Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 68: Moonlit Night, Hidden Clouds, Dreaming, Long Summer Days, Farming Together

The distance between the private school and the square courtyard is neither far nor near. No wonder the original Cheng Jianwei kept sighing why he had not found the original Guan Tongtong earlier.

It’s like those children who have been missing from home for ten or even dozens of years and are finally found in the neighboring village.

It is inevitable that those who have been searching hard will feel guilty, and even doubt whether all their hard work has only moved themselves...

“I always feel like they do these things much better than we do.”

The moon is here, the breeze is silent, the stars are hidden in the long clouds, it seems that the sea and sky are vast, and the road is unobstructed. But in the eyes of the sad people, it is a different feeling.

"Destruction before construction and confidence are different after all." A female voice suddenly sounded, as if it came from the sky, but also as if it came from one's own body, and came out of one's own mouth - a completely different point of view.

"Confidence?"

Guan Yin didn't feel that he had any confidence. History and teaching seemed to be of no use at this moment.

"You dare not do it because you have to do it, but I dare not do it because I don't want to do it..."

What? In an instant, Guan Yin had the answer in his mind. But just like when he talked about the matter with Cheng Heng yesterday, he was unwilling to admit it.

"Return to the place where you belong and become a teacher to educate people. That is your confidence." The voice did not continue with its original words. Instead, it turned around and gave Guan Yin the answer he needed.

"You know, there will come a day when we don't have to hide as men to do things."

"You know, one day, the world will be peaceful and there will be no need for so much helplessness..."

Awakened from his dream by the cool moon, Guan Yin's eyes fell on the rice paper not far away. The edge of the paper was gently blown by the wind, as if someone was holding that corner, silently reading the words on it, and then picked up a pen to write something.

But the clean rice paper was like the exterior wall of the neighbor's house not far away, and it was exceptionally white under the moonlight.

There was no handwriting at all, not even a trace of scattered ink. It was completely clean, like a dream that came and went without leaving any real trace.

"Is it Tongtong?" Guan Yin murmured.

I thought Cheng Heng and I had come to the same world, and those bizarre dreams should no longer exist. But not only that, even my original self Guan Tongtong appeared - Guan Yin really suspected that all this was nothing more than what I thought about during the day and dreamed about at night.

"Do you have the same confusion?"

In the flowing moonlight, Cheng Heng's dream was even more bizarre. He was still sighing that in addition to books, there were also many texts in the room recording the learning progress of each student.

Afterwards, Cheng Heng was brought into this bizarre dream. He watched Guan Yin see his original self, and then sighed at Guan Yin.

Finally, I saw the Cheng Jianwei that Guan Yin mentioned. I saw the Cheng Jianwei who worked hard to redress his teacher's injustice, and at the same time, he did not forget his students: "So, you are the Cheng Jianwei that Guan Yin mentioned?"

"If I could really live up to this expectation, I might have found my sister long ago and cleared the name of my teacher." As Guan Yin expected, Cheng Jianwei still feels guilty and regretful. "If I could have come back earlier, my sister wouldn't have to stay in the teaching house."

"Guan Yin told me that your sister-in-law has her own abilities, and besides being a bit hard-working... she's doing pretty well."

At least no one forced her to do anything she didn't want to do, except having to pretend to be a man to make a living.

But no one can force time to turn back, so after a brief moment of distraction, Cheng Jianwei also diverted his emotions from the previous topic and talked about things that could really make up for the regrets: "Scholars should keep their innocence in the world."

"I hope you can write the original story in the way you are good at, so that the people of Huizhou can see everything as it was originally."

"If we alert the enemy, won't all our efforts be wasted?" Cheng Heng understood that sometimes a lack of patience can ruin a great plan. He would never give up on something that he could fight for, but meaningless sacrifice would not awaken more people.

Cheng Jianwei was startled, then nodded in agreement with Cheng Heng's words: "No wonder you have been pretending to be a teacher for so long without making any mistakes."

"The imperial examination?" Cheng Heng didn't have such grand thoughts as Guan Yin at the moment. He was just worried that if the imperial examination continued to fail, all his ideas would not be implemented.

