Li Diudiu assumed Gao Xining was being kind to him because she wanted to play matchmaker for him. Gao Xining, watching Li Diudiu tear his academy uniform to bandage her injury, thought to herself: this person really does want a wife.

Two exceptionally oblivious geniuses.

Or perhaps it was simply that natural denial that comes at this age — denying yourself, denying the other person.

And that denial can last a very long time — or you might call it restraint, lasting from the tender years of early youth all the way through the prime of life, until you’re past thirty and look back on it all and weep in vain.

Zhang Xiaolin, who was the same age as Li Diudiu, still thought playing with girls was a shameful thing to do. So relatively speaking, Li Diudiu wasn’t that hopeless.

Li Diudiu used his academy uniform to bandage Gao Xining’s finger, looked it over, and decided it would do.

“Stop weaving — let me.”

Li Diudiu took the half-finished cricket cage from Gao Xining, held it between his legs, and threaded bamboo strips through with his left hand.

In no time at all, his own finger was cut by a bamboo strip.

He looked at his own hand, then looked at Gao Xining.

Gao Xining was startled, and instinctively shifted on the step — putting a little more distance between herself and Li Diudiu.

She said: “I am absolutely not going to suck your finger!”

Li Diudiu said: “Did I ask you to?!”

He wiped his injured finger casually on his clothing, then kept weaving.

Gao Xining said: “You should still wrap it.”

Li Diudiu looked at his already-damaged sleeve, and firmly shook his head: “No need. It’s fine.”

Gao Xining said: “I… I’m certainly not tearing my own clothing to bandage you.”

Li Diudiu: “Did I ask you to?!”

Both of them felt a little awkward. They each shuffled their seats slightly farther in opposite directions. Li Diudiu’s attempts to weave with his left hand were anything but smooth — cut here, pricked there — until several fingers on his left hand were in a sorry state.

Gao Xining said: “You’re already in this condition — why keep going?”

Li Diudiu said: “Men’s business. You wouldn’t understand.”

Gao Xining: “Ptui!”

Li Diudiu: “I can’t be bothered with you.”

Gao Xining: “And I can’t be bothered with you.”

Li Diudiu held up the finished cricket cage and examined it. Despite being stained with bloodstains here and there, it looked rather nice. He wiped the traces of blood off the bamboo strips with his sleeve — not wanting Liu Shengying to know.

Once it was done, Li Diudiu rose and said: “You should still go put some medicinal powder on your finger, or it might swell.”

Gao Xining looked at Li Diudiu’s hands and said: “I’ve swollen one finger; you’ve swollen five.”

Li Diudiu said indifferently: “I’m a man — it doesn’t matter. If all five fingers swell up, they’ll look thick and sturdy. Shows strength. Very useful.”

If Gao Xining had been ten years older, she might have slapped him. Twenty years older, she might have just laughed out loud.

Li Diudiu certainly wasn’t deliberately being improper — at their age, seeing the words “thick and sturdy” didn’t automatically fill one’s mind with indecent thoughts. There are advantages to being young. Li Diudiu had no idea yet that once a man’s head gets filled with those kinds of thoughts, going back to being innocent?

Not a chance.

Li Diudiu carried the finished cricket cage back to the classroom. Zhang Xiaolin had already gone home to wait and see how his results came out. But Liu Shengying hadn’t left — he was actually cleaning the classroom on Li Diudiu’s behalf.

“No, no, no…”

Li Diudiu saw him and rushed over, handing the cricket cage to Liu Shengying and taking the broom from his hands: “I’ll do it myself.”

Liu Shengying said: “We’re friends now — it’s fine for me to help you. Even if Teacher saw it, he wouldn’t say anything — hasn’t Teacher always been telling us we should help each other?”

Li Diudiu shook his head: “I can’t let myself develop that kind of habit… My master always said: your own affairs you handle yourself. The moment you start thinking everything can be passed off to someone else, you’ve lost half your worth as a person. And over time, friends will start to leave you one by one.”

