Chapter 24: The First Lesson
Inside the entire schoolhouse, everyone watched the screens slowly rise, their little hands clenched into fists and stuffed into their mouths.
Ever since entering this classroom, they had probably been so shocked that they were about to forget their own names.
Even Qi Zheng, who had developed some resistance to the things Chen Bai brought out, was now staring without blinking at the screen that was slightly tilted and facing him directly. It was the most suitable angle for the eyes to view the screen.
Unseen before.
Unbelievably miraculous.
Chen Bai’s voice did not fluctuate much. “What you are seeing now is a touchable teaching device. In the future, I will teach through it.”
Silence. Silence.
After a long while, someone weakly said, “Master, those of us in the back can’t hear very clearly.”
There were seventy students, and Chen Bai’s voice was not loud, so it was normal that the people in the back could not hear clearly.
Chen Bai was not surprised either. He had originally been about to explain the next step.
“Do you see the thing hanging beside you? Put it on your head.”
The group of students: “…”
On the transparent divider of each desk, there was indeed something hanging there. It was black and looked like a crooked melon.
Chen Bai picked up the headphones beside him and demonstrated how to wear them.
But once these students put on the headphones, wouldn’t it be even harder to hear?
They could not even hear the slightest sound from beside them anymore. The headphones were full-cover headphones, meaning they wrapped around the entire ear to prevent outside noise from interfering, allowing the students to focus more on listening to the master’s lecture. Even if the student beside them scratched around and made strange noises, it would not affect their class.
At this moment, Chen Bai clicked on lecture mode at the control panel.
“Can you hear me now?”
The group of little fools: “…”
For a moment, they took off the headphones and looked at Chen Bai on the podium in surprise. Then they looked around curiously at their classmates, only to find that the others were almost the same, all with faces full of astonishment.
Just now… the master’s voice had come from inside this “crooked melon.” His voice clearly had not been loud, but they could hear it with perfect clarity.
“Wh-what is going on?”
Chen Bai looked at these ancient students, their small bodies embedded in their chairs, wearing headphones, their mouths never closing from the very beginning. It was rather amusing.
Chen Bai said, “This is called a headset. From now on, you will all need to wear it during class.”
“Starting today, this will be where you attend lessons.”
Then he let the students adapt for a while first.
Although he had only explained how to turn on the device and wear the headphones, judging from how utterly astonished these students were, they probably needed some time to adjust.
Their small bodies sat on chairs that could turn. Even a chair would probably be enough for them to play with for an entire day.
Their hands curiously touched here and there as they began exploring these novel things on their own.
However, the commoner students were even more careful.
They knew that the students from Shangjing had paid ten taels of gold to attend these classes. When Mountain Lord said they could study together with them, one could imagine how happy they had been.
So this was a class worth ten taels of gold?
This would also be their classroom from now on?
Their hearts were filled with excitement, and even more with cherishing. At a loss, they also copied the other students and carefully touched these strange new things.
The master had said that after the seats were chosen, they would not change unless there were special circumstances. On top of that, each desk had a transparent divider between it and the next. From now on, this seat would belong to their own tiny space. How wonderful.
For them, who had wandered from place to place, who had suffered life’s hardships, all of this was far too precious.
For some reason, their eyes could not help stinging. Everything felt like a dream, yet it was so real.
At such a young age, they were already a little more mature than children of the same age. From time to time, they glanced toward the podium.
Nervous, excited, thrilled, moved, grateful—all kinds of feelings mixed together.
Chen Bai let the students adapt on their own first, then looked toward Qi Zheng.
Qi Zheng was expressionless. He even nodded at Chen Bai seriously. “Not bad.”
Had he known earlier that it would be this kind of classroom, let alone ten taels of gold, there would probably still be people willing to sign up even if it were more expensive. The things this demon brought out truly were extraordinary.
Chen Bai: “…”
Keep pretending. Go on pretending. He did not believe Qi Zheng was not surprised at all.
Qi Zheng added, “These students should be satisfied today.”
Chen Bai: “I haven’t started class yet.”
Qi Zheng: “…”
After a while, Chen Bai spoke. “Now, put on your headsets properly. We are officially starting class.”
“There will be two lessons today. We will begin with the first lesson. Keep your eyes on the screen in front of you.”
