Insufficient balance

  Mo Sheng slowly opened his eyes, feeling a bit dizzy. Where was he? He remembered that when he was at the Huashan Cliff, he saw someone jumping off the cliff and rushed to stop them, but unexpectedly, the woman pulled him back, and he fell off the cliff with her. Then, he heard the sound of rushing wind in his ears, and after that, everything went black.

  Because of Mu Sheng's achievement in the college entrance examination, becoming the top scorer in liberal arts in the county, the school decided to celebrate this unprecedented event by organizing a trip to Mount Hua for all faculty and staff, with expenses covered by the school. As the protagonist, Mu Sheng naturally couldn't be absent. However, good things turned bad when Mu Sheng fell off a cliff while saving someone, causing the school to receive criticism from higher authorities, but Mu Sheng was unaware of these events.

  Mo Sheng was orphaned at a young age and was raised by his grandfather. In the first year of high school, his grandfather passed away due to stomach cancer, leaving Mo Sheng alone. Due to his excellent academic performance and special family circumstances, the school waived his tuition fees for the next three years. The school also provided some living expenses every month, barely enough for Mo Sheng to get by. As a result, Mo Sheng's life was very austere. However, he did not complain and maintained a calm attitude towards life. "Facing everything with equanimity and looking at life with peace" was his motto.

  Back to reality, Mu Sheng carefully observed his surroundings and found himself lying on a wooden bed with a very old quilt. The room was very small, except for two broken wooden stools and an old table, there was nothing else. The house should be a thatched hut, as dry grass fell from time to time. And the grass had been there for a long time, because it had turned grayish-black, apparently rotten almost completely. "Looks like this family is very poor!" Mu Sheng thought to himself.

  But I didn't die, which is a blessing in disguise. Thinking about that day, oh! It seems like I still lack calmness, from now on I must consider things thoroughly, and absolutely cannot let such an incident happen again.

  Musheng felt that apart from some soreness and aching all over his body, there was nothing else wrong with him. It seemed that he wasn't seriously injured. But this didn't seem quite right - such a high cliff, falling down would have left him barely alive, yet... could it be that heaven had taken pity on this wretched person?

  At this time, a footstep came from outside the door. Mu Sheng looked towards the door and saw an old man with white hair coming in. His hair was disheveled and scattered on his shoulders, his chin was thin and pointed, and he had a long beard. He wore a worn-out hemp short shirt, tattered pants, and a hemp belt around his waist. As soon as he entered the door, he said: "Little brother is awake!"

  Although Mo Sheng found the old man's attire a bit strange, he still thanked him: "Thank you, sir, for saving my life."

  The old man smiled and said, "I don't dare to claim the favor of saving your life. I just carried you back from Qianfeng Cliff. It's a coincidence that yesterday I went to Hunyuan Temple to burn incense and passed by Qianfeng Cliff, otherwise I wouldn't have seen you, little brother."

  "Anyway, I still want to thank Grandpa for saving my life," said Mu Sheng.

  The old man said somewhat impatiently: "This will be the last time, but I'm curious about your attire, little brother, and why you're lying under Qianfeng Cliff."

  The old man's words gave Musheng a shock, could it be that his attire was not suitable, or perhaps... Musheng thought of this and looked incredulous, so he hastily asked: "Old sir, what country is this?"

  The old man replied with a puzzled expression: "This is the Hunyuan City of Wuguo. How come, young brother, you are not from Wuguo?"

  After listening to the old man's words, Muzhen confirmed his own thoughts. However, Muzhen was a calm person and since he was alone with no attachments, he came to accept it easily. Seeing the old man's suspicion, he explained: "It wasn't that, but after I woke up, many things from before were forgotten, so I asked."

  "It seems I've worried too much, little brother must be hungry! I'll go heat up some food, plain tea and simple meal, hope you won't mind." The old man said with a smile.

  "Old master, you're too polite," said Musheng.

  The old man then left and went out, and Mu Sheng thought, "Since I've come here, it's better to get familiar with the surroundings."

  He got out of bed and saw a pair of tattered cloth shoes by the bedside, his own feet bare, with no idea where his original shoes had gone. Having no choice, he put them on. After leaving the room, he saw two more thatched cottages beside it, one of which was emitting smoke, indicating that the old man was cooking. There were no other households around, only a few mu of paddy fields and some woods. Zhuo Sheng stood in front of the door, taking in the fresh air on the open ground, feeling much more comfortable.

  At this time, the old man came out of the kitchen and saw Mu Sheng standing outside. He said: "Young brother, dinner is ready, come and eat!"

  "Here." Mu Sheng responded, then walked towards the kitchen. He saw that the kitchen had only one stove, a broken wooden table and two wooden stools. In the corner, there were some farm tools. Next to the stove was a water tank and two old wooden buckets. Behind the stove were some firewood. The facilities were simple, but the living supplies were complete. When Mu Sheng came in, the old man had already put the dishes on the table. The old man was serving rice and said: "Young brother, come sit down, don't be polite, just like you're at home."

  Mo Sheng didn't refuse, holding a coarse ceramic bowl, Mo Sheng and the old man sat face to face. The old man asked: "Young brother, I've been talking with you for so long, but I still don't know what your name is, can you tell me?"

  "It was I who was rude," said Musheng: "My name is Musheng, and I am 19 years old."

