Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 82 Fleeting Love, Unfaithful Man, Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon, Leisurely Sentiments

"Sir, my son always does fewer points of homework than others every day. I've come today to discuss this issue with you... I wonder if you've noticed this problem with my son's homework?"

"I see," Guan Yin thought with a sigh of relief. "It seems the student failed to explain clearly to his father." Just as he was about to explain, he heard the parent continue speaking.

“Yesterday, a friend of mine came to visit. The two children did their copying homework together in my study. When my son finished all of it, my friend’s child hadn’t even finished half of it… I assumed my son was being lazy. I asked him about it, but he hesitated and refused to tell me no matter what.”

"I really had no other choice, so I brought my son here to ask you, sir."

Guan Yin's gaze fell on the child in front of him. He had been wondering why the child's parents would come to him to reason with him when the child was one of the top students in the class. It turned out that the student had not told the whole truth in front of the other student's father because he was concerned about his classmate's feelings.

"The children's homework is determined based on their performance in class."

"This is……"

"It means your son performs well in class, so he has less homework. It's not the child's fault." Guan Yin patted the child's shoulder. Seeing that the child was a little flustered and seemed to be moving his mouth but not knowing how to explain, he decided to say a few good words for his student.

"The child's hesitation and reluctance to speak is not a problem with their ability to express themselves. It is probably because they are embarrassed in front of their classmates, friends, and elders, and they are worried about causing trouble for their friends. So don't blame the child."

The parent glanced at the teacher, then at their own child, and habitually said something that didn't reflect their true feelings: "If that's the case, why didn't you explain it to me after they left? Hmm?"

Even though they know they won't listen to their children's explanations, parents still have to be stubborn in front of their husbands.

"Now that the sir has explained it to you, why don't you quickly thank him?"

It's hard for a child not to feel shy in this kind of atmosphere. He pursed his lips and after a long while, he managed to utter six words: "Thank you, teacher."

"No need." Guan Yin could see the student's restraint, and took the opportunity to quickly send the parent away. "Don't blame the child for this anymore."

After the father left, the child spoke again, this time with even greater confidence and courage: "Thank you, sir."

"Go to class...go sit down." People really do tend to slip up easily. Guan Yin once again barely managed to stop himself from saying "go to class" and walked into the room, which was already full of students, to start the day's classes.

Fortunately, the parents who came were only there to ask about the students' academic progress and did not raise any objections to their teaching methods.

Close the door, relax, and focus on giving a solid lecture.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting its rays onto the students' desks along with the floral patterns on the windows and the eaves. The rare tranquility made Guan Yin realize that since arriving here, his most relaxed moments had been in the classroom.

"You don't need to recite the lessons you assigned yesterday today. Just come to me one by one and memorize them."

When it comes to checking homework, Guan Yin always comes up with something new every day—all of these are experiences left behind by veteran teachers, and they never fail.

"Come on, line up and put your books here."

"Only two or three people should line up at a time. When the rest of the students see that there are people here, they should stay in their seats and write down what they need to copy for going home today."

If this is the case, most students will wait until later to start memorizing. Therefore, a reward mechanism is necessary at this point.

For example, the first person to finish memorizing the text completely as required can reduce their copying homework or go home earlier.

"I have some things to take care of these next two days, so you don't need to come for the next three days."

Having settled everything and seen off the students who had come to class, Guan Yin tidied himself up, took a small bundle, and set off for the brothel to find Ling Xiao.

As dusk falls, green hills burst into bloom with flowers, and houses line the long streets and alleys. Guan Yin followed this unfamiliar route toward the music hall, increasingly finding Cheng Heng's words to be true.

He can't live without his phone. When Guan Yin wanted to find his way, he instinctively reached for his phone to search the map, only to realize how inseparable he was from it.

The wooden stairs creaked underfoot, and Guan Yin pulled up his trouser leg, trying to make the noise as quiet as possible.

One step, two steps... As he got closer to that familiar house, Guan Yin breathed a sigh of relief.

"My sister is here again."

Guan Yin walked in unimpeded. When he entered the familiar room, Ling Xiao was already sitting there, unprepared, and didn't even stand up to welcome him.

