Xie Kun and Qi Jiguang left.
Xu He felt that life suddenly returned to normal.
It's approaching the end of the year, and the government schools are on holiday.
Xu He, who originally planned to take Sister Gu directly back to Hailing, was now shopping for food and drink in Yangzhou.
After loading a carriage full of things, the carriage went straight to the school to deliver gifts.
Don't get me wrong, official schools are not social studies or private schools, and there is no need to give gifts to teachers at the end of the year.
But Professor Gao and Jiao Zejiao taught him that they had turned a blind eye to Xu He's long leave in the past six months, and it was hard to ignore it.
The life of the instructors at the official school of the Imperial Dynasty was still very difficult.
The instructors' funds are paid by local taxes. If the county is small and poor, the tax is zero, and their income is even pitiful. They can only rely on the land rent from Xueda Heyitian.
If Mr. Tian's food encounters a natural disaster and the fields produce less, the life of the instructors will be even more difficult.
So even though Gao Bi and Jiao Ze didn't have to kneel down when they saw the Grand Master, Peng Ruyu and others, they only bowed. Even Peng Ruyu and others were very polite to them. Sometimes the court would give orders and try to be as tactful as possible when conveying them.
But in our society, those who are noble must be poor. This is an iron rule, and their lives are very miserable.
Because of the low salary and low salary, except for the annual and scientific examinations that are held twice every three years, you can get some money from the registration fees of the candidates, the guarantee of the students sent to the field, and the teaching and training of the students attached to the entrance, there is no other place. There is no income at all.
When Xu He walked into the public house, he found that the doorman who had been guarding the door had already gone home to busy himself with the New Year.
The entire school and the public house were much quieter than usual.
After knocking on the door and seeing no one answer, Xu He had no choice but to ask someone to put his things at the door, and he took Wu Decao into the back hall of the public house.
As soon as I entered the back pavilion, I saw black smoke curling up and two coughing sounds coming and going.
Looking closer, he was surprised to find that Gao Bi and Govinda, father and son, were lighting a fire to cook.
Maybe it was because they were inexperienced or because the firewood was wet. The father and son surrounded the stove, blowing air and fanning them for a long time. However, the fire did not start, but the smoke made the father and son's eyes burn. peach.
"Dad, why don't we invite someone here?" Gao Guoguang asked his father beside him while wiping away tears.
Gao Bi was also in tears, but he couldn't bear to go out and beg those ordinary people, so he shook his head and said: "Be determined but not sharp. Success is long-term but not quick. You have such a temper and you are still too impatient!"
Gao Guoguang was speechless for a while: "Dad, when I calm down, we will both starve to death!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the small flame that had just been lit in the stove went out again with a pop.
This time, Professor Gao completely collapsed.
I saw him throwing the fire seal in his hand to the ground, and cursed angrily: "You are too lazy to kill people and beg for help, which will make scholars sad for all eternity!"
As soon as he said this, Xu He laughed out loud.
Gao Bi met Xu He, the embarrassing one.
He quickly covered his big painted face with his sleeves and went into the house to tidy up his appearance.
On the other hand, Gao Guoguang and Xu Heshu were surprised and said casually: "Liangsheng, why are you here?"
Xu He smiled and said, "The new year is approaching, and Brother Yaochen and I are here to see the professor."
Gao Guoguang said with a bitter face: "I thought that the days in the government school were already very difficult, but who knew that after the holiday, it would be impossible to survive this day."
Xu He looked down and saw a few pottery bowls placed beside the stove. The bowls were full of green and full of wild vegetables.
"You, you just eat this?" Xu He said in surprise.
Gao Guoguang said with some embarrassment: "The school is on holiday, so dad and I can only eat some alfalfa rice!"
Alfalfa rice is actually a bowl of whole grains and a few dishes of side dishes.
The academic officers laughed at themselves that they lived like horses and could only survive on some wild vegetables and alfalfa every day, so they called it "alfalfa rice"!
Xu He sighed and said, "I'll buy two pieces of tofu anyway!"
