Patriarch, he doesn't want to take the imperial examinations

On the sixth day of March, Tong Zisheng left Meng's house and went back to Suzhou.

Meng Qing and Meng Hong sent people to the north section of the Grand Canal, Tong Zisheng said goodbye to them on the shore: "Two cousins, please stay. Zisheng will go now, and when I get home, I will write you a letter to report that I am safe. "

Meng Qing replied: "Okay, you must write to us when you get home. Your second cousin will get married in September this year, so you can come earlier so that you can attend his wedding. We will send you here. It's a long journey. Have a nice trip."

"Okay, Zisheng already knows." Tong Zisheng bowed his hands slightly to the two of them, turned around and boarded the passenger boat on the shore with Tong Liang.

Meng Qing and Meng Hong waved goodbye to him on the shore, and soon the ship unmoored and sailed south.

Meng Qing and Meng Hong didn't go back until they drove far away and no one could be seen on the river.

Sitting on the carriage home, Meng Hong sighed and said: "This Tong Zisheng is also very unlucky, he has been in our house for five months, and spent three months in illness, his health is so poor, it is strange that he can pass the exam. And he will come again this autumn, if it still happens then, isn't this a deception."

Meng Qing said coldly: "It's not to deceive you, why do you care so much, you will get married in half a year, you should take care of your own affairs."

Tch, Meng Hong was a little dissatisfied, every time he talked to his brother, his brother had nothing good to say, he was talking about Tong Zisheng, but he wanted to blame him.

It's really not speculative, Meng Hong is lazy to argue with him, and ignores him too much.

"What do you mean? Did I say anything to you? You're giving me a face like this."

Meng Hong didn't plan to reason with Meng Qing, but Meng Qing was still chasing him closely, Meng Hong was confused by his brother's words, turned his head and said: "Brother, can you make sense, I'm just I just don't want to talk, so why did you say that you are throwing face, you are my brother, born to overwhelm me, how dare I give you face."

"Humph!" Meng Qing snorted, "You still know that I am your brother. When you contradicted me, did you think of me as a brother? Take the time Tong Zisheng got drunk as an example. One Mengqing said he was upset with me and wanted to fight me."

"As a younger brother, you actually found a fight with your older brother. What are you doing wrong? I think you are simply lawless. You are going against the sky..."

Hey, Meng Qing came to dig up old accounts again, Meng Hong couldn't help giving him a blank look, since Meng Qing mentioned the quarrel between the two, he might as well reason with him about who was the one who was aggressive first.

"Don't just say that I am not a younger brother, but you are a brother. Let me get out, get out of this house and don't come back, and say that there is no one like me in the Meng family. Do you know what you said? I was so chilled when I was here, I know you never liked me, you didn't like me, but as an elder brother, you should be courteous to the younger brothers below, and I thought I didn't make any mistakes, so why did I get targeted by you everywhere Push it like this."

Meng Hong spoke so long that Meng Qing stared at him for a long time. Meng Hong felt uncomfortable and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not wrong."

Meng Qing laughed: "So in your eyes, your brother and I are such a person, always targeting you and persecuting you? I said to let you go, because you had nowhere to vent your anger, and finally had to fall back. About you, as long as you listen to me more or less, I won’t always reprimand you. As for what you said, I don’t like you, I just can’t understand your indifferent attitude at certain times, and I didn’t target you the meaning of."

After listening for a long time, Meng Hong seemed to understand it, and asked tentatively: "So, don't you hate me?"

Meng Qing said: "You and I are brothers, I hate what you do, I just love to talk about you, so there are so many grievances and entanglements involved."

He suddenly remembered what Meng Hong said that night, since the grievances are deep, let's fight.

It's just that even he didn't know when he and Meng Hong accumulated grievances. Could it be that he demanded too much from Meng Hong on weekdays? blame?

But shouldn't it be natural for the elder brother to discipline the younger brother? Meng Hong cares about him like this, and he has resentment because of it.

Meng Hong: "It's scary if you talk about it. It's like Tang Monk chanting scriptures. It makes me have a headache."

"Okay, I will try not to talk about you in the future." Since Meng Hong has said that the elder brother should be courteous to the younger brother, then Meng Qing will let him, lest he talk too much and people will resent him.

