Chapter 39: Chapter 38: Ten Days East of the River, Ten Days West of the River

Sitting in the wry-legged chair, Zhang Shuyuan looked up in surprise, furrowing his brow and said, "In the matter of learning to recognize characters and read, one must understand the principle that too much to chew is tough to digest. Even if I tell you the pronunciation, writing, and meaning of the remaining few hundred characters now, you may not be able to remember them.Instead of that, it is better to consolidate what you have learned today, head home early, and come back earlier tomorrow."

Zhang Shuyuan noticed that Shen Qing was becoming a bit anxious.

After all, he was a young man. Five days in a row had worn down much of his patience, and he could no longer calm his mind, wanting to take shortcuts.

He had seen many such people.

But where were there shortcuts in reading and recognizing words?

The knowledge in his belly was all accumulated bit by bit.

It was because of these years of learning that, compared to others, he knew a little more about some principles of how the world works, and his frail body didn't end up starving to death.

If learning was that easy, then he would have starved to death long ago.

Shen Qing heard some didactic tones in Zhang Shuyuan's words. He smiled slightly and said, "These days, I have learned a total of eighty-four characters. After understanding their meanings, I couldn't help but marvel at the wonders and vastness of the world, so I've been eager to understand the rest of the content. Searᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

It's purely a desire for knowledge in my heart, and not learning for the sake of learning."

Zhang Shuyuan's expression paused.

He never expected Shen Qing to think like this.

And those words struck right at his heart.

Learning was indeed for the pursuit of knowledge, not for the sake of learning.

In this short phrase, a significant principle was contained.

Zhang Shuyuan couldn't help but take a few more looks at Shen Qing.

This handsome young man was brutal and merciless when killing, but was gentle and noble when learning to read.

It was hard to imagine two completely different temperaments in one person.

Truly a peculiar flower in the deep mountain.

Since the student wanted to gain knowledge, he certainly had no reason to refuse.

Zhang Shuyuan coughed and said, "Bring the book here, and I will tell you the rest of the Thousand Character Classic. However, this is not teaching. I will only say it once briefly, and you just need to listen."

"Much obliged."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qing brought over the Thousand Character Classic, already old and yellowed, and placed it in front of Zhang Shuyuan.

"Sit next to me, and I will teach you one by one," Zhang Shuyuan said, patting the space next to him.

At that moment, Shen Qing's heart sank.

He didn't know if it was because Zhang Shuyuan's diet had improved recently, coupled with the poor sanitary conditions, but he had developed serious halitosis and had also taken to farting.

And it was getting worse day by day.

Recently, sitting next to him to learn to read had also become a rather painful affair.

This was also one of the reasons why Shen Qing wanted to finish the Thousand Character Classic as quickly as possible.

At the very least, after learning the Thousand Character Classic, he wouldn't need Zhang Shuyuan to teach him by hand, so close up.

Shen Qing took a deep breath and sat down beside Zhang Shuyuan. The familiar smell hit him immediately.

At first whiff, the odor was like a fermented substance, carrying a musty undercurrent, and upon a second sniff, it intertwined with a faint sour stench that drilled persistently into his nose.

Shen Qing's heart surged with discomfort and the urge to flee, yet he struggled to maintain a calm appearance.

"Just look here, I will explain to you sentence by sentence…"

As Zhang Shuyuan spoke, waves of his breath continued to flow out.

Shen Qing kept his face taut, trying to focus his attention on the Thousand Character Classic.

With his attention highly concentrated, Shen Qing suddenly realized that the feeling of words going in one ear and out the other was gone.

Instead, what replaced it was a miraculous learning experience.

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Just by listening and looking once, the content on the paper had all become deeply etched memories in his mind.

When he recalled them again, it was as if he carried an endless library with him, every detail, every piece of text, every hue was as clear as when he first saw them.

Is this what it feels like to be a top student?

It was simply too exhilarating!

This wonderful learning experience gradually made Shen Qing forget that he was in a harsh environment.

Time flew by quickly.

In about half an hour, Zhang Shuyuan finally finished explaining the last part.

"This sentence means that one should dress neatly and properly, act with ease, and look far into the future. These principles wouldn't be understood by someone ignorant and narrow-minded, reduced to living their life in vain like a fool, becoming a laughingstock. As for the auxiliary words in the ancient texts, they are 'whence', 'alas', 'indeed', and 'is'."

Zhang Shuyuan closed the yellowed book, the Thousand Character Classic and said, "Alright, that's all the content of the Thousand Character Classic. If you can fully learn the Thousand Character Classic, in the future you will know the meaning of most books you read."

"Thank you for the instruction, Teacher."

Shen Qing closed his eyes and recalled for a moment, and with his "Never Forget" ability, he realized he had remembered the entire Thousand Character Classic.

Combined with the knowledge and cognitive ability from his previous life, he understood the meaning of all the characters as well.

This ability is truly useful.

Shen Qing opened his eyes, a look of joy crossing his face.

He glanced at the sky through the window and stood up, saying, "It's getting late, I should go back. I'll disturb you again, Teacher, when I have time later."

Zhang Shuyuan was slightly puzzled.

During the past five days, every time Shen Qing left, he had said he would come back the next day, but this time he mentioned coming back when he had time later.

It sounded as if he had already learned everything and might not return.

There was a subtle difference.

Zhang Shuyuan thought he was possibly overthinking it.

The Thousand Character Classic, with more than a thousand characters, would normally take at least a year or two to memorize. How could it be easy?

It must just be Shen Qing's way of speaking.

Zhang Shuyuan waved his hand nonchalantly, with no intention of keeping him any longer.

Upon leaving Zhang Family's home, Shen Qing couldn't help but take a deep breath, feeling as if his entire body had become relaxed, as though a layer of shackles had been lifted from him.

He didn't linger at the doorway but went straight home.

Now, his Qi-Blood was vigorous throughout his body, and even in his thin cotton clothes with bare hands exposed, he didn't feel cold.

"Qingzi, been learning to read at the bookworm's place again? When are you free to come over to my place? I'll ask Auntie to cook you some mutton."

On the way, he came across a clan uncle from the same lineage, who greeted him enthusiastically.

"No thank you, Uncle Seven, I should head back early. My sister has already prepared food at home," Shen Qing replied with a smile, politely declining.

However, after only a few steps, a stout woman in the village stuffed a wild rabbit into his hands: "Qingzi, this wild rabbit was caught by your nephew from the Zhang Family. He insisted on giving it to you; you take it."

Before Shen Qing could refuse, the woman turned and walked away as if fleeing, as though she was worried he would not accept it.

Witnessing this scene, Shen Qing couldn't help but laugh: "When I was in dire straits, everyone avoided me like a plague. Now the tables have turned, such is the fickleness of the world..."

He shook his head, continually accepting the kindness of his neighbors as he made his way home.

All the villagers he met on the way were huddled in their sleeves, with their necks shrunken, a complete contrast to his own comfortable demeanor.

This was the difference between someone who practiced Martial Arts and someone who didn't.

Shen Qing gave the wild rabbit to Shen Fang, then eagerly took out the "Nine Skills" booklet he had snatched from Chen An and turned to the first page.

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