Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 67: The waxing and waning years are endless and heartless. Who can betray love?

"What else can I do?" Ling Xiao's words were still lingering in his ears, and Guan Yin had no idea how to refute them.

Although he knew that Ling Xiao was right, Guan Yin was unwilling to admit that there was nothing he could do about the world.

"There's nothing I can do. Just like I told you, even if this man really loved her at the beginning, when he reaches that position...how many people have even forgotten why they took the imperial examinations in the first place." Cheng Heng put down the pen in his hand and rubbed his sore wrist.

It has been a long time since the written words have been so smooth. While Cheng Heng was happy, he couldn't help but sigh that he had used the brush too much and it was really tiring - the ancients were really talented.

"I see."

"You know, I didn't want to get involved at first." Facing Cheng Heng, Guan Yin found it hard not to remember what he was thinking when he came here just now, "But looking at them, it's really hard for me not to do something."

"Me too."

Cheng Heng's words were in support of Guan Yin, and at the same time, he was also explaining his own thoughts over this period of time.

Their eyes met, and they suddenly didn't know if there was any easier path to choose.

"Then let's do it. No matter if he's ungrateful or not, we can't rely on him to accomplish anything." Since this matter had to be done no matter what, Cheng Heng disdained to ask others to do it. "If you fail in one year, you can pass in three years. If you fail in three years, you can pass in five years. It's okay to treat this imperial examination as a five-year college entrance examination and three-year simulation."

Hearing this familiar name, Guan Yin was in a trance for a moment.

I suddenly remembered that I seemed to be on the high-speed train just now, and I saw that the students did not forget to bring their five-threes even when they went out to play, and the teachers always held a red pen with them even when they were on a study tour to deal with any questions that might arise from the students.

"Hey, Guan Yin, what are you thinking about?" Cheng Heng noticed that Guan Yin was in a daze, so he stood up and walked in front of the latter and shook him. "My current thought is that since there is an exam this year, I will give it a try. After all, it is better to have real questions than to know nothing at all."

"If I'm lucky enough to pass the exam, wouldn't that speed up our progress?"

In fact, neither of them knows how long this complete progress bar is. All they can do is to follow the life trajectory of their original bodies and get things done. It seems easy, but for two young people living freely in the new era, this era has too many constraints.

"you know……"

"I will be careful about those taboos, you can rest assured."

"I'll try it with you." He is a teacher. If Cheng Heng fails the exam this year, he can summarize the question types. Then the two of them can take the next exam together, which will be easier than Cheng Heng fighting alone.

"But the original identity..."

Guan Yin had learned about the laws of the dynasty from the old man and his wife next door that day. Of course, there was no explicit provision in the law that women could not take the exam. But if she passed the exam step by step, would someone use her original identity as the "daughter of a guilty minister" to suppress her?

Would this also put an end to the path for women to take the imperial examinations in the future?
Either don't do it, or do it well. Guan Yin has always required himself not to act on impulse.

"Just be a good teacher for me, and leave the imperial examination to me."

Cheng Heng did not hesitate to stop Guan Yin from hesitating: "Teacher Guan, since you have things you are good at, why do you have to worry about doing things you are not good at?"

The word "Teacher Guan" startled Guan Yin again. When he came to his senses, a blush appeared on his cheeks.

Guan Yin nodded in the end.

He was a model student in the eyes of his teachers and the "other people's child" in the eyes of his classmates, but he was restricted everywhere in this era. Even though Guan Yin always reminded himself of the word "history" in his heart, he still refused to admit defeat.

I refuse to lose to anyone, nor do I refuse to lose to the system of this era.

"Then I'll have to trouble Teacher Guan to copy the words for me."

"My handwriting is not good either, Jiaoan..." Cheng Heng's handwriting, which looked like scribbles, was placed in front of him. The original Cheng Jianwei's handwriting was straight and strong, and it was indeed different from Liu Jiaoan's font. Instead, it had a similar artistic conception to Guan Yin's.

