Top Scholar

Chapter 328 Bathing
When the two men walked out of the cave, laughing heartily, they found many people waiting outside.

Su Youjin, Su Youcai, Su Man, Su Dan, Zhu Zigong, Zhu Zihe, Baiyunshan, Lei Jun, and Lin Zhihong, Deng Dengying, and all other members of the Yangjiang Society.

Even Huang E and Athena Chu came...

Seeing the cave filled with people, Su Lu asked in confusion, "Why are you all here?"

The crowd stared in disbelief at the two disheveled, ragged, and maniacally laughing savages, finding it hard to believe that these two were the refined and amiable Master Yangming and the handsome and dashing Xiao Sanyuan.

It wasn't until Su Lu spoke that it was confirmed that it really was the two of them...

"We heard that you and Mr. Yangming went into a cave and slept in coffins, and haven't come out for a month. We had to come and see you, couldn't we?" Su Youcai said, looking at his son who looked like a ghost. "How did you get into this state?"

"Father, I'm accompanying the Master in the cave to meditate on the Dao." Su Lu casually flicked his dirty, mop-like hair, showing no embarrassment whatsoever.

"Have you figured it out?" the crowd asked.

"I've got it." Wang Shouren tossed his sparse, dirty hair, looking as confident as if he'd used Pantene.

"What have you realized?" everyone asked eagerly.

"Together, we have discovered a comprehensive discipline that integrates mind and matter, knowledge and action, authority and responsibility!" Wang Shouren proudly declared. "We have named it 'Zhongxue,' and it will surely become a prominent school of thought in the world one day, benefiting all people!"

"Wow, that's amazing?!" Everyone was greatly shocked and exclaimed, "Please enlighten us, sir!"

Wang Shouren was also eager to let more people know about the 'Wang Suzong School', so he stepped onto a large rock to the side, sat cross-legged, and began his first lecture in front of Yangming Xiaodongtian:
“I have three fundamental principles for learning. The first is ‘the unity of mind and matter’—the mind has conscience, matter has principles, and behavior is the key. The three must be in harmony and none can be missing. Only then can we live on and move forward step by step.”

"Secondly, 'the integration of knowledge and action'—knowing through action and acting based on self-knowledge. Knowledge must be verified to be true, and action must be guided by conscience. Knowledge and action must be unified; without action, all things are in vain."

"Thirdly, 'integration of rights and responsibilities'—rights and responsibilities are of the same origin, and both will suffer if separated. Only by fulfilling responsibilities can one enjoy rights, and to enjoy rights, one must fulfill responsibilities."

Then, Master Yangming expounded on the great principles to everyone and explained in detail the wonders of the teachings of Yangming.

At first, everyone was just curious, but gradually they became completely absorbed, sitting cross-legged in front of the large rock, listening to Master Yangming expound on his great principles...

Huang E, however, couldn't listen to a word at this moment and quietly took Su Lu's hand when no one was paying attention.

"I'm dirty." Su Lu looked at his own skin and Huang E's skin, which were as black as charcoal and as white as snow, the contrast was too strong.

"Would I ever complain about you?" Huang E intertwined her fingers with his and said affectionately, "It's been months since we last met, I've missed you terribly."

"I dislike myself." Su Lu hadn't yet reached the level of Yangming's 'unmoved by the eight winds', and whispered, "Let's go back first, and I'll give you a good hug after I've washed up."

"Mmm." Huang E nodded shyly and obediently followed him down the mountain.

~~
As soon as Su Lu returned to Longchang Post Station, he immediately grabbed a soap and towel and rushed to the nearby stream.

He took off his dirty clothes and jumped into the water, vigorously applying soap to his hair. He had never been so dirty in his life, and his fiancée saw him doing so.

"Sigh..." Su Lu couldn't help but sigh. Wouldn't this make Huang E laugh at him until he was eighty?
"Why are you sighing?" Huang E's charming voice rang out behind him.

"Huh? Why are you here?" Su Lu hurriedly wrapped a towel around Xiao Xiao Su, and her flustered appearance made Huang E giggle.

"I'll wash your clothes." Huang E placed the wooden basin by the stream and, blushing, picked up his dirty clothes one by one and put them into the basin.

Su Lu stared at Huang E, noticing that she had adapted to local customs, wearing no makeup or jewelry, and dressed in a blue cloth dress. She had also followed the local custom of wrapping her hair in a plain cloth.

Even with her extremely simple attire, her stunning beauty still shone through... Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her skin like jade reflecting snow, and the deep affection in her clear eyes could not be hidden in the slightest.

"Turn around quickly," Huang E said shyly.

"Oh, oh." Su Lu quickly turned around, her heart pounding.

"Let me rub your back," Huang E said.

"Oh..." Su Lu wasn't so excited anymore.

"Why do you still sound a little disappointed?" Huang E took a loofah and vigorously rubbed his back. "What did you think I was going to do?"

"Hiss..." Su Lu grimaced and said, "I thought they were going to wash my hair again."

"Nonsense, you definitely don't think that way," Huang E chuckled.

She then rolled the ash around in his hair and began to tell him about her feelings since they last met.

The young lovers naturally had endless things to talk about, but they didn't discuss anything particularly meaningful, and the afternoon passed by in a flash.

The two were lost in their own world when they suddenly heard the sound of the main group returning. Huang E quickly stood up and whispered, "The clean clothes are right behind you. I'll go back first."

After saying that, he ran away like a frightened rabbit...

Su Lu was equally embarrassed, as his future sister-in-law was also there. But it was too late for him to get out of the water and put on his clothes, so he could only try to stay submerged as much as possible, hoping they wouldn't notice him.

