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Chapter 214 Spring of Chun Ge'er
Zhu Jie seemed very interested in Su Man, not only asking him how old he was and what kind of medicine he practiced, but also asking him if he was engaged.
Master Zhu's mention of this only fueled Su Youjin's anger. "Of course, we've had matchmakers come to our door. We're not the richest family, but we're certainly not the poorest. And this brat is quite good-looking..."

"You're too modest," Zhu Jie said with a smile. "Your son's appearance surpasses even my son Zihe's, doesn't it?"

This question was naturally directed at Su Lu, who replied earnestly, "They were about the same before, but ever since Zihe started studying the Book of Rites, he has been getting worse day by day, and his face is almost turning into a bitter gourd."

"Really? I was wondering why he didn't look as good as he did when he was a kid." Zhu Jie chuckled and steered the conversation back to the main topic: "Go on, my brother."

“There are actually a few good families, but this kid just won’t agree.” Su Youjin sighed, “I’m so worried about him, I get angry just looking at him. If he doesn’t get married soon, Xia Ge’er won’t be able to find a wife.”

"That's true." Su Youcai laughed. "If Chun-ge'er gets married soon, I'll hurry up and find a match for Xia-ge'er, so he won't be daydreaming all the time."

"I don't want it either..." Su Tai stood behind Su Youcai, panting heavily.

"Look at these kids, none of them will listen to you when they grow up," Su Youjin said dejectedly.

"Why did you refuse the marriage proposal, my dear nephew?" Zhu Jie asked Su Man directly.

Su Man thought to himself, "Why is this person never going to stop?" Knowing his temper, he really wanted to just say "no comment," but because they were his brother's guests, he patiently said:
"Uncle, I'll think about it after I pass the imperial examination."

"Nonsense! If you were like your second uncle, would you never get married in your life?" Although the eldest aunt had been told to keep quiet, she couldn't hold back any longer.

"..." Su Youcai suddenly felt that this home was not so warm anymore.

"Go boil some water quickly." The eldest uncle hurriedly shooed his aunt to the back to prevent her from saying anything shocking again.

“I understand Chun-ge’er quite well,” Zhu Jie said with a smile. “Many of our family’s academically inclined descendants are determined not to pursue further studies or get married.”

Su Man suddenly felt that this person wasn't so annoying anymore...

"Besides, my dear nephew, you ranked third in the county examination, so your writing must be quite good. Could you show it to your uncle? I'd like to see if you can get into the academy next year," Zhu Jie said with a smile.

Even if he were to help Su Man, he would first have to be capable of it.

"Hurry up and get it!" Uncle urged Su Man, "You must cherish this opportunity to have a scholar guide your writing."

Su Man felt rather helpless. He had brought his students to the county school report tomorrow, so why would he bring his own article with him?
Having no other choice, he went and wrote down a few of his best pieces from memory and sent them to Zhu Jie.

~~
Over there, Master Zhu had already washed up and was getting ready for bed. He had received Su Man's article and intended to read it for hypnosis.

Unexpectedly, the more I read, the more awake I became. First, I sat up to read, then I stood barefoot on the carpet to read, and finally I even read it aloud.

"...The Way transcends time and space, I will traverse the eight directions and winds; if one loses sight of one's own mind, one should not indulge in even a moment of pleasure!"

"...The glory of the morning glory, I nurtured its roots but the wind broke it; the inscription on metal and stone, the wind eroded its surface but the roots were firm!"

"...If it falls without light, it will fall like a long night; if it falls like a long night, then life will be like a flickering candle!"

"Excellent! Excellent!" He exclaimed repeatedly as he read, his heart pounding with excitement, and he was wide awake...

After pacing excitedly around the carpet dozens of times, Zhu Jie finally calmed down and began to think things through.

To be fair, Su Jia Dalang's writing was inferior to Su Jia Sanlang's, and even Zihe's writing was better.

But Su Man's writing has one thing that neither of them can match: an exceptionally strong power of persuasion! Reading it is like watching the Qiantang River tide, feeling the giant waves surging in and crashing against you, one wave higher than the next!
It's completely unbelievable that the seemingly cold and aloof eldest son of the Su family possesses such passionate and fiery writing skills...

How could such an essay fail even the provincial examination? How could such a gem be allowed to be buried in the countryside?
"Yi'an, go see if Chun-ge'er is asleep!" He couldn't wait until dawn, so he instructed the servant outside to invite Su Man over to talk.

~~
Chun-ge'er is already in bed. The three brothers haven't seen each other for a long time, so of course they'll sleep together tonight, and they're having a great time chatting.

"Are you two getting used to Luzhou?" Chun Ge'er looked at the roof and sighed softly. "When I was in Luzhou, I felt it was very cold there. Not only was my body cold, but my heart was cold too. I wonder if you feel the same way?"

"I feel quite warm," Xia Ge'er said honestly. "From the first day I arrived, I've had a good place to stay and eat well. I don't have to think about anything. I can just focus on studying and practicing martial arts."

"Of course!" Qiu Ge'er laughed. "Going to school and getting to eat lion's head meatballs, isn't that great?"

"The food at martial arts schools is this good?" Chun Ge'er exclaimed. "It seems your circumstances are better than mine. That's great, then I don't need to worry anymore."

“If you ask me, since you have Wantang and Haige’er here, you shouldn’t teach anymore. Just quit your job and go to Luzhou to prepare for the exams…” Su Lu sincerely suggested, “I can still talk to Headmaster Zhou of Heshan Academy. It shouldn’t be a problem to help you get a spot in a class.”

