Zhou Jin from "The Scholars": Only by swallowing the pain of being laughed at can we usher in the glory of success.

The most fearful thing in life is poverty. Because once a person becomes poor, his friends will become far away, relationships will fade, and the world will become cold.

From now on, you will not be able to see the enthusiasm of others, and you will not be able to experience the warmth of society. Even your relatives who are connected by blood will draw a clear line with you and make a clean break.

Words such as rolling eyes, indifference, ridicule, teasing, adding insult to injury, etc., will be like a knife that cuts across your body in an instant, leaving you bleeding and bruised.

Guo Degang had a deep understanding of this, so he said: "The poor stand on the crossroads, playing with ten steel hooks, but they can't catch the flesh and blood of their relatives; the rich hide in the mountains and old forests, wield swords, guns and sticks, and beat them." Never leave friends without friendship. ”

It’s very profound and very true, because this is human nature.

However, faced with this situation, what should we do? Can I just let the cold knife scratch me all over?

Later, I read "The Scholars", in which there was a teacher named Zhou Jin who was over sixty years old. He looked coldly and suffered a lifetime of hardship, but he never gave up. In the end, he changed his destiny through all the hardships and was admired by others.

So I seemed to find the answer to the question from him.

During the Chenghua period, there was a teacher named Zhou Jin in Wenshang County, Shandong Province. He was over sixty years old. He had been taking the imperial examinations all his life, but he failed to become a scholar. Said it was a fateful one.

Later, Mr. Gu from the yamen asked him to teach at home. Unexpectedly, his fortune turned out to be good. In only the third year, Mr. Gu's youngest son passed the exam to become a scholar. His bleak life finally saw a glimmer of light.

But this incident did not change the way others looked at him with ridicule, because there is a saying to describe scholars: "Poor scholar, poor scholar." Looking at this poor Zhou Jin, he is not even a scholar. Not on.

The person who humiliated Zhou Jin the most was Xuejiaji in Wenshang County. On that day, people from the Xue family set up a banquet and invited Zhou to come into the village to teach the children.

On that day, Zhou Jin walked to Xuejiaji wearing an old coat with torn sleeves and an old felt hat. He had a thin face and a gray beard. At that time, people heard dogs barking outside and knew that Zhou Jin had arrived, so everyone stood up to greet him.

However, there was one person who did not move at all in his seat. It was not until everyone welcomed Zhou Jin into the room that he slowly stood up and met Zhou Jin. This man's name is Mei Jiu, a scholar who was selected as a scholar at the same time as Gu Xiaoxiangong. Today he is here to accompany the guests.

After Zhou Jin entered the house, he asked everyone: "Who is this Xianggong?" Everyone said: "This is Mr. Mei who we gathered in Xiang (xiang)."

Zhou After hearing this, he quickly gave in, not daring to accept Mei Jiu's offer. So everyone advised: "In terms of age, you are the oldest, please stop giving in."

As a result, Mei Jiu on the side immediately turned around and explained to everyone: "Everyone is I don’t know the rules of our school, but old friends never talk to younger friends.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone could tell that Mei Jiu was deliberately mocking Zhou Jin. So what does Mei Jiu mean by that sentence?

It turns out that according to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, those who passed the exam as scholars in the college were called friends, while the children who failed the exam were called little friends. Ordination refers to sorting size by age.

In other words, no matter how old you are, as long as you are not selected as a scholar, you will be a kid in the academy. But for those who are successful, no matter how young you are, the children will have to call them "old". friend. But Mei Jiu directly said that the purpose was to embarrass Zhou Jin in front of everyone, show off his talents, and laugh at Zhou Jin's pain points.

Zhou Jin was not annoyed by this. Maybe he was used to it, maybe he was numb, or maybe he was helpless. He silently followed everyone's wishes, accepted Mei Jiu's bow, and then sat at the head table, Mei Jiu sat at the second seat, and the others sat down in sequence.

After a while, the dinner table was filled with pork heads, roosters, carp, ducks, livers, intestines and the like. However, halfway through the meal, everyone realized something was wrong. Zhou Jin, who was sitting at the head of the table, had not even moved his chopsticks from the beginning to now.

