Chapter 33

(Votes for recommendation, please! Votes for recommendation!)

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Worried about the opening of Laifu, Chen Ge's studies naturally suffered some impact. In Chen Xiliang's view, nothing was more important than studying. Now that Laifu had become an instant hit, the future operation was not a problem. He no longer turned a blind eye but decided to use a heavy workload to refocus his son.

Over the past three months, Chen Ge had copied the "Guangyun" twice, memorized it once, and his regular script was now quite presentable. He had also basically mastered phonetics... What most amazed Chen Xiliang was his abnormal memory. It usually took a year for ordinary scholars to roughly memorize the "Yunlüe," but Chen Ge could already write the "Guangyun" from memory.

Chen Xiliang himself had taken a year to memorize the "Yunlüe," and indeed, comparing people could be frustrating. Well, the stronger the ability, the heavier the workload. Let's see where your limits are.

Thus, they moved on to the second lesson—“Exegesis.” Using contemporary language to explain word meanings is called “exegesis,” and using modern language to explain ancient language is called “interpretation.” Therefore, exegesis is a specialized field for interpreting ancient words and sentences. Chen Xiliang ordered Third Son to copy a series of exegesis classics such as the "Erya," "Shi Gu Xun Zhuan," and "Mao Shi Zheng Yi," and required him to memorize them all.

The workload was indeed too heavy. Poor Third Son could only obediently seclude himself for the next few days, studying phrases like “Those who call me uncle, I call nephew,” “The hall beside the door is called a school,” “A very high place is called a capital; a place not made by humans is called a hill,” “A dog four feet tall is called an aow,” and so on. The consolation was that he was finally freed from the labor of preparing three meals a day.

Every morning, shortly after the monk announced the dawn, a waiter from the front street breakfast shop would come with a pole to deliver the meal. The breakfast menu was varied, almost never repeating for a long time. For example, the day before, pork buns were served, and the next day, white meat Hu Bing, pig pancreas Hu Bing, and vegetable Hu Bing were served. Today, chicken noodle soup, three fresh noodle soup, and bamboo shoot meat noodle soup were served. Tomorrow, there might be ring cakes and steamed cakes.

These various dishes, accompanied by two types of porridge, two types of tea, and various refreshing cold dishes, cost 25 coins per meal, 800 coins per month... The breakfast supply was flexible, of course, not all this expensive, but Chen Xiliang, to ensure the children ate well, did not mind the cost.

After breakfast, Chen Xiliang and Second Son would go out, and Chen Ge would study hard while supervising his two younger brothers. As noon approached, a waiter from Laifu would bring a food box. Although only three children were eating, Chuanfu prepared four dishes and one soup for each meal, with a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, never taking shortcuts.

After lunch, the dishes were put back into the food box. In the evening, the waiter would bring another food box and take away the one from noon... Since more people ate in the evening, Chuanfu would add two more dishes. Chen Xiliang felt very grateful and often went to help in the evening.

In any case, the eating problem for the five father and sons was finally solved... This was a cause for celebration in a household without a woman. However, every advantage has its disadvantage, and the three brothers, who were still thin in the spring, now showed signs of becoming chubby.

Sixth Son, who was chubby, was quite cute, but Chen Ge could not tolerate becoming fat... In Sichuan, where people were generally slim, being fat was looked down upon. Therefore, he discussed with his father the idea of exercising in addition to studying.

Chen Xiliang himself had learned martial arts and did not want his sons to become weak scholars. He found Chen Ge's suggestion very reasonable.

Thus, every morning before dawn, he would take Fifth Son to run around the county, and then they would follow the new recruit training program, without the need for marching or lining up. After sweating profusely, they would take a shower and have breakfast. In the afternoon, he would also take Sixth Son to do a set of military exercises, determined to burn off the excess fat.

Fifth Son once asked philosophically, “Why not just eat less if it’s so tiring?”

“Life lies in movement,” Chen Ge answered philosophically.

Fifth Son didn’t understand, so Chen Ge simplified his answer: “Exerting effort builds strength.”

Fifth Son still didn’t understand, so Chen Ge said sternly, “You can’t stop eating just because you need to excrete, right?”

“Oh, I see...” Fifth Son finally understood.

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One morning, Chen Ge was competing with Fifth Son in push-ups, with Sixth Son cheering them on, when they suddenly heard a knock at the door.

“Is it so early for the meal delivery?” Chen Ge sprang up from the ground, put on his shirt haphazardly, and opened the door to find it was Carpenter Pan. He saw him with two apprentices, pushing two large carts full of furniture.

“Uncle Pan, did you come to the wrong house?” Chen Ge joked, “We didn’t buy any furniture.”

