One second to remember 【Perfect Novel Website】 Mobile users enter the address:

Just as Qin Lao believed that he possessed some talent and felt regret for his short-sightedness in marrying into a merchant family, Ning Yi had already entered Yushan Academy, greeting the morning sunlight, preparing to spend the entire morning teaching a group of children the *Analects*. Search:\(?Perfect?Novel?Website) to read high-quality literature for free.

Yushan Academy wasn't located on a mountain called Yushan. It was a private school run by the Su family, which also accepted outsiders with some connections. However, the academy wasn't large, mainly because there weren't many students. Yushan, on the other hand, was the name of a mountain in the Su family's ancestral home.

Yushan Academy was situated on a street not far from the Su family's mansion. It wasn't a street densely packed with shops, so the environment was relatively quiet and secluded. Enclosed by gray tiles and white walls, with a small bamboo grove and a plaque bearing the words "Yushan Academy" written by a renowned scholar, it had a scholarly atmosphere.

Currently, the academy had a total of forty-nine students and seven teachers, including the head of the academy, Su Chonghua. In terms of proportion, the teaching staff could be considered strong. Su Chonghua himself was a member of the Su family, having passed the *juren* examination in his early years and served as an official for a few years. Unfortunately, he didn't achieve much, and there were even rumors that he had committed some offense. In addition, there were two elderly men with official experience who were hired at high salaries. Apart from the teachers and students, there were also several servants such as cooks and handymen.

The Su family had invested a great deal of effort in this academy, but perhaps the teachers weren't reliable enough, or perhaps the students were all inherently dull. The academy hadn't produced any significant achievements. Some of the students who had been trained before, after realizing that there was no hope for the imperial examination, mostly joined the Su family's shops as employees. Therefore, the nature of this academy seemed more like a technical college. If families truly intended for their children to take the path of the imperial examination and become officials, they would mostly transfer their children to better academies before the age of twelve.

Ning Yi had been teaching here for three days. Su Chonghua treated him well and didn't make things difficult for him because of his status as an adopted son-in-law. Those who had struggled in society for a long time were already sophisticated people and had no need to do such boring things. Considering that Ning Yi didn't actually have much talent—everyone said so—he was assigned to teach the more than ten children who had just begun their education. This group of children numbered sixteen in total, ranging in age from six to twelve. Among them were even two young girls with braids, who were relatives of the Su family, sent to learn some characters. The previous teacher had finished teaching the *Classic of Filial Piety* and started teaching the *Analects*. Ning Yi taught them every morning, and the afternoons were more relaxed, with subjects like rituals, music, archery, charioteering, and mathematics, mainly mathematics, with the rest depending on the teacher's mood and ability.

In a better and more formal school, these subjects would be more standardized and more detailed, but Yushan Academy clearly didn't have the conditions for that. As far as Ning Yi was concerned, teaching the *Analects* was actually quite simple. He certainly couldn't recite the *Analects* from memory or say exactly where a certain sentence was located, but if he was only required to read it and provide simple explanations, it was really the easiest thing to do. Any modern person who had received a high school education could probably provide a plausible explanation of the *Analects* with a little time, of course, in vernacular Chinese.

Although in ancient times, true Confucian scholars studied the Four Books and Five Classics in considerable depth, and the profound ones were particularly profound. Perhaps even a piece of classical prose written by a famous courtesan could make a modern professor blush with shame. However, most scholars didn't have the opportunity to receive overly profound education. They might not even be able to find a copy of *Mencius* after reading the *Analects*. But the minimum standard for teachers was very simple: to put it bluntly, it was enough to be able to teach people to read. Ning Yi's predecessor was like that. He taught a group of children to sway their heads and read, and when he felt inspired, he would give a very basic explanation of the meaning of the text. After a while, he would require the students to strictly recite or write a passage from memory. This was the exam. Those who couldn't pass would have their hands slapped.

Things were very simple! Ning Yi didn't intend to change too much. For the first hour, he had the students sway their heads and recite the *Analects*—actually, reading continuously for two hours was painful for Ning Yi, but the children were used to it anyway. For the next two hours, Ning Yi spent the first half explaining a section of the text, and then he would digress and ramble, telling stories and talking about current events, which could also be considered a way to relax the children.

These children were very easy to teach. Although it had only been three days, Ning Yi could already clearly feel the sense of respect for the teacher in the classroom. These children had no individuality to speak of, and the children who didn't show off their individuality were the most adorable. They cherished the opportunity to study, they weren't naughty or *chunibyo*, and even if you beat their butts until they were swollen, they would feel that it was perfectly reasonable. It was simply a teacher's paradise. Ning Yi taught very comfortably. In just three days, the children were extremely satisfied with him just explaining some scriptures and telling some stories. And to tell these things, Ning Yi didn't even need to prepare lesson plans or anything, he could just go with the flow.

