The eldest grandson of the Red Chamber

"Is it ok? Is it ok?" Mingxu shook Sun's arm coquettishly.

"No, I won't let you go." Mrs. Sun refused flatly.

"Why? I took Chang'an and Changchun with me, and I won't go out alone." Mingxu didn't understand.

"It's not that you are not allowed to take people out, but you just said that you will go tomorrow, is it possible to return? The day after tomorrow will be the Dragon Boat Festival, and the sun and the moon are evil. You have to stay at home to avoid the dark." Sun explained to him.

The Ming family's old house is in the countryside, tens of miles away from the inner city, if Ming Xu wants to go, he must take a car.The sun is so hot that riding a horse is absolutely impossible, and Mrs. Sun will not rest assured that he is a child riding outside.If you still want to go shopping, you cannot go back and forth within a day.

The reasons could not be refuted, so Mingxu had no choice but to rest his mind and wait until after the Dragon Boat Festival.

"If you can't go to the city, you can go to the fields to have a look. Xu'er hasn't seen rice yet." Seeing his disappointment, Sun comforted him.

"Has grandma ever seen rice?" Mingxu asked her.

"Not only that, my grandmother also went to the fields to farm. It's your first time in Jiangnan, and your grandmother is not." Sun said.In the past, when the parents-in-law was still there, the husband brought her and Ming Su back several times.

"Well, let grandfather take me there when he is free." Mingxu said.

After saying a few words, seeing that Mrs. Sun was really busy, Mingxu decided to leave, "Grandmother, you should be busy first, grandson will go back first."

"Go back and play. Let your grandfather take you to watch the dragon boat race during the Dragon Boat Festival. There is no such thing in Beijing." Sun said.

"Okay, thank you grandma, my grandson will leave."

Ming Xu returned to his own yard, because he hadn't adapted to the new place yet, so he didn't know what to do.

It's so boring, or study, study makes me happy.He thought so, a boring life makes people progress.The former students all wanted to take the initiative to learn.

So when Ming Xie came over, Ming Xu was writing the third character, which was wasted for more than a month, and it was a bit laborious to write, so he wrote very slowly.

"Why did grandpa come here, don't grandma need anyone?" Ming Xu asked him to sit down.

"Handwriting is not bad. You are still young, so you should write less in cursive script. The calligraphy for scientific examinations needs to be neat and neat. If you like, you can practice these later." Mingxie glanced at the post on the desk and said .

The imperial examination requires a unified writing style of Taige, but one has to write one's own style after entering the imperial court.Brother Xu is still young, and it is too early to learn cursive and the like, and it will be difficult to reverse it in the future, and it is easy to lose the edges and corners when writing italics.

"Yes, my grandson usually writes in Taige style. Today I saw that this post looks good, so I copied it for a while."

"So that's how it is. There are many people around your grandmother, and she's making a fuss. Come and see you." Mingxie didn't forget to answer him.

It turned out to be hiding in peace. "It's already time, does grandfather want to have lunch with me?" Mingxu asked him.

Then Mingxie answered him directly with actions, and someone passed on the meal.

"Are you used to the food in Yangzhou?" Ming Xie asked with concern.

"It's a bit sweet." Ming Xu was very reserved.

Naturally, he is not used to it. Yesterday he specially asked the kitchen to cook his usual dishes, but they didn't taste familiar.Sugar is still a luxury for ordinary people nowadays, but it does not prevent the food here from forming a local style.The reputation of prosperity in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions is indeed well-founded.

"Today, I asked the kitchen to pick a few more dishes to cook. I'll see if there are any I like. I'm really not used to it, so I'll invite a cook who can cook Beijing dishes." Ming Xie is always tolerant.

"Okay, thank you grandfather." Mingxu knew that he would have to adapt slowly. If nothing else happened, Yangzhou was the place he would stay for a long time, and adapting to the environment was the most important thing.

The meal at noon that day was really rich, and Mingxu also ate a few interesting dishes, and he even heard the allusions of the dishes from his grandfather, um, it was really interesting.

Mingxie's afternoon arrangement was fishing, and Mingxu was invited to go with her.

"Grandfather, is there a pond nearby?" Ming Xu took the fishing rod and bait from Zhi Ge.

"Yes, it's in the yard." Mingxie said.

"At home? I went shopping in the yard yesterday, why didn't I see it?" Ming Xu was puzzled.

"Behind the house, you probably didn't go there."

"Oh." He did not go there.

……

It was a lotus pond. It was midsummer, and the lotus flowers were blooming beautifully. Perhaps because no one lived there for a long time, the lotus leaves looked a little depressed.Fortunately, in the misty and rainy weather in the south of the Yangtze River, there is a lot of water in the lotus pond, and the fish are lucky to survive.

The grandfather and grandson sat down in a posture, stopped fighting, and Chang'an was also driven far away, lest the fish should be frightened.

In the hot summer, enjoy the cool by the pool, enjoy the lotus and fish, regardless of the bait, those who wish to take the bait.So much fun.

The best taste in the world is Qinghuan.

But they were obviously a little worried, the house hadn't been lived in for more than a year, and the fish were a little dull, and they caught several of them in a short time, which was no challenge at all.

The grandparents and grandchildren simply chatted.

"I heard from your grandmother that you are fine tomorrow, so let me meet your great-grandfather, great-grandmother, and kowtow to recognize your ancestor." Ming Xie said.

"Okay, but don't we wait for our uncles?" Mingxu asked.

Ming Xie has a sister and a younger brother, which is not a small number of children from the peasant family.

"They're in the city, come over after the Dragon Boat Festival, you can play with Brother Lie from your uncle's family, he's the same age as you. As for your aunt's house, since your aunt left, there's been less contact, Xu'er sees Just do it." Mingxie was a little vague.

