Qin Yuan saw Liu Qingshu's confused face and immediately laughed.
"Still don't understand? If you explain it simply, it seems mediocre." Chen Chen said.
"Mediocre? Wouldn't that mean he would be looked down upon by the court and not be reused?" Liu Qingshu asked doubtfully.
"No, it looks mediocre, not really mediocre." Chen Chen shook his head slightly.
"Be greedy when you should be greedy, and be evil when you should be evil. Don't be a completely good person, and don't be a completely bad person. Find a balance point, which is the moderation that a poor monk understands." He took another sip of wine in the early morning.
"Is that so..." Liu Qingshu nodded in understanding, thinking carefully about Chen Chen's words.
"If there is no change in the lives of the people under your rule, even if your official position is extremely miserable and you are in rags all day long, what's the use of it?" Ling Chen saw this and gave another example.
"But on the contrary, you are full of fat, but the people's lives are getting better and better, so who will say anything wrong about you?"
"Student...seems to understand a little bit." Liu Qingshu suddenly realized.
"Think about it slowly. Corrupt officials are not necessarily bad people, and honest officials are not necessarily good people. What kind of person you want to be depends on your own heart." Ling Chen reached out and pointed at Liu Qingshu's heart.
"Students, please remember the master's teachings." Liu Qingshu nodded quickly. Although the master in front of him looked much younger than him, what he said made him enlightened and particularly insightful.
"You don't have to be so polite... Huh? There is smoke from cooking fires ahead. It seems there is a village. It's almost noon. Let's go buy some food before we go on our way." Ling Chen suggested as he looked at the smoke from cooking fires not far away.
"That's very good." Liu Qingshu nodded in agreement. He felt a little hungry when Chen Chen said this.
but……
Liu Qingshu reached out and touched his arms quietly. He didn't have much money, and he didn't know if he could buy a few thick steamed buns, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get to the capital with this little money.
But how could he hide this little move from Chen Chen? Chen Chen glanced at Liu Qingshu, with a smile on his lips, but didn't say much.
Along the way, we finally saw the small village. There were a few children playing at the entrance of the village. When the children saw the two of them in the morning, they were stunned, turned around and ran towards the village.
There was no surprise in the early morning. The child had never seen outsiders, so he was naturally timid. He slowly walked towards the village with Liu Qingshu.
As soon as he entered the village, he saw an old man and a group of people coming towards him with farm tools. The old man was stunned when he saw Chen Wen's bald head, and quickly clasped his hands and bowed to Chen Wen.
"Amitabha, this poor monk is polite. Is the donor the village chief here?" Chen Chen returned the greeting and asked softly.
"The old man's surname is Zhang. He is indeed the village chief here, but it is not recognized by the imperial court. It is the big guys who promote me." The old man smiled honestly after hearing this, revealing a mouth with few teeth.
"It turns out to be Village Chief Zhang. I wonder if I can sell some food to the poor monk so that we can go on our way." Ling Chen clasped his hands together and asked with a slight smile.
After hearing this, Village Chief Zhang saw Liu Qingshu, who was shivering behind him in the early morning, and found out that he was a scholar. He immediately stood in awe and nodded kindly towards Liu Qingshu.
Upon seeing this, Liu Qingshu hurriedly saluted Village Chief Zhang. As a person who came from the village, he was naturally afraid of people like the village chief, not to mention that there were so many strong men with farm tools behind him.
"Of course there is. I wonder what you two need?" Village Chief Zhang nodded and said.
"Don't dare to ask for too much, just sell whatever you have to the poor monk and the two of you." Ling Chen waved his hands quickly, saying that he didn't have such high demands.
"That's... okay, I'll prepare it for you two." Village Chief Zhang was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile.
"That's very good. If there are wine gourds or other things used to hold water in the village, sell them to this one." Chen Ling pointed at Liu Qingshu and said.
"Water? So, there is indeed a cowhide pot in Lao Cao's house. It was captured on the battlefield when Lao Cao joined the army, but it is a bit worn out." Village Chief Zhang said.
Hearing Village Chief Zhang's words, the two of them in the early morning were immediately in awe. They couldn't help but disrespect the veterans who had been on the battlefield and came back alive.
"I'm sorry, poor monk. It turns out you are a hero." Chen Chen saluted to Village Chief Zhang.
"What kind of hero are you harming? They are just trash who is greedy for life and afraid of death." Village Chief Zhang waved his hands in a sad tone, then turned and walked towards the village.
The other people who were driving with the village chief also moved out of the way and hid their farm tools behind them. Their dark faces turned red and they did not dare to look at the two of them in the morning.
After all, when they heard the children say in a panic that there were people on horseback coming outside the village, they thought it was bandits coming, but who would have thought that such a big joke was going on?
They just want to leave here quickly, and then go home to beat their children. Today they have made their father and uncles embarrassed.
"Hey, Master, let me lead the horse." Liu Qingshu took the reins from Chen Chen's hands and led the horse to follow Chen Chen.
When he saw this in the early morning, he didn't argue and let Liu Qingshu lead the horse. Anyway, he was going to treat Liu Qingshu to a meal. If he helped lead the horse, treating him to a meal would be considered as reward.
However, Liu Qingshu didn't think about it that much. He just felt that Chen Chen had taught him a lot and he should lead the horse. Normally, he should perform the apprenticeship ceremony.
Now he only thinks about how much food he should buy for a while so that he can eat enough without wasting it. He also has to choose rough food so that he can save some money.
The two walked one after another, and soon arrived at the village chief's house. It was an earthen house with a small yard. It didn't look very sturdy, and it was even a little dilapidated.
However, neither of them disliked each other. Liu Qingshu tied the horse to the tree and followed Chen Qing into the small courtyard.
As soon as I entered the yard in the early hours of the morning, a little native dog that looked like it was not yet a full moon came out of nowhere. It howled and ran towards the early morning.
As a result, when he got there, he suddenly stopped and fell over. He glanced timidly at the early morning, then ran towards Hijikata with his tail between his legs, screaming as he ran.
It made Ling Chen laugh directly. This little silly dog is really cute.
However, in the early hours of the morning, I also knew that the puppy was scared away after feeling the power in his body. The senses of animals are much sharper than those of humans.
"Hey, Xiao Huang, please stop making trouble, get up quickly, this is a guest." The old village chief walked out of the house, ignoring the puppy's tug on his trouser leg, and gently kicked the puppy away.
But how did the old village chief know that the little guy was doing this because he was afraid that the old village chief was in danger? But unfortunately, the little guy couldn't speak, so his efforts were in vain.
"Master, I'm really sorry. We don't have much food left at home. I'm going to go and have a look at someone's house in the village." The old village chief cupped his hands in embarrassment.
"It's okay, please do as you please. Just some food will be fine. I'll give you the money, don't worry." Ling Chen turned sideways and got out of the way.
"Hey~ Master, what are you talking about? Even if you come to our village without money, I can't let you leave hungry. Isn't this a curse?" The old village chief was a little unhappy when he heard this.
"Hahaha, it's the poor monk's fault. I apologize to you." Chen Chen saluted the old village chief with his hands clasped together.
"It doesn't have to be like this. You two can just wait for a while. I'll come back as soon as I go." The old village chief waved his hand and said with a smile.
