Chapter 130 – Rogue Scholar (6)
Thank you for the Ko-fi, Panini~ (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
Yan Jing Ze didn’t recognize any of the characters in the book, but he saw the mistake at a glance, and then said: “Lingxiu, copying the book is tiring, you have been copying it for a while, take a break.”
Wei Lingxiu was still looking at Yan Jing Ze, always feeling something was wrong.
His Brother Yan is not illiterate? If he can’t read, how can he tell at a glance that he’s wrong?
Yan Jing Ze saw that Wei Lingxiu didn’t speak, and said, “Don’t worry, I will make money to support you. You don’t need to copy books in the future, just study hard by yourself.”
When Wei Lingxiu heard Yan Jing Ze talk about this, he became curious: “Brother Yan, what do you usually do for a living?”
Yan Jing Ze, of course, cannot say that he collects debts at the casino… “I move goods at the dock.”
“How much money can you earn in a day?” Wei Lingxiu asked again.
Yan Jing Ze knows that an ordinary person can make about 30 wen when moving goods at the dock, and the price at this time… He bought 2 wen per catty for stale rice, and 4 wen per catty for Wei Lingxiu’s white rice. The meat buns he bought yesterday also cost 4 wen: “I move goods at the dock and I can earn 60 wen a day.”
He’s so strong, he should be able to earn 60 wen a day, right?
When Wei Lingxiu was in Wei’s house, they would prepare his food and clothes at home. He can also receive 6 silvers of pocket money from the family account book every month, which is 6,000 wen, an average of 200 wen per day. The elders will additionally give some silver and the money spent in their own store can also be credited.
When he thinks of Yan Jing Ze moving goods at the dock and can only earn 60 wen, Wei Lingxiu feels distressed: “Brother Yan, the Three Character Classic has more than 1,000 characters in total, and the bookstore sells it for three hundred. So, if I copy it and sell it to the bookstore, I can sell it for at least 200 wen, and after the cost of ink and paper, I should be able to earn 100 wen for copying a book.”
Yan Jing Ze learned from the memory of the original owner that Wei Lingxiu made money by copying books. He also knew that at that time Wei Lingxiu copied books day and night, but didn’t know how much he would earn from copying books.
Only now does he know that copying books can earn so much!
“Brother Yan, it is not a problem for me to copy one book a day. You are too tired to go to the dock to move goods. I will make money by copying books in the future,” Wei Lingxiu said. He has seen others move goods on the dock, the work can be very exhausting. He was reluctant to let Yan Jing Ze move goods.
Wei Lingxiu surprisingly wants to make money to support themselves… Yan Jing Ze is in a particularly complicated mood, he feels that copying book is too profitable: “Lingxiu, can I copy the book?”
“Brother Yan, you need to recognize characters when copying books, and you can’t write bad characters…” Wei Lingxiu hesitated.
If he doesn’t have the experience of copying Buddhist scriptures for ten years, the bookstore won’t necessarily want to buy his copied books!
In addition, pen, ink, and paper are not cheap. If there are too many mistakes when copying, you may lose money in the end.
“Then I will practice first and practice more.” Yan Jing Ze pointed to the word before that Wei Lingxiu copied wrong and asked: “What is this word called?”
“Xīng, this word read xīng(suspicious),” Wei Lingxiu said.
“It’s xīng… I see.” Yan Jing Ze took out his fingers and gestured on the table.
Wei Lingxiu originally didn’t think that Yan Jing Ze could write correctly, but now… when he saw Yan Jing Ze, he actually made all strokes in the correct order!
Wei Lingxiu was shocked and immediately gave Yan Jing Ze the paper he had just copied the wrong character, and gave him another pen: “Brother Yan, there is a wrong character on it, this piece of paper is useless… you write on it. “
Yan Jing Ze took the pen, wrote with force, and drew an ink ball on the paper…
He was a little embarrassed when he saw this and realized that the character must be written lightly. Yan Jing Ze re-inked the pen and carefully wrote a “xīng” on the paper.
The stroke order is correct, and the writing is correct, it’s just a bit ugly.
But a previously illiterate person can write like this after only watching himself write once, is already very rare!
