75. The Farmer Who Became the Top Scholar

After figuring this out, Yan Mudan simply ignored her second niece Mei Hua and her youngest nephew Yan Chu. She turned her head and continued talking to her mother.

"Mom, I'm sorry to talk to you about this matter. I'll help them by saying that Erbao is a smart child and his future achievements will definitely be no worse than Dabao. The masters in other schools have said that the earlier a child is enlightened, the better he will be. Okay, Erbao is five years old this year, and he can be sent to the school after the Chinese New Year."

Saying that, Yan Mudan did not forget to turn around and warn Yan Meihua and Yan Chu.

"We in the Yan family are of the same spirit. As your cousins ​​have become successful, they will be able to help you in the future. You should not be too selfish. You should only think about yourself and think more about the whole family."

"Little sister, you can't say that. Xiaobao may not follow his second brother."

The middle-aged man who had been sitting silently in the main room just now spoke. He looked rich and rare in the countryside. He was dressed in satin clothes, his complexion became fairer and fairer, and he smiled innocently like a Maitreya Buddha. Safe and harmless.

This is Yan Chu's uncle Yan Changxue. The equally fair and plump woman sitting next to him is Yan Changxue's wife Liu Fuchun. Today Yan Chu was supposed to be studying at the county school, so he did not come with them. Instead, Yan Chunhua and Yan Yi came with them. came back.

Yan Changxue seemed to disagree with his sister's words and explained.

"Actually, I have never known how to talk about this matter. After all, it is not easy for the family to provide for a child. I also know that my second brother's family has sacrificed a lot over the years. If the family wants to support another scholar, it should be That's right, Xiaobao. But studying is a big deal, and I'm not a selfish person. It's not all out of selfishness that I shamelessly want to send Qi'er to the school today."

Yan Changxue looked cautious. He took the hand of the child next to him, who was about the same age as Yan Chu, and walked up to the Yan family.

"Dad, maybe you don't know that at a young age, Xi'er can already memorize the Three-Character Classic and the Thousand-Character Classic. Xi'er's teachers all praised Xi'er for his spirituality, saying that as long as he is admitted to the Tongsheng Examination, he will definitely be successful. He is a student, and Fuchun and I really couldn't bear to delay our child's future, so we shamelessly came back to talk to our elders about this."

"real?"

Old Yan also studied for several years when he was young. After all, he was the only son in the family, and his family's conditions were relatively well-off. However, Old Yan himself was not that good at studying. After studying for four or five years, he could barely memorize the Three-Character Sutra fluently. , let alone taking any imperial examinations. As time went by, his family didn’t say anything, and he chose to give up first.

Old Man Yan especially hopes that his children and grandchildren can do things that he himself cannot do. Therefore, after Yan Ping, who was admitted to the Tongtang School, was born in the family, the parents who were not particularly partial at first suddenly became biased. Here, when making any decision, Yan Xi will be the central consideration.

He may not be aware that his second son's family has been wronged, but he comforts himself in his heart that these grievances are only temporary. When Yan Yan is admitted to the scholar examination, all these years of hard work will be rewarded.

Now that he heard that his five-year-old second grandson could memorize the Thousand-Character Classic and the Three-Character Classic at such a young age, let alone the excitement in his heart, he looked at the chubby second grandson and wished he could memorize it for him now.

"My mother and I didn't know that every time Chen'er came back from school in the county, he would teach him how to read and memorize. In just half a year, Chen'er had learned hundreds of new words, and could also memorize the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Thousand Characters. I'm good at writing, and although I'm not particularly good at memorizing it, in terms of progress, I'm ahead of my old friend."

Yan Changxue was very happy. The two things he was most proud of in his life were that he climbed from an apprentice to the position of a tavern owner based on his own ability. Of course, he was worse than those in the family who were admitted to the scholar examination, but compared to the absolute For most people, like the second brother, who still lives on one-third of an acre of land at home, things are much better.

The second thing he is proud of is that he has given birth to two worthy sons and an exceptionally beautiful daughter who is born and raised. Whether it is the eldest son or the second son, if any one of them succeeds, that will be the end of the world. Because of his glory, Yan Changxue was bound to win in order to persuade the two elders in the family to send their son to school.

"Pin'er, hurry up and give your grandma a piece of back." He touched the head of his youngest son beside him. These days, he was watching his son's back every day at home. This time he would definitely not show any timidity.

When Yan Yu was born, Dafang's family had already moved to the town. He grew up in a tavern. He was not short of food. At the same age, he was half a head taller than Yan Chu. He was white and fat, just like Yan Chu. It's a big meat ball. Of course, in the eyes of today's people, this appearance is a symbol of blessing and is more popular with the elders.

He listened to his father's instructions, took a deep breath, put his hands behind his back, and began to recite the Thousand-Character Sutra.

"The sky and the earth are dark and yellow, the universe is ancient...relatives are old and old, old and young have different food. I am a concubine who spins clothes and serves in the curtain room. Wan... Wan..."

