Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 36: A Thousand Miles of Jingcheng Road Under Your Foot
Ruan Bi did not come to his private school teacher when he was at the height of his fame. Of course, it was not because he was arrogant because his achievements had already surpassed his teacher.

"Sir." When Ruan Bi came, Cheng Heng was taking a nap under an osmanthus tree, feeling the lingering and strong sweetness of the rain and osmanthus flowers mixed together.

Then Ruan Bi saw his teacher, who was not young at all, lying under the tree like a child, with one leg bent and crossed over the other.

"Sir." Ruan Bi called again, bowed respectfully, and stood up staring at Cheng Heng without any surprise.

"You came."

Cheng Heng had not yet fully recovered. After seeing Guan Yin off, the scene in front of him did not change as he had imagined. It was still Ruan Bi who had returned home in glory and passed the imperial examination. It seemed that this time it was not a dream.

"If it is inconvenient for you, I will come to see you another day."

In fact, Ruan Bi could be regarded as a disciple of the emperor now, but he was still nostalgic and called Cheng Heng "sir" and called himself "student", which was enough to give face to the latter.

Standing up hurriedly, Cheng Heng realized that the body he traveled through was already old, and now he couldn't walk, sit or lie down so freely: "I'm fine, I just didn't expect you to come."

"Be careful, sir."

Ruan Bi reached out his hand to help Cheng Heng, and Cheng Heng was so strong that he wanted to jump up. It was like he was trying to make up for his embarrassment in front of his friends. At this moment, Cheng Heng always forgot that he should act like an elderly gentleman.

"I'm fine."

"Since you're here, come in and sit down." Pushing the door open with difficulty, Cheng Heng looked at the dusty desk, feeling a little at a loss.

"No need, sir." Ruan Bi did not embarrass his teacher. He glanced at the seat where he had stayed for a long time, looked at the pens, ink, paper and inkstone, and then his eyes returned to the teacher in front of him.

"Sir, I am here to say goodbye to you."

"Goodbye? Are you going to take up your new post?" Cheng Heng knew that if one thing could be accomplished, everything could be accomplished. It was just that this time he chose fairness for the kind people and let them walk on the path they were supposed to walk. "Where to?"

After being silent, Ruan Bi said something with a hint of self-mockery, but he was reluctant to let the teacher see his hopelessness about the future: "It's a small town not far away. I don't know if the customs there are as simple as those in my hometown, and I don't know if I can do well."

“Believe in yourself. If you don’t even believe in yourself, then you can’t accomplish anything that can be successful.” This sentence has inspired Cheng Heng time and time again. So when he became a teacher for the first and second time, Cheng Heng always explained this sentence to his students in thousands of ways.

"Yes, sir."

"I believe you can do it." Cheng Heng closed the study door with some regret and looked at Ruan Bi in front of him seriously, "No matter what you do, you can do it."

"The teacher has high hopes for his students, so the students will naturally work hard to live up to the teacher's expectations..."

"You have to be responsible to yourself, not me." Cheng Heng corrected.

He cannot bear the burden of being a person who will go down in history, and ask "Is he worthy of it?"

"Yes, sir, you are right."

"Since you are a local official, even if you feel sorry for yourself, your parents, brothers, wife and children, you must be worthy of the local people." Cheng Heng used the words from the opera script and repeated them to Ruan Bi one by one, even though he knew that the person in front of him understood these principles.

"Students must try their best."

"Hmm..." Cheng Heng didn't know what else to say. He nodded, looked at the osmanthus flowers on the treetops, and remembered what he had said to Guan Yin not long ago.

"Sir..." Ruan Bi spoke tentatively. Cheng Heng didn't understand what else the former couldn't ask at this time.

"Sir, there is something that has troubled me for a long time, and I have been wanting to get an answer from you."

"You said."

"As long as I know."

"Why did you waive the student's tuition? And why did you pay more attention to him than other students? Did you think he was suitable for studying? Obviously, my classmate passed the imperial examination earlier than him."

Cheng Heng could answer many questions. He thought that this question might be some obscure ancient book, why one should take the imperial examination, why he did not become an official...but he did not expect that he would avoid this most likely question, which Cheng Heng could not answer.

Could it be that because he is a time traveler, holds the script of the future in his hands, and wants to give "fairness" to kind people?

Or did he see that Ruan Bi benefited the local people through his business, and thought that if he became an official, he could also save the people from suffering?
"Sorry." This was Cheng Heng's final answer.

Ruan Bi did not show disappointment with this answer. He just bowed, said goodbye, turned around, and closed the door gently, just like every time he said goodbye to his master...

Looking at the closed wooden door, Ruan Bi actually had a lot to say to Cheng Heng.

For example: But sir, I have been walking this road for a long time. So long that I found that no matter how much I believe in myself, some things are beyond my control.

But Ruan Bi finally said nothing, just simply turned back to look at the half-open wooden door. It seemed that a woman appeared next to the gentleman, holding something in her hand and talking to him.

Without thinking too much, Ruan Bi strode out of the courtyard where he had stayed for a long time...

"He will certainly not forget your kindness."

"If you go and see him now, he should still be waiting outside the door for you to say something to him..."

Guan Yin's guess was correct, but when Guan Yin raised the book in his hand, Ruan Bi finally decided to leave: "Can you alone know what he will be like in the future?"

"He doesn't believe in his success as much as you think. There are indeed many people in history who have made achievements in remote places, but being able to get a plaque sent by the court and hang it on the city gate is not something that can be achieved by simply being an official."

Guan Yin said a lot, but Cheng Heng didn't even respond as he should have. He just kept his eyes on the osmanthus tree and said, "I used to have a very small osmanthus tree at home."

"Unfortunately, we once had several koi fish at home."

"My parents and I each have a fish to represent us, and we take care of it separately. We want to compete to see who raises it better." Knowing that Cheng Heng was intentionally avoiding his question, Guan Yin simply followed Cheng Heng's words and talked about something else: "I worry about it being hungry as soon as I get home, and my parents are the same... I feed it, and my parents share everything they have with the fish."

"What happened to the fish?" Cheng Heng became interested and looked at Guan Yin with exploratory curiosity. "Who won?"

“They are all stuffed to death.”

Cheng Heng was confused, and suddenly realized that this was like a teacher trying to reason with the students, and was just waiting for Guan Yin to say the next big thing.

But Guan Yin didn't do that. Instead, he picked up a branch of osmanthus and shook it, so that the petals fell all over Cheng Heng.

(End of this chapter)