Seven dishes—five meat dishes, one half meat and half vegetable, plus a soup—would cost at least one tael of silver.
And when Students ate their meals in the dining hall, they might spend only one tael over the course of many days.
Liang Yuan glanced at Chu Ming, then at Ning Hao, and answered with a smile, "Senior Brother Xu has a good eye. I just finished copying it today."
"Hoho, then congratulations, Junior Brother Liang. With your skill, a copy of True Landscape Painting could fetch at least three taels of silver. It's certainly worth celebrating."
"Senior Brother Xu flatters me." Liang Yuan looked modest, but inside, he was quite pleased.
But when he turned to look at Chu Ming, that pleasant feeling vanished in an instant.
After praising Liang Yuan, Xu He turned to Chu Ming. "Ning Hao excels at poetry and prose, while Liang Yuan is quite accomplished at painting. Junior Brother Chu, you should learn more from your Senior Brothers Ning and Liang."
Who was supposed to learn from whom?
Ning Hao and Liang Yuan shifted their gazes, not daring to look at Chu Ming or Xu He.
"Yes." Chu Ming clasped his hands and replied. Ning Hao and Liang Yuan both secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If Senior Brother Xu found out that the poetry and prose, and painting, they took such pride in were still inferior to those of Chu Ming, a junior brother who had only just joined the academy... That would be far too embarrassing.
"But you should also keep your priorities straight, Junior Brother. Don't let it interfere with your main studies."
As Xu He spoke, he suddenly changed tack. "Whether it's Junior Brother Ning's poetry or Junior Brother Liang's painting, both are the result of talent combined with years