Saint's Ideology, Cooking Small Fish

Chen Xu later forcefully stopped Chen An from trying to push the broken silver back to him.

He also warned him, "Go back and return this money. Brother absolutely forbids you from going to repair the river channel!"

Hearing him say this, Chen An's eyes immediately welled up. "But, but we only accepted three taels of silver, and the higher-ups had already agreed. If we want to go back on our word, we have to return at least ten taels of silver!"

"Ten taels?" Chen Xu frowned.

But it was obvious that this was the usual way of doing things for certain people.

Even more so, from top to bottom, for the laborers to receive three taels per person, it would probably be considered a show of mercy by the officials.

Returning ten taels for breaking the agreement was not a big deal at all.

Chen Xu said, "Just leave the matter of lacking money to me. In any case, you must go back and explain clearly. Brother absolutely cannot go to repair the channel!"

After thinking for a moment, fearing that his family would not comply, he specifically added, "I am definitely going to take the Courtyard Examination this year. I have a 99% chance of passing. Once I achieve fame, and it becomes known that my elder brother went to repair the channel, it will be an indelible stain on my life.

Little An, do you understand?"

He spoke so seriously that Chen An immediately and nervously clutched the three taels of silver back into his embrace, nodding firmly. "Second Brother, don't worry. I will go back and explain the situation clearly. I will absolutely not let Brother go to repair the channel."

Chen Xu patted his younger brother's shoulder. This brother was only fifteen years old this year.

In his past life, a fifteen-year-old boy would still be in junior high school, but Chen An was already working in the fields and managing the household.

Although he was young, his thin shoulders seemed to possess the strength of an adult.

The two brothers sat opposite each other in the kitchen. Chen Xu brought out the leftover porridge and flatbread from the morning and asked Chen An to eat with him.

Chen An, however, took out a pre-cooked chicken from his basket. As soon as the chicken appeared, the aroma of meat filled the entire kitchen.

The little rat squeaked from a distant crack, "So fragrant, so fragrant, too fragrant! Ninth Master, I really want to eat it..."

Ninth Master slowly said, "Did you hear that young scholar say that this is a chicken specially killed by the scholar's mother to celebrate his birthday, prepared as food for him? We absolutely must not covet even this food. Do you understand? A Shi."

The little rat squeaked, "I understand, I understand! Ninth Master, I'll just drool. I won't be greedy."

The little rat squeaked "fragrant" countless times, but unfortunately, this chicken was not made by Chen Xu himself, so Chen Xu did not receive the little rat's likes.

A faint smile appeared on Chen Xu's lips. He and Chen An ate and talked. During their conversation, Chen An repeatedly praised Chen Xu's porridge and flatbread as delicious.

[Likes +1 +1...]

Thus, even though Chen Xu didn't receive the Rat Demon's likes, he managed to fill up the five likes that Chen An could provide.

The brothers chatted, mainly with Chen Xu asking about the family's situation.

Chen An said, "Spring plowing has already begun. Everyone in the village wants to borrow our ox, but Father said our ox is old now and should not be easily lent out, otherwise, overexertion would shorten its lifespan."

He also said, "Little Sister practices calligraphy at home every day. Besides you, our family's smartest person is Little Sister. Mother always says it's a pity she's a girl, otherwise, she would send her to study too.

Little Sister also constantly nags me and Big Brother to recognize characters. Alas, it's not that we aren't diligent, it's just that these strange and peculiar characters make us dizzy after looking at them for too long!

Mother is already looking for a wife for Big Brother. She said she has found a suitable family and will arrange it once Big Brother returns from repairing the channel... Uh, we're not repairing the channel anymore."

After listening, Chen Xu commented, "Not lending the ox is the right decision. Let Little Sister study diligently if she loves it; there may be opportunities to go to a academy in the future. As for the family Mother is looking for Big Brother... there's no rush, delaying it by two months is not too late."

Chen An nodded repeatedly, his eyes sparkling. He also shared interesting village stories and gossip with Chen Xu from time to time.

When the two brothers started talking, Chen An's chatterbox seemed to have no off switch. After not seeing each other for a while, he was a little afraid of Chen Xu at first, but once the conversation got going, he was the happiest.

Later, Chen Xu selected some ingredients and made a large basket of small round flatbreads the size of apricots.

These small flatbreads were also of a simple recipe, using simple ingredients.

But with Chen Xu's talent, [My Food Will Always Be More Delicious], even these simple flatbreads were made exceptionally fragrant and sweet by him.

Chen An, standing by, was initially very confused. He knew that his second brother lived alone and sometimes had to cook for himself, which was not strange.

But making so many, and so skillfully, Chen An found it difficult to understand.

Chen Xu said, "I am gradually understanding a principle: the myriad flavors of the world, the classics of sages, are they not all found between the pots and stoves?

The sage himself said, 'Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish.' Why should we later scholars, in pursuit of the sage's ideals, not begin by understanding the Great Dao from cooking small fish?"

This reason was irrefutable. At least for Chen An, he could not refute it.

Finally, Chen An listened to a belly full of grand principles, his head spinning, before he took a large bag of small round flatbreads and two baskets, bidding Chen Xu farewell.

Chen Xu asked him to take the small round flatbreads back to the village and tell the villagers that they were food distributed by a kind benefactor.

If the villagers wanted to taste them, they had to first calm their hearts and praise the food's deliciousness.

Chen An was once again confused and foolishly asked, "Second Brother, why not just say you gave them? If you said they were from you, the elders and villagers would be grateful to you."

"If I say they are from me, I give them today, will I give them tomorrow? If I give them this time, will I give them next time? If I give them every time, won't it be endless? Little An, you cannot spoil the greed in people's hearts."

Chen An "Ah"ed. Although he didn't fully understand, he felt that what his second brother said made a lot of sense, so he firmly kept these words in his heart.

Chen Xu was currently in a stage where he needed to quickly accumulate strength, which was why he seized every opportunity to gain likes.

But he knew deeply that this act of giving away food everywhere could not last, so he was thinking of it as a one-time deal.

Once he unlocked the God of Cookery Cultivation Scroll, there should be more suitable ways to gain likes in the long run.

After sending Chen An away, Chen Xu placed a chicken drumstick he had specifically saved onto the stove, then returned to his room and summoned the Cauldron Scripture.

He planned to first use up the existing resources in the Cauldron Scripture. When night fell, it would be the perfect time to settle accounts with Sun Wu, the proprietor of Boyazhai!

Over the past while, he had received a few more likes, and now his panel showed an abundance of Free Attribute Points.

[Total Likes: 663]
[Free Attribute Points: 18]
[Firework Value: 313]

Without hesitation, Chen Xu immediately spent 100 Firework Value to enter the Embers Kitchen.

First, he'd allocate points.

He added three points each to Vitality and Essence, but not to Spirit.

Because his Spirit originally had three more points than his Vitality and Essence, adding these attribute points now brought Chen Xu's Three Essences of Spirit, Qi, and Body back into a balanced state.