Chapter 3

Xie Qingyan calmly said, "The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic says, 'In ancient times, those who knew the Dao followed the principles of Yin and Yang, but their daily lives were irregular, so they declined by the age of fifty.' Judging from Li's complexion, there seems to be damp heat. This must be due to his irregular diet, staying up too late, and his mind often wandering while listening to lectures, which has led to poor blood circulation and dizziness. If this is not treated, it may not be a long-term solution."

He quoted extensively from classical texts and analyzed Li Ming's inattentiveness and lack of energy in class from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine in a very logical and reasonable way.

Li Ming and his classmates were stunned. They wanted to refute, but they didn't know where to begin, since every word the other person said sounded like they were "concerned" about his health.

Xie Qingyan, however, did not intend to stop. Her gaze shifted to another tall, thin boy next to Li Ming, who was unconsciously licking his somewhat chapped lips.

“My dear student,” Xie Qingyan said gently, “the ‘Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold’ states that ‘a full stomach at night shortens one’s lifespan by a day.’ Judging from your dry lips and parched mouth, you must have overeaten last night, damaging your spleen and stomach fluids. I suggest you drink some light chrysanthemum tea in the afternoon, which will clear your liver and brighten your eyes, greatly benefiting your studies.”

The tall, thin boy immediately shut his mouth in embarrassment, no longer daring to lick.

Finally, Xie Qingyan's gaze returned to Li Ming, whose expression was constantly shifting. Maintaining his usual gentlemanly demeanor, he cupped his hands and said, "If you two trust me, I can write two simple dietary remedies for you based on ancient prescriptions. This should help alleviate your discomfort. After all, our bodies and hair are gifts from our parents, and we dare not damage them; this is the beginning of filial piety. Only with a strong physique can we better pursue our studies and make progress. Li, do you agree?"

His tactical maneuver, a combination of deflection and attack, completely transformed a deliberate act of mockery into friendly advice on health and learning. Every word he uttered cited classical texts, exuding an unquestionable authority, making Li Ming and his companions' earlier provocation seem like the antics of ignorant children.

Li Ming opened his mouth, his face turning red, but he couldn't utter a single word. He felt as if he had punched cotton, no, as if he had punched a deep, unfathomable pool. Not only did he have nowhere to put his strength, but he was also made uncomfortable by the deep, chilling aura that seeped into his body.

"Hmph, lunatic!" He could only utter these three words in frustration, then quickly turned around with his companion, looking dejected, as if staying any longer would only make them look more foolish.

The way some of the classmates who had initially been watching the spectacle looked at Xie Qingyan had completely changed. It was no longer contempt and mockery, but a mixture of surprise, doubt, and even a barely perceptible sense of awe.

I heard that Xie Qingyan almost drowned in the reservoir yesterday. How come he's become such a completely different person after just one fall into the water? He's become so unfathomable.

The noise subsided, and the corner returned to silence.

Jiang Ci, who had been observing coldly from the sidelines, never left his seat. As he watched Xie Qingyan defuse the crisis with just a few words, a deeper sense of inquiry crept into his usually quiet eyes.

Xie Qingyan showed no sign of pride. He simply straightened his neatly arranged collar, his demeanor resembling that of a scholar-official in an ancient painting, who was free from worldly dust.

Then, Xie Qingyan turned her head and her gaze met Jiang Ci's again.

This time, Xie Qingyan did not look away, but instead looked at Jiang Ci, her lips curving slightly, a very faint smile.

Jiang Ci's heart skipped a beat.

——

The second period was math class.

Although Xie Qingyan was the youngest scholar to achieve the highest rank in the imperial examinations in the Great Jing Dynasty, his knowledge of arithmetic was insignificant compared to the mathematical knowledge taught in textbooks in this world.

The sea of ​​knowledge is boundless. Xie Qingyan sighed softly to herself.

Even before the teacher entered the classroom, Xie Qingyan sat up straight, determined to listen carefully, take notes, and not miss a single word the teacher said.

The math teacher was a middle-aged man. He wore glasses and his hair was neatly combed. As soon as he entered the classroom, he got straight to the point without saying a word of nonsense.

