The young scholar walked quickly to a small courtyard,

The small courtyard covers an area of not small,

There are five simple thatched huts inside,

The front four and the back are neatly arranged,

There are many young children coming and going in the open space in the small courtyard,

Most of these children are only four or five years old.

Although they are all very thin,

But compared to the poor children in the slums,

It's a lot happier.

This small courtyard is the private school where this young scholar teaches.

It's already on the periphery of the slums.

People who live here,

Most of the ordinary people in this city,

Compared to the poor in the slums, life is better,

At least to be able to eat enough,

Therefore, people with slightly better conditions,

will be willing to send the children to the private school to read some books,

These people don't expect their children to be able to study and become big officials in the future.

At least not as poor as their ancestors,

This is the expectation of ordinary people.

"Mr. Zhang."

"Good morning, sir!"

"Mr. Zhang, morning!"

……

One crisp greeting after another,

From the mouths of children,

The young scholars surnamed Zhang all signaled their return gifts one by one,

Obviously, this private school is very popular with children.

Not long after he stepped into a humble house,

The bell of the class slowly echoed out,

Then, in the two rooms in front of you,

There was a pleasant sound of reading aloud,

The young scholar surnamed Zhang taught the children to read and write very seriously.

No matter what kind of mistakes the children make,

He always corrected very patiently,

Even if there are some naughty children,

Trick-or-treating during class time,

But in the face of his shallow smile and not stern face,

But he will always blush and bow his head to admit his mistakes,

And with a sincere attitude that he will not do it again,

Whenever this happens,

A young scholar surnamed Zhang,

will always reach out and gently silently the child's head,

Just whispered two sentences,

Let the child go back to continue studying.

The time for morning school passed before I knew it,

The moment I hear the bell for the end of class,

The children are like foals who have sprinkled joy,

Frolicking in the small courtyard,

and the honest appearance of Fang Cai in the classroom,

It's just two completely different states.

The young man surnamed Zhang sat on a wicker chair,

Look at the children with big smiles on their faces,

A warm smile appeared on his face again.

An old Confucian with gray hair,

Carrying a pot of wine in his hand, he came to the young man surnamed Zhang,

The young man hurriedly stood up and saluted,

The old Confucian smiled and waved his hand,

Signaling young people not to be polite,

sat down on the wicker chair that the young man had brought in,

The old Confucian lifted the pot of wine in his hand,

"Come?"

The young man surnamed Zhang, as usual,

smiled and shook his head in refusal,

This time, the old Confucian did not stop drinking as usual,

Instead, he turned his hand and took out two small porcelain cups from his sleeve,

On a small table made of rattan wood,

Filled two glasses with wine,

The old Confucian named Hu Zhi,

is a native of this Yulu County,

Born in a large family in Fufeng County,

Later, the family fell in the middle of the road,

The old man has no other skills,

I used the last bit of money to run this private school,

With those shallow learning,

Teach ordinary children to learn,

I can barely make ends meet.

The old man is also a warm-hearted,

often reduce or even waive the tuition fees of some children from poor families.

Therefore, the surrounding neighbors respect this old gentleman.

Hu Zhi said magnificently:

"Zhang boy, you want to taste this wine today anyway, this is a good thing that I finally got old man."

Hand over a glass of wine,

While talking,

winked at the young man,

The sharp-eyed young man saw a trace of pain in the depths of the old man's eyes,

The young man did not break the old man's pretense of generosity,

He took the glass,

Then a faint aroma wafted into the nose,

The fragrance refreshes the nose and inhales it into the chest,

I felt a warmth slowly rising,

The young man unconsciously raised his eyebrows,

Squinting at the old man, he asked:

"Old Hu, what is this?"

The old Confucian surnamed Hu cautiously drank a small sip of Chinese wine,

A look of intoxication appeared on his face,

The old face that was covered with ravines because of the wind and frost,

Immediately brilliant as a blooming chrysanthemum,

Feel the mellow liquor reverberating in your mouth,

I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows,

Looking at the young man on the side,

I saw that the other party was also feeling the taste of the wine in his mouth at the moment,

Said proudly:

"How? This is the famous Qiongyu liquid in the state, is it worthy of its name? I'm just the worst of the best, but it's not like any ordinary drink. ”

After speaking, he carefully slipped again,

sighed comfortably,

Only then did the old Confucian slowly speak:

"Zhang Ji, you have been in our Yulu County for almost half a year, right?"

