Chapter 107 A person with an IQ gap has appeared^^...
There were five or six girls gathered on the shore, ranging in age from eight or nine to twelve or thirteen, and they exchanged simple names.
Qi Chengming, somewhat bewildered, roughly learned that they were daughters from the Huang, Zhao, Wen, and Zhou families. Some were from local wealthy families, some were sisters who had come with the students, some were from out of town just to join in the fun, and some were visiting relatives along the way.
Anyway, Qi Chengming didn't remember any of them.
All he knew was that an older woman with round eyes came over and taught him and Hu Hong how to fly a kite. She identified the wind direction: "Take the kite and run that way."
"Hey," Hu Hong said awkwardly. He casually took Qi Chengming's kite and was about to run when he looked down and saw the unoriginal swallow design. "..."
Hu Hong gave Qi Chengming a puzzled look: "?"
Qi Chengming guiltily looked away.
His mind was usually preoccupied with copying the barefoot doctor's manual, inquiring about agricultural and military matters, tinkering with fertilizers and new gadgets in the laboratory, playing the guqin, overseeing the trivial matters of the Prince's residence, and listening to reports from stewards of various regions about the state banks. Occasionally, prefects and governors would come to visit and chat about the politics of the capital…
The day flies by; it's the monotonous but essential adult life.
He wanted to fly a kite, so he just asked Manager Song to buy a generic one. He didn't think much of it. Who knew that teenagers were so eager to compete and try out new and exciting things?
Qi Chengming knew he was in the wrong, so he pulled on the kite string and praised, "Brother Hu, I've never played with kites before, and I never thought I could paint the kite myself. Your kites and Brother Zhang's kites are both excellent, as if they were made by the same person."
“This is a painting I made for Brother Hu—Brother Huang, Brother Huang Lan, and I all enjoy painting.” Zhang Ji spoke in an interesting way. Instead of modestly saying that his kites were painted casually, he said directly, “These two kites took me a long time to paint. I scrapped three or four of them, but they were finally finished.”
"Do you know them?" A pretty girl with pigtails asked curiously from the crowd. Zhang Ji had a much better memory than Qi Chengming, and looked over: "Are you... Brother Huang's sister?"
“That’s my cousin!” The girl put her hands behind her back and went to talk to Zhang Ji.
"I'm starting to run, hold on tight!" Hu Hong said, catching Yanzi and holding her high.
The girl with round eyes also held onto her companion's kite, which depicted a burly man with a red robe and a cane, painted in vibrant colors with delicate and exquisite brushstrokes. Once ready, she ran forward with Hu Hong, kite in hand, then turned to him and said with a laugh, "Let's fly it together."
The girl was as happy as a lark, running swiftly and skillfully. Before long, the kite she was holding slowly rose into the air. The swallow that Hu Hong was holding, however, plummeted down and struggled to take flight for a long time.
After pulling and tugging for a while, the swallow kite finally rose a lot higher, but it flew more and more crookedly, and the string in my hand trembled violently, making it very difficult to tug it back.
Qi Chengming's competitive spirit flared up, and he became increasingly anxious. He kept tugging at the string, trying to salvage the situation. Several girls who had gathered around him seemed even more anxious than he was, and they chimed in with their help: "Slow down, slow down!" "Come this way, don't pull!" "Oh dear, the wind has changed, and he's still running away."
Qi Chengming listened to the whole thing.
Sure enough, with Hu Hong and his completely haphazard teamwork, the swallow kite finally crashed and disappeared.
The girls all sighed in disappointment, and Hu Hong also sighed deeply in front of them, like a big dog with a wet tail, which was quite undignified.
"It's my first time flying it, I'll practice a bit more." Qi Chengming was having a lot of fun. After telling them, he went to retrieve his kite.
"Hey! There's a grove of trees over there. My cousin said we should go together." The girl surnamed Huang heard the noise and called out to them.
