Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 63: Tomorrow the spring breeze will blow as usual, but tonight the mountain is far away and the letter is hard to find

The farce was temporarily dormant with Cheng Heng's intervention, but once the restless mind was aroused, it naturally could not be extinguished so easily.

Cheng Heng knew that most of them were just children who wanted to join in the fun, and they would forget it after being scared by the adults at home... Smelling the scent of ink wafting in with the rain, he felt that the depression that had been accumulating in his heart for a long time dissipated.

"Sir, when you said you wanted to take me in, I was extremely grateful..."

At lunch time, Cheng Heng was breathing in the rain, feeling the humidity of his hometown which was different from that of the capital, when his 'enemy' came looking for him.

Cheng Heng had anticipated this, but he was also mentally prepared for this day to come: "Sit down and have a cup of tea, and talk slowly."

"Sir, how can you ask me to speak more slowly? My son doesn't know what's good for him, but you shouldn't do that. If that's the case... I'll take my son away!"

"Since you have an idea, why not write it down in private?" Seeing that Liu's father was about to grab the collar of the boy's clothes and lift him up from his seat, Cheng Heng slowly spoke and took out a piece of rice paper covered with words, "Not to mention that your son's literary talent has improved a lot and his thoughts are more profound, just looking at this calligraphy, I don't know how much better it is."

When in a hurry, he was naturally sloppy, but since he came to Cheng Heng, the young man had never been stopped.

Therefore, the boy was of course extra careful about the story he loved, and every word on the paper was perfect - much neater than the handwriting he usually handed in as homework, and it was naturally pleasing to the eye from a distance.

"This……"

"Moreover, there is no one around now. Could it be that the adults sitting here have never seen these so-called obscene songs and lyrics, or do they not like the stories performed by the troupe?"

When Cheng Heng said the first half of his sentence, Liu's father wanted to stop him. But Cheng Heng spoke quickly and said it all at once, which made the father's deliberately pretentious attitude disappear in front of his son.

"Since we all understand this principle. Beauty is easy to find, but also hard to find. The one near is a girl from a good family, and the one far away is the champion." Poems can be written about beautiful women and fragrant grass, so why should the beautiful women and champions in the play be criticized? Cheng Heng did not think that just because everyone could understand the play, it should be looked down upon.

"As for obscene lyrics and songs, they are not those filthy things that are unbearable to listen to, and your son would not write them. As a teacher, I know the nature of my students. Don't you, as a father, know your son?"

Regardless of whether Cheng Heng's words were logical or not, they at least stunned the person in front of him.

"Well, I... Actually, sir, this is also because..."

"Because a distant relative is in the opera troupe, and now the news has come back, are you, as a father, afraid that it will shake your son's determination to study and make progress?" When Cheng Heng interrupted the person in front of him again, the father of the young Liu was no longer as angry as he was at the beginning.

Instead, there was an eyeful of disbelief.

"I'm not a prophet." Cheng Heng could easily guess what the man was thinking from his expression. He smiled faintly and put the ink in his hand into the brocade box intact. "It's just that you, as a father, should talk to your child more. The child is not young anymore and must have some ideas of his own."

The father's eyes quickly passed from his son to his husband again: "Mr. Cheng is right. I was away on business earlier and was indeed negligent..."

"It's not too late now."

If Guan Yin could see this now, she would definitely persuade Cheng Heng to become a teacher - even though she knew that being a teacher was not easy. But Cheng Heng's current thinking was already what a qualified teacher should have.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Cheng."

After this incident, Liu's father took his son and left the private school early, as if he really wanted to make time to talk with his son.

The matter was resolved, but Cheng Heng's heart couldn't calm down for a long time, because this was the second time such a conversation happened to Cheng Heng.

However, the last time it happened, Cheng Heng was a young man from the Liu family, and his teacher used this method to let his parents know Cheng Heng’s true needs, allowing the latter to embark on the path he liked.

"Sir, sir, something bad has happened!"

"There's someone making a noise at the door."

Cheng Heng discovered that as long as he didn't fall asleep during his lunch break, all kinds of troubles would happen to him.

