Since ancient tis, the ntor-apprentice relationship has been comparable to that of father and son. Scholar Shang has no sons, and if he were to take Gu Jin’an as his apprentice, he would have soone to care for him and see him off in his old age.
Scholar Shang was moved to tears when he heard this. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take Gu Jin’an as his apprentice; he simply didn’t want Gu Jin’an to be held back by his inept self.
"Just tell us whether you’ll take him or not, don’t let the child kneel for nothing," Mr. Ouyang Hu said sarcastically from the side. "Co on, you’re a grown man, what’s so difficult about taking an apprentice? Why such hesitancy?"
Criticized harshly by Mr. Ouyang Hu and seeing Gu Jin’an looking up to him with admiration, Scholar Shang finally let go of his reservations and nodded: "Alright, I shall accept you as my apprentice."
Gu Jin’an was very happy and kowtowed to Scholar Shang three tis with a bang, "Apprentice pays respects to Master."
Upon hearing the title ’Master’, Scholar Shang’s eyes reddened again, and he helped Gu Jin’an up: "Get up quickly."
Mr. Ouyang Hu couldn’t stand watching their deep ntor-apprentice bond and asked Gu Jin’an, "Did you bring anyone else?"
Ah Qi had just brought tea and ntioned that there were a few people near the Gu Family’s parked mule cart outside, looking like scholar-farrs.
Gu Jin’an nodded, "Yes, they are so brothers from our village and clan. They are all scholars, and two of them are going to enter the exam after New Year. They wanted to visit Master Ouyang and seek your guidance."
Mr. Ouyang Hu was in a good mood today, he waved his hand generously, "Invite them in, let have a look."
"Yes, I’ll invite them in right away," Gu Jin’an didn’t dare to delay and quickly went to call He Jinseng and the three Gu Dexing brothers inside while Mr. Ouyang Hu was in good spirits.
He Jinseng and Gu Dexing were very excited, and upon seeing Mr. Ouyang Hu, both didn’t know where to put their hands.
Instead, Gu Defa was the first to say to Mr. Ouyang Hu, "Grandfather, hello."
Just three words, straightforward and to the point, quite steady.
Gu Dewang felt itchy again and couldn’t help but smack Gu Defa on the back of the head, "What ’grandfather’? This is Master Ouyang, start over and say so flattering words."
Gu Defa took the advice to heart, "Master Ouyang, hello, I wish you good fortune and health."
"You’re quite interesting," Master Ouyang laughed upon hearing this and beca intrigued, asking him, "Would you like to take as your master?"
Gu Defa shook his head, "No, it’s just that my mother wanted us brothers to visit you, sir, to forge a connection. My mother wants to beco a Madam Imperial Decree, thinking that forming bonds with more nobles could make her dream co true."
Master Ouyang said, "Your mother is Mrs. Chen? I have t her, she has a sharp tongue, capable of rendering soone utterly defenseless when she scolds."
He scrutinized Gu Defa, hardly believing that soone like Mrs. Chen could have such a son.
"Your mother wants to beco a Madam Imperial Decree, so do you want to beco an official?" Mr. Ouyang Hu asked again.
Gu Defa replied, "If I can beco an official without having to pass the civil service exam, I’ll take the job."
His answer was one that Gu Jinli had once asked him.
Master Ouyang’s mouth twitched, "Then you were born too late. If you were born a hundred years earlier, in the forr dynasty, it would be possible to be recomnded for an official position."
Gu Defa nodded seriously, "Um, Sister Xiao Yu told the sa, I indeed was born too late."
Mr. Ouyang Hu: "..."
He couldn’t help laughing, then he turned to Gu Dewang and Gu Dexing, "Are you brothers with him? You do look sowhat alike."
Gu Dewang said, "I’m his biological elder brother, and Brother Dexing is our cousin; we’re cousins from the sa grandparents."
Mr. Ouyang Hu nodded, "No wonder there’s a resemblance."
"Mr. Ouyang, greetings." Gu Dexing greeted Mr. Ouyang Hu nervously, his heart pounding with tension.
