Chapter 10 Lesson 1

  The new teacher, Mr. Zheng, is named Shuqiong and his courtesy name is Qinglian. From Old Man Yang's conversation with him, it was learned that he was originally a descendant of a famous family, who had passed the imperial examination at a young age and held a minor official position, but because he was too honest, he was framed by others and lost his official position. Later, the county magistrate saw that he had some learning, so he let him become a teacher in the school, teaching for thirty years until now, when he retired to his hometown, he was invited by Old Man Yang who had been searching everywhere for a teacher.

  Scholars are often a bit pedantic. Passing by the two stone locks in Yang Wenguan Garden, they glance at them lightly and hum coldly, showing great disdain.

  Yun Qi led the way, and the three of them walked into Yang Wenguang's house. At this time, the house had already been cleaned up by the servants, with freshly ground ink on the desk and neatly arranged paper. Seeing this, Yun Qi couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that Old Man Yang also knew that if Mr. saw the original state of the house, he would probably vomit three liters of blood before even starting to teach. Looking at Yang Wenguang, who was acting like nothing was wrong, it was clear that this kid had already gotten used to making a mess and then having someone else clean up after him.

  Zheng Shu saw that the room was tidy and bright, with pens, ink, paper, and inkstones arranged neatly. He felt delighted in his heart. Turning around to face Yun Mo Yu at the desk, he said: "Go fetch a basin of clear water."

  Lao Yun had not yet fully entered the role of a book boy, and when he shouted, no one responded. Zheng Shu Mu thought his voice was too low and the other person hadn't heard him, so he raised his voice: "Book Boy, go fetch a basin of clear water."

  He suddenly reacted, hastily nodded and said yes, took the basin to the garden to fetch some water, and respectfully presented it to Zheng Shu Mu's face, but didn't know what the old man wanted to do.

  The old man rolled up his sleeves, carefully washed his hands clean, and moved extremely lightly. There was not a single drop of water on the table. After washing, he said to Yang Wenguang in front of him: "Wenguang, come and wash your hands first." He made way for him with a gesture.

  Yang Wenguan listened to the teacher's instructions and did not talk back, although he muttered to himself, but still learned from the teacher's example, washed his hands, only with bigger movements, water splashing everywhere, even getting some on the nearby rice paper. Zheng Shu saw this and quickly used his sleeve to carefully wipe it away. After everything was done, Zheng Shu sat at the table and said to the two people standing opposite him: "Wenguan, do you know why I wanted you to wash your hands before teaching you to read?"

  Yang Wenguan was taken aback, shook his head and waited for the old man to explain. Even Yun Qi on the side was somewhat perplexed, earlier when they arrived, several people had already washed their hands, why did they need to wash again after entering the house? Were these scholars always so difficult to serve?

  Zheng Shu saw Yang Wen's official shake his head and smile lightly, saying: "I have been writing with a brush for over 40 years. Before I start working, I always wash my hands with clear water. Firstly, these books were passed down by the ancient sages, so doing this shows respect. Secondly, reading requires a calm mind. If you're impatient or unstable, you can't read well. Washing your hands can calm your mind and make it as still as water, which makes learning much easier. This is one of my secret techniques."

  Although he was unhappy in his heart, he didn't dare to express it in words. Yang Wenguan could only say: "Thank you, sir, for your good advice. I'm deeply grateful."

  Zheng Shu waved his hand and said, "Forget it. I wonder what the literary officials and your former masters have learned? Can they even compose poetry?"

  Yang Wenguan shook his head and laughed, "In the past, as long as a scholar came, he would be driven away within three days. If he could recognize a few characters, that was already quite something! And yet, he dared to compose poetry? Go dream on!"

  "Could he read and write?"

  Yang Wenguan was embarrassed and said: "A student... a student can only write his own name!"

  Silence...

  A silence so quiet you can't even hear your own breathing...

  Yun Qi finally realized at this time that this kid was almost illiterate. His eyes rolled over and he was struck speechless.

  Before long...

  "Bang!" Zheng Shu was furious, slapping his palm on the table and indignantly saying: "How can this be? Some of today's teachers not only have little knowledge themselves but also mislead their students. Hmph!"

  Yang Wenguan's face turned even redder, and he thought to himself: This isn't someone else slandering me, it's just that I'm not good at studying, all day long I just think about practicing martial arts. Now being told by the teacher that it's his fault, even if someone had a thick enough face, they would probably want to find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

  Zheng Shu saw Yang Wenguang not making a sound, always lowering his head, and thought that he had been moved to sadness by his own words. Suddenly, with a surge of magnanimity, he opened his mouth and said: "Wenguang, don't worry, as long as you are willing to learn, I will definitely pass on all my life's knowledge to you."

  "Alas!" sighed Yang Wenguan inwardly, feeling even more disheartened. What he said was true, but if this gentleman in front of him were a martial arts master who would impart his lifelong knowledge to him, he would probably be so excited that he wouldn't be able to sleep or eat. But what it boiled down to was literary skill, and all he could feel was disappointment and despair. However, he couldn't bear to disappoint his teacher, so he went against his conscience and said: "The student thanks the master for his great kindness."

  Zheng Shu comforted himself and didn't waste any more time, letting Yang Wenguang sit down. He said: "Today, I will teach you how to write. You must know that seeing a person's handwriting is like seeing the person themselves; from one's handwriting, you can see their temperament and character." After finishing speaking, he picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and slowly wrote a single character for "eternity" on the paper. When he finished writing, he gently put down his brush. On the not-too-large rice paper, the single character for "eternity" was strong and powerful, showing off his exceptional calligraphy skills. Even Yun Qi, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but nod in agreement; it seemed that this old man still had some real skills after all.

  Zheng Shu finished writing and pointed to the character "yong", saying: "The eight strokes of the 'yong' character, all the basic strokes of Chinese characters are in this one character. It looks simple, but it's difficult to practice well. From today on, you will write 500 'yong' characters every day, and after finishing, let me take a look. Today is just the beginning, if among what you've written there are twenty that satisfy me, then today's study will end here, if one less, then add ten more to write."

  "Ah! Good heavens! I'm done for!" This was Yang Wenguang's inner cry, but no one could hear it. It could only be seen from his bitter face that the difficulty of these 500 radicals was no less than killing him. He raised his head to look at Yun Qi, his eyes indicating: You'd better help me out!

  "Master, this little one can't help you, and I think that old man also has some real skills. Master, aren't you thinking of learning martial arts? The first lesson in learning martial arts is endurance and concentration. The better these two are practiced, the easier it will be to learn martial arts, and the higher the achievement will be. Now, take this opportunity, Master, don't waste it. Moreover, if Master is willing to study hard, I believe Old Master won't strongly oppose Master learning martial arts anymore, and it will be more convenient for me to teach you martial arts later."

  "But...this...this is too much." Yang Wenguang's face was filled with a bitter expression.

  "Heh heh, young master can rest assured, last night I've already compiled a set of fist techniques for you. Once the master leaves, I'll be able to teach them to you." Alright, in order for this prodigal son to learn and for me to stay at the Yang Manor for a bit longer, I'll have to use both threats and enticements.

  "Alas... alright. Listen to you..." Thus, Yang Wenguan also had no choice but to lower his head and imitate the gentleman's "yong" character, writing it stroke by stroke.

  Yun Qi saw the first "yong" character written by this kid and had an urge to slap him. How can a person live without shame, yet write characters like a dog chewing on them? No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand, so he simply stopped thinking and gazed out the window, letting the young master do as he pleased.

  ………………

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