Chapter 73 – Something is wrong!
Afterwards, things became much easier, as if everything fell into place naturally. Gu Yu and Director Qingshan directly agreed on the time for Gu Qingheng to be admitted to the academy.
After a silent battle of wits between Gu Yu and the Director, Gu Qingheng finally succeeded in entering Qingshan Academy.
However, Gu Qingheng, the person concerned, was looking at Gu Yu and Director Qingshan with a completely bewildered expression, his eyes filled with deep confusion.
Didn’t they just want his brother-in-law to study at Qingshan Academy?
Why did it turn out to be him entering now??
This is not right!
Gu Qingheng turned his head blankly and looked at his sister in the crowd. He saw Gu Mengyao with an excited expression on her face, as if she had been admitted to Qingshan Academy, and she was almost waving a flag.
This made Gu Qingheng feel that it would be better for him not to watch any further.
Otherwise, he would only be more depressed.
Looking at Gu Yu again, he saw Gu Yu smiling with spring-like pride, and Director Qingshan was also very satisfied. It was as if they had reached some kind of agreement and achieved a win-win situation.
But he, Gu Qingheng, had become the victim!
The poor eight-year-old child was about to be sent to the academy to study with a group of adults. This was simply child abuse!
Having finally finished reading half the room of books, Gu Qingheng just thought… he could finally relax and spend his days wandering around the village entrance, listening to gossip and satisfying his curiosity.
Life would be so sweet!
But now, if he were to enter Qingshan Academy to study, it would be like jumping from a pit full of books into another pit full of books!
All books!
Gu Qingheng was brooding over the thought that he would probably have to sleep with books from now on, while Gu Yu, after discussing the date with the Director, brought up the time for the apprenticeship ceremony, which was set for after the New Year.
The academy was different from a regular school. After students were admitted to Qingshan Academy, they had to respect Ruan Qingshan as their teacher and perform an apprenticeship ceremony.
Ancient times were different from modern times. It was fine to directly pay tuition and enroll in school. Before going to the academy to study, an apprenticeship ceremony had to be performed.
As for the apprenticeship process, besides various rituals, there were also the “Six Gifts of Propriety” to prepare.
Celery (symbolizing diligent study and proficiency through hard work)
Lotus seeds (the heart of the lotus is bitter, symbolizing diligent education)
Red beans (symbolizing good fortune)
Red dates (symbolizing early success in examinations)
Longans (symbolizing the completion of merit)
The above were the items to be prepared for the “Six Gifts of Propriety,” and one more item was missing, which was a gift prepared by the students according to their own wishes.
When Gu Yu learned about the apprenticeship ceremony, he couldn’t help but sigh about how troublesome it was to study in ancient times.
However, it was precisely because of this that teachers who taught and educated people were highly respected.
Even if the students achieved great success in the future, they would always remember the teachers who had taught them to read and write, especially the ancient concept of respecting teachers and valuing virtue, which regarded them as second parents.
Director Qingshan had been running the academy for many years, and his students were all over the place. No one knew how much turmoil would be stirred up if he rallied them.
After all, Director Qingshan had always accepted those with extraordinary intelligence as students…
Although Gu Yu was not admitted to the academy this time, the admission of Gu Qingheng was an unexpected surprise.
Director Qingshan was very satisfied with the current outcome.
Or rather, through a short period of contact, the Director knew that Gu Yu was not someone to be easily controlled… and the idea of respecting teachers and valuing virtue might not apply to Gu Yu.
Such a person, although his future achievements were limitless, was also extremely dangerous.
Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.
Therefore, Director Qingshan felt that admitting Gu Qingheng as a student was the best outcome.
Compared to Gu Yu, Gu Qingheng was like a lamb and a wolf; they couldn’t be compared.
But… Director Qingshan had been relieved too early!
Although Gu Qingheng appeared to be a little lamb, he was already so intelligent from a young age, and with Gu Yu’s guidance, he would not be far from becoming a fierce beast.
However, Gu Qingheng was indeed much easier to teach than Gu Yu now, and he had shown outstanding talent, which was enough for Director Qingshan to pay attention to him.
Thus, after agreeing on the date, Gu Yu’s family did not stay at the poetry gathering for long.
The poetry gathering was nothing special. After staying here for a short time, there were already frequent incidents. If they continued to stay, Gu Yu was worried whether the poetry gathering could continue.
Just the gazes from the students of Qingshan Academy made Gu Yu decide to leave immediately.
Because those students seemed very unconvinced and were bent on getting back at them… Humph! Ridiculous, after finally stealing the spotlight, how could they be suppressed by others at this moment.
They had shown off enough, and now it was time to strike while the iron was hot and make a swift exit.
Therefore, with the plea of the Magistrate and Director Qingshan, Gu Yu, Gu Mengyao and her brother left the backyard of the county office and came to the street.
“Phew! Ah Yu, we’re finally out! I originally thought the poetry gathering was a place for scholars to write poems, but I didn’t expect…”
“Haha, don’t think too much about it. This poetry gathering was not in vain, and Qingheng was successfully admitted.”
