Chapter 195
Old Master Wu was still skeptical. He randomly pointed to a few characters for Guaizai to read. Seeing that the child not only read them all correctly but could also write them, he couldn't help but feel astonished. Uncontrollably, he praised the child a couple of times.
Guaizai was neither arrogant nor conceited. "A tiger father does not beget a dog son. My father is amazing, so naturally, Guaizai is also amazing. Doesn't Grandpa understand this? Too silly, not good enough!"
Old Master Wu choked for a moment. "You can recognize many characters now, is that right?"
"Mhm! Father teaches Guaizai twenty characters every day, so Guaizai knows lots now." Guaizai flipped through a book. There was also a plate of pastries beside the chess board. He wasn't shy about it and asked Old Master Wu if he could eat some. He wanted to eat a little to replenish his energy. Seeing Old Master Wu nod, he took three pieces. He gave one to Xiao Feng, one to Yang Mingyi, and stuffed one into his own mouth.
After eating, he leaned back over the table. Fang Zichen hadn't originally taught this many. At the very beginning, Fang Zichen taught him three characters a day. The child was still young, and he didn't want to put any pressure on him. After all, not every child in the world could handle learning like he himself had when he was young.
However, as he kept teaching, he discovered Guaizai quite resembled his own past demeanor—a clever mind and good memory. After seeing or hearing a character a few times, he could remember it. Within a range that Guaizai could accept without feeling pressured, Fang Zichen decided to teach him twenty characters daily.
Small amounts steadily accumulate into something substantial. Over time, Guaizai indeed came to recognize many characters.
Old Master Wu's fondness for talent arose again. He wanted to lure the child back to Yuanzhou with him. But no matter how many times he coaxed him, using treats or toys, Guaizai wouldn't take the bait.
"You don't want to become an official?" Old Master Wu asked. After asking, afraid the child still didn't understand what an 'official' was, he added unnecessarily, "Do you know what an official is?"
"Yo! The way you ask that, Grandpa underestimates Guaizai." Guaizai frowned, a bit unhappy. Though he was small, he cared about face. He said, "An official is the one who sits in the yamen and is always slapping the table. Officials are awesome. Common people have to kneel when they see them."
"Correct. Being an official earns respect and the people's love and support." Old Master Wu pulled him closer, lifted him, and sat him on his own lap. With a face full of affection, he asked, "So, does Guaizai want to be an official? If you do, come with Grandpa to Yuanzhou. Grandpa will teach you to read and write. When you grow up, you can go take the imperial examinations."
Upon hearing this, Yang Mingyi's brows slightly furrowed. He knew his grandfather loved talent, but...
Sure enough, Guaizai did not disappoint Yang Mingyi. "My father is taking the exam next year in the third month. After passing, he'll be a xiucai. The year after that, he'll take the provincial exam, then the metropolitan exam, and then he can become an official. When my father becomes an official, Guaizai will be an official's son. What would Guaizai need to take any exams for? Isn't being an official's son great?"
Old Master Wu: "..."
"Being an official earns big money. Guaizai will be both an official's son and a rich man's son. I'll just need to laze around. But Father said, a person must be ambitious, must continuously study and work hard, otherwise they'll be eliminated by society into dregs, and no one will want them even to sweep the floor." Guaizai scratched his head, looking troubled. "Guaizai is still small, can't go take exams. So now Guaizai can only be a small person. When Guaizai grows up, I'll be a big person. Father will be a huge official. That sesame-seed-sized official from that other day will have to kneel to Guaizai then. That's what 'thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river' means."
[大人 (dàrén): lit. big person; fig. an adult, a person of high status, or an honorable figure]
[三十年河东三十年河西 (sānshí nián hé dōng sānshí nián hé xī): lit. thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; fig. fortunes change over time, the wheel of fortune turns]
Old Master Wu: "..."
Children's words carry no harm (童言无忌, tóng yán wú jì)
Children's words carry no harm.
Old Master Wu took several deep breaths and advised, "Child, actually, being an official doesn't earn much silver."
This was true. The salaries of officials below the fourth rank were not high. The reason they could have crowds of servants mostly depended on business.
The Da Xia Dynasty had laws: officials and scholars could not engage in commerce. But often, where there are policies from above, there are countermeasures below.
Without commerce, a low-ranking county magistrate, a mere seventh-rank sesame-seed official, only earned around nine taels a month. Besides that, although the court provided various subsidies—such as duty money, grain stipends, kitchen supplies, additional public funds, official land, shops, etc.—when added together, it still didn't exceed twenty taels.
If they didn't engage in commerce, how could minor county magistrates like Jiang Zhengwen support the wives, concubines, and maids in their rear courtyards? Where would the monthly wages for a full courtyard of servants come from?
Officials could not engage in commerce themselves, but they could register businesses under their wives' names. Once their status and position rose, with the convenience it brought, business naturally became easier to conduct. As long as they didn't break the law, the court mostly turned a blind eye.
Therefore, most officials were not poor. Apart from the few upright, honest officials who refused to exploit loopholes and were dirt poor, most were rolling in wealth.
"Grandpa, you really are too silly." Guaizai looked at Old Master Wu, his small hand patting the old man's somewhat aged face, his big eyes full of pity. "Grandpa is old and silly! Too pitiful."
Old Master Wu: "..."
"If being an official doesn't earn silver, why does everyone want to be one?" Guaizai sighed and said, "Does Grandpa think everyone is an idiot? That official lord last time, my father said he has one wife, eighteen concubines, and twenty-three maids. With that many people, how could he support them without silver? He's also an idiot. Marrying that many people, could he hug them all when sleeping at night? If the bed isn't big, it would be crowded. Like Guaizai, I'm already annoyed now."