  "Oh!" The old man responded with a sound, and then he didn't speak again. Mu Sheng saw that the atmosphere was a bit dull, so he asked: "Old grandpa, is it just you living in your house?"

  "The old man smiled wryly, 'I'm still not married', at this point, the old man looked extremely desolate, feeling guilty towards his parents and heaven."

  Musheng saw the old man like this, and his heart couldn't bear it. Thinking of how he used to rely on his grandfather in the past, he felt something welling up in his eyes. Since heaven had given him a second chance, why shouldn't he cherish it? So he got up and knelt down to the old man, saying: "Old master, if you don't mind, from now on I'll be your grandson."

  The old man listened to Muzi's words, was stunned for a moment, and then said with relief: "Good, good, good, grandson get up quickly."

  Then the old man and his grandson happily finished their meal. In the afternoon, the old man wanted to go up the mountain to chop firewood, and Mu Sheng asked to go together. At first, the old man disagreed, saying that Mu Sheng's body had just recovered and was not suitable for heavy labor. Mu Sheng said it was okay, he hadn't been hurt much, he had just fainted for a long time. In the end, the old man couldn't persuade Mu Sheng, so he agreed to let him go together. At dusk, the old man and his grandson each carried a load of firewood back home, chatting and laughing.

  While having dinner, the old man said: "Grandson, tomorrow Grandpa will go into town to sell firewood, are you going or not?"

  "Going" Mu Sheng replied affirmatively: "The grandson also wants to go and see the world."

  "Alright, alright, it's good that you have this idea, but your current attire won't do in the city. When I was young, I studied for two years and still have my old student uniform, including a long gown and a felt hat, although they're a bit worn out. Would you be willing to wear them?"

  "As long as it's Grandpa's, I'm willing to wear it," said Musheng. After dinner, Musheng took a bath and put on the old man's youthful student uniform. Although the clothes were a bit old, they didn't have any tears, and the old man even brought out the hat he wore when he was a student. Musheng changed into the clothes and put on the hat. Although it felt a bit uncomfortable, for the sake of adapting to life here, Musheng did so without complaint.

  At dawn, the old man and his grandson each carried a bundle of firewood towards Hunyuan City. After about an hour, they arrived. The old man didn't sell firewood on the street in Hunyuan City, but instead came to the back door of a wealthy family's house. He knocked lightly a few times, and soon the back door opened. A servant in green clothes came out and said, "Old Zhang has delivered the firewood so early!"

  The old man smiled and said, "This will trouble Lin brother again."

  "It doesn't matter, just follow me and put the firewood in the woodshed," said the servant in green clothes.

  The old man followed the servant with his firewood, while Mu Sheng didn't say a word. He knew that sometimes it was unnecessary to speak for himself. The two of them carried their firewood through the backyard garden and arrived at the woodshed. After putting away the firewood, the servant in green said: "It's still the same as before, Old Zhang, go settle the account with Manager Qin." Then he left.

  The old man seemed to be familiar with the place and quickly arrived at the door of Qin's house. After being announced, the old man and Musheng went in together. Inside, apart from a middle-aged man, there were two women who appeared to be mistress and servant. As soon as the old man entered, he said to the middle-aged man: "I'm sorry to disturb you, Director Qin."

  Qin Zongguan also said with a smile, "It doesn't matter," and then took out three strings of copper coins, estimated to be around 300 or 400 pieces, and handed them over to the old man, saying: "Old Zhang, this is for firewood. I don't know who this young brother is behind you, I haven't seen him before." After finishing speaking, he still sized up Zhuo Sheng's ordinary appearance.

  The old man took the copper coins and said respectfully: "His name is Mu Sheng, he's my newly acknowledged grandson." Upon hearing this, Qin Zongguan carefully sized up Mu Sheng, who was dressed like a scholar, while the woman beside him also looked at Mu Sheng with curiosity. Mu Sheng felt uneasy all over under their gaze.

  Qin Zongguan sized up Mu Sheng, this person's appearance was ordinary, but that one body of English air was imposing, his eyes were divine, as if he could see through everything. Without a hint of tension in front of himself, he said with great appreciation: "My young master lacks a companion to read books with, I wonder if Zhang Lao Han's grandson is willing."

  Before Mu Sheng could speak, Old Man Zhang hastily replied: "Thank you, Qin General Manager, for the recommendation. My grandson is very willing." Qin General Manager did not respond to Old Man Zhang and instead stared at Mu Sheng. Seeing this, Mu Sheng spoke up: "I am willing."

  Qin Zongguan saw that Mu Sheng had agreed, and for some reason, he felt a sense of relief. He said: "Since you've agreed, report to the Zhao residence in three days." Mu Sheng and the old man thanked Qin Zongguan and took their leave. After Mu Sheng left, the woman said: "Qin Bo, why did you choose that person as your younger brother's study companion?" She was clearly full of doubts.

  "Tell the young lady, this person seems ordinary at first glance, but is actually not just on the surface. I've seen countless people and feel that there's something about him that can't be figured out, but from his eyes, it can be seen that he's a trustworthy person."

  "Oh!" The woman was apparently surprised and said: "I would like to see the unusual place of a person who can get such recognition from Qin Bo."

  Listening to what Miss said, General Manager Qin laughed and said: "Miss, you will know this later."