Ordinary clear day

Chapter 126 Spring Leisure
The spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, the garden is dyed green, and the willows by the mountains and water are green and green, which is very lovely.The peach and plum trees in the forest are all in bloom, a large area of ​​red and white, looking from a distance, like colorful clouds.

Standing in the Guanlan Pavilion, Shu Ning looked at the forest and once again deeply felt that the name "Xiangxia Pavilion" she gave was worthy of its name.

Looking back at Mr. Cai, he was looking at the few words he wrote after class the day before.After a while, Mr. Cai nodded slightly, and said: "The writing is not bad, but there are a few characters that are not well written." He pointed to some of the characters with complicated strokes and said: "The writing is a bit tight. I I know these words are difficult to write, but you are too impatient, so you should calmly write each stroke clearly. Writing is like being a human being, there is no use in being anxious, and you should be calm when facing difficulties."

Shuning nodded to be taught, and then wrote those few words a dozen times in front of him, and didn't put down the pen until Mr. Cai nodded to express his satisfaction.

After Mr. Cai arrived in Fangshan Bieyuan, he gradually felt that life was easier. Not to mention food and clothing, he only had to attend classes for two hours in the afternoon every day, and the rest of the time was at his own disposal.There are green mountains and green waters here, and it is a beautiful spring. Mr. Cai went out for a walk in his spare time, and accidentally found a small temple on the other side of the mountain behind the garden. There are less than ten people including two young monks. However, the host is a little-known eminent monk, occasionally playing chess, chatting with him, and listening to the scriptures, Mr. Cai has benefited a lot, and gradually he has lost some of his greed for common names, and his whole person is much more peaceful. It seems that he has returned to Cai Zhilin when he first joined the Earl's Mansion as a teacher, and his realm of calligraphy, painting and piano skills has also improved.

After Mr. Cai discovered the change in himself, he knew that he had been on the edge of a dead end before, and many things were overlooked. In addition, although Shuning's talent was not as good as Wanning, whom he had always valued before, she was not a rotten tree, and she was also hardworking. Treat yourself with great respect, so you can stay and live this leisurely life with peace of mind.Zhang Bao, Duan Ning, Mr. Su and others also gradually felt that he was a person who could make friends, and they often invited him to drink tea and chat in their spare time.

Gossip less.It is said that the content of today's class is not calligraphy, but painting.Mr. Cai wants to teach Shuning how to draw fish.He first drew four fish of different shapes on the paper, and then he drew them stroke by stroke slowly, explaining the brushwork while drawing, and then asked Shuning to follow suit.He said: "This is just the basic form. Learn these first, and learn four more tomorrow. After you have mastered the basics, you can talk about the others. To draw the dynamic posture of fish well, it is not enough to just admire the fish. Look at the live fish, there is water all around here, and there are fish in the water, you can watch the fish's movements when you are resting, and it will definitely benefit you."

Shuning agreed, and began to draw according to the appearance of the four fish, with Mr. Cai giving pointers from time to time.I don't know how long it has passed, but suddenly she heard the sound of "deng thump thump" footsteps, Shu Ning raised her head and saw that it was Xian Ning rushing over from Lingbo Terrace.As soon as he saw his sister staring at him, he hurriedly said, "I've already written fifty big characters. Ask Mr. Yang if you don't believe me!"

Shu Ning looked at Lingbo Terrace, and sure enough, Mr. Yang, who was newly invited to teach Xian Ning and Xiao Bao, nodded helplessly.

Shuning knew that Mr. Yang had made an appointment with his two younger brothers to let them play for a quarter of an hour after writing fifty neat characters. This was also a helpless way to urge the two naughty ghosts to calm down and study hard. .But so far, it seems that the results are good, at least the characters of the two monkeys are already in shape.

Seeing her sister nodding her head, Xianning cheered, ran two steps forward, turned her head and saluted Mr. Cai in embarrassment, and then ran away.He walked through the Linyuan Pavilion towards the woods, the maid Yuge followed halfway, and two young men of fifteen or sixteen went to sit on the stone by the woods, just in case.

Xianning has recently become obsessed with the birds in the woods, and has long wanted to ask someone to help him catch ten or eight of them to play with, but his parents and elder brothers listened to his sister's words and refused to agree, only allowing him to play in the woods. But someone must follow, and you can't climb trees.But other than that, there are no other restrictions, so Xianning is very happy to run into the woods to chase birds, catch crickets, and dig worms during each [-]-hour break, turning into a mud monkey more and more .Tong Shi had a lot of opinions at first, but Shuning felt that children should be properly "raised" under the condition of ensuring safety, so that they can not only exercise their bodies, but also enjoy their childhood happily.