"Okay, this is what you said." Meng Hong, "You are not allowed to lecture me in front of my family in the future. I am already in my twenties, so I want to save face."

"Well, I'll try my best."

The two brothers went home while talking.

When we got home, it was past meal time.

Meng Zhen waited for them for a long time, saw the two of them coming in, and asked, "Tong Zisheng sent you away?"

Meng Qing replied: "Send it away."

Meng Zhen said "hmm": "I just finished eating, there is some left for you on the table, you eat slowly, I will go back to school first."

Ever since the imperial court issued the decree of opening Enke, Mengzhen has not stayed at home, and went to the county school every day without hesitation, and read and made articles with the students in the school.

Tong Zisheng returned home today, Meng Qing and Meng Hong went out to see each other off early in the morning, while he sat at home and waited for his two brothers to come back, and waited until he had finished his lunch before he waited for them to come, and now he had to confess a few words before going to school went.

Because it was still early, there were not many people in the classroom at the moment, so Mengzhen took out a book and read it by himself.

Slowly, the number of students in the classroom increased one after another.Most of the students, like Meng Zhen, stopped spending their days at home in a daze after they learned that the imperial court opened the township meeting Enke. Everyone wanted to take this opportunity to pass the township test.

Moreover, they had a new school administration in Shuntian Mansion this year, and the new school administration only came to the school a few days ago for inspection, and this year's New Year's Exam, the new school administration set the annual examination in mid-May.

Every student must take the yearly exam, and those with poor grades are not allowed to take the township exam in August. Therefore, the students dare not neglect at all. No matter the weather is good or bad, they insist on coming to the school every day to prepare for the exam. To cope with the annual examination in May.

Meng Zhen was reciting the article in silence, when suddenly a figure stood beside him, before he raised his eyes, he heard "Uncle Meng".

Needless to ask, the voice belonged to Deng Bowen.

Deng Bowen put an invitation card on his desk and said, "I will get married on the fifth day of next month, and I will invite Uncle Meng and his family to attend."

Deng Bowen was engaged last winter, and the wedding date was set on the fifth day of April this year.

Mengzhen heard from Deng Bowen that the other party was the daughter of a member of the family. She was well educated and polite. She was two years younger than Deng Bowen. Before getting engaged, Deng Bowen had contact with her a few times. Very happy, the parents of both sides urged them tightly again, and the marriage between the two families was settled like this.

From birth, a person’s life trajectory is basically predetermined, babbling, toddling, and then going to school to receive knowledge, relatives and friends pay attention to teaching, running around for fame and fame, getting married and having children at a certain age, and caring for the family and children. When their children grow up and have their own home, they also reach their twilight years, accompanied by the sunrise and sunset, day after day, until the end of life and close their eyes.

Then it suddenly dawned on me, ah, this is nothing more than a person's life, no matter what fame and fortune, rich or poor, they are all buried under the loess along with their own bodies in the end.

If Mengzhen hadn't escaped into Taoism in his previous life, he thought his life trajectory would be the same, just like Deng Bowen, who got married and had children at the right age, and then worked hard for the family and children until the day his body failed.

However, this is not what he wants. What he wants is not to be burdened by anyone, so he escapes into the Taoist sect and devotes himself to cultivation in order to live forever.

"Uncle Meng," Meng Zhen pinched the invitation card and looked at it for a while, Deng Bowen didn't know what he was thinking, so he called out, "But what's wrong?"

Meng Zhen smiled and shook his head: "There is nothing wrong, Uncle Meng will definitely attend."

"Good!" Deng Bowen also laughed.

The students who come to the school basically review by themselves. In the afternoon, the classroom is quiet, some memorize silently, some write articles, and occasionally meet with half-knowledge, or quietly ask the students next to them, or go up to Instructor Yang .

Two hours passed without knowing it.

In the afternoon, when Meng Zhen came home from school, it was still early, and Meng Che happened to come back from school, Meng Zhen called him to him, and the father and son chatted in the yard.

After the beginning of spring, Meng Che changed to a new school, which was the Qingshan Academy that Meng Zhen had studied in.

