Instructor Yan Qingzhi had been struck. That sizable lump of earth hitting his face was quite a spectacle—and not only did Yan Qingzhi freeze in utter confusion, even the closest one to him, Li Diudiu, was equally stunned.
But even though it clearly had nothing to do with Li Diudiu, Yan Qingzhi glared daggers at him anyway, then stormed out. He walked rapidly to the low garden wall—and there, with one look, he spotted Gao Xining crouching behind it.
“In… Instructor,” Gao Xining smiled awkwardly. “I was digging for earthworms.”
Yan Qingzhi looked at her. “Young Miss, why are you digging for earthworms here?”
Gao Xining breathed deep and told herself not to panic. But she truly was panicking, and started to stammer: “Digging for earthworms is obviously useful—I’m digging them for my grandfather to eat… no wait, I mean for the fish my grandfather owns to eat… no, no, I mean for my grandfather’s fish to eat…”
Yan Qingzhi: “Did Young Miss find any earthworms?”
Gao Xining shook her head like a rattling drum: “N… none.”
Yan Qingzhi sighed deeply. “You just dug up a big clump of earth instead, didn’t you.”
Gao Xining: “What clump of earth?”
Yan Qingzhi pointed at his own face. “What’s this on my face?”
Gao Xining studied it carefully and replied: “Did the instructor put on powder? This must be the new shade from Yunzhai Emporium—I’ve never seen this particular earthy-yellow color before.”
Yan Qingzhi was so furious his pointing finger trembled. Finally, at a complete loss, he stamped his foot and walked away.
Gao Xining exhaled a long, slow breath. She thought: he’s definitely going to go tattle to her grandfather about this—what should she say when that happened?
Deny everything outright, or confess before he even got there?
Her grandfather wouldn’t beat her, of course—but when her grandfather huffed and puffed and glared, it was quite intimidating. Still, she wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t a student of the academy—Yan Qingzhi had no power to expel her from anywhere.
Yan Qingzhi returned to the classroom and glared at Li Diudiu once more. Li Diudiu had been peeking out the window, wanting to know who was bold enough to fling dirt at an instructor—and from the sheer accuracy of the throw, whoever it was had to be a habitual offender.
“You—go stand outside in punishment!” Yan Qingzhi pointed at the doorway. Li Diudiu started. Was this somehow his fault?
He’d already been pushed to the absolute limit of his anger—only one hair’s breadth from explosion. But seeing Yan Qingzhi’s face covered in dust and grime, he felt an inexplicable surge of satisfaction, and that anger dissipated somewhat.
“Yes, Instructor.”
Li Diudiu bowed, then walked to the doorway and stood there, exhaling a long, slow breath.
Even now he felt like crying—but Shifu had said he was already grown up. What boy cries at the drop of a hat? Shifu said that in this world, the greatest hardships were only two things: separation, and hunger.
Hunger—ranked second—had never once made him cry. A little humiliation was not going to make him cry either.
“Continue the lesson!”
A bark from Yan Qingzhi echoed out of the classroom, and the three remaining students inside didn’t dare even breathe too loudly.
Li Diudiu stood in the doorway and listened carefully. He had to admit: Yan Qingzhi’s approach to mathematics—his method of solving problems—was better than Shifu’s. Shifu knew a great many things; mathematics was Shifu’s worst subject.
He listened and memorized. If he wasn’t allowed to write it down, he’d hold it in his head. Li Diudiu picked up things fast—otherwise his Shifu couldn’t have packed so much into his brain over just a few years.
Just then he noticed a small girl at the low garden wall, peeking out—she seemed to be looking at him. Li Diudiu’s first instinct was: this girl is really very pretty.
Her hair ornaments suggested she hadn’t yet come of age—just a year or two older than himself. A white, soft face with a faint rose tint, lovely eyes, a lovely nose, a lovely mouth—and all together, even lovelier still.
“What are you staring at.”
