Shao Xi sighed secretly: "Good guy, the Four Treasures of the Study can tell such profound truths. Mr. Bai is actually not picking out gifts, but taking the opportunity to teach his disciples how to learn."
Next, what Shao Xi saw was something he recognized immediately. It was a rectangular strip of red stone. Shao Xi recognized it as chicken blood stone.
Duke Bai Ding took the piece of bloodstone in the brocade box and looked at it carefully.
"This stone should be a soft chicken blood stone produced in Linzhou. It is fine, red, moist, greasy, warm, and cohesive. It is a square seal material. The seal surface and top are both square. It is called the 'Liu Fang Ping Seal'. ', which means the auspicious meaning of 'heaven and earth are all in four directions'."
The disciple raised his hand and said, "Old Master made this stone a seal, so that future generations will know when they read Old Master's articles that this is Old Master's work handed down from generation to generation, and remember Old Master's name."
Bai Dinggong shook his head, put the chicken blood stone back into the box and pushed it back, saying: "If you want to be remembered by future generations, your name should be printed in people's hearts, not on paper. I don't need this. Take it back!"
It must be said that Bai Dinggong is an extremely patient old man. Many students presented gifts one by one, and he could explain some truths to each gift and give some advice to the students under his disciples, but in the end none of them were accepted, which shows that he had good intentions.
In previous years, it was rare for Mr. Bai Ding to receive one or two gifts from his disciples. It seemed that he would not receive any of them this year, because Shao Xi, who was last in line, was already standing in front of the table.
All the disciples present felt that this year the old master would not accept any gifts, and all the gifts in front of him would be confiscated. They thought that the gift given by the newly admitted disciple who was at the end would not be anything special.
What Shao Xi handed over was a small wooden box that looked ordinary and inconspicuous. It didn't seem to weigh much, so he guessed it wasn't anything valuable.
After Bai Dinggong opened the box, he couldn't help but be startled. All the students behind Shao Xi stretched their necks and looked inside the box. They all looked surprised, thinking, is this kid deliberately playing tricks on the old master?
I saw two fruit cores placed in the box.
right! You read that right, there are two cores.
The two pits looked quite fresh, as if they had just been chewed the night before. There was still some remaining pulp on the pits, but it was obvious that they had been chewed carefully, and they had eaten as much pulp as possible. Clean. However, no matter how clean he gnaws it, it’s still a core. Why don’t you give this to the old master?
Everyone present, including Bai Dinggong, was dumbfounded. Some people are curious, some are surprised, some are snickering, and some are angry. And this angry person was not Bai Dinggong, but Du Wenqi, the supervisor standing nearby.
"What a bold and crazy student! How dare you take out this thing to tease me on this occasion of thanking my teacher. Do you still have the sense of superiority and inferiority in your eyes? This is simply unreasonable and arrogant! I will kick you out of the academy now, forever. You are not allowed to take another step into the academy."
Shao Xi blinked his eyes, looked at him with an innocent look on his face, and asked: "What are you going to do to drive me out of the academy and never set foot in the academy again? Do you know what I'm giving you?"
"What is it? Anyone who is not blind knows what you are sending. These are obviously two fruit cores. You still ask us what we are sending?"
"It's a core. I didn't say it wasn't a core, but you have to see what kind of core it is, right?"
"A fruit core is a fruit core. Is it still a gold core or a silver core? Or is it an emerald agate core?"
Shao Xi looked at Du Wenqi with a mocking look on his face, "You are talking about gold, silver, jade, jade and agate. I think this is the biggest insult to my teacher. How can my teacher be compared with these vulgar things?"
Du Wenqi sneered, "Aren't you vulgar? Is chewing the remaining two cores something elegant?"
"Yes, this gift does have extraordinary meaning. It is exactly what I have in mind. It is with good intentions that I can give such a gift. This is the most precious gift that I want."
The person who spoke was none other than Duke Bai Ding.
At this time, Bai Dinggong had already held the wooden box in his hands. The two fruit cores in the box seemed to him like priceless treasures, which made everyone around him look confused. How come two fruit pits became the most precious gift? Does the old master have any strange habits?
Seeing that everyone was confused, Bai Dinggong walked to the crowd with the wooden box held in one hand, stretched his hand forward, and asked with a smile: "Can you see the difference between these two fruit cores?"
Everyone craned their necks to look at the two fruit pits in the box carefully, but they didn't see anything special. They thought to themselves, weren't these just two ordinary fruit pits?
However, Bai Jinqing saw the clues and immediately clapped his hands and praised: "Uncle Shao really has good intentions. I didn't expect that such an ordinary thing would be given such a profound meaning by my uncle!"
When Bai Jinqing said this to many students present, Monk Zhang Er was even more confused, thinking that both his grandfather and grandson like this thing?
Bai Jinqing raised his head and glanced at Bai Dinggong, who nodded to him.
