Einfacher Congee-Roman

Kapitel 58

"Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, the universe was vast and boundless. The sun and moon waxed and waned, the morning sun and the night stars were arrayed. Cold came and heat went, autumn harvest and eastern storage..."

The sound of reading aloud that rang out every day at 3:45 AM had become a scenic feature of Huaxiang Lane, though it might not be considered particularly beautiful, it was certainly loud and clear. However, these past few days had been a bit strange, as the sound of reading was coming from the Fan family's courtyard.

"Master, I have a question!"

The scholar stopped reciting, walked to the preserved egg's side, and nodded to signal him to ask.

"Do we really have to have classes here?"

"Yes, we will be taking classes here from now on."

Pidan's face tightened, and he couldn't take it anymore. He said, "Then can you please ask Xiaoxiao Fan to stop causing trouble?!"

Not far away, the accused man was sweeping his yard, making the fallen leaves look like dragons soaring across the sea and phoenixes dancing in the sky, appearing quite busy. Hearing someone mention him, he immediately looked up, "Who's causing trouble? Who's causing trouble? What's wrong with me sweeping my own yard?"

Fan Bing was filled with grievances. His master had made a mistake by following this despicable, shameless man who feigned madness, and the deed was already done with him. He could let it go for now, but the Fan family mansion was supposed to be his responsibility. Why was the main hall and courtyard suddenly being vacated for this man to use as a private school? His master had clearly been blinded by something; this man surnamed Shu was a complete gigolo, a conman who preyed on women and lived off them!

The scholar, unaware of his inner turmoil, remained amiable and said, "Shouheng, stop busy, let's sit down and study together."

Fan Bing blushed, threw down the broom, and shouted, "Who said I wanted to learn from you? I don't care! I'm too busy!"

The scholar smiled knowingly and reassured him, "We're all family here, Shouheng, don't be shy."

"Who's ashamed! And who the hell calls themselves 'Conservation'?!"

Amidst Fan Bingbing's furious roar, in the study just a few walls away, Fan Qingbo had also finished his manuscript—a love story about Gongye Bai. A few days ago, he received a message from Feng Yan urging him to complete the manuscript, so he put aside everything else, asked the painter Jin to watch the shop, and then worked day and night to finish it, finally completing the task before the deadline.

I haven't been to the store for a few days. I hope Huanxitian hasn't been turned into a den of iniquity by the golden painter.

Fan Qingbo was lost in thought when she reached for a small couch in the corner of the study to rest. Usually, after finishing her manuscript, she could sleep for a full day and night, but today, for some reason, she couldn't fall asleep after only about half an hour. With her eyes open, her right hand unconsciously touched the bracelet on her left wrist. Her mind drifted away from the story she had just written, rewinding and gradually aligning with what she had been thinking about a few days ago.

That day, blinded by lust, she didn't even get to say what she needed to say before pulling the scholar into bed. After that, she frantically rushed to finish her manuscript, leaving even less time to talk to him. If she remembered correctly, he seemed angry that day? No, it seems he's still angry now? Come to think of it, she's been sleeping in the study these past few days, with Fan Bing bringing her breakfast, lunch, and dinner; she hasn't seen the scholar at all…

Then she belatedly realized that the scholar seemed to be giving her the cold shoulder, and that she had unknowingly started sleeping in separate rooms from him.

Sitting up cross-legged, chin in hand, Fan Qingbo fell into deep thought. The newlyweds' argument about sleeping in separate rooms was an inauspicious start, but it couldn't justify her insomnia. She always believed that quality of life consisted of eating and sleeping, and of course, after marriage, sleep split into static and dynamic sleep—both had to be addressed thoroughly. But getting back to the point, what she wanted to express was that someone like her, who couldn't sleep even after catching her boyfriend and best friend cheating in her past life, was now waking up automatically after less than an hour of sleep after working for several days straight. What did this signify?

When did a scholar become able to influence her like this? A menace, this guy is definitely a menace. Sure enough, a dog that bites doesn't bark, and a man who can act cute is definitely not a good guy! She hadn't even done anything, and he'd already been subtly and peacefully transformed? She didn't consider herself a slow learner; after living for decades, she couldn't play that little girl's game of "Do I care about him? Don't I care about him? Ugh, that's all an illusion, I don't care about him at all," but this...

When exactly did this happen?

Could it be true, as the books say, that women love because of sex?

"Pah! Pah! Pah!" Banishing the nasty thoughts from her mind, Fan Qingbo was wide awake and full of energy. As if making a decision, she jumped off the bed, a sweet smile she herself didn't even realize was playing on her lips, and headed straight outside. After a few steps, she hurriedly turned back, picked up a stack of manuscripts from the desk, put them in a wooden box, and then picked up the box and headed outside again.

