Top Scholar

Chapter 96 That monkey doesn't like to learn.

When Su Lu returned home from school, he saw Chun Ge'er standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him.

"Big brother." Su Lu quickly bowed respectfully, afraid of being criticized.

"Open your mouth," the elder brother said.

"Huh?" Su Lu opened his mouth subconsciously.

Chun Ge'er accurately fed him a sorghum candy.

"Oh?" Su Lu mumbled between bites of candy, "You really treat me like a precious treasure."

"This is a reward for you." Chun Ge'er finally couldn't hold back anymore and said gratefully with a smile, "Thank you for what you did for me."

Su Lu suddenly realized, "Oh, the Monkey King? Did you tell them the story, brother?"

"Yes, the effect is excellent!" Su Man clenched his fist tightly and said, "The students now regard me as the Bodhi Patriarch. I told them to learn from Sun Wukong, to respect their teachers and value the Way, and to be single-minded in their studies."

"Pfft..." Su Lu almost spat out the candy: "Big brother, those monkeys don't like to study."

"What's wrong?" Su Man asked, surprised.

“It’s also my fault for not telling you more.” Su Lu said with a wry smile, “That guy was an arrogant and impetuous fellow. He thought he was great after learning a few skills. As a result, he showed off the skills that his master had taught him in private, which made Bodhi Patriarch feel embarrassed and expelled him from the sect.”

“That’s really wrong,” Su Man said. “My fellow disciples will blame us for being biased.”

"It's not over yet. After he went back, he used his newfound skills to storm the Dragon Palace and the Underworld, causing chaos wherever he went. In the end, he even wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, driving the Jade Emperor to hide under the table." Su Lu had to give his elder brother a brief summary of the plot.

"How can that be? I can't raise a bunch of monkeys like that!" Su Man was shocked when he heard this and hurriedly said, "Brother Qiu, why don't you change the story? How about turning that monkey into a gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and humble gentleman monkey who dedicates himself to the Heavenly Court and is loyal throughout his life?"

“How can that be?” Su Lu shook his head decisively. “The reason that monkey is so charming is precisely because of his misdeeds. What’s the point without them?”

“That makes sense…” Su Man thought about it and sighed, “It just means we can’t make learning fun anymore.”

“Brother, let’s just tell a story properly. Why do you have to add an educational element that’s annoying? What’s the point?” Su Lu sighed. “Aren’t the kids being educated every day in school? If you can’t teach them well even after teaching them every day, how can you expect a story to teach them well? That can’t be right.”

“Indeed.” Su Man shook her head.

"So why not just let them listen to a story and have some fun?" Su Lu said.

"..." Su Man pondered for a long time, then nodded and said, "What you said makes sense. I was greedy."

“My elder brother has been taught ‘to suppress human desires and preserve heavenly principles’ since he was a child, so it’s normal for him to think this way,” Su Lu said softly. “Unlike me, I became a monk halfway through my life and I don’t believe in anything.”

"Then what do you believe in?" Su Man asked softly.

"How would I know?" Su Lu said with a wry smile, "I think Zhu Xi is wrong, but I still need him to pass the imperial examination. I can't just eat his food and then smash his pot, can I? So let's leave it at that for now."

“My brother has great potential; please guide me in the future,” Su Man suddenly said in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.

"What? I didn't hear you clearly, brother, say it again?" Su Lu hurriedly stepped forward, his cheeky behavior making one want to slap him.

"I won't repeat myself. If you didn't hear me, then forget it." Su Man turned and left.

Su Lu followed behind him and asked with a smile, "If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Tell me where we left off. Do you have anything else to say for tomorrow? You haven't finished talking about everything, have you?"

"Don't worry, I'm not that stupid." Chun Ge'er raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm going to tell them what you told me last night for ten days."

“Brother, you’re ruthless. I was planning to make you talk for three days straight. But it’s not good to hang the kids too hard, it’s too inhumane, they’ll rebel…” Su Lu shared his mature experience: “You have to tell a complete story every day, and then leave a hook to keep them hooked.”

"I understand." Su Man humbly accepted the answer, then coughed lightly, a little embarrassed, and said, "I was just worried that I wouldn't have anything left to say after I finished."

"I see!" Su Lu laughed heartily. "Don't worry, brother. After the havoc in the Heavenly Palace, that monkey will be officially enrolled... oh no, he'll be following Tang Xuanzang on his journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures. There are still eighty-one tribulations on the way, enough for you to talk about until winter."

He chuckled and said, "By then, won't those kids have it all figured out by now?"

"That's good." Su Man breathed a sigh of relief, then asked curiously, "But where did you get this story? I read Xuanzang's 'Great Tang Records on the Western Regions' at Heshan Academy. It's a very normal travelogue."

"Really? I forgot which classmate lent me a set of storybooks and I read this story." Su Lu could only vaguely say, "I originally planned to tell it to Jin Bao'er, but unfortunately she is too young to understand."

"You've put your heart into it." Su Man accepted this explanation and stopped pressing for the origin of "Journey to the West." After thinking for a moment, she added, "If ten days is too long, then let's talk about seven days..."

"Whatever you want." Su Lu couldn't help but feel sorry for the children, having encountered such a storyteller who only updated his stories piecemeal.

~~
After dinner, Su Lu finished his homework and, as usual, had his father's lesson on phonetics and rhythm.

Seeing his father beaming with joy, as if something good had happened, Su Lu asked, "Dad, what's the good news? Tell me so we can all share the joy." "Isn't the fifteenth of next month your grandfather's birthday?" Su Youcai had been holding back for a long time, but he couldn't help himself.

