Jiangning Weaving House, side door.

A few young men led the horses and guarded a carriage.

When there were still two quarters left (half past six in the morning), the side door opened, and Cao Yan walked out, followed by two young teenagers and young scholars, carrying a package filled with pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Among the men, there was a man in a blue cloth shirt, twenty-five or six years old, strong and strong, looking like the heads of everyone, and when he saw Cao Yan coming out, he stepped forward with a smile: "Little master, the slave will carry you to the car!" ”

Cao Yan searched in his memory, this man's name is Cao Fang, the son of the family, the second son of the big housekeeper Cao Fu, who is specifically responsible for Cao Fang's schooling.

Seeing that Cao Fang was silent, Cao Fang thought that he had acquiesced, and leaned over to carry him to the car. There are seats on the inside of the car, and there are small armrests on both sides, which seem to be tailor-made for Cao Yan. Through the thin bamboo curtain, Cao Yan saw that the coachman was on the left wheel, the two children were on the right wheel, and the others were on the horse.

"Wait!" Seeing that the coachman was about to raise the whip, Cao Yan hurriedly lifted the curtain and shouted.

Cao Fang pulled the reins of the horse, lowered his head and asked, "Little master, what did you leave behind?" ”

Cao Yan pointed to the two little scholars: "Let the two of them come in and sit!" ”

"Little master, this is not in accordance with the rules!" As soon as Cao Fang nagged, he saw Cao Fang looking at him with a smile, his heart was inexplicably uneasy, and he said with a smile on his face: "Cherish the ink, get the ink, you two little monkeys, don't hurry up and thank the master for your compassion!" ”

Ximo and Langmo entered the car with a smile, and the carriage left the side door and went to the clan school line a mile away in the back street.

The location of the clan study is a three-entry courtyard, the front is for the long-term followers who follow the students to rest, the middle one is the school, and the innermost is the master's residence.

Today, the master of the clan is Cao Yin, who is about the same age as Cao Yin, and is Cao Yin's uncle and Cao Yin's ancestor. Cao Xuan is a rare talent, he won the promotion in his twenties, but then he took the exam for more than 20 years, and he always lost his name to Sun Shan, and then his family Zhang Luo donated a seven-grade county official. Because he didn't understand current affairs, he was dismissed in less than half a year, which made Cao Xuan disheartened, so he gave up his mind and defected to his nephew in Jiangnan.

Cao Yin saw that although this little uncle was not knowledgeable about the world, his knowledge was solid, so he entrusted him with his family studies.

In addition to the children of the Cao family's branch and side branches, there are also children from relatives who come to the school, so there are also twelve or thirteen students. The eldest is thirteen or fourteen years old, and the younger one is six or seven years old. Cao Yan is the grandson of the long house, and the seat is in the middle of the first row, and the seat on the right is Cao Song's seat.

When Cao Yan arrived, the class had not yet started, Cao Song had already arrived, and when he saw him coming, his little face was full of joy, and he almost danced with his hands. There was also a teenage child sitting in the seat to the left of Cao Song, dressed in half-new clothes, not as naughty as Cao Song, sitting there obediently, with a vibrant mouth. Cao Yan listened to the words "he is also filial piety, and those who are good at committing crimes are rare", and "those who are filial to their brothers are the foundation of benevolence", which is the content of the opening volume of the Analects. I just heard Cao Song mention that the master is going to start the Analects today, and it seems that the child is preparing for his homework.

"Hmph, I'm used to pretending!" Cao Song saw that the little boy had attracted Cao Yan's attention, and muttered in his mouth. Seeing that Cao Yan was puzzled, he said in a low voice: "It's a relative of the first aunt's mother's family, you don't come to study in these days." Mr. prefers to arrange a seat in the front. ”

As he was talking, Cao Xuan walked in with square steps, saw Cao Xuan arrive, pointed to the little boy on his left, and said, "It seems that it is okay, this is your new classmate, Gu Na." Then he turned to Gu Na and said, "This is your Cao family's aunt and grandfather's sister-in-law, Cao Yan, you should call your cousin." ”

Gu Na got up, flicked his sleeves, and gave a salute: "Nephew greets my cousin!" ”

Seeing the two nerds in front of him, Cao Yan tugged at the corners of his mouth: "You're welcome, please get up!" ”

In ancient times, the homework was very monotonous, first the master led everyone to recite the first volume of the Analects three times, and then pointed to the two older students in the back seat to lead everyone to recite it. For two hours, nothing else was done. Cao Yan's mouth was dry when he only read, but fortunately, every half an hour, he was able to rest for a quarter of an hour, and two scholars poured tea and sent it over, both of which were brought out of the house.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, it was lunch break, and the master returned to the inner house, and the students' homes brought all kinds of snacks to eat. The students sat in groups of three and groups of five according to their relatives. There are only the first three small ones, which are different from everyone. Cao Yan and Cao Song, two brothers, have their own faction, and are served by a few scholars to eat. Gu Na's family did not send anyone to deliver lunch, so he took out a paper bag from his schoolbag, and put a white-flour steamed bun and two slices of pickles in it. A small bite of steamed buns, a small bite of pickles, and the food is elegant.

