Chapter 427 If Line - A Che's Return Gift
Late spring night.
The candlelight is slightly yellow.
There was a gauze curtain hanging down to the ground beside the bed in the room.
Occasionally, a breeze blew in from the open window, causing the gauze curtains and the shadows on the wall to sway gently.
Inside the tent, Xue Yucheng and Shangguan Ru were half lying on the bed, listening to their son's complaints sitting opposite them.
Xue Che complained to his parents, saying that Zhizhi gave him the bug as a gift.
"This is definitely not what a gentleman does." Xue Che showed the small purse to Xue Yucheng and Shangguan Ru.
The two of them took a look inside and saw, sure enough, a fat little bug wriggling around inside.
Xue Yucheng sighed, "I also caught insects to play with when I was a child, and so many years have passed in the blink of an eye."
Xue Che: "Dad?"
Shangguan Ru smiled and went outside the tent to find a beautiful glass jar:
"This is a gift from someone, a token of their love. Put it in a jar and take good care of it. Remember to pick some leaves and feed it every day."
Xue Che: "Mother?"
Xue Che felt that his parents didn't understand what he meant at all.
He repeated his previous words again.
Xue Yucheng touched his son's little head:
"You're all little kids, and you keep saying things like 'a gentleman isn't a gentleman'? Are you afraid of this little bug?"
Xue Che said: "I'm not afraid, but she teased me and I was unhappy."
Shangguan Ru asked, "Ah Che, doesn't the book say that we shouldn't jump to conclusions about anything? How do you know Zhizhi was just teasing you and didn't give you the bug as a gift?"
Xue Che: "...Would anyone really like to receive bugs as gifts?"
Xue Yucheng gave his son an idea:
"Ache, go catch a bug and give it to Zhizhi. Then you'll know how she reacts."
Half an hour later.
Xue Che lay in the grass in the yard, holding his breath, ready to catch a small insect from the grass at any time.
He usually studied and practiced martial arts every day and had never caught insects.
Now that I actually try to catch insects, I realize that it is not a simple task.
Moreover, he set a clear goal for himself, which was to catch a bug like the one Zhizhi gave him.
He stuck his butt out and crawled into the grass, twisting his body this way and that, and jumping left and right.
After a lot of effort, I finally caught one, and then put the insect into the jar with sweat on my forehead.
Not far away, by the window, Xue Yucheng and Shangguan Ru watched their son's butt moving around in the grass, laughing uncontrollably.
"Why did you ask Che to catch bugs?"
"This child is too quiet. It's rare to let him go out and make some noise in the grass."
"Isn't this cute?"
"I'll draw Ah Che like this later..."
Xue Che returned to the house exhausted with the bug. After taking a shower, he read only two pages of a book before falling asleep with it in his arms.
The next day, Xue Che went to Pei Mansion to read as usual.
Normally he held a book borrowed from the Pei residence, but today he was holding a small glass jar.
The small jar was crystal clear in the sunlight, reflecting a rainbow-like light in Xue Che's small hand.
There was a small caterpillar in the jar, which Xue Che caught last night.
Xue Che had a tense face, pursed his lips, and looked very serious.
He did not go to the library in Pei Mansion, but told the servants in Pei Mansion that he wanted to find Zhizhi.
The housekeeper asked him to sit in the garden for a while while they went to invite the second young lady.
When Zhizhi returned to the Pei Mansion, she had a cousin, so she was ranked second and became the second lady.
When the servant went to report, Wu Yingniang and Zhizhi had just finished practicing martial arts in the yard.
When Zhizhi heard that Xue Che came to see her, she burst into laughter:
"Mom, look, Ah Che came to play with me early in the morning. He must like the gift I gave him yesterday."
Wu Yingniang changed her clothes and prepared to go out:
"Zhizhi, then you stay home and play with Che, don't make any noise. Mom is going out for a while, if anything happens at home, go find your aunt."
Wu Yingniang talked with Shangguan Ru last night about opening a restaurant. She decided to go to several well-known restaurants in Chang'an today to check out the situation, and also visit the several good locations mentioned by Shangguan Ru.
"Okay, Mom, don't worry. I will definitely keep an eye on Ache and not let him do anything wrong." Zhizhi promised solemnly.
"Mom is talking about you." Wu Yingniang rubbed Zhizhi's little face and then went out.
Zhizhi trotted to the garden.
The large garden of Pei Mansion is beautifully maintained.
Although the various flowers are not rare and precious species, they bloom brightly and vividly.
Zhizhi thinks that Black Bandit Mountain and Pei Mansion are both beautiful in their own ways.
Zhizhi looked past the flowers and saw Xue Che sitting in the pavilion waiting.
"Ache, are you here to play with me?" Zhizhi ran into the garden, the hem of her skirt fluttering like a butterfly.
Xue Che saw Zhizhi coming and handed her the glass jar in his hand:
"Zhizhi, as an old friend said, courtesy is the key to reciprocity. You gave me a gift yesterday, so I should give you a gift in return."
The little caterpillar in the glass jar arched its body and crawled on the transparent glass wall.