“No, it’s for your house,” Carpenter Pan said, carrying a new official hat chair, sweating profusely, “Find a place to put it!”

“Oh...” Chen Ge was a bit stunned but still moved aside to let them in.

Carpenter Pan then ordered his apprentices to push the carts in and unload the tables, chairs, benches, desks, and tea tables, all made of new red cedar... Although not as precious as huangli wood, it was still high-quality material for this era, and the craftsmanship was exquisite, the lacquer meticulous, clearly a sincere effort.

After unloading, Carpenter Pan had his apprentices move the furniture into the house, while he himself took his carpenter’s bag from the cart to remove the rotten doors and windows.

Chen Ge finally reacted, pulling him aside, “What are you doing?”

“Last time I came, I saw that Third Son’s furniture and doors were in bad shape,” Carpenter Pan said, unhesitatingly removing a window and breaking it in half with his hand, showing it to Chen Ge, “Look, it’s rotten.” He threw it on the ground and went to remove another one, “Isn’t this embarrassing? I’ve been thinking about replacing everything for Third Son, but the client was pressing, so I could only work on it bit by bit, finishing it two days ago.” He pointed to the furniture outside, “I dried it a bit and brought it over.”

Chen Ge was moved, “Thank you... How much do I owe you?”

“Charge you?” Carpenter Pan shook his head, “My apprentices would laugh at me.” He couldn’t hide his pride, “Do you know how many strings of cash I’ve sold this month?”

“Five hundred strings?” Chen Ge smiled.

“Exactly five hundred strings!” Carpenter Pan extended his rough hand and grinned.

“So much?” Chen Ge was surprised, “Aren’t you afraid of overworking yourself?”

“No, I just bought a new courtyard and hired ten workers,” Carpenter Pan said casually, “My two apprentices are now masters.”

“Congratulations.” Chen Ge clasped his hands, “I never thought the market in our county was so big.”

“Just in our county, it wouldn’t be enough. It’s the merchants from neighboring counties who are ordering,” Carpenter Pan scratched his head, “The prefecture and county offices are also ordering, but they only pay half price, and I don’t know if I should agree.”

“Of course, you should agree,” Chen Ge said decisively, “How many sets in total?”

“Combined, about a hundred sets,” Carpenter Pan said, pained.

“If you listen to me, just give them away for free,” Chen Ge said.

“Give them away for free? Why?”

“Why?” Chen Ge said, “The ‘Yi Guan Zheng Qi’ is so popular that it will soon be copied. Although you’ve registered with the government, the locals will likely turn a blind eye, causing you significant losses. Giving the government a favor, while it won’t stop copying, it can prevent counterfeiting. Besides, you’ll be a respected merchant, and you’ll need to deal with the government. This is a good opportunity to build relationships.”

“I see.” Carpenter Pan nodded heavily, grinning, “Third Son has insight. Your words alone are worth the cost of these furnishings.”

Carpenter Pan and his apprentices worked for half a day, replacing all the doors and windows of the three rooms and the courtyard gate, and placing new official hat chairs, eight-person tables, spacious and grand desks, bookshelves... and even a huge eight-step bed. Just this bed alone took over half a month to make, showing that Carpenter Pan was sincere.

Naturally, they had to be fed at noon. The food from the restaurant wasn’t enough, so Chen Ge went to the market to buy fresh ingredients, cooked four dishes himself, and brought out two jars of wine from the east room, setting up a full table under the shade of a tree.

Seeing the appetizing dishes on the table, Carpenter Pan widened his eyes, “Mr. Cai’s skills are really taught by you!” He was now a hotshot in the county and had naturally tasted Chuanfu’s cooking at Laifu.

“Ha ha, you could say that...” Chuanfu had been in and out of his house for two months, and the neighbors knew, so there was no way to hide it.

“Amazing! No words, Third Son is a genius!” Carpenter Pan gave a thumbs up, and his two apprentices nodded vigorously, admiring him immensely.

“Don’t make me blush.” Chen Ge held the wine jar, pouring wine for Carpenter Pan and his apprentices, “This is homemade, try the taste.”

The orange-red wine slowly poured into the bowls, and the air filled with the scent of oranges. Even before drinking, the three of them were already delighted, sniffing the air.

Chen Ge regretted, “It would be better to use glass cups to show the wine’s quality...”

But he was clearly talking to the wrong audience. Carpenter Pan and his apprentices had already lifted their bowls and gulped down the wine, then wiped their mouths and laughed, “Good wine! Good wine!”

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The scorching summer made one sweat with just a little movement, let alone sitting in front of a computer, which would turn one’s bottom into a monkey’s. Please use your recommendation votes to cool me down and knock off the two people in front of me...

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