Miss and farmhand

Shi Tou never imagined that he would one day become the king of the kids.

He actually disliked children. Children were troublesome, easy to die, and when they died, those around them were more gloomy than when an adult died. He preferred people who were stronger than him, like Huang Muyun.

He didn't realize that this actually showed he himself had a childish temper. The group of boys liked him for the same reason.

The achievement of reading is a delayed pleasure. You can only feel proud when you pass the imperial examination. In daily life, people just talk about who can recite books well or who can write articles well. It is difficult to have a clear and intuitive conclusion about what makes someone good.

But throwing a table is different. Once it's thrown, it's thrown, and with a loud crash, it creates a rift in the hearts of countless young children.

These are just like the heroes in legendary tales!

The allure of these living heroes overwhelmed the intimidation of their senior brothers, attracting the first group of people to show them goodwill.

Stone was always a chatterbox; he couldn't be quiet enough. After all these years on the ship, if he didn't talk to himself to relieve his boredom, he would have gone crazy long ago.

He did not shy away from his experiences of fleeing and being a slave, nor was he ashamed of his origins.

Huang Muyun's memory of the famine-stricken and scornful escape route is transformed into a grueling ascetic journey in his words, while his experience as a slave is shrouded in mystery due to the vast ocean and his encounters with various exotic lands, both familiar and unfamiliar.

After a few days of this storytelling, their overall situation at the academy improved. Although the boys weren't very capable, the friendly treatment they received made them feel less depressed.

The other senior brothers, although they didn't take it seriously, were also mindful of various factors and didn't cause them any further trouble.

Huang Muyun originally wanted to stop Shi Tou from talking too much, as it's always good to be careful with one's words. However, seeing that Shi Tou seemed to be enjoying himself, and that it wasn't just Shi Tou talking, but also that the boys would occasionally chime in, and sometimes the conversation would drift to Shi Tou's studies, with Shi Tou telling them stories and them teaching him to recognize characters and memorize texts, which was more efficient than Shi Tou studying hard on his own, Huang Muyun stopped interfering.

Some of the boys were also curious about Huang Muyun's story. Huang Muyun usually had a stern face, and since he didn't say anything, they didn't dare to ask.

Shi Tou secretly asked, and although he wanted to praise Huang Muyun, he could only remember how Huang Muyun had schemed against Huang Chu, so he couldn't bring himself to say it.

His expression turned troubled, and the boys automatically assumed that Huang Muyun wasn't very capable. Although he was better at studying than Shi Tou, his level was about the same as theirs, so they looked at him with disdain.

Huang Muyun sneered inwardly, too lazy to bother with them.

However, not long after, something truly hurt him came along.

One afternoon, Huang Muyun and Shitou returned home, had lunch, and were resting when someone knocked on the door. It was one of Huang Chu's maids.

Stone was still dozing off when Huang Muyun woke up first and asked, "Is something the matter?"

The maid said, "The young lady wants to invite Brother Stone over; it's urgent."

"What? Who? Who's looking for me?"

Stone groggily got out of bed. The girl repeated herself, and he yawned as he put on his shoes. "Okay, okay, wait a moment, I'll wash my face and then come with you."

He didn't notice how strange Huang Muyun's expression was as she sat at the table.

No one spoke while she washed her face, so Huang Muyun couldn't help but ask, "What does the young lady want with him?"

The maid replied flawlessly, "I don't know. I'll tell Young Master Shi when I see the young lady."

Stone wiped his face, feeling a bit more awake, and wondered, "Did they only look for me? Didn't they look for my brother?"

The maid smiled and said, "I'm only looking for Brother Stone. The young lady didn't want to delay your afternoon classes, so she specially sent me here at noon. Come on, the young lady must be getting impatient; it's important."

Shi Tou hurriedly followed the maid and left, leaving Huang Muyun alone in the room.

As a result, Shi Tou didn't return until the afternoon class time.

He was startled as soon as he entered the room: "Hey, brother, what are you doing here? Didn't you go to the academy?"

Huang Muyun didn't answer him, but asked directly, "What brings Miss Huang to see you?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Miss Huang is such a kind person. I only told her about being bullied at the academy once, and she remembered it and even made plans for me. She just called me over and said there's a job on a ship owned by a manager she knows well. She asked if I'd like to come along as an apprentice. It's not the kind where you sign documents properly, just helping out. Anyway, I have experience. The manager's previous employee got dysentery on the last job and hasn't recovered yet, so they need someone. She recommended me to the manager. She also mentioned that I've just started learning to read and asked if I know how to do accounting. I said I know a little, and I remember some currency conversions from Japan and Southeast Asia. The manager was very satisfied and said he'd be willing to teach me on the way. He said he's qualified to teach me the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic. A trip on the ship takes a month or so, so he should be able to teach me."

Shi Tou really thought it was a good idea and was talking about it enthusiastically, but when he turned around, he saw that Huang Muyun's face was as black as could be.

"elder brother?"

"You've already agreed?"

"Oh, you agreed? If I didn't agree to such a good thing, who knows when I'd get another chance? I still need to talk to Mr. Huang later. He'll definitely be happy too, finally getting rid of this big troublesome me. Brother, why do you look like that? You should be happy for me."

Huang Muyun gripped the corner of the table so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Go find her now and tell her you're not going and you're quitting this job."

"Why?" Stone raised his eyebrows in confusion. "It's such a good thing. I can make money, learn skills, and even learn to read. If I do well this time, maybe the shopkeeper will take me in. Then I won't have to stay with the Huang family anymore and I can support myself."

"Why are you in such a hurry? Learning skills from a merchant guild manager is not the same as studying at an academy. At most, you'll know a few characters, but you won't even be able to read a proper article. Don't you realize that if you leave like this, you won't be able to catch up when you want to come back?"

Stone scratched his neck, his eyes darting around, and he smacked his lips.

"To be honest, I never really expected to study any literature," he said in a low voice. "I'm not like you. I don't have the talent, and I don't have the drive. If it weren't for those kids at the academy, I would have been restless long ago. You've seen it yourself, I'm more enthusiastic when I'm telling them my legendary stories, and I prefer to go out myself."

He looked at Huang Muyun and said, "I'm sorry, brother, I've disappointed you. But you should study this book properly; I really should just give up."

"You were sold onto the ship as a slave. You're good-natured and don't take it seriously, but you can't really think it's a legendary story. What kind of good life can you have on a ship?"

Stone grinned nonchalantly. "Maybe I'm just destined to be a workaholic. But don't worry, brother. This time, it's Miss Huang who introduced me, so life will definitely be better than on the ship I was on before. I'm not a slave anymore; I'm a proper apprentice. Don't worry, Miss Huang wouldn't harm me."

Huang Muyun stared at him silently for a while, then suddenly turned and left without saying a word.

"Brother? Brother, where are you? Are you really angry?"

Stone was starting to panic. Huang Muyun's expression didn't seem like ordinary anger; it was more like she was seeking revenge.