He would let these students familiarize themselves with the new equipment while learning. Once they got used to it, things would be fine. But looking at this group of students who seemed to have discovered a new continent, who knew how long it would take them to get used to it.
As for these students, they no longer had the mind to listen to Chen Bai’s words, because…
The glass panel in front of them was slowly lighting up.
What did they see?
Strange… images had appeared on it…
Really. There were people inside the stone tablet, and there was sound too. It was especially clear. There was absolutely no way they had seen wrong.
Chen Xiaobu clutched his chest hard. Good heavens, his little heart.
What was this? What was this?
He excitedly looked up, only to discover that the classmates around him were basically exactly the same. They were all clutching their little hearts and looking up at their teacher.
Chen Bai frowned slightly. “Calm down and listen carefully. Look at the screen.”
The group of students: “…”
How could they possibly calm down? Their little hearts were only so big.
No, no. Their little hearts were about to leap out. There was a disobedient little donkey living inside.
They could not help swallowing repeatedly.
What Chen Bai was playing was a teaching video. He had already replaced the original audio file with a recording of his own voice processed through a voice changer. This counted as preparing the lesson in advance.
There was no other way. Modern writing and pronunciation were very different from those of this era. The students definitely would not understand the original audio of the teaching video. In addition, some content also needed to be processed by him into terms this era could understand.
Qi Zheng looked at the person inside the video. This, he was familiar with, because in the past, the demon could also appear inside the stone tablet. But…
Who was the person inside the stone tablet now?
Chen Bai remained calm and explained to Qi Zheng alone, “This is another demon I invited to teach.”
He was using a ready-made teaching video. If he recorded it himself from scratch, it would be too troublesome. More importantly, he did not have a suitable display environment.
What was he teaching?
In modern times, Chen Bai had been a concept artist for a gaming company and had a fairly good reputation in the industry.
Now, the people of Shangjing also mistakenly believed that the photographic works he produced were paintings he had drawn.
If he did not show some real skill, it would inevitably make people suspicious.
Today, he planned to divide the class into two lessons. The first lesson would be sketching.
The video currently playing was the first of twenty-four lessons in a teaching course, so it was relatively basic.
It even taught how to place the drawing board and how to hold a pencil.
What they learned at the very beginning was also drawing simple geometric shapes. All drawings were actually made up of lines and geometric forms.
Of course, to increase interest, the first lesson would teach how to draw a flowerpot. A flowerpot was square and looked like nothing more than lines and geometric shapes, making it most suitable for beginners to practice drawing.
Chen Bai was not idle either. While the students watched the teaching video, he got up and distributed easels, drawing boards, paper, pens, and so on to the students.
They all came in sets. He only needed to hand out one set per person.
At a time like this, Qi Zheng, the “teaching assistant,” finally became useful. How could Chen Bai waste that sturdy, strong build when it came to physical labor?
There were seventy students in total, so it did take some time.
The group of students were still dazed. When they received their study tools, Chen Bai said, “Do as the video teaches.”
Unfortunately, their faces were all saying, “Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?”
There was no choice. Chen Bai paused the video and taught them step by step.
Their desks were very wide and flat. The easels could have their height adjusted and could simply be placed on the desk surface. Then they placed the drawing boards on the easels and attached the paper.
Chen Bai had also considered that the students had never come into contact with these things before, so he taught them especially carefully and seriously. He even explained the angle at which the drawing boards should be placed.
Whenever there was something slightly more complicated in the video, he paused it and explained it, making sure the students followed along and did it once.
Luckily, he had prepared the teaching video beforehand. Otherwise, if he had to explain everything only with his mouth, blisters would probably form.
The group of students: “…”
The image inside this stone tablet could even stop. It could even go backward.
Could time repeat itself?
Ah, they understood less and less.
Qi Zheng also took a set of tools and studied enthusiastically.
In this era, drawing depended entirely on talent. If one drew well, then one drew well. Where would there be so many techniques?
But now, someone was actually teaching how to draw step by step. It was truly hard to imagine. Even something like drawing could be taught like this.
Chen Bai also sighed inwardly. Silver really was not easy to earn. His lips were nearly worn out from speaking.