It has been nearly two months since school started, and Meng Che has already adapted to the new school. The first thing he does when he comes back from school every day is to complete the homework assigned by his master, but today is an exception. He was called to him by his father as soon as he entered the door.

"How is Xueli doing?" Meng Zhen asked.

Meng Che replied: "Fortunately, the master has taught a new class. Although the students are naughty, they are not malicious, and it is easy to get along with each other. Everything is fine."

"Sit down and talk!" Meng Zhen pointed to the stool on the other side, and Meng Che sat down as he said.

Meng Zhen looked at this son who had grown a bit taller, and remembered that when he was a child a few years ago, he acted like a spoiled Suo Ai on him. At that time, he was very uncomfortable and almost pushed him out.

Now four years have passed, the little boy who used to have fun in front of him has grown into a young boy, and his temperament has changed a lot compared to before, becoming taciturn.

Meng Zhen thought, it's only a year or two older, how come his temperament has changed so much, the previous vivacity is gone completely, Meng Zhen is not used to getting along with him.

Just like now, even though the two of them were sitting so close, neither of them spoke for a while.

Meng Zhen felt that the air was stuffy, so he asked Meng Che about his homework, and took a random passage from the four books to test him, and Meng Che answered fluently without exception.

"Master, can I teach you how to write stereotyped essays?" Seeing that there were no problems in Meng Che's endorsement, Meng Zhen asked how he was writing essays.

Meng Che still respectfully replied: "Teacher, the homework assigned today is an stereotyped essay."

Meng Che thought that his father would continue to ask questions, but he didn't expect his father to say: "Since the master has assigned the homework, you should hurry up and finish it before dawn, so as to save your eyesight from studying in the dark."

Meng Che was secretly happy, he finally didn't have to endure his father's questions anymore, he hurriedly got up and bowed to his father, and was about to walk away in a hurry.

But Meng Zhen called out to him: "Wait a minute!"

The joy in Meng Che's bosom disappeared immediately, he turned his head and asked: "What's the matter, Dad, what's wrong?"

Meng Zhen hesitated to speak, and swallowed the words he had thought of before reaching his lips, and finally waved his hand lightly: "It's okay, write your article quickly, and show it to Dad when you're done."

"Yes!" Meng Che walked away quickly as if he had been pardoned.Looking at his disappearing figure, Meng Zhen sighed to himself, after all, it is different from when he was a child, he was so clingy when he was a child, but now he doesn't want to stay with him for a moment longer.

Sitting alone in the yard for a while, Meng Zhen was bored and went back to the house to read a book.

Before dinner, Meng Che showed him the finished stereotyped essay. Meng Zhen glanced at it briefly, and circled the parts he thought were inappropriate with a red pen, and asked him to revise and transcribe it after dinner.

Meng Che complained incessantly, and finally wrote an article, but his father changed it beyond recognition. When he thought that he had to rewrite it after dinner, he suddenly felt that the dinner tonight was not good.

At the dinner table in the evening, taking advantage of the presence of his sons, Mengzhen talked about Deng Bowen's invitation to him in today's school.

And asked who was going with him when the time came.

Meng Yuan rushed to answer: "I'm going."

Meng Zhen took a look at him, he was too young, he just made up for it if he went there, this doesn't count.

He looked at the remaining three people and asked, "What about you, why don't you talk, are you not going?"

Meng Qing hurriedly replied: "I won't go, let Meng Hong and Meng Che accompany dad to go."

Meng Hong said, "I'm not going either."

Meng Qing looked at him, very surprised: "Deng Bowen got married, Deng Zhaozhao must be there, why don't you go?"

Meng Hong thought he was making a fuss: "Why does elder brother think she is here so I have to go?"

Meng Qing: "It's not human nature. It just so happens that you are about to get married. Go and see how other people's grooms are. It's easy for you to learn, so you won't be nervous and flustered and be at a loss."

Meng Hong felt that his brother's words were superfluous. He has grown up so much, and it's not that he has never seen someone get married. When Meng Qing got married, he watched the whole process. study.

And now he prefers to be quiet and not noisy, the more crowded places he is, the less he wants to go, so he made an excuse and said: "Next month I have too many things to do and I don't have time, so let Meng Che go with Dad."