Gao Xining caught him staring so rudely and muttered four words, then turned and walked away. Her hands clasped behind her back, she strolled along in a manner very like her grandfather—but the simply tied ponytail behind her head swayed back and forth with every step, and that made her look even prettier.
In the great Dachu kingdom, women could not attend school—even if she was the granddaughter of the great scholar Gao Shaowei, the rule was the same. But she loved to learn and wanted to study everything. While other girls her age were still throwing tantrums and being coddled, she sat quietly at her grandfather’s side reading books. Now, at only thirteen years of age, she had already worked through seven or eight tenths of the books in her grandfather’s study.
Gao Shaowei couldn’t bring her into the academy to study—but he could teach her himself. She was his only living family, so whatever Gao Xining wanted to learn, he taught her. Even the subtle and difficult arts of statecraft and strategy fascinated her.
Yet no matter how much she learned, she was still only thirteen—still of an age to love playing. A true prodigy is one who doesn’t sacrifice play yet still learns more than everyone else.
Having already walked some distance away, Gao Xining suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back. She strolled back to Li Diudiu, first holding up her hand to measure their heights. Li Diudiu came up to her forehead. This satisfied her greatly.
With an air far older than her years, she said: “The one teaching inside is no good. If you don’t understand today’s mathematics lesson, you can come to the pavilion over there after class today and I’ll teach you. But in exchange, you have to spar in front of me.”
Li Diudiu said: “Why would you need to teach me? The mathematics problem the instructor taught today has seven different solution methods. The instructor only explained four of them. Can you do the rest?”
Gao Xining heard this and her eyes lit up: “You know this problem has seven solutions?”
Then she caught herself: “Who do you think you’re looking down on?”
Li Diudiu didn’t answer that. Instead he asked: “Was it you who threw the dirt clod at the instructor?”
Gao Xining spoke down to him from her greater height: “Thank me.”
“For what?”
“Because I stood up for you.”
“Mm.” Li Diudiu said with complete seriousness: “The humiliations I receive, I’ll settle myself in due time.”
“Pfft!”
These words made Gao Xining so furious her liver ached. She lowered her head and looked Li Diudiu directly in the eye: “Someone like you absolutely deserves to be bullied. And you argue with a girl. You’re just a stubborn mule.”
Li Diudiu: “My Shifu says the same.”
Gao Xining turned and walked away, looking thoroughly displeased: “Your Shifu isn’t a girl.”
Li Diudiu: “What female has ever been someone’s Shifu?”
The already-departing Gao Xining spun on her heel and looked at Li Diudiu, saying word by word: “Let’s make a bet. If I can’t get you to call me Shifu, I’ll call you Shifu from now on.”
Li Diudiu: “That won’t work. If I’m your Shifu then I’d have to support you.”
Spoken carelessly—but heard with fury.
Li Diudiu was simply thinking naturally of how Shifu had always provided for him over all these years, imperfectly as it was, it was still providing. And now this girl who appeared from nowhere wanted him to be her Shifu? What a pleasant fantasy.
Gao Xining was angrier than she’d ever been in her life. She bit her lip and turned: “You’re not just a stubborn mule—you’re a stiff-necked mule, you’re a dimwitted mule, you’re a… you’re a shameless wretch.”
Then she walked away. She was so angry her stride no longer resembled her grandfather’s at all—only her ponytail swung in wider and wider arcs.
Though the two of them had kept their voices low, inside the classroom Yan Qingzhi had heard everything. He hadn’t come out to interrupt. When Gao Xining finally flounced off with her swinging ponytail, he stood in the doorway watching for a moment—and felt, remarkably, something close to satisfaction.
“That’s enough for today. When you get back, review what you’ve learned.”
Yan Qingzhi waved a hand. “Everyone dismissed.”
He picked up his books and left. On the way out he glanced at Li Diudiu, his expression full of distaste.
Inside the room, Sun Rugong looked curious: “That girl who was talking outside just now—I wonder who she is. I snuck a look just then. She seemed decent looking.”
Zhang Xiaolin: “What of it? What’s interesting about talking to girls.”