So the person in charge, Shen Xiangfu, asked, "Why didn't you move your chopsticks today? Could it be that the food didn't suit your taste and you were blaming us on purpose?" He picked it up and handed it over.

Zhou Jin stopped and said: "To be honest, when my mother was seriously ill, I made a promise to Guanyin Bodhisattva that I would only eat Changzhai (vegetarian rice) from now on. I have been eating it for more than ten years now."

After listening to this, Mei Jiu, who was sitting at the second seat, smiled and said, "I remembered a joke. I heard Mr. Gu, the clerk in my city, say that there was a man named Mr. Poetry. I am a scholar, I eat a long fast, my beard is full of gills, I don’t open the scriptures, I arrange the paper and pen by myself, and I will come without you next year.”

After reading the poem, Mei Jiu said in a strange tone: "A great talent like me, Brother Zhou, will never stay idle. A scholar, that's just around the corner. But this person who eats the long fast and has a beard full of gills is actually being said!"

After that, Mei Jiu laughed loudly, and everyone also laughed with Mei Jiu. On the other hand, Zhou Jin's expression changed and he smiled in embarrassment, but he didn't seem to be smiling. Because Zhou Jin knew that the joke in Mei Jiu's mouth was him.

The person in charge, Shen Xiangfu, quickly toasted Mei Jiu with a glass of wine and said, "Mr. Mei should toast Mr. Zhou. The teacher in Mr. Gu's family is Mr. Zhou."

In fact, Mei Jiu knew that the one- to seven-character poem was about Zhou Jin in front of him, but he also said, who said that you are over sixty years old and can't even be a scholar? I'm not laughing at you. You, who am I laughing at?

After hearing Shen Xiangfu’s reminder, Mei Jiu deliberately pretended not to know, and then continued the performance, saying: "It deserves the punishment, it deserves the punishment, I really don’t know that this is Brother Zhou, after all, it said he is a Scholar."

After hearing this, Zhou Jin felt a pain in his heart. He thought that he was almost buried, and he failed to become a scholar. Not only was he overtaken by the younger generation, but he was also ridiculed and ridiculed openly and secretly. Sarcastic. I wanted to retort a few words, but thinking about how poor I was and having to point to them to eat, I felt desolate in my heart.

Looking up at Mei Jiu, he was still continuing, with no intention of stopping or letting him go. Mei Jiu then said: "Actually, eating Chang Zhai is also a good thing. Years ago, I had an uncle who also ate Chang Zhai. But later when he entered school, his teacher gave him a piece of Ding Ji bacon. My grandmother said, Ding Ji bacon If you don't eat it, the saint will worry about it, and it will bring disaster or illness. So my mother-in-law has to start a long fast. Now, my brother Zhou will definitely not have bacon in the autumn."

After Mei Jiu finished speaking, everyone picked up their wine glasses and echoed, saying that Mr. Zhou will be in high school soon this year and would like to congratulate him in advance today. After hearing this, Zhou Jin's face turned green and red with embarrassment, and he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl under. However, in order to keep the museum's funds for the next year, he had no choice but to raise a glass of humility and thank him again and again.

The beginning of a person's strength is to be able to bow his head for life, to bend down for a livelihood, to make sacrifices for a mouthful of food, and to devote his whole life to a dream.

Because Zhou Jin understood, Zhou Jin tolerated it.

After dinner that day, Zhou Jin received the deposit and stayed in Guanyin Nunnery to teach the children. Those children were born clumsy and naughty, and they were all as stupid as stupid cows. As long as Zhou Jin couldn't stand it for a moment, they would sneak out and make trouble, so Zhou Jin had to hold his temper and teach carefully. Before I knew it, two months passed in an ordinary way.

On this day, after Zhou Jin had lunch, it started to rain, and it became heavier and heavier. After a while, a boat came from the upper reaches of the river in the distance, and a group of people got off to take shelter from the rain at Guanyin Temple. The leader, wearing a scarf and luxurious clothes, is about 30 years old.

When the monk in Guanyin Temple saw it, he quickly came out to salute and introduced to Zhou Jin: "This is Uncle Wang, a newly elected person with a criminal record. Mr. Zhou, you sit with me first, and I will get tea." "

Wang Juren was not humble. He sat down casually, asked Zhou Jin's name, said he knew it, and started chatting.