Mr. Ouyang Hu nodded and turned to He Jinseng, "You two older ones are planning to sit for the official position exam next year? Looking for so pointers from ?"
He Jinseng and Gu Dexing nodded, "Yes, Mr. Ouyang."
Mr. Ouyang Hu said, "Alright, from now on, when Brother Cheng cos for lessons, you can follow him and listen in."
He then pointed at Gu Defa and said, "You brothers co too. You’re quite interesting; having you in class will keep things from getting dreary."
Gu Defa wasn’t shocked at all; he just nodded, "I’ll ask my mom. If she agrees, I’ll co."
Gu Dewang was concerned about the tuition fee: "Is the tuition expensive? If it’s too much, my mom would be reluctant to spend the silver."
Mr. Ouyang Hu felt like hitting soone. He was willing to teach them, and they were actually worried about the tuition being too expensive to co!
"It’s ten taels of silver per person per year, your family can afford it," Mr. Ouyang Hu said, then turned to Gu Dexing and He Jinseng, "What are you two daydreaming about? Speak up."
"Ah? Really?!" He Jinseng and Gu Dexing snapped back to reality, hardly daring to believe that Mr. Ouyang Hu would agree so readily. Their previous teacher, Master Xia, had always scorned them.
Mr. Ouyang Hu nodded, "Of course it’s true. Stop dawdling now. Each of you has two hours to write an essay on agriculture."
He added, "Good Brother An needs to write one too."
Gu Dexing and He Jinseng were startled. Were they being tested right now?
Gu Jin’an reminded them, "Brother Dexing, Brother Jin Sheng, we need to hurry and write our essays."
"Oh yes, right away." After bowing repeatedly to Mr. Ouyang Hu, Gu Dexing and He Jinseng followed Gu Jin’an, with Ah Qi leading them to the study to write their essays.
Mr. Ouyang Hu began teaching Brother Cheng and Brother Qing, with Gu Dewang’s brothers and Scholar Shang listening on the side.
Scholar Shang was thoroughly impressed. Mr. Ouyang Hu gave his lecture without any books, yet everything he said was precisely what Brother Cheng’s age should be learning.
After talking for two hours, he stopped and assigned howork to Brother Cheng and Brother Qing: "Your task for today is to write down everything I’ve said."
Gu Dewang was dumbfounded; the old man had talked nonstop for two hours and now expected Brother Cheng to write down everything he said... What kind of howork was that? It would bring soone to tears!
Gu Dewang looked sympathetically at Brother Cheng, but Brother Cheng seed to take it in stride, replying, "Understood, I will complete the howork and bring it tomorrow."
Zheng Qing didn’t have such a good mory and was frowning slightly, looking a bit worried.
Gu Dewang’s face showed empathy—how tragic for the County Magistrate’s son!
Gu Defa glanced at his brother, wanting to remind him: The old man has already agreed to teach us, and we’ll have to study with him in the future; we’ll also have to do this kind of torturous howork.
"Old Master, the essays from the brothers are ready for your review," Ah Qi brought in the essays that Gu Jin’an and the others had written, and Mr. Ouyang Hu began to carefully read them.
Gu Dexing and He Jinseng stood nervously to the side, but in the end, Mr. Ouyang Hu didn’t give any comnts on their essays. He rely said to them, "Alright, I’ve seen what your foundations are like. You may go; I won’t keep you for dinner."
Ah?
Gu Dexing and He Jinseng were stunned again. Were they just being dismissed? Both of them were very anxious, exchanging glances with Gu Jin’an: Did we write our essays so poorly that Mr. Ouyang doesn’t even bother to comnt?
Seeing their unease, Mr. Ouyang Hu thought about the fast-approaching exam in another two months and the upcoming New Year; it was only right to give them a good year’s end. Thus, he added, "Your foundations are not bad."
The truth was that He Jinseng was too orthodox, and not very familiar with the practicalities of farming; even if he passed the exam next year, he would likely be at the bottom.
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