TTLJDFL Chapter 25

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That night, after finishing his book-copying, Li Jin continued practicing his handwriting using rough paper.

When the young man saw him doing such basic exercises, he was visibly surprised.

Li Jin put down his brush and turned to look at him. “What’s the matter?”

The young man smiled slightly, the cinnabar mole on his brow appearing especially vivid under the candlelight.

He said, “When my brothers were studying, their teacher also made them start by practicing the most basic strokes—horizontal and vertical lines.

Before, I noticed that you only traced over existing characters instead of practicing from scratch. I wanted to mention it but never found the right opportunity.”

After a pause, he added, “Now that you’ve begun reinforcing your writing skills, I don’t need to say anything.”

Li Jin figured that he must be referring to the original owner of this body, which was why he had never had the chance to correct his habits.

Li Jin asked, “Do you know how to write as well?”

By now, he had recovered most of the original owner's memories, so he wasn’t worried about exposing himself.

However, the original owner had very few memories related to the young man. Li Jin only knew that the young man had been bought into the household, but he knew little about his past.

Qin Muwen lowered his gaze and softly replied, “A little. But for someone like me, writing isn’t useful, so I didn’t learn much.”

Li Jin smiled. “How could it be useless? When we start making money, you’ll be responsible for keeping track of expenses. Once I’ve mastered my own writing, I can teach you properly.”

The young man’s eyes widened in disbelief. Even his own father had once told him that literacy was pointless for someone like him.

It was better to learn music so he could play for his future husband.

But now, his own spouse was telling him, in all seriousness, that he could study writing and even manage the household accounts.

Li Jin found his reaction amusing and said, “I could start teaching you now, but since I’m still improving my own skills, I don’t want to mislead you.”

"I'll only have the confidence to teach you once I've practiced better."

As for the boy's background, Li Jin didn’t delve into it.

Even if the boy was once born into a wealthy and noble family, the fact that he had fallen to such a state now proved that his family had already collapsed.

Asking again would be like forcibly tearing open a wound that had already formed a scab—too painful.

So, Li Jin didn’t continue the topic.

He would wait until the boy had let go of everything and was willing to tell him on his own. That would be the right time.

Later, the boy sat on the bed, coaxing the little bun to sleep. After finishing ten sheets of calligraphy practice, Li Jin put out the lamp, washed up in the courtyard, and fell asleep to the sound of cicadas chirping.

=

The next morning, both of them had already developed an unspoken understanding of their routine.

The boy cooked porridge, roasted potatoes, and mixed a bowl of wild vegetables.

Li Jin fed the child, washed up, and packed his basket.

Actually, after the next sale of medicinal herbs, he would be able to save up enough money to buy a book chest—the kind often seen in TV dramas, the kind scholars carried when traveling for the imperial exams.

It was usually woven from willow branches and used to store brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and spare clothes.

Although he didn’t really need one now, it would be much more convenient than carrying a basket when he had to travel to the county for the exam in February next year. A book chest would allow him to organize different items separately.

Plus, it had a canopy to shield against sun and rain, preventing the contents from getting wet.

However, book chests weren’t allowed inside the examination hall. Only a simple book basket could be brought in.

That day, Li Jin arrived early as usual. The day before, Mr. Song had given him a book of classical texts, which was divided into three sections: upper, middle, and lower. Mr. Song had only given him one section.

Li Jin did a quick calculation—The Four Books contained about 40,000 to 50,000 characters, and the Five Classics had even more.

Each book was roughly around 10,000 characters.

The portion Mr. Song gave him yesterday was only about one-third of a book, roughly 3,000 characters.

That was why he had managed to finish copying it in one night.

Li Jin estimated that his copying speed was around 3,000 characters per hour. The book from the previous night had taken him just over an hour to complete, which he was quite satisfied with.

It would take at least a month to finish copying The Four Books and The Five Classics.

Thinking about it, ancient scholars really had it tough. Even for the most basic Tongsheng exam, they had to memorize The Four Books and The Five Classics flawlessly, along with texts like The Expanded Instructions on the Sacred Edict.

Before Mr. Song arrived to assign the day’s lesson, Li Jin picked up his brush and began attempting to write from memory the passages he had copied the previous day.

He hadn’t deliberately tried to memorize them the night before, but since he had an adult’s way of thinking, he focused on understanding the text, which made it easier to recall.

He had written about a quarter of it when Chen Xiran arrived.

The moment he stepped in, he let out a series of dramatic "Aah! Aah! Aah!" sounds.

"Li Xian-di! You just got that book yesterday, and today you can already write it from memory?"

Li Jin smiled wryly. "Not really, I'm just trying to recall it. I haven't memorized it perfectly yet."

Chen Xiran had studied the same book before. He had a good memory, so he skimmed over what Li Jin had written.

"You say you're just trying, but you didn’t get anything wrong! I always thought I had a natural talent for studying, but today I see that there’s always someone better. Li Xian-di, you’ve humbled me."

That day, Mr. Song arrived a bit late, looking quite displeased. It was unclear what had happened.

