Chapter 17 The Ancient Scholar Used as Cannon Fodder (Seventeen) "Oh..."
"Oh." Lin You didn't quite understand, but she still wrote it down. Seeing that it was still early, she suddenly remembered something.
"Chu Nanfeng, since you're free anyway, I'll teach you how to exercise. This is a gymnastics routine that every student in our area has to learn. The movements are simple and it's especially suitable for someone like you who sits and writes a lot."
Lin You looked at Chu Nanfeng's gentle and frail appearance and was somewhat worried. He was not a picky eater and his nutrition was now balanced, so why wasn't he gaining weight?
Although he looks handsome and dashing, being too thin is not good for his health.
Chu Nanfeng didn't mind stretching his muscles and bones. He found an open space and started learning from her dictation.
The movements of radio calisthenics are not difficult, but the fact that it has been popularized throughout the country means that the exercise effect is quite good. Practicing it more often will definitely improve your health.
Lin You helped shout slogans, and watching him do stepping and stretching exercises in his wide-sleeved long shirt, I suddenly had a sense of déjà vu from watching a variety show.
Good-looking people look good no matter what they do. Chu Nanfeng's ancient version of radio calisthenics is very pleasing to the eye, but it also has a kind of inexplicable humor.
As Lin You watched, her shouts grew softer and softer, occasionally punctuated by unintentional bursts of laughter.
According to the history here, her son Chu Zaizai is destined to be remembered for eternity. I wonder if this set of radio calisthenics will also be passed down. It would be even more interesting if future scholars would vie to imitate it.
As Chu Nanfeng finished doing one round of calisthenics amidst her infectious laughter, he couldn't help but ask, "Sister, is there something I did wrong?"
"No, no, haha." Seeing that he was already a little out of breath, Lin You tried her best to suppress her laughter and said again, "You have to remember to do it once every morning and evening, and you can do it whenever you have free time. It's good for your health."
Then, she severed her mental link with Chu Nanfeng and squatted to the side, laughing so hard she was doubled over.
Chu Nanfeng sensed her action of blocking the conversation, shook his head helplessly, and thought, "Oh well, I don't know what she's so happy about, as long as she's happy."
The convoy made frequent stops along the way, and only covered a little over thirty miles in a day. To Lin You, this speed was unbearably slow. In her modern days, she could ride an electric scooter and cover twenty kilometers in an hour.
Fortunately, they were not far from the capital. I heard that in some places, scholars would have to travel for half a year just to get there.
The merchants also said that this was already a very smooth journey. Normally, they couldn't take the official roads and could only travel a maximum of twenty li a day. If the weather was bad, they would have difficulty even traveling ten li.
Of course, not everyone traveled slowly in ancient times. The guard who bought all of Chu Nanfeng's paintings rode his horse at full speed, traveling day and night. In just five or six days, he covered hundreds of miles and quickly caught up with the Nanping Marquis's caravan.
"Xu Wuchen, you're so slow. I thought you'd been robbed on the way." The young man in brocade robes lit up when he saw him and nimbly jumped off the carriage.
"How's it going? Did you find him? Did you buy the painting? What does that Chu Nanfeng look like?"
Hearing his barrage of questions, Xu Wuchen handed him the box on his back before replying calmly, "Gentle and refined, handsome and elegant, better looking than you."
The boy immediately glared at him, and while opening the box, he snorted, "I don't believe there is a man in this world more handsome than me."
He opened the box, looked at the pile of paintings, and hurriedly unfolded them to examine them. "I thought the Four Seasons painting was already a masterpiece, but I never expected that every single one of these paintings would be just as good."
Seeing that he was engrossed in looking at the painting, Xu Wuchen didn't pay him any attention. He just asked someone to bring him some food, as he hadn't had a hot meal in a long time due to the fast journey.
The boy only came to his senses after Xu Wuchen finished his meal.
"Xu Wuchen, how much did you pay Mr. Chu for all these paintings?" The boy's eyes were almost unable to leave the paintings.
"Three hundred and sixty taels." After eating and drinking his fill, Guard Xu instructed everyone to prepare to set off.
But then they heard his young master muttering to himself while holding the painting, "Three hundred and sixty taels for one, that's reasonable."
Xu Wuchen corrected, "It cost a total of 360 taels. Six of them were collected in the study and cost 60 taels. The rest were bought from Mr. Chu and cost 300 taels."