This day, he began to explain the section in the *Analects* concerning "Wealth and rank are what people desire..." He talked about the methods of obtaining wealth and the way of doing business, interspersing some sayings and explanations such as "A gentleman loves wealth, but he obtains it in a proper way." Ning Yi had done this in his previous life. Regardless of classical Chinese, if he simply wanted to express a sentiment, it would be enough to take it to a modern university and lecture doctoral students. But in front of him were a group of children under the age of twelve. He casually mentioned a few things and then stopped talking, just citing a few small examples to joke around. Then he talked about the six linked boats of the Puyuan Poetry Gathering, and then he talked about the Battle of Red Cliffs, and began to tell the children the story of Red Cliffs.

In this era, the stories about the Three Kingdoms were mainly based on Chen Shou's *Records of the Three Kingdoms*. Ning Yi hadn't read it, so he was telling the story in the style of *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, which had been embellished by various literary works in modern times, making it full of fun and wish fulfillment. From Cao Cao's 800,000 troops marching south to Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai, the linked boats, and Cao Cao Stealing Arrows with Straw Boats, the children, who usually hadn't heard many stories, had flushed faces and were excited. They spoke from time to time: "Teacher, teacher, what happens next..." The children only quieted down halfway through, because the head of the academy, Su Chonghua, was walking beside the classroom, standing there with his hands behind his back and a blank expression on his face. But even so, it couldn't change the excited expressions on the children's faces.

Since Ning Yi had already started talking, he naturally wouldn't be distracted by this small matter and continued to talk all the way. He only finished talking about burning the linked boats when it was close to noon. Su Chonghua had been standing outside listening all the time, and it was hard to say what kind of expression he had. After Ning Yi finished the story, he wrote a poem by Du Mu that he liked, *Red Cliff*:

A broken halberd lies sunk in sand,
Unscoured, I know from days of old.
Had not the east wind favored Zhou,
Cao's could have locked up both Qiao girls.

There was no blackboard for teaching, so it was very inconvenient to write things. Ning Yi now had some love for the teaching profession. While writing, he thought that he should "invent" a whiteboard or something, and writing with charcoal pencils would be better than a sand table. After he finished writing, the students were busy copying it onto paper. Walking out of the classroom, Su Chonghua greeted him, and a smile appeared on his face, which had been expressionless.

"Nephew is highly talented. He has in-depth research on the history of the Wei and Jin dynasties of the Three Kingdoms. The story just now must have been taken from Chen Shou's *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, right?"

If Qin Lao were here, he might scold Ning Yi for fabricating stories and misleading students. In fact, the real *Records of the Three Kingdoms* wasn't so exciting. For example, the section on Cao Cao Stealing Arrows with Straw Boats was actually about Sun Quan going out for a stroll on a boat and being shot with arrows. Too many arrows were shot on one side of the boat, and it almost capsized. So Sun Quan ordered the boat to turn around and use the other side to bear the arrows, so that the boat could achieve balance and leave in great strides. Ning Yi had only watched the TV series *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* and the like. Su Chonghua hadn't read the *Records of the Three Kingdoms* either. He had just listened to the story Ning Yi told as a storyteller and enjoyed it. At this time, he came over to praise him for his extensive knowledge and the captivating story.

However, after praising him a few words, he also hinted that he shouldn't be so lenient with these students. If Ning Yi were an old scholar in his fifties or sixties, the other party probably wouldn't say these things. However, he only looked to be in his early twenties, and needed to be stricter with these children to show the dignity of a teacher. Obviously, he was dissatisfied with Ning Yi teaching the Three Kingdoms instead of the *Analects*, especially since he told it so vividly, like a storyteller in a teahouse. Ning Yi nodded and accepted the instruction, being humble and respectful, but turned his head and pretended not to have heard it.

Afterwards, Su Chonghua invited him to have lunch at the academy. Generally speaking, ordinary small families only ate two meals a day, and some couldn't even afford two meals. However, the Su family had a solid financial foundation and added an extra lunch, but it wasn't formal, and sometimes it was replaced with pastries. Ning Yi politely declined the invitation, went home to change his clothes, and then gave them to Xiaochan, preparing to wash them and return them to Qin Lao. He didn't tell her about falling into the river, so as not to startle her and have her find a pile of medicine for him to take. These days when Ning Yi was teaching at the academy, Xiaochan didn't follow him all the time. She freed up the morning to handle other matters.

In the afternoon, he went to the Qinhuai River to play chess again. In fact, Qin Lao was also a strange person. Ning Yi used to think that he had probably been an official. Today, when he went to his house, he was even more convinced of this. Many of the styles and furnishings in that house couldn't have been owned by ordinary people. In addition, his conversation and vision made him think that this kind of person was actually running a chess stall by the river every day, which was really strange.

