Chapter 100 Reform: Do you like this more today than you did yesterday...?
The windows of the Suijinlou teahouse were wide open, and the sea breeze, carrying the clamor of the market below, rushed in. As Shen Cangyu finished speaking, Wan Qianzhong fell into a long silence, pondering how credible Shen Cangyu's words were. Through the copper coin-shaped eye, Wan Qianzhong knew that Shen Cangyu wasn't lying; she genuinely wanted to help her.
The fire in the incense burner flickered, and the last incense stick burned out, turning into white ash with residual heat.
Wan Qianzhong raised his head and looked at Shen Cangyu: "Now I finally understand why they chose you to save Kunlun."
Shen Cangyu's words were calm and resolute, naturally conveying an aura of conviction.
When Wan Qianzhong was establishing her own Daoist practices in the mortal realm, Tianyin provided her with considerable assistance. She wanted to overthrow Kunlun and restore equality to the chaotic world. Tianyin guided her forward, giving her information and telling her what to do. During this time, Tianyin also mentioned another person to Wan Qianzhong: Shen Cangyu.
When Wan Qianzhong first met Shen Cangyu, she was just an eight or nine-year-old child. She had no idea what abilities Shen Cangyu possessed that made Tianyin value her so highly. Shen Cangyu would become the savior of Kunlun, while Wan Qianzhong would be the one to overthrow Kunlun; they would become enemies in the future.
Since they are enemies, they should be nipped in the bud. Wan Qianzhong considered finding a way to eliminate Shen Cangyu, but Tianyin stopped her. Tianyin subtly and tactfully advised her that even killing would be futile. Tianyin was compassionate, always stopping her when she tried to kill, seemingly not wanting her to bear the consequences of human lives.
Tianyin told her a story about a "villain" who fought desperately but couldn't overcome justice and was ultimately defeated by the protagonist, leaving only her infamy. Tianyin wanted to use the story to teach Wan Qianzhong to be more cautious, to leave herself a way out, and not to oppose the protagonist... at least to leave a good impression in the story. But after hearing the story, Wan Qianzhong said, "Since those before me did the same, then I'm not the first person to want to invade Kunlun. If she couldn't do it, then I will do it better than her."
Shen Chunrong recalled that when she wrote the character Wan Qianzhong, she imbued him with the courage and indomitable fighting spirit that she herself lacked.
Wan Qianzhong observed Shen Cangyu closely, noticing her sharpness and composure. Shen Cangyu had already left Kunlun, and although her situation was similar to Wan Qianzhong's back then, she saw no resentment or anger on Shen Cangyu's face. Initially, Wan Qianzhong thought that Shen Cangyu still harbored feelings for Kunlun and had come to persuade her to let go of her hostility towards Kunlun.
She hadn't expected Shen Cangyu to choose her. Shen Cangyu said that he would help Wan Qianzhong manage the believers with copper coin eyes, which was indeed Wan Qianzhong's weakness.
But why would Shen Cangyu choose him?
Is it really that easy for Shen Cangyu to change his stance?
She began to wonder, if stance was not important to Shen Cangyu, then what was important to her?
Wan Qianzhong never trusted others; she only believed in her own strength. But with Shen Cangyu, she felt an unusual sense of warmth and reassurance. Perhaps this was Shen Cangyu's ability—to always inspire more trust in others. Looking at Shen Cangyu, Wan Qianzhong thought that she had been fighting alone for so many years; perhaps she could try finding a teammate, and Shen Cangyu would be her best choice.
Wan Qianzhong's hand rested on the table, placing a familiar vine-flower copper coin in front of Shen Cangyu: "You can use it to contact me, but I always have the opportunity to take the coin back."
Shen Cangyu smiled and accepted the copper coins.
"You said you'd help me manage the people of the Copper Coin Eyes. Tell me first, what are your plans?" Wan Qianzhong pressed on, asking relentlessly. Wan Qianzhong understood that the people of the Copper Coin Eyes were a mixed bag. Every time she saw a vulnerable group being bullied, she couldn't help but intervene, passing on the Copper Coin Eyes to them. The ability gave them the means to fight back, but it also changed their character.
While they use greed to attack their opponents, they are also immersed in a greedy mentality. Their past experiences have taught them that only money and power are the most important things, and this greed has intensified their belief.
Thousands of people try to restrain themselves by relying on greed, just like feeding wild beasts with meat. This fosters their ferocity and greed, but it cannot cultivate their loyalty.
So when Shen Cangyu said that "power should be caged," she suddenly realized what she lacked. She wanted to see what Shen Cangyu would do.
Shen Cangyu spread a piece of paper on the table and began writing as she explained to Wan Qianzhong. Wan Qianzhong tapped the table, looking quite interested. Gradually, she frowned, and a question mark appeared above her head.
*
At Shen Cangyu's suggestion, Wan Qianzhong set up the Wendao Hall in Bailongtan, inviting all those who had inherited the Copper Coin Eye to enter and offer the "Mind and Nature Enlightenment" course, which included basic arithmetic, ethical analysis, and emotional management.
Those in class were completely baffled, and even Wan Qianzhong was baffled. All they heard Shen Cangyu say was that this was called "compulsory education."
Kunlun also provided compulsory education, supplying early inner disciples with knowledge that was crucial to their development. This was also why Wan Qianzhong initially sent Pei Wenjing to the foot of Kunlun Mountain, ensuring he could grow up immersed in knowledge from a young age.