The boy's eyes widened immediately. "Why did you only give me such a small amount of silver!"
"You didn't give me any money. This money is what I got from pawning my jade pendant. That's all I have."
Xu Wuchen sat in front of the carriage, preparing to catch it, and urged, "Hurry up and get on the carriage. If we can't get to the capital in half a month, the Marquis might really burn down your studio."
The boy muttered a few more times that the money was too little before he got into the carriage with the painting in his arms. He didn't forget to tell the guard Xu to drive the carriage more steadily so as not to damage his painting.
Chu Nanfeng was unaware that his paintings were worth over three hundred taels of silver in the eyes of others, and he was still trying to figure out how to cover his expenses after arriving in the capital.
Originally, there was no way to find work like copying books while on the road, and even reading and drawing were not very convenient, so Chu Nanfeng began to teach Chu Qing to read.
Of course, Lin You was also one of those who listened in.
Qian Duoduo followed Chu Qing, but she was completely confused, as she had only learned the Three Character Classic at home.
Seeing this, Chu Nanfeng took another half hour to teach her primers like the Thousand Character Classic. Because of this, Qian Youcai became even more respectful towards him.
The favorability rating soared to 50, which is the "heart-fluttering" stage described in the cheat description.
Looking at Qian Youcai preparing a gift for his daughter to become an apprentice, Lin You fell silent. Had he discovered a bug in the cheat system?
Following Chu Nanfeng's advice, Lin You noted that helping those close to her would earn her some favorability.
The ancient apprenticeship ceremony was quite elaborate. Since the items were not complete on the way, Qian Youcai waited until they reached the town and bought everything before having Qian Duoduo kowtow and serve tea to Chu Nanfeng.
After Chu Nanfeng nodded and accepted the money, Qian Youcai's favorability rating immediately jumped to 55. The old father's thoughts were quite obvious.
A few days later, Chu Nanfeng gave him two business ideas, raising his favorability rating to sixty. Qian Youcai's attitude towards him remained respectful, even showing some admiration.
Hmm, is this what's called the "first love" stage in the game of cheat codes?
Lin You numbly noted it down, hoping that helping to solve the problem would slightly increase her favorability.
Lin You watched as Chu Nanfeng casually said a few words along the way, and Qian Youcai's favorability rating would spike from time to time, eventually reaching 75 before stopping.
Chu Nanfeng looked at the description of the cheat system. Qian Youcai's current state should be called "mutual affection".
"Should we keep swiping? I have a feeling that if you hadn't taken Qian Duoduo as your student, he would have knelt down and kowtowed to you to become your disciple."
Looking at Boss Qian's obsequious and subservient manner, Lin You remarked, "No, I feel like he'd rather have you as his father."
"Sister, don't talk nonsense. I just gave him some advice on the court's policies and the dangers of smuggling Yun brocade. He has already decided to stop trading Yun brocade."
After spending this time together, Chu Nanfeng had come to understand Qian Youcai quite a bit. He was shrewd like a businessman, but he was a sincere person and a friend worth making.
Upon hearing Chu Nanfeng's advice, Qian Youcai broke out in a cold sweat. He knew that anyone who walks by the river is bound to get their shoes wet; a nobody like him would be the first to be thrown out if trouble came his way. If things really got out of hand, his entire Qian family, young and old, would likely be wiped out.
Just as Qian Youcai was thinking about what to give Chu Nanfeng as a thank-you gift, he received a thick stack of patterns from the other party, which turned out to be fabric patterns!
There are plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums; there are flowers, birds, fish, and insects; there are mountains, water, clouds, and stars; each painting is a feast for the eyes.
That was Lin You's description of a classic pattern from later generations, which Chu Nanfeng then slightly modified to suit contemporary aesthetics and drew.
"Brother Qian has taken great care of me along the way. I have nothing of value, and seeing that you are worried about your business, I drew these diagrams in the hope that they can be of help."
Qian Youcai was deeply moved, and his favorability rating soared again, reaching a high of 85 before stopping.
"You two are inseparable now, aren't you?" Lin You couldn't help but chuckle. "I always feel like he wants to worship you like a precious treasure."
"Like Mother?" Chu Nanfeng replied with a smile. Lin You's memorial tablet was wiped and worshipped by Chu's mother every day, and it was almost smelling of smoke.
