Chapter 1048: Who Will Outlast Whom?

Gu Defa glanced at his elder brother and then withdrew his gaze.

Brother’s really foolish, still hasn’t figured it out? The more you refuse to study, the more Master Ouyang insists you should. Disagreeing with the old man is giving him amusement.

Sure enough, Master Ouyang laughed and said, "If you can’t pass in this lifetime, then keep trying for a lifetime."

Gu Dewang wanted to bang his head against the wall; this old man was too troublesome.

After a while, he glanced at Master Ouyang’s old face and grinned: "You’re already so old, how can you challenge me for a lifetime? That’s probably not possible."

Master Ouyang retorted, "My health is good. The Ouyang family has always been long-lived, living up to eighty is not a problem, just you wait."

So, you brat, dreaming of outlasting me by not studying? Think again!

Upon hearing this, Gu Dewang calculated Master Ouyang’s age, and exclaimed in disbelief, "That’s still twenty more years!"

In twenty years, he would be nearly forty, and if he had a short life like Gan Mingzi’s father in town, he could be dead for several years by then.

He wanted to outlive Old Ouyang, but now, who’s outliving whom?

Gu Dewang despaired once more and lay back on the table, pretending to be dead.

Having watched the antics, Brother Cheng finally understood why Gu Dewang was like this and said to him, "Brother Dewang, just give up. Instead of stubbornly opposing Grandpa Ouyang, you’d better focus on studying. Maybe after a few years of effort, you’ll gain official position. Look at Brother Dexing; many people said he wouldn’t succeed, but now he’s a student, and quite likely to become a scholar too."

Gu Dewang covered his ears, pretending not to hear.

Brother Cheng continued, "Besides, studying doesn’t conflict with making money. Brother Dewang can study while earning silver."

Then he told Gu Dewang about Lv Bai’s story-making venture that earned money.

Gu Dewang was startled, almost jumping up, "What, a storybook can earn dozens of taels of silver?"

Brother Cheng nodded, "Yes, if the story is good, you can earn thirty taels. Although Brother Dewang can’t write storybooks, you can do other businesses."

Living people won’t be stifled by urine; try different methods, and you can do two big things at once.

Upon hearing this, Gu Dewang was finally happy and said to Master Ouyang, "Old man, I won’t oppose you anymore, wait and see. When I earn large money, I’ll send you a cart of ham, let you eat to your heart’s content!"

Master Ouyang sneered, "You can keep opposing, I’ve just thought of a way to deal with you."

Gu Dewang felt relieved, narrowly avoiding disaster. Luckily, he woke up soon; otherwise, he would’ve been tormented by the old man.

Immediately, he took out the textbook, sat up straight, and pretended to study diligently.

Master Ouyang glanced at him and said, "The accumulated work for five days, submit it tomorrow. Dare not to submit, and the work will double. Also, I will inform your mother, let her beat you twice, and deduct your meat dishes, leaving you without meat for a month."

"I’ll definitely submit it, please don’t tell my mother!" During the famine, Gu Dewang suffered from hunger and loved meat dearly; if deprived of it for a month, he’d go mad.

Master Ouyang snorted without replying to Gu Dewang, but today’s homework was the copying task that Gu Dewang hated the most — copying the Zhou Dynasty Great Scholar’s anti-barbarian bandit manifesto. The manifesto was not only long but also full of difficult words, requiring ten copies, plus overdue homework that could wear him out.

Gu Dewang wanted to die, but for the sake of meat, he had to bury himself in hard work without daring to follow to the study room to see Gu Jin’an and the others.

Once Master Ouyang saw him behaving, he was satisfied and went to the study room to see Gu Jin’an and the others.

"We students thank Master Ouyang, thank you for your guidance." Gu Jin’an and the others knelt immediately upon seeing Master Ouyang, thanking him.

Although Master Ouyang was a Great Scholar, he wasn’t pedantic; when guiding Gu Jin’an and the others, he pointed towards topics likely to appear on tests, which helped Gu Dexing become a student.

Master Ouyang said, "Just gave you a few pointers, the ham already repaid this minor credit, hurry up and stand."

Master Ouyang did not inquire about their Prefecture Examination experience, since it was over, nothing left to ask, but instead asked about their experiences in the Prefecture, "I heard from Brother Cheng that you befriended some interesting scholars and encountered many amusing stories, tell me about them. Always being in Qingfu Town, I haven’t heard anything fresh for a long time."

Actually, it wasn’t so; Qingfu Town’s people were so gossip-prone that every few days, the locals from ten miles and eight villages gathered in the town market, each eloquent, comparable to Jiangnan storytellers, and Master Ouyang could hear fresh stories every day.

Sometimes he would wear coarse linen, carry a basket to buy farm goods, listening to gossip.

Gu Dewang really disliked this hobby of his, saying he’d never seen such a gossip-loving old man.

Then he got assigned extra homework.

How was this gossip-worthy? It was clearly understanding local customs and culture, the brat has no clue and shouldn’t speak nonsense.

Seeing Master Ouyang interested, Gu Jin’an shared their Prefecture experiences.

Master Ouyang listened with delight, laughing several times and occasionally expressing a few sentiments.

However, seeing Scholar Shang appearing to have something to say, and after listening to half an hour of stories, he told Gu Jin’an and the others, "Go and retrieve the ham, slice it, take the chilled wine to the well and ice it, then help in the kitchen to prepare a few dishes. I’m craving, let’s have an early meal today."

He didn’t abide by the gentleman-stay-away-from-the-kitchen rule; instead thinking men should learn to cook, lest someday stuck on the road, unable to even heat water.

"Yes." Gu Jin’an and the others also realized Scholar Shang had something to say to Master Ouyang, obediently left.

After they left, Master Ouyang said, "Go ahead, what’s the matter?"

Scholar Shang didn’t hesitate, immediately said, "Junior seeks a favor from you, hopefully you’ll agree."

Master Ouyang: "Save the politeness, explain it first, let me see if I can agree."

Upon hearing, Scholar Shang explained the matter of Old Gu Family and added, "Although Old Gu Family was wrong, Brother An, being a junior, even if blameless, will suffer a tarnished reputation. When he goes for the college examination, surely someone will use this against him. Junior hopes you’ll write a poem or essay to help Brother An."

Master Ouyang was a Great Scholar renowned throughout Great Chu, with his brother Ouyang Hong being even more formidable; most scholars deeply respected them. If Master Ouyang would write a poem or essay for Gu Jin’an, to clear his name, those wishing to accuse him of unfiliality wouldn’t dare act rashly.

However, Master Ouyang did not immediately agree, instead stating, "The time hasn’t come, let’s wait until the time is right."

Scholar Shang anxiously said, "Master, junior believes earlier is better for this matter. You don’t know how many people in the Prefecture are slandering Brother An; if you don’t help soon, his reputation will worsen."

"The Prefecture City People’s scheme against Brother An was resolved by the Gu Family, so why the rush?" Master Ouyang said, "This matter cannot be rushed, hurry is useless, let’s leave it at that."