Wan Qianzhong doesn't deny the importance of knowledge, but the vast majority of people she's currently recruiting are middle-aged, and many are even elderly, which is far from the ideal age for early childhood education. Childhood is the best time to cultivate character, but these people have long missed that opportunity; it's all too late.
“It’s not too late, it’s never too late to start,” Shen Cangyu said.
"If people see a child fall into a well, they will instinctively want to save him, which shows that humans are born with a compassionate heart. Humans have four kinds of hearts: compassion, shame, humility, and a sense of right and wrong. These four hearts are hidden in their character, but they are not noticed by people. These four hearts correspond to the four cardinal virtues, and only through continuous cultivation can these four cardinal virtues develop into the four virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. What we need to do is to stimulate their latent nature and let their nature restrain their behavior."
When these inherent goodnesses become a dominant part of their character, they will subconsciously restrain their behavior. This is exactly what Shen Cangyu wants—to make them understand their own hearts, to treat the money-grubbing mentality merely as a tool, rather than letting greed control their emotions. She wants them to understand why they want to overthrow Kunlun: is it because of countless instructions, the desire to satisfy the pleasure of tyranny, or the desire to overturn a label?
The person who taught the course was Pei Wenjing. He was initially unwilling; he didn't want to deal with strangers, he disliked being around people, and he hated humans as fickle and suspicious creatures.
“If this is what you ask of me, I will do it, even if I hate it,” Pei Wenjing said to Shen Cangyu. Unlike Shen Cangyu, he was a complete believer in the inherent evil of human nature. He believed that human nature was no different from that of wild beasts; they were born evil, and that education only taught them how to pretend, to be hypocritical, and to hide the evil desires in their hearts.
But as soon as they are offered even the smallest benefit, they will reveal the evil in their hearts.
"Commander, here's some money for you!"
A child with two pigtails ran breathlessly to Pei Wenjing's table and carefully placed a red flower on it. The flower had been in the child's hands for too long and was already somewhat wilted from lack of water.
"Winter is almost here, and I searched for a long time before finding this flower. Once all the leaves fall and I can't find any new flowers, I'll have to give the seashells to my teacher."
Pei Wenjing looked at the flowers on the table, paused for a moment, and asked, "Why did you send me flowers?"
They met by chance, and if this child hadn't brought him flowers every day, he would never have remembered what she looked like.
“I must give my teacher some compensation for his/her instruction. Isn’t that what you said in class? Everything has a price to pay.”
Pei Wenjing recalled that it seemed that from that day on, there would always be some extra things on his desk. He initially thought it was just trash that someone had put on his desk, but every time he cleaned it up, new things would appear on his desk again.
Until one day, he caught the child who was putting trash on his desk, and she gave him the flowers she was holding. That was the first time Pei Wenjing accepted flowers, and from then on, the child would always give him flowers at the end of class.
He spoke very sternly in that class, intending to warn these money-grubbing individuals to carefully consider the consequences before acting impulsively. Unexpectedly, this girl took his words in class as advice, expecting some reward, which is why she gave him those little trinkets.
"There's no need to send me flowers; I don't need them." Once flowers are removed from their branches, they become lifeless, destined only to wither.
Pei Wenjing put away his textbook and did not accept the flower.
The child looked at the flowers on the table with a helpless expression and whispered, "But I have no money and no relatives, I can't afford anything else..."
Wan Qianzhong took many orphans back to Bailongtan, but Wan Qianzhong didn't know how to raise children, so the children grew up freely in Bailongtan. Although they had no parents, at least they had a place to eat and live.
Pei Wenjing paused as he put the book into the box. The words, "I'm only lecturing you because I'm entrusted by someone else. I have no feelings for you and there's no need for me to do these things," stuck in his throat. He said, "Never mind, I'll accept this flower then."
The child cheered, and she asked again, "Commander, do you like seashells?" She gestured.
Pei Wenjing clenched his fist slightly and said, "Anything is fine." These things weren't important to him anyway.
The child ran off cheering, and Pei Wenjing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked at the box beside him, pulled out a book from the bottom, opened it, spread out the flowers on the table, straightened the petals, and placed them inside.
The thin book had become bulging, and Pei Wenjing put it back at the bottom of the box, thinking to himself that he should have gotten a book with more pages. But from now on, when winter comes, he won't receive flowers anymore, but seashells. This time he'll have to prepare a larger box. He doesn't know how many seashells the child will bring him, nor how long he'll be teaching here.
Even after countless reincarnations, he had never tried to walk among people and give them a lecture like this. The people here were very different from those in Kunlun; he couldn't handle them.
Suddenly, a strand of hair fell beside him. He looked up abruptly and saw that Shen Cangyu had been standing behind him without his knowledge.
Shen Cangyu looked down at him, her eyes narrowed, and a rare sly smile appeared on her face. She said, "Pei Wenjing, do you like this world more today than you did yesterday?"
The author notes: The concept of the Four Hearts, Four Beginnings, and Four Virtues comes from Mencius's "Gongsun Chou I," "Gaozi I," and "Human Nature Comes from Destiny." I have expressed it in my own understanding, without directly using the original text, so there should be no need to mark it with a quotation mark.
I realized this chapter should mark the start of the next one, but I forgot to mention it yesterday. The rest of the story is lighthearted; after all, everyone has weathered the initial, most painful growth phase, and everyone has matured and learned what they truly want. With patience and perseverance, one can improve what one lacks.
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