Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

In the cold wind at five in the morning, the lights of the Jixian Sports School training ground shone like a lone star, illuminating Cang Tianci's sweat-drenched figure. The letter from last night seemed to have been forged into his bones; every punch and kick carried a heavy, unwavering resolve.

Just yesterday after school, Teacher Fang Wenhui specifically called him to her office and said solemnly, "Tianci, the 'Leap Forward Award' for the end of the semester is about to be selected. This award is one of the highest honors in Jixian Elementary School, and also the most special, because it is specifically awarded to students who have achieved self-transcendence in the face of adversity."

Teacher Fang adjusted her glasses, her eyes gleaming with anticipation: "Every year at the end of the semester, thousands of teachers and students gather on the playground, where the principal personally presents the awards to the winners. Tianci, you are one of the students most likely to receive this award this year."

She gently patted Tianci's shoulder: "Do you remember what I said when you first transferred here? I believed you could create another miracle. Now, the time to prove it has come. Standing on that podium is not only an affirmation of your efforts, but also a demonstration to everyone that a child from the mountains can also achieve extraordinary things."

These words ignited like a spark in Tianci's heart. He could almost see the solemn hall, the gaze of thousands of eyes, and the certificate the principal personally handed him. This was more than just a piece of paper; it was a coronation for his arduous semester-long struggle. This thought drove him to complete far more training than usual before the reveille broke the dawn. Steaming with white vapor and with unprecedented clarity, he stepped into another silent battlefield, equally thorny—the classroom.

For Cang Tianci, self-confidence was never a gift of talent, but rather a seedling forged through repeated falls, struggles, and being pierced by reality and one's own shortcomings, a seedling forced forth by pain and humiliation. This seedling needs willpower as its soil and sweat as its spring, growing silently in a corner unseen by anyone. And now, this seedling has a clear direction—striving to grow towards that certificate that might change its destiny and bring pride to its parents.

In the Chinese class, instead of explaining immediately, Ms. Fang Wenhui wrote three powerful characters on the blackboard: "Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple".

"Students, please close your eyes and listen carefully!" Her voice had a unique penetrating power that could easily pierce through the afternoon's dullness.

"Viewed from the side, it's a range of peaks; viewed from the front, it's a single peak; its appearance varies depending on distance, height, and perspective..."

Teacher Fang's gentle voice slowly rang out. Cang Tianci closed his eyes, letting his imagination run wild as Teacher Fang spoke, conjuring up the image of the great mountain described by the poet. That mountain seemed to transform into the "Leap Forward Award" that Teacher Fang spoke of, a peak that he had to climb.

"Now, open your eyes." Fang Wenhui's gaze calmly swept across the entire class, finally landing on Tianci. "Cang Tianci, you come from the mountains, so you must have a deep affection for them. Please read this poem to us."

Tianci's heart leaped into his throat, as if gripped by an invisible hand—a tension even more suffocating than when facing the black steel pipe. He stood up, took a deep breath, and tried to control his trembling vocal cords. However, the familiar obstruction once again gripped his throat like an iron clamp.

"Horizontal...viewed horizontally, it's a range of peaks..." he managed to squeeze out a few words, his cheeks instantly burning hot. The classroom was deathly silent; he could feel dozens of gazes like needles, densely piercing his back. From a corner, Zhao Xiaohu's barely suppressed sneer echoed.

A surge of mixed emotions—shame, anger, and profound frustration—overwhelmed him instantly. He had thought he had honed himself to be fearless at the sports school, but these few sentences had brought him back to reality. His physical progress seemed so pale at this moment, and the shackles on his tongue remained an insurmountable mountain. The award he had imagined seemed unattainable under the mockery of reality.

Fang Wenhui didn't urge him, but looked at him with encouraging eyes.

He recalled how he had repeatedly pushed his limits on the training field, and remembered his elder brother's words about "seeing through the scales of the world." Was a poem more difficult to deal with than Wang Yaowu's fists or Hei Pi's steel pipe? If he couldn't even read this poem well, then what about the award certificate and the opportunity to change his destiny? Wouldn't that be just empty talk?

"Ce...ceaselessly, he managed to utter a few more words."

"‘Different perspectives, different views, different heights,’" Fang Wenhui interjected at the opportune moment, praising, "From most people's perspective, Cang Tianci's reading was not good. But from Cang Tianci's own perspective, this was his best reading ever. Just as this poem tells us, the same thing, viewed from different angles, will be felt and understood differently."

She turned to Tianci, her gaze warm: "Remember this feeling of never giving up. Sometimes, when we're in the thick of things, we only see things from one angle, making it difficult to see the whole picture, just like the poem says, 'We can't see the true face of Mount Lu because we're in the mountain ourselves.' But as long as you persevere and keep trying different angles, you'll always get closer to the truth. This applies to reading poetry, doing things, and being a person."

After class, Fang Wenhui walked over to Tianci's desk, bent down, and said, "Tianci, reading aloud requires courage, but even more so, it requires practice. Remember when you first came here, you even had difficulty saying a complete sentence? Look at you now, you can answer questions proactively and communicate with everyone. That's progress. True courage isn't about not being afraid, it's about persisting even when you're afraid. Think of this place," she pointed to her throat, "as another 'sandbag' you need to conquer. Would you like to stay after school, and we can practice against the wall a few more times?"

Tianci suddenly looked up, meeting the understanding and trust in Teacher Fang's eyes behind his glasses. That gaze, like a faint yet resilient light, pierced through the heavy gloom in his heart. He remembered his elder brother's saying, "Ask the heart, not the fist." Now, he needed to use that "heart" to subdue his clumsy tongue. He suddenly understood that his elder brother's instruction to "see through the scales of the world" meant first and foremost seeing through his own "unworthy" body and tongue. This physical body was the first "Mount Lu" he had encountered.