"Price is very expensive in Yangzhou. Two pieces of tofu cost four cents. My father said he would save this money and buy me some Chengwen to read!" Gao Guoguang said this, his throat seemed to be blocked and he was a little choked. road.
At this time, Gao Bi washed his face and walked out of the room. At this time, he had already returned to his usual inhumane appearance.
He asked Xu He with a cold face: "The Spring Festival is coming soon. If you don't go home, why are you here?"
Xu He cursed in his heart that this old man could change his face faster than flipping through a book. He smiled and said, "It's almost the Chinese New Year, so I bought some gifts for teachers and instructors."
Gao Bi frowned when he heard this and said: "If there is no such rule, I won't accept it!"
Xu He smiled bitterly, and Wu Decao beside him said quickly: "Professor Gao, just accept it. This is also Liangsheng's sincere intention."
Unexpectedly, he just treated himself as a transparent person. As soon as he appeared in front of Lao Gao, Gao Bi said with a look of disgust: "You are an epitome, you still have the nerve to appear in my father-in-law's house. If Xu He hadn't asked me to invite you, you would have been there years ago." I’ll cure you!”
Professor Gao, you think I don’t exist, I’m going to disappear right now!
Wu Decao hid.
Only Xu He was left facing the high wall.
Xu He said: "The instructors work hard every day, and this is also my thoughts as a student."
"Besides, this isn't all for you, everyone has it from Jiao Zunjiao!"
Gao Bi still wanted to refuse, but Gao Guoguang said: "Dad, you want to be a gentleman, but you can't let Jiao Xun teach them to starve with you! It's hard to get rid of Liang Sheng's feelings, right?"
Gao Bi originally wanted to reprimand Gao Guoguang, but seeing his son's increasingly thin body in the past six months, he couldn't bear to say in his heart: "Sweeping the snow and calling for the boy, don't say it's nodding today; treat guests with thunder, we all know that we met yesterday!"
Those who do not understand the official system of the Wei Dynasty will definitely not understand these two sentences.
This couplet is actually Lao Gao's self-narration of his embarrassment.
In ancient times, there were clerks in local government offices, and they had to be called at regular intervals to check whether they were present at their posts. This was called [Dian Mao]!
In the instructor's house, there are only domestic children, so asking one's own children to sweep the snow on a snowy day is just like dianmao, but it is not really dianmao.
Lao Gao's first couplet is self-deprecating that this official is a coward.
The instructors did not have meat to eat on weekdays, and they did not even offer meat to guests. If they wanted to eat meat, they had to wait until the second and eighth months of the lunar calendar in the spring and autumn to offer sacrifices to Confucius.
Because the sacrifice to Confucius is held on Ding Day in the first ten days of the month, it is called Ding Festival.
During the sacrifice, a whole pig is presented, which is called Shaolao.
After the sacrifice, the pig was shared with the school instructors and was named Fenfen.
It is only at this time of year that the instructors have a few full meals to eat.
If guests happen to come after the Ding Festival, or the instructor has important guests to treat to dinner, it will be arranged at this time.
Therefore, Lao Gao jokingly said that as soon as the instructors treat guests, people will know that Ding Festival has passed. Therefore, there is a saying that "thundering invitations, everyone knows that Ding happened yesterday."
When Xu He heard this, what he thought in his mind was not how miserable Lao Gao was, but that there was no scientific pig farming in the Wei Dynasty. Pigs must not be fattened by feeding them. Even if there were fat pigs, everyone would be reluctant to use them. for.
Therefore, a pig only weighs a hundred pounds at most, and the amount given to Lao Gao is estimated to be only twenty or thirty pounds.
There are no refrigerators these days, so we can’t finish all the food at once. Isn’t that a waste?
Hey, that's interesting. I'll probably store some of it in the butcher's shop. When I want to eat it, I might cut some off as a toothpaste.
After giving the gifts, Xu He and Wu Decao walked out of the mansion. Looking at the desolate street scene on the road, he folded his collar and sighed: "The thirty-sixth year of Zhizheng is coming soon!"
