Seeing that the whole family had been thoroughly frightened and no longer had any extraneous thoughts, Su Qiao, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke.
"Dad, you know now why I wouldn't let you become an official, right?"
"To be an official, you need to be deep-minded and full of schemes. You need to be tactful and agreeable in every situation. You mustn't harm others, but you have to guard against being harmed by them. Otherwise, you might accidentally be framed and lose your head, and your family could even be implicated."
"And you don't have many schemes, you don't know how to guard against people, and you understand even less about the darkness of officialdom. How could you be suited to become an official?"
Ernie was somewhat curious. "Then doesn't that mean officials are all very scheming?"
"At the very least, you have to be smarter than bad people." Su Qiao had originally wanted to say that at the very least, one had to be better at schemes and trickery than the worst people.
"Then... then how can you become smarter than bad people?"
Su Yaohui's thoughts, which had only just subsided, began bubbling up again.
All these years, he had never managed to pass the scholar examination. He had wanted to teach at a private school, but had been rejected. He didn't know how many people were secretly watching him make a fool of himself. If he could become an official, would those people still dare mock him behind his back?
"First, become familiar with all kinds of stories and precedents from ancient and modern times. Find out about the careers and past experiences of the people around you, draw parallels, and learn lessons from them."
"Second, whenever you encounter anything, think three times before acting.