White-robed Minister

Chapter 69 0067 [Going to Yu Jing's House Again]

"It's so muggy and hot, it's probably going to rain soon."

"It should be going down soon; the water level should be rising these days."

"After the exam, I'll go buy a fan, and while I'm at it, I'll also pick up some mugwort and calamus."

"Hehe, I bought the fan a long time ago."

'

Xu Lai sat in the dormitory waiting for the exam to begin. It was unbearably hot and humid, and he was sweating profusely, his vest completely soaked.

The students were chattering away, and some of the boys with fans were proudly waving them around.

Chen Yanhong, whom I hadn't seen for many days, walked over wearing a semi-transparent blouse, with her inner garment faintly visible.

He was elegant and debonair.

Xu Lai observed the guy carefully and felt that something was missing.

Oh right, I'm missing a folding fan!

A real man shouldn't be effeminate with a round hand fan; a folding fan is much more stylish.

Xu Lai turned to Wen Zhonghe and asked, "Do they sell folding fans in Guangzhou?"

"What is a folding fan?" Wen Zhonghe asked rhetorically.

Xu Lai began to wonder: Did the entire Song Dynasty not have them, or was it just Guangzhou that didn't have folding fans?

It depends on how you interpret it.

In a broader sense, folding fans were introduced to China from Japan and Korea, and were only found in places like Bianliang, Hangzhou, and Mingzhou. They were also called Japanese fans or bat fans.

However, the Japanese bat fan was short and narrow, exuding a petty and stingy feel, and it wasn't until the Ming Dynasty that it was improved by the Chinese.

If Xu Lai were to produce a folding fan from the Ming or Qing dynasty, have someone paint a bamboo scene on it, and inscribe it with Zheng Banqiao's poem "Bamboo and Rock," and then shove it into Chen Yanhong's hands, he could easily rip him off for several dozen strings of cash, right?

A few dozen strings of cash isn't expensive.

First, it improved the folding fan; second, it contained that poem, adding extremely high value.

This mobile ATM shouldn't be wasted.

"Silence! Silence—the exam has begun!"

The quarterly examinations remained held within the study hall. Classics such as the *Mencius* were tested with fill-in-the-blank questions, while the *Analects* included both fill-in-the-blank questions and questions on the main ideas. Poetry, essays, and policy discussions were not tested.

The exam lasted from morning until mid-afternoon, and students handed in their papers one after another.

Upon leaving the dormitory, students without fans called upon their friends to go and buy fans together.

Everyone was drenched in sweat, as if they'd been pulled out of the water. If it weren't for the cooling medicine (herbal tea) available in the exam room for people to freely scoop up and drink, someone would probably have suffered heatstroke during the exam.

"Xingzhi, do you want to register for the Lent?" Liang Wensu caught up with him.

Xu Lai said, "I'm too lazy to take the entrance exam for now. Anyway, I'm self-taught and rarely attend lectures. Once I've finished studying the scriptures, I'll take the entrance exam directly."

"Then I won't ascend to the fasting period; I'll just ascend to the higher level when the time is right." Liang Wensu now imitates Xu Lai in everything he does.

The students who had already walked more than ten steps turned back and urged, "Go on, hurry up!"

The group left the school chatting and laughing, heading to the fan shop and bamboo ware shop to buy things.

Liang Wensu, also holding a round fan, wandered around aimlessly with the others. He arrived at a fan shop and, saying to Xu, who was walking down the street, "Xingzhi, come and pick one out!"

Xu Lai laughed and said, "This shop only sells fine goods, and the prices are too high. For a rough person like me, buying a simple fan is more suitable."

Liang Wensu had intended to give him one, but after hearing what Xu Lai said, he didn't say anything more.

Xu Lai walked to another shop and chose the palm-leaf fan displayed at the entrance.

Cheap, durable, and produces a strong breeze.

He visited several fan shops, but not only did they not sell folding fans, the shop owners had never even heard of them.

Then he went to the street where the bamboo craft shop was located and bought a bamboo woven mat according to the size. He was still sleeping on a straw mat.

