In the dim hut in the backyard of Li's family in Xishui Town, there are memorial tablets of Li You's great-grandfather, great-grandfather, and grandfather. Under his father's gaze, Li You respectfully burned a stick of incense and knelt down to kowtow.
"Ahem!" Father Li cleared his throat and began to preach: "Your great-great-grandfather... there is not much to say. Your great-grandfather... there is not much to say either."
Li You thought to himself, you really just want to talk about your own history of struggle, why are you talking about your ancestors?
"Your grandfather was just as lucky as you. He was favored by the county magistrate and became a policeman. Unfortunately, the magistrate offended the powerful and was dismissed. Your grandfather will only be a policeman his whole life." Li's father gradually came to the point: "As for your father. , that is, I inherited the family business when I was eighteen years old and became a policeman. At that time, my vision was narrow and I thought that catching heads was the top priority. So my father’s big ambition since childhood was to be stronger than your grandfather. To be the county's catcher. For this determination, I worked hard for my father for twenty years and never gave up on this idea. I went through all the hardships, excluded dissidents, groveled, framed and framed. In middle age, I finally got what I wanted and earned a lot of money. This family fortune."
Father Li's tone was calm, as if he was talking about other people's affairs. It was not as exaggerated as Li You imagined, but it made Li You confused as to what his father wanted to express.
"The Li family's status is not high, they are just a family of lowly servants, but my father has never given up hope. He has always believed that as long as one generation is better than the other, my family will always be successful." Father Li continued to say calmly: "Your grandfather Better than your great-grandfather, and I am better than your grandfather in the end. Next comes you. Unfortunately, you two brothers have no worries about food and clothing, unlike the hard life that your father lived since childhood. It was also because of my neglect of discipline that both of you were lacking. Got a breath of air."
"It's ambition! Ambition!" Li's father raised his voice and said: "How can you have any ambition in your body? Especially you! You always muddle along, and the abominable way you deal with errands simply blinds your intelligence. Do you know, The day you became a Dianshi was the happiest day in my life as a father. I have never been so ecstatic. Although I know that you got it through opportunism and had nothing to do with your own hard work. My father still doesn’t understand why. This year you suddenly became enlightened."
"That's all. Regardless of luck or hard work, being a classics historian is better than being a father. You can just do it for the rest of your life. But there is an opportunity to do an inspection before you, why don't you Do you have an enterprising mentality? Don't say anything has changed. It's all lies. You can't hide it from your father. At heart, you are still a person without ambition, and you are still a person who hopes for good luck.
Do you really want to lie in the patrol position for ten years and then be empty-handed? How rare is the opportunity to be an official with my family background? My family has been a commoner for more than ten generations, and all the luck of more than ten generations has been gathered in you. Why do you dare not cherish your official position after holding it for ten years? Why? Answer me!" Father Li roared as he spoke.
Li You bowed his head deeply, it was better not to offend his father at this moment.
"Raise your head and look at the ancestors' spiritual throne!"
Li You's head lowered.
"Don't you even have the guts to raise your head?"
Who says I don't dare? Li You raised his head slightly.
"You are just afraid of losing! Can you set an ambition and persevere and use all means to achieve it like your father did? There is only one thing in life, even if you fail, you don't have to regret it. Why should you be afraid?
A good man can stand in heaven and earth without right and wrong, but how can he have no ambition?"
Li You was finally touched. Could it be that he was really afraid of losing deep down in his heart? But his knees hurt so much.
"Do you know what I admire most about you? That was your behavior on the flower boat a few days ago. At that time, you at least tried your best to do one thing!"
Li You's original intention was to question his father about concealing his marriage, but instead he was scolded and disgraced.
He was dejected and prepared to flee back to the county town, but his mother Zhu stopped him and lectured him.
I just heard Zhu say kindly: "Xiaoer, you still need a few more concubines."
Li You couldn't react at the moment, how could he talk about this properly?
"I heard that the young lady of the Liu family is not allowed to have sex; Jin Baoer used to be a brothel girl. It is said that women in this industry need to take medicine. If they drink it, it will be difficult to get pregnant." Zhu analyzed it very professionally:
"So you might not be able to have a wife with these two, so you might as well take in a few more concubines to raise children. I guess it won't be a problem given my son's ability."
This... we'll talk about it later, Li You ran away.
After returning to the county government office, Li You received a letter and a book box. It turned out to be sent by a servant sent by Zhao Liangli, the high official. He opened the letter and read it, and the main idea was: I have something to do and I have returned to the city. I know that you, sir, have a noble heart, so
I didn't want to insult each other with gold and silver, so I helped him print a collection of poems and bring them back to Suzhou for distribution. I also gave him a box of sample books as a farewell gift.
Li You was extremely melancholy after seeing this. If you had a choice, you might as well insult me with gold and silver, high official.
Opening the book box again, he was surprised to find a box full of thin books, all of which were Li You's poetry collections, or versions with comments. Seeing the cover, Li You felt melancholy again. Zhao Daguan was so talented that he named the collection of poems "Collection of Flowers"
》.
Tanhua is a good word, and it’s not too outrageous to be named in the collection of Beauties, but it’s so unlucky to associate it with his surname Li, especially considering his age.
How to get rid of this box of books? Li You couldn't think clearly at the moment.
There was no other official business today, so Li You went to the office and went back to his residence without mentioning it. After dinner, it was still dark, and he, Jin Baoer, and Xiaozhu were playing leaf cards. When he was about to lose, he heard someone knocking on the door.
After Xiaozhu got up and went to see her, he came back with a pink face and said: "Master, there is a female goblin looking for you, please send her away?"
Li You saw Xiaozhu's interesting expression and walked out, saying as he walked: "I'll go out for a while and see who the female demon is!"
How can we have a good night if this pervert master goes out? By the way, the master is about to lose money, so we can’t let him run away. Xiaozhu couldn’t help but stretched out his two hands to grab Li You’s skirt and hold on to him.
He said: "Master, how can you go out to greet her and ask her to come in to see you with your status?"
Jin Baoer smiled and patted Xiaozhu's hand and said, "Don't tear the master's clothes. I'm teasing you. Why don't you go and invite someone in."
Xiaozhu then let go and went to invite someone. Since she was a female guest, Jin Baoer did not avoid it and cleared the table to entertain the guests.
Li You raised his eyes and saw that his old mistress Li Mei, sister Pingping, whom he had not seen for more than half a month, walked into the courtyard. She was still enchanting and beautiful, but her makeup was obviously much lighter than before, and her clothes were not as open as before.
Showing off her frivolous demeanor. Is it true that as Yue Xiang said last time, Sister Mei is planning to quit her business and become a good person?
It seems that he came to ask me for advice after listening to Yuexiang's words for the sake of livelihood, Li You thought proudly. In addition, I really want to see my concubine Jin Baoer jealous.