No, this is not only very rare… Yan Jing Ze is a genius!
Wei Lingxiu couldn’t help being excited: “Brother Yan, you are so amazing!”
“This is not good, this character is not good-looking.” Yan Jing Ze said. Recalling how Wei Lingxiu had written before, he continued to write.
Then, Wei Lingxiu watched him writing one after another, and the characters got better and better… After writing seven or eight characters, Yan Jing Ze’s characters were already written exactly like his!
Wei Lingxiu was dumbfounded.
Yan Jing Ze didn’t think much about it but said: “Lingxiu, you continue to write. You write all these words, let me take a look, so that I can copy books and make money in the future!”
The money earned from carrying goods in the dock is obviously not as much as the money earned from copying books. He’d better copy books to make money in the future!
Wei Lingxiu more confused: “I write it once and you can remember it, Brother Yan? “
Yan Jing Ze said, “Yes… isn’t that the case?” After these words were said, Yan Jing Ze realized that not everyone seemed to be like this.
Other people’s memory is obviously not as good as his!
So… he was actually a genius?
However, Yan Jing Ze now has no time to care about being a genius or not. He just wants to learn how to read characters and copy books!
He wants to make money!
Wei Lingxiu looked at Yan Jing Ze in shock, and suddenly thought of something. He took the “Three Character Classic” and said, “Brother Yan, I will read this book to you. Try to recognize the characters.”
After Wei Lingxiu finished speaking, he read it, and after a while, he said twenty-four words: “Brother Yan, I will read these twenty-four characters again for you…”
“No, I remember them all, you continue to read,” Yan Jing Ze said.
Wei Lingxiu didn’t quite believe it, but Yan Jing Ze said so… He continued to read.
When he read, Yan Jing Ze listened very carefully. In the middle, Wei Lingxiu tried to stop several times, but Yan Jing Ze said, “You continue.”
Wei Lingxiu: “…”
Wei Lingxiu can only continue.
It didn’t take much effort for Wei Lingxiu to recite the entire Three Character Classic, and after he finished, Wei Lingxiu asked, “Brother Yan, how much did you remember?”
Yan Jing Ze was a little proud: “I remembered all of it.”
Wei Lingxiu was no longer confused but stupefied: “Really?”
“Really!” Yan Jing Ze said: “I’ll read it to you? Men at their birth
are naturally good….”
Yan Jing Ze recited the “Three Character Classic” word for word.
Wei Lingxiu had nothing to say at this point.
He has determined that Yan Jing Ze is very smart, but he never thought that Yan Jing Ze could be so smart!
The “Three Character Classic” has more than a thousand characters, but Yan Jing Ze had only heard him read it once, and he had already learned it!
His father always praised his younger brother for being smart, but his younger brother was never so smart!
No, not only is his brother not as smart as Yan Jing Ze, but in this world, not many people can be as smart as Yan Jing Ze!
Wei Lingxiu took a deep breath to calm his mood. At the same time, he was full of regrets. Yan Jing Ze was so smart. If he was born in a family like Wei family… what would he achieve now?
Wei Lingxiu’s heart beat fast but Yan Jing Ze said: “Lingxiu, it’s time to eat, I’ll get you scrambled eggs.”
“No!” Wei Lingxiu said, “You should learn how to write with me first, so don’t worry about eating!”
Wei Lingxiu didn’t like to study, he always felt that reading was very annoying, but at this moment, he wholeheartedly felt that Yan Jing Ze’s talent could not be wasted.
Yan Jing Ze must study hard!
After speaking, Wei Lingxiu took out a piece of paper and said, “I’ll teach you how to write. No, you don’t need me to teach. Just watch me write… Wait, my hands are a little trembling…”
Wei Lingxiu slowed down before continuing to write.
Someone in the village walked past the door of the Yan family’s home and saw a desk set up in the Yan family’s empty hall. And the Young Master Wei, who was brought back by Yan Jing Ze, was sitting at the desk writing.
As for Yan Jing Ze…
“Yan Da fiercely stared at that young master’s writing… What’s going on?”
“Yan Da also has an axe by his feet…”
“Will he hit that Young Master Wei?”
……
Everyone’s heart was afraid, so they went to the village chief.