"Xingzhi, aren't you going to buy a bamboo slave?" Wen Zhonghe was holding a bamboo wife, and he looked a bit lewd.

Of course, it's not called "Bamboo Wife" yet; that's a name created by Su Shi.

It is generally called a bamboo table, bamboo slave, or bamboo knee clamp.

A hollow cylinder woven from bamboo; it feels cool to hug in the summer and can be used as a pillow to sleep.

Xu Lai laughed and said, "The beds in the dormitory are too narrow; I can't even sleep comfortably myself, let alone give Zhu Nu room."

After wandering around for a while, they ran into Yang Shu and other members of the inner sanctuary.

"Have you finished your exams too?" Xu Lai asked.

Yang Shu shook his head repeatedly: "The ten-day exams in the inner palace have the same questions as the formal imperial examinations. Today is only half of the exam, and we'll continue tomorrow. I still need to practice my policy essays. I'll have no problem passing the provincial examination, but it will be difficult to pass the metropolitan examination."

Xu Lai smiled and said, "Keep up the good work, and let's pass the imperial examination together next year."

I strolled back to school, ate lunch, then went to get hot water for a nice, relaxing shower and wiped the newly bought mat with a damp cloth.

It wasn't long after dark, and Xu Lai was already going to sleep.

He didn't like reading at night; firstly, it strained his eyes, and secondly, it wasted lamp oil. He preferred to go to bed early and get up early.

My roommate, Wen Zhonghe, was burning the midnight oil copying notes, specifically Xu Lai's study notes on "The Correct Meaning of the Zuo Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Annals".

This notebook is divided into four parts: outline, historical events, general rules, and principles.

It's like disassembling and reorganizing a book of over 130 million words. Since the book has no page numbers, Xu Lai used bookmarks to mark many important parts, resulting in the entire set of books being densely covered with bookmarks.

When Wen Zhonghe first saw it, his eyes turned red as if he had found a treasure. He insisted on copying it every night while urging Xu Lai to finish writing the notes.

The chaotic and disorganized "Zuo Zhuan Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals" becomes clear and concise in Xu Lai's reading notes!

"professor!"

A gasp of surprise came from the dormitory room not far away.

This was the first time since Chen Cigong became the principal that he had personally come to check the dormitories at night.

The commotion caused all the dormitories to scramble to their feet. Even those who were already asleep got dressed and quickly lit oil lamps, pretending to be diligent.

Wen Zhonghe patted Xu Lai: "Xingzhi, wake up, Professor Chen is coming."

Xu Lai had been tossing and turning because of the heat, and had finally fallen asleep when he was woken up. He said rather impatiently, "Whoever it is, I'm already asleep."

"Don't blame me for not reminding you." Wen Zhonghe continued copying.

Chen Cigong went into each dormitory to talk to them, and after a long time, he finally arrived at Xu Lai's dormitory.

He couldn't help but smile when he saw Xu Lai fast asleep.

Xu Lai was the only one who slept during this trip; the rest of them were studying late into the night.

"Copying books?"

Chen Cigong lowered his voice and walked to Wen Zhonghe's side.

Wen Zhonghe replied, "Xu Sanlang wrote his study notes during the day, and I copied them at night."

Chen Cigong picked up the thick stack of papers, examined them carefully under the dim light, and asked, "What are these 'A1' and 'A2' papers?"

"The bookmarks correspond to the same numbers," Wen Zhonghe explained. "When studying and consolidating, you can follow this set of notes. If there's anything unclear, you can quickly find the original text of the book by following the bookmark number."

Chen Cigong nodded in approval: "Good idea. It should be promoted in the state school. In the future, when studying large volumes, we can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

Wen Zhonghe did not respond.

He didn't actually want to promote it; it would be better to keep it hidden, with only himself and Xu Sanlang knowing about it.

But it certainly can't be hidden forever; it won't be long before the students in the same dormitory discover it, and then it will spread to other dormitories.

Yang Shu already knew about what was happening inside the residence.