When he came today, another old man was already playing chess with Qin Lao. The old man's surname was Kang, and he was about the same age as Qin Lao. He came from a wealthy family, and was dressed splendidly when he went out, with two servants and two maids clearing the way. This guy looked stern and had a rather mean mouth, but his chess skills were very high. Every time he saw Ning Yi, he criticized his chess path as "simply obscene," "completely lacking gentlemanly style," "how can you be so persistent," and "despicable junior." Then, he would absorb this chess path, modify it slightly, and fight a great battle with Qin Lao. In fact, Qin Lao was even better, and after absorbing a new idea, he changed it so that it was completely natural.

Ning Yi had met many people here, ordinary people, children who hadn't received much education, or people who had received some education but whose minds were still rigid. Whether they were pedantic or honest, their vision and way of thinking were indeed not as flexible as modern people. However, at the higher levels, they were no worse than modern people. For example, Qin Lao didn't say anything verbally, but naturally digested things that he thought were novel in his heart, thinking about the ideas and principles behind them. This old man surnamed Kang was full of etiquette, integrity, and morality, but when he really played chess, he was still ruthless and didn't care about anything. Of course, if it weren't for people like Ning Yi and Qin Lao, he might not be able to see where he was ruthless. He was just worse than Qin Lao. Compared to ordinary people, he was still much better.

Qin Lao and several chess friends had recently been studying Ning Yi's chess path. After all, they had suddenly seen these novel ways of playing chess, and it was still worth studying. Ning Yi didn't have much thought of being humble with the old man. Sometimes he ignored Old Kang's blowing his beard and glaring at him. Sometimes he said a few words to him: "You old man say one thing and do another. You're not a good person." "You dare to make this move! You make it! Try making it!" Usually, probably no junior dared to talk back to Old Kang like this. The two of them had a small quarrel by the chess stall, and Qin Lao laughed beside them. If Old Kang was playing against him, he would say, "Liheng is right." If the opponent was Ning Yi, he would help to denounce Ning Yi for being so dishonest.

But even if they quarreled, there was no malice between them. At first, Old Kang did treat Ning Yi as an ignorant junior, but then he realized that this guy was indeed someone who could be an opponent. The other party was also completely natural and didn't put himself in the position of a junior. In any case, Old Kang always brought a pot of good tea with him. He had his servants bring his own tea set, tea, and water, and the maids brewed it on the table of the tea stall next door. Ning Yi didn't stand on ceremony when he came over, took a cup himself, and moved a stool to sit by the chessboard. After a while, he took a sip of tea: "Oh, Old Kang is going to lose."

The old man was calculating the chess in his heart, and raised an eyebrow: "What do you know about winning and losing, you kid who doesn't have any hair on his mouth? You dare to say such a thing after drinking my tea... Humph, I already have a brilliant plan..."

He raised his hand to make a move, and Ning Yi coughed lightly. The old man's hand stopped immediately, and he looked at it suspiciously for a few times before taking it back. Ning Yi took another sip of tea: "This cup of tea is only worth that much... Hmm, what kind of tea is this?"

"What an ignorant kid, truly a waste of nature's gifts. Have you heard of Zisun?"

Qin Lao was also tasting tea over there. At this time, he smiled and said, "Guzhu Zisun, good tea, but it's a pity to brew it on the street at this time. If I had known that he was bringing this tea today, we should have gone home to play this game."

Old Kang didn't care. At this time, he finally figured out a move, and reached out and placed a chess piece: "Tea is for drinking. Everyone is in high spirits and has like minds, so we drink this tea together. This is the most important thing. Tea is just a dead thing, born to please you and me. If you and I think it's palatable, it has value. What's there to regret?"

"Old Kang's words sound quite grand, like a big shot."

"What big shot, I..."

"This old man, you've lost."

"Uh..."

Ning Yi patted him on the shoulder, smiled, and stood up. At this time, the scenery by the Qinhuai River was pleasant. He walked away with his teacup. Qin Lao had already made a move with a smile in the back. Old Kang said: "How can you do this..."

"Haha, I originally saw that Minggong had brought good tea today, and I wanted to muddle through a few moves and secretly let you win a game, but these words are awe-inspiring. Gentlemen should associate with each other like this, so I don't want to be pretentious anymore, hahahaha..."

Old Kang was obviously dissatisfied with bringing tea and losing the game again, but in any case, he had lost, so he had to admit it. He called Ning Yi over, and everyone reviewed the game once. Afterwards, Old Kang and Qin Lao played again. During the period, Qin Lao talked about the interesting story of Ning Yi falling into the river to save someone in the morning and getting slapped in the face. Ning Yi couldn't help but be mocked by Old Kang, and then listened to these two old men talk about the recent invasion of the north by the Liao people again.

The autumn sun was still bright, but the wind picked up on the Qinhuai River in the afternoon. After this game of chess, it was already late, and everyone went home.

Because the wind had been blowing for half an afternoon this day, Ning Yi felt a little dizzy the next morning when he woke up. He didn't know if he had caught a cold.

Support (Perfect Novel Website) Share this website with those little friends who need it! Please leave a message if you can't find a book!