Bai Jinqing smiled and explained to the students and disciples present: "You brothers only saw that there are two fruit stones in this box, but you did not notice that the two fruit stones are a peach stone and a plum stone. The meaning of peach and plum is that Uncle Shao wants to use these two fruit cores to wish the old master that he will be filled with peach and plum students all over the world in the future, and students will spread all over the country. Isn’t this the best gift in the world for all the gentlemen of Bailu Academy?"
After being reminded by Bai Jinqing, everyone present realized that the two fruit stones in the box were one peach and one plum.
In this way, for Bai Dinggong, who has dedicated his life to preaching and teaching and educating the common people as his ideal, what could make him happier than having students all over the world? Isn't this the best gift in the world?
After understanding the profound meaning, many students present admired Shao Xi. As people who are studying, what they admire about Shao Xi is not that he knows how to figure out his teacher's preferences, but that he truly understands his teacher's ideals and ambitions.
At this moment, all the disciples of Bailu Academy were truly convinced of the young man in front of them. Only at this moment did they really take Shao Xi, the young uncle, into their hearts and did not dare to despise him in the slightest.
Bai Dinggong was the happiest at this time. After so many years of founding Bailu Academy, it was the first time that he met someone who truly understood what he was thinking and what was in his heart. It was also the first time that he received a seemingly ordinary but truly profound message. Gift.
"Wen Qi, when you come back, you will lead people to plant these two trees on the left and right sides of the stone platform in the main courtyard of the academy. Remember to ask Zou Zhangsi to host the ceremony. You must be solemn."
Seeing that Bai Dinggong had said this, Du Wenqi did not dare to complain anymore and hurriedly bowed in response, but in his heart he secretly criticized Shao Xi for taking advantage.
He was right, Shao Xi was just taking advantage. Shao Xi himself said the night before that gifts are not expensive, but clever.
The way to give a gift is to know what the recipient is thinking. The gift should be sent to the other person's heart, and it does not necessarily have to be expensive. Many people think that the reason why expensive gifts will impress the other person is that most of the recipients are greedy for expensive possessions, so as time goes by, people will have the illusion that the more expensive the gift, the better.
Bai Dinggong is very happy today. The disciple he just accepted the night before is the son of Feng Changlin, who was his teacher and friend for many years. Now he sees that this son is not only quick-witted, humble and steady, but also has a clear mind. He already gained the respect of all the disciples upon admission to the hospital, which proved that he was not wrong about the person.
"Shao Xi, I am very satisfied with the gift you gave me today. I promise you something. No matter what it is, just mention it. I will try my best to fulfill your wish."
This reward seems simple, but everyone in the academy knows that Bai Dinggong never agrees to other people's requests easily. Even if the court officials come to visit Bailu Academy, they may not get satisfactory results if they ask for something.
But now Bai Dinggong has personally said that he will agree to Shao Xi's request, and no matter what happens, I am afraid that the only one who can do this is the current saint. How can people not envy this?
Shao Xi looked around, stepped forward, bowed and saluted, and said: "The student does have something to ask the teacher to agree to, but the matter is a bit private. Can the student please ask the teacher to come into the room and speak."
As soon as everyone present heard what Shao Xi said, they began to whisper secretly, thinking that what they were asking for was not a trivial matter, otherwise they would not have avoided them, so they all began to guess what they were asking for.
Bai Dinggong smiled slightly. He knew Shao Xi's true identity. It was reasonable for him to avoid everyone to talk to him about some things, so he was not surprised. He just thought that he wanted to talk about what he talked about the night before, so he requested to talk privately. You should agree.
He stood up and said to Shao Xi, "Come with me!" Then he turned and walked into the study, and Shao Xi followed closely. As soon as the door was closed, only a group of disciples with puzzled faces were left standing outside.
Just when everyone was discussing and speculating, Bai Dinggong's angry shouts came from the study.
"How could you make such a request? I can agree to everything else, but please don't mention this matter again. There is no need to discuss it."
Everyone outside the door, including Bai Jinqing, Hu Yushan and other students, including Du Wenqi, were dumbfounded. In all these years, no one in Bailu Academy has ever seen Mr. Bai Ding rebuke anyone so loudly, and has never seen Mr. Bai Ding lose such a big temper.
What did Shao Xi say in it? Are you making any unreasonable demands? To be able to make the old master so angry, he is truly groundbreaking, the first person in history to shine brightly!
When Du Wenqi saw this posture, he couldn't let these students stand outside the door anymore.
This old master is the face of the academy. If he is so angry now, what if these disciples hear something they shouldn't hear and spread it out?
"Okay, okay! Gifts have been given to everyone, and the old master's teachings have been listened to. Don't stay here any longer. Let's go and disperse!"
All the disciples were also aware of the situation and dispersed after hearing what Du Wenqi said. Only Bai Jinqing and the others felt uneasy, so they sat down in a pavilion not far away to wait for news about Shao Xi.
When Du Wenqi saw that most of the people were gone, he looked at Bai Jinqing and others in the pavilion, shook his head and left the place with good intentions.
"It's really a disaster to make the old master lose such a temper when he comes here."