Even if one regards this time travel as playing a game, there are always rules and logic that should be followed. Cheng Heng does not think that he has the ability to go against the will of heaven.

"Auspicious people have their own destiny."

A bamboo shadow fell on his body, waking up the sleepy Cheng Heng. Looking around, he saw only a pool of clear and cold moonlight, pouring unrestrainedly along the patio to the bluestone paved ground.

"What does it mean that good fortune comes naturally to those who are lucky?"

The ghosts and gods on the stage represent people’s demands for justice and to settle the injustices in the world.

Cheng Heng couldn't explain clearly whether he was a person who believed in ghosts and gods, but there was one thing that Cheng Heng firmly believed in: even if ghosts and gods existed, even if there were abilities that ordinary people could not explain, the first thing to do was to rely on one's own abilities.

The two people, who were in two different places, stood and sat like this, looking at the moon without sleep, until the next day when it was bright, and even the most tired people had climbed out of their couches, but they still did not go to sleep.

Cheng Heng claimed to be ill and asked the students of the private school to come to class a few days later. Guan Yin remembered that when he was in college, he learned some audiobook dubbing from others while working part-time. He tried to imitate Cheng Jianwei's voice and began to prepare lessons according to the non-all-night study plan that the latter made for each student.

"I want to go to the old man's house with Sanheng."

"Old uncle?"

"Which old man?"

"The old man with a heroic son you mentioned." Cheng Heng said, "Go help the old man to farm. Maybe there will be some way for me to immerse myself in learning faster."

"You are the same age as the old uncle's deceased son. Aren't you afraid of reminding people of your sadness?"

Guan Yin always felt that Cheng Heng sometimes did things without considering the consequences, like a child who had not yet grown up.

"I am different from that uncle's heroic son. We have different personalities... but I am much better after all." Cheng Heng seemed to have made up his mind to go a long time ago. "You can rest assured. I am not that reckless."

Cheng Heng did not mention to Guan Yin the episode in which he, as a teacher, sang in public - when people encounter something they stick to, it is inevitable that they become weird... When others cannot understand, they will completely understand this sincere and genuine emotion as "childish".

It didn't matter whether the two of them were familiar with each other or not, it was just the dependence of "compatriots from different places" that made them seem to be able to talk about anything. Cheng Heng certainly didn't dare to tell others about his persistence and let others regard it as the nonsense of a naive child.

"Okay." Since Cheng Heng had made up his mind, Guan Yin didn't want to stop him.

Although he is a teacher, he dare not say that he has mastered everything from academics to life. After seeing so many disappointments, Guan Yin felt that his life before the internship was too smooth.

Cheng Heng is not much younger than Guan Yin. Different lives, experiences and situations mean that Guan Yin and Cheng Heng’s value choices and judgments when thinking about something are not exactly the same.

Fortunately, both of them are good people.

Whether it is education at a high level or teaching and educating people, what is concerned is the future and thoughts of these ordinary people.

I am not like the people of this era, who have no choice, or perhaps it is their own pursuit, just to be able to get the favor of the powerful and soar to the sky...

Where the scorching sun sets, wind and rain effectively prevent the land from becoming barren.

To be honest, Cheng Heng had not done much work in the fields. Being able to pull weeds and pick some vegetables for meals was already very good.

"Jianwei, this is a weed, how did it get mixed into the vegetables?" The old man did not blame the little child in front of him.

After studying hard, many people can only read and write but not know how to eat. However, this child at least has not been lazy, which is already pretty good.

Of course Cheng Heng didn't have heatstroke.

The opera director himself must be able to perform, too. He has to wear wet clothes and heavy costumes, and if he performs in a large air-conditioned theater, he can be drenched in sweat after each performance.

Not to mention that there would occasionally be some projects going to the countryside - Cheng Heng had suffered a lot learning opera, and as for farming, although he was not good at it, it didn't hold him back too much.

"Jianwei, if you are tired, take a break. After all, I am used to working alone... I have taken care of this land by myself over the years." The old man next door said, "When my child was still alive, he never even helped me farm."

"I always talked to him about his ambition to achieve great things, but I never asked him what he really wanted to do."

Cheng Heng could sense that the old man next door had the same regret as Cheng Jianwei. He already knew that the past could not be traced back, so he should always look forward.