Isn't this a group of people already there? Three or four girls who weren't carrying kites were about to go over with Qi Chengming and Hu Hong's group. Just then, a girl with a deep voice, a round and dignified face, but a lively smile like her companions, invited, "My family brought tea and snacks. We just stopped by the woods. Let's all have a drink together."
Hu Hong, who was running ahead, slowed down and responded, hoping to get a cup of tea too.
Qi Chengming then discussed with Hu Hong, "Brother Hu, why don't you fly your kite later? I'll go run ahead, and we can switch." He tried flying a kite briefly, but it was time to try holding it.
Hu Hong quietly agreed and shared his initial impressions: "Run faster and lift it higher later so I can try—Zhao's sister runs too fast; she'll be helping her female companions hold their kites later."
The girl from the Zhao family must be the one who ran around laughing like a lark just now.
Qi Chengming recalled her speed and made up his mind that he had to run faster later so that he wouldn't be looked down upon.
A row of stalls was set up on the other side of the woods. Some were run by students' families, some were tables provided by the college for placing meals, and some were simply cloths spread on the ground with their wares laid out. The lack of display was subtle, but teapots and stoves were readily available, so anyone thirsty could come and have tea, regardless of their status.
Before the girl with the deep voice could lead everyone to her house, they heard arguing coming from the woods.
Qi Chengming followed the commotion and looked over. Hu Hong's face tightened slightly: "Brother Huang Lan? It seems something happened to him."
The girl surnamed Huang with braids was furious and immediately went over to check.
"Let's go take a look together," Qi Chengming said, glancing around. It seemed that Zhang Ji and Hu Hong were both classmates of that Huang Lan, and his sister was among the girls present; they couldn't ignore it.
As they took two steps closer, a male voice, laced with anger and disdain, rang out: "You mean I'm lying? Ha, I don't know anyone who knows these things better than me!"
Brother Huang Lan's face was unpleasant, and he seemed speechless and unwilling to argue: "Your family is powerful in Yulin Prefecture, but you don't know that there are always people more powerful than you. I was just advising you not to speak so confidently, lest you invite trouble. Why do you have so many questions waiting for me?"
"What's going on?" Hu Hong asked in a low voice.
He saw Huang Shi standing there, with two easels in front of him that were mostly finished, so he must have watched the whole thing.
“That man is from Yulin Prefecture, from the Yang family of Yulin.” Brother Huang Shi pointed with his chin and said irritably, “He said he has a relative who is an official in the capital. He was talking about the political climate in the capital this year. He spoke very eloquently, and we were terrified. Brother Huang Lan meant well and wanted to advise him that too much talk can lead to mistakes, but he got angry.”
The man arguing with Huang Lan was a young man in his early twenties, accompanied by a girl who looked about seven or eight parts similar to him. Both of them had slicked-back hair and were dressed in fine silks and satins. They had an arrogant demeanor, and when they glanced around, they looked down at each other as if they were trying to find someone to argue with.
"What I said is none of your business!" The young man surnamed Yang was still annoyed by what Huang Lan had just said, and bombarded him with a barrage of questions.
"Who do you think you are to meddle in my business? Does your family hold any official position? Do you understand the decrees of the court officials or do I? Who can guarantee that the cement is that sturdy? Besides, if the river embankment is fixed once and for all and no longer needs to be repaired every year, where do you think the imperial commissioner in charge of flood control will be?"
Qi Chengming: "?"
Wait a minute, isn't this just idiotic talk?
I'm not sure, let me listen again.
He had a bad feeling, but also a strange and unsettling sense of relief.
...After traveling through time for so long, has he finally stumbled upon a classic scene?
Young people are just hot-blooded and prone to arguing and quarreling. He'd never seen anything like this before.
—I've never seen anyone with intellectual disabilities!
Qi Chengming, always eager for a good show, continued to observe.
Huang Lan was speechless, feeling annoyed and not wanting to argue any further. He walked over to his easel, ready to continue painting.