Meng Zhen looked at the two sons who pushed each other, and got angry for no reason: "If you don't go, you won't go, why waste so much talk, Meng Che will follow me then."

Meng Qing and Meng Hong looked at each other, they didn't dare to speak anymore, and silently picked the rice in the bowl.

Seeing that his second brother was not going, Meng Che wanted to refuse to go, but Meng Zhen picked up a chopstick dish for him and said, "Eat quickly, after eating, go and rewrite the article I corrected for you just now." , and then go to bed early, you have to go to school tomorrow morning, don't stay in bed."

Meng Che wanted to cry but couldn't cry, he couldn't tell what he was suffering, his eyes were longing for his second brother, Meng Hong also picked up a chopstick dish for him, and said: "Listen to Dad, hurry up and change the text after eating, children can't stay up late , otherwise it is easy to not grow taller."

Meng Che gave Meng Hong an annoyed look, and said in his heart that he was no longer a child, and his second brother always said he was a child, which made people very annoying and dissatisfied.

"Second brother, I'm already thirteen. I'm not a kid anymore. Don't say I'm a kid in the future. If the students in the academy know about it, they'll have to laugh at me."

Meng Hong was amused by his words: "When did you become one year older? Aren't you twelve? Why did you suddenly become thirteen?" Suddenly, people who came here understood that when they talked about age, they were referring to false years, and they also No wonder Meng Che would say this.

And at Meng Che's current age, he is neither embarrassed nor embarrassed, he is not too young for a group of children, and he is still a child in the eyes of adults for his age.

If you put it in the modern age, when you are just in junior high school, subtle changes are taking place in your mind and body. In today's words, you are about to enter puberty.

It was Meng Hong who was negligent before, he had always treated Meng Che like a child, but suddenly one day it changed.It turns out that growing up is just a matter of a moment.

Meng Hong hurriedly picked another chopsticks dish for Meng Che, and apologized: "Second brother is wrong, second brother should not treat you as a child anymore, we Meng Che is one year older, we are a man, in the future Second brother still depends on you. Eat more and grow taller. Only when your body is strong can you be able to protect the person you want to protect."

Meng Che didn't expect his second brother to apologize to him for this incident, and he felt warm, and said, "Thank you second brother, I will eat well and grow tall and strong, just like my second brother."

Meng Qing poured cold water on the side: "Let's forget it, your second brother is tall but not strong, what to do like him."

There was a smile on Meng Hong's face, but the corners of his mouth started to twitch after hearing Meng Qing's words. Meng Qing really can't speak, his body has always been healthy and strong, and he is already in good shape among a group of men. What is the strength in the eyes, does it have to be like a cow?

"Then be the same as big brother." Meng Hong said calmly.

Meng Che took a look at his two older brothers. He seemed to smell a smell of gunpowder. He was afraid of setting fire to himself, so he didn't dare to speak, and only buried his head in picking the rice in the bowl.

"Hurry up and eat, go back to each room after eating, don't be an eyesore here." Meng Zhen finally said, there was no more words at the dinner table, and everyone went back to their rooms soon after the meal.

For the next period of time, everyone was busy with their own activities, those who went to school, those who made a living, and the beauty of March was over, and soon it was the summer season with thick trees.

The fifth day of April is the beginning of summer.

Light breeze, few clouds, just the right amount of sunshine.

In the morning, Meng Zhen brought Meng Che to Deng Bowen's house. Originally, Meng Yuan also wanted to come, but Meng Zhen didn't bring him. He stayed at Deng Bowen's house for a long time, and there was inevitably a lot of drinking and drinking during the dinner. Good boy! He was afraid that he would not be able to take care of him, so he left him at home.

When they came, it happened that Deng Bowen was there to pick up their relatives, and it was Deng Bowen's second brother who took care of them.

Meng Zhen and Meng Che were led to the banquet hall, and they found a hidden place to sit down. After a while, Deng Zhaozhao came forward.

Deng Zhaozhao is Deng Bowen's cousin. Deng Bowen is getting married today, so people should be here. Not only her, but several wives of Deng Yuming are also here.

Deng Zhaozhao yelled "Uncle Meng", and then looked hesitant to speak, Mengzhen was not stupid, he could see why she came, and hurriedly said: "He didn't come."