Shuning lowered her head to draw a few more fish, and heard footsteps again.This time it was Xiaobao's turn. He saluted his sister and Mr. Cai with a smirk, and ran to the woods. Then Shuning heard the two boys yelling.She looked at Lingbo Terrace amusedly, only to see that Mr. Yang lit a timekeeping incense, picked up a copy of "Mencius", and began to recite the book, shaking his head.

This Mr. Yang, whose name is Yang Mo, whose courtesy name is Jingcun, was originally a scholar from a nearby town. He came from a poor family and has always been teaching a few elementary school students to make ends meet.He has been unemployed since the government stepped in to start elementary school. In order to prepare for the scientific examination this fall, he was introduced to teach Chinese to his two children.It is also two hours a day, and the rest of the time is at his own discretion. Although the salary is not high, what he values ​​most is that he can freely enter and leave the master's study, and there is a Su who is also working hard for the imperial examination but is more knowledgeable than him. Sir can ask.He had already planned that he would stay here until he was admitted as a Jinshi.

Two hours passed in a hurry, and the two teachers taught the class almost at the same time.Shuning slightly stretched her stiff fingers on her right hand, and after listening to Mr. Cai's homework assignment, she respectfully sent him away.

She started to tidy up the four treasures of the study, and when she heard her two younger brothers running in front of her, she stopped them: "During the recess tomorrow, don't run like this again, at least, walk well in front of the gentlemen." .Also, you guys are walking so fast, but have you packed up your things?"

This is also the rule Shuning set for her two younger brothers.The maids and servants are only responsible for serving the gentlemen, and the three siblings have to clean up the used pens, inks, papers and inkstones by themselves.Shu Ning was afraid that the two little ghosts would develop a bad habit of being unable to take care of themselves, so she set an example to teach them.

Xianning and Xiaobao look at me and I look at you, one looking at the sky and the other looking at the ground. Seeing this, Shu Ning knew that they must have not cleaned up: "I don't even remember what I said? Hurry up and go back and clean up!" She shrugged back with embarrassment, but Xianning begged with a smile: "My good sister, just let me go this time, there is a maid here anyway."

Shu Ning refused to let go: "You still said that when you grow up, you want to be a general. Does the general have to take his maid to the battlefield? Don't laugh people's big teeth away. Go!" Xianning flattened her mouth: "I'm starving to death, I won't have the energy to run after packing up..."

"Don't think that I don't know that you just ate dim sum an hour ago. I saw Yuge bring it to you." She raised her eyebrows, "Or, do you think you are still a little milk baby, and even such a small thing has to be ignored?" Anyone else help?"

Xianning blushed a little, Xiaobao grabbed him and ran back.Shu Ning packed up the things by herself, and went to the edge of the Lingbo Terrace to look: Very good, although the things are not neatly placed, but they should be washed and dried, so it can be regarded as tidying up.

When the two children came to her again, she said mercifully, "Forget about it today, and I will tidy it up tomorrow. Look at that crooked stack of books. Go back quickly, dinner is about to start."

Xianning and Xiaobao cheered and hurried away, only then did Shuning smile and walk back slowly while admiring the beautiful scenery of spring under the setting sun.

========================== I am the dividing line after dinner ==================== =======
Zhang Bao and Tong Shi sat down in the main room, Duanning talked to them a few words, and then went to the training ground.Shuning looked at her brother's background, and said worriedly: "Going to practice martial arts right after eating, I'm afraid it's not good for your health?" Zhang Bao said: "It's okay, he didn't go to wield knives and guns, but just walked around the courtyard. Walk around a few times, I have already told him that he will not practice martial arts until half an hour after dinner." Shu Ning did the math, and felt that this time was barely enough, so she stopped talking.

Zhang Bao cleared his throat and said, "There is something I want to discuss with you today. Now the crops have been planted in the fields, and the saplings on the hillside have also been planted, but the open space at the bottom of the slope on the west side, the old farmers in the village can see However, it is said that it cannot grow anything, it is a waste land, what do you think should be done?"

Tong was puzzled and said, "How could it be waste land? Didn't it mean that when you bought it, the Yu family had already turned over the land and planned to grow something?"