"What's wrong again?" Cheng Heng stood up impatiently, sighing in his heart: I haven't done anything wrong, but it keeps going on all day long.

"someone said……"

The timid student didn't know how to summarize the absurd things happening outside, and finally just said with an evasive look: "You should go and see it yourself, sir."

Of course Cheng Heng had to go out and take a look. Even if the student in front of him didn't say this, Cheng Heng had already thought about leaving. But he didn't expect that the scene at the door was a little beyond Cheng Heng's original expectations.

Someone took a wooden sign and wrote something similar to a surrender document using something that was either red paint or chicken blood. He stood at the door, pulling his son who was kneeling on the ground and shouting loudly.

Cheng Heng had not listened to the entire speech, nor had he finished reading those tearful words, but he had already picked out the key points - it was nothing more than saying that he was incompetent as a teacher, and that he took his students to come into contact with those "low-class" things, which caused his own child to insist on following the opera troupe to Beijing to perform.

Speaking of this, Cheng Heng really is a big "injustice"!

"Look, it's this sanctimonious Mr. Cheng!"

"If my son follows this troupe to sing, wouldn't it ruin his life? My son should study hard and become an official!" A father, disregarding his own dignity, shouted heartbreakingly, which of course attracted many people to watch on this already busy street.

Before Cheng Heng even walked out of the door, he felt like he was almost being skinned alive by the gazes of the people around him.

"I never said that I wanted them to sing opera." Cheng Heng was of course justified. Having studied opera, he knew better than anyone that this industry was not easy to get into, and it was not as simple as a group of outsiders imagined.

Therefore, we must ask him to recommend what these children should do. Those who can afford to go to private schools should study hard, unless they really cannot read at all!
"You didn't say that? What's your proof that you didn't say that?" Unexpectedly, Cheng Heng's words aroused even greater anger from the father who loved his son so much. The father no longer had the intention to blame his son in public. He turned around and faced Cheng Heng directly, "As a teacher, is this how you set an example?"

"I told them that this business is not as simple as they think, and studying is the safest way out." This is true. At least in this era, it is a proven method for those who still have some savings.

"I said it's not easy?" "Did you say that you just sing a verse to suppress their confidence?"

After hearing this, Cheng Heng remained silent.

Yes, Cheng Heng did this a few days ago. When the students in the private school were in the most wavering state of mind, Cheng Heng couldn't help but tell them: "If you can't even sing better than a teacher like me, how can you go to the capital to make a lot of money?"

So Cheng Heng had no way to refute this.

But Cheng Heng was helpless, because as a teacher, what he had to do was to give the students in the private school a better future - he, Cheng Heng, could not even be considered an "excellent" young actor in modern times, let alone in an era when these old predecessors were trying their best to sing, integrate and improve?
Cheng Changgeng, and later Tan and Yu... It takes time, voice, and brains. Cheng Heng doesn't think that he can develop just for the sake of "making money". And a group of students are young and obviously don't have such a deep understanding.

Parents only know how to say "farming and studying pass on the family", so they stop their children from doing it. The original curiosity becomes rebellious, and they have to try it even if they die.

Who hasn't gone through this? So Cheng Heng guessed that he would leave this world like last time, the time before, and every time, so he gambled on the possibility of being "exposed" and made sure to prevent these students from taking a path they shouldn't have taken - he believed that any qualified gentleman or teacher would make the same choice.

"Well? Nothing to say?"

"Since ancient times, many people have failed in officialdom, but if they write a good story, their names will go down in history. The names of Guan and Ma, and the dream of Magistrate Tang, which one have you not heard of? And who hasn't written about the ups and downs of life?"

Cheng Heng no longer wanted to care about his identity or what he should do next. He sneered and said to the people in front of him: "You yearn to make money in the opera troupe, but you also think you can make money by doing business."

"You think you are not doing your job well after making money from business... Well, these are good old customs in the countryside, but they are not to be used to look down on others!"

"Farming and studying are the foundation, and business is valued and righteousness is emphasized. This is clearly what is sung on the stage and what is written in articles... It is much better than those pedantic people who talk about great principles every day but never put them into practice, right?"