"Yes." Su Lu nodded. The old man always did things differently from everyone else; his birthday was always on the Ghost Festival, while others burned paper money for him, he celebrated his birthday. His birth chart was ridiculously strong. He asked, "Should we have a big celebration?"

"It's not a big birthday celebration, so we won't make any big fuss. A family meal together will be fine." Su Youcai said, then chuckled and added, "Do you know what your grandfather said to me when you weren't back?"

"say what?"

"Your grandfather said he doesn't need to invite anyone else, just your godmother and godmother." Su Youcai was so happy he felt like his bones had lightened a couple of ounces.

"That's a good thing." Su Lu was also very happy to hear that. "Grandpa has finally come to his senses. Godmother is such a good person, how can he hide away as soon as she comes over? It makes Godmother feel embarrassed to visit."

“That’s right.” Su Youcai laughed, “It’s a pity that it’s no use for us to say anything. It’s still your great-grandfather and seventh uncle who have the final say.”

"They even spoke?" Su Luxiao was startled, thinking to herself, "Is this reinforcements that my godmother invited?"

"Yes." Su Youcai nodded and said, "Last night, the two of them came over for a visit and persuaded your grandfather for a long time, saying that this is a critical moment of life and death, and that we should consider the overall situation, maintain good relations with our partners, and keep your godmother firmly tied to our Su family. We must not let her family take her back."

"Good heavens." Su Lu couldn't help but sigh inwardly. His godmother really had some tricks up her sleeve. She was practically 'using the emperor to command the princes'.

"Your grandfather was quite unhappy at the time, shouting that he and 'Cheng the Bridegroom' were mortal enemies! But your great-grandfather was very good at handling things. He said that was precisely why you should treat his daughter even better, making her your daughter. So, who do you think would be upset? Your grandfather then laughed." Su Youcai said, also smiling.
"That's what they told me today."

“Grandpa was just pretending not to know,” Su Lu chuckled. “If he really didn’t accept his godmother, he wouldn’t have agreed to the marriage in the first place. He was just trying to silence the gossips of the clan and create space for you in the future.”

"What space are you trying to gain?" Su Youcai was just like his father, pretending to be ignorant even though he knew the truth.

"Then why are you so happy?" Su Lu didn't hesitate to expose him.

"Ahem, hurry up and get to class. Have you really understood it? You're just rambling on and on." Su Youcai glared at him, ending the topic that made him both happy and embarrassed.

~~
Once he gets into a study mode, Su Lu becomes incredibly focused and undistracted.

After several months of study, his prosody training entered an advanced stage, which Su Youcai called "filling in the sounds according to the score," which in short means "practicing prosody by borrowing the ci poem title."

"Although the rules of poetry are strict, there are only a few variations, which are of limited help in writing. This is where the advantage of ci poetry comes in. There are still seven or eight hundred ci poem titles that exist today, with all kinds of sentence structures of varying lengths, enough to keep you writing forever," Su Youcai explained.

"Then why not start by learning words directly?" Su Lu asked, puzzled.

"Nonsense, you want to run before you can even walk?!" Su Youcai said irritably.

"Do you understand the saying 'Poetry is the mother of lyrics, and lyrics are the surplus of poetry'? Lyrics are derived from the rules of poetry, but they are more flexible in terms of sentence structure, rhyme, and rhythm. Of course, you have to learn the mother before you learn the child. You can only write lyrics after you have learned the rules of poetry."

"Understood." Su Lu nodded.

“There are fixed rules for lyrics. For example, in ‘Remembering Jiangnan,’ the opening line is ‘level tone with oblique tone’ and the closing line must rhyme with a level tone.” Su Youcai unfolded a book of lyrics and explained it to Su Lu. He turned to a lyrics titled “Ballad of Cangwu” and said, “This ‘Ballad of Cangwu’ is also known as ‘Sixteen-Character Poem’. The entire poem has sixteen characters and three level rhymes. It is the shortest lyrics and is suitable for practice.”

He then instructed Su Lu, "Write a poem based on its poetic form."

Su Lu observed that the ci poem title of "Cangwu Ballad" was:
'Ping (rhyme)'
The rhyme scheme is: 仄仄平平仄仄平.

Flat and flat,
The pattern is: level-oblique-oblique-level-level (rhyme).

He had already undergone rigorous training, and upon seeing the meter of this poem, a familiar short lyric immediately came to mind:

"The mountain, I galloped on without dismounting. I turned around in surprise, and it was only three feet and three inches from the sky."

"Wow, this is an amazing piece of writing!" Su Youcai exclaimed with admiration, "Bold and unrestrained, it truly reflects the style of his ancestor!"

Su Lu thought to himself that the old man's poems were not only romantic, but also revolutionary... There was nothing he could do; most of the poems he could recite after the Tang and Song dynasties were by the old man.

"I forgot where I saw this, it wasn't me who made it," he quickly waved his hand.

"I knew it! If you could fill in a word like this right off the bat, I'd really think you were a reincarnation of an ancestor." Su Youcai breathed a sigh of relief and then instructed, "Use 'summer' as the theme and fill in a word yourself."

Upon hearing this, Su Lu said, "'Xia' is an oblique tone, isn't it supposed to rhyme with a level tone?"

“You only know one side of the story,” Su Youcai laughed. “It’s true that the rhyme starts with a level tone, but in reality, there are variations that start with an oblique tone followed by a level tone. Here, ‘夏’ is the leading character and doesn’t count as a rhyme.”

"I see." Su Lu nodded. It's just that scholars can't make their own explanations coherent, so they're just patching things up for them.

After pondering for a long time, he finally picked up his pen and wrote:

In summer, the breeze carries the fragrance of lotus blossoms along the willow-lined embankment. Cicadas chirp incessantly, and the bright sun shines on the stream before us.

(End of this chapter)