Sun Rugong: “Isn’t talking to a pretty girl interesting?”
Zhang Xiaolin: “You want to play with girls? Disgusting!”
Sun Rugong had no interest in arguing that point. He pointed at Li Diudiu: “Isn’t he leaving?”
Zhang Xiaolin quickly ran to block Li Diudiu’s path. “You haven’t forgotten, have you—we still have a fight to finish today.”
Li Diudiu glanced back and saw Yan Qingzhi had already walked quite far away. He nodded. “Once I’m done cleaning the classroom, I’ll go back and put my books down, then come find you in the grove. Don’t be scared.”
Zhang Xiaolin snorted. “If I were scared of you, I’d be a pig.”
He gave a wave. “Let’s go wait for him first!”
Li Diudiu tidied up his things, then sprinkled water and swept the floor. The room was already clean to begin with, and there were only four of them in class—but he still swept carefully from back to front, then wiped every desk and chair.
He carried his books back to his room, washed his face with a basin of water, and thought it over: should he go or not? In the end he got up and walked toward the grove.
In the grove, Zhang Xiaolin and Sun Rugong had been waiting a good while. Growing impatient, Sun Rugong said: “When Li Chi arrives, remember—make sure he hits you where the instructor can see it. I’ll keep watch at the edge of the grove and signal you when the instructor arrives. Before then, feel free to hit him yourself.”
Zhang Xiaolin said: “Don’t worry. I asked our family’s martial instructor about breaking Li Chi’s techniques. I won’t come out badly. The martial instructor said that in all martial arts, speed conquers all—go straight for the face.”
Just as they were talking, Li Chi arrived, rolling up his sleeves as he walked. “If we’re going to fight, please make it quick—I still need to go to the dining hall for dinner.”
“You won’t be eating dinner today.”
The moment Zhang Xiaolin laid eyes on Li Diudiu a belly full of rage surged. He charged forward with a punch. Li Diudiu sidestepped, caught Zhang Xiaolin’s wrist with his left hand, grabbed his elbow with his right, and pushed outward. Zhang Xiaolin felt a jolt of pain and was forced to tumble to the ground.
Li Diudiu sat on top of Zhang Xiaolin with a look of complete boredom, and lazily mimed a few punches near Zhang Xiaolin’s face without any force behind them.
Hit. Hit. Hit. Another hit.
He said each word with total disinterest.
Just then Sun Rugong came running over and made their agreed signal—the instructor was coming!
Zhang Xiaolin was pinned beneath Li Diudiu, but his spirit hadn’t surrendered. He let out a furious roar: “Hit me for real if you dare!”
Li Diudiu said: “Are you serious?”
Zhang Xiaolin bellowed: “You’re a coward if you don’t—you’re a worthless poor wretch, you wouldn’t dare! You don’t dare hit me!”
Li Diudiu sighed. “The way you demand to be hit is truly impressive.”
Then he hit him.
Li Diudiu flipped Zhang Xiaolin over and delivered several solid punches right to the thick, fleshy part of his backside.
Zhang Xiaolin was beside himself. “You dare hit my face?!”
Li Diudiu: “???”
A while later, Li Diudiu walked off with his hands clasped behind his back. Zhang Xiaolin lay on the ground weeping. Sun Rugong hurried over and looked at that face. “How are we going to explain this—don’t say it was a fight, just say you tripped. Look at you, you’ve been beaten to tears.”
Zhang Xiaolin: “Where’s the instructor?”
Sun Rugong crouched there sheepishly and said: “He just… passed by. Didn’t come over. Walked on…”
Across the lake from the grove stood a cluster of pavilions and halls. One of the wooden buildings was the academy’s library, known as the Shulin Pavilion—the Forest of Books.
Instructor Yan Qingzhi stood outside the Shulin Pavilion, looking around in every direction.
He’d agreed to meet at the library. So where was Zhang Xiaolin? Hadn’t the boy said he had something urgent to discuss at the library?