It can be seen that Dafang has put a lot of effort into Yan Yu. The Thousand-Character Classic is regarded as an enlightenment book for children. However, Yan Yu is only five years old now and can recite most of the previous Thousand-Character Classic skillfully. It is already very good. Incredible.

Yan Yu memorized most of it. He didn't know whether he was too panicked or just couldn't remember. He suddenly got stuck in the second half of the memorization. He really couldn't remember what was behind the curtain room. His fat face turned red and his eyes were filled with pain. I glanced at my biological father from the corner of my eye, wanting him to give me some hints.

In fact, he could recite most of the first half skillfully, which was enough to surprise Old Man Yan and Yan Jiang. The old couple looked at their smart grandson with blushes on their faces. They were proud of it.

"The silk fan is round and clean, the silver candle is bright. Sleeping during the day and sleeping at night, the blue bamboo shoots are like an elephant bed. ... Ignorant and ignorant, stupid and ignorant are ridiculed. The auxiliary of the predicate is yan zai hu ye."

Just when Old Man Yan was about to let his second grandson stop reciting, suddenly a childish and crisp voice interrupted, replacing Yan Lu, reciting all the contents after the Thousand Characters.

"Xiaobao, were you reciting just now?"

Everyone in the room looked at the handsome child standing next to Yan Meihua. The other's mouth opened and closed. It was indeed him who recited the Thousand Characters.

Old Man Yan was very surprised. It was not surprising that his second grandson could learn the Thousand Character Classic and the Three Character Classic. After all, the old family had an older grandson who was studying in the county school. The older grandson was still a student. It was not difficult to teach a four or five-year-old child.

But Yan Chu was different. He was raised by the old couple since he was a child. The girls in the family learned to do housework since they were young, and occasionally they had to go to the fields to help during the busy farming season, but this five-year-old grandson did not need to do these things. He was young, and even if he was willing to do it, no one would ask him to do it.

On weekdays, he was not seen playing with the children of the same age in the village. In the eyes of Old Man Yan, this was a relatively quiet child, but he didn't know where he learned these things.

The people with the ugliest faces at the scene were probably Yan Changxue and his wife and Yan Mudan.

They just wanted to support Yan Lu to study on the grounds that Yan Chu was not smart. Now, in front of the whole family, Yan Chu recited the Thousand Characters that Yan Lu could not recite. In the case of the two people's education environment being very different since childhood, who is stupid and who is smart, isn't it obvious?

"Xiaobao, tell me, who did you learn to recite this article from?"

Old man Yan dreams of having a scholar in his family, no matter whether this scholar is from the eldest or the second family, they are all his grandsons anyway.

If Yan Lu's performance just now made Old Man Yan happy, Yan Chu's performance can only make Old Man Yan describe it as surprise and amazement.

After all, it is reasonable that Yan Lu can read. No matter how beautiful Yan Changxue's words are, as long as Old Man Yan is not really stupid, he can see how much effort the eldest family has put in behind the scenes to let the family support him with another son.

Yan Chu, who was under the old man's watch every day, didn't think the second son's family had such a scheme. If they did, they would have been clamoring to split up the family, and they wouldn't have worked hard to support the eldest son's family.

"Uncle San was teaching Qingsong and his friends in the academy, and I wanted to study, so I secretly stood outside and listened. After listening more, I could naturally recite it."

Yan Chu looked confused, as if he didn't know why his family was so excited.

"Grandpa, I didn't disturb Uncle San's teaching, can you please not spank me?"

Yan Chu covered his butt with his hands. The dog next door to their house was beaten by his parents because he was playing with his friends by the academy and disturbed Uncle San's study. His butt was swollen for a long time and he couldn't get off the ground.

The third uncle he mentioned was the son of the clan leader, and he was also related to the Yan Chu family. The other party was the clan leader's son and a scholar. If he came to the house to complain, the child who was complained would definitely be in trouble.

At one time, the school was regarded as a scourge by all the children in the village who had not yet studied. They were afraid that if they got close to it, they would end up like Gouzi.

"You can recite these articles just by eavesdropping?"

Old man Yan's breathing became rapid. He was old and basically didn't go to the fields except for the busy farming season. This little grandson stayed at home most of the day, and only went out for a while at noon, but it would not exceed an hour. With such a short time, he could recite the Thousand Characters better than Yan Lu just by listening. What kind of talent is this?

Old man Yan, who was a little anxious because his eldest grandson had not been able to pass the examination for a scholar, suddenly regained confidence.

"Can you recite other things? Recite them for me."

Old man Yan barely suppressed his excitement. What if his grandson could only recite the Thousand Character Classic?

"I can recite the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Names, and Thousand Family Poems. Uncle San has not said much about the Analects. I can only recite a few passages from them." Yan Chu seemed to feel embarrassed because he knew few things.

As he read out the names of the children's enlightenment books one by one, the color of his face changed from slightly red at the beginning to red now.

Seeing that the limelight was all taken away by the second son's family, Liu Fuchun was a little unhappy and wanted to interrupt the conversation between Yan Chu and the old man without thinking.