Ding Chunqiu's coachman had traveled between Wujun and Qiantang many times and was familiar with the roads. Under his guidance, Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi did not detour to Huating this time, but went straight to the Jiaxing County road, saving a mile.
It is a detour of more than a hundred miles, but it has to pass through three more ferries. The time spent waiting for the ferry is almost the same as the detour. The advantage is that it saves cattle power and avoids a lot of bumps.
A group of 11 people set out from Wu County on the second day of the twelfth lunar month and arrived in Jiaxing County on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month. When they started on the road again the next day, the warm winter weather suddenly turned into a howling wind, thick clouds, and the temperature was obviously much colder than the previous few days.
.
Liu Shangzhi's servant A Lin frowned and said, "Look, it's going to snow in the next two days."
Ding Chunqiu's coachman said: "Hurry up and hurry up before the snow falls, otherwise the road will be difficult and we will be delayed on the road for at least one more day."
Laide and Ran Sheng didn't care. They were still looking forward to the snow falling soon. The ground would be completely white and the wheels would run over two distinct tracks. It was fun, but they were afraid of cold rain, which would be the most uncomfortable.
Ran Sheng suddenly remembered something and asked Chen Caozhi: "Young Master told Miss Run'er to come back when it snows, right? If it snows, Miss Run'er will definitely cry if she doesn't see us coming back."
Already."
Chen Caozhi had been worried for a long time. Run'er and Zongzhi, the two children, were particularly concerned about their promises. It was only his fault that he should not have said that he would come back when it snowed. Wouldn't it be better to say that he would come back on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month? Nowadays, people
On the way, it was going to snow. What could he do? He said, "We'll be home in three or four days. The snow won't fall for a while."
In the next two days, the group got up early and hurried on in the dark. In winter, the days were short and the nights were long, so they couldn't cover much distance. Although the north wind was strong, the snow really couldn't fall for a while. When they arrived in Yuhang County at dusk on the eighth day of the lunar month, Chen Caozhi
He proposed not to rest and to rush back to Qiantang overnight.
Ding Chunqiu, Liu Shangzhi and other servants had been away from home for many days, and they were all eager to get home. Moreover, Yuhang was only forty miles away from Qiantang, and they expected to arrive before Hai Shi, so they all readily agreed and bought some hot wine at a Yuhang wine shop.
After eating the cooked meat and feeding the three oxen enough fodder, they continued on their way.
Ding Chunqiu now has a friendship with Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi, and said: "Cao Zhi, Shang Zhi, you two are going to my Ding's villa to rest tonight, and you will cross the river to return to your hometown tomorrow, and Cao Zhi will also meet you."
It’s my cousin’s, right?”
Chen Cao said: "Yes, I promised my sister-in-law when I left that I would visit her when I came back."
The sky became darker and darker as we walked, and the clouds were thick, unable to let out any starlight. A Lin and Ran Sheng held rosin torches in front of them to light the way, and after a while they said loudly:
"We've arrived at Shitang!"
"We've arrived at Jinglin!"
"..."
Every six or seven miles, the place names were reported to everyone, telling everyone that they were getting closer to Qiantang. It seemed that this could resist the cold of traveling on winter nights.
When a group of people arrived at Ding's villa, they heard the village guest striking the bang with a wooden bang "Duo Duo" to tell the time. In the cold and silent night, it seemed extraordinarily clear and bright, and seemed to have a little bit of warmth.
Ding Chunqiu had already jumped off the oxcart and started walking at the post road entrance. At this time, he laughed loudly and said, "We are really on time. Sure enough, we came back in time."
Ding Chunqiu's servant had already rushed to knock on the door to inform him that Mr. Chunqiu was back and had returned from studying in Wu County. His voice was filled with the joy of returning home in rich clothes.
The main entrance was usually not opened at night. More than a dozen lanterns poured out from the left and right side doors of the villa, and the sound of greetings made Ding Chunqiu feel warmer. He suddenly felt that it was good to go home. Fortunately, he did not forget that there were two people nearby.
A friend who had not yet returned home, first ordered a maid to report to Ding Youwei that Chen Langjun was back with him, and ordered the steward to quickly prepare wine and food. After eating hot wine and rice, he took a hot bath and felt comfortable.
Ding Yi, the leader of the Ding clan, saw his son Ding Chunqiu come back with Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi. He was happy but also surprised. Chunqiu seemed to be quite friendly with Chen and Liu. He used to look down on Chen. What happened to Cao Zhi, a boy from such a humble family? I asked him to go to Wu County to study, mainly to make friends with the high-ranking gentry in Wu County and Kuaiji, and to pave the way for his future official career. Fortunately, he made friends with both of them. A poor family from this county is back!