The village chief pondered… “That Yan Da, maybe he was staring at that Young Master Wei copying books to make money!”
He said why did Yan Da bring the Young Master Wei back? It turned out to be for the young master to copy books to make money…
Regardless of what others think, Wei Lingxiu did not write for long, Yan Jing Ze pulled him up, let him stand and move around, do not always sit, and they really should cook!
Yan Jing Ze bought some pork yesterday. They are not far from the sea and the salt is cheap. He salted the lean meat yesterday, put it in a bowl, and hung the fat on the beam.
At this moment, Yan Jing Ze took the fat from the beam. He cooked the fat first, then took out the fat residue and gave it to Wei Lingxiu to eat, and then scooped out a part of the fat again, leaving only a little bit of oil at the bottom of the pan and fried three eggs.
After cooking scrambled eggs, he directly added water to the pot to cook the rice.
As for the pot, there is still a little oil… so the rice is more fragrant this way!
When Yan Jing Ze was cooking, Wei Lingxiu watched it strangely, and at the same time, he fed Yan Jing Ze with fat residue.
“Don’t always feed me, you eat yourself.” Yan Jing Ze refused to eat after tasting a few pieces.
Wei Lingxiu put the bowl down directly: “I don’t like to eat such greasy things!” He actually thinks the fat residue is very fragrant… but Yan Jing Ze doesn’t eat it, so he doesn’t eat it either!
Yan Jing Ze: “…” Wei Lingxiu is still picky about such delicious fat residue!
The wife he is fond of is not easy to raise!
No, he must quickly copy books to make money!
When Yan Jing Ze was cooking, he steamed the green vegetables on the steaming rack. Because Wei Lingxiu didn’t eat fat residue, he finally poured the fat residue into the vegetables and steamed them together.
The rice does not have to be cooked for too long, there is no need to add firewood when boiling the water. The remaining temperature in the stove will simmer the rice well.
Taking advantage of this time, Yan Jing Ze took the waste paper that Wei Lingxiu had used and practiced the calligraphy.
Wei Lingxiu didn’t know what to say now.
He has been writing characters for more than ten years, and Yan Jing Ze learned it easily, so what else does he have to say?
However, Yan Jing Ze saw that he was able to write well, but he did not see what he had written badly, which made him somewhat relieved.
Wei Lingxiu was hit so hard that he didn’t have time to care about the bad food when he was eating at noon.
He ate it in a hurry, then continued to copy the book, copy it for Yan Jing Ze to read.
To write the characters correctly, there is no way to write fast. The entire “Three Character Classic” has more than a thousand words copied, Wei Lingxiu wrote it for two hours.
“Lingxiu, you go to rest and I’ll write,” Yan Jing Ze saw him finish writing, and said quickly, somewhat eager to try.
The original owner usually goes to collect debts, and when he comes back, he often gets a few hundred wen as rewards. Now he can make so much money by copying the books… Yan Jing Ze just picks up the pen and copy.
He is completely unaffected by the surrounding environment and he writes with concentration. At first, he writes slowly, but then he writes faster and faster.
Wei Lingxiu almost stopped breathing when he saw it—his Brother Yan is a genius!
Another village people walked by the door of Yan’s house, but was speechless when he saw this scene: “What is Yan Da doing? How expensive is the paper and ink… He is still messing around and wasting it.”
“Look at the young master of the Wei family, he dare not speak out in anger.”
“Hurry up and go, don’t let Yan Da see you…”
…
Yan Jing Ze doesn’t know what other people think, he is excited!
When it finally got dark, he unexpectedly copied a book!
He will go to the county town to sell it tomorrow and he will definitely make a lot of money!
Wei Lingxiu was equally excited.
His Brother Yan is too good. If he studies hard, can he still take the examination and get a good result?
Thanks for the chapters!😍
I love when in every arc YJZ realises that he has superb memory and calls himself a genius.
What at first sight seems like parallel thoughts are in reality endless consideration for each other.
These two are so sweet. 😭😭
JingZe, XiaoXiu, muhou loves you! 🤧🤧
Thank you Translator-daren!
So this is why it’s Rouge “Scholar” 😌