There was a boo from behind, and someone wanted to mock a few words, but because of Cao Yan, he didn't dare to say more, so he only said in a weird manner: "Poor sour, where is it worthy of sitting in such a good position!" ”

Cao Song's heart was straightforward, and when he saw Gu Na open the paper bag, he shouted: "Why is it steamed bread and pickles again!" ”

Gu Na's face was as pale as water, and he was not shocked, still eating a small bite of steamed buns and a small bite of pickles. Wait until you are halfway through eating, wrap the remaining steamed buns and put them back in your school bag.

Cao Yan watched from the sidelines how such a child could be calm, and was secretly curious in his heart, it seemed that he was from a poor family, but he didn't know what kind of parents could raise such sensible children. Cao Song couldn't see that others were bad, and he was already very embarrassed to accidentally shout just now, so he walked to Gu Na's side with a chicken leg in the lunch box and put it on his desk.

Gu Na only did not see it, took out the "Analects", and recited it in a low voice. Seeing that he ignored him, Cao Song's heart was on fire, and he threw the lunch box on the table, threw out the chicken legs, and slid from Gu Na's sleeve to the place, and his clothes were dirty.

"You!" Gu Na glared at Cao Song, his little face flushed.

Cao Song glanced at Gu Na and returned to his seat triumphantly.

Cao Yan reached out and patted his forehead, child, it's really troublesome. At this time, the students sitting in the back all saw the changes in front of them, and "oh" and "oh" coaxed.

Gu Na got up from his seat and walked in front of Cao Song: "You soiled my clothes, why don't you pay for it?" ”

Cao Song glared: "I don't, I don't!" ”

"It's not a loss!" Gu Na's expression was firm.

Cao Song turned his head and didn't look at him. Some people said, "Second uncle, teach him a good lesson", and some said, "Don't look at the mirror, if you want to bully the second cousin, you have to ask the master's fist first."

"Horn!" Cao Song patted the table, stood up, and pouted: "Okay, okay, count it my fault, I shouldn't have soiled your clothes, it's all right!" ”

Guna nodded and returned to his seat.

Cao Song turned around and shouted angrily at the few students who had done good things: "It's all scattered, it's weird hot, it's not annoying!" ”

Cao Yan saw that his little brother had a good heart and did not bully others, so he was a little closer to him.

After a half-hour lunch break, the master came to the school again. In the afternoon, the content of the lecture was to recite "Sound Rhyme Enlightenment" and write large characters. "Phonological Enlightenment" is an enlightenment book for mastering the rhythm of phonology, and the content taught today is:

Clouds against rain, snow against wind, evening against clear skies. Laihong is against the swallow, and the bird is against the songworm. Three-foot sword, six-jun bow, Lingbei to Jiangdong. The summer palace in the world, the wide cold palace in the sky. On both sides of the strait, the smoke and willows are green, and the spring rain in a garden is red. The two temples are windy and frosty, and the guests who travel early on the way; A cloud of smoke and rain, a night fishing by the stream.

Along the line of the revolution, the similarity to the same, the white to the yellow child. The river wind is against the sea fog, and the shepherd is against the fisherman. Yan Xiang is ugly, Ruan Tu is poor, and Hebei is north to Liaodong. The pool is full of water, and the wind is blowing outside the door. Emperor Liang preached the scriptures with the Tai Temple, and the Han Emperor placed the wine Weiyang Palace. Shame on the hundred refining bronze.

Poor to rich, plug to pass, wild to brook boy. The sideburns are green to the eyebrows, and the teeth are red to the lips. The sky is haohao, said to be melting, and the sword is bent to the bow. Half of the stream is green, and thousands of trees are red. The wild swallow wears the willow rain, and the fish in the pond play the lotus wind. The woman's eyebrows are slender, and a crescent moon appears under her forehead; The man is strong, and he vomits a long rainbow in his chest.

The students shook their heads and read it catchily, much more smoothly than the boring Analects in the morning. Those who love to be in the limelight in the middle are already looking forward to the master and son to come out with a pair so that they can show off. The Master knew that teaching should be gradual, and when he saw that everyone had recited it several times, he called the students one by one to get up and memorize the first paragraph, and half of them could memorize it. After that, the master told everyone to memorize the remaining two paragraphs when they went home.