Fortunately, all the students’ drawing boards were now set up. They were placed on the desks, and the students were holding pencils, covering one eye as they followed the video and drew.
Finally, it looked somewhat like a class.
Chen Bai’s teaching video was for learning sketching from zero foundation.
It was currently teaching, stroke by stroke, how to draw a flowerpot.
However, Chen Bai still had to patrol the classroom and correct the students’ incorrect ways of holding pencils and their posture.
As long as they took the first step, it should be easier later.
After Chen Bai had walked once around the classroom, he returned to the podium and glanced at Qi Zheng’s drawing board. “…”
Painful to the eyes. Better not describe it.
Chen Bai ignored him and set up a drawing board of his own, casually drawing. Of course, he was also drawing a flowerpot.
However, students would occasionally ask questions.
“Teacher, teacher, am I holding the pencil correctly?”
“Teacher, why is my drawing so ugly?”
Chen Bai thought, No matter how ugly it is, can it be uglier than Qi Zheng’s?
To Chen Bai, these were all simple questions. He could answer them casually.
Seeing that the students were gradually becoming absorbed, Chen Bai also breathed a sigh of relief.
Sketching class was indeed much freer than classes at Shangjing Academy.
Qi Zheng even tilted his head to look at Chen Bai’s drawing, then used his body to block his own drawing board so Chen Bai could not see it.
The other students also curiously tilted their heads from time to time to look at their classmates beside them.
Their little hands directly covered their mouths, afraid they would be unable to hold back their laughter.
“Chen Xiaobu, what are you drawing? Teacher taught us to draw a flowerpot. How did you turn it into a plate?”
Chen Xiaobu’s mouth pouted. “I followed teacher stroke by stroke. How would I know it would turn out like this?”
After saying that, he looked at his own drawing and broke into a grin too. “How did it become a plate?”
Chen Bai inevitably had to explain some basic techniques again.
The first lesson originally did not have much content, but because he had to teach everything from zero little by little, it was already noon by the time it ended.
Regardless of whether the students had drawn well or not, at least there was now something on their drawing boards that could barely be called a doodle.
Chen Bai even praised a few students who had drawn well. For example, the flowerpot Gan Xin drew could still be recognized as a flowerpot.
“The first lesson is over. Remember what you learned today.”
The group of students froze. How was it already over?
They had not felt the passage of time at all.
When one was absorbed in something, that was how it was.
This class was too fun. They were actually reluctant to part with it. Fortunately, there was another lesson in the afternoon.
Noon was rest and meal time.
Chen Bai told the students to go eat. When they came, their carriages naturally had pastries prepared for them by their servants. The commoner students’ homes were not far away, so they could go back to eat and then return.
They left the classroom reluctantly.
They did not want to leave for even a moment now. Even if they were only allowed to touch things everywhere and play, that would still be wonderful.
But how could they skip lunch?
Chen Bai smiled. “Come back after eating. If you finish early, you can come play earlier too.”
Only then did everyone reluctantly leave.
However, as he passed the podium, Chen Xiaobu suddenly cried out in shock, “Prince Zheng, Prince Zheng, what is this thing you drew? Why is it a lump?”
Good heavens. It was even uglier than what he had drawn.
A group of people ran over to watch the fun.
Qi Zheng: “…”
He had also drawn it according to the teacher’s instructions. How had it become a lump? It was clearly a flowerpot.
Chen Bai: “…”
As soon as the group of students walked out the door, they cried out from the heat.
Truly, one door separated two different worlds.
The servants waiting outside stared in a daze. Why did their young masters look as if they had been injected with chicken blood?
Then they listened to the scattered discussions that simply would not stop, and they could not understand a single word.
What rising glass mechanism? What master inside a stone? What stone pillar that could shake its head…
The way they described it was earth-shattering. Even storytellers in teahouses would not dare tell tales like that.
Some servants who usually got along well with their young masters could not help asking what they had learned today.
The students answered casually, “We learned drawing.”
Only then did those people finally understand.
Mountain Lord’s painting skills were known throughout Shangjing. Those eight paintings of the divine peacock had been displayed at the entrance of Shangjing Academy for several days, and they had also been lucky enough to squeeze in and take a look. Saying they were astonishing heavenly works would not be an exaggeration.
