Chen Song wanted to call it 'showing off,' but he felt the words were too harsh.
To be fair, while De'an's suggestion was unreliable, Jing's proposal was highly feasible.
He couldn't reject everything they said just to put them down. That would be unfair to the boys.
But Chen Song was also worried they would eventually misspeak, so he gave them a pointed reminder. "From now on, you must think carefully before you speak. When making your way in the world, the biggest mistake is to speak too freely with those you barely know. You both have scholarly honors now, and the people you'll be dealing with won't be ordinary. Remember this well." 'What if they say the wrong thing and offend someone? They could be crushed without even knowing how it happened. Wouldn't that be a terrible injustice?'
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jing and De'an both nodded respectfully in agreement. They wouldn't dare try to act clever in front of strangers again.