After memorizing "Sound Rhyme Enlightenment", the master asked everyone to prepare pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and watched everyone write big characters, but the content was the "Hundred Family Names" and "Thousand Character Text" taught earlier. Don't get homework, it's better to say, this Cao Yan is very attentive, in order not to be illiterate, he still reads and writes well.

Before two o'clock, the school ended. The elders of each province took up their own little masters, those who rode horses, those who drove cars, and they dispersed.

Cao Yan sat in the carriage, very bored, he had read books for nearly twenty years in his previous life, and it was only a few years, and he had to start all over again, and he felt a headache when he thought about it.

Weaving house, side door.

A lewd-looking man nodded and bowed to the porter, in his thirties, dressed in a crumpled satin dress. The porter's face was full of impatience, he rolled his eyes, and cursed a few words.

The man was still rambling, and the porter called out two stout men and scolded him a few times before scaring him away.

Cao Fang's carriage arrived, and after he got out of the car, he saw a dirty thin man staring at him not far away, looked at Cao Fang, and asked, "Who is that person?" ”

Cao Fang replied: "That's Gu San, who is a relative in our house, and he was once the son of everyone, but his family was defeated and he went to the master." But he is not angry, he only knows how to gamble, and he bullies men and women outside under the guise of the master, and the master is so angry that the master throws him out! Speaking of this, he paused: "His son is also in school now, and I heard that his wife came to ask his wife a few days ago." ”

I really didn't expect that this dirty-looking man turned out to be Gu Na's father. Cao Yan thought about the child who even looked like Sven when he even ate steamed buns, and was secretly surprised in his heart.

Cao Fang sent Cao Yan to the second gate, and the tortoiseshell and two little maids were already waiting there.

That Gu San mixed up in the casino for a few days, gambled the last copper plate on his body, and wanted to go to the weaving mansion to fight the autumn breeze, but he couldn't even enter the gate, and he held back the fire in his stomach. He was afraid of being beaten, so he didn't dare to complain at the door, so he was far away, so he spat and foamed: "Bastard dog legs, when the third master is successful, let you look good!" ”

When Cao Yan got out of the carriage, Gu San looked at him from a distance covered in brocade, with a collar around his neck and a jade pendant on his belt, and couldn't help but think about it. It wasn't until Cao Yan's master and servant entered the door that he sneered and turned around.

This Gu San is the nephew of Cao Yin's deceased wife, Mrs. Gu. Cao Yin hated him for not learning and not knowing, but when he saw his deceased wife, he was not too affectionate, although he went out of the house, he still rented a small courtyard in the back street for their family to live in, and sent some money and food to the city every month. Every time he asked Gu San to roll up and gamble, the family life was very poor, and it was all thanks to Gu San's wife Zhou's weaving and embroidery that the family did not break the cooking.

When Gu San went home, Gu Na was having dinner with his mother Zhou. There are two mothers and sons, one person has a bowl of stick noodle porridge. There was also half a white-flour steamed bun on the dinner table, which was left over from Gu Na at noon, and was pushed to his mother Zhou's side for his mother to eat.

Where is Zhou's willingness, he pushed the steamed bun in front of his son, and drank porridge with a few pieces of pickles.

After Gu San entered the house, he went to the kitchen to find food, and when he saw a white-flour steamed bun, he picked it up and took a bite.

When Zhou saw it, he hurriedly stepped forward to stop it: "This is for my son to keep the food that Ming'er brought to school, and I will serve you porridge!" ”

Gu San lost the money, and he was angry in Cao's Mansion, and there was nowhere to vent the evil fire in his stomach, and when he saw his wife being verbose, he stretched out his hand and gave Zhou two slaps; "Stinky girl, mourning star, since you entered the door of our Gu family, Lao Tzu has never had a good time!"

Zhou covered his mouth and cried. Gu San stepped forward and kicked it: "What kind of mourning, Lao Tzu is not dead yet, don't think that I don't know the mind of your silver woman, so I curse Lao Tzu to die early, so that I can find a little white face." ”

Zhou was kicked to the ground, his face turned pale with fright, and he was so aggrieved that he burst into tears. Gu San still wanted to make a move, but saw Gu Na stretching out his arm, protecting his mother behind him, looking at him with a tense face.

Gu San only felt bored and muttered, "Last fart!" He looked at his son again, his eyes rolled, and he didn't know what to think, "haha" laughed twice, lifted the curtain and went out. Behind him, Zhou's cry was heard.