In the Northern Song Dynasty, he started by marrying the eighth daughter of the Su family.

“Your face tells a story,” Han Zhi replied instinctively. “And I have had the privilege of reading some of your articles.”

"For example?" Ouyang Xiu asked.

In his understanding, this was just a polite remark. Even so, the question was meant to teach him not to be so overly polite.

Han Zhi didn't know what Ouyang Xiu meant, but he had indeed heard of and studied quite a bit of Ouyang Xiu's writings. Therefore, he replied:

"The first poem is 'The Record of the Drunken Old Man's Pavilion,' which you wrote in the Drunken Old Man's Pavilion. It not only expresses your enjoyment of the mountains and forests, but also your joy in sharing happiness with the people. You used the feelings of nature to relieve your sorrows. I admire you."

"The second poem is 'Yu Yi Zhi,' which delves deeper into the argument layer by layer, and the students were deeply moved when they read it."

Ouyang Xiu laughed and pointed at Han Zhi, saying, "Your student truly delights this old man!"

"I never expected you could read my articles so deeply. If I were to say that I was just being pretentious and that there was little truth in them, what then?"

Han Zhi also replied, "This is just my own opinion, but I would like to hear your true thoughts, sir."

“There’s nothing much to it; you’ve covered almost everything,” Ouyang Xiu waved his hand and said, “On the contrary, the poems you wrote today are all quite good. The only one is a bit too bold.”

"Please enlighten me, sir."

Ouyang Xiu shook his head and said, "There's no need to point it out. You may not understand human relationships, but you've certainly mastered the art of humility."

Han Zhi blinked, then glanced at Su Zhen and said, "This... this student's skill is hardly real. Of the 1000 liters of literary talent in my family, my wife has eight, and the hamster in our house has three."

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Xiu became puzzled and asked, "But what about the extra dou? Wasn't it supposed to be one shi?"

At this moment, Han Zhi said, "This extra dou, naturally, will be made up by the student. My wife has eight dou, her collection of books has three dou, and the student owes one dou. No more, no less, it's exactly one shi."

Well, they've even started using addition and subtraction.

Ouyang Xiu and the Prefectural Chancellor of Kaifeng both laughed and said, "Your student is quite interesting."

Su Zhen was also feeling a bit embarrassed at this point, and quickly said, "Please don't be offended, gentlemen. This is how I am at home. I hope you two will forgive me and not take offense."

Ouyang Xiu waved his hand and said, "Why blame him? His literary talent and his humble and unassuming nature have already outweighed those minor shortcomings."

"You flatter me, sir," Su Zhen could only reply.

Ouyang Xiu, feeling a sense of appreciation for talent, asked, "Do you have a teacher now?"

"Students at the Imperial Academy do indeed have a teacher." Han Zhi didn't understand what Ouyang Xiu meant at first, so he answered in this way.

Hu Si, on the contrary, provoked the two chief priests to laugh again. Su Zhen was also speechless. He stepped forward and pulled Han Zhi, whispering in his ear:

"This gentleman is not that gentleman! Sir, you have misunderstood. The one who teaches is called a teacher. Only the one who has formally performed the apprenticeship ceremony is called a gentleman."

Han Zhi blinked, then realized—similar to a thesis advisor?

He was about to answer when he heard a sound from another direction:

"Young Master Han!"

"Lord Han!"

All eyes were drawn to them, and there walked Bao Zheng with Bao Yi, Bao Zheng's face full of smiles. As they walked, he said:

"Scholar Ouyang, this approach seems inappropriate."

When Ouyang Xiu saw Bao Zheng, he quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Privy Councilor Bao."

"What? You're ignoring all those promising talents in Yingtian Prefecture and insisting on coming here to find their seedlings? Isn't that going a bit too far?" Bao Zheng laughed, his words seemingly implying something. "Besides, Yingtian Prefecture is so far away from here, how can you provide guidance?"

"Why not keep them by my side? They are my own family, and I can guide them myself. Is that not acceptable?"

Han Zhi blinked, listening to their conversation, somewhat confused. Then he leaned close to Su Zhen's ear and whispered, "What are you two gentlemen doing?"

Su Zhen didn't know whether Steward Han was truly foolish or pretending, so he replied, "The two gentlemen are arguing over who will be the master. Whoever wins the argument will become the master's teacher."

Is there such a good thing?

I've never experienced anything like this before!

After listening, Ouyang Xiu smiled and said, "I only saw that he had great potential, so I took a liking to his talent and wanted to take him as my disciple. But since Privy Councilor Bao is here today, if I were to force him, wouldn't I be in the wrong?"

"Then I thank Scholar Ouyang for his generosity."

"What are you saying?" Bao Zheng smiled and waved his hand.

Ouyang Xiu glanced at Han Zhi a few more times and said, "Han Zhi, I will stay in the capital for a few more days. If you have any questions, you may come to me. If there are any unclear parts in the text, you may also ask."

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Ouyang."

After exchanging a few polite words, Ouyang Xiu and the Prefectural Chancellor of Kaifeng left together. At this moment, Han Zhicai said to Bao Zheng, "Thank you, Master Bao, for helping me out of this predicament today."

Bao Zheng smiled and said, "You misunderstand. I'm not here to help you out."

"Huh?" Han Zhi was taken aback and subconsciously looked at Su Zhen beside him again, but the other party just smiled without saying a word.

"I don't know what Mr. Bao means by this."

"Don't you understand, Master Han?" Bao Yi was unusually clever today, saying, "My master isn't just here to help you out of this predicament; he genuinely wants to take you as his apprentice!"

Bao Zheng then smiled and stroked his beard, saying, "I heard all three of your poems just now. First was 'Qing Yu An,' then 'Qin Yuan Chun,' and finally 'Nian Nu Jiao.' They all express the heroic spirit of the river."

"I have seen many who are all talk and no action, and I don't know if you are one of them. But some time ago, your mother wrote me a letter. Do you know what she said?"

Han Zhi shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Bao Zheng then said, "You should remember that I told you that I am an old acquaintance of your mother. Some time ago, she wrote to me asking me to take you as her student."

"I see that you do have some talent, and I am looking for someone so that, after my death, you and Yi'er can stand together in the court. What do you say now?"

Han Zhi nodded, then, remembering the solemn ceremony of apprenticeship in ancient times, he wanted to kneel down to pay his respects. However, Bao Zheng helped him up, saying, "Such formalities are unnecessary."

"But you must not make any mistakes in the future, otherwise you will break the hearts of your mother and me."

Han Zhi bowed and said, "Yes."

Bao Zheng waved his hand and said, "You should all go back now. Today's poetry gathering was quite noisy. Go back and get some rest. You can come back to perform the apprenticeship ceremony when you have time."

"Yes, student takes his leave."

After Han Zhi finished speaking, he left with Su Zhen. Bao Yi then said, "Sir, didn't you say you wouldn't accept students anymore? Why are you bringing up Madam Zhou today?"

Bao Zheng smiled and said, "If I hadn't told him, would he have agreed to be my student? He's quite a promising talent. Although his usual writing is not very good, these three pieces are not bad."

"I've also heard about the case in Yizhou; it was he who gave the advice to solve it. He also gave a good solution to the case of the real and fake crown prince this time, and the report from the people who went to investigate is exactly as he described."

“Not only is he the son of an old friend, but he is also a promising talent. I might as well give him a try.”