Chapter Four: A Promising Pupil

Zhou Zhi understood that the Yue family, like everyone else, would not believe he could win. For this reason, Zhou Zhi had Zhang Hudaner tell the Yue family that if he lost, he would willingly serve as a servant in the Yue household for three years, at their beck and call. Furthermore, the eight acres of farmland belonging to the Zhou family would also be given to the Yue family. As for these conditions, the Yue family naturally did not require any formal agreement, for they had no fear that Zhou Zhi would renege on the wager if he lost.

Given the Yue family’s influence, dealing with the Zhou family would never pose any difficulty, even without justification.

Yue Shunde, over seventy yet still vigorous, heard from Zhang Hudaner of this opportunity and immediately took charge himself.

When Chen Wenju saw that Zhou Zhi had actually brought Yue Shunde into the matter, he could not help but feel a rush of panic. Secretly he cursed, “This old man turns up everywhere, why can’t he just die already?” The matter seemed to be growing ever more serious. Could it be that the poor brat from the Zhou family truly knew a thousand characters?

But then he reconsidered—no, absolutely not. How could a pauper like Zhou Zhi be literate? This must be mere bravado.

Chen Wenju scowled with undisguised loathing at Yue Shunde. Yue Shunde descended slowly from his sedan, ignored the crowd, and strode directly to Wang Ding. He had Wang Ding write his name as witness on both copies of the contract, then pressed his handprint without hesitation.

Seeing all was in order, Zhou Zhi’s expression hardened as he announced in a deep voice, “Chen Wenju, the wager may begin.”

The moment he uttered “Chen Wenju,” the onlookers, including Wang Ding and Yue Shunde, were all taken aback. For a poor boy to directly address a wealthy scholar by his full name—this was a first in Baiyue Village.

Sure enough, Chen Wenju was furious, his rage barely contained as he spat out, “You wretched brat, do you imagine you have the right to speak my name? You’ve no sense of life or death. Very well! Just wait and see how I deal with you when you lose. Gou Wanger, give him the book. Let him read.”

The servant Gou Wanger, flustered, thrust the book angrily into Zhou Zhi’s hands.

Zhou Zhi took the book, gave the crowd a faint smile, and then stammered out the title, “The Thousand Character Classic.”

Just reading the title made Chen Wenju start, his eyes fixed intently on Zhou Zhi, ears pricked to catch every word.

Zhou Zhi then opened the book and began to recite aloud, “Heaven… Earth… Mysterious… Yellow, Universe… Vast… Antiquity…”

At first, Zhou Zhi deliberately read with some hesitation, as though barely recognizing the characters. Chen Wenju stared at him in astonishment, hardly believing what was unfolding before him.

As Zhou Zhi read further, his pace slowed even more. Sometimes he cocked his head, as if pondering deeply before laboriously reading out each character—yet each was correct.

“Living in solitude, idle and withdrawn… Silent and lonely… Uninformed and ignorant, mocked by others. As for auxiliary words, there are yan, zai, hu, ye…”

Nearly an hour passed before Zhou Zhi finally finished. He let out a long breath, as if a great burden had been lifted, then tossed the book aside and turned to Chen Wenju, whose face was now ashen, demanding in a steady voice, “Chen Wenju, did I not read exactly one thousand characters?”

The Thousand Character Classic is required reading for beginners, composed of precisely one thousand unique characters. As a scholar, Chen Wenju could hardly be ignorant of this. Moreover, the old scholar Wang Ding stood beside him, even more familiar with the text. Zhou Zhi had not missed a single character.

Chen Wenju was dumbstruck for a long while before he finally managed to croak, “You… you… you really know a thousand characters. How… how could I possibly lose? How could this be… how could this be?”

He hung his head, utterly dispirited, all his former arrogance vanished.

But soon he raised his head and glanced around, seeing the villagers standing in stunned silence, all gazing at Zhou Zhi with blank wonder. Chen Wenju let out a cold snort, about to say something, when he caught sight of Yue Shunde’s eyes, alight with schadenfreude. Instantly, he dropped his head again in silence.

He had intended to deny the outcome, but with Yue Shunde there as witness, he faltered. In his heart, he cursed Yue Shunde’s ancestors many times over.

Yue Shunde let out a few dry laughs. “Let’s go!” he declared, climbing into his open sedan as two sturdy servants lifted it and carried him away at a leisurely pace.

To speak the truth, the Chen family had produced scholars, and in the Ming Dynasty, scholars held high status. The Yue family was loath to fall behind. In recent years, they had hired renowned teachers to tutor their children, investing far more in education than the Chen family. Yet, despite all their efforts, the Yue sons had failed repeatedly, not one even passing the scholar’s exam.

“The poor move house, the rich move graves.” Over the years, the Yue ancestors’ graves had been relocated numerous times, all to no avail. The Yue family’s envy, resentment, and bitterness toward the scholarly success of the Chen family was immense.

The absence of a scholar among the younger generation was a lingering pain in Old Master Yue’s heart.

Today, a poor boy had publicly humiliated the Chen family’s scholar. Yue Shunde was overjoyed. As for Zhou Zhi losing and serving as their servant, or the annexation of the Zhou family’s eight acres—these were nothing compared to the satisfaction of seeing the Chen family shamed.

Serves them right! Let’s see how the Chen family dares show their faces now. Heh… hahahaha…

But wait—this Zhou boy, never formally taught, and yet he knows a thousand characters? This little fellow is truly sharp, there’s something to him. If a scholar were to emerge from a poor family, what would that mean for the Yue family…

At this thought, Yue Shunde’s expression turned grim, his aged eyes narrowing to slits.

By now, Chen Wenju was slowly backing away, ready to slip off. But Zhou Zhi, who had been watching him out of the corner of his eye, would not let him escape. He called out in a loud voice, “Chen Wenju, we both have the contract, and Elder Yue is our witness. What do you intend to do about it?”

“Hmph! You… Tonight I’ll send men to plow your fields and plant your wheat,” came the faint reply.

With that, he wasted not another moment, ducked his head, and hurried away. The servant Gou Wanger scampered after him. “Third Young Master, wait for me! Third Young Master, wait!” Like a fawning dog, he followed close behind, the two of them a picture of utter embarrassment.

Only after Chen Wenju had left did the villagers dare to speak. Their eyes were full of confusion and admiration as they whispered, “The Zhou boy really knows a thousand characters—amazing! Just by listening outside the window to the teacher’s lessons, he could learn to read. That Zhou boy’s mind is truly quick, almost frighteningly clever!”

Wang Ding remained where he was, his bright eyes fixed on Zhou Zhi. He could tell that Zhou Zhi was thoroughly familiar with the Thousand Character Classic; the stumbling recitation was just a ruse to toy with Chen Wenju.

He thought to himself, “This Zhou boy’s intelligence is no simple matter. From today’s events—the trap he set, the way he provoked, and then leveraged the situation—it appeared a narrow victory, but in truth, it was a perfect one. Such cunning is far from ordinary!”

Yes—this is a youth worth teaching.