"Ling Xiao, do you already know that I am not her?" Guan Yin didn't keep him in suspense and went straight to the point. "Jiao An said that she realized a long time ago that I am not her. I think you have known each other for so long, so you should have noticed the changes in me long ago."

The beauty before her looked tired as always, but the light in her eyes and the ambiguous smile told Guan Yin that her guess was correct.

“Jiao’an has already told me that this is not what you want either… In the place where you live, girls can also be teachers, so of course you don’t want to come to a place like this.”

Knowing full well that the biggest taboo in many time-travel novels is for the time traveler to actively reveal their identity, Guan Yin still took the gamble.

There's no question of whether his character is ruined or not. Guan Yin only ever considered one person and the potential impact of a small change on history.

After all, no one is so foolish as to not notice at all that someone they've known for so long has completely changed their soul.

Such sincerity could certainly be misplaced, such as with Ling Xiao in front of him, or Liu Jiao'an, who returned to the Liu family alone. Liu Jiao'an was originally kind-hearted, so Guan Yin dared to take a gamble.

"I just don't understand why you dare to tell me this? Everyone says I'm the kind of person who would risk my life for a man, and they think it's foolish of me to entrust my whole life to someone who may never come back... Don't you think I'm foolish?"

"After all, where you are, girls can also study and teach."

Ling Xiao did not lower herself. Coming to the music academy was not her original wish; if she could study and enter officialdom, she would have spared no effort. The problem was this era, where a group of good people could not find the place they deserved.

They didn't even have a chance to change their lives.

"Do not."

"I think the love in your heart is not wrong, you just..."

Ling Xiao, a girl like that, would definitely be considered "love-obsessed" in today's world. After Guan Yin spoke up, she found that she couldn't explain her own thoughts—she felt that Ling Xiao was definitely not like that on the surface, only knowing how to love a "scholar".

"How should I address you from now on?"

Guan Yin didn't expect Ling Xiao to bring up the topic of her so-called sweetheart so quickly. When she came to her senses, she realized that this kind of girl was not stupid: "I also have the character Yin in my name, the same surname as your sister Yin Yun."

"Call me whatever you like. If everything is as it was before, that's fine too. It's all up to you." "Then I'll call you Sister Yin from now on," Ling Xiao readily agreed.

Guan Yin nodded.

"Then what brings you here, Sister Yin?" Just from these words, Ling Xiao seemed not to believe that there could be anyone in this world who truly loved her. "I think you definitely didn't come here specifically to find me. You must have something to ask me, just like Jiao An came looking for me that day."

"She wasn't trying to avoid you, Sister Yin."

Ling Xiao didn't believe anyone would care about her, but she preferred that those who cared about each other not have any misunderstandings.

Every smile, every word, Guan Yin could clearly see that the person before him was definitely not just a girl who cared only about romantic relationships with men, yet he was still captivated: "If possible, you don't need to rely on a man like that, you can..."

“If, Sister Yin, you like saying ‘if’ too much.” Ling Xiao interrupted Guan Yin without hesitation this time, “Perhaps for Sister Yin, these ‘if’s’ could become reality? But I don’t have the ability to think about gods, demons, or anything like that.”

This wasn't exactly a sad thing for Ling Xiao, and Guan Yin hadn't done anything wrong by speaking up. Ling Xiao hadn't even shown any dissatisfaction or sorrow, but in Guan Yin's eyes, it appeared as an unusual loneliness and desolation.

Ling Xiao's words left Guan Yin speechless for a moment. After a long pause, he unceremoniously pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Ling Xiao.

Those time-travel novels online are still too far-fetched. The time-traveling woman arrives and immediately starts teaching the local girls how to live and how to do things. She always thinks she can change everyone with her unattached, do-or-die situation…

It's certainly not wrong to fight for rights, but we should also consider how much rights they can actually gain, and whether they can afford the cost of stirring up trouble in a relatively calm environment.

The time traveler went back, but the girl whose mind had been altered was forced to remain on a path filled with constraints and entanglements, disregarding the possibility of her loving parents, siblings, relatives, and clansmen being persecuted, and facing the thorns alone.

This seems unfair to the girls who already live here.

Unless they genuinely have such thoughts themselves.

