The slices are as thin as paper, easy to eat and delicious.
When he came out of Rich Man Li's house, it was around noon, and the wind and snow were still there. Whenever Zhu Ping'an thought about the mutton shabu-shabu he had just eaten, he felt like the spring breeze on his tongue. Even though it was windy and snowy, he didn't feel cold.
Humming a strange tune, a copy of "The Doctrine of the Mean" annotated by Zhu Xi lay quietly in the schoolbag slung on his back. Zhu Pingan stepped into the wind and snow again.
Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest. Snow is a sign of good harvest among the people. Whenever it snows, farmers are always happy. If it snows heavily this year, the harvest next year will definitely be good. The saying that auspicious snow heralds a good harvest has been proven for thousands of years. Building snowmen, having snowball fights, skiing, etc., all come with snow. But after it snowed, we had to face an embarrassing problem, that is, heavy snow blocked roads and inconvenient transportation.
The snow at this time was already a palm deep, making walking on the road particularly strenuous. Zhu Ping'an walked back through the wind and snow with one foot deep and one foot shallow. He suddenly thought that Mr. Sun's children were not around now and he was a little old. It would be very difficult to clear the snow. So, Zhu Ping'an changed direction and headed towards Old Master Sun's house.
Going to Old Master Sun's house is also a familiar journey. Over the years of studying in Meng, Zhu Ping'an often went to Old Master Sun's house to ask for advice.
Old Master Sun's house is not far from Rich Man Li's house. It takes less than ten minutes to walk to Old Master Sun's house. Old Master Sun is also from a well-to-do family, with a civil structure yard, which is considered to be an upper-middle-class family in the village.
Those of you who have read many novels may have this idea: Old Master Sun was moved by Zhu Ping'an's diligence and studious, and thought that this son was not a thing in the pool, so he wanted to entrust his daughter to him, and so on.
Haha, you are really overthinking. Mr. Sun is almost sixty years old, his daughter is in her forties, and even her granddaughter has already married a long time ago, but her children have all started their families in the town. Old Master Sun and his wife lived together, which was a great story.
Old Master Sun's house is open at night, so you can walk in directly. There is a clump of bamboo planted in the yard, which adds a bit of poetry to the yard.
When he walked in, Old Master Sun was arranging his bamboos. The heavy snow and strong wind bent the bamboo. Old Master Sun was worried that the bamboo would be broken, so he was using a small broom to help clean the snow from the bamboo.
"Teacher." Zhu Ping'an entered the courtyard and saluted Old Master Sun who was arranging the bamboos.
"Oh, it's Ping An." Old Master Sun knew that Zhu Ping'an was coming without turning around. Old Master Sun was so impressed that he straightened the bamboo and asked Zhu Ping'an, "Ping'an, what do you think about this bamboo? ?”
What are your thoughts on bamboo?
Zhu Ping'an didn't quite understand what Old Master Sun meant. He looked at the bamboos that Old Master Sun was trimming. The wind and snow were blowing, but the bamboos still stubbornly maintained their green color. Since ancient times, there was a saying that the three friends of Suihan are pine, bamboo and plum. So he said: "The green bamboo is proud." The snow and frost are not afraid of wind and snow, and students should learn from their character."
Hearing this, Old Master Sun put down his broom and shook his head, "It's true that the winter bamboos are proud of the snow and frost, but the heavy snow is falling and the snow falls on the bamboos. Some bamboos are tenacious and can resist the snow and will not bend at all. The waist will eventually be broken by the snow. There is also a kind of bamboo that will bend after the snow falls and wait quietly for the wind and sunshine to melt. When the snow melts and falls on the ground to nourish the roots, the bamboo will thrive. , as tall and straight as ever.”
Having said this, Old Master Sun turned to Zhu Ping'an and said, "Ping'an, we want to make a bamboo that is proud of the snow and frost in winter, but we also need to make a second kind of bamboo, which must be able to stretch and bend. As long as we hold on to the roots, we will not Departing from your original intention! Keep the green hills, so you don’t have to worry about running out of firewood.”
"The students have been taught." Zhu Pingan benefited a lot and made a deep bow.
