Farming and reading family

Chen Xiangyue also felt that this was reasonable, because he was too busy during the day and could only disturb them at night.

Gao E called Chen Tao over. Seeing that his father looked uncomfortable, Chen Tao did not say anything unpleasant.

"It seems like he's grown a little taller." Chen Xiangyue raised his hand and gestured without moving closer.

"Chen Tao!" Gao E shouted with some dissatisfaction.

Chen Tao understood but was still a little reluctant, but he bowed and said, "Father."

Seeing Chen Tao like this, Chen Xiangyue looked at Gao E in shock, his face full of disbelief.

Gao E looked at Chen Xiangyue's trembling hands, not knowing whether it was due to excitement or his mental state. "A teacher who fails to teach strictly is a lazy teacher. Since Master Chen sent him here, he must have made some progress."

"Yes, yes, yes." Chen Xiangyue felt that the ten taels of silver a month was well worth it. "It's getting late, let Tao'er go to bed."

Gao E looked at Chen Tao: "Do you want to talk to your father?"

Chen Tao thought for a moment and said, "Excuse me, can you please talk for a moment?" Then he turned and left the hall.

Chen Xiangyue nodded to Gao E and followed his son out.

Gao E looked at Chen Xiangyue's back, and thought of what Lu Hao said about Chen Xiangyue almost killing Chen Ying. She felt that something might have happened to Chen Xiangyue.

Chen Qing was a little worried: "I hope nothing serious happened to the Chen family. They came to see their son in the middle of the night."

"I heard that Chen Xiangyue's father-in-law and his family came to Hexian County." Gao E explained, "Chen Tao's cousin Duan Shenghui came to see Chen Tao today. I think it was because of this matter."

Chen Qing thought for a moment and whispered, "We shouldn't get involved in the affairs of a wealthy family."

"Thank you for the reminder, brother." Gao E naturally would not get involved.

But Gao E accepted the money from Chen Xiangyue and would not let others bully Chen Tao.

"By the way, brother, is there any ebony in our area?" Gao E asked casually when she was free.

"Green ebony?" Chen Qing repeated, shaking his head. "That kind of wood grows extremely slowly. Its leaves are like elm seeds. It grows on cliffs and takes a hundred years to grow to about ten feet. It's often warped and knotty, and as thick as a woman's wrist."

Gao E looked at her wrist and thought this was too harsh.

"It can only be made into wooden carvings." Chen Qing was curious. "What do you want the ebony to do?"

"A wooden carving." Gao E said directly.

Chen Qing nodded: "The boxwood is also good. I'll go into the mountains and find some for you when I have some free time."

"No need." Gao E shook her head. "It's not necessary."

The two chatted for a while, and Chen Xiangyue and his son had almost finished their conversation. Chen Tao came over with a dark face.

Chen Xiangyue bowed to Gao E and said, "I have a humble request."

"Mr. Chen, please feel free to tell me if you have anything to say." Gao E nodded.

Chen Xiangyue glanced at his son and said, "I want my son to become Madam Chen's disciple."

Gao E was stunned. This gap was a bit too big.

"Don't worry, Madam Chen. We have everything you need for becoming a disciple and tuition fees." Chen Xiangyue said hurriedly.

Gao E saw Chen Tao standing beside his father with his head down and not saying anything, so she thought that the father and son must have already discussed it.

"Mr. Chen and Mr. Chen, please think carefully. It is already a big taboo to have a woman as your teacher. Besides, I am a woman with no talent and I am afraid I can't teach Mr. Chen." Gao E did not refuse directly.

"That's fine." Chen Xiangyue was delighted to see Gao E didn't refuse outright. "As the saying goes, it's easy to change a country but difficult to change one's nature. Madam Chen, if you can change my son's character, that's the greatest enlightenment."

Gao E didn't want to take credit for it. Chen Tao was not a bad person, he was just a little weird and wanted to attract other people's attention.

"Or do you not want to accept me?" Chen Tao said cautiously and arrogantly.

"Think carefully, once a teacher, always a father." Gao E reminded Chen Tao, "If you really accept me as your teacher, I will beat you and scold you in the future."

"I'm not afraid." Chen Tao muttered softly.

Chen Xiangyue felt somewhat relieved, and immediately bowed to Gao E and said, "Please accept my son, Madam Chen."

Gao E hesitated and nodded again and again. Chen Tao had indeed changed during the time he lived with her, and she treated Chen Tao equally. If she really ignored him, he might become awkward again.

Besides, she will be Chen Tao's master in the future, and it will be easier to do things with the relationship with Chen Xiangyue.

"Then tomorrow we will pay our respects to the teacher in front of the teacher's statue at the school in Baotou Village." Chen Xiangyue said impatiently.

"Are you a little anxious?" Gao E looked at Chen Xiangyue.

Chen Xiangyue said apologetically, "I have a lot of things to do at home right now, and I'm afraid I won't have the time. I just happened to be here, so I took care of this."

Gao E wanted to find Lu Hao tomorrow to ask what had happened in the Chen family recently, but Chen Xiangyue directly arranged tomorrow's matters, which made Gao E feel something was wrong.

However, no matter what was wrong, it would not affect her decision to accept Chen Tao as her disciple, so she nodded.

Chen Xiangyue slept in the carriage for one night, which was the most sound sleep he had had in recent times.

The next day, he began to prepare for the ceremony of becoming a disciple. Chen Xiangyue came in a hurry, but the things he brought with him were very valuable. However, he was stumped by the idea of ​​paying homage to the statue of the saint.

"Is this appropriate?" Cao Jin and Hu Zhexing discussed.

"What's wrong with that?" Hu Zhexing didn't care. "The saint said that if three people walk together, one of them will be my teacher. It didn't say whether it was a man or a woman."

Cao Jin knew that Hu Zhexing was a heretic: "But Mr. Du and the others are back..."

Hu Zhexing approached Cao Jin and lowered his voice, "Think about it, who pays our monthly salary? Besides, Mr. Du and his men won't be back until autumn or winter. Even if they fire us by then, we'll still have saved a lot of money."

"If we stop this now and Madam Chen fires us, what will we do?" Hu Zhexing lowered his voice. "Think about your mother and the money for going to Beijing."

Cao Jin hesitated after hearing what Hu Zhexing said: "Then you can't be obsessed with money."

"Why am I obsessed with money?" Hu Zhexing thought Cao Jin was a bit stubborn. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong with this? Besides, it's better to be obsessed with money than to be obsessed with death. People have to survive first."

Cao Jin looked at Hu Zhexing helplessly.

"Don't look at me like that. It's useless. I think this is a good thing." Hu Zhexing said very straightforwardly.

It was somewhat against the rules for scholars for a woman to accept disciples in front of the statue of a saint, but it was a good thing for the people of Baotou Village, and they all came to watch the ceremony.

Because the preparation was rushed, it wasn't that strict.

Gao E did not actually sit under the statue of the saint and let Chen Tao pay his respects, but instead paid his respects separately, because Gao E had never paid homage to the saint and was not considered a student of the saint.

However, there were still many letters of apprenticeship and tea, which meant that the master-disciple relationship was officially recognized. From then on, Chen Xiangyue had to be polite to Gao E.

After finishing these things, Chen Xiangyue hurried back to the city, leaving Chen Tao in Baotou Village.

Gao E watched Chen Tao watching his father's carriage leave: "You can go home now if you want."

"I don't want to go back." Chen Tao looked at Aunt Gao seriously. "Master, I think something is wrong with my father."