"it is good."

Cheng Heng was writing a story, while Guan Yin was copying text. After a while, the former's story reached a bottleneck, so he turned around and stared at every stroke of the latter's writing.

The handwriting reflects the person. There is a kind of unyielding and aggressive spirit in Guan Yin's handwriting, which is unlike the peaceful and harmless appearance that Guan Yin usually displays.

"Teacher Guan, have you ever thought that many things don't have to be done according to the rules?" Cheng Heng looked at it and said for no reason, "Look, your words now seem to be framed in a square grid."

Guan Yin paused writing when he heard this, but there was no extra emotion shown on his face. He just stared blankly in front of him, staring at every word in front of him.

"what do you mean……"

After rolling up the words copied by Guan Yin, the two of them realized belatedly that the name "Mr. Yin Yunshan" was clearly the name of the original owner Guan Tongtong. Now the vigorous handwriting did not seem to be that of Mr. Yin Yunshan.

"Teacher Guan, I think you shouldn't set so many restrictions on yourself. Just like your attitude towards history, you are too serious about your words and deeds." Facing Guan Yin's question, Cheng Heng did not evade the question, "I think it's hard for you to live like this."

“Shouldn’t a teacher lead by example?”

“But leading by example can be manifested in many ways.”

There seemed to be nothing more to say between the two. Guan Yin did not agree with Cheng Heng's words, and even thought that the latter's idea was a bit whimsical: "Children are most likely to imitate others."

The shadows of the bamboo outside the window were spread on the rice paper in front of him, just like the thick, heavy and light colors just painted. Guan Yin did not stop for a moment because of this painting, and even used black ink to dot the blue-gray scattered by the bamboo shadows...

"There are always people who say 'actors are heartless', and in recent years, there are always people who say 'actors are affectionate'. In fact, I think that affectionate or heartless, the one who betrays others is not the one who betrays others, but oneself."

It seemed that it was difficult for Cheng Heng to quietly watch Guan Yin do things. Since the latter mentioned Ling Xiao's sweetheart, Cheng Heng had to think of the concept of "unfaithful drama", and there were more things he wanted to say.

"Unfaithful, unfaithful, it's obviously my own heart that I'm unfaithful to."

"It's not just the so-called love that is betrayed in the play of betrayal. The poem about the beautiful woman in the grass, isn't the beauty also one's ideal?"

Guan Yin did not raise his head to look at Cheng Heng, but just let him continue to speak. At this time, any gaze seemed to be able to interrupt Cheng Heng's thoughts, and should not appear casually. "I studied hard and wanted to pass the exam so that I and my sweetheart could live a good life, so that ordinary people would no longer suffer from the oppression of those officials, and so that the country would be peaceful and prosperous..."

"When you betrayed the beauty, didn't you forget all your ideals?"

"What do you think of yourself? If you really move up step by step in the imperial examination here, will you not want to leave because of the power?" Guan Yin studied history. She knew too well how many people in history fell under the pomegranate skirt of a thing called 'power', bowed down deeply, and could never raise their heads again.

"I will not."

"Because my goal from the beginning was to go back."

"Wouldn't you be unfaithful?" Cheng Heng had said so much, and Guan Yin didn't think that he hadn't thought of this possibility. "What if, what if at that time you realized that you didn't need to fight with those unscrupulous bosses here, and you could use your own power to defend the fairness that you have always pursued in your heart?"

"Do you really think you won't change your mind?"

Guan Yin's voice was not loud, but it was deafening. For a moment, Cheng Heng just stared blankly at the tip of the former's pen, not knowing how to prove his "heart".

"How are you going to prove it to yourself then?"

It is difficult enough to prove one's heart to others, and it is even more difficult to prove one's heart to oneself. How many people have never seen through what their own "heart" is for, let alone talk about "original intention" and "having a clear conscience".

"I think……"

"Actually, the answer to this question is very simple." Cheng Heng paused again and again, like a group of 'poets' who wrote return poems, carefully counting their own hearts.