The young man named Zhang Ji was stunned when he heard this,

He didn't seem to have thought about it.

It seems that he came here last fall,

Tilting his head and counting,

"Before I knew it, more than half a year had passed."

The old man sat up slightly straight,

The wizened palm rests casually on the knee,

The sun shines on you,

I feel very comfortable.

"I don't know yet, where is your hometown?"

Zhang Ji hurriedly bowed his head apologetically and said:

"It's the rudeness of the student, I didn't tell Mr. before, the student is from Zuo Fengyi Gaoling."

Hu Zhi poured Zhang Ji a glass of wine again,

Hearty smile:

"Oh, what a student, sir. Zi said: 'The master is the teacher'. If you really want to talk about it, I, a person who only has some vulgar knowledge, should call you, a person with a serious and talented background, a teacher. However, the old man and I have a thick skin, we don't pay attention to those, if you call me Brother Hu, I will call you Brother Zhang, and let the old man and I climb high and forget the New Year. ”

Zhang was amused by the old man's witty words,

I didn't expect this Mr. Hu, who is known as an old pedant,

also has such a hearty and lovely side,

He hurriedly said:

"Brother Hu!"

"Hahaha, Brother Zhang!"

Zhang Ji then spoke:

"In Gaoling, it was originally a solid family, but the situation was turbulent in the past two years, and my family was also offended, offended a small leader of the Liangzhou warlords, and the county guards who broke the family and exterminated the clan, not to mention those martial artists who did not agree with each other and drew their swords. I was a guest at a friend's house at the time of the accident, and I was lucky enough to escape, and those Xiliang barbarians probably thought that a scholar like me couldn't make any waves, so they didn't chase me around. So I left my hometown and came here, if it weren't for Brother Hu, I would have become one of the countless dry bones on the roadside. ”

Suddenly sighed,

Zhang drank all the wine in the cup,

Rolling deep under his eyes was a deep sadness.

took a deep look at Zhang Ji,

The old Confucian student's throat trembled,

The voice was a little bitter:

"Alas, brother, it's my brother who is not good, and I mentioned your sadness."

Slowly shook his head,

It seems that I want to throw out those unpleasant memories together,

Zhang Ji said softly:

"It's all in the past, and on the way here, I also learned a piece of news, that group of enemies has been killed by Wen Hou's troops, which can be regarded as revenge for me......"

Hu Zhi nodded,

Drink all the wine in your glass,

If it's normal, don't say it's this expensive Qiongyu liquid,

Even if it's ordinary rice wine,

The old Confucian will not drink so heroically,

Maybe I was sad to hear about Zhang Ji's past,

Maybe it's thinking of my past,

At this time, there was no stinginess.

Fill the two glasses again,

Softly lamented:

"Alas, it's not a secret, Brother Zhang, once the old man thought that his experience had been bumpy, but compared to you, alas, ......"

After a pause, the old Confucian put the wine glass and jug on the table,

Slap your legs with your palms to make a rhythm,

Raise your head and sing:

"Ge Sheng Mengchu, vines in the wild. Yumei dies here, who is alone?

Ge Sheng is covered with thorns, and the vines are in the domain. Yumei dies here, who lives alone?

The corner pillow is sloppy, and the brocade is rotten. Yumei died here, who is with Dudan?

Summer days, winter nights. After the age of 100, he returns to his home.

Winter nights, summer days. After the age of 100, it will be returned to its chamber. ”

The old and mournful voice,

This "Ge Sheng" from the Book of Songs,

The interpretation is incisive.

Zhang also sang along with the old man's chanting,

whispered in harmony,

The children who play in the yard,

They all stopped,

Quietly listening to the two gentlemen singing,

Although they don't understand the meaning of the poem,

But that sad tune,

But also on their little faces,

A sad expression slowly emerged.

At the end of the song, Hu Zhi raised his head and drank another glass of wine,

Zhang Ji also followed the movements of the old Confucian student,

A toast,

At this moment, a few glasses of wine are in the stomach,

Feeling a little drunk,

But after that venting,

It seems that the sadness in my heart has faded a lot.