Zhou Jin said: "Mr. Wang's Zhujuan has been read very well in late life, especially the last two paragraphs, which are particularly exquisite."

Wang Juren said humbly: "The last two paragraphs are particularly exquisite." The two paragraphs were not actually written by me."

Zhou Jin asked doubtfully: "Mr. Wang is too modest. If you didn't write those two paragraphs, who could have done it?"

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Wang Juren said: "Those two paragraphs were not written by me, nor by anyone else. Strange to say, on the ninth day of the first session that day, it was getting late, and I had not even finished the first article. , so I was wondering, I usually write the fastest, why am I late today? Just when I was thinking, I felt sleepy, and I took a nap. Guess what happened next? ”

Zhou Jin replied: "I don't know if I was born late."

Wang Juren went on to say: "I just closed my eyes that day when I saw five green-faced people jumping in. One of them in the middle was holding a big gun. The pen touched my head, and immediately, another man wearing a gauze hat, a red robe and a gold belt came in, patted me and said: Your Majesty, please get up! I was shocked at that time, and I was sweating all over my body. When I woke up, I unconsciously picked up the pen and wrote the next two paragraphs subconsciously. It can be seen that there are ghosts and gods in the Gongyuan."

Zhou Jin was listening to the excitement when a student came to grade his homework. Zhou Jin asked. Put it down. Wang Juren, who was next to him, accidentally glanced at the name, turned back suddenly, and was surprised. I saw the word Xunjiu written on the paper. For a moment, Wang Juren had a strange look on his face.

When Zhou Jin saw it, he was too embarrassed to ask, so he finished the homework first. After a while, Wang Juren asked: "How old is your student?"

Zhou Jin said: "He is seven years old this year."

Wang Juren said: "Let me tell you. It’s a joke. On the first day of the first lunar month of this year, I dreamed about the examination list. Not only was I at the top, but I also saw another name also on the list. He was also from Wenshang County, and his name was Xunjiu. Now it seems that, How could I be in the same ranking as a primary school student? It seems that this dream is not accurate." After saying this, he laughed.

After Zhou Jin heard this, he retorted: "Mr. Wang, this dream is also accurate. I had a banquet here two months ago. The new scholar Mei Jiu said that at that time he was a scholar. Previously, he had a dream on the first day of the first lunar month. He dreamed that a big red sun fell on his head, and he became prosperous this year. "

Wang Juren said: "What he said is even more inaccurate. , Think about it, the red sun sets for him who is a scholar, so why shouldn’t the sky fall for me, who is a successful candidate?”

After Zhou Jin heard this, he suddenly understood that it was so. What Rimeijiu said at the table was probably teasing herself, bullying herself for not having gone to school and not knowing the truth inside, and then making up a bunch of lies and telling them to herself, so that she stupidly believed them to be true. , blaming his failure on not dreaming.

The next morning, the sky cleared up and Wang Juren left, leaving bones and food residues on the ground. Zhou Jin was dizzy and confused, like a zombie, and spent the whole morning cleaning up.

From then on, word spread that Xun Jiu and Wang Juren were on the same list, and they were treated as a laughing stock. The angry village squire Xun Xun couldn't tell the difference. Moreover, the children also changed their tune and called Xun Jiu "Xun Jinshi".

And Shen Xiangfu also said to everyone behind his back: "This is not what Wang Juren said personally. It was obviously Zhou Jin who saw us gathering, and only Father Xun's family was rich, so he deliberately said these words to flatter us. , so that the Xun family could give him two more coins."

As a result, Zhou Jin's reputation in the village plummeted, and no one wanted to see him anymore. However, since Zhou Jin was recommended by Xia Zongjia, who was on duty in the yamen, everyone could not refute Xia Zongjia's reputation, so they had to let him hang out in the village for a year.

Later, Mr. Xia also felt that Zhou Jin was dull and didn't know how to come over to show his respect, so he let everyone go and resigned Zhou Jin.

It really corresponds to the words in "Han Kiln Fu": "The dragon has not been encountered yet, swimming among the fish and shrimps. The gentleman loses his time and surrenders to the villain."

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It is said that after Zhou Jin was resigned, life became even more difficult.