"..." Chun Ge'er was quite tempted upon hearing this, but still slowly shook his head and said, "No, I have already promised the students that I will teach them for the whole year, and I cannot break my promise to them." "There is nothing that a sweet drink cannot solve. If it can't, then treat them to two drinks," Su Lu said with a smile.

“No.” Chun Ge’er shook his head again and said, “Children are easy to fool, but that doesn’t change the fact that I broke my promise.”

Su Lu was about to persuade him again when his elder brother said calmly, "Besides, I don't need to take the county exam anymore. From December to March, I have a hundred days to study, which is enough."

“That’s true.” Su Lu readily agreed, “What Brother lacks is not skill, but money.”

"Sigh..." Su Man sighed. This was the only thing he couldn't do, so he could only shamelessly rely on his family.

As the three brothers were talking, there was a knock on the door. Su Youxi said, "Chun-ge'er, Master Zhu Er wants you to come over."

"Oh," Su Man replied, quickly getting up and dressing, and couldn't help but mutter a complaint under her breath, "This person is really something, why can't he wait until tomorrow to talk about something?"

"Brother, if you're nicer, this might be your lucky break." Su Lu sat up and helped him straighten his clothes, saying, "If Master Zhu puts in a good word for you, we can save a hundred taels."

"Really?" Su Man's eyes finally lit up.

"Of course," Su Lu said with a smile. "The headmaster has passed the imperial examination, and the Zhu family is now extremely influential. Even Prefect Jia is very flattering of my senior uncle."

"Alright then." Su Man put away her impatience and left calmly.

~~
Su Man followed Zhu Jie's attendant into the master bedroom, where she saw Second Master Zhu sitting at the table, intently revising his own writings.

He stood quietly and waited until Zhu Jie looked up and smiled, "Chun-ge'er, you've come. Did I disturb your sleep by calling you over so late?"

"Uncle summoned me late at night; surely he has something to say." Su Man, thinking he could save a hundred taels, was extremely polite. "I'm overjoyed."

"Alright, sit down and we'll talk slowly." Zhu Jie beckoned to him, "After reading your article, I couldn't sleep at all, and now I know why you didn't pass the prefectural examination."

"Oh?" Su Man became truly interested and sat up straight, saying, "Please enlighten me, Uncle."

"Success and failure can both be attributed to emotion," Zhu Jie said in a deep voice. "You are the most emotionally charged writer I have ever met. You must be very sensitive and easily resonate with the people and things around you, right?"

“Yes.” Su Man nodded and said, “Since I was little, I would feel sad when I saw others suffer, and I always felt that those pains were also inflicted on me; when I saw others happy, I would feel happy for them.”

"You have this capacity for empathy; if you had been born in the Tang Dynasty, you might have become a famous poet," Zhu Jie praised, then emphasized:

"But this dynasty does not test poetry, it tests the eight-legged essay. The core of the eight-legged essay is to 'speak on behalf of the sages.' So when we teach our children to write, the first thing is to 'conceal oneself.' When 'taking the first breath,' one must completely adopt the perspective of the sages and not expose personal emotions. Otherwise, it will be 'off-topic,' and no matter how well an off-topic essay is written, it will not get a high score."

“Actually, your essay isn’t too far off-topic, but as you know, while the provincial examinations emphasize fairness, some people still receive preferential treatment. If you’re not one of them, you have to make your essay impeccable so that the examiner won’t reject you.” He added softly:

"If there's even the slightest flaw, it gives the examiner a reason to reject you and make room for someone else. Do you understand now?"

"I understand." Su Man nodded slowly, deeply grateful to Second Master Zhu for resolving his long-standing doubts. He then stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said:
"Please teach me, Uncle, how to improve."

"Of course I will teach you; it's nothing more than 'giving reason to emotion, and using emotion to support reason,'" Zhu Jie said.

“A rich emotional expression is not a weakness; it makes the writing particularly moving and memorable. If there are no other shortcomings, one will naturally be highly regarded.”

"The key is to let emotion serve as a tool for elucidating principles, rather than as the core of the essay. There are specific ways to improve it, but we couldn't finish discussing them all even if we didn't sleep tonight. Besides, you've been writing the eight-legged essay for so many years, your writing style is already fixed, and it won't be corrected overnight." As he spoke, he smiled and looked at Su Man.
"Why don't you go to Luzhou with Hongzhi? Your uncle will teach you step by step."

"..." Su Man was even more tempted now; such an opportunity was indeed too rare. If she had been able to encounter it before, she would definitely be wearing a brocade robe by now.

After a moment's thought, he shook his head and said, "Hongzhi also wanted to ask my nephew to go to Luzhou, but I refused..."

He briefly explained the situation to Zhu Jie, and then said softly, "I promised the children I would finish teaching them this year, and I will definitely finish teaching them first."

“Okay…” Zhu Jie realized that the two brothers were really different. Su Lu was very good at dealing with people and was very flexible, while Su Man was very principled and had a very firm stance.

He didn't want to force Su Man, since the boy would have to go to Luzhou to take the provincial examination sooner or later anyway, so he spent the night explaining to Su Man how to improve his writing step by step.

By the time he finished speaking, the sound of roosters crowing could be heard outside...

P.S. The next chapter hasn't been checked yet...

(End of this chapter)