"I came here to ask if you could take me to meet the person in charge here." Guan Yin sat down and told Ling Xiao his request, "There are some things I need to confirm, so as not to leave any trouble for future actions."

"No."

Guan Yin was also surprised to hear Ling Xiao's decisive refusal. In the moment of stunned silence, she heard the latter explain, "I told you not to see her."

“The day she brought me back from Shuwen’s side, and then in front of all the sisters she pressed me down on a stool and beat me twenty times, I said I would never see her again.”

It was somewhat like a child sulking with their parents. Guan Yin found it amusing, yet he knew that those who ran brothels weren't exactly good people—but if they weren't good people, why would someone specifically send him a letter explaining the dangers of going to the capital for the imperial examinations?

What kind of person is she?

"They were ruthless. Back then, if we didn't sing well, we'd be beaten; if we didn't dance well, we'd be beaten; if we didn't learn anything well, we'd be beaten."

“Even children who are picky eaters will be beaten… those who embezzle extra money will be scolded, and those who get too close to customers will also be scolded.”

"In the end, we're going to die here." Ling Xiao smiled nonchalantly. "We were hurt, we were redeemed, it's all her loss. If I were her, I definitely wouldn't have done it either."

Is it just for such a simple reason as making money?
Then why was the original owner able to redeem herself? Guan Yin didn't think that this madam of the brothel was the only one in the entire brothel who didn't know the original owner's identity!
"Has any trouble been caused by spoiled brats here before?"

“Of course there are.” Ling Xiao looked at Guan Yin as if he were a fool. “This isn’t a teaching place, so who would respect us? Who would care what we think?”

The thought that had just arisen was suppressed by Ling Xiao's response, and Guan Yin fell silent.

"Sister Yin, you don't need to worry about us. In the end, none of these playboys ever succeeded."

Guan Yin's dimmed eyes lit up again: So, his idea might actually be correct!

“Mother is a bit fierce, but she can handle these spoiled brats very well. She just talks to the servants who follow them, and the servants will take their young masters away…” Noticing Guan Yin’s strange expression, Ling Xiao stopped what she was saying before she finished speaking. “What do you mean, Sister Yin?”

"It's nothing." And so her thoughts began to connect.

However, Guan Yin didn't think that Ling Xiao, who was still harboring resentment towards the brothel madam, would listen to her ideas. The most urgent matter was to persuade Ling Xiao to take her to meet the people.

"Ling Xiao, what about that little girl? Are you alright...?"

"Don't mention her. A couple of days ago, a young master specifically asked to see me, but before we could even exchange a few words, she snatched him away!"

Ling Xiao was not satisfied when the little girl was mentioned.

Guan Yin clearly remembered that Ling Xiao had said he wouldn't play or sing for anyone else because of Zhang Shuwen—now that he was angry with the young girl, was it because of this "betrayal," or was it just his inherited "sharp tongue but soft heart"?

Ling Xiao would never admit it, Guan Yin smiled knowingly, but inside she was already laughing uncontrollably at Ling Xiao's childlike behavior.

"If you really want to see her, then stay here for the night and wait... tomorrow the little girl you're looking for will take you to see your mother."

"Hmm." Guan Yin didn't say anything more.

Fearing that Ling Xiao might lose control and become too angry, making the already awkward room with only the two of them even more uncomfortable.

"you……"

"Ok?"

"Aren't you worried that your mother will recognize you as not Sister Yin Yun if you go to see her like this?"

"Oh? Why do you think..."

“Mom may not be good at much else, but she has no problem recognizing people. With so many people coming and going, even if it’s someone who only comes once every few years, Mom can still recognize them at a glance.”

"Tongtong is no longer a local, so she won't say anything."

After Guan Yin finished speaking, Ling Xiao didn't reply. Only after the laughter and noise around them stopped did Ling Xiao speak again: "Alright, I'll take you tomorrow."

"It's your choice to go, not my own to go find her."

"Okay." Guan Yin was already trying his best to suppress the smile that inadvertently appeared on his lips.

On a side note: Please follow me on Douyin and Xiaohongshu! This is a final assignment for a new media operations course – please help me save this kid! The account name is just a pseudonym!