It's a bit embarrassing to say, but once the success is complete, the bones will be ruined, and this sentence is the same for scholars.

In order to support her education, her parents, siblings and siblings all worked hard. Her elder sister married a wealthy family in the town to fill in the house, a widower who was ten years older than her.

The rich family looked down on the Ming family, and they had a lot of trouble with their elder sister, Ming Daya, and her life was miserable.It was so easy to wait until the Ming family thought it was too expensive, and life became easier. The attitude of the wealthy family towards the Ming family also turned around, and they were very hospitable.But it didn't take long before he returned to his original state and used his name to run rampant in Yurou Township. It wasn't until he returned to his hometown to reprimand him personally and punished him a few times according to the law that he was safe.

But it works as one would, the elder sister's son, his nephew was also taught badly, and he was very disrespectful to his mother.Now that my sister has gone too, the two families have even less communication.It's hard to look back on the past.

"I see, grandfather." Mingxu realized that there should be a story here, but he was smart enough not to ask further.

"Then grandpa is going to hire a new teacher for me? Xu'er's homework has fallen behind a lot." Seeing that his grandfather was in a bad mood, Ming Xu thoughtfully changed the topic. Besides, this matter always needs to be brought up. Be proactive.

"Closing a car behind closed doors and making up fictions to the wall cannot be improved. Reading together should be a way of brainstorming and choosing what is good." Ming Xie pointed out.

"So what does grandfather mean?" Ming Xu humbly asked for advice.

"I want you to go to Lanting Academy to study. Jiangnan's literary style is rich, the students are talented, and the atmosphere of the academy is especially strong." Ming Xie said.

"Lanting Academy, I know this, it has a great reputation, and many ministers in the court came from here." Mingxu hesitated, "It's just grandfather, I heard that this academy is not afraid of power, regardless of background, only those with talents will enter." Mingxu Xu was not confident that he, an 11-year-old unknown boy, could stand out from the siege in Jiangsu, a major scientific research province, and enter the academy.

Lanting Academy is well-known in the south of the Yangtze River. It has been established for more than a hundred years. Since the previous dynasty, the academy has produced many great Confucianists, court officials, famous calligraphers, Danqing masters, and even wandering scholars (geographers).

It is a key middle school among the key points

"It's true that I don't admire the rich and powerful, but I really respect talented people. I sent a letter to the head of the academy a few days ago. He has agreed to your admission and invited me to give a lecture to the academy in the letter. .” Mingxie said lightly.

Mingxu was shocked, what kind of showmanship is this!My grandfather is indeed an idol of the whole people, right? He doesn't admire the powerful but admires Qing?Not relying on power but on charm, my grandfather is really a god-man.

"However..." Mingxie dragged out his voice.

"But what?" Ming Xu pricked up his ears.

"It's too ugly, you can try it this year." A scholar with a reputation is also more attractive.

"That's it, it's not difficult." Ming Xu said.Compared with the academy, the government examination is well prepared.

"It's coming in September, and it's time to sign up in June." Ming Xie reminded.

"Okay, grandson will make preparations." Mingxu said.

"Have you finished reading the Four Books?" Ming Xie asked him.

The Tongsheng test is not difficult, only the content of the Four Books and some scriptures are tested.

"Not yet, I have learned Mencius."

"Since you have already learned "Mencius", then learn it yourself, and come and ask me if you don't understand."

"Um"

"Grandfather, I heard from my grandmother that she went to the fields to plant rice, when will my grandfather take me there too?" Seeing that he finished his studies, Ming Xu asked about other things.

"Now is not the time. When the time comes, you can go, but I won't go." Mingxie did not agree.

"Why didn't grandfather go?" Mingxie was puzzled.

"I don't want to go." Mingxie was very calm.

When he was young, although he was a scholar, his family had too little labor force, so he did not do less farm work. Now that he can stop doing it, why bother to torture himself, even if it is to teach his children to endure hardship, he does not want to wrong himself. Just let the grandson feel it for himself, he doesn't want to be with him at all.

Unexpectedly, Wufa retorted, "Then I don't want to go either." Mingxu said, he also doesn't like the so-called "remembering bitterness and thinking about sweetness", really.

"If you don't want to go, you don't have to go. It doesn't matter if you are alone." Ming Xie said.I don't want to recall the days of farming at all.

"Grandson is taught." Happy, no need to go to the fields to bask in the sun.

So the grandparent and grandson reached an agreement and returned home happily.

"Pick up two and send them to the kitchen, one for steaming and one for stewing, and share the rest." Back in his own courtyard, Mingxu turned to Chang'an, and Changchun ordered.

A total of more than [-] fish were caught, but my grandfather couldn't eat them, so he asked him to bring them all back.

"Thank you, Uncle, for the reward." Changchun went down carrying the basket.

"Master, are you going to the academy to study?" Chang An asked cautiously.

"You must have heard it too. Grandpa means that we will go after autumn." Mingxu said, after playing all afternoon, he was ready to take a bath and change clothes.

"But uncle, if you go to the academy, can Changchun and I go?" Chang'an was a little worried.

"Maybe it's not possible." Ming Xu was also a little uncertain.But since it's a serious academy, it shouldn't let the servants accompany it all the time.

"..."

"But don't worry, if you really can't go, I'll tell grandma to let you learn from the big housekeeper. I will use you after all." Mingxu said.

"Thank you, uncle." Changan said excitedly.He couldn't help being excited, the uncle probably meant that the room would be divided in the future and let him be the manager.

Throwing out this promise, Mingxu ignored Chang'an who was secretly excited, thinking about worshiping his great-grandfather tomorrow, going out to play during the Dragon Boat Festival, and meeting the clan members afterward.