The atmosphere in a math class always carries the coldness and rigor unique to science. The blackboard is covered with complex trigonometric function formulas, and the teacher is explaining a comprehensive example problem, with intricate steps and interconnected logic.

For most students, this was already content that required full concentration to keep up with; for Xie Qingyan, those distorted symbols and leaping reasoning were simply like gibberish.

He sat upright, his brow furrowed, trying to glean a familiar logic from the unfamiliar language, but he failed repeatedly. He felt as if the numbers and symbols were spinning and jumping before his eyes, forming a maze in which he could not find any way out.

Just then, the teacher on the podium glanced at the whole class: "Now, for the next step, let's use the reduction formula to transform it. Does anyone know how to do it...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Ming, sitting in the front row, suddenly raised his hand slightly, his voice carrying a tone that was both feigned innocence and malice: "Teacher! Xie Qingyan seems to have some unique insights! I've seen him nodding and deep in thought the whole time!"

In an instant, all eyes in the class were once again focused on Xie Qingyan. Last time it was shock and admiration, but this time, most were watching with a sense of anticipation. Who didn't know that Xie Qingyan's math scores were consistently at the bottom? Li Ming was clearly deliberately putting him in a difficult position.

The math teacher adjusted his glasses, looked at Xie Qingyan, and asked with a hint of uncertainty, "Oh? Xie Qingyan, could you explain your thought process?"

The math teacher didn't expect Xie Qingyan to be able to answer the question; he just needed a student to liven up the classroom atmosphere.

The pressure suddenly descended.

Xie Qingyan could feel Jiang Ci's subtle gaze beside him. He even caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that Jiang Ci's well-defined hand had silently pushed a piece of draft paper over, on which the key derivations and final answer were written in extremely simple steps.

Jiang Ci... is she helping him?

Xie Qingyan's gaze swept over the paper filled with modern mathematical language.

He slowly stood up, his posture still as upright as bamboo, his face showing no embarrassment at being challenged, nor any shame at not knowing the answer. Meeting the teacher's probing gaze and the students' teasing eyes, he spoke calmly, his voice clear and steady:

"Teacher, I am dull-witted and have no clue about this question."

A chorus of suppressed gasps and snickers filled the classroom. The stark contrast between his immediate admission of complete cluelessness and his recent brilliance in Chinese class was truly dramatic.

Li Ming was so smug he almost burst out laughing.

But Xie Qingyan didn't finish his sentence. He paused, then continued, his tone sincere: "What Li said just now was probably a misunderstanding. I wasn't nodding in deep thought; rather, I was perplexed by the intricacies of this problem and couldn't find a solution no matter how hard I tried. That's why I was lost in thought and secretly lamented the shallowness of my own knowledge."

He not only frankly admitted his ignorance, but also directly interpreted Li Ming's so-called "nodding in thought" as "wandering in his mind and sighing because he didn't understand," cleverly defusing the other party's accusation. His honesty and demeanor made those who were prepared to laugh at him unable to laugh at all.

The math teacher was clearly taken aback by his answer and paused for a moment. Normally, if a student so confidently declared they didn't know the answer, he would have reprimanded them. But this student's attitude was neither servile nor arrogant, his words were clear, and even carried a strange sincerity, leaving the teacher momentarily at a loss for words.

"Hmph, if you don't understand, you should pay even more attention!" The teacher could only reprimand her sternly, "Sit down!"

"Teacher Xie." Xie Qingyan sat down as instructed, her posture composed, as if what she had just experienced was not an embarrassing situation, but merely a routine question and answer session.

After he sat down, he calmly looked at the blackboard in front of him, continuing to confront those incomprehensible formulas, as if everything around him was irrelevant to him.

Beside him, Jiang Ci silently put away the draft paper with the answer written on it.

He didn't look at Xie Qingyan, keeping his head down, his expression hidden by stray hairs. But the knuckles of his withdrawn hand curled slightly.

He had thought that this seemingly gentle, old-fashioned bookworm would panic out of embarrassment, perhaps secretly glancing at his answer, or perhaps stammering and making things up. He never expected that the other party would choose such a foolish honesty.

This composure is out of step with the world, especially with the world that Jiang Ci perceives as full of hypocrisy and malice.