But…
“Master said that before drawing, you have to plan the composition first. Chen Xiaobu didn’t know how to compose, so he drew a flowerpot into a plate.”
“The lines have to be pretty for the drawing to look good. Otherwise, it’ll be like Prince Zheng’s—whatever he draws turns into a lump.”
They could understand every single word, but once those words were put together, what exactly were they saying?
It had only been one morning. Why could they no longer understand what their young masters were saying at all?
Knowledge was the root of the generation gap between eras.
…
By the time Chen Bai returned to the classroom, all the students were already there.
Some had their mouths open in front of the air conditioners, playing with them. Some had their faces pressed to the tables, looking blissful.
How had a perfectly good multifunctional electronic classroom turned into a playground?
Qi Zheng was rather serious. With a dark face, he was drawing, probably preparing to wash away his humiliation.
But Chen Bai took one look and originally wanted to find one point to praise and encourage him, yet he truly could not say anything against his conscience.
There was still some time before class began. Seeing that although these students were playing happily, they were also very careful and cherished the equipment, Chen Bai did not stop them.
The classroom was actually divided into two parts. One section had been separated off, like a small bar counter. Inside were a table and a few chairs.
Chen Bai walked in.
Then everyone watched in surprise as Chen Bai pulled open a white stone pillar in the corner that did not shake its head, took out a cup of water from inside, and sat at the table to drink.
When that white stone pillar was pulled open, white mist even came out of it.
The group of students gathered around with chirping voices. “Teacher, teacher, what is this?”
Even Qi Zheng looked straight at Chen Bai without turning his eyes away.
Chen Bai froze. This was only a rest area. He had merely taken a cup of water from the fridge.
To him, it was perfectly normal. Yet the whole group of students narrowed their eyes and looked at him curiously.
Chen Bai said, “When you’re in the schoolhouse, drink water in here. Those devices outside… those mechanisms cannot get wet. This place is just for resting briefly.”
After saying that, he pointed at the fridge. “There’s chilled water inside. If you want to drink, use your own cups and pour some yourselves.”
As soon as he finished speaking, that clever ghost Chen Xiaobu rushed outside to get the cup he used for drinking water from the carriage.
When Chen Xiaobu came back holding his cup, he pulled open the fridge with a proper little manner.
Tsk, tsk. This stone pillar actually had a door.
How magical.
It was hollow inside too.
Even more magical was that there was such cold wind inside. Was there a winter living in there?
There was a lot of chilled water in the fridge. It had been prepared for these students using boiled water that had already been cooled, with glucose added to it.
In Chen Bai’s view, the commoner students lacked nutrition. Glucose was cheap but very valuable, and could serve as a supplement for nutritional deficiency.
Chen Xiaobu picked up the kettle from inside the fridge and poured himself a cup in a very proper manner. Then, imitating Chen Bai, he carried it to the table and drank it.
“So cold. It’s sweet water.”
The weather was hot, so drinking a cup of cold water was extremely comfortable.
Chen Bai glanced again at Qi Zheng, who was pouring water with a serious face, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Wasn’t it just drinking water?
As a result—
“Teacher, teacher, I’m thirsty too…”
Chen Bai: “…”
So all of you suddenly became thirsty together.
But there was only one table.
“Line up. One at a time.”
If he did not let them experience it once, they would probably keep thinking about it for a long time.
“Chen Xiaobu, Chen Xiaobu, drink faster. It’s our turn.”
Chen Xiaobu: “I’ll have one more sip.”
Perhaps to a group of children, this was something especially rare and interesting.
No—Chen Bai glanced at Qi Zheng, who was sitting leisurely at the table and drinking water. It was rare and interesting even to an adult.
When those commoner children drank the water, their eyes lit up. It was actually sweet water.
They could barely eat sugar once or twice a year.
“So sweet. It tastes so good.” Their faces were filled with the delight children should have.
This was now everything in this multifunctional electronic classroom: four air-conditioning fans, one refrigerator, a main control console, an assistant control console, and student computers.
To Chen Bai, it was already very simple.
Actually, there was also a projection screen. It was currently rolled up and not in use. He would show these students a movie in next week’s class. Earning money was not easy. He still had to dub the movie with a voice changer, otherwise they would not understand it.