"What I like is the technology, people and open minds of the new era... I cannot accept having three wives and four concubines, nor can I accept kneeling to the so-called emperor for power."

"I don't have that much ambition."

"wild……"

"I don't like the hard work of intrigue even more."

"When you get to that position and look back at the hardship you've gone through, will you still think the same way?"

"I can't live without my phone for any longer."

Guan Yin originally thought that Cheng Heng would give him some earth-shattering truth, or that he simply didn't belong here, and all his hard work was just to find a way to go back...

However, Cheng Heng's answer was beyond Guan Yin's expectations and was unusually reasonable.

How can college students, who usually can't leave their phones for half an hour, bear to be away from their phones for so long?
"I want to log in and play games..." Cheng Heng was addicted to games, so everything he said seemed reasonable.

Guan Yin wanted to ask: Shouldn't this be a discussion about philosophy and human nature? How did such an unexpected ending suddenly appear? It was a little funny, and it was like the most real psychological state of college students and graduate students.

"Without a cell phone or internet, why don't you just practice calligraphy?"

The two people's eyes met again, Guan Yin was shrugged, and Cheng Heng had already smiled.

After a moment, the two smiled at each other, neither of them laughed at the other's silly appearance - one was a teacher who left school and returned to school, still maintaining the same innocence as his students, and the other was a director who was used to wearing a "mask" on the stage, and when he walked off the stage, he was a "clear and stupid" college student with his own persistence.

It is too difficult for them to come to this era!

“Sometimes I wonder how those time travelers can get along so well. When we come here… it seems like we are the ones causing trouble.” Guan Yin finally put down the pen in his hand, and his eyes no longer lingered on the rice paper. “Later, I thought that perhaps it was because of the settings in many novels that those people could not survive in the so-called modern society.”

"How to say?"

In fact, the online articles that Cheng Heng has read have not included Guan Yinduo - this seems to be inconsistent with the two people's superficial personality performance.

"Think about it, either you were extremely unlucky and got struck by lightning."

"Or they just couldn't roll it anymore and died suddenly on the spot."

"Or maybe I was helping my kids with their homework and died of anger."

"Or, if he is an orphan and is suddenly hit by a car and dies..."

"Of course, there are many people who suddenly travel through time and space through strange phenomena from the sky... but many of them seem to be invisible people in real life. They come here with their own unique ambitions. Once they have the opportunity, they want to live more like a complete person, so they must have the driving force to keep moving forward."

So this is why Cheng Heng and Guan Yin are different from them. Cheng Heng's future has infinite possibilities, and he will not starve to death without a job no matter how bad it is. Guan Yin's future is bright, even if he can't have a garden full of students, even if he has to face all kinds of weird students and parents.

There are always one or two students that Guan Yin will still remember in his heart after many years, remembering their every move and their own stories - just like Cheng Heng and his Chinese teacher, who is a teacher on the surface, but more like a master, like a family member.

“Although being a teacher is hard, it is actually very fulfilling.”

"When I see the children answer a question correctly, when I see them being as full of energy as I was when I was young, when I see them..." Guan Yin's face rarely showed more expression, bright, even a little brighter than the sunshine outside the window.

"Being a screenwriter and director is actually the same, your own stories, other people's stories... It's actually very relaxing, but it's a pity that you don't have the opportunity to experience it, it's very interesting."

"When we go back, we'll have to experience it when we have the chance."

"Yes, you must feel it... It's different from the time when I asked you to be a participating audience member." Cheng Heng recalled the day when he was teased. He, who had never had his first love, couldn't help but feel shy. "All the pressure and unhappiness can be forgotten on the stage."

"OK……"

Yes, that's fine, but the two of them don't know when they can return to their new era. But this moment of memory is beautiful enough, so beautiful that the two of them forget how many difficulties they will face in the next thing to do...

It was so beautiful... that the sun outside the window was burned back by the brightness and warmth of the two people, hiding in the clouds for a long time without coming out.