diskusbooks Chapter 96: How Much Does It Resemble the Past?
Chapter 96: How Much Does It Resemble the Past?
After the lively gathering of brothers, the weather outside became increasingly hot. For several days in a row, Yinzhuo did not even step out of Shuyizhai, let alone go for a stroll outside Enze Garden. However, just because he wanted to avoid leisure did not mean that trouble would let him go. Even though he did not leave the house, he was still busy.
"Sixth Brother, your story is wrong. I've heard the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The ending should be that Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo turned into butterflies and flew away together. She hated Ma Wencai so much, how could she marry him?"
As the weather got hotter, the riding and archery classes at the Imperial Study were suspended. Before, when Fourteenth Prince wanted to come and see his Sixth Brother, he had to wait for the Imperial Study to be closed. Now, however, he spends most of his afternoons with Yinzhuo.
"Why not? In my opinion, Zhu Yingtai must marry Ma Wencai. You can listen if you want, or you can go have fun on your own, or go back to Chunfeng Hall directly."
These past few days, Yinzhuo has suffered heavy losses in dealing with the Fourteenth Prince. Not to mention that his lake of lotus flowers was destroyed by the boy in just a few days, his koi carp in the lake also suffered greatly. In order to prevent his comfortable study from being destroyed by this monkey, Yinzhuo could only rack his brains to think of some fresh stories to attract the boy's attention and keep him from having time to destroy his home.
"Yes, yes, Sixth Brother, let's continue. After we finish telling the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, what's next?"
Yes, what should we talk about next? This question stumped Yinzhuo, after all, he had already ruined quite a few sketchbooks in the past few days. Was he going to tell the story of Snow White's stepmother and the seven tall men now?
After much thought, Yinzhuo felt that the story was not suitable for children, so he frowned and pondered for a long time before deciding to continue working on the drawing book.
"Alright, Sixth Brother will tell you the story of Chang'e flying to the moon next. After Hou Yi successfully shot down the suns, he took his wife Chang'e to a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains..."
Mr. Zhou's version of Chang'e flying to the moon was just as shocking to the Fourteenth Prince as the previous version of Zhu Yingtai marrying Ma Wencai. After hearing this story, the little guy's mind was filled with only one sentence: Crow's Fried Noodles, Crow's Fried Noodles, Crow's Fried Noodles...
"So, do you want to hear more? If you do, I have Nuwa patching up the sky, Yu the Great controlling the floods, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie... Tell Sixth Brother which one you want to hear."
Upon hearing that his sixth brother still had so much stock, Fourteen frowned.
"Sixth Brother, can't you come up with a more normal story? Why do we have to stick to fairy tales?"
Heh, you have the nerve to say that to me? Aren't you just indulging in your own nonsense? Why don't you take a look at how you've ruined my Shuyizhai? How much does it still resemble what it used to be?
"I'm telling you classic myths, so why is that abnormal?"
Upon hearing this, Fourteenth Prince pursed his lips, thinking to himself, "If your story is normal, then what about all the ones I've heard before?" When Yinzhu saw Fourteenth Prince's sullen expression, he knew that if he continued to tease him, he would probably make him explode, so he quickly stroked him to appease him.
"Alright, Sixth Brother was just teasing you earlier. Now I'm not teasing you anymore, let's tell a proper story. The story I'm going to tell you next is called The Tortoise and the Hare. Once upon a time, there was a very proud rabbit. He ran very fast and often mocked the slow-moving animals, especially a tortoise that always walked slowly. Almost every time he saw the tortoise, he would go up to him and say, 'You walk so slowly, how can you compare to me? I run much faster than you.' After saying this so many times, the tortoise naturally got very angry. So he said to the rabbit, 'Rabbit, do you dare to race me and see who runs faster?'"
This story sounded much more normal than the previous ones. Fourteen had never heard a story like this before, so he listened quite attentively. When he heard the tortoise propose a race with the hare to see who could run faster, he couldn't help but speak up.
"Of course it is. The tortoise moves so slowly, the rabbit is bound to win."
Fourteen's reaction was actually the same as that of most people hearing the story for the first time. After all, in people's minds, tortoises are slow, so how could a tortoise catch up with a rabbit when it runs? Yinzhu glanced at Fourteen but did not answer his question. Instead, he continued his story.
The rabbit thought the same as you; it thought the tortoise was really overestimating itself. So, laughing loudly, it replied to the tortoise, "Of course I dare! You can race whenever you want!" They agreed on a time for the race and went their separate ways. The day of the race arrived quickly, and all the forest animals, having heard about it, came to watch. As soon as the race started, the rabbit darted off like an arrow, leaving the tortoise far behind. After running for a while, it stopped and looked back, but couldn't see the tortoise at all. It couldn't help but think smugly, "This race is so easy! In that case, I might as well take this opportunity to sleep." The rabbit, thinking that since the tortoise was so slow, wouldn't necessarily catch up even after he woke up, quickly found a good spot by the roadside, lay down, and fell fast asleep. Meanwhile, the tortoise, seeing the rabbit disappear from sight, wasn't worried. He slowly crawled forward, step by step, never stopping despite the slow pace. Gradually, he caught up with the sleeping rabbit. Even then, the tortoise didn't stop, continuing to crawl towards the finish line. Just as the tortoise was about to reach the finish line, the rabbit finally woke up. He got up and ran desperately, but it was too late; the rabbit had already reached the finish line. Thus, the race ended with the tortoise's victory.
Fourteen frowned upon hearing this, not expecting the tortoise to win the race in the end.
"Fourteen, do you know what lesson this story teaches us?"
Goodness, we were just listening to a story, why did it suddenly turn into a test? Yinzhu's question stunned the Fourteenth Prince. Although the Fourteenth Prince was young, it didn't mean he couldn't think. So the little guy's brain immediately started working.
"I understand, Sixth Brother. This story teaches us that we shouldn't be too proud or complacent."
Upon hearing this, Yinzhuo nodded, raised his hand and patted the Fourteenth Prince's forehead, praising him.
"Indeed, Fourteen answered very well. As the saying goes, humility makes one progress, while pride makes one fall behind. We should never underestimate others. Remember that sometimes victory depends not on speed and strength, but on wisdom and perseverance. So never give up easily in anything you do. Perseverance will bring rewards."
That makes sense. Didn't his sixth brother just give him a personal example? By persistently telling him those abnormal stories, he eventually lost interest in listening to them.