One day, his sister-in-law Jin Youyu came to see him and advised him: "Uncle, don't blame me for telling you that it is difficult for you to study for fame. In this life, this is a rare thing. A bowl of ready-made rice, how come you can't finish a meal like this? I have met a few wealthy people now, and I go to the provincial town to buy goods. I am short of a bookkeeper. Why don't you take a walk with me? How can I have less food for you?"

After Zhou Jin heard this, he was silent for a long time, thinking to himself, I am like "a paralyzed man who fell into a well - he just sat down when he was fished out." It would be better to go like him. , it can be considered as having a meal. Immediately, Zhou Jin agreed, and his sister-in-law left with more than enough money.

That day, Zhou Jin had nothing to do in the provincial capital. He went out for a stroll and saw many craftsmen, all of whom said they were going to repair the tribute courtyard. So Zhou Jin followed him to the gate of Gongyuan, trying to get in and take a look, but was whipped out by the gatekeeper with a big whip.

In the evening, Zhou Jin told his brother-in-law Jin Youyu about this and insisted on going in to see it. Jin Youyu had no choice but to spend a few small coins and go see it with a group of guests.

At that time, the owner of the store took the lead and entered the door. The owner of the store pointed and said: "Guest Zhou, this is a Tianzihao. Go in and see for yourself."

Zhou Jin entered the door and saw two horn boards arranged neatly. Unexpectedly, his eyes felt sour. He sighed and bumped his head against the horn board. He froze and fell unconscious.

For a moment, everyone panicked and didn’t know what to do. The master of the business said, "I think it's because no one has been here for a long time, and the yin energy has become strong, so this week's guest has been struck by evil."

Jin Youyu said, "Xiandong, I will support him, and you can I went to the workman and asked him to drink some hot water."

Soon, the hot water was brought, and three or four people helped Zhou Jin drink it. Zhou Jin spit out a mouthful of thick saliva and woke up. Turn around. Everyone was happy to see that it was good. Unexpectedly, Zhou Jin just stood up and saw that the signal board was hit again. This time he didn't faint, but he started to cry loudly.

Everyone couldn't stop themselves, so Jin Youyu said, "Don't you think this is crazy? Come to the Gongyuan and have fun. It's not like someone died in your family. Why are you crying like this?"

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Zhou Jin couldn't hear it either, so he just leaned against the trumpet board and cried uncontrollably. After crying on the first number, he started crying on the second, third, and fourth numbers. He rolled on the ground and cried again and again. Everyone's heart was filled with emotion. Be miserable.

Seeing that it was nothing, Jin Youyu and another man held his arms on both sides. But Zhou Jin was willing to get up and cried again and again until he vomited blood from his mouth.

When everyone saw it, they quickly carried him out, sat down in a tea shed in front of the Gongyuan, and gave him a bowl of tea. After that, Zhou Jin cried alone. So sad.

One of the guests asked: "What's sad, Mr. Zhou? Why are you crying so hard when you get here?"

Jin Youyu sighed: "Old guests, I don’t know, but my uncle is not a businessman. He has studied hard for decades and has never been a scholar. I feel sad when I look at this Gongyuan today."

Just because these words spoke to Zhou Jin's true feelings, he ignored everyone and burst into tears again.

Another guest said: "Our old guest Jin should only be blamed for this matter. Since Mr. Zhou is a gentle man, why did he bring her out to do such things?"

Jin Youyu said : "There is no other way. He is a poor man and has no job, so he ended up on this road."

Another guest said: "Look at your uncle's situation. The talent in his heart must be good."

Jin Youyu said: "He is talented and learned, but it was only due to bad luck that he ended up in this situation."

That guest. He said: "Prisoners can also enter. Since Xianggong Zhou is talented and learned, why not donate a prisoner to him? If he wins, today's worries will not be in vain."

Jin Youyu said: "I I think so too, but where can I find this amount of money?" At this time, Zhou Jin also stopped crying.

The guest said: "This is not difficult. Now let me and my brothers here. Each of them will take out dozens of taels of silver and lend it to Prime Minister Zhou to be imprisoned. If he wins, he will become an official. , even if Mr. Zhou doesn’t pay us back, we who are traveling in the world will not lose a few taels of silver! Besides, this is a good thing. What do you think?”

