Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 38: It's not that the world is predestined, there are always three parts of people who will act on their own

The smell of decay lingered on my nose for a long time and never dissipated.

Looking up, the sweet-scented osmanthus tree had only green leaves left without anyone shaking them off. Before Cheng Heng could sigh that autumn had gone and winter had arrived in an instant, a child ran towards him.

"Who are you...you..."

Before Cheng Heng finished speaking, he found that the child walked past him and went to the study room at the back - there was laughter in the study room. Cheng Heng saw a young teacher and a group of noisy students. The teacher in the lead was looking at these students with expectation.

"Oh, should we go to the next world, or... go back?" After the first time, Cheng Heng had already prepared for continuing to a place that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him, or directly returning to the real society. Apart from how the people here would develop, there was nothing that was really worth his worry.

"Sir, I heard that there was a teacher here before who taught many talented students?"

"Yes, that's right." The young man nodded and looked at the students in front of him. "You will definitely achieve something... better than them."

Cheng Heng didn't know when his perspective switched to the young gentleman's desk. He looked at the latter and felt that the face looked familiar.

"I heard that the teacher always favored a student named Ruan Bi, but unfortunately he seemed to be doing a mediocre job as a county magistrate, so he had no choice but to return to his hometown and become a teacher."

Now Cheng Heng reacted.

This young teacher, or maybe just a little younger than when he met Ruan Bi again, was clearly Ruan Bi. Did he return to his hometown to teach?

Just partiality? Cheng Heng didn't feel that he was partial.

"What's wrong with being a teacher? He's a teacher at the age of ninety, and it's said that he's a Jinshi!"

"Sir, I am not..."

"I know." Young teacher, Ruan Bi smiled, with a strange look in his gentle eyes, like helplessness, and self-blame. This is an emotion that Cheng Heng rarely has, so it is difficult to explain clearly. "Maybe some of you will want to become a teacher in the future."

"Yes, yes, sir, this Mr. Ruan... do you know him?"

"I..." Ruan Bi hesitated for a moment, and finally decided not to tell the children who had not yet grown up this cruel and embarrassing fact. Sometimes, although helpless lies should not exist, they can solve many problems. "Although Brother Ruan and I were classmates, we didn't have much interaction at that time."

The child didn't know who Ruan Bi was, and just called him "Mr.". It was impossible for him to call his teacher by his full name like students nowadays. Cheng Heng thought so, and the worry that had been in his mind for a while finally settled down.

This story should have ended, but when the sun was high in the sky, then it was noon, and even until a group of children rushed into the busy streets, Cheng Heng did not leave this small world as he had imagined.

Just when Cheng Heng was wondering if there was anything else he needed to do, Ruan Bi's inner voice or silent whisper reached the former's ears.

"Sir, why do you have such high hopes for your student? Is it because you know his character and that he will return to this world to inherit your legacy in the future?" Ruan Bi smiled bitterly. "If that's the case, then you made the right bet. Your character is not suitable for the officialdom. He is only suitable to stay here and be a teacher who doesn't want anything else."

"But didn't you, sir, clearly hope that I could have a successful career? Otherwise, why didn't you give me any advice when I said goodbye to you?"

Ruan Bi stood up and walked into the yard. The deep green leaves on the osmanthus tree, each leaf vein looked unusually old, a kind of pale green - as if full of vitality, but it couldn't go far anyway, even if someone wanted to move it from here to there, I'm afraid it wouldn't live long.

"Or maybe you want your student to know that the official career is not feasible, so he returns to his hometown?" "But sir, you said... what you do should be rewarded accordingly." Ruan Bi stood up and looked at the osmanthus tree in front of him, as if he wanted to find a small bud from it, but he failed in the end. "Sir, everyone knows that you are partial to me. Why do you prefer me? Obviously, I didn't do what you hoped in the end."

The sweet-scented osmanthus tree was so big that it barely grew to a height slightly above the top of the wall but stopped there. People around had already built taller walls, but the sweet-scented osmanthus tree had no new leaves - naturally, it was impossible for it to once again climb a taller wall to see the scenery outside.

"Biased. Sir, you are indeed biased."

"eccentric!"

"Sir, you are biased!"

Thousands of voices overlapped in his ears, making so much noise that Cheng Heng felt extremely annoyed.

But not long after, the sounds became louder and louder, and in Cheng Heng's ears they were no longer characters, but a "buzzing" sound like tinnitus.

"Look at the road!"

When a different voice came, Cheng Heng was stunned.

"Why don't you look at the road? It's such a long road, and you're walking in the middle with your eyes closed... can't you see anything?"

"Sorry, sorry, I'll move aside now." Cheng Heng kept apologizing, but his steps were as slow as groping, sometimes backing away, sometimes moving forward, which was totally inconsistent with the apology he said.

A lot of things kept swirling in Cheng Heng's mind, making it impossible for him to recover for a while.

"A man this old seems like a nerd!"

Someone suddenly pulled Cheng Heng, and Cheng Heng barely woke up as he stood on the street - two familiar figures appeared at the end of the street.

Before realizing that the two people were the father and son of the Ruan family, Cheng Heng quickly left this dangerous place and hurried back to his room.

Obviously, in addition to sorting out these inexplicable things, Cheng Heng is still avoiding making a choice between what he wants to do in his heart and what everything is forcing him to do.

There was a knock on the door, and Cheng Heng's heart was beating wildly. He didn't know how to face the Ruan family father and son, so he wanted to be a coward and hide himself first.

"First……"

After opening the door, fortunately, it was not the Ruan father and son who came, but a family who came to study. However, Cheng Heng was still depressed because of the word "biased" and had no time to deal with anyone.

"I'm really sorry, I'm not feeling well today, please come back another day."

Cheng Heng hated teachers who were "partial" the most. There were many such teachers, but Cheng Heng had met more than one. If there were not enough people around him to keep him going, there would be no Cheng Heng today.

But when did I become the person I hate?
The osmanthus tree has sprouted new buds and is trying hard to grow taller, see more sunlight, and shine with the sky.

(End of this chapter)