Old Master Sun waved his hand and twirled his beard and said, "I am very optimistic about you in this section. In a few months, the boy's examination will be held. For you, this scientific examination is like the wind, snow and green bamboo. You must not It’s going to be crushed.”
It turned out that Old Master Sun was worried about this. He was worried that if he did not perform well in this scientific examination, he was worried that he would be hit by failure and unable to stand up, so he used bamboo to encourage himself.
"Teacher, please rest assured, Ping'an will be safe soon." Zhu Ping'an immediately made a promise to avoid Old Master Sun from worrying.
"Well, I'll be at ease this way." Old Master Sun smiled heartily.
"You old man, why are you letting Ping An stand in the wind and snow? Come Ping An, let's have a taste of Master's wife's newly brewed tea."
The teacher's wife's hair is gray, but she is neatly groomed, and she has a bookish air about her.
"Haha, thank you, Master. In ancient times, you could kill Hua Xiong by warming wine. Today, let me leave you with the reputation of sweeping snow by warming tea." Zhu Pingan was much more relaxed when facing Master Sun than when he faced Old Master Sun. He smiled naively. Then he picked up the shovel, broom and other tools in the yard and started working enthusiastically.
"You kid!" Mistress scolded.
Old Master Sun twisted his beard and smiled, and continued to trim his bamboo.
When Zhu Pingan started sweeping the snow, his hand was still very cold holding the broom, but after sweeping for a while, the heat began to evaporate from his body, and his whole body became warm. If it weren't for the fear of catching a cold, Zhu Pingan would have wanted to take off his clothes.
It didn't take long for Zhu Pingan to clear away the snow in Old Master Sun's yard, leaving a large open space, and a long road was also cleared outside the door.
Sweeping away the snow and making tea was particularly delicious. After drinking the tea from his wife, he said goodbye to his wife and Zhu Pingan braved the wind and snow to return.
The thatched house that Zhu Ping'an's family used to live in has now been turned into a courtyard with two entrances and two exits made of blue bricks and red tiles. Zhu's father has made a lot of money over the years by driving oxcarts between the town and the villages. Chen can also The mother who was running the house made more money, so she rebuilt the yard.
"Really, why is it snowing?" Mrs. Chen looked at the heavy snow in the yard, feeling extremely unhappy.
"Hehehe, auspicious snow heralds a good harvest, a good sign." Zhu's father smiled innocently while sweeping the snow.
"Given how big you are, if it doesn't snow, our ox cart will make at least dozens or hundreds of cash a day." Mrs. Chen said regretfully.
Hahaha, mother Chen's eyes light up as usual when she mentions money.
"Ah, Xie'er is back, come in quickly and warm up on the stove." Mother Chen's sharp eyes immediately saw Zhu Pingan returning from the snow, and she quickly called Zhu Pingan into the house.
"I'll help my father clear the snow before we go in." Zhu Pingan smiled naively.
"Don't worry about him, he is worried about his strength."
Mrs. Chen didn't care about this, she walked over in a few steps, dragged Zhu Pingan to the house, patted the snow off his body, and pressed Zhu Pingan in front of the stove.
Due to his mother's kindness, Zhu Ping'an didn't refuse anymore and sat down to warm his hands.
"Where's my brother?" Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but ask as he didn't see his brother.
When mentioning her eldest brother Zhu Pingchuan, her mother, Mrs. Chen, said angrily, "Not long after you left, your eldest brother went to Lao Zhang's house to clear the snow. He really married a daughter-in-law and forgot about his mother. How could he even do this?" I’m not married yet, so I’ve been forgotten to every corner.”
The eldest brother Zhu Pingchuan just got engaged to the daughter of the old Zhang family in the same village last year. Because the old Zhang family loves their daughter and said they would raise her to eighteen before getting married. Calculating the time, she should get married next year.
"Hahaha, my mother is jealous. Don't worry, my son won't be like his brother when he gets married. My son will also take his mother to clear the snow."
"You heartless person, you are darker than your brother. He just goes to clear the snow by himself, but you even want to take me under your wing!"
Mrs. Chen was interrupted by Zhu Ping'an. She was talking strangely, but her mood improved a lot.
