Lord County Magistrate was shocked at the mont and quickly asked County Captain Jiang, "Is this true? Then why didn’t you say it earlier? Instead, you said it was your son-in-law’s idea?"
County Captain Jiang sighed and said, "For your lordship, this is a ritorious deed, but for a boy from a farr’s family, proposing such an idea is potential disaster. It was he who begged my son-in-law not to tell the lord, fearing that if others learn it was his idea, those removed village chiefs would trouble his family."
County Magistrate Xu pressed on, "Do you an to say it was the young man’s own wish to keep it secret?"
County Captain Jiang nodded affirmatively, "Precisely. My son-in-law and I originally intended to keep it a secret for him for a lifeti, but then we thought it inappropriate to hide it from your lordship and told you the truth, hoping for your forgiveness."
The reason County Captain Jiang revealed the truth to County Magistrate Xu was actually to pave the way for Gu Jin’an by helping him in advance.
Now that Lord County Magistrate is on good terms with Lord Magistrate, if he could tell Lord Magistrate about the existence of Gu Jin’an, then when Gu Jin’an later participates in the exams for an official position, he would not be sabotaged.
After all, to achieve an official position, the county examination is just the first step, followed by the Prefecture Examination and the college examination, which all take place in the prefecture. Furthermore, scholars are fiercely competitive, and each exam period sees so scholars hard.
After hearing this, County Magistrate Xu sowhat admired Gu Jin’an, "At such a young age, he possesses such wit. He indeed has potential."
Because of Lord County Magistrate’s appreciation, or perhaps out of guilt for receiving credit on soone else’s behalf, that is why the incident with sending the signboard to the shop occurred today.
Gu Jin’an stepped forward a few paces and gave a deep bow to steward Tian, "Junior Gu Jin’an, greets Master Tian."
Master Tian sized up Gu Jin’an, noting his exceptional appearance and upright figure. Though a farr’s son, he carried an air of nobility, which greatly pleased Master Tian as he nodded in approval, "I hear you are studying with Scholar Shang? How is your learning coming along?"
Gu Jin’an replied, "I am currently studying the Four Books, and I will begin studying the texts of the Five Classics in the latter half of the year."
"The Four Books?" Master Tian smiled and said, "Then let test you to see how well you have learned."
Gu Jin’an replied respectfully, "Please pose a question."
Master Tian selected a passage from the "Great Learning" in the Four Books and asked Gu Jin’an to recite it.
Gu Jin’an recited it flawlessly, without missing a single word, and also explained the aning of the text.
Master Tian then chose a passage from the "Doctrine of the an," and asked Gu Jin’an to write it down from mory.
Gu Jin’an wrote the passage down in just a short ti and handed it to Master Tian.
Looking at the handwriting, Master Tian praised, "The writing does possess so character. Do you plan to pursue an official position through the exams?"
Gu Jin’an replied, "Yes, what I am studying now is all to gain recognition through the exam in the future."
Master Tian nodded, already knowing how he would report back to Lord County Magistrate.
He put down the paper in his hand, looked towards Scholar Shang, and smiled, "Brother Shang, you’ve taken in a good student."
Scholar Shang was unpretentious, his face beaming proudly, "He is an uncut jade, having the fortune to sculpt it is my honor."
Master Tian thought of what County Magistrate Xu said to him and smiled with a nod, "Indeed, he is a rare uncut jade."
Gu Dexing, with his head lowered, listened at the side, feeling quite unpleasant inside. He really wanted to ask Master Tian to co up with a question to test him too. Unfortunately, after seeing Gu Jin’an’s performance, he didn’t dare to speak up rashly. It was simply because he knew he indeed couldn’t compete with Gu Jin’an.
Moreover, he was very curious, how co Gu Jin’an has such an excellent mory? To think that he has morized the Four Books! From childhood, he attended a private school and was supposed to have learned better than Gu Jin’an, but just now when he silently recited those two articles in his mind, he couldn’t rember either completely. Indeed, comparing oneself to others will only make one angry.
After acknowledging the gap between him and Gu Jin’an, Gu Dexing felt very anxious inside. It was the first ti he truly understood that he was thoroughly surpassed by Gu Jin’an.
Gu Jin’an could morize the Four Books because he had been copying books all along.
Ever since he started studying at Scholar Shang’s Family, Scholar Shang had given him a set of the Four Books and Five Classics to copy at ho, and no matter how busy or tired he was, he never stopped copying the books. He has now copied the Four Books and Five Classics once over, and during the dayti, he focused especially on studying the Four Books. Plus, he was naturally gifted with a good mory, making him fluent in reciting them.
"What a young scholar," remarked Boss Hu, who was also a scholar, but after many years of failing to achieve official position, returned ho to run the family business. Seeing that Gu Jin’an’s learning was not bad and he wrote well, he took quite a liking to him.
After a while, Boss Hu looked towards Third Grandpa and asked, "Elder Gu, how much marinated at and roast duck can your shop supply to our Futai Building?"
Third Grandpa said, "That matter you should discuss with Dashan; the marinated at and roast duck are his and Daya’s Family businesses."
Boss Hu then turned to look at Gu Dashan, and upon seeing him, he felt reassured. This man looked to be honest and reliable, and doing business with such a person was dependable.
Gu Dashan had grown much from before, not rushing to do business with Boss Hu, but first explaining the rules of obtaining goods to him. If Boss Hu accepted their rules, then they could talk further.
Boss Hu had good relations with Jiang Qi, and before coming here, Jiang Qi had already inford him about these rules. At first, he was sowhat resistant, thinking the Gu Family were too savvy, but after mulling it over, they always inspected the goods during purchases at Futai Building too; everyone did the sa, so he wasn’t so repulsed anymore.
Boss Hu said, "That’s not a problem."
Seeing that he agreed, Gu Dashan then asked, "Brother Hu, how much goods do you want to take daily? Which types of marinated at are you taking? Tell first. If it’s doable, we can sign a contract and settle the deal."
Boss Hu said, "A hundred roast ducks, eighty pounds of each type of at marinades, eighty pounds of each variety of vegetarian marinades, and three hundred marinated eggs."
"That’s a lot," said Gu Dashan with surprise, warning Boss Hu, "Brother Hu, the weather is hot now, and although marinated food doesn’t spoil easily, if it’s not sold out in one day, the taste won’t be as good the next day. If you buy so much and the restaurant can’t consu it, it might go bad."
Gu Dashan’s words weren’t the most pleasing to hear, but Boss Hu didn’t mind; on the contrary, he was pleased. If it were any other shopkeeper, they wouldn’t have said such things.
Jiang Qi spoke from the side, "Brother Gu, you needn’t worry about that. Brother Hu’s restaurant is not just one. Besides the one in the county, there are two more in nearby towns. No matter how much marinated food and roast duck you supply to his restaurant, they can handle it."
Having heard this, Gu Dashan was reassured, "Alright, we will supply to Brother Hu."
Boss Hu added, "And also bring us fifty pounds each of preserved tofu, dried tofu, and fried tofu daily."
The wealthy old ladies in the county liked to indulge in soft and mushy vegetarian food, and white tofu and dried tofu were the best choices.
Gu Jin’an, aware that Gu Jinli wanted to sell preserved tofu, turned and went to the backyard, carrying two bowls of preserved tofu on a tray, "Boss Hu, here is the preserved tofu freshly made in our workshop, please taste it."
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