Duan Siyu turned three years old at the end of last year. She can recite a few verses of poetry along with her brothers and sisters at home. She is very smart, but she is too sweet and quiet and doesn't talk much on weekdays.
Mr. Shang loved his little daughter very much and always took her with him. The little girl still didn't speak much, but she was very courageous. She dared to catch snakes, insects, rats, and ants in the yard and play with them.
After going back and forth, everyone in the Duan family was frightened. Duan Siyu himself stood aside obediently and admitted his mistake.
It's a mistake, I'll do it again next time.
Reluctantly, Mr. Shang took his little daughter with him whenever he had free time, and took a stricter look.
Duan Siyu was lifted up by her mother, her hands were covered with mud, and there were many mud spots on her body. She had seen Duan Siyu catching snakes with her bare hands, and Shang's tolerance for her daughter was already very high.
Duan Siyu blinked, her pair of round black grape beads particularly vivid, and she said unceremoniously towards Duan Mingchen, "Fourth uncle, hug me!"
Duan Mingchen was a little helpless, he raised his hands over the little girl and held her in his arms, "Fourth uncle will take you to wash your hands."
Duan Siyu was also very sensible and raised her hand slightly to avoid rubbing against her fourth uncle.
While washing Duan Siyu's hands, the other children of the Duan family heard the news that Duan Mingchen was admitted to the scholar's examination in the study room. With Duan Mingqing's permission, they all left the study room and talked sweetly around Duan Mingchen.
"Fourth uncle, you are so awesome! You have been admitted as a scholar!"
"Fourth Uncle, is it difficult for Fourth Uncle to take the scholar exam? Fourth Uncle, can you teach me?"
"I will also take the scholar exam in the future!"
Several boys chatted non-stop around Duan Mingchen, and you could hear the envious voices of the children standing outside the courtyard.
Duan Mingjing returned home under such circumstances. Before he could open the courtyard door, he heard the commotion inside.
Uncle Sun stood next to Duan Mingjing before finishing his work. When he heard the excitement in the yard, he said happily: "Today is the day when the results are released. It must be because the fourth young master passed the exam that the scholar's family is so lively. If the master is still here, I will be so happy.
ah!"
Uncle Sun couldn't hold back the smile on his face. When he saw Duan Mingjing standing at the entrance of the yard and not walking in, he couldn't help but asked with concern, "What's wrong, Second Master? Are you tired?"
Duan Mingchen was admitted as a scholar, and he was the only one left among his brothers.
On this happy day, Duan Mingjing could not say that he was sad. He could only put on a smile that was uglier than crying, and said with a lump in his throat: "It's okay, I just know that my fourth brother is happy to be admitted as a scholar. I must be very happy if you know me."
happy."
When it came to the second half of the sentence, Duan Mingjing's tone was extremely distorted.
Uncle Sun was not a thoughtful person, and because of his old age and dim eyesight, he did not notice Duan Mingjing's changes. Hearing Duan Mingjing's same emotion as him, his face was filled with joy, "I'll prepare some incense and candles to burn for the master."
It is extremely heartbreaking to leave Duan Mingjing alone.
The main room was very lively, filled with the voices of children. Duan Mingjing didn't want to go there, and he didn't want to see his two boys admiringly looking at his fourth brother, while his biological father couldn't do anything.
Duan Mingjing slowly went to the house to change his clothes, but the depression in his heart was still difficult to relieve. The only person he thought could talk was Shang. Seeing that Shang was not in the house, he got up and went to the backyard to look for her.
When we walked to the back of the courtyard, we saw several women coming in and out of the kitchen, cooking.
Mrs. Shang was washing vegetables by the well. When she saw her husband coming over, she wiped her wet hands on her apron and stood up with a smile: "Second Master is back!"
Duan Mingjing nodded. In this family, only Shang was the happiest to see him, regardless of whether he was a scholar or not.
Shang: "Second Master, Silang has been admitted as a scholar. Today I need to cook more dishes. I just wanted to go to the back mountain to catch some chickens. Second Master is at home, please help me catch some chickens and bring them back."
