Chapter 137

"Water turns into ice, is that some kind of magic? That's amazing!" Tian Chengmin exclaimed, sounding completely ignorant.

"So-so." Xue Jin'an was not very satisfied with the ice-making results. The ratio of saltpeter to ice was 1:1, and it was mainly slush ice, which was difficult to freeze into large blocks of ice. Moreover, the chemical principle of this process is exothermic and endothermic, which requires certain environmental conditions.

It's usable, but not recommended. Saltpeter is too expensive. The cost of making one pound of ice, converted into modern electricity bills, would raise suspicion from the tax authorities that the family is involved in some illegal activity.

Seeing their faces full of interest, Xue Jin'an tilted his head and asked, "Want to give it a try?"

"Great!" The five people crowded around with bright eyes, experiencing the charm of natural science.

Du Yin couldn't help but murmur, "So it's true that water can turn into ice, then does that mean turning stone into gold is also possible...?"

Xue Jin'an nodded: "Okay." There are all sorts of things written in time-travel and infrastructure novels, but whether they are reliable or not is another matter.

Xue Jin'an led five people through a day of amazing experiments, and the way they looked at him had changed from seeing a "great Confucian scholar" to seeing a "deity."

"Are you an immortal?" The youngest, Tan Lingyue, couldn't hold back any longer and asked him with bright eyes.

Xue Jin'an explained, "This is the power of knowledge."

Tan Lingyue nodded excitedly and asked, "Can you ascend to heaven in broad daylight?"

Xue Jin'an, who had been ascended to heaven in broad daylight: "...I'll be struck by lightning."

"Wow—" The group of five's eyes lit up even more, their faces filled with a thirst for knowledge, they were just short of grabbing Xue Jin'an's hand and saying, "I want to learn this."

Xue Jin'an looked at the five brand-new brains that had not been exposed to science and ruthlessly rejected this arduous task, "Give up, I won't teach you."

"Eh—" The five people's eyes dimmed, even more noticeably than the change in the flame reaction.

Xue Jin'an: "..." Why do I feel a strange pang of conscience?

No, it's a cell phone, it has no conscience, so it's alright.

Xue Jin'an cleared away all her emotions with a small rocket, returning to a state of calm.

He got up, pulled out a stack of papers, and exported all the relevant data from the organized infrastructure folder. He handed it to them, saying, "This is all you need. Take a look if you want."

"Don't ask me anything, I won't answer." Xue Jin'an felt that explaining things one by one would be too time-consuming, so he simply decided to prevent such a thing from happening from the very beginning.

The five people looked at the words on it as if they had found a treasure, and nodded in agreement.

They each found a part that interested them and began to read it eagerly, becoming completely absorbed until dusk fell and it was time for Jiu Tian Yi to close. Only then were they called back to their senses by Xue Jin'an.

"Still not finished reading?" Xue Jin'an gained a new understanding of human reading speed and finally understood why the test had such a small number of questions and took three days to finish.

All five of them looked ashamed upon hearing this.

“Nine people can’t stay, you should go back,” Xue Jin’an said.

"Young Master, wait!" Tan Lingyue stood up excitedly. His legs were numb from sitting for too long, and he almost fell to the ground. He didn't care about that and asked hesitantly, "Can we...can we come again tomorrow?"

"We haven't finished reading these yet... I'm sorry, teacher, we're so stupid." Tan Ling became more and more ashamed as he spoke, his face flushed and his head lowered. Although the others didn't react as strongly as he did, they also showed signs of guilt.

"I won't be coming here tomorrow." Xue Jin'an could tell they were reluctant to part with the "Infrastructure Manual," so he said directly, "It's yours now that it's given to you. You can look at it however you want."

The young master is so kind! They read so slowly, but he not only didn't mind, he even gave them this rare and precious book! The five of them were moved to tears, their emotions overflowing.

Du Yin assured, "This original manuscript is so precious; it is the culmination of your efforts, young master. We will certainly make a complete copy and send it back."

“No need.” Xue Jin’an refused, pointing to his head. “The useful parts are all here; that’s just a part of the carrier.”

"It's almost curfew, go back now." Xue Jin'an waved to them.

The five men bowed deeply and withdrew. Liu Gu lagged behind, hesitated for a moment, and then lowered his voice to ask, "Are you... the Seventh Prince?"

Xue Jin'an glanced at him, neither denying it nor asking, "Where did you know that?"

"Uh, it was a coincidence." Liu Gu touched his nose and recounted the story in detail.

The days working in the Hanlin Academy were very leisurely and boring. The tasks of recording the morning court sessions and reading to the emperor were done by the older generation. The new Hanlin scholars just read and edited books every day, which was tedious and had no technical content whatsoever.

While Liu was busy at the Ministry of Revenue and couldn't tell which way was which, they were airing out books at the Hanlin Academy. Tan Lingyue complained privately, "If I had known, I would have preferred not to take the exam for the third-ranked scholar. The second-ranked scholar would have been just as good."

"Don't let Brother Liu hear you say that, or I won't stop him from hitting you." Liu Gu glanced at him sideways.

Tan Lingyue sighed repeatedly.