"Chu Zaizai, let's not talk about this anymore, we can still be good partners." Lin You's voice was somewhat weak.
Not only did Chu's mother offer incense and prayers to Lin You every day, but she also made several sets of clothes for her. The colors were elegant, the stitches were delicate, and the clothes were embroidered with patterns. They were very beautiful.
She specifically asked Chu Nanfeng about her measurements, and Lin You then revealed that she was only one foot tall.
This is the state that Lin You can maintain without deliberately changing it, and it should be her current true size.
She could transform into a normal human size, but in that form, there was always a sense of etherealness. In addition, it wasn't very convenient for a real person to be a portable system, so Lin You usually remained a tiny little one.
The clothes she's wearing now are made from one of the many outfits made by Chu's mother—a pale yellow jacket and skirt. Knowing that she could actually wear them, Chu Xiaomei would take the clothes out every day and ask her which one she wanted to wear that day.
Whether it was intentional on Chu's mother's part or not, Chu Qing had a similar outfit to every one of Lin You's clothes. The little girl even liked to wear the same clothes as Lin You, and she was still happy to do so even though she couldn't see Lin You's face.
Lin You grew even more fond of the little girl who insisted on wearing matching outfits with her. Whenever they passed through a town, she would urge Chu Nanfeng to go shopping and buy things for the little girl.
She had wanted to buy a carriage before, but since Chu Nanfeng couldn't drive, she ended up bringing the pile of copper coins back instead.
Lin You didn't buy anything expensive; it was mostly jewelry and toys for little girls. But she bought so much that it almost filled a whole box.
In the end, it was Chu's mother who spoke up to stop Lin You from his wasteful behavior, since they were still on their way and it was indeed inconvenient to bring too many things.
As the test subject of the cheat system, Qian Youcai's favorability rating was raised to 90 in just over half a month, while the remaining 10 remained unchanged.
This person still showed no romantic feelings towards Chu Nanfeng, only admiration. This shows that goodwill is not just a romantic emotion.
Lin You breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't expect to reach 100% favorability with the emperor; 60% would be enough. Chu Nanfeng would be appointed prime minister in the future, so his favorability would definitely be up to par.
Lin You has always been content with what she has, and she's already counting on her fingers how many levels she can gain from the 100 experience points from this mission.
I wonder if she'll be able to eat anything after she levels up. If she can't eat, at least she can smell it; she's almost forgotten what food tastes like.
Qian Youcai has been thinking about one thing lately: the scholar Han Qige, whom he tricked. Judging by the time, he has already traveled most of the way.
Back then, his relationship with Prime Minister Chu was so-so that it wouldn't have mattered much if he had tricked a friend he had already estranged from.
Now that the Prime Minister of Chu has helped him so much, he mustn't let this incident cause any rift between them.
Qian Youcai didn't want to ask Chu Nanfeng directly, so he quietly went to Chu Qing, who was practicing calligraphy, and asked, "Little Sister Chu, can I ask you about someone? Do you know Han Qige?"
Chu Qing glanced at him and continued writing her calligraphy, making a request as she wrote: "Take Qian Duoduo away and tell her not to come and disturb my recitation for two hours, and I'll tell you."
“Okay! I promise she won’t bother you all day!” Qian Youcai immediately agreed.
"...It won't take that long, two hours will be enough." The little girl muttered awkwardly before continuing.
"Han Qige and my brother used to have a very good relationship. They were classmates for a long time. This year, my brother didn't even have time to play with me because he was busy watching over his studies for the imperial examination." Chu Qing couldn't help but snort when she thought of this.
Qian Youcai gave an awkward smile and then asked, "So now, it seems that Prime Minister Chu doesn't like him very much."
Chu Qing looked at Qian Youcai, her eyes darting around: "Did you scam him? Did you swindle him out of money or something? Will you let him get beaten up?"
"Huh? How did you know I tricked him?" Qian Youcai was startled and immediately lowered his voice.
He also glanced at Chu Nanfeng in the distance, wondering if Chu Xianggong also knew about it.
"So you really tricked him? How did you do it? Tell me, and I'll give you some advice." The six-year-old girl looked similar to Chu Nanfeng, and when she was serious, she actually seemed quite reliable.
A note from the author:
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