Ding Yi was a little annoyed. Before Ding Chunqiu could finish his meal, he called him to the small hall and interrogated him, asking him what he had learned in two months and what friends he had made.
Ding Chunqiu had known that his father would ask this question, so he casually said a few words about his studies, saying that Dr. Xu Zao praised him for his eagerness to learn and progress, and then recited a four-character poem in Luo Shengyong with proud gestures. , he knew that his father did not understand Luo Shengyong, but he was extremely envious of the demeanor of the northern nobles. As soon as Luo Shengyong was spoken, his father would definitely be suppressed.
Sure enough, Ding Yi's attitude immediately softened, and he nodded and said: "You are doing well in studies, so tell me, what kind of friends have you made?"
Ding Chunqiu said: "Time is still short, and I am concentrating on my studies. I have not had a close relationship with most of the other students in the school. There are only four or five people who are really close to me——"
"Which four or five?" Ding Yi asked.
Ding Chunqiu said: "Chen and Liu are two of them." Seeing his father's face darken, he added: "The other two are Gu Kaizhi and Xu Miao. Xu Miao is the son of Dr. Xu."
"Gu Kaizhi?" Ding Yi suddenly straightened his back and asked, "Is this Gu Kaizhi, Gu Yuezhi's son?"
Ding Chunqiu knew that his father's friendship with Gu Yuezhi was not successful, and he still regrets it. He responded: "It was Gu Kaizhi and Gu Changkang of the Gu family in Jinling who made a close friendship with me. This time he gave me a painting as parting and made an appointment with me in the future. Let’s meet in Jiankang.”
In fact, the reason why Gu Kaizhi, Xu Miao and Ding Chunqiu had some friendship was entirely because of Chen Caozhi, but Ding Chunqiu now wanted to call Gu Kaizhi his life-and-death friend, because his father Ding Yi valued this.
Ding Yi was very happy. He twisted his beard and said with a smile: "Not bad, not bad. I am very happy as a father to be able to become close friends with the children of the Gu family. How about the relationship between the children of the He family and you, Lu family?"
Ding Chunqiu felt that his father was a bit greedy and said, "Dad, how long have I been in Wu County? How can I make friends with everyone? Do I still need to study?"
Ding Yi laughed, nodded and said: "That's right. Anyway, next year you will go to Wu County to study again and make friends with Mr. Gu. The other Yu, Wei, Kong and He are even better to say - okay, Go and have a meal quickly." Then he said: "Wait a minute, Chu Wenbin is also studying at Xu's Academy with you, how is his studies and making friends?"
Ding Chunqiu knew that his father had always wanted him to be stronger than Chu Wenbin, and this time he could get his wish. He said: "Chu Wenbin always wanted to frame Chen Caozhi because of the shameful incident of his brother Chu Wenqian, but unexpectedly he failed to harm others and harmed himself instead. I offended Governor Lu’s nephew and dared not come to the school to attend lectures again. Chu Wenbin’s reputation in Wu County was also extremely bad——”
Ding Yi said: "Chu Wenbin wants to deal with Chen Caozhi, naturally it is because of the instruction of his father Chu Jian, so Chu Jian didn't say anything?"
Ding Chunqiu said: "Chen Caozhi is highly appreciated by Lu Taishou, and Chu Jian is helpless."
Ding Yi twitched his long eyebrows and asked in Ding Chunqiu's original words: "How much is Chen Caozhi appreciated by Prefect Lu?"
Ding Chunqiu said truthfully: "Yes, Chen Caozhi often went in and out of the prefect's house, and the prefect Lu appreciated his calligraphy. Also, Gu Kaizhi's teacher Wei Xie also accepted Chen Caozhi as a disciple and taught him painting. Chen Caozhi was there
Wu Jun has a good reputation. On that day, there was a young man who came from Jiankang specially to listen to his recorder. It is said that he was a friend of Huan Yi. I wonder who he was?"
Ding Yi nodded slowly and said, "It seems that this Chen Caozhi is going to surpass his brother."
Ding Chunqiu asked: "Dad, is it okay for me to make friends with Chen Caozhi?"
Ding Yidao: "It's not bad, but we need to pay more attention to making friends with the children of the gentry, like Gu Kaizhi, we should have more contacts."
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