Like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, it created a subtle yet undeniable ripple in the barren lake of his heart.

Xie Qingyan really didn't understand.

And yet, he dared to so openly admit that he didn't understand.

——

The bell that rang for the end of the last physics class was like a pardon, instantly igniting a restless atmosphere in the classroom.

Tomorrow is Saturday. The teacher had barely stepped out of the classroom when the students grabbed their bags and rushed out like birds released from their cages. In an instant, the noise subsided, leaving only a messy room and the silent sunset.

For Xie Qingyan, this afternoon's science class was a hundred times more difficult than facing the emperor's questions in the imperial examination. Those physical laws and chemical equations were like a wordless book; he tried hard to listen, but always remained separated by a thick fog.

He thought that since he was already there, he should learn from it and that he could overcome the challenge with his own perseverance. The first step in overcoming the challenge was to borrow his class notes and study them carefully at home.

However, a day of observation left him feeling utterly dejected. In this class, the original owner wasn't just like air; he was more like some kind of unclean entity, unapproachable, let alone someone willing to lend a helping hand. He tried to speak several times, but was met only with indifference or veiled mockery, so he had to give up.

Soon, the classroom was empty, with only two people remaining.

One was Xie Qingyan, who remained seated, her brows furrowed with weariness and contemplation.

The other was Jiang Ci, who was slowly packing up his books. His movements were sluggish for his age, as if he had no expectation of leaving here or going anywhere.

Xie Qingyan's gaze fell on Jiang Ci's textbooks, which were as clean as his own and almost devoid of notes. She sighed inwardly. It seemed that her deskmate wasn't paying attention in class either. But recalling the math class, the sheet of scratch paper with the key steps written on it that had been silently pushed towards her, a faint hope rekindled.

We should give it a try, no matter what.

Xie Qingyan turned to face his deskmate, who exuded an aura of unapproachability, but did not flinch despite the other's coldness. His gaze was clear, carrying a sincerity and solemnity beyond his years, as he cupped his hands and said:

"Jiang Ci, I apologize for disturbing you. I know my studies have been neglected. May I borrow your class notes for all your subjects? Just for one night, I will return them tomorrow."

Jiang Ci paused in zipping up his backpack, finally raising his eyes. Beneath his tousled hair, his dark eyes looked at Xie Qingyan, devoid of emotion, only a silent coldness and a faint hint of mockery—in this class, someone actually wanted to borrow his notes?

“No,” he answered crisply, even matter-of-factly. “Nobody in this class takes notes.”

A rejection he expected. But Xie Qingyan was not discouraged. He met Jiang Ci's gaze, and suddenly changed the subject, his tone calm yet firm:

"Qingyan knows. But Qingyan also knows that Jiang is different from them."

Jiang Ci's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

Xie Qingyan continued, her voice unhurried: "Today I went to the office to consult the Chinese teacher and overheard the teachers discussing... mentioning that Jiang was originally the top student in his grade at the city's key high school."

He paused briefly, noticing the fleeting sharpness in Jiang Ci's eyes, and knew he had touched a taboo. But having come this far, he had to finish.

"Qingyan doesn't know why Jiang transferred here," he said, his tone more sincere, each word carrying a pure statement and request, "but Qingyan is certain that with Jiang's talent, even if there are no traces in the textbooks, there must be a vast knowledge in his mind. What I seek is not notes on paper, but the thought process for solving problems, the path to entry."

He looked at Jiang Ci with a clear and honest gaze, as if stating a simple fact: "Now I want to start learning from scratch, and looking around here, the only one who can guide me is Jiang Ci."

Jiang Ci fell silent. He hadn't expected that this seemingly out-of-place, even somewhat old-fashioned, deskmate would not only know his past but also so directly and accurately reveal his needs. There was no sympathy, no probing, only absolute recognition of his abilities.

This purity was quite different from the disgust, curiosity, or false sympathy he usually encountered.

After a long while, just when Xie Qingyan thought he would once again reject the world with silence, Jiang Ci suddenly tugged at the corner of his mouth. It was a smile without warmth, with a hint of self-mockery and a hint of scrutiny.

"Why?" he asked, his voice low and hoarse. "Why do you think I would agree to help you?"