Divorce with three kids? I'll build a house and eat meat, driving my in-laws crazy.

Chapter 64 Human Nature is Inherently Good vs. Human Nature is Inherently Evil

Chu Xiu was a little flustered, and Xiao Wu hurriedly said, "My master is rich and has met the magistrate several times. Our young master heard it from him."

Chu Xiu nodded repeatedly, "Auntie, you have to try things out before you even start a business. You can't just give up before you've even begun."

Li Ruru thought about it and agreed, "Then I'll go to the county town tomorrow and ask around at a few restaurants."

As the group was talking, Pan Dayan walked in with her two sons, followed by two young boys.

Each of them carried two large buckets filled with ground konjac.

Li Ruru quickly brought several bowls of cold water for everyone to drink. Pan Dayan gulped down a bowl of water and wiped her mouth.

He said breathlessly, "Little sister, we harvested a lot of konjac today, so I've ground it all up for you."

Then she pointed to the two boys following behind her, "These are my nephews from my mother's side."

Li Chaochao came over carrying a large plate. "Grandma Pan, Uncle Tie Niu, Uncle Tie Zhu, please sit down and have something to eat."

On the plate were bread that Li Ruru had made, as well as roasted potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes.

Li Peipei went to the yard, picked a few bunches of grapes, washed them, and brought them over. "Grandma Pan, come and have some grapes."

Pan Dayan wiped her sweat and sat down without any ceremony.

She picked up a loaf of bread and exclaimed, "What is this? It's golden!"

Wang Tieniu took a bite and exclaimed, "Wow, it's so soft and sweet!"

Li Ruru added a little sugar to the bread, giving it a subtle sweetness.

Li Yinyin said proudly, "This bread was made by my mother. See how amazing my mother is?"

Pan Dayan took a bite and also praised it highly.

After eating bread and some grapes, Pan Dayan finally got down to business.

"Young lady, do you think we've ground up a bit too much konjac?"

She worried that Li Ruru wouldn't finish making them and it would go to waste, but she was also afraid that she wouldn't be able to sell them.

Li Ruru waved her hand, "It's alright, I'll ask a few restaurants in the county tomorrow. If they accept it, we can supply them long-term."

Upon hearing this, Pan Dayan slapped her thigh and stood up excitedly, "Sister, you're so smart! I was so worried!"

To make these konjac tofu, she even asked her two nephews to help. Li Ruru felt embarrassed to take wages if she didn't make money.

"Young lady, if you partner with the restaurant, won't you have to make even more konjac tofu?"

“Of course.” Li Ruru peeled a small potato and took a bite. “Auntie, when there’s a lot of konjac, you’ll have to work hard.”

"Hey, what's so hard about it? Making money isn't hard at all."

Pan Dayan walked out of Li Ruru's house with a rosy complexion. As soon as she stepped out, she said to her two sons, "We're going to the county town tomorrow too."

Wang Tieniu asked in confusion, "What are we going to the county town for?"

Pan Dayan tapped him on the head, "Are you stupid? We'll only be grinding more and more konjac in the future. If we don't buy a donkey, are you going to work your old mother to death?"

"Oh, that's great." Wang Tiezhu rubbed his sore arm.

Pan Dayan hummed a song all the way, in a very good mood. She not only wanted to buy a donkey, but also two stone mills.

She wants to expand and grow the konjac grinding business, and get rich by following Li Ruru.

As soon as Pan Dayan left, Li Ruru's family started busy making konjac tofu.

After more than an hour of busy work, Li Ruru finally finished making the konjac tofu.

Peipei picked some small cucumbers from the yard and handed them to her, "Mom, try some, they're not fully grown yet but you can still eat them."

The cucumbers still had tiny yellow flowers and fine prickles; one bite and they were crisp and delicious. Indeed, natural, pesticide-free foods taste best. Li Ruru nodded in satisfaction, "Delicious."

Master Chu's mini-class is open again. Holding a book, he said earnestly, "Today we'll learn the *Three Character Classic*."

With one hand behind his back, he walked and recited, "At the beginning of life, people are inherently good."

Several children followed along with him, swaying their heads and mimicking his movements.

After reading the words aloud, they began to practice writing them. The three girls from the Li family quickly wrote them down, while Xiao Wu and Xiao Yishan struggled a bit, but their writing was still legible.

Chu Xiu was very satisfied. He stroked his non-existent beard and said with a smile, "This child is teachable. As expected of Master Chu, I can teach any student."

Yinyin suddenly raised her hand, her little face flushed, and asked, "Teacher, what does this mean?"

Chu Xiu answered seriously: "This sentence means that people are born kind."

Peipei blinked and asked, "Were my grandma's family always kind before?"

Chaochao came up with a reasonable explanation: "Did the things they experienced later turn them bad?"

Chu Xiu nodded, but then heard Li Ruru say, "No."

Chu Xiu: "..." Hmm? Isn't that right? That's exactly what the Master said when I was learning it.

Am I remembering it wrong?

Chu Xiu would rather doubt his teacher and believe he had misremembered than doubt Li Ruru.

Li Ruru said earnestly, "Actually, not everything in the book is necessarily true. Some people say that human nature is inherently good, while others say that human nature is inherently evil."

The former is from Mencius, who emphasized that humans possess "four beginnings": compassion, shame, humility, and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. These are all manifestations of the inherent goodness of human nature.

The latter is a saying by Xunzi, who believed that people are born with various desires, and if they are not restrained and guided, they will commit various evil deeds in order to satisfy their desires.

Li Ruru never assumes the worst about others, but the Chen family is an exception in her eyes.

"Reading should not be done by rote; we must learn to think for ourselves."

Chu Xiu squinted and thought for a moment before giving a thumbs up. "Auntie is a very knowledgeable person."

He was starting to wonder if his father had been scammed.

Why did the tutor we hired for him only make him memorize texts and not explain these principles? When he did explain the principles, he would just say, "That's what the book says. How could the book be wrong?"

If his father had asked Aunt Li to be his tutor, he might have become the top scholar in the imperial examination by now.

While busy with official duties, Magistrate Chu sneezed several times in a row. His advisor asked with concern, "Sir, should we call a doctor?"

Magistrate Chu rubbed his nose. "No need, I'm fine."

What illness could someone as easygoing and healthy as him possibly have?

Chu Xiu held a ruler in his hand and circled the table, wanting to see who was slacking off.

But after looking around and around, no one was slacking off.

He glared angrily at the ruler in his hand. Was this thing going to be useless after all that?!
"Ms. Li, are you home?" An old woman's voice suddenly came from the doorway.

Li Ruru frowned; it was Granny Hua's voice.

Zhang Laizi came again. He waved a piece of paper in his hand and said, "Madam Li, I brought 1000 taels of silver as a betrothal gift for you. We will present the betrothal papers today and get married tomorrow."

Li Ruru rubbed her temples. Could Zhang Laizi really have 1000 taels of silver?
He had 1000 taels of silver, yet he didn't go out indulging in debauchery; all he wanted was to marry her.

how can that be!

(End of this chapter)