The two looked at each other

invariably smiled slightly,

Hu Zhi waved his hand to the children around him,

motioning for them to continue playing,

Only then did laughter reappear in the courtyard.

The old Confucian looked at the children who were full of moisture,

The wrinkles on the face stretch out,

Laughing lightly:

"Now that the world has changed for the better, since Wen Hou exterminated Li Yu and Guo Yan, the days in this pass are getting stronger day by day, at least we haven't heard that anyone's children have been eaten, and these ordinary people have also had a head in their lives."

Turning his head to look at the young man who had been looking at the children,

Seeing the warm smile on the other party's face again,

The smile on the old Confucian student's face deepened,

"Brother Zhang, you are a person who asks questions from the university, you don't really want to stay in such a small private school for the rest of your life, right?"

Zhang Ji turned his head to look at Hu Zhi,

The faint smile at the corner of the mouth remains,

"What's wrong? My brother hates me? ”

"Hehe, you kid, where are you talking about this, I can have a young descendant to accompany me, it's too late for me to be happy, old man, it's just ......"

Take a sip of wine,

The old Confucian continued:

"It's just that I don't feel worth it for you."

The smile at the corner of his mouth stiffened,

In an instant, it was back to normal again,

After drinking a glass of wine, he said softly:

"Zi Fei Fish, the joy of Anzhi Fish?"

This time it was Hu Zhi's turn to be slightly stunned,

Stretch out an index finger,

Huang nodded at Zhang Ji and said:

"The son is not me, and I know that I don't know the joy of fish?"

Zhang filled his glass and did not speak.

Hu Zhi restrained his smile slightly,

Some seriously said:

"The old man has drunk these glasses of wine, and he is already a little upset, so he will say a few drunken words, and you will barely listen to it, brother."

Zhang Ji turned his head,

looked at the old Confucian seriously:

"Brother Hu, please speak."

Hu Zhizi took a sip and swallowed a glass of wine again,

Only then did he say slowly:

"Brother, although you have suffered such a painful calamity before, you are also heartbroken for this troubled world. But our study and reading book is to cultivate one's self and rule the country and level the world, and now that the troubled times have come, it should be the time for my generation of scholars to stand up, even if it is not for the sake of the common people in the world, even if it is just for personal fame, it is also a good time to get ahead. Old man, I am old, and my knowledge is too shallow, otherwise, I can't say that I will also go to the torrent to make a tide, and the prince will have a kind of Xiangning? What's more, if you can...... That's a future for future generations, isn't it? Of course, the most important thing is that you are also from a poor place like ours, and you should be able to know that only when you have power in your hands and become a big official can you really improve the lives of our ordinary people, and only then can these children in front of you live much happier than their parents in the future, what do you say? ”

Zhang did not speak,

looked at Hu Zhi, the old Confucian student, with burning eyes,

This has taught and educated people for most of his life,

When I looked at him at this time,

Though his eyes are cloudy,

But there are many complicated feelings mixed in those eyes,

There is hope, expectation, envy, and yearning......

Zhang Ji suddenly didn't dare to look directly at these eyes full of emotion,

He raised his glass in a bit of a panic,

Drinking alcohol to cover up your gaffe.

Seeing Zhang Ji's appearance,

The old man sighed in his heart,

But he didn't continue to press,

The reason why I say so much today,

A large part of the reason is the kindness of the heart,

He has been through the world,

Naturally, I can see what Zhang Ji looks like now,

It's not because life is forced to make a living in this private school,

but because of discouragement,

That's why I'm here to live in a daze,

If Zhang is just the same as him,

It's just an old man who knows a few words,

But he knew very well,

Zhang Ji's knowledge is really high,

How high is it?

The old Confucian did not know,

But at least when his family was better,

The old men of the county magistrates I have seen,

It's too much stronger,

Therefore, the old Confucian couldn't bear to see such an excellent young man,

It's buried in this small private school.。

The old Confucian knew that it was useless to persuade him,

There are some things that can only be figured out by himself,

No matter how much others say, it's useless,

The old Confucian put the last bit of wine in the jug,

Carefully divided into two glasses,

Take your cup,

Put it under your nose and sniff gently,

"It's really a rare good weather, I hope that such good days can be more and longer......"