Ye Xuan said, "Although I haven't been to school all these years, I haven't neglected my studies. The books came from the mountains, and he would lend me every single one to copy. There were also the notes and annotations from the classes... I've memorized them all. Whenever I didn't understand something, he would explain it to me."
Master Qian was stunned. He threw the book in his hand at Zhao Jinshan's face: "You little rascal, you haven't even figured it out yourself, and you're already acting as a teacher for others."
"Waaah...Master, I was wrong!" Zhao Jinshan slid to his knees with a thud, grabbed Master Qian's legs, and wailed.
“I dare not be a teacher… but… Brother Xuan is so pitiful. He clearly loves reading so much… so I have no choice but to lend him the books to copy.”
"The annotations in the scriptures were all done by you, Master. I didn't dare teach him anything. If there were anything he didn't understand, I could only explain it based on my own understanding..."
Seeing this, Ye Xuan hurriedly said, "Master Qian, please don't blame me for coming into the mountain. If you don't want to accept me, we'll leave immediately. As for copying the annotations from your scriptures..."
"Alright, these annotations aren't exactly secrets," Master Qian sighed slightly and waved his hand.
Every scholar has their own understanding of a book, and they annotate it. Some scholars or those who have passed the imperial examinations will even sell these books to bookstores so that they can print and sell them.
His annotations, too, were sold to booksellers.
Furthermore, he gave each of his students a copy.
If he can't pass on what he teaches, who would dare to study with him?
When these students grow up, they may become teachers themselves and pass on this knowledge.
He wasn't angry that his own knowledge had been copied, but rather that Zhao Jinshan was ungrateful.
I'm afraid of misleading others if I haven't even mastered the material myself.
After all, Zhao Jinshan's skill level... is really hard to describe!
Of all the students I've taught, this is one of the worst!
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