But that's impossible; there are so many eyes watching.

When the unscrupulous members of the Yangjiang Society saw him, they chuckled and gathered around Su Lu, teasing him:
"Hey, the boss is still taking a bath?" "Tsk tsk, his back is so white from all that scrubbing, how did you reach it?"

"Can't I have long arms?" Su Lu said irritably, "Go away, what's so interesting about a grown man taking a bath!"

“There’s nothing to see when we’re taking a bath, but it’s a good omen for the head of the society to take a bath, so we can’t miss it,” Xiao Tingjie said with a smile.

"What good omen?" Su Lu asked.

“Little Sanyuan taking a bath—standing out from the crowd!” Xiao Tingjie said slyly, causing the other members of the club to burst into laughter.

As expected, regardless of status or position, they all like to tell jokes in a vulgar and offensive way.

Su Lu looked down and saw that the towel was safely tucked around his waist, and wouldn't expose his genitals...

"I also remembered a joke." How could Baiyun Mountain be absent from this kind of lighthearted banter? He squatted down next to Su Lu with a sly grin, his lecherous eyes glancing at his groin as he said:

"There was once an old man who took his grandson to bathe in the river. The grandson wanted to catch a shrimp but couldn't manage it, so he asked his old man, 'Grandpa, Grandpa, these shrimp keep moving forward and backward, but I don't know where their head is or where their tail is!'"

As he spoke, he asked Su Lu with a smile, "Head of the Society, do you know how Grandpa answered?"

"Grandpa said, 'You little brat, shut up!'" Su Lu said irritably.

"No, no," Bai Yunshan laughed. "Grandpa meant: 'The one with a beard is the head, the one without a beard is the buttocks.' I wonder if the head of the community can also distinguish them in this way?"

"Hahahaha!" The members of the club burst into laughter, pounding their chests and stamping their feet, laughing until tears streamed down their faces.

"Why don't you come down and try it yourself?" Su Lu pulled Bai Yunshan directly into the water.

"We're here too!" The others quickly took off their clothes and jumped into the water.

After joking around for a while, Lin Zhihong said leisurely, "So this is how you can distinguish between front and back."

"Hahaha!" The sixteen or seventeen-year-old naked boys burst into laughter for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

~~
After playing around enough, the Yangjiang villagers chuckled as they climbed ashore, got dressed, and went back to eat.

Only Baiyun Mountain remained in the water: "My clothes aren't dry yet."

He was dragged into this mess by Su Lu...

"Then you keep catching shrimp, we're going back!" The group waved to him and walked arm in arm toward Longchang Post Station.

"You heartless bunch..." Bai Yunshan cursed.

"What did you say?!" Everyone turned around and asked.

"I say, which kind godfather would like to help me bring back some clothes?" Bai Yunshan immediately smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "Your son bows in gratitude."

"That's more like it." His fellow villagers finally showed their fatherly love and helped him go back to the inn to get dry clothes.

Longchang Post Station has changed dramatically.

The bamboo houses that were previously built have all been demolished and are gone. In their place stand eighteen brick and tile houses in three courtyards!
As soon as Xia Ge'er arrived at Longchang Post Station, he started firing kilns and continued firing until Su Lu and Wang Shouren went into seclusion, when they finally had enough bricks to build a house.

But he and his dozen or so guards couldn't have built it so quickly. It was Mang Gulu who brought the laborers from the Miao village to help, and in just over a month, the new Longchang Post Station, covering three acres, was completed!
That evening, a bonfire banquet was held in the courtyard paved with blue bricks to celebrate the birth of Wang Suzongxue and the completion of the new Longchang Post Station, and to welcome the guests who had come from afar.

As night fell, the roaring bonfire roasted the whole lamb and suckling pig on the grill until they gleamed golden brown, and the rendered fat dripped onto the fire, sparking and crackling.

The pigs were raised by the post station itself, and the sheep were just hunted by hunters from the Miao village. As soon as they heard that Master Yangming had come out of the pass, Mang Gulu sent them over directly, without even entering the village.

Wang Shouren then invited Mang Gulu and the others to stay and drink with him. The group sat around the campfire, holding rough porcelain bowls filled with Erlang's fine wine brought by the Su family, and shared the cut-off roasted meat while drinking.

The young men and women from Luzhou never expected that this rough and rustic way of eating, so different from that of the Han people, would be so satisfying!
Wang Shouren sat at the head of the table, took a sip of Erlang Ten-Year Aged Wine, and smiled with a look of enjoyment: "This is really good wine. I didn't expect to be drinking it again so soon..."

“I knew you liked this, so I brought you two big jars,” Su Youjin said with a smile. “The mountain roads are difficult to travel, otherwise I could have brought more.”

"Do we still have to take the mountain road? Is the Chishui River still not open?" Wang Shouren asked.

He remembered Huang Ke saying that after the Chishui River was repaired, the boat could be sailed directly to the last of the nine post stations in Longchang—Bijie Post Station.

Then, following the post road, the goods could be transported directly to Guizhou...

"Alas, the waterway has been opened, but some people are blocking it and won't let us pass. What can we do?" Su Youjin sighed.

"Where did this mountain bandit come from, so arrogant? Have Huang Bingxian send troops to wipe him out!" Wang Shouren said, blowing his beard and glaring.

“Huang Bingxian was helpless.” Su Youjin said with a wry smile, “Because the Yang family of Bozhou were blocking the way, and Yang Bin is now Huang Bingxian’s superior.”

"I see..." Wang Yangming understood.

(End of this chapter)