Liu Shengying’s expression grew puzzled — he didn’t quite understand what Li Diudiu meant. Li Diudiu was far more mature in his thinking than his peers, which was a product of everything he’d lived through.

“What do you think?”

Li Diudiu pointed at the cricket cage: “Not bad, right?”

Liu Shengying lifted the cricket cage and held it up in front of his eyes to examine — his eyes shining with delight.

“Yeah! Thank you, Li Chi.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Li Diudiu said: “Go on home. Your family’s driver will start worrying if you’re out late.”

“Right, I’ll head out then.”

Liu Shengying turned and ran outside, waving as he went: “See you tomorrow.”

Li Diudiu smiled, picked up the broom, and continued cleaning the classroom. Yan Qingzhi came in from outside, looked at Li Diudiu, and said: “Enough cleaning for today. I need to speak with you.”

Li Diudiu nodded: “Then I’ll listen to what Teacher has to say, and sweep when you’re done.”

Yan Qingzhi closed the classroom door, walked up to Li Diudiu, and said with gravity: “I told you yesterday not to spend so much time with Gao Xining. Why didn’t you listen?”

“I mentioned before to keep your distance from Xiahou Zuo, and you didn’t listen — fine. But Gao Xining you absolutely must stay away from. Once Headmaster Gao gets any ideas, no one will be able to keep you in this academy.”

Li Diudiu nodded: “Student understands.”

“Are you certain?”

“Student is certain.”

Yan Qingzhi let out a long breath, and when he spoke again his tone was slightly gentler: “It’s not that I think you’re unworthy of being her friend — it’s that the environment is what it is. Even if Headmaster Gao also admires you, he would never allow you to influence Gao Xining. He also wouldn’t allow any rumors to spread through the academy. The moment they do, he’ll have you gone immediately.”

Li Diudiu nodded again: “Student understands.”

Yan Qingzhi gave a sound of acknowledgment, then asked: “Did you intentionally leave that one question unanswered? Was it for Liu Shengying?”

Li Diudiu asked: “How did Teacher know?”

“He wouldn’t clean your classroom for no reason.”

Yan Qingzhi said: “Remember this: until you have enough strength, do not go meddling in others’ affairs. When you can barely look after yourself, trying to look after others as well will only end in a very ugly failure.”

Li Diudiu thought it over. What Teacher Yan had said seemed rather grim, yet it also made a great deal of sense.

“I’ve already submitted your examination papers to Headmaster Gao.”

Yan Qingzhi said: “You may not make it into the top class because of that unanswered question.”

Li Diudiu said: “Student knows. I’ve thought about it.”

Yan Qingzhi found this child genuinely… he couldn’t quite find the words. He had seen too many people of humble origins calculating every angle for their own benefit, and too many others who were meek and servile. A character like Li Diudiu’s was something he had never encountered before.

“Go and rest. Take care of yourself.”

Yan Qingzhi said: “After the monthly exam, coursework will be adjusted. The fifth month is when the farming recess begins, so you’ll have a month to properly recover from your injuries. Try not to go out often — you know what I mean.”

“I understand.”

Li Diudiu asked curiously: “But the Four Pages Academy doesn’t have any farming students, does it? Why do we also get a farming recess?”

Yan Qingzhi said: “The annual farming recess and clothing recess are established by national policy. Even without farming students, the farming recess is still held. Whether or not students need to go home to collect winter clothing, the clothing recess is still held — just as the ten-day rest that comes every ten days each month is all established by national policy.”

Li Diudiu asked: “And what will Teacher do during this month?”

Yan Qingzhi glanced at him, turned to walk out: “I am a teacher — naturally I read, write, and prepare lessons.”

“A whole month, though…”

Li Diudiu suddenly let out a quiet little laugh, as though something very pleasing had just occurred to him.