Showing students movies was something teachers loved doing most. Of course, he could not be an exception.
Naturally, the projection screen’s function was not limited to that. It could also be used for lectures. For example, if there were too many students and not enough student computers, the auditing students could watch the projection screen while the other students watched their own computers.
After the group of students happily drank water, Chen Bai began the second lesson.
It was still a teaching video.
Even though they had already seen images appear inside the tablets that morning, when these students experienced it again, they still could not help opening their mouths wide.
Even if they told others about it, no one would probably believe them.
The afternoon class was a planting class.
Chen Bai’s current courses were not fixed. He had decided that in the future, the morning class would be a fixed lesson, while the afternoon would be a temporary interest class.
As for why it was a planting class?
Chen Bai smiled. Hadn’t they seen that their schoolhouse was newly built and that the outside was bare? It was precisely the time when manpower was needed for construction.
His class already leaned toward a summer camp style, so it was perfect to let these students build the schoolhouse themselves.
There was quite a bit of fun in it. Besides… in an era where agriculture was the foundation, his planting class would certainly let these students gain unexpected things and bring a different color to this era.
Today, he was teaching them how to plant two kinds of plants. One was the sunflower.
Chen Bai planned to plant sunflowers along the road from the schoolhouse to Shangjing.
When the time came, it would surely be breathtakingly beautiful.
Who would not want to build their own academy into something prettier? Chen Bai was no exception. Studying or teaching in a beautiful academy would put one in a completely different mood.
But right now, the new academy had only a few schoolhouses. There were still far too many things to do.
They could only take it slowly.
“Teacher, teacher, is this sunflower really this pretty?”
A student looked at the flower in the video and asked.
Classroom discipline was still quite chaotic right now. They even lifted off their headphones to ask questions. In truth, they could use the student computers directly, and there was no need to remove their headphones. However, he had not yet taught them how to operate that, so they would take it slowly.
Chen Bai paused the video. It happened to freeze on a close-up of a field of sunflowers. He answered, “That’s right. What we are going to learn is how to plant this flower called a sunflower. Not only is it bright and beautiful, its seeds…”
In ancient times, this kind of flower that turned toward the sun would definitely be deeply loved. It seemed to carry a righteous air all on its own.
Even Qi Zheng could not help looking at Chen Bai.
There was actually such an extraordinary flower.
If it could be planted, how magnificent would that be?
The video continued and was explaining the key points and precautions for planting sunflowers.
Every kind of plant had its own unique habits. If one wanted to grow a plant well, one actually had to study it separately, rather than planting it however one assumed was right.
For example, many people bought flowers from flower markets but could never keep them alive. One reason was that they planted them based on their own assumed experience and had never systematically learned how to do it.
Now it was time to hand out student materials again. Chen Bai called over Qi Zheng, the teaching assistant.
This time it was simple. Each person was given a packet of raw sunflower seeds. Each packet probably contained five hundred seeds.
“You all know that in my class, if you rank first in the year-end assessment, Young Master Bai of the Court Commandant’s Estate will reward you with a strange beast.”
Rows of heads lifted at once, their eyes filled with stars.
“The assessment is based on comprehensive results from multiple subjects. For example, for this morning’s class, at the end of the year, you only need to submit the sketch you are most satisfied with. It will count as one part of your assessment score.”
“But for this planting class, the assessment has already begun now.”
What?
The group of students: “…”
Sob, sob, sob. They had only just started class. They knew nothing yet. How had the assessment already begun?
Chen Bai said, “What you are holding in your hands are sunflower seeds. Your assessment content is to see whose sunflowers have the highest survival rate, bloom best, and bear the fullest seeds.”
“Now listen carefully. In a while, I’ll divide up sections for you to plant yourselves.”
The group of students opened their mouths. “…”
Qi Zheng also hesitated a little. Wasn’t this forcing ducks onto a perch?
But it seemed that it really could let these students learn some skills.
Chen Bai’s reasoning was actually very simple: he wanted to cultivate their hands-on ability.
How could they possibly learn simply by watching videos? It was not as if everyone was a prodigy.
He had no intention of teaching prodigies either. He only wanted these students to learn something practical and down-to-earth.
