Accommodation

Knowing that Xiaoguo was inexperienced, Mr. and Mrs. Kong told her in detail about everything that had to be prepared for the apprenticeship banquet.

Mr. Kong also confirmed some details with them. At first, he wanted Zhuang Zhuang to stay with him and return home once in a while. However, Zhuang Zhuang was not agreeable when he heard that—he didn’t want to be separated from Xiaoguo.

There was indeed a reason why Mr. Kong wanted him to stay at his place. Studying was not just about reading. Studying and character-building were two inseparable things. He must infiltrate Zhuang Zhuang’s daily life and build up his character from scratch. When the roots are upright, the person will be upright too.

At first, Xiaoguo didn’t quite understand why, but after thinking about it carefully, she made a painful and shocking decision.

“Alright, I agree!”

“Mother?” Zhuang Zhuang looked at her in disbelief.

“Teacher Kong…” After saying that, Xiaoguo hesitated. “Do you think his stay here can be shorter? After all, Zhuang Zhuang has never left me before. If he is suddenly separated from me for so many days, both of us will have a hard time getting used to it.”

Mr. Kong didn’t say anything. He lowered his head and thought for a moment before nodding. “Alright then. Let’s have a day off for every five days of school.”

“How about this…?” Xiaoguo looked at Zhuang Zhuang’s sad eyes and couldn’t bear to see him like this. She mustered her courage and said again, “We’ll take two days off after 5 days of school. How about that?”

Xiaoguo thought of the modern work week. Work days are from Mondays to Fridays. Saturdays and Sundays are off-days.

“This idea is quite novel,” Mr. Kong said with interest as he stroked his beard.

After all, there was no such thing as “a week” in ancient times. This concept of a “week” had just been brought back by thousands of years. During this era, they operated on five days of work and one rest day. Even the morning court meetings in the palace followed this schedule. The meetings were held over five days. The sixth day was fixed as a rest day. There was no seventh day in their plan.

Mr. Kong thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. No matter what, Zhuang Zhuang was still young. It was better to be considerate. “Alright, It’s settled then.”

Zhuang Zhuang looked at Xiaoguo in dissatisfaction and then at Mr. Kong. What right did the adults have to make decisions on his freedom so casually? What right did they have to separate him from his mother? He didn’t want to be separated from her!

Zhuang Zhuang was very upset at the moment, but he knew that they were outside, so he tried hard to hold back his emotions. On the way back, he ignored Xiaoguo and sat alone in the carriage. He even slammed the curtain down to cut off any communication with her.

Xiaoguo knew why Zhuang Zhuang was unhappy, but she had her concerns too. She sighed softly at the curtain. “Forget it. Let him calm down first.”

While Zhuang Zhuang was waiting for Xiaoguo to comfort him, he felt the donkey cart starting to move off. He broke down and felt that his mother didn’t love him anymore. He started sobbing softly at first, then it slowly escalated into a storm.

Xiaoguo could hear everything clearly from outside the donkey cart. She was feeling terrible.

At first, she planned to talk about it when they got home, but the more Zhuang Zhuang cried, the hoarser his voice became. Xiaoguo’s heart felt like it was put in a pot of oil—all fried and dry.

Unable to take it anymore, she stopped the donkey cart by the road. She quickly lifted the curtain and hugged Zhuang Zhuang, whose eyes were swollen from crying.

“Good boy, Zhuang Zhuang, don’t cry. I love you the most. I can’t stand to see you crying like this.”

“You, you’re talking nonsense.”

Zhuang Zhuang cried so hard that he was out of breath. He started to accuse her of being heartless.

“Zhuang Zhuang, stop crying first, okay?”

“You don’t even care about me anymore. You are going to abandon me.”

Xiaoguo took out a handkerchief and wiped his tears, but his tears were like a faucet that had been turned on. She couldn’t wipe them dry however hard she tried.

“I’m not abandoning you. It’s very important that you learn by example. Teacher Kong just wants you to have an immersive learning process, and understand the principles of studying and learn the truth of life.”

As she got back to the topic, Zhuang Zhuang slowly stopped sobbing.

Xiaoguo continued. “And it is not a permanent arrangement. It’s just going to be like this for the first few months. If Zhuang Zhuang performs well, it might not be long before you can go home to see your mother every day.”

