Good Man Operation Guide

Even if they didn’t like this Juren, who was close to the merchant’s son, he was respectfully saluting, so they couldn’t just leave and hurriedly followed in response.

“Brother Lin, just speak as you wish.”

“In that case, I won’t be polite.”

The men dressed as scholars had come close enough to hear what they were going to discuss as soon as they arrived but didn’t bother them, instead, they just stood quietly and looked on.

Lin Shiheng smiled gently and asked, “I wonder if these three brothers eat meat?”

It was still Hu Chuan who answered, he vaguely understood that this strange Juren was standing on Zhao He’s side, and immediately replied, “Naturally, we do eat. But we only eat domestic fowl, which were kept and sold by others. However, Brother Lin and Brother Zhao use hooks to catch the fish that have grown up in the water just to satisfy the desire for food, so I begged to differ.”

He said this to directly block Lin Shiheng from defending with ‘If you eat meat, why do you stop us from eating it?’.

After he said that, Hu Chuan suddenly had an idea in mind. In the past, he secretly bullied Zhao He for the sake of his amusement but now that there were other people present, if he could ruin Zhao He’s reputation with just a few words, then no matter how well he did in the exam, it wouldn’t be of consequence.

He took note of this in his mind and slightly narrowed his eyes. He seemingly inadvertently glanced at the several Jurens standing around and stood up even straighter.

Zhao He was a little anxious. Others wouldn’t know, but he knew just how difficult it was to handle these three people. Usually, they would only mess with him which was fine as he was thick-skinned, but if they were to try to mess with Brother Lin today… Such a thin-skinned and soft-spoken scholar like Brother Lin, he might really be angered to death!

He(ZH) opened his mouth to get in a word, but Lin Shiheng continued to speak warmly and gently, “What Brother Hu said is true, but what I would like to remark on was… What Brother Hu said about how if Brother Zhao and I fished for food, when we become officials in the future, we would be wronging the people.”

“Brother Hu, do you know how much money you can make selling this fish on the market?”

Hu Chuan frowned, “How can we educated people know about this copper stink?”

“Brother Hu is wrong about that.”

Lin Shiheng said, “Brother Hu said just now that Brother Zhao’s fishing was being irresponsible to the people, but Brother Hu should know that many people could only barely support their families by catching fishes in the water. And should also know that while the market value of one fish is only a few cents, it is enough to feed a family of three for three days.”

Hu Chuan’s face grew ugly, but before he could speak, the green-clothed scholar had already continued in a consistently gentle, slow but uninterruptible tone.

“We are Jurens, as Brother Hu had said earlier, even if we couldn’t be nominated for that golden position, we can still wait to become an official and might become a magistrate somewhere in the future. If Brother Hu believes that Brother Zhao’s fishing is cruel, when you become an official in the future, would Brother Hu prevent fishermen in your jurisdiction from fishing? With no way to earn a living, what should they eat or drink?”

Even though he could have guessed how Lin Shiheng was going to attack after he spoke about the rations for a family of three, Hu Chuan was still livid when Lin Shiheng really attacked.

But now that so many people around him were watching, if he really didn’t say anything, wouldn’t it appear that he just cared about reading and ignored the common people of the world?

Hu Chuan gritted his teeth and tried to keep his brain sharp while he argued, “It was not my intention to do so. But I just thought, Brother Zhao’s family is a family of merchants, since the family is very wealthy, why would he need to catch this small fish just to satisfy the appetite? If he hadn’t fished, perhaps this fish would be caught by a fisherman and it would be a livelihood for them as well.”

Lin Shiheng saluted again and watched as Hu Chuan reluctantly returned the salute. He gently responded, “Brother Hu, not to mention that no one can be rich without making money, there are thousands of fish in the water, even a hundred of Brother Zhao and I wouldn’t be able to catch them all. I’m from a peasant family, but I’m not even frugal enough to buy a single fish to eat. The doctor told me to eat more meat, but I just couldn’t afford it. Brother Zhao is generous and knew that my family was poor, so he always invited me to have meals with him. Alas, I am also a seven-chi man, so how could I eat and drink off of Brother Zhao without saying a word?”

(TNote: seven-foot (chi) man = An adult. The foot is in Chinese foot; one-third of a meter; it doesn’t actually refer to how tall a man is, but age. A boy that has reached adulthood, because after seven feet, you have the obligation to perform military service during the Song Dynasty.)

“Today, I saw that there were many fishes in the water and thought I would catch one or two of them. It was also good to save some money to buy books in the capital as we wait for the exam.”

“Although Brother Hu was well-intentioned, you just saw us fishing and presumptuously speculated, that is not a gentleman’s act. Brother Zhao is broad-minded and never made any excuses for this, but I can’t let my friend be misunderstood. I only wanted to tell the truth today, and I hope that Brother Hu wouldn’t misunderstand Brother Zhao like this in the future.”