Chen Bai reminded them, “Don’t blame me for not reminding you. How much of what you just watched do you remember? You’re not even using pens to write it down?”
The group of students was startled. They had watched with great interest, but these were all pieces of knowledge they had never come across before. How could they remember everything at once?
They quickly picked up their pens and began taking notes.
“First soak the seeds in warm water. Tsk, tsk. So farming has this much knowledge.”
“The land needs to be flat. Watering needs to be convenient. The soil needs to be soft…”
“How do we water again? Ah, the teacher inside this stone talks so fast.”
“…”
Actually, whenever the video reached important points, Chen Bai also highlighted them, paused, explained them, and let them write them down.
These were all rare and valuable planting experiences. These children might not understand that yet, but Qi Zheng watched with trepidation.
If someone could summarize such effective experience for millet, the crop most commonly used in Great Qian, it would definitely be a contribution for the ages.
Chen Bai had no choice either. He could not find videos on planting millet online at all. This kind of low-yield crop had been eliminated by the times.
As for the students who still did not really know how to read, they could only widen their eyes and stare hard at the screen. They had to rely on memory to remember it. It would also let them realize the importance of reading and writing, and he believed they would be more serious during the old master’s classes.
The second plant to be grown in planting class was the narcissus.
A potted narcissus.
It just so happened that each student would be given a flowerpot. First, it would let them practice drawing flowerpots when they returned home. Second, they could use the flowerpot to plant a pot of narcissus.
Narcissus looked somewhat like garlic. Its bulbs were poisonous, and if eaten by mistake, one would experience symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea.
But it was relatively easy to keep alive, so it counted as a decent practice plant for beginners.
“This flower is pretty too.” The group of students looked at the narcissus in the video and could not help saying so.
A fairy in water, white jade like orchids. It did indeed look elegant.
Then, when they heard that the bulb was poisonous, their little hands covered their mouths.
What was going on? What was going on? Why did they feel a tiny bit excited inside?
Chen Bai emphasized this point several times.
“Today is your first time attending my class, so I’ve prepared a few gifts for you. First, a complete set of sketching tools. Second, a flowerpot and a few narcissus bulbs.”
Actually, he would also give each of them a handful of five-spice sunflower seeds, stuffing their little pockets full.
“Because my class only happens once every five days, you’ll have homework after you go back. Next time you come to class, submit one drawing of the flowerpot. Draw the flowerpot I gave you. Also, plant the narcissus bulbs in the flowerpot and bring it with you next class. I’ll check how well you planted them.”
Today’s class was more or less over.
After Chen Bai taught the students how to shut down their devices, the lesson officially ended.
When the group of students walked out of the classroom, their minds were still dazed.
It was as though they had experienced something unreal.
But when they touched the drawing board on their backs, the beautiful flowerpot in their arms, the few round narcissus bulbs inside the pot, and the bag of sunflower seeds and roasted seeds in their pockets…
They had attended a magical class today. So classes could actually be this interesting. They were almost reluctant to leave.
What a pity that it only happened once every five days. How wonderful would it be if they could come every day?
Chen Bai then turned his gaze toward the commoner students. “Do you still remember the prerequisite I mentioned for attending my class?”
The group nodded nervously.
They still wanted to attend classes like this.
But… the condition was that the forty-three commoner students had to repair a road from here to Shangjing within one year.
When the other students heard that, they could not help but suck in a breath. Their classmates, whose little bodies were about the same size as theirs, actually had to accomplish such an unbelievable task just to attend the master’s class. They were clearly no older than they were.
Even Qi Zheng thought it was impossible. His fief was not exactly very far from Shangjing, but it was not just a few steps away either. How could these children possibly manage it?
He looked at Chen Bai with some confusion. Was this not simply setting an impossible condition?
Chen Bai smiled. Was it really impossible? If he truly did not want these children to attend his class, there was no need to go through so much trouble.
Chen Bai continued, “Do you still remember the assessment content for the planting class?”
“I’ve divided the road from here to Shangjing into seventy sections. Each of you will be responsible for planting sunflowers along one section of the road…”
The first step of building the academy had begun. They only had to wait until harvest time, when a sunny road lined with sunflowers would stretch all the way from Shangjing to the academy.