In ancient times, teachers held great authority. If he was in a bad mood, he could very well cancel the day’s lesson altogether.

But Mr. Song was clearly well-mannered. He took out two books, handing one to Chen Xiran and the other to Li Jin—it was the annotation for the classical text Li Jin had copied yesterday.

"Chen Xiran, go read by the window. Li Jin, start copying."

Both of them responded in unison, "Yes, sir."

This was a clear example of teaching according to students’ abilities. Mr. Song knew that Chen Xiran had a great memory and came from a wealthy family with a well-stocked study. So, he didn’t make him copy texts and instead let him focus on reading.

The book in Li Jin’s hands was relatively thin, so he estimated that he could finish copying it within the morning.

Fortunately, Li Jin was aware of his own family’s financial situation and had no sense of competition.

Otherwise, he might have felt unfairly treated—why did the teacher make him copy while allowing Chen Xiran to simply read?

After Mr. Song left, Li Jin spent half an hour finishing his memory exercise. There were a few obscure characters whose shapes he roughly recalled but couldn’t write out completely.

Then he started copying the annotations. The book contained two different handwriting styles.

It seemed that Mr. Song's had been very kind to him, even giving him treasured books.

As Li Jin read further, he noticed that for the characters he didn’t recognize, Mr. Song had circled them and added explanations.

Apparently, even in ancient times, people didn’t instantly recognize every obscure character.

This, however, made it easier for Li Jin to understand and memorize them.

By noon, the class next door had already ended. Mr. Song entered the study still looking extremely displeased.

He didn’t even bother lecturing and immediately had Chen Xiran recite the book he had read in the morning.

Then, he quizzed Li Jin with a few questions.

Fortunately, neither of them had slacked off and answered correctly, which somewhat improved Mr. Song’s mood.

After that, he assigned them homework and dismissed them.

Once they stepped out, Chen Xiran nudged Li Jin with a mischievous expression. "I know why Mr. Song is in such a bad mood today."

Li Jin responded with a simple "Oh."

Chen Xiran pouted. "Aren't you curious?"

Li Jin replied, "Not really."

Chen Xiran nearly choked on his words. "You’re really no fun. Fine, I’ll just tell you."

"A few days ago, Mr. Song's mother passed away. Now, just three years after her death, the villagers—trying to curry favor with him—actually sent a young maiden to be his father’s new wife."

Chen Xiran continued, "Wouldn’t that make anyone furious? He now has to call a girl who’s twelve years younger than him 'mother.'"

Li Jin frowned. "Would the teacher agree to this?" Although it was his father who was taking a second wife, it was clear that Song Yuan was the one with real prospects now. His father should at least consult his son’s opinion.

Chen Xiran said, "Of course not. To be honest, even the teacher's father didn’t agree, but that family insists that the old man defiled their daughter’s innocence..."

This was truly a case of being unable to clear one's name, even if one jumped into the Yellow River.

Chen Xiran continued, "The old man managed to raise a scholar; he certainly isn't foolish. If he had actually done such a thing, the teacher would be stripped of his title as well.

"In my opinion, this is definitely a deliberate false accusation against the teacher."

Based on his interactions with Mr. Song over the past few days, Li Jin also felt that the teacher was an upright and trustworthy person. His father was already an old man; it was hard to believe he would suddenly take an interest in a girl young enough to be his granddaughter.

So, what was the true goal behind these accusations?

Chen Xiran sneered. "My father has already gone to investigate. Don't worry, the teacher’s innocence will be proven.

"Think about it—we're about to take the imperial exam soon. If the teacher is stripped of his title, where would we find another scholar to guarantee us?"

Every scholar had a limited number of recommendation slots.

There were only three scholars in the surrounding ten miles. Li Jin wasn’t familiar with the other two, and even if they were willing to sponsor him, they might not have any slots left.

Li Jin immediately became serious. "So, according to Brother Chen, the real target of this scheme is us?"

Was that really necessary?

Chen Xiran looked embarrassed. "I did some asking around yesterday, Li Xian-di. Apparently, they’re not really worried about you passing the scholar exam—they're worried about me."

Although the town was small, there was still competition.

If a scholar’s protégés passed the exam, the court would reward the scholar as well.

This meant that if Mr. Song successfully produced another scholar, his reputation would surpass that of the other two scholars in town.

Li Jin thought to himself that this kind of scheming was even more dramatic than the tales in storybooks.

He had previously heard rumors about examinees being given laxatives to prevent them from taking the test. Now, this sort of sabotage was happening right before his eyes—he really needed to be more cautious in the future.

But why was Chen Xiran so confident that the culprits were afraid of him passing the exam?

As if reading Li Jin’s thoughts, Chen Xiran admitted, "Li Xian-di, you really don’t pay attention to the town’s gossip. I tend to be a bit flashy, and when my family first moved here, I claimed I was sure to pass this time..."

Li Jin fell silent.

Truly, arrogance invites trouble—some things never change.

Li Jin said, "If the teacher needs our help, let me know anytime."

Chen Xiran responded, "Don’t worry, Brother Li—I won’t drag you down!"

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