"The Dragon Master and the Fire Emperor, the Bird Official and the Human Emperor, first created writing, and then clothing..."

As soon as Fan Qingbo entered the courtyard, she saw a group of children swaying their heads and reciting the Thousand Character Classic along with a scholar. What caught her eye, however, was a remarkably gentle boy mixed in with the children, so gentle that he was nothing like Fan Bing. Looking at his earnest pursuit of knowledge, various promotional photos of Hope Primary Schools involuntarily flashed through her mind…

His eyes welled up with tears, but he immediately remembered the important matter at hand.

"Puff puff puff, puff puff puff!"

The signaling abruptly stopped. Fan Qingbo's lips twitched as she looked at the children who had all turned to look at her, then at Fan Bing, who was intently copying words from his book and completely ignoring her. She thought to herself, "Thank goodness the scholar didn't notice how embarrassing I am..."

"Shouheng, it seems someone is looking for you," the scholar said without looking away or changing his expression.

As soon as the teacher spoke, the children, no longer holding back, greeted him in unison, "Greetings, Master Fan!"

Fan Qingbo waved awkwardly to everyone, tears streaming down his face. His lifelong reputation and image were ruined in an instant, all because of Fan Bing!

"Master, are you done with your work? When did you arrive?"

She squinted, giving Fan Bing a forced smile as he trotted over. "It's been open for a while now, but you seem pretty busy."

Fan Bing then realized the situation was bad, and immediately lowered his head, tugged at his ear, and snuggled closer, pleading, "Master~~~~~~"

Fan Qingbo shuddered and pushed him away, then shoved the box into his arms. "Stop being disgusting. Send this manuscript to Mr. Feng for review, and ask him to take over for the painter Jin for a couple of days. I'd like to ask for leave. Oh, and when you come back, don't forget to pick up my note from Xiaoyao Teahouse and bring back some free tea, fruit, and snacks. Oh, and bring back a copy of the newspaper too."

Fan Bing accepted the order and left. Fan Qingbo wandered around aimlessly, eventually settling down in Fan Bing's former seat, picking up his book with a serious expression, and reading along with everyone else. The children seemed to find it interesting, sitting up straighter and listening to the lesson with even more enthusiasm.

Amidst this joyful atmosphere, the only one who probably felt uncomfortable was the scholar.

Even if he deliberately avoided looking, it wasn't hard to imagine his wife's feigned prim and proper face outside the bedroom. How could this woman be so outrageous? She ignored him for days, and he only mentioned it casually, yet she actually slept in a separate room. And now she's pretending nothing happened? How could this woman be so shameless? He was deliberately ignoring her, so why was she still smiling at him like that? To be honest, his wife's smile was quite beautiful—bright eyes, curved lips, a face like a peach blossom… Go away! Poverty cannot sway her, wealth cannot corrupt her, and power cannot subdue her! Did she think that her success in the study meant he was just a lustful man? Did she really think that a flirtatious wink or a pout would make him forget that she had cheated on him with her old lover right in front of him? Not a chance! Not even a window!

—Hey, didn't you deliberately avoid looking at her? How come you can see her so clearly?

The scholar was filled with mixed feelings; he was sometimes happy, sometimes annoyed. Remembering that they were having a cold war, he would sometimes stare blankly, and sometimes glare at them with a stern face...

"Master, what's wrong? Your face is so red!"

"Nonsense! Turn to page ten and read along with the Master—"

"Master, we learned page ten yesterday!"

The scholar blushed, speechless for a moment, his large eyes wide with an innocent and helpless expression. Fan Qingbo, unable to bear it any longer, spoke up to smooth things over, "Weren't you just reading 'Dragon Master, Fire Emperor, Bird Official, Human Emperor'? Isn't this page ten?"

"Hey! Boss Fan, you don't know!" Pi Dan suddenly turned to her, "These past few days, the teacher has been making us start reading from the first page, and we always stop here. We're learning the same thing every day, but only Little Fan is still so enthusiastic. We can all recite it backwards!"

—Fan Bing was exceptionally quick to learn in other areas, but his memory for knowledge from books was always limited to a single day. This was why Fan Qingbo promised to teach him to read and write but did not persist.

Now she couldn't speak up for him anymore, and together with the children, she silently looked at the person on the stage.

"get out of class dismissed!"

The scholar, feeling utterly ashamed, clutched his books and stormed out the door.

The children looked at each other, puzzled: "Is the teacher angry?"