Chapter 9 Lin Ruhai

Wang Xianming was not at home today, so Mrs. Liu had no choice but to receive the guests in person. Fortunately, when Lin Xiucai was studying at Liu's father's house, they were still young and Liu was a little older, so they often referred to each other as brother and sister. This precious experience has made the relationship more sincere after decades.

Mrs. Liu led Lin Xiucai to sit down. Just as the two of them sat down, several servants driving the car brought gifts into the house. The more things Liu looked at, the more something was wrong, and she couldn't help complaining: "Why did you bring so many things? This is how senior sister can repay the gift."

The teacher is really a talent. Liu is already in his forties, but he can still say such innocent words. Lin Xiucai suppressed the smile in his eyes and smiled to himself: "Not too much, not too much. When I was admitted as a child student, didn't my senior sister tell me that if I go to high school in the future, I can't forget to buy you candy?"

Mrs. Liu looked embarrassed and waved her hands in embarrassment, "I didn't expect you to still remember the little things from childhood."

"Senior sister treated me like a brother, how can I forget that?"

Lin Xiucai sighed, his family background is actually very good, even in Gusu City where there are many literati, it can be called a scholarly family. It was only that his father was in poor health and his mother passed away when he was born, so he had to experience the world at a young age and vowed to achieve success in the imperial examination.

Liu's father was already well-known at that time, and when Liu's father was young and studying, he often went to the Lin family to borrow books, and they formed a fate after repeated visits. That's when Lin's father entrusted Lin Xiucai to study at Liu's home. (Note 1)

The thing among scholars in ancient times is that if you help me and I help you, you can support each other and go on for a long time.

When Lin Xiucai first entered the Liu family, he was still young, only seven or eight years old. Liu, who was fourteen years old at the time, was the youngest and only daughter in the family, and was very popular with Liu's father.

Liu regarded Lin Xiucai in front of his younger brother, so naturally he often took his articles to Liu's father in private for comments. Liu's father had many students at that time, and in the end, he was able to single out Lin Xiucai. It is probably because of Liu's contribution.

Later, Lin Xiucai was out of control in the imperial examination. By the time Liu got married, he had already passed the imperial examination. Later, when Lin Xiucai went north to take part in the examinations several times, Liu had married Wang Xianming and came to Yangzhou. In the blink of an eye, more than 20 years had passed.

Now that the two have reunited again, they can't help but feel emotional when talking about the past. When Mrs. Liu heard that Lin Xiucai was married and had a daughter and a son, she was very happy.

"If Uncle Lin is knowledgeable, he would be very happy to know that you are now married and starting a business." Ms. Liu comforted Lin Xiucai's sadness. She knew what Lin Xiucai was thinking. The Lin family didn't know why, but their heirs were not prosperous and their lives were short-lived. Lin's father was like this, and so was their grandfather.

Mrs. Liu asked again, "Are you a permanent resident or passing through when you come to Yangzhou this time?"

"Senior sister, I have been transferred by the imperial court and will be working in Yangzhou in the next few years. If you are free, you can send me a letter and I can arrange a carriage to pick you up."

Listening to Lin Xiucai's loud tone, Mrs. Liu couldn't help but smile and said: "Okay, I'm just about to come and see your children. I don't know if they look like you, Lin Xiucai, or more like their mother."

"Senior sister, why do you still call me Lin Xiucai?" Lin Xiucai looked angry and couldn't help but laugh, "Just like before, call me Ruhai."

"Okay." Mrs. Liu nodded in agreement and complained, "You had just passed the Tongsheng test at that time, so you told me to call you scholar in private and urged you to continue working hard."

Lin Ruhai laughed again when he heard the embarrassing things from the past.

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Wang Xianming didn't know that a distinguished guest was coming to his home, and he was still bargaining with the boss in the bookstore. This teaching is really tiring for the disciples. Chen Heng learns very quickly. There is not enough to buy. Maybe it is not enough for him to study in the future.

"Sir, sir, I really can't afford any less. The total is five taels and two dollars. This "Collected Works of Virtue" has annotations written by Mr. Gu himself, and it contains all first-class articles. There are a few articles in it. It is a private treasure of Mr. Gu’s family. If you are willing to bring it out this time, it will also benefit the world’s scholars. No matter how little it is, it will be an insult to the gentle people.”

Listening to the shopkeeper's complaint, Wang Xianming was also a little unhappy, "If it weren't for these few articles that can't be found elsewhere, I wouldn't buy it. That's fine..."

Wang Xianming knew that he couldn't save the money, so he had to bear the pain and pay for it. After he paid the money, he quickly stuffed the book into his arms for fear of losing it.

The world is like this. Although the Four Books and Five Classics are everywhere in the streets, many of the articles of sages and sages are hidden in their own libraries by each family, making it impossible for anyone to see them.

The so-called scholarly family relies on this stupid method of collecting books to pass on knowledge from generation to generation, so that future generations can read more and be one step ahead in the examination room in the future.

