The Yu clan is on the west side of Jinshidi, separated by a courtyard wall in the middle, and it is an independent courtyard. Of course, the Jinshi Di Yu family does not have to go to school through the side door, just come through the door left by the newly built partition wall, and the side door is for the side branch and the children of foreign surnames to enter and exit. The main room of the courtyard is used as a school for Mr. to teach his homework, and there is a plaque hanging on it, on which there are three big characters of "Ji Fang Zhai", the character shape is just right, and it is three points into the wood, and a heroic righteousness is blowing in the face. The wings on both sides are places for gentlemen to rest and work, and there is an attic behind the main room, which is used as a library building. For Yang Cuilian and her three children, who had never seen the school before, they were amazed by what they saw.

Mr. Song in the mouth of the old man in the concierge is Mr. Song Huairen, who is quite famous in Jintan County, and he is also the sister-in-law of Yu Xiaoquan, the current patriarch of Dongyu, so he is in charge of all matters of ethnography.

Yang Cuilian took the child to knock on the door and entered the house, and there was a middle-aged man in his forties wearing a square scarf sitting in the room, who looked thoughtful, and nodded gently at them when he saw them come in, this is Mr. Song.

"Mr. Song, I want to send my children to school." Yang Cuilian pulled Yu Xian in front of her, a little restrained, her hands on her side rubbing her clothes, fidgeting, and as if she remembered something, she bowed her head and wanted to untie the money bag on her waist, the bundle of Yu clan science costs ten taels of silver a year, and ten taels of silver is a sky-high price for peasant families, so there are still only a small number of children who go to school in the Yu clan, and most of the children are illiterate in big characters, and they may not even have seen pen and ink in their teens. After listening to the sister-in-law last night, the couple hesitated for a long time and gritted their teeth, but they still decided to send Yu Xian over, selling Ganoderma lucidum for fifty taels to save at least a few years, and the rest of the money The two of them can save it again, thinking of this, Yang Cuilian couldn't help but feel that this Lingzhi came too timely, otherwise she wouldn't dare to think about sending Yu Xian to school.

Mr. Song still had a warm smile on his face, which made people feel like a spring breeze, "This lady, you are not in a hurry in advance." Mr. Song asked Yu Xian to step forward and touched his head across the desk to soothe Yu Xian's slightly nervous feelings, "What's your name?" ”

Yu Xian swallowed his saliva, turned his head to look at Yu Xia, he admired his second sister the most since he was a child, and he was the first to look for her if he had something, Yu Xia showed an apologetic smile at Mr. Song, and took a few steps forward to take Yu Xian's hand.

There is a sister holding Yu Xian A lot more confident, "If Mr. Hui speaks, the kid's name is Yu Xian." ”

Mr. Song continued to ask, "Yu Xian? It's a good name. Which Yu is which sage? ”

Yu Xian replied loudly, "It's Yu Shun's Yu, the sage of the sage." ”

Mr. Song: "Do you know how to write these two words?" ”

Belch...... Yu Xian was sluggish, Yu Dayou could also recognize a few words, and he had taught the children how to write their names, but Yu Xian did not have the environment to learn words.

Yu Xia shook his brother's hand, "Mr. Hui's words, Yu is the Yu of Wu Sheng, and Xian is the Xian from Bei Sheng." ”

Mr. Song was not angry at Yu Xia's faux pas, but looked at Yu Xia with a smile and continued to ask, "Little girl, are you his sister, what is your name?" ”

Yu Xia's eyes didn't blink, "Mr. Hui's words, I am Xiaoxian's sister, my name is Yu Xia, my heart is connected with the guest heart Xia." ”

Mr. Song smiled undiminishedly and asked with great interest, "Since you can solve your name with a puzzle, then I will ask another question in your brother's name, little girl, tell me what a sage is?" ”

This question is not to mention an eight-year-old country girl like Yu Xia, for students who have been in the cold window for ten years, this is also a difficult question to answer, Mr. Song just thinks that Yu Xia has a dexterity and intends to take the test, but he also knows the difficulty of this question, and he doesn't care whether she can answer it.

"The way of heaven is beneficial and harmless; The way of the saint is indisputable. Do not fight for merit, do not fight for fame, do not fight for profit, do not enter into disputes, do not ask for it, cultivate the heart and do good, that is, sages. The magistrates who applied for tax reductions and exemptions for the villagers were sages, the Jia Yuanwai who funded the construction of canals in our village were sages, and the gentlemen who taught students to spread knowledge wholeheartedly were also sages. ”

Yu Xia's answer made Mr. Song's eyes shine, and the last sentence of the Tao Te Ching was used to answer his question, which was very novel and convincing. What is a sage? It's not a difficult question. Most people have a standard answer in their hearts: people with great virtue and wisdom are sages, Yao Shunyu is sages, Confucian sages are sages, Buddha Sanqing is sages, and the worldly saints are sages. It is precisely because most people think so that it is difficult to get out of the box and give impressive and recognizable answers. Of course, the answer that people agree on will not be wrong, but it took thousands of years to produce a Yao Shunyu Confucian sage, and the Buddha Sanqing is even more high, and the "sage" is too far away from ordinary people. Yu Xia's answer made people realize that there are sages everywhere in the world, regardless of talent, regardless of status, and those who are kind to others without asking for anything in return can be called sages, which made Mr. Song, who has the ideal of "whether rich or poor, everyone can study".

"Little girl, have you ever read?" Yu Xia was a surprise to Mr. Song, and he was quite interested in her.

Yu Xia hesitated for a while and nodded, she did have a book at home, or brought it over when Yu Dayou was separated, when she was home alone, she turned it out from under the box under Yang Cuilian's bed, it was a three-character scripture of enlightenment, the pages of the book had already turned yellow, some broken, she had finished it early, no one at home read it except her, and now she was put under the bedside pillow.

Mr. Song does not doubt him, mainly because Yu Xian is still young, and the children in the countryside have basically not been enlightened at this age, and they have not read a lot of books, Yu Xian still knows the origin of his name, which is already good. It's eight-year-old Yu Xia, a thin little girl, who knows a lot, although she can't compare with the children who have gone to school, but she has a smart heart.

If Yu Xia knew what Mr. Song was thinking in her heart, she couldn't cry or laugh, how could she have any wisdom, obviously because she was born with something strange in her mind, just now Mr. Song asked her this question, and she automatically jumped out of the Tao Te Ching in her head, so she gave such an answer, of course, the last sentence was added by herself, blatantly putting a high hat on Mr. Song.

"This lady," Mr. Song turned to Yang Cuilian, who had been nervous for a long time, and his attitude was a little gentler, "Xiaoxian, this kid is very well-behaved and motivated, I arranged for him to enter Class C for enlightenment, and the bundle is still ten taels." ”

Yang Cuilian breathed a sigh of relief, because yesterday Yu Xiuhe told her that Yu clan learning is not something that can be taken by giving money, and students must also be picked, generally selecting students with good qualifications or who can calm down to learn things, otherwise accepting some stubborn people will affect the schoolwork of the children of the clan, it will be more than worth the loss, Yang Cuilian has always been worried that Mr. Song will not look down on Yu Xian, just now when Mr. Song took the Yu Xian exam, she was more nervous than anyone else, and now listening to Mr. Song say this, her heart hanging high finally fell. Hurriedly took out the money bag, which contained ten taels of silver that had been counted a long time ago, and put it on the table in front of Mr. Song, for fear that he would regret it.