???
Duan Mingjing was moved for less than a moment, and immediately his heart felt empty and he was speechless for a while.
"Second Master?"
"I'm going to catch chickens." Duan Mingjing was as sad as a walking zombie.
Sure enough, if Duan Mingchen is admitted as a scholar, there will be no place for him in this family!
Duan Mingjing was saddened, and he understood the principle of honor and glory. Duan Mingchen was his half-brother, so he was better than Duan Mingqing.
He always wants to celebrate for his brother!
Woohoo, isn't it just a chicken? What's wrong with feeding it to your own brother? He raised it, so it's better than eating it from outsiders.
Duan Mingjing caught five chickens with regret and came back. He helped kill the chickens and scald their feathers. He spent the entire afternoon working sullenly, as if he was also busy with Duan Mingchen's admission to the scholar's examination.
Qiao Lan came back from Zhuangzi in the evening, and the Duan family also had a small banquet in the evening.
Because of the happy event at home, Duan Mingjing even took out the wine that he had saved up for a long time to buy, and opened both jars to celebrate Duan Mingjing's passing the exam.
"Come on, Fourth Brother, I, the older brother, will give you a drink!" Duan Mingjing raised his wine bowl and said.
Duan Mingchen picked up the wine bowl and said, "Thank you, second brother!!"
Duan Mingchen was very elegant in his drinking. He put down the wine bowl after taking a sip.
The only people drinking in the room were the male hosts and Coach Mo. Others had bowls of sweet soup in front of them.
Seeing the adults in the family drinking and clinking bowls, a few of the kids followed suit and clinked the slightly hot sweet soup in their bowls.
"Sister, drink!" Duan Yujin held the bowl and bumped it against Duan Siyu's soup bowl next to her.
Duan Siyu was still too young to lift the soup bowl. She held the bowl with one hand and grabbed the spoon with the other. She nodded seriously along with her brother and responded in a clear childish voice, "Drink! Sweet!"
As he spoke, he scooped up a spoonful of sweet red bean soup with red dates, stuffed a large red date into his mouth, and stretched out his left and right cheeks in turn.
Duan Siyu finished chewing the dates with great effort, spit out the core, and scooped out another spoonful of sweet red beans.
The children enjoyed their meal very happily.
Duan Mingjing at the other table was holding the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
"Fourth brother, you must study hard! Make the lintel of my Duan family shine!" Duan Mingjing said as he poured himself another bowl of wine and drank it in one gulp.
"If you pass the exam and become a Jinshi, you will be just like our father!" The third bowl.
"I am useless as a brother, I can only count on you!" The fourth bowl.
Seeing that Duan Ming was drinking bowl after bowl, Duan Mingqing, who was sitting next to him, started to persuade him: "Second brother, have a drink to enjoy yourself. Drinking too much is harmful to your health. Second brother, drink less wine and eat vegetables!"
As he spoke, he put a chopstick of green vegetables into Duan Mingjing's bowl.
"Hiccup!" Duan Mingjing burped, holding the wine bowl and looking at Duan Mingqing with drunken eyes. The figures in his eyes were blurry, overlapping and distorted, and he couldn't tell who was who.
Duan Ming raised his wine bowl drunkenly, feeling that he was his closest brother beside him, "Fourth brother, I won't feel bitter if the turbid wine enters my intestines!"
Feeling bitter?
Everyone in the room turned their attention to Duan Mingjing. What happened?
Duan Mingqing didn't expect such words to come out of Duan Mingjing's mouth, so he could only advise silently, "Second brother, this wine is harmful to your health..."
Duan Mingchen followed up and advised: "Second brother, drink less."
It's better not to persuade him. When everyone started to persuade him, Duan Mingjing felt all his grievances welling up in his heart. He howled loudly and threw himself on Duan Mingqing next to him, crying loudly. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu I can do this without drinking."
How about it, I can’t pass the examination as a scholar if I don’t drink!”