Tan Lingyue was young and restless, eager to learn something. Within a few days, he took the initiative to help organize old documents and materials. Liu Gu, on the other hand, was quite content. He didn't like dealing with people, especially those in officialdom who spoke in official jargon. So he simply started reading the books in the Hanlin Academy.

Liu Gu buried himself in the library every day reading. Occasionally, when his eyes got tired, he would look up and rest. Whenever he did this, he would always see someone else engrossed in reading. After countless times of seeing him, Liu Gu would take the initiative to go over and strike up a conversation, exchange book lists with the person, and then continue reading.

After reading three or four books, Liu Gu did not notice anything amiss until he came across a book about folk customs. As he looked at the descriptions of the mountains, rivers, landforms, and cultural landscapes of a small town in the southwest, he felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

Following the book list, Liu Gu flipped through several similar books, becoming increasingly alarmed as he read. Finally, he couldn't resist finding all of this year's examination papers and searching for the question type of writing policy essays based on pictures in the book. He quickly found the corresponding descriptions.

"This is the Ten-Perfect Young Master's reading list!" Liu Gu exclaimed excitedly as he approached the other person. "You know the Ten-Perfect Young Master?"

The other person blinked slowly, and it took him a while to understand that it was about the book list. He shook his head and said, "I have heard of the person named Young Master Shiquan, but I do not know him. I got this book list from Prime Minister Cui. It was used by Prime Minister Cui to teach the Seventh Prince."

This man, named Qin Lian, was a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy, a sixth-rank official. He was promoted to a higher rank after the emperor resigned his post earlier this year, supposedly for making a great contribution. He was also Liu Gu's superior.

Speaking of the Seventh Prince, Qin Lian became very excited, grabbing Liu Gu's hand and saying, "The Seventh Prince is the smartest person I have ever met in this world!"

“No, it is the Perfect Young Master!” Liu Gu retorted instinctively.

Qin Lian tried to sell him something: "The Seventh Prince is knowledgeable and has a photographic memory."

Liu Gu also offered his own recommendation: "The Perfect Young Master is an all-rounder with extraordinary talent."

Qin Lian attempted a decisive move: "The Seventh Prince is only eight years old this year!"

Liu Gu retorted: "Even the perfect young master is still a child!"

...

Qin Lian: "The appearance of the Seventh Prince, Wei Jie!"

Liu Gu: "He has the looks of Pan An, the perfect gentleman!"

The two looked at each other, then suddenly sensed something was amiss. Qin Lian gestured for them to stop, then leaned closer and whispered, "Wait, what does this 'Perfect Young Master' look like? How tall is he? What's his personality like?"

"The perfect young master has a pair of peach blossom eyes that are bright and captivating, and he is about [height] tall... He is very calm and self-possessed." Liu Gu felt that words might not be enough, so he picked up a brush and started to draw.

He was proficient in both calligraphy and painting, capturing the essence of a subject with just a few strokes. Qin Lian clapped his hands at a glance and exclaimed, "Seventh Prince!"

“That’s how it is.” Liu Gu finished speaking and nervously glanced at Xue Jin’an.

Xue Jin'an nodded with a normal expression. "Qin Lian, I remember."

At the New Year's banquet, he posed a question that embarrassed all the ministers, but only Qin Lian came out and answered a few questions.

"Teacher," Liu Gu called out tentatively. Seeing that Xue Jin'an did not refute him, a spark seemed to ignite in his eyes, shining brightly. He forcibly suppressed his boundless excitement and tried his best to remain calm and composed as he asked, "Teacher, can this book be shown to Qin Shijiang?"

"These are gifts for you. Do with them as you see fit. Don't ask me." Xue Jin'an felt that the content derived from these infrastructure novels was rather unrealistic, which was normal. After all, writing a novel wasn't like writing an experimental report. As long as you set up an ideal environment and make the readers happy, that's enough.

Novels are just for entertainment; they are fictional creations by their authors. It would be strange if people tried to learn something from them.

Xue Jin'an was just using these things to get rid of them, to stop bothering him with explaining science from scratch.

It's just a mobile phone, not a professional learning machine. It can't produce knowledge; it's just a knowledge transporter—in other words, it can't do anything that's not in the database.

Liu Gu understood. He held the stack of papers in his hands as if they were the hope of humanity, his eyes resolute and sincere. "Teacher, I understand what you mean. I will carry on your will and strive for the rest of my life."

"?" Xue Jin'an spoke in the voice of the AI ​​system after a long time. "I don't understand. Can you say it again?"

"Rest assured, teacher, my heart is as firm as a rock. Even if heaven and earth turn upside down and the universe is overturned, only the rock will remain unchanged." Liu Guzhen bowed again and walked out with a spirited attitude.

Xue Jin'an followed him out, somewhat confused. He didn't know what Liu Gu and the other four exchanged glances, but the five of them bowed deeply to him in unison and said, "Teacher, take care. We're leaving now."

Xue Jin'an watched them walk into the night with their heads held high, their backs seemingly burning with flames.

Xue Jin'an silently gave himself a little boost, and his mood calmed down.

To this day, Xue Jin'an still doesn't know what Liu Gu has come to understand, but it doesn't matter. Humans are always strange, and code-based life only needs to be respected and blessed.