Deng Zhaozhao asked softly, "But what's the delay?"

Meng Zhen said: "Well, he has been in the capital recently, and he hasn't been home for a long time. I don't know what he is doing. I think he must be very busy."

Standing beside Mengzhen, Deng Zhaozhao pursed his lips, not knowing what to say, bowed slightly, and left.

After the person walked away, Meng Che asked, "Father, is this my future sister-in-law?"

Meng Zhen nodded and said "yes".

Meng Che only met Deng Zhaozhao once, which was at this time the year before last. It seemed that Deng Bowen led Deng Zhaozhao to their house that day. He and Deng Zhaozhao only had a face-to-face meeting. After a while, he almost forgot what this sister-in-law looked like.It wasn't until today's goodbye that the already blurred outline became clear again.

"Father, sister-in-law doesn't seem very happy." Meng Che said.

Meng Zhen: "I think it's because I want to see that your second brother didn't succeed, so I'm not happy."

Meng Che: "What's the matter? My second elder brother is going to get married soon. When we get married, my sister-in-law will be a member of our family. There is a saying, 'If the relationship between two people lasts for a long time, how can they be in the same day and night? ’, why rush at this moment?”

Meng Zhen turned his head to look at him, his eyes were full of approval, not bad, at such a young age, he has a profound understanding of love, which can be described as extremely enlightened.

The father and son sat in the banquet hall for a while, during which someone came to say hello, and Meng Zhen simply responded with a few words.

Maybe he was bored after sitting for a long time, Meng Che said he wanted to go out for a walk, Meng Zhen waved his hand and asked him to go by himself.

Not long after Meng Che left, Meng Zhen had nothing to do and simply closed his eyes and meditated on the scriptures.

"Mon...Uncle Mon?"

Hearing a call suddenly, Meng Zhen hastily opened his eyes, and a young son appeared in front of him.

Meng Zhen looked at it for a while, and finally saw who this person was.

This person was Xu Jiaxing, his classmate when he was studying in Qingshan Academy.

"Xu Jiaxing?" Meng Zhen was obviously a little surprised. After the college examination that year, he entered the county school to study, and he never saw Xu Jiaxing again. He counted and calculated, and there was an interval of two and a half years.

Xu Jiaxing is quite different from before, he has grown a lot taller, his face is completely childish, and he looks mature.

Xu Jiaxing said happily: "It's me. I saw you didn't respond for a long time, and thought you didn't recognize me."

Meng Zhen smiled and said: "It's true that I almost didn't recognize it. How are you doing now, where are you studying?"

Xu Jiaxing said embarrassingly: "I'm still in Qingshan Academy. I'm ashamed to say it. I've taken the college exam twice, but I haven't passed it. My family has high expectations for me. It's not easy for me to drop out, so I just stay in Qingshan Academy. Yes. It just so happens that this year there is another college entrance examination, so I will try my best to pass this examination, otherwise my family members will always say that I will feel uncomfortable."

The college examination is held twice in three years, in the first year and second year of Xin Xuezheng's tenure respectively.Xu Jiaxing has already taken the hospital exam twice, the first time was with Meng Zhen, this is the third time this year.

Meng Zhen encouraged him: "Kung fu pays off, hard work pays off, hard work will always pay off, and you can always pass the exam a few times."

Xu Jiaxing was inspired by his words, and hurriedly said: "Thank you Uncle Meng for your encouragement, I will persevere until I pass the exam. Jiaxing also wishes Uncle Meng a good result in this year's provincial examination and be on the list."

To understand the situation, Xu Jiaxing heard from Deng Bowen that he accidentally failed the provincial examination last year, and this year he opened Enke. This is the second examination.

But no matter what, Xu Jiaxing felt that Meng Zhen was already good enough. After all, he was over half a century old and became a monk halfway. It was really rare to be a scholar in the first college entrance examination.

Just at this time, someone outside shouted: "Here we come, the bridegroom has come back to greet his relatives."

Meng Zhen still sat on the seat and did not move, Xu Jiaxing said: "Bo Wen is back to welcome the relatives, Uncle Meng, let's go out and have a look."

Meng Zhen nodded, and then got up from his seat.I thought to myself, Meng Che is still outside, just going out to look for it.