After going back, I have to ask Heng'er to turn over all these books, otherwise he will be beaten hard on the board. Wang Xianming gritted his teeth, said goodbye to the bookstore manager, and left.

I don't know if he is lucky or not. After he left, a servant walked out from the depths of the bookstore. The shopkeeper also recognized him and greeted him happily when he saw him.

"Manager Li, you're here to buy books for Mr. Xiucai again."

The servant looked very arrogant. He just nodded, looked at Wang Xianming's leaving figure, and asked, "Isn't that an old boy from Taixing County?"

When the shopkeeper heard this, he curled up his lips and felt bored. Your tone of voice is scornful because there is a scholar above you, but I don't. Besides, you are just a domestic servant, you dare to call a scholar like this, hum.

But the other party was a wealthy man after all, so the shopkeeper had to put on a smile, "It is indeed him. He was said to have closed the school before, and thought he would no longer teach. In the past few months, he suddenly came to my bookstore to buy books, and I don't know whose children he is teaching."

"What did he buy? Tell me everything he bought."

The shopkeeper said the names of the books like bamboo shoots after rain, and the servant was stunned and hurriedly said goodbye to go home to report to his master. His master was naturally Li Gongming, who had squeezed out Wang Xianming before.

After listening to the servant's story, Li Gongming smiled and shook his head: "He is lucky. After leaving Taixing County, he can still receive so many students."

"Master, how do you see it?" The servant was flattering at the right time.

"You are told to read more books on weekdays." Li Gongming leaned back in his chair and commented, "The first time he bought the "Four Books and Annotations" should be for the students who just entered school. This book is about Neo-Confucianism and is not favored by the court, but the content of the book is really exquisite, so the court did not prohibit it.

The second month should buy "Linchuan Collection" and "Su Che Collection", which are just right for reading, so that students will not be trapped in the Four Books and Five Classics and only know how to study.

It's just that this "Spring and Autumn Notes" can be placed before "Xianwen Collection", which means that one of his disciples has started to study the Five Classics. This person, after a few years of hard work, can pass the imperial examination. By then, we will know who is his student."

The servant was shaking his folding fan and asked wittily, "Master, why can't it be one person?"

"Stupid." Li Gongming turned around and cursed, "Do you think that Wang Xianming is some kind of phoenix tree, practicing the magic of summoning phoenixes? He can find a disciple who has learned the Four Books in a remote place, which is enough for the Wang family's ancestral graves to smoke. "

"Yes, yes, the master is right."

"Go back and collect the students' articles, I want to check them carefully. Don't let Wang Xianming's disciples get ahead of me."

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When Wang Xianming got home, Lin Ruhai had already said goodbye and left. Seeing the house full of gifts, he couldn't help but ask Liu about it. After knowing that the visitor was Lin Xiucai, he couldn't help but sigh, "Fate is so wonderful."

"Who said it wasn't?" Liu packed the items according to the gift list, "I think he should be successful now. His gestures are not the style of an ordinary minor official."

Wang Xianming helped to pack together. Hearing this, he just smiled: "Is there anything that the female Zhuge doesn't know? Didn't Madam ask carefully?"

"Why ask about this!" While Liu was busy, she didn't forget to show her girlish attitude, "You said We know that he is a high-ranking official. Should I be careful with my words and deeds? Or should I try to build a relationship with him? "

"It's better not to know. I can feel more comfortable talking to him. Otherwise, before talking, I have to think about what kind of official he is. I can't seem unfamiliar, but I can't be too close. What else can I say?"

"The friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, that's what Madam is like." Wang Xianming nodded and bowed to Liu with "admiration", which made the latter angry. She grabbed his arm and twisted and beat him, and Wang Xianming begged for mercy before she stopped.

Note 1: Lin Ruhai's ancestors were quite rich. The arrangement here is because there is a statement in the original text that the Lin family should have passed down the title of marquis for three generations. Under the favor of the emperor, it was passed down for another generation, which ended with Lin Ruhai's father.

But if Lin Ruhai's family was all there, why did Lin Daiyu go to the Jia Mansion? You have to know that her surname is Lin after all. The ancients valued one family with one surname and clan unity. Even if it was the mother Jia who went first. Because Mrs. Jia liked to take the child. After Lin's father passed away, the Lin family had to take the child back, after all, he was Lin Ruhai's only flesh and blood. I personally feel that it is unreasonable.

So I set that Lin Ruhai had few relatives in his family and his father died early. Only for this reason did Lin Ruhai devote himself to the imperial examination in his early years. Moreover, when Lin Daiyu was five years old, Lin Ruhai was already forty years old, and Lin Daiyu's younger brother also passed away.

If the Lin family was not declining, it would not make sense to get married so late in ancient times. So Lin Ruhai should have been the third place in the imperial examination in one go, and only thought about getting married in his twenties, and was chosen by Mrs. Jia.

It can't be that according to what some people on the Internet said, Lin Ruhai was still a second marriage, and his first wife had to die before Lin Ruhai was in high school, which would be even more outrageous.

PS: Let me ask, do we need to make a cover?