The man surnamed Yang became even angrier, feeling that he was being ignored and looked down upon. He immediately raised his eyebrows, and the two servants on either side of him pushed past Huang Shi and stood in front of Huang Lan, preventing him from leaving: "—Did I let you leave? You haven't apologized yet!"
"What do I need to apologize for?" Brother Huang Lan was almost laughing in anger, asking incredulously.
His previous kindness was wasted; he felt like Lü Dongbin, bitten by a dog for no reason. Now they want him to apologize? This is clearly a classic case of Mr. Dongguo and the wolf!
"This behavior is utterly shameless." Hu Hong, from a humble background, dared not stand up and could only mutter in a low voice, shrinking his neck.
Hu Hong had little understanding of the government's policies, so he dared not say anything. But judging from their behavior alone—the Yang family members didn't seem educated at all; they didn't understand propriety or shame, and their actions were so arrogant!
The girl from the Huang family, who had her hair in pigtails, was initially indignant and wanted to argue, but sensing something amiss in the tone of the voice, she cleverly slipped away from the crowd and quietly invited the academy's teacher over: "The teacher has arrived!"
The crowd parted as if Moses were parting the sea, and a solemn-faced scholar walked over, his gaze falling on the Yang siblings: "What's going on?"
Brother Huang Shi had witnessed the whole thing and recounted everything in detail. Now it was the Master's turn to frown. He stroked his beard and hesitated, "If I remember correctly, you weren't the people who came to enjoy the spring outing with the academy, were you?"
"Is this mountain only for you guys to come and play on?" The young man surnamed Yang looked down on this old geezer and showed no fear of the Master. Instead, he curled his lip and remained stubborn.
The girl beside him grew impatient after listening for a long time and tugged at his sleeve: "Brother, what's the point of talking to these idiots? Let's go back to the carriage. We're still more than ten miles away from that very effective temple."
"You—!" The teacher's face turned ashen; he was also angered by these words. The young people present all had different expressions, and they all looked quite displeased. The girl's words had condemned everyone in one fell swoop, categorizing them all as fools.
Qi Chengming pricked up his ears and heard the key point.
A horse-drawn carriage, more than ten miles away, a efficacious temple—could it be the Xingjun Temple outside Liuzhou City?
Qi Chengming had no idea that the brother and sister must come from a wealthy family. But after comparing them with so many other people on the field, he realized that very few families could afford to ride in a horse-drawn carriage.
"Who are you calling an idiot?!" someone shouted angrily from the crowd. Since there were so many people, and they were all impulsive young men and women, someone else quickly yelled, "They think they're so high and mighty! People from Yulin Prefecture are bullying us in Liuzhou!"
The others then joined in with their own angry shouts, their emotions running high.
Now, what was just a casual argument is escalating into a full-blown verbal battle and even a brawl.
Although Hu Hong was somewhat tempted, he ultimately lowered his head obediently, not daring to bring trouble to his family. There were many other students and girls like him on the field. Qi Chengming had never seen anything like this before. Instead of rushing to join in, he calmly grabbed Hu Hong and asked first:
"Brother Hu, may I ask you a question—"
"Are such arrogant fools, who have absolutely no sense of crisis, common?"
This was a question that Qi Chengming had from the bottom of his heart.
He thought only novels featured characters with idiotic personalities or cannon fodder. Does such arrogant idiot really exist in real life, with faces practically screaming, "I'm about to offend someone, then I'll kick the bucket"?
In particular, everyone Qi Chengming has met since his transmigration is smart and intelligent. Even the most foolish people are just ordinary people who haven't received any education. After the great disaster, they are ignorant and insist on eating the spoiled meat that is a pity... Even Li Banhui, the playboy who best fits this description in the original work, seems smarter than this brother and sister.
—These two are rare characters; I've never seen them before.
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Author's Note: Second update!
Let's take a look at who got caught in the crossfire after the conspiracy theories.
The former Imperial Commissioner of Yulin Prefecture, a certain Chen, who was happily leaving the capital to undertake flood control work, cursed loudly: ...!
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