“Later, when you return, someone will take you to the section of road you’ll be responsible for.”
“Young ones, do your best.”
The setting sun slanted westward. One student after another, carrying drawing boards on their backs and flowerpots in their arms, began walking back.
The era that belonged to them had only just begun to set sail.
After sending off the students, Chen Bai looked over and saw that Qi Zheng was actually carrying a drawing board on his back and holding a flowerpot in his hands too.
That image…
Qi Zheng said with a perfectly serious expression, “Leave me a plot beside the schoolhouse. I want to plant sunflowers.”
Fine. You built the schoolhouse, so you’re the boss. Do whatever you want.
Chen Bai rode back to Shangjing in Qi Zheng’s carriage.
On the way back, carriages were parked at intervals along the roadside.
They were Chen Bai’s students, currently surveying the sections of road they had been assigned.
They held the notes they had taken in class, glancing at the notes, then looking at the ground by the roadside.
Chen Bai smiled. As for how they would plant the seeds and how well they would grow, that was up to them. At most, he would review the lesson with them and point out any obvious mistakes.
After the students returned home, their parents would naturally ask them about what they had experienced today.
The answers they received were…
People inside stones could move and talk. Stones could shake their heads. Pillars contained ice caves.
Each child described it more strangely than the last, and the key point was that their little faces were flushed with excitement as they spoke.
Things one had never seen before were difficult to understand from description alone. This was exactly such a situation.
“Did you skip class and go somewhere to listen to storybooks?”
“Why don’t you understand even after I explained it?” They stomped their feet in frustration. In truth, they themselves had not fully understood it either, so their explanations became even messier.
“You’re not allowed to eat my five-spice sunflower seeds.”
They huffed angrily.
Ah, but when they were not paying attention, so many of the five-spice sunflower seeds in their pockets had already been eaten.
These seeds were truly fragrant.
“You’re also not allowed to look at my flowerpot or drawing board.”
Although the adults were completely baffled, they could still barely understand a little.
For example, that day, their children seemed to have learned drawing and farming.
“If they can truly learn Lord Mountain’s painting skills, that would be good too.”
“As for farming, isn’t it all the same?”
They still felt a little pained over the ten taels of gold. After all, classes were only held once every five days. Look at Shangjing Academy; classes were held every day, yet the tuition was not even one tael of gold.
After these children finished explaining to their parents, they went off to do their own tasks.
They still had to soak the sunflower seeds in warm water. Tomorrow, after classes at Shangjing Academy ended, they would go plant them. It was written clearly in their notebooks: this season was already the last possible window for planting. If they delayed and missed the timing, they would barely be able to harvest by autumn. If they wasted too much time, would their planting-class assessment not get a zero?
There was also the matter of planting the narcissus bulbs in the flowerpots. The master would check them next class.
When the parents saw their children covered in dirt, they had absolutely no idea what was going on.
“I’m planting flower fairies.”
Parent: “…”
“Really. Once I grow the flower fairies, I’ll show you.”
The next day, in Chen Xiaobu’s schoolroom, a group of students came in carrying drawing boards on their backs and flowerpots in their arms.
The whole schoolroom nearly exploded. They began telling their classmates who had not signed up about everything they had experienced yesterday.
Whether the others understood or not did not matter. They were excited anyway, discussing what they had learned with one another.
“You all didn’t go. What a huge loss.”
“Tsk, exactly, exactly. Let me tell you, that schoolhouse is simply magical.”
Before class began, they set up their easels, placed their drawing boards on top, and put a flowerpot filled with soil on the table.
They held pencils in their hands, lifting them in front of their eyes and comparing them against the flowerpots.
“This is homework. We’re doing composition. Chen Xiaobu didn’t know how to compose the drawing, so he drew the flowerpot into a plate.”
When Chen Xiaobu heard that, he shot to his feet. “I… what about me? No matter how badly I draw, it’s still better than Prince Zheng’s.”
The others: “…”
Boohoo. It had only been one day, yet they could no longer join in when their little friends spoke.
And planting flowers in pots sounded so interesting.
Also, their little friends could actually draw now. They even looked like they knew what they were doing.
When the teacher arrived and saw the drawings on the boards, he was also stunned.
Because the style was completely different from Great Qian’s paintings. It actually looked three-dimensional.
