ate a lot of the good food on the table. Now seeing that Xue Tingyan could only eat some leftovers, he was naturally full of ridicule.

He kept in mind what his father told him before. There was no way Xue Gouzi could beat him.

Thinking in his mind, he looked away and said to Mr. Xue on the bed: Master, I went back to the room to read.

Mr. Xue nodded. He had drunk too much before, and now he was leaning on the kang smoking a cigarette to relieve his hangover.

Dog, eat more. Big brother will be waiting for you to beat me in five days. Xue Juncai suddenly said this when passing by Xue Tingyan.

Zhao'er stood up immediately and stared at him: Can you speak? After so many years of reading, you have read into a dog's belly.

Xue Juncai didn't expect that Zhao'er would be so disrespectful to him. Sven's face turned red, but for some reason he glanced at Zhao'er and held back.

Mr. Xue shouted: Juncai, go back to the house!

Mrs. Zhou also stood up in a hurry to persuade Zhao'er to leave it at that.

After dinner, the two returned to the second room. Zhao'er was still angry: Don't be angry, Gouer. When I make some money, I will take you to separate the family and go there, so you won't be with them anymore.

Xue Tingyan felt a little moved, but also a little helpless: You called me a dog again.

Zhao'er groaned, then said with a smile: I forgot, I won't do this again.

Naturally, he couldn't be angry with her. After that, Zhao'er took the two clothes he had changed into yesterday and went out to wash them, while Xue Tingyan turned out the book Young Learning Qionglin again.

Xue Tingyan felt a little worried when looking at the book in his hand, which was copied on the poorest bamboo paper and the footers were rubbed. He actually didn't want to read, but Zhao'er couldn't help it and thought he should read more now. Only by reading more could he be more confident in defeating Xue Juncai.

Little did he know that this book was different from other books, and just reading this one would be of no use, but he would not tell her about this.

He dug out the bamboo paper that Zhao'er bought for him from the kang cabinet. This poorest quality bamboo paper costs forty cents per knife. Such 'expensive' paper can barely even be used for calligraphy practice. Even so, he treasured it very much and was reluctant to use it at all. If he could write on the sand, he would write on the sand. If he couldn't use the sand, he would dip it in water and write on the desk.

Xue Tingyan touched the stack of yellowed bamboo paper and sighed in her heart.

The paper that 'Xue Tingyan' usually uses is the best clear paper, so he feels a little disgusted with the things that are usually precious.

He spread the paper out on the kang table, stacking several sheets in a pile, and then cut them into book-sized pieces with a bamboo knife. In order to leave a seam, he left some extra space and cut out a thick stack. Then he took out the inkstone with a corner missing and the ink ingot that had only been used up to a small length.

These were treasures that he was usually reluctant to use, but today Xue Tingyan didn't feel this way at all. He added water to the inkstone and then took the ink stick to grind the ink. While grinding, he didn't know what he was thinking about.

After polishing the ink, he put the bald pen in a bowl of water to wet it and clean it. Then I dipped enough ink before picking up the pen and writing something on the paper.