Everyone said in unison: "A gentleman wishes to be a beautiful man." He added: "Not doing what is right is a sign of lack of courage. Why don't we want to do it, but we just don't know if Mr. Zhou is willing to give in?"

Zhou Jin said: "If this is the case, you guys Even if my parents are reborn, I, Zhou Jin, will transform into a donkey and a horse." After saying that, Zhou Jin crawled to the ground and kowtowed a few times, and everyone quickly returned the favor.

There is a saying in "Journey to the West": "High mountains have their own travel routes, and deep waters have their own ferrymen." And Zhou Jin's encounters finally made it possible for the poor man to survive, and it was pitiful. When a person sees the light, it is like a carp leaping over the dragon's gate - only one jump away.

The next day, all the guests gathered together more than two hundred taels of silver and handed it to Jin Youyu. Jin Youyu got the silver and immediately started to take care of the matter.

It was the time when the master was recording his legacy, so Zhou Jin took the opportunity to recruit a supervisor. The supervisor was equivalent to the status of a scholar and could directly participate in the provincial examination in the province.

On the eighth day of August, the exam began. At that time, Zhou Jinyi entered the tribute courtyard and saw that his position was exactly where he had cried. He was overjoyed and thought that his luck this time must be good.

After sitting down in the examination room, Zhou Jin picked up a pen and ink and immediately started writing on the test paper. The last few articles he wrote were like a cluster of flowers and a stroke of genius. On the day when the results were released, Zhou Jin was indeed selected as the candidate.

For a time, everyone was happy, and they packed their bags and returned to Wenshang County with Zhou Jin. When Zhou Jin arrived at the county, he first met with his parents, teachers and the county master. Others also came to congratulate Zhou Jin.

No matter you know each other or not, whether you are familiar with it or not, everyone is here. Even Shen Xiangfu, who had said bad things about Zhou Jin behind his back, collected money in Xuejiaji and bought four chickens and fifty eggs to celebrate Zhou Jin.

"The Book of Changes" says: "The noble and the humble depend on their position."

This position refers to both time and direction. In fact, Zhou Jin was still the same Zhou Jin, but because his position was higher, he became a nobleman.

Afterwards, Zhou Jin rose to great heights. With the help of Jin Youyu, Zhou Jin went to Kyoto to take part in the joint examination, and was awarded the Jinshi in high school and ranked in the top three.

Three years later, Zhou Jin was promoted to censor again, and later he was appointed to study Taoism in Guangdong. It can be said that time has come and gone, and progress has been made.

At this time, Zhou Jin was wearing a scarlet robe, gold belt, fine clothes and food. He was famous and respected by others. The most valuable thing is that after Zhou Jin succeeded, he did not forget his roots at all.

That day Zhou Jin was presiding over the examination, and he saw a boy coming over. He had a sallow complexion and a gray beard. He was wearing a torn linen clothes in the cold winter of December. He was so cold that he came trembling to hand in the paper. . The clothes were already rotten, but a few pieces were torn in the room. It was very pitiful. When asked about his age, the candidate was already 54 years old.

Zhou Jin couldn't help but sigh, thinking about himself back then, also wearing tattered clothes, spending countless days and nights in that narrow cell, but still not seeing the light of day. Now that I have the ability, I will definitely not let the talents of those poor people be buried anymore.

Later, when Zhou Jin got the kung fu, he carefully corrected this person's test paper. After reading it, he was amazed that it was indeed the best text in the world, every word and every word. Immediately, Zhou Jin filled in the first place with a stroke of his pen. And this lucky man is the familiar Fan Jin in "Fan Jin Passed the National Examination", but this time he was a scholar and had not yet passed the examination.

Alai once said: "From a human perspective, historical progress is not great."

When you are in poverty, ridicule, rolling eyes, and ridicule will come at you. Zhou Jin was like this before, and you are like this now, because this is human nature.

When you are in embarrassment, please be patient, patient, and patient again. Only after you have tasted all the sufferings in the world can you slowly smell the sweet taste of Liquan.

Similarly, when you become successful, please don’t forget those people who never leave you and want to help you when you are in trouble, because these people are your most sincere friends.

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