Putting aside whether the drawings were good or bad, their novelty alone was enough to attract attention.
However, the teacher was a little unhappy. They were in his class, yet still reminiscing about someone else’s?
Was his class that uninteresting?
If the teacher knew what these students were thinking right now, he would probably want to bash his head against a wall.
Although the students were discussing things enthusiastically, not many people had truly taken Chen Bai’s classes seriously yet.
They had heard many bizarre things from the students’ mouths.
But it was simply too hard to understand, so they did not take it too much to heart.
Something unexpected happened in Chen Xiaobu’s class today, because Prince Ning arrived late.
Prince Ning was the Emperor’s youngest son. As soon as he entered the schoolroom, he could not help crying in grievance.
A group of classmates hurriedly asked, “Prince Ning, what happened? Your mother consort didn’t let you sign up, but you don’t have to cry like this.”
“That’s right. Aren’t there still quite a few people in our class who didn’t sign up either?”
In the end, Prince Ning cried even harder. “That’s not it at all.”
“Yesterday was my birthday.”
The group of classmates froze. “Then where’s your exotic beast? Young Master Bai is so nice. He knows we like exotic beasts. As long as someone sends him an invitation, he’ll give one as a gift. We’re all a little embarrassed and are even thinking of a way to properly thank him together.”
Prince Ning cried even louder. “My mother consort wouldn’t let anyone send Young Master Bai an invitation. There was no… no exotic beast at all.”
He had flipped through the almanac until it was nearly worn out, only for there to be no invitation to Brother Bai at all.
Actually, the reason was easy to understand. Other people could send Chen Bai invitations, but only the royal family could not. Otherwise, how would Crown Prince Jiao conduct himself?
If they sent an invitation to someone who had supposedly disgraced the royal family, would that not be the same as admitting that Crown Prince Jiao had framed Young Master Bai?
Moreover, Prince Ning’s mother consort was not especially favored, and Prince Ning himself was practically invisible in front of the Emperor. How could they dare offend Crown Prince Jiao?
The group of classmates thought to themselves that Prince Ning was truly pitiful. He had always loved playing with those dogs the most. He even specially made meat jerky to bring over and feed them.
Recently, he had been smiling so brightly that his eyes curved into crescent moons, all because his birthday was coming.
And yet…
On top of that, as a prince, he could not casually leave the city, so he definitely could not attend Lord Mountain’s class either.
Too pitiful. He had nothing at all.
Prince Ning lay on his desk and cried until his eyes were red.
Chen Xiaobu twisted his little hands together. What should he do? This could not really be blamed on his brother. If no invitation was sent, how could his brother shamelessly take the initiative to send a gift? What would that look like?
But Prince Ning really did especially like the dogs. Whenever he had free time, he would hug them and smile foolishly.
“How about… how about I let you raise my Dalmatian for a day?” Chen Xiaobu’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz. He was conflicted to death, but his Dalmatian had eaten so much of Prince Ning’s jerky. Now that Prince Ning was so sad, he could not just watch and do nothing.
Just look at him. He was crying his heart out.
Gan Xin also stammered, “I can lend you my drawing board for a day too. I can also teach you sketching. Teacher even praised my flowerpot drawing.”
“Then I’ll lend you my flowerpot. Be careful with the flower fairy inside. Its bulb is poisonous,” another classmate said.
People often say youth is like poetry, and childhood friendship is the purest thing.
Thus, when Prince Ning returned to the palace after school, he had a drawing board on his back, a flowerpot in his arms, and was wiping tears with one hand while holding a spotted dog’s leash with the other.
He was still young, so he still lived in the palace.
Inside the palace.
After the Emperor finished dealing with state affairs, his imposing figure showed a trace of exhaustion. He looked around. Aside from the palace attendants, there was not a single person close to him.
People said there was no affection in the imperial family, but in truth, was he the only one without affection?
With a hint of sorrow and melancholy, he walked toward the imperial garden, as he often did, to admire the afterglow of the setting sun alone.
Only…
Today seemed a little different.
“Dalmatian, does the pot I drew look good? Gan Thirteen taught me this.”
“Gan Thirteen also said that next class, their teacher is going to take them sketching from life and show them a movie…”
