Traveling through time and space to become a child, supporting the family by catching fish and shrim

Chen Lang drove the ox cart to the county town and went straight to Sheng Chuliang's mansion.

After explaining his identity to the servant at the door, the servant made way for him and let him in, saying that he would take good care of Chen Lang's cows.

Chen Lang gave the servant a few cents as a reward for his hard work, but he didn't expect that these few cents would make the servant smile happily.

This detail also made Chen Lang realize that Sheng Chuliang, a juren, probably didn't have a smooth life.

After entering the yard, Chen Lang's speculation was further confirmed.

The main gate and courtyard represent the face of a family and are always carefully decorated and cared for.

But the Sheng family's large courtyard was covered with fallen leaves, and a white-haired old man was sweeping the floor with a broom in his hand.

Looking at his posture, I guess he won’t be able to clean the place even if he sweeps for a whole day.

"Are you Mr. Chen? The master is waiting for you in the study. Please follow me."

A voice interrupted Chen Lang's thoughts.

Chen Lang turned sideways and saw another old man in front of him, but he was dressed better than the old man sweeping the floor. He was probably the housekeeper.

"Thank you." Chen Lang bowed in thanks.

"Mr. Chen, you're welcome."

The old man led Chen Lang to the study and said at the door: "Master, Master Chen is here."

Sheng Chuliang's muffled voice echoed from inside the room: "Come in."

The old man pushed open the door and gestured for invitation.

Chen Lang walked in holding the tofu jar and said, "Master Sheng, I'm sorry to bother you."

Then he placed the jar on the desk and said, "This is just a small gift from my student. I hope Master Sheng will accept it."

Sheng Chuliang's face darkened, and he said coldly, "You're just a student, and you've already been infected by the dirty airs of officialdom. What future can you have!"

"Since this is your first offense, I won't punish you. But if you do it again, you will never be allowed to enter my house again."

"Take the things away!"

Chen Lang hadn't expected the old man to be so stubborn. He was a little confused for a moment, but when he came to his senses, he said, "Master Sheng, this isn't anything precious. It's tofu made by my students themselves."

Sheng Chuliang frowned: "Tofu?"

Chen Lang opened the jar and said, "Master Sheng, look, it's really just tofu."

Sheng Chuliang took a glance and it was true.

"Can you make tofu?"

Chen Lang said, "To be honest, Master Sheng, tofu was invented by my students."

Sheng Chuliang said seriously, "Are you serious?"

"If you dare to lie to me, I will never forgive you!"

Chen Lang said, "It's absolutely true. If Master Sheng doesn't believe it, you can ask Shopkeeper Hong at Tianshangju."

"After I invented tofu, I reached an exclusive supply contract with Tianshangju. All of Tianshangju's tofu is supplied by me."

Sheng Chuliang said: "But I heard that Zuixianju also has it."

Chen Lang sighed. "This is really frustrating. I went to Linshui a few days ago, and when I came back, I learned that the tofu secret recipe had been stolen. After getting the secret recipe, the other party sold it to Zuixianju."

Sheng Chuliang said angrily, "In broad daylight, such a robbery could happen? Have you reported it to the police?"

Chen Lang shook his head. "Since the secret recipe has already been leaked, there's no point in reporting it to the authorities. After all, the government can't stop Zuixianju from making tofu on their own."

Sheng Chuliang said, "You have some truth in what you said. Who on earth would do such a beastly thing?"

Chen Lang said, "The county school student, Zhao Hongwei."

"His father is the patriarch of Shanghe Village, and his younger brother is the village tyrant of Shanghe Village..."

Chen Lang told Sheng Chuliang how Zhao Xiongying snatched the tofu secret recipe from Li Xiaohu.

Of course, with some artistic processing.

After a brief contact, Chen Lang realized that Sheng Chuliang was an upright, or extremely old-fashioned person.

He cannot tolerate any sand in his eyes, especially when he sees scholars doing evil.

Wouldn't it be a waste if we don't make use of such a good character?

Sure enough, after listening to Chen Lang's story, Sheng Chuliang was furious. He slammed the table and glared. He looked like a lit firecracker, which was a bit scary.

"I didn't expect such scum would appear in the county school!"

"Zhao Xiongwei, right? I've got this name in mind."

"If I don't remove him from the list of candidates for the imperial academy next year, I won't be named Sheng!"

Chen Lang was secretly pleased and said, "Thank you, sir, for doing justice for me."

Sheng Chuliang said unhappily, "Don't call me master all the time. It sounds awkward."

Chen Lang changed his tone and said, "Thank you, teacher."

Sheng Chuliang said: "I am not your teacher either."

A thousand horses were running through Chen Lang's mind.

This old man's old-fashioned character is released indiscriminately.

No wonder the family is so dead. With such a master, it’s impossible for the whole family to be in a good mood.

"Thank you, sir." Chen Lang changed his address again, and this time Sheng Chuliang was satisfied.

"Please sit down." Sheng Chuliang said, then turned and walked towards the bookcase.

After Chen Lang sat down, Sheng Chuliang came over with a stack of test papers, slapped them in front of him, and said, "These are the test papers from the county and prefectural exams in the past few years."

"Just do your best and write as many as you can."

Chen Lang blinked, and a sense of familiarity arose spontaneously.

Isn’t this just a pop test?

Chen Lang didn't mind. After all, he came here today just to study the exam papers from previous years. There was no difference between taking them home and doing them here.

Even if you do it with Sheng Chuliang, the effect will be better, because Sheng Chuliang can correct it on the spot after you are done.

Chen Lang picked up the test paper on the top, spread it out and looked at it carefully.

This is a county examination paper, which is divided into three categories.

The first category is cloze test.

The content of the examination revolves around ancient books such as "The Analects of Confucius" and "The Great Learning", and also includes historical materials from past dynasties, as well as famous works by famous people and scholars from past dynasties.

The second category is reading comprehension.

The question setter gives a small part of a passage, and students analyze the content of the passage and the various meanings it contains.

The third category is the essay.

This is a bit more difficult. The question setter will only give a few words or a line of poetry, and the candidates have to write an essay based on these few words or a line of poetry.

However, when writing an article, you also have to understand the thoughts of the person who sets the question and think about the current situation. Otherwise, no matter how eloquent your writing is, it will be off topic.

Of course, the last category of questions in the county examination are not difficult.

For example, the last essay question on the test paper Chen Lang has received now is very simple. It is a sentence said by the county magistrate, and the question requires analyzing the deep meaning behind this sentence.

In his previous life, Chen Lang also took the civil service exam. Although he didn't pass, he had done a lot of questions of this type and could be said to have a lot of experience.

The first category gave him the most headaches.

Because he had never read books like "The Analects of Confucius", "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean".

Chen Erlang had memorized quite a lot back then, but so much time had passed that he had already returned it to the teacher.