“Yes! When I heard Director Qingshan invite Qingheng to be admitted, I felt like I was still dreaming and almost had to pinch myself to see if it was real.”
“Don’t pinch yourself, but you can kiss me to see if it’s real.”
“Naughty~”
While Gu Yu and Gu Mengyao were flirting, Gu Qingheng beside them was in a daze, wondering if he had had a nightmare and hadn’t woken up yet.
But when Gu Qingheng saw the smile on Gu Yu’s face, he intuitively knew it was real.
Because his brother-in-law had always been thinking about how to get him to study in town quickly… This way, his brother-in-law could have sweet time with his sister without a third wheel.
It had to be said that Gu Qingheng guessed correctly.
Now that Gu Qingheng had finally been sent away, it could be considered that one of Gu Yu’s major problems had been resolved.
Moreover, Gu Mengyao would be extremely happy to have Gu Qingheng enter Qingshan Academy to study!
After all, Qingshan Academy had a great reputation in Lian Town, and even Gu Mengyao had heard of it, which showed its great influence.
And Gu Qingheng had not yet passed the Tong Sheng exam, but he was invited to the academy by Director Qingshan. This had never happened in Lian Town before!
Even Shun Yang of the Yang family had to rack his brains to get into Qingshan Academy, but Gu Qingheng entered directly without any effort with Gu Yu’s “help.”
Gu Qingheng was so lucky that he wanted to cry.
“Ah Yu, where are we going now?”
“Hmm… let’s go to Chunlai Restaurant! After selling the white sugar to Chengfeng Shan, he launched a set of sweet dishes at the restaurant, which has been well-received in town recently. I’ll take you to give it a try.”
“Sweet dishes? Brother-in-law! I want to go, I want to go.”
Then, when Gu Mengyao asked Gu Yu where they were going next, Gu Yu thought for a moment and finally decided to go to Chunlai Restaurant for a meal, and to cheer up his depressed brother-in-law so that he wouldn’t get angry anymore.
As expected, upon hearing Gu Yu say they were going to eat sweet dishes, Gu Qingheng, who had been in a daze,’s eyes lit up, and he quickly put aside the matter of entering the academy to study, focusing entirely on the food he was about to eat.
This childish temper was not too angry.
Although Gu Yu’s reason for sending his brother-in-law to Qingshan Academy was to prevent him from being a third wheel at home, Gu Yu also hoped that Gu Qingheng could receive a better education.
If he studied at home, he would only keep reading books… When Gu Qingheng had any questions, Gu Yu still had to spend a lot of effort checking books.
After Gu Yu understood it, he would break it down and teach it to Gu Qingheng.
Although the teaching was successful in the end, it was too troublesome. It was better to find a professional to teach Gu Qingheng, so that he, with his half-knowledge, wouldn’t teach him wrongly again.
Although Director Qingshan was not a kind person, seeing that he had taught so many students, one could tell that his teaching level was good.
Otherwise… even if the student was a genius, if the teacher was useless, he would not achieve much in the end.
Seeing that his brother-in-law was finally no longer depressed, Gu Yu did not waste any more time. He directly took Gu Mengyao and her brother towards Chunlai Restaurant, preparing to have a big meal.
On the way to the restaurant, there were many street vendors on both sides of the street, hawking their goods loudly. Among them were many eloquent vendors, which made passers-by stop and see what they were selling.
Further ahead, the shops that were open for business were even more bustling. With full customer traffic, they were sure to earn a lot of money.
“Sister, I want to eat candied haws.”
“Okay, here’s money for you to buy it!”
On the road, when Gu Qingheng saw a vendor selling candied haws, he immediately couldn’t help but beg Gu Mengyao, wanting to buy a skewer to try.
If it were usual, Gu Mengyao would definitely not agree, but after the happy event at the poetry gathering, she did not hold back her brother anymore. Instead, she readily gave him money and asked Gu Qingheng to buy a large skewer of candied haws.
Gu Yu looked at the candied haws in Gu Qingheng’s hand. Because the Linfeng Kingdom did not have white sugar before, only sugarcane sugar… that is, brown sugar, the sugar on the candied haws was brown sugar, and its appearance was not beautiful.
However, there was no other way. After Chengfeng Shan promoted white sugar throughout the country, the situation would gradually improve.
At least, things like candied haws would be made with white sugar.
“Ah Yu, be careful.”
Just as Gu Yu was lost in thought, he didn’t notice the pebbles under his feet. Just as he was about to fall, Gu Mengyao, who was standing beside him, quickly reached out and hugged his waist to prevent Gu Yu from falling.
Gu Yu also came back to his senses at this moment, thinking that he must change his bad habit of getting easily distracted when thinking, because if Gu Mengyao hadn’t been there, he would have lost a lot of face now.
“What are you doing!!! Gu Yu, you’re actually fooling around with a wild man outside.”
Just then, a familiar female voice suddenly rang out.
When Gu Yu looked up and saw the person in front of him, he saw Bai Linyue and Chengfeng Shan appear before his eyes.
