In the old lady's apartment, a man dressed as a steward was standing respectfully aside. Mrs. Jiang was writing quickly, and the four powerful characters "Indifferent and Mingzhi" appeared on the white rice paper.
The man has finished reporting what he asked for and is patiently waiting for a reply. He knew very well that the old lady didn't like being disturbed when he was practicing calligraphy, so he could only stand aside patiently.
Seventy years of life are rare. At this age, Old Mrs. Jiang has long looked down on everything. He only has two hobbies in his daily life, which are practicing calligraphy and fishing. If he has to add one more, it is 'fish tasting'.
When these four characters were completed in one go, he looked at his work up and down, unwilling to let go of any detail. This calligraphy seemed to be the most satisfactory one in several months. Old Mrs. Jiang became more and more delighted as he looked at it. I can't help but feel happy.
"Old Master, your calligraphy skills are getting deeper and deeper day by day. It can be said to be superb!"
The man observed the words and expressions and saw that the old man was in a good mood and seemed not to have taken the report to heart, so he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and did not forget to take the opportunity to flatter the old man.
Old Mrs. Jiang just remembered that there was someone beside her and turned to look at the man. No matter how flattering I am, I always feel good when I hear compliments from others.
"Hehehehe, the work of an essay, the work of an essay..."
"The old lady's essays are so great, I can't even match them!"
"Haha, that's a prize, that's a prize..."
Old Mrs. Jiang put the brush aside. Only then did she remember that the housekeeper was reporting to him on business, and asked, "What did you say just now?"
Good guy! It turned out that the old lady didn't hear what she said at all. There was no other way, so the housekeeper had no choice but to bite the bullet and report the matter again.
"Returning to the old man, before the start of the cold exam, someone came to Jindingfang with three hundred taels of gold to place bets. He said that he would use three hundred taels of gold to bet three hundred thousand taels of silver. The head of Jindingfang was so obsessed with money that he agreed. Now that People came to ask for money with a gambling contract, but Jindingfang found an excuse and kicked them out."
The old lady frowned slightly, obviously unhappy, wondering how the boss managed this family property? Do you have to report to yourself about a mere three hundred taels of gold?
I saw Old Mrs. Jiang's eyes still not leaving the four characters, and said nonchalantly: "What? A mere gambler wants to tell me?"
The butler had no choice but to continue explaining: "Well... I don't know the person who came to place the bet. But... but the bet he placed was... it was the young master named Ying Ping. "
Old Mrs. Jiang suddenly straightened up as if he had heard some important information. He stared at the man with a serious face. His usually easy-going and kind eyes were extremely sharp at this moment, as if he could see through everything in the world.
Old Mrs. Jiang asked in a deep voice: "Have you investigated the people who came to place bets?"
"The young man who came to place the bet had someone sent by the gambling house to follow him that day. However, the man was extremely alert and seemed to be afraid of being followed. He walked around Nancheng several times and finally entered a brothel. The person who followed him was there. I just lost it, but..."
"But what is it, tell me quickly!"
"But someone in the gambling house recognized this man and said that... when he was collecting information before the re-examination, he met him in Young Master Ying's inn and was scolded by him. Bloody head..."
"Sure?"
"It's absolutely true. I have confirmed this matter many times."
After a moment of silence, Old Mrs. Jiang turned her gaze to her handwriting again and said, "Find the man who placed the bet, fold 300,000 taels into a silver note and send it over, do you hear me?"
"I just follow the old man's instructions. I'll do it now, little one."
"return!"
The man was about to turn around, but upon hearing the old man's instructions, he immediately froze his body.
"Return the original three hundred taels of gold that the man brought, um... let the boss handle this matter personally, do you hear me?"
"Ah? Let the eldest master go there in person?" The housekeeper felt unbelievable at what the old master said, but how could he dare to have any doubts about this kind of thing? He suddenly felt that he had made a mistake and said quickly: "Yes! Yes!"
After saying that, the butler hurriedly retreated.
Seeing the man retreat, Mrs. Jiang looked at the words on the table again, but she was still thinking about the incident just now.
After a long time, the old lady suddenly made a self-deprecating "cut" sound, and said to himself with endless disgust: "What did this boss do? He can't handle this kind of thing well. Who is in charge of this company or me?" when?"
After that, the old lady began to appreciate her masterpiece with great joy.
...
"Dong-dong-dong-"
There was a gentle knock on the door, the volume and speed of the sound were just right, as if it was afraid of disturbing the peace in the house.
Old Mrs. Jiang was so intoxicated that she didn't hear the knock on the door at all. Instead, she was stroking her beard and smiling at her work.
Hey! what is it today? Why are you so satisfied with this painting?
"Dong-dong-dong-"
The crisp knock on the door rang again, and then the old lady heard someone knocking on the door. He raised his head and signaled, and then the maid beside him stepped forward and opened the door, only to see Jiang Changming's figure suddenly appearing outside the door. When the maid saw that it was the eldest young master, she was slightly blessed and turned around to tell the old lady.
When Jiang Changming saw this, he grabbed the maid and signaled her to be quiet. Then, he asked in a low voice: "What is grandpa doing in there?"
"Go back to the young master, the old lady is practicing calligraphy inside." The maid replied in a low voice.
Jiang Changming nodded and signaled him to retreat.
The maid responded in a low voice and then stepped back carefully.
Jiang Changming walked softly and slowly into the house, and saw his grandfather standing at the table, bending over to savor his 'masterpiece'.