When he slept at night, he wanted to hug Fang Zichen, but hugging Fang Zichen meant he couldn't hug Ultraman. Hugging Ultraman meant he couldn't hug Fang Zichen. It was truly distressing.
The county magistrate was an idiot, marrying so many people to sleep together, yet couldn't even hug them all.
Jiang Zhengwen only has one official wife, three concubines, and one maid. That rascal Fang Zichen, what kind of nonsense is he telling a child? And saying it is one thing, but he had to go and exaggerate it so much.
"Good officials are mostly incorruptible, and the incorruptible are mostly good officials," Old Master Wu said. "Unless they are corrupt and pervert the law, accepting bribes."
"Not right, not right." Guaizai shook his head stubbornly. "Father said, being incorruptible doesn't necessarily mean being a good official. A good official is one who can fill the people's bellies while also filling his own pockets, and he himself can also eat till he's plump. If an official can't let the people eat their fill, even if he's so incorruptible he's left with only his underpants, he's still not a good official."
Old Master Wu: "..."
He couldn't refute a single sentence.
These words sounded absurd, but upon careful consideration, they seemed to have a bit of sense.
He patted Guaizai's face, his gaze complicated.
Guaizai scratched his head. His hand was small, the back of it no bigger than a glutinous rice ball. Old Master Wu helped him scratch. "Is your head itchy?"
"Mhm!" Guaizai twisted his little body comfortably. "It's been itchy often lately. Must be about to grow more brains."
Old Master Wu: "..."
Yang Mingyi and Xiao Feng covered their mouths and laughed.
Fang Zichen entering the yamen was like returning to his own home. He smoothly found Lao Wang with Zhao Ger, had him help transfer Xiao Feng's household registration under his own name, then took out the severance document for him to file.
This way, even if Liu Gouzi wanted to go back on his word and reclaim Xiao Feng in the future, there would be no way.
Zhao Ger put away the household register. Together with Fang Zichen, he returned to Zuixiao Restaurant to pick up the two children, then planned to take a look at the shop. Old Master Wu patted Guaizai's face and saw him to the door, his expression complex—seeming both relieved and somehow reluctant. He called out to Zhao Ger. When the man turned around, he opened his mouth, seemed to think of something, then shook his head and said it was nothing.
Fang Zichen needed to go to work. Old Master Wu stopped him. "Come with me. This old man has something to discuss with you."
...
After Old Master Wu finished speaking, Fang Zichen could no longer sit still. "What did you say?"
To receive personal tutelage from a figure like Old Master Wu—if it were anyone else, they'd probably be overjoyed to the point of losing their bearings.
The tutor that Li Yixing had back then only barely passed the provincial exam, ranking at the very bottom. Even so, the Li family's second branch still paid a high price to invite him. Not to mention anything else, Old Master Wu ranked first in the provincial exam back in his day and was a friend of the prefect. Entering officialdom in the future would mean having support. Shopkeeper Yang had told him this. Based on these two points alone, many people wanted to become his disciple. But Fang Zichen's first reaction wasn't joy; it was a faint sense of irritation and anger.
This old thief wants to steal my son!!
Old Master Wu: "If you trust this old man, I will take your son back and personally tutor him. He..."
"What nonsense are you talking about in broad daylight?" Fang Zichen interrupted him, agitated like a tiger beast whose territory had been invaded. "My son is only three years old. He can't be away from his parents."
This was indeed true. Guaizai was too young. Now, when sleeping at night, if he couldn't see Zhao Ger or Fang Zichen, without a familiar person beside him, he absolutely refused to sleep. He was clingy towards Fang Zichen, but once asleep, he would still instinctively burrow into Zhao Ger's arms, nuzzling against his chest—seeming to search for milk, or perhaps needing to smell his scent to sleep soundly.
Given this, going to Yuanzhou? Going to Yuanzhou, my foot!
"That is of no concern." Old Master Wu waved his hand. "My youngest grandson is eight this year. The wet nurse who attends to him is most skilled at caring for children. If Guaizai goes with me, she will take special care of him. You can rest assured."
Fang Zichen still shook his head.
He only had this one son. Not seeing him for a day would make him miss him terribly. Never mind Zhao Ger, he himself was unwilling.
"He's still too young," he said.
"Children from scholarly families often begin their education at three. Guaizai is not too young," Old Master Wu said.
"Still won't do." Fang Zichen wouldn't budge. "He's still small, doesn't grow much as it is. I'm afraid if the pressure is too great, he'll grow even less."
Old Master Wu said, "You should understand that 'parents who love their children plan deeply for their future.' Right now, don't ruin the child for your own selfish reasons."
Fang Zichen rolled his eyes.
It was precisely because he was thinking of the child that he didn't want his son to go.
Studying brings great pressure. Too much pressure, and one's growth stunts. If you don't grow tall, what future is there to speak of?
People often say 'tall, rich, and handsome' versus 'short, poor, and ugly.' I don't want my son to be the latter.
Moreover, this old man sometimes spoke in a pedantic and old-fashioned way, seems like an old fossil. Around the age of three, most children enter a phase of keen observation and imitation. They closely watch and are deeply curious about the world around them. Naturally, the first people they copy are the adults who spend the most time with and care for them. This is why many young children act like "little adults" or display mannerisms similar to their parents. Providing proper guidance during this stage is therefore essential.
He didn't want his son to be taught by this old man into a little fossil, a little antique.
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