He nodded vigorously, forcing out with difficulty, "I...I'm willing! Thank you...thank you, Teacher Fang!"

After school, the empty classroom resembled a vast, quiet training ground. Tianci recited aloud to the wall again and again. At first, his voice was barely audible, his stutter persisted, and he even felt a metallic taste in his throat from the excessive effort, causing him to gag violently and curl up on the floor, tears mingling with sweat blurring his vision. Teacher Fang didn't interrupt him, but quietly stayed by his side, gently and promptly affirming him each time he made a slight improvement and overcame a crucial pause: "That sentence is much better! Your breath is steady!" "You pronounced that word very accurately!" Gradually, a crack seemed to be chiseled into the high wall called "fear" and "flaw."

"Viewed from the side, it's a range of peaks; viewed from the front, it's a single peak... Near and far, high and low... each view is different..."

When he finally managed to read aloud in a barely coherent, breathless voice, his forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat. He had not only overcome the initial difficulty of reading aloud, but also gained a profound understanding of "self-conquest"—which was essentially the same as the shackles of fate that he had to break.

Teacher Fang smiled and said, "See, you did it. Difficulties are like this wall. Every time you read it carefully, you're chiseling a hole in it. Keep going, and the wall will eventually fall. Remember this feeling. Next time you stand up, think of it as you're dismantling the wall, not being blocked by it."

The battlefield of mathematics is equally arduous, yet it possesses a colder, different logic. When grading homework, Ms. Sun Yulan always paid special attention to Tianci's "scarred" notebook—covered with repeated erasures and corrections, and the blank spaces crammed with dense extra calculation steps, like a chaotic battlefield after a fierce battle.

During a unit test, Tianci made a calculation error and lost many points, causing his score to drop below the passing grade. Instead of criticizing him, Teacher Sun called him to her office and spread out his test paper and his thick notebook of incorrect answers.

"Tianci, look," Ms. Sun said gently, her finger tracing the red and blue ink marks on the error notebook. "Last time, you had absolutely no idea how to solve this word problem; your mind went completely blank. This time, although you got the answer wrong, the steps were clear, and the equation was correct, which means you understood the problem! Here," she pointed to a geometry problem, "you added the wrong auxiliary line, which caused the whole thing to go wrong, but you wrote down three different approaches in blue next to it! This spirit of not giving up and exploring from multiple angles is excellent!"

Her gaze swept over the red crosses and the reflections and summaries Tianci had written in blue pen beside them, and she said, "Grades are only temporary, but your attitude towards organizing your mistakes, your perseverance in trying again and again, and even when you make a mistake, trying to understand why you made it—that's what's truly remarkable. This is called a 'growth mindset'—believing that abilities can be improved through effort. Keep going, focus your energy where it matters most, find the method that suits you best, and this notebook of mistakes will be your martial arts manual. Every mistake you make, you improve by one point!"

These words, like Coach Zhou's guidance on the key points of power generation, made him realize that learning, like practicing martial arts, requires not only hard work but also "skillful application" and "review." He also regarded this drive to "find methods and summarize patterns" as a way to conquer his own "dullness."

The efforts and resilience bestowed by Heaven, like trickles of water, eventually converged into a river.

Colorful flags fluttered in the air on the playground of Jixian Elementary School at the end of the semester. All the teachers and students stood in neat rows.

The principal stood on the platform, his voice booming: "Now, we will present the 'Most Improved Student Award' for this semester. This award is intended to recognize students who have achieved self-transcendence through extraordinary perseverance!"

The room fell silent. The principal continued, "This award recipient, in just one semester, has shown us what true perseverance, like 'grinding an iron rod into a needle,' really means. From the difficulty of expressing himself to his courageous participation in class, from academic struggles to his steady progress, every step he has taken is imbued with sweat and unwavering determination!"

"He is Cang Tianci, a student from Class 1, Grade 4!"

Amid thunderous applause, Tianci walked step by step toward the podium. Sunlight shone on his slightly thin but ramrod straight back and on the red scarf on his chest, making it appear particularly dazzling.

The principal handed him a bright red certificate and then took out a beautifully bound copy of "How the Steel Was Tempered." On the title page was a line written by the principal himself: "To the student, bestowed by Heaven: May your will be as strong as steel, and may every step you take shine brightly."

"Students," the principal said, surveying the room, "Cang Tianci has shown us that true strength comes from an indomitable spirit! I hope every student can draw strength from him!"

Standing on the stage, Tianci felt as if the certificates and books in his hands weighed a ton. He looked at the thousands of eyes below the stage, saw Teacher Fang's gratified smile, saw Lin Wanqing waving her little hands excitedly, and also saw Zhao Xiaohu's face twisted with jealousy in the corner.

The sunlight was a bit dazzling, but he didn't avoid it. Instead, he straightened his back and let the light bathe his entire body.

At that moment, he thought of Lin Wanqing, whose grades had always been far ahead of others, followed closely by class monitor Lin Ruoxi and academic representative Song Wei...

He understands that today's achievements are not the end, but a new beginning. The certificates and books in his hands are not only an affirmation of the past, but also an expectation for the future.

He knew that the wall of stuttering had not been completely torn down, the barriers of mathematics remained formidable, Zhao Xiaohu's hostility lurked like a shadow, and the burden of family was still far away. The road ahead was long, and the walls were thick.

He looked down at the certificate in his hand. The sunlight shone on it, making it a little dazzling.