But how can it be so easy for people to forget the past, especially a past that they feel guilty about?

"He..." Just as Cheng Heng was about to speak, he took back the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

He originally wanted to say that at least he had achieved what the old man expected. But Cheng Heng knew that this "achieved expectation" was clearly the hurdle that the old man was really feeling sorry for.

As the sun fell on my body, the soil no longer had the faint fragrance I usually had when passing by the school flower garden. Instead, it had a sour and burnt smell, just like the smell that often rises from the sewer just outside the subway station when the sun stops after rain.

Cheng Heng suppressed his subconscious urge to vomit and continued to do what he did.

Because Cheng Heng knew that the sewer could only breed mosquitoes and bacteria, but this piece of land could produce scholars, teachers, businessmen, travelers, the poor, the rich, the powerful, the common people, and the food that everyone could rely on for survival.

"Okay, let's go home. We can never pull out all the weeds." In the eyes of the old man next door, Cheng Heng was like a child who had not grown up. He sat on the edge of the field and pulled out the weeds one by one as if he was counting them. Even if he pulled them out forever, he would never be able to pull them out. The speed at which people pulled out weeds could not keep up with the speed at which the weeds grew.

Cheng Heng was actually still a little unsatisfied after pulling out the weeds. When he stood up angrily, he felt as if his vision went dark for a moment. He took a half step back and stopped, and the darkness in front of his eyes was still rising slowly like an electric curtain.

Following the direction he remembered just now, Cheng Heng gave the old man next door an embarrassed smile. He finally recovered from the discomfort caused by standing up suddenly. He followed the old man and left the land that had accompanied him for a whole day along the ridge of the field.

The old man next door was carrying a hoe in front of him. Sanheng wanted to take it, but the old man stopped him from opening his mouth with a look. Cheng Heng saw Sanheng was frustrated and knew that he was not strong enough, so he just followed behind him. His original intention of finding an opportunity to talk to the old man was completely replaced by thirst.

"We don't have any good tea at home, so you can just force yourself to drink some." The old man next door didn't ask why Cheng Heng came to work in the fields with him. He just took the tea from his wife and handed it to Cheng Heng, "Jianwei, what are you asking for? Are you trying to clear the injustice for your teacher?"

"Yes." Cheng Jianwei had already said that this was his lifelong wish. Cheng Heng's response to the old man's words at this time could be considered justified.

"Have you ever thought about what if your teacher is not innocent?"

Cheng Heng has certainly thought about this question, but it is different for Cheng Jianwei - a teacher is both a teacher and a father, and in his heart, a teacher will never betray his original intention.

"Negligence is not innocent."

"I just want to find out whether the money was embezzled by the teacher." Carelessness certainly does not count as innocence. Even the old man in front of him who ignored his son's emotions and only wanted him to make progress blindly and got the final result, is not innocent either, Cheng Heng thought.

The old man next door said nothing more, but just set his eyes on Sanheng who was not far away: "Those two in your family... Is your husband busy today? Why didn't she come over?"

"My husband and his wife went to Mr. Cheng's private school, saying they wanted to sort out some things there." Sanheng answered truthfully, and after a moment of hesitation, he added, "Mr. Cheng came here on sick leave."

The old man next door nodded and motioned Sanheng to drink some water and stop standing.

The sun was slanting, the sky was dark, and the heat and dryness between heaven and earth had not yet completely dissipated. The room felt like a culvert, moist and cool.

The green mountains are clad in vermilion, the flowing clouds are like golden threads, and not far away where the mountains and clouds meet, the sun is looming, like a red-hot round charcoal.

"Old sir, it's getting late. Sanheng and I will go back first."

The three people in the room were very quiet, so quiet that if it weren't for the crowing of a rooster not far away that drowned out the slight sound of swallowing water, the two people sitting and the one standing could have heard it clearly.

So Cheng Heng, who was a little embarrassed, kept sipping the tea. As the time got late, Cheng Heng's cup of tea was completely empty.

"Okay, be careful on the road."

There was no extra courtesy, it was just an ordinary day. A guest who was not very familiar came and left. Since the old man next door explained the cause and effect of the matter to Guan Yin that day, he felt much more at peace.