"At least those who understand it can be encouraged again."

"Don't you also think that this play can promote good local customs? Why are you unwilling to do it when it comes to your own children's turn?"

Cheng Heng was not unable to understand the thoughts of these people. Some were confined to the secular world and felt that it was an insult to their family; some felt that they had lost their authority as parents and had lost face; and some simply did not understand and blindly rejected everything beyond their own understanding.

"It doesn't matter if he is good at farming or studying, or doing business. If he is really capable of singing or writing plays, why let him be frustrated all his life instead of teaching him according to his aptitude? Is this the future you want to see for your son?" Every word of Cheng Heng's would be too unorthodox if he was not known as 'Mr. Cheng'.

In fact, even with the identity of a "Mr.", Cheng Heng's words were enough to be interrogated countless times by the secular world.

Cheng Heng knew that history and time would prove that farming and reading were the foundation, doing business was about morality, and singing life on stage was inevitable. But these people in front of him naturally didn't know that - it was not their fault.

"What about you? Why don't you say anything? That day..." The person in front of him was still no match for the eloquent Cheng Heng. He swept his eyes across the crowd and pulled Liu's father and son out from the crowd.

"Although what Mr. Cheng said was a bit harsh, it does make sense."

"Oh, I forgot that you have a distant relative in the opera troupe... It seems that your family is going to stand on the side of Mr. Cheng?"

"I'm not on Mr. Cheng's side, but don't you have relatives in the troupe?" Father Liu blocked his son behind him to prevent the little boy from becoming the target of public criticism. "Perhaps this distant relative of ours is closer, so you all look down on us father and son as well."

"But why did you all come to Mr. Cheng to make trouble? Isn't it because your son has some ideas?"

When he lowered his head slightly and saw the top of his son's head, the father suddenly realized that his son had grown almost as tall as himself, and was considered a big boy!
"At least my son likes it and can write a good story. I don't know if your children want to sing opera because their families can't afford it anymore and they want to join the opera troupe to make money, or... after all, their voices are not as good as Mr. Cheng's. Even if they want to join the opera troupe, no one wants them, so they come to make a scene with Mr. Cheng!"

Liu's father's series of words made the man, who was originally feeling a little guilty, become angry and embarrassed.

That’s right, my child’s conditions were not good, and he was not accepted by the opera troupe. After hearing this, the person in front of me was like a cat whose tail was stepped on, and he even wanted to hit him...

Finally, it was someone with some influence in the village who persuaded people to stop the fight.

However, everyone's eyes when looking at Cheng Heng revealed something a little strange - he was originally a well-behaved teacher, who became a teacher in the countryside because he failed the exams and was neither good enough nor willing to take a low position.

For a place like this that has produced countless Jinshi and even top scorers, he is not considered a very outstanding figure.

However, this big fuss brought Mr. Cheng to the attention of everyone.

The private school became deserted again. Some students actually followed the opera troupe, while others felt that such a teacher was not worth following. Among those who stayed, there was the young Liu.

"Why don't you leave?"

"Sir, I just wrote it for fun. It's nothing compared to the predecessors." The young man Liu was referring to the great people Cheng Heng had used as examples that day. "I still want to fulfill my father's wishes. As for these stories, I wrote them for the village opera troupe."

"it is good."

"Where is the teacher? Because of this incident, fewer students come to the teacher's school. Why doesn't the teacher change places and stay here?"

"Don't care what others say, as long as you feel at ease." Cheng Heng actually wanted to say that the gentleman wanted to leave and return to his own world, but this was too scary.

"Sir, you are not the same as before."

"The previous Mr. Cheng didn't like my personality, but you like it very much."

"Oh, really?" Cheng Heng felt a little guilty.

Fortunately, the young man surnamed Liu did not continue to dwell on the previous topic. Instead, he conjured up a brocade box like a magician and opened it to show the gentleman: "Sir, this is the money I earned from writing articles. I bought a piece of ink for you. I hope you like it."

Looking down, Cheng Heng saw the three words "Hu Kaiwen" - did time pass so quickly?