Seeing his grandfather like this, Jiang Changming couldn't help but feel funny. His grandfather always seemed very humble to everyone, but when it came to calligraphy, he was narcissistic. Although grandpa's calligraphy is excellent, his level is still far behind that of famous calligraphers such as Wang Shangshu and Mr. Wen. But it happened that the old man liked to 'praise' his 'masterpiece' most, and would often drag himself or his father over to consider it in detail, which made Jiang Changming feel helpless. But "filial piety leads the way". Every time Jiang Changming accompanied his grandfather to taste his works, Jiang Changming always nodded his head. As for what was good about his grandfather's works, he didn't know why.
"grandfather?"
Jiang Changming shouted in a low voice. He was brought up by his old lady since he was a child. The first thing he did after getting up every day when he was a child was to go to his grandfather's house to play. Over time, it became a habit. Come to the old lady's house to say hello.
Old Mrs. Jiang was still looking at the words attentively and did not hear Jiang Changming calling him.
Jiang Changming saw this and patted his grandfather's shoulder helplessly. Old Mrs. Jiang's thoughts intoxicated with the words were suddenly interrupted. He couldn't help but feel a little angry. He straightened up and turned his head to take a look, only to see Jiang Changming standing obediently behind him. The old man suddenly turned from anger to joy, smiled, took Jiang Changming's hand, and said -
"My dear grandson, you came just in time. Come on! How about taking a look at these words that grandpa wrote?"
Seeing that it was a familiar stage again, Jiang Changming nodded like a conditioned reflex, and blurted out the word 'good' without even passing through his brain.
"Good words!"
"Haha, what do you think is so good about this word?"
"Iron painting and silver hook are powerful enough to penetrate the back of paper!"
"anything else?"
Jiang Changming looked at these words again and shook his head.
"Haha, you, you only look at the appearance and don't know the meaning——"
"I would like to listen to grandpa's teachings."
"I'm an old man and I've lived to this age and I'm still understanding these words. You, haha... you have to understand them more carefully!"
For the first time, Old Mrs. Jiang left the table and the words she was writing. In the past, he would explain the strokes, strokes, hooks and folds in detail on the paper, but today he was uncharacteristically standing up and walked to the chair and sat down.
"Do you know the origin of these four words?"
Facing his grandfather's question, Jiang Changming replied without hesitation: "'Without indifference, there is no clear ambition, and without tranquility, there is no far-reaching goal.' This is the "Book of Commandments" written by the Marquis of Wuxiang to his son."
Old Mrs. Jiang nodded in affirmation and said: "A capable person has lofty aspirations, so why should he be lofty? How high is the martial arts? How rich is the family wealth? Otherwise. Dao cannot be limited to Dao, and wealth cannot be limited to wealth. Only when it is beneficial to all living beings can it be said to be "high and lofty". To the people of the Central Plains, it can be said to be lofty and lofty. Today, to the Tang Dynasty, it can be said to be lofty and lofty. If it is beneficial to ten people, its ambition is "one inch" high. If it is beneficial to a hundred people, its ambition is "high". "One foot" is beneficial to thousands of people, and his ambition is "one foot" high. If it is beneficial to thousands of people, his ambition is unattainable."
Jiang Changming nodded thoughtfully.
"Now that we understand what 'high and far' means, then why should we be 'high and far'? It means 'indifferent and clear ambition, tranquility and far-reaching'! It is precisely because you do not care about worldly affairs and only seek the Tao that your ambition is revealed. It is also precisely because you have no distractions and are indifferent to vanity. , only by practicing with concentration can you achieve what you are today.”
It may have been a long time since Mr. Jiang spoke so earnestly and sincerely. He paused, picked up the tea cup from the coffee table, took a sip of tea, and looked at Jiang Changming standing there motionless.
"Don't let those 'distracting thoughts' ruin this 'indifferent', and don't let those 'noisy' disturb this 'tranquility'!"
Jiang Changming gradually understood the meaning of his grandfather's words. He lowered his head and looked quietly at the four big characters on the table. He remained silent for a long time. His depressed mood in the past few days seemed to be relieved...
Just when Jiang Changming was silently appreciating his grandfather's teachings, suddenly, the old lady suddenly said -
"I heard that the girl from Cui Shilang's family came to our house?"
Jiang Changming was looking at the words in a daze when he suddenly heard his grandfather say something like this. His expression instantly brightened and he stuttered: "She, she... I, I... it's not... it's Ya Ya... ....”
"Look at your worthless look!"
Seeing Jiang Changming's incoherent expression, Mrs. Jiang felt helpless. Her grandson was impeccable in everything, but the only thing that worried him was the matter between men and women. Now that my grandson is over 20 years old, he is as ignorant as an ignorant boy in this regard.
Jiang Changming stood aside awkwardly when he heard his grandfather scolding him.
"That brat from the Zhang family next door would secretly go to a brothel at the age of thirteen. Let's look at the second generation ancestor of the Wu family, who was already having sex with a grown-up girl at the age of fifteen. How could you..."
Old Mrs. Jiang has always been gentle and elegant, but there are no servants around today. In addition, seeing that his grandson is getting older but does not think about the marriage of a man and a woman at all, he is a little anxious for a while, so he can't care so much.
Although Jiang Changming was aloof and reticent in front of outsiders, he was really just a young boy. When he heard his grandfather mentioning 'brothel', his fair and tender face suddenly turned red. Fortunately, Miss Cui was not here. She was so embarrassed. If Miss Cui saw it, she would probably agree with her on the spot.
Old Mrs. Jiang saw her precious grandson looking like this. He was not even a little bit domineering and arrogant as usual. He shook his head helplessly. Out of sight, out of mind, he simply ignored the matter.
When Jiang Changming saw his grandfather signaling for him to retreat, he said goodbye and hurriedly retreated as if he was being pardoned.
【rush! Keep rushing! 】