—

The next morning, bright and early, Li Diudiu went to Yan Qingzhi’s small courtyard. Since the farming recess had begun and the academy was nearly empty, Yan Qingzhi was dressed rather casually — a front-opening undershirt and a pair of loose trousers, with a hoe in hand, turning the soil. He appeared to have an inexplicable fondness for growing vegetables.

Li Diudiu thought to himself: this is what “reading, writing, and preparing lessons” looks like?

“Teacher, may I ask a favor of you?”

Li Diudiu pulled the silver notes from inside his robe, looking somewhat embarrassed as he said: “I found these on the assassins the other day. They didn’t come by entirely honorable means, but…”

Before he could finish, Yan Qingzhi asked: “You want me to deliver the silver notes to your master?”

Li Diudiu gave a sound of agreement: “If he saw me in this injured state, he’d lecture me endlessly. Just thinking about it is exhausting…”

Yan Qingzhi of course understood he wasn’t actually tired of his master — he was afraid of making his master worry. So he nodded: “I need to go out this afternoon anyway to pick up a few things. Leave the notes here.”

Li Diudiu thanked him promptly. Yan Qingzhi said to him: “You say this is several hundred taels of silver — why do you trust me? If I simply pocketed it, there’d be nothing you could do about me.”

Li Diudiu said: “Because I just trust Teacher.”

Yan Qingzhi smiled: “Understood… Now get out of here. You’re stepping on my vegetable seedlings.”

Li Diudiu only then noticed there was something under his feet, and hastily stepped back several paces. He bowed: “Then student will take his leave.”

Yan Qingzhi said: “Don’t be too anxious. Even if I deliver the silver notes to your master, he may not be able to find a suitable house to buy right away. Houses in Jizhou city are never easy to come by.”

Li Diudiu said: “It’s fine, it’s fine. As long as the money is in master’s hands, he can take his time looking. And he won’t have to worry about running short on inn money either.”

Yan Qingzhi gave a sound of acknowledgment: “Go rest.”

Li Diudiu thanked him again, turned, and left. By habit he started walking toward the dining hall — only when he reached the door did he remember that the dining hall would be closed for the farming recess.

Li Diudiu thought to himself: how am I going to get through this month?

He couldn’t go and stay with his master — tucked inside those silver notes he’d included a slip of paper telling his master to switch to a different inn. He hadn’t given details, only that someone might be coming to cause him trouble.

If he went to stay with his master for a month, both of them might end up dead. That glance Sun Rugong had cast on his way out of the academy was as venomous as a serpent.

Thinking of this, he turned back to Yan Qingzhi’s courtyard door. Yan Qingzhi saw him return and asked: “What else?”

Li Diudiu was quiet for a moment, then steeled himself and said: “Teacher — would you be willing to feed me for a month?”

Yan Qingzhi understood the situation instantly, but still shook his head: “No.”

Li Diudiu bowed: “Then may student take back one of the silver notes?”

Yan Qingzhi shook his head again: “No.”

Li Diudiu was taken aback.

Yan Qingzhi said: “You stay here and earn your meals by working. Do you see that water bucket? Use the gourd ladle inside to water the seedlings I’ve just planted — half a ladleful per plant. Once every plant is watered, you’ve earned today’s meals.”

Li Diudiu grinned broadly: “Understood!”

Yan Qingzhi rinsed his hands and headed out the gate, speaking as he walked: “No slacking. I’m going out for a bit.”

Li Diudiu gave a sound of agreement: “Teacher, go without worry.”

About two quarters of an hour later, Yan Qingzhi returned with a bundle in his arms, along with some brushes, ink, and books — looking rather burdened. Li Diudiu hurried over to help, and only then realized everything Teacher Yan was carrying was his own belongings.

Yan Qingzhi said with a straight face: “Let’s get this straight from the start — you sleep on the floor, I sleep in the bed. No snoring, no grinding teeth, no smacking your lips in your sleep. Do that and you’re out immediately.”

Li Diudiu laughed. His heart felt warm.

—