Xue Che waited to see Zhizhi get frightened.
He wanted to treat Zhizhi in his own way so that Zhizhi would never dare to tease him again.
Xue Che thought so with a stern face, and the next moment he heard Zhizhi exclaim:
"Wow! Did you catch this yourself? I'll definitely take good care of it. Thank you!"
Zhizhi held the glass jar, and the rainbow-like luster reflected in her eyes.
Her tone was full of excitement.
Xue Che was stunned for a moment, his eyes widening like two black grapes:
"You... you really like it?"
Zhizhi nodded, even reaching a finger into the jar and gently poking the plump little caterpillar:
"I like it. The one I gave you was one I caught on the road. I carefully raised it for several days before giving it to you."
"What made you think of putting it in a glass jar? Do you want to take it back?"
Xue Che shook his head: "You don't have to return the jar to me. I still have some at home. My mother's caravan bought a lot of jars like this from the Western Regions."
He looked at Zhizhi's surprised expression and finally believed that he had wronged Zhizhi.
She is a girl, but she likes insects.
"Why did you give me bugs? You like bugs, but I don't." Xue Che said bluntly.
Zhizhi: "What if I give you a butterfly?"
Xue Che: "That's possible."
Zhizhi pointed at the caterpillar in the jar and said, "But it will turn into a butterfly in the future. I just gave it to you in advance so that you can see how it turns into a butterfly."
"And you never know what kind of butterfly it will turn into. If it turns out to be a really beautiful butterfly, that would be a surprise."
Xue Che was speechless for a moment.
He has read so many books, of course he knows about the saying "a butterfly emerges from its cocoon".
But he was just reading books. He had never actually seen a bug spin a thick cocoon and then struggle to grow wings from it.
Naturally, he couldn't recognize that it was a butterfly larva.
At this time, the servant came again to report: "Second Miss, Miss Yuan is here."
Zhizhi turned around: "Caiwei is here too?"
At the banquet yesterday, the old lady of the Yan family also brought her granddaughter.
At that time, Xue Che was sitting on Zhizhi's left, and Yuan Caiwei was sitting on Zhizhi's right.
Yuan Caiwei told Zhizhi a lot about martial arts training in Beijing, and Zhizhi told Yuan Caiwei how to catch bandits in Black Bandit Mountain.
The two of them were still enjoying the chat, so Yuan Caiwei came to play with Zhizhi again today.
“Zhizhi!”
A girl who looked about seven or eight years old walked over quickly and hugged Zhizhi excitedly.
Then he turned around and asked, "Is Xue Che here to play with Zhizhi too?"
Xue Che: "I'm not——"
Zhizhi: "Yes, Che came to play with me early in the morning and gave me a gift."
Zhizhi held the glass jar in both hands and showed it to Yuan Caiwei:
"This was caught by Che specifically for me."
Xue Che blushed a little after hearing this, but he couldn't refute it.
He did catch some bugs to give to Zhizhi, but the situation was completely different from what he had imagined.
Yuan Caiwei took a look at the little caterpillar in the jar and unexpectedly recognized it as a butterfly larva:
"This is a bug that turns into a butterfly! My dad caught one for me when I was a kid."
When the children talked about one thing, they would think of another. Yuan Caiwei continued:
"My dad caught some bugs and kept them on my windowsill. When my little cousin came to play, I showed him my bugs, and he started crying. He thought I was scaring him on purpose, and he even complained to my parents..."
Zhizhi opened her mouth in surprise. "Ah? It's still like this? When I was in Lingnan, we caught insects every day and fried them to eat..."
Yuan Caiwei: "This is what they call, the heart of a villain and the belly of a gentleman."
"It is not the heart of a gentleman, but the heart of a villain that judges a gentleman."
Xue Che corrected her with a blushing face, then fled away:
"I, I'm going to read a book."
It's a beautiful day.
Zhizhi and Caiwei played for most of the day, and it was not until the afternoon that Caiwei was picked up by her family.
At this time, Pei Lingfeng and Pei Lingyun each finished their shift and went home.
Wu Yingniang also happened to come back from outside.
Several people returned home almost at the same time.
After Zhizhi sent Caiwei to the door, she happened to meet a few adults coming back.
She also held a small glass jar in her hand, and raised it high above her head whenever she saw someone:
"Dad, look, this is a gift from Che."
"Uncle, Ache gave me a gift."
"Mom, this is a bug that Che gave me. He caught it himself."
"Aunt, let me show you the jar that Che gave me..."
Everyone in the Pei Mansion knew about it. Xue Che was very happy to receive Zhizhi's gift, and he caught insects overnight to give back to Zhizhi.
The adults were very pleased and said that the two children really got along well.
Xue Che, who was on his way home after reading, happened to hear it as he passed by, and ran back home with a red face.
When he got home, the first thing he did was to check on the fat bug on his desk.
He then found a transparent glass jar, put the insects in it, and then took it to the windowsill where the sun was shining.
He also went to the kitchen to ask the cook for a few vegetable leaves and put them in a jar to feed the worms.