Instead of copying existing materials, Yang Shu followed Xu Lai's method, writing his own reading notes and making bookmarks.

Chen Cigong offered a few words of encouragement and then turned and left.

He decided to set aside a day to invite Xu Lai to the lecture hall to share his learning methods with the students.

early morning.

Xu Lai yawned as he got up, his body reeking of sweat.

He woke up in the middle of the night because of the heat and found that his vest was completely wet. He grabbed a palm-leaf fan and fanned himself for a while before he could fall back asleep.

Xu Lai picked up a pig bristle toothbrush, dipped it in tooth powder, scooped water from the water tank with a bowl, and planned to wash up outside the dormitory.

-

Pushing open the door, a cool breeze wafted in, and the air was fresh.

It's raining outside.

Xu Lai could only wash up under the eaves, looking at the school buildings in the rain, feeling extremely comfortable as the cool breeze blew.

Today is a holiday, no classes.

For Xu Lai, attending classes or not made no difference.

After the rain subsided, Xu Lai carried a bucket to fetch well water, took off his clothes, and washed himself in the open space in front of the dormitory.

Boarding students often do this, since they're all male and it doesn't matter.

While Xu Lai was rinsing off the sweat, several classmates from the next dormitory also came over with buckets to rinse off with him.

In broad daylight, a group of naked men stood outside, showering and laughing incessantly.

Xu Lai changed into clean clothes and studied in his dormitory until mid-morning. He then estimated the time and went to visit Yu Jing at his home.

Actually, it doesn't matter to him if he doesn't take a bath; Yu Jing himself doesn't like taking baths.

Because taking a shower takes too much time.

When Yu Jing first became an advisor, Emperor Renzong of Song did not know him. He was sprayed in the face with saliva in public, and was also attacked with the smell of sweat.

Emperor Renzong returned to his palace and said to the eunuch with a wronged expression, "I was suffocated by the stench of a sweaty man, who spat on my face."

Xu Lai left the school and headed to the government office area, heading straight for the rear residence of the military governor's office.

Yu'er had been waiting under the eaves. When she saw the male servant leading Xu Lai out, she immediately ran back to find Pianpian: "Young lady, Xu Sanlang is here."

"Come on then, what's it to me?" Pianpian was doing math problems.

That was homework assigned by her stepmother, who taught her arithmetic every day and let her practice on her own.

Learn accounting!

It doesn't really matter if a lady from a respectable family can do needlework; what's truly laughable is if she doesn't know how to manage a household and keep accounts.

Yu'er said, "Didn't you understand what my husband said that day, young lady?"

Pianpian understood, of course, and she also had a good impression of Xu Lai.

But if she were to talk about marriage right away, she would feel a little awkward. Such an important part of her life was arranged like this, and she had no choice at all.

At the very least, they should get to know each other first and build some rapport.

"Student Xu Lai greets your teacher!"

Xu Lai was led to the study.

Yu Jing, who was conducting a physics experiment, quickly waved his hand and said, "I can only weigh forces in the vertical direction with my scale. Can you think of a way to measure forces in any direction?"

Are you really going to let me discuss physics?

Xu Lai found it amusing, but said with a serious expression, "I will try my best to find a solution."

Yu Jing added, "Don't let it interfere with your studies. If you can't think of a solution, then forget it."

Xu Lai then presented "A Preliminary Discussion of Mencius".

Yu Jing casually flipped through the pages and couldn't help but laugh, "Your new interpretations may seem absurd, but upon closer inspection, they have deeper meaning. They weren't just written on a whim. That's good; you have your own ideas."

"The students haven't read enough scriptures, and these ideas are immature. We may correct them in the future," Xu said.

Yu Jing asked, "You've taught yourself arithmetic, haven't you?"

"I've studied it on my own," Xu said, "but like the Analects and Mencius, I've just come up with my own methods haphazardly."

Yu Jing admonished, "You must not neglect arithmetic either, as it will be of great use when you become an official in the future."

He then instructed Xiao Shi, "Call Sixth Sister over and bring her arithmetic exercises."

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