Although his words were light and slow, they didn’t give Hu Chuan a chance to say anything in the middle until he finished speaking. He had also implied that he didn’t intend to do anything towards Hu Chuan but just wanted him to stop acting so impulsively in the future, his tone was consistently mild. Hu Chuan listened and felt a breath get caught in his chest, but he couldn’t show it on his face. The breath blocked in his chest suffocated his heart.

“Cough cough.”

Lin Shiheng looked at his appearance and coughed twice while he expressed a little care on his handsome face that was like the bright moon, “Brother Hu, have you caught too much of the wind? How come you haven’t said a word? Or perhaps I had offended Brother Hu just now?”

As he said so, he coughed twice and bent over slightly, “I was weak since I was a child and I rarely got to discuss with my classmates. If there was something that offended Brother Hu, I still hope that Brother Hu wouldn’t mind it. I want to give Brother Hu an apology.”

A sick person. A good-looking sick person who was very polite and reasonable with people, apologized with a guilty face to a person who had misunderstood someone based on mere speculation and became livid when he was reasonably persuaded to change his mind.

This scene made some of the scholars around frown with disapproval.

There was even a Juren, who had a strong sense of justice, who came forward and introduced himself first before he advised Hu Chuan, “This brother is right. What he said is right, so don’t be angry with him.”

Hu Chuan simply couldn’t catch his breath anymore.

It had always been him and the other two Jurens who gave Zhao He a bad time to make him suffer. It wasn’t until this moment when the same thing was applied to him that he finally understood how suffocating it was.

It just so happened that Lin Shiheng, who stood opposite of him, coughed twice right at this moment. He was born beautiful and with his face so pale, although his body was weak, he carried the feeling that he was fluttering. Most scholars were appearance lovers. Seeing such a good-looking person coughing so weakly at the moment, when it was obviously not his fault yet he still apologized, it was simply impossible to resist the urge to lay condemnation on the iron-faced Hu Chuan.

Hu Chuan felt these eyes; so before his reputation was about to be destroyed, he endured humiliation and returned the bow.

“Brother Lin has thought too much. I was just thinking about what Brother Lin had said.”

As he said this, his eyes lifted to stare at Lin Shiheng’s good looking face, then gritted his teeth and squeezed out, “It was really better to listen to Brother Lin’s words than to read books for ten years.”

“I hope that in the future, I will be able to learn more from Brother Lin.”

Lin Shiheng only acted like he couldn’t see the vicious intent in his eyes. He stood up slightly and coughed twice with a gentle smile on his face, he said slowly, “If that’s the case, then it’s naturally for the best.”

“Brother Hu is very knowledgeable. It’s beautiful today and the scenery is good. Brother Zhao and I were discussing our studies while fishing. Now that Brother Hu is here, why don’t we continue together?”

Hu Chuan gritted his teeth again, “I still have things to do, so I’ll be leaving now.”

The white-faced scholar in green clothes bowed very politely with a gentle smile, “Farewell.”

Hu Chuan, who didn’t want to give him a salute, stiffened and returned the salute, “Farewell. Excuse me.”

Zhao He dumbfoundedly watched as the three people who had always thrashed him, all turned around and left with gloomy faces.

It was the first time he had taken on all three of them and for it to end with them leaving first.

Several scholars around came forward to introduce themselves, exchanging their names and a few words before they left one after another.

After all, the imperial examination was soon, although they were on a ship, they were still scrambling to study.

Zhao He had yet to regain himself and was almost like a wooden man as he returned all the courtesies and met all those people. When only he and Lin Shiheng were left, he looked at the green-clothed scholar who had continued to fling his fishing rod into the water, unable to resist, he leaned over.

“Brother Lin, thank you for just now. Whenever I spoke to the three of them before, it was always the three of them against me, but I didn’t expect that it would be the three of them that would be defeated today.”

Lin Shiheng revealed a light smile on his face, “Brother Zhao needn’t be polite. I’m not good with words, that’s why I specifically asked Brother Hu to discuss. So naturally, the remaining two won’t be able to say anything.”

Zhao He just thought of that, “Still, Brother Lin, you’re quick on the uptake.”

“By the way, Brother Lin, was what you told them true? If you are short of money, I can lend you some silver. Rest assured, just borrow it, you can give it back to me later in the future.”

Lin Shiheng bowed his head and showed a slightly shy smile.

“Brother Zhao, it was a joke, I am also a Juren. How could I be so distressed? I just said those words so that the Brothers around me would be partial to me.”

Zhao He was stunned and couldn’t recover for a while.

“You, you cheated them?”

“How can you call it cheating someone?”

Hearing his denial, Zhao He breathed a sigh of relief.

Yes… How could such a magnificent Brother Lin have lied…

The green-clothed scholar smiled apologetically.

“Just a white lie, how is it cheating?”