My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 367 - 270: I Could Tell This Child Would Achieve Greatness from a Young Age (Thanks for the monthly tickets and rewards, brothers!)

Chapter 367: Chapter 270: I Could Tell This Child Would Achieve Greatness from a Young Age (Thanks for the monthly tickets and rewards, brothers!)

In Cheng Cong Valley, a meandering stream flanked by several Mochi students taking a break.

Near an apricot grove, on a slab of cyan stone, two scholars, one seated and one standing, exchanged a somewhat silent atmosphere.

Zhao Rong waited for a moment, feeling the air tighten with solemnity. His thick eyebrows rose, and the next second, he hopped off the cyan stone covered with fall-yellow apricot leaves.

Zhao Rong patted his robe, shaking off some leaves, then swiftly squatted down, tilting his head as he looked at Gu Yiwu’s slightly stunned expression and beckoned with his hand.

Gu Yiwu looked around and, seeing that most of the students were watching them, his face showed hesitation.

On tiptoe, Zhao Rong positioned his elbows on his knees, finding this posture much more comfortable. If only he had a bowl of rice...

"Ahem."

He coughed twice, but his hands weren’t idle; he plucked a full-grained foxtail grass, pulled out the tender root, and bit it, tucking it between his white teeth.

As Gu Yiwu, still standing, hesitated, a squatting Zhao Rong, looking not at all like a Teacher with a grass stalk dangling from his mouth, suddenly recalled some childhood scenes. Back then, he too chewed on foxtail grass, with Qing Jun and Qian’er holding their skirts up, following closely behind, chewing on the foxtail grass Zhao Rong had plucked for them. That was in a farm outside the Duke Mansion near Qianjing City, where the rice was taller than them.

Zhao Rong liked to pick these full-grain foxtail grasses, remove the roots, and sneak them into Qing Jun and Qian’er’s pouches. Later, when they reached in, they’d immediately retract their hands and turn pale, squealing, thinking it was some caterpillar—those moments brought him the most joy.

But afterwards, of course, he couldn’t escape being chased down by the two little girls, who would "feed" him their powdered punches...

Back then, he was so mischievous that his pant knees would often wear through without him noticing. And when he got back to the mansion, there was always a ’beating’ from his mother waiting for him. That’s why, he remembered that whenever he took Qing Jun out to play, the phrase she said the most behind him, one Zhao Rong still vividly recalls, was:

"Rong... Rong’er brother... Slow down, huff huff, gently... gently, Rong’er brother move more gently... otherwise you’ll wear through again."

The childhood voice of little Qing Jun still echoed in his ears.

Zhao Rong squinted and looked down at his knees, falling into thought. He reached down and felt the fabric of his pants at the knees, discovering that the fabric here was much thicker than elsewhere.

All of his autumn clothes were woven by Qing Jun. Could it be that the wife was worried he would scrap his knees playing around on the ground again? But now that he no longer had his mother, it was her who took on these worries...

A twitch found its way to the corner of Zhao Rong’s eye, and he bit the foxtail grass, drawing a breath.

As he was considering whether to let Qing Jun experience the pain of skinned knees the next time he saw her, Gu Yiwu clenched his teeth, lifted his robe, and squatted down too.

Thus, a substitute calligraphy class Teacher and a tutor of Shuaixing Hall, both crouching together, backs to the crowd as if sharing secrets, caught the eyes of all the students from Justice Hall. Gradually, their gazes toward the two became somewhat strange.

Could it be... that Gu the elder and Zhao the young Teacher have something going on between them?

"Here." Next to the cyan stone, Zhao Rong passed over a foxtail grass.

Gu Yiwu took it and hesitated for a moment before putting it in his mouth.

Zhao Rong glanced at him.

Gu Yiwu felt that squatting down to talk, though initially a bit embarrassing, relaxed him after letting go. The atmosphere felt much lighter, as if the distance between them had shortened.

After pondering, he softly replied, "Actually, I didn’t think too much. Although I hadn’t met Brother Zhao before, as a Shuaixing Hall student, the ones who know you best should be from our hall, and Brother Yu, who always cares deeply for Shuaixing Hall’s academics, did not oppose..."

Gu Yiwu paused and, seeing Zhao Rong nod lightly with a calm expression, continued.

Suddenly speaking, "Moreover, although I am a blunt man, I am quite accurate in judging character. The first time I met you, I saw at a glance that Brother Zhao was no ordinary man."

He knit his brows, casting a serious glance at Zhao Rong, who met his look from the side, speaking earnestly, "Brother Zhao possesses an exceptional skeleton not of common stock, a visage as serene as the wind and clouds, surely you are filled with the grace of poetry and literature. As for temperament, whether Brother Zhao believes it or not, I have my own set of standards for assessing people. Brother Zhao’s temperament..."

Gu Yiwu, his face grave, looked intently at Zhao Rong, nodding slowly without saying much, conveying with a look.

All was conveyed without words.

The foxtail in Zhao Rong’s mouth tilted as he gazed blankly for a while at the earnest, big-browed man before him. His lips twitched slightly, and he pulled the foxtail from his mouth, licking his lips.

Zhao Rong, squatting, shifted a bit and looked away for a while before angling the foxtail grass back into his mouth and looking up at Gu Yiwu, his eyes filled with reflection.

Since he was a child, he could tell this kid was destined for great things.

The two made eye contact for a moment.

Seeing no response from Zhao Rong, Gu Yiwu continued, "It seems now that my assessment was not wrong. Brother Zhao is truly extraordinary. Your method of teaching characters is somewhat... unexpectedly brilliant. However..."

He glanced at the scenery of Cheng Cong Valley around them and nodded, "Like Brother Zhao said, apart from ’studying the craft,’ there is ’comprehension’. Linking the art of calligraphy with the natural world, learning through observation and reflection, this idea is unheard of to me, and I think Brother Zhao’s method is truly ingenious."