There is a gentle breeze.
The hair on Xue Che's forehead was blown up.
A child lay quietly on the windowsill, looking at the green shadow in the jar with anticipation, imagining that a colorful butterfly would fly out of it.
…
After playing in the capital for a few days, Zhizhi was about to start his studies in the mansion.
Zhizhi's cousin Pei Zhaoyuan and cousin Pei Qinghan are a few years older than Zhizhi and are not suitable to attend classes with Zhizhi.
Pei Lingyun originally wanted to invite the teacher from the Pei Mansion to teach Pei Zhaoyuan and Pei Qinghan for half a day, and teach Zhizhi for half a day.
But the teacher is old and can't handle teaching for a whole day.
Therefore, Pei Lingyun and Wu Yingniang thought about finding another teacher for Zhizhi.
"Yucheng and I discussed it and found a teacher so that Ache and Zhizhi can study together and have each other as companions." Pei Lingyun had already made plans.
Wu Yingniang agreed: "Ache is a quiet child. Maybe he can take Zhizhi with him and keep things quiet for a while."
At this time, several villagers from Black Bandit Mountain also arrived in the capital.
Old Man Qin, Old Xu, Qiu Jinyu, Hua Erniang and Doctor Yu all came.
After arriving in the capital, they visited Pei's residence.
Wu Yingniang and Pei Lingyun received them warmly.
Zhizhi was also very happy and kept pestering Qiu Jinyu and Hua Erniang to hug her.
Zhizhi: "Sister Hua, why are you here? Can you hear me thinking about you?"
Hua Erniang pinched Zhizhi's fleshy hand and said, "Because we miss Zhizhi too."
Old Xu scratched his head and said, "Hey, Yingniang, you don't know, after you left, we always felt that Xunzhou lacked some interest, so we thought about coming to the capital to play."
Old Man Qin kept saying, "I've said it before, the capital is a great place, especially the suburbs. I've seen a lot... In short, it's a place worth savoring. We plan to stay here for a while before we make any decisions."
Qiu Jinyu said that they would find a small house in the capital to live in and asked Zhizhi to come there for dinner often.
Zhizhi's eyes lit up: "Then Grandpa Qin can continue to be my teacher!"
Every time Zhizhi went to live in Black Bandit Mountain, Old Man Qin would teach Zhizhi to read, and he would read ancient books.
Every time Zhizhi learned something from Old Man Qin, he solemnly called him "Master Qin".
"Okay, of course Grandpa can continue to teach Zhizhi."
Old man Qin was rubbing his hands, eager to try.
"Also, if Grandpa finds any new books here, I'll teach you first. I guarantee it's the only copy in Chang'an!"
Wu Yingniang and Pei Lingyun looked at each other.
Zhizhi and Old Man Qin even decided on the time and place for the class.
In this way, Old Man Qin became the second gentleman hired by the Pei Mansion.
Two more days passed.
Old Man Qin officially took office and started teaching Zhizhi.
The place where they took classes was in the flower viewing pavilion in the garden. Outside the window were bright and eye-catching flowers, as if they were taking classes among flowers.
Xue Che was also sent here.
On the first day he came to see his new teacher, he got up early and was full of energy, bringing his books with him.
When I walked to the flower viewing pavilion, I happened to meet Zhizhi.
The two sat down together in the house.
There are three tables in the room.
The front seat is for the Master, and the two seats below are for Zhizhi and Ache respectively.
Xue Che has been feeling vaguely guilty ever since he wrongly blamed Zhizhi last time.
He thought that he could help Zhizhi more with his studies.
Therefore, he took the initiative to follow Zhizhi and said:
"Zhizhi, I can teach you calligraphy after class."
As he was speaking, he happened to see Zhizhi taking out a scroll of calligraphy from her bookcase.
Zhizhi complained quietly, "A-Che, yesterday my dad asked me to practice calligraphy to show Master Qin if I've regressed. My hands are almost broken from practicing."
Zhizhi waved her little hand towards Xue Che.
Beneath the little hand are beautiful handwritings.
Xue Che stared at the calligraphy: "Is this your handwriting?"
Zhizhi: “Yes.”
Xue Che turned his head back silently.
He sat in his seat with his head down, looking deeply shocked.
Zhizhi: “What’s wrong?”
Xue Che puffed up his cheeks, pouted unconsciously, and said in a muffled voice:
"After seeing your handwriting, I realized that mine is not good enough."
Zhizhi blinked and placed her hands on Xue Che's desk:
"Then you just need to practice more. Besides, I heard you've read a lot and know a lot. My uncle said you can answer a lot of questions."
Xue Che pursed his lips and said modestly: "Well, it's okay. If you have any questions, you can ask me."
After he said this, Zhizhi really asked:
"Do you know how many feathers there are on a bird's wings?"
"Why don't bees get lost among the flowers?"
"Will the osmanthus tree on the moon bloom? If so, why don't the osmanthus flowers fall from the moon..."
Xue Che twisted his hands together, listened for a long time, and stammered:
"Well... I'll go back and read the book and tell you."
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