Zhang Bao snorted coldly: "They are just doing this to deceive me. They want me to pay more money. In fact, many people in the village know that nothing will be produced there. The Yu family is really serious. Damn it! Bai Minliang deliberately helped them hide it from me!"

Tong patted the back of his hand, and said softly: "Don't be angry, the Yu family was forced into a hurry, so it was a last resort. If they want to sell the land to us, it is already a low price. If it is at the original price, only I'm afraid it will be doubled, even if there are more than ten acres of land, we will take advantage of it. Why are you so fussy?"

Zhang Bao calmed down a little: "I don't care about the money, I just think it's abominable that they deliberately deceive people, and so does Mr. Bai. Tell me the truth, do I still care about the dozens of taels of silver with them?" After thinking about it, he couldn't help laughing: "Forget it, the rice is already raw and cooked, and I don't care about it with them. It's just that I originally planned to use this land to grow vegetables, what should I use it for now?"

Tong's family can't think of a way for the time being, but Zhang Bao has an idea. He wants to build some houses there and rent them out to outsiders, but he needs to make an agreement with the officials first.But Mrs. Tong disagreed, because it was not far from their garden, and if someone lived there, they were afraid that the garden wall would be unsafe at night.

Shu Ning felt that this situation looked familiar, and after thinking hard for a long time, she recalled the plot of a novel she had read, and said, "Why don't we just dig a pond in the ground, let's plant lotus flowers and raise lotus roots in it? Lotus roots and lotus seeds Lotus leaves and the like are also worth some money."

Tong Shi frowned, and was about to dismiss it, but Zhang Bao held her back, thought for a while, and said, "It's not impossible, but it's a little late this year, and even if you plant it, you won't be able to harvest it until next year." Shuning Mimi smiled and said: "It will take several years for the fruit trees planted on the mountain to bear fruit, which is considered fast."

Seeing that her husband and daughter were really having a discussion, Mrs. Tong lowered her head to think about the feasibility, and then raised her head after a while, and said to the father and daughter who were talking lively: "No, digging ponds and planting lotus root will cost a lot. We have to hire a special person to take care of it every year. There is no one in our family who knows how to grow lotus root, and the lotus in the garden is just a beautiful one. If you really want to make money from this pond, you don’t know how long it takes to make up for the shortfall.”

Shu Ning hurriedly said: "That piece of land is not small. We have dug a pond, and the lotus root can be planted at least a few hundred catties every year. We can sell it to Beijing in summer and autumn and make a lot of money. Stock some fish and shrimps in the pond, as well as bastards, and even create a shallower wetland on the side to grow water chestnuts."

Tong Shi pursed her lips and smiled, Zhang Bao said: "Don't tell me, our daughter really has some ideas. This idea is good. There are no vegetables to eat in summer, but melons. Who is not tired? Eat some lotus root for a change, and you can eat it What about the fire? To be honest, with the size of the land, the yield of a few hundred catties is probably an underestimation, but our family has never grown this kind of thing, so we don’t have to think too much about it. Let’s do it for now, I’ll wait two days Let Changfu find someone to dig ponds, lotus seedlings and so on, and ask Changgui to look for them. I remember seeing lotus ponds in Liangxiang, so it must not be difficult to find them.”

He took a sip of tea and said again: "But, it's no problem to raise fish. We also have them in our own garden, but we don't need shrimps, bastards, and water chestnuts. If the lotus is grown, even if the production is not enough. If there are too many, let's think of it as a lotus pond, and add a scene to this pair."

Shuning opened her mouth and closed it.Dad, don't you know that shrimp and bastards are rare things?
Tong Shi nodded and said: "Speaking of which, there is one thing I want to tell you first, Wang Er is not good at housekeeping, I have already asked him what he meant, and he will still go out with the men in the future. From now on, the affairs of this other courtyard will be handed over to Chang Gui."

Zhang Bao paused, thoughtfully: "That's fine, Wang Er really can't do the work of the manager, lest he always make a mess. It's just that although Chang Gui is better than him, it's not much better. It’s not a long-term solution.”

"It's just a stopgap measure, let's find it slowly."

Zhang Bao nodded, and asked about Shu Ning's homework today and the studies of his younger brothers.

(I overdid it just now... Originally there will be guest book friends appearing today and tomorrow, but tomorrow the typhoon will land, and there may be thunderstorms. I don't know if I can update it. If I don't see it after ten o'clock, it will be a big deal... )
(End of this chapter)