“Really?” Zhuang Zhuang was skeptical. Why didn’t he hear about this just now?

Xiaoguo pinched his little nose and smiled. “Of course it’s true. You were so focused on being angry just now. How could you have heard the rest?”

It was indeed what Mr. Kong had said just now, but Zhuang Zhuang must have been too immersed in his sorrow to hear it.

“That’s still quite a long time.” Zhuang Zhuang suddenly felt sad again. He couldn’t even bear to part from his mother for a few hours, let alone a few months.

Xiaoguo let out a long sigh. This was why she had agreed to Mr. Kong letting him stay over.

It was because Zhuang Zhuang was too clingy. It’s not that she didn’t like Zhuang Zhuang sticking around her. In fact, she enjoyed it very much.

However, for the sake of his future, when Zhuang Zhuang became older, he would be labeled as a good-for-nothing if he still remained so clingy to her. Moreover, Zhuang Zhuang was extremely clingy now—he would keep asking for her even when they were just separated for a short while. She had heard Qin Anming and Mrs. Yang mentioned it many times. Whenever she wasn’t by his side, Zhuang Zhuang would keep asking for her.

She didn’t want anyone to label him as a mummy’s boy. It was a good time now to help him gain more independence. This was also the reason why she agreed to the arrangement.

“Then can you come and visit me every day, Mother? Can you stay for a few hours each time?”

Zhuang Zhuang quietly made one last request.

“Are you trying to tire me out, or are you trying to tire the little donkey out?”

Xiaoguo shook her head and laughed. If she really traveled there every day, the donkey wouldn’t be able to take it.

Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang was about to pout again, Xiaoguo quickly said, “I’ll visit you once every two days.”

Knowing that it was too late to reverse the arrangement, he compromised after getting a satisfactory promise from Xiaoguo

Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang had calmed down, Xiaoguo turned around and headed towards the market. Initially, he was crying so hard that she planned to come back tomorrow to buy things for the apprenticeship banquet. But now that he was fine, she decided to buy everything now, so that she wouldn’t have to make another trip tomorrow.

For the apprenticeship ceremony, one had to prepare six ceremonial bundles. They were celery, lotus seeds, red beans, red dates, cinnamon balls, and dried lean pork strips.

The celery symbolized diligence and eagerness to learn. The lotus seeds symbolized a painstaking education. The red beans symbolized good luck. The red dates symbolized early high school. The cinnabar balls symbolized perfect merit. The thin strips of meat symbolized disciples’ sincerity.

Every item carries with it a good symbolism. Xiaoguo also bought two red eggs for Zhuang Zhuang, which symbolizes that he would become the top scholar in the national exams. She would cook the eggs for him in two days’ time.

On the way back, Xiaoguo held on to Zhuang Zhuang throughout the journey. Afraid that the child would think that she didn’t love him anymore, she didn’t let go of him even though her legs were numb.

When they got home, Xiaoguo couldn’t wait to pack Zhuang Zhuang’s luggage for the day he started school. After all, he would come back only after five days, so she had to prepare more clothes for him. Since he would be taking his meals with the Kong’s, Xiaoguo did not have to prepare any food for his stay.

As she thought about it, there was no way she could find a better opportunity than this. To be able to learn from a famous scholar and stay by his side without having to pay tuition fees. There couldn’t be a better deal than this on the surface of this earth.

Initially, Xiaoguo had wanted to pay Mr. Kong the tuition fees monthly or yearly like how it was done at other schools. However, Mr. Kong refused. He said that he had accepted Zhuang Zhuang as his disciple unconditionally, and did not need any remuneration.

Confucius lived a life of great virtue and left his name in history. He did not care about the secular world at all. All he pursued in his life was spiritual compatibility. He had an affinity for Zhuang Zhuang, so he was very willing to teach the boy without asking for any payment in return.

At first, Xiaoguo felt that it was a little inappropriate, but Mr. and Mrs. Kong clearly liked Zhuang Zhuang a lot, so she didn’t insist. Since they didn’t treat Zhuang Zhuang and her as outsiders, she should try to do away with the formalities as well.

Whenever she had time, she would go over and spend more time with Mrs. Kong, cook for them, take care of them, and contribute in her little ways.