Miss and farmhand

Shen Jingzong was astonished to see that Huang Xingtong could still speak to him so forcefully and even dare to ask him questions. This foolish scholar truly didn't know what an official was, or what an official could do, and yet he dared to ask him such questions?

Shen Jingzong didn't even bother to answer him, and turned to Zhu Xiaoxu with a smile, saying, "Go, help your teacher. He is a teacher after all, so let's give him some face and not let those clumsy people search him."

Zhu Xiaoxu accepted the order and bowed to Huang Xingtong. "Sir, please cooperate. Don't make things awkward for everyone."

Huang Xingtong looked at him coldly, as if he knew he couldn't escape this situation, and he really didn't say anything more aggressively or resist.

"Please raise your hand, sir."

Zhu Xiaoxu was very disciplined in his actions and solemn in his expression. He carefully examined Huang Xingtong's cuffs, belt, trouser legs, and collar, leaving no stone unturned.

When he searched Huang Xingtong's chest, he clearly felt Huang Xingtong's breath catch in his throat. Zhu Xiaoxu had initially thought that Shen Jingzong might be being overly cautious. In such a short time under everyone's watchful eyes, even if these two really had something to pass on, firstly, they hadn't prepared beforehand, and secondly, how could they have moved so quickly that no one else could have seen it?

Judging from Huang Xingtong's expression, there might really be something fishy going on.

As he was rummaging through the documents, he suddenly heard Huang Xingtong say in a calm voice, "Do you know why I've always looked down on you?"

Zhu Xiaoxu paused in his movements.

He looked up at Huang Xingtong and found that Huang Xingtong was still smiling, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, as if he was very disdainful.

Huang Xingtong's attitude towards Zhu Xiaoxu was always a thorn in Zhu Xiaoxu's side. It was not obvious and he never talked about it directly. Everyone said that he was Huang Xingtong's favorite student, and Huang Xingtong did not deny it. However, Zhu Xiaoxu always knew that Huang Xingtong looked down on him.

This is a long-standing and subtle attitude.

Huang Xingtong's refined and scholarly demeanor once greatly impressed the young Zhu Xiaoxu. He was a prodigy, arrogant and disdainful of everyone, and no one in his family was as learned or talented as him. Of course, he knew that there were always people more capable than him, and that once he entered school or academy, there would certainly be people stronger than him. However, he was not worried about these things; he believed that he could make up for his lack of knowledge later on, and he always had only self-confidence.

After entering the academy, none of the students could compare to him. But the teacher was another matter entirely. Zhu Xiaoxu was greatly amazed by Huang Xingtong's elegant and unrestrained demeanor. His family was conservative and had never had such a wild and unconventional elder, let alone witnessed such excellence firsthand.

From the moment they entered the academy, this group of students held Huang Xingtong in high esteem. Initially, Huang Xingtong visited the academy frequently and was happy to mingle with them, without overly strict teacher-student rules. Huang Xingtong's lectures might be difficult for others to understand; his ideas were too imaginative, covering a wide range of topics, and he effortlessly quoted classical texts. Often, when he asked a question, the students would be completely bewildered, and then he would chuckle contentedly and explain it in detail for them.

Only Zhu Xiaoxu could answer Huang Xingtong's questions, and because of this, he felt different from the other students; he was special in Huang Xingtong's eyes. Huang Xingtong praised him the most, never hesitating to shower him with compliments, which made him extremely proud. For a time, he practically made his teacher's praise his greatest goal in his studies. Later, Huang Xingtong even invited him to her home, where he met her wife and younger sister, treating him as if he were her own son. When Zhu Xiaoxu first met Huang Chu, Huang Chu was just a baby. He didn't have any other thoughts. Huang Chu had been raised with such a temperament by Huang Xingtong that taking care of her was no different from taking care of a spoiled little brother. At that time, Zhu Xiaoxu often felt that Huang Chu was truly her brother, that he was Huang Xingtong's other son.

After a period of thriving at the academy, he returned home and became increasingly dissatisfied with his family. Huang Xingtong's family was exactly like the Wei-Jin style described in books, so how could he not yearn for it? After experiencing it, how could he endure his own rigid and boring family again, even though he was the most favored child in the family?

When his parents and siblings inquired about his time at the academy, he couldn't help but lavish praise on his teachers, describing how they favored him, with an air of boastfulness and disdain. Huang Xingtong, who wasn't even present, seemed to become his protector, as if Huang Xingtong's presence made even his parents seem disrespectful. This automatically elevated Huang Xingtong to an even higher status in his mind. He felt a growing aversion to his family and couldn't wait to return to the academy.

As Huang Chu grew older, his mother once casually mentioned the matter, suggesting that the relationship between the two disciples could become closer. Zhu Xiaoxu initially thought this was the limited perspective of a woman like his mother who had never seen much of the world. But then he thought, if he really married Huang Chu, wouldn't that fulfill his dream of becoming Huang Xingtong's son?

At this point, he no longer despised his mother's wisdom; instead, he readily accepted the idea. He accepted anything that was beneficial to him and regarded it as the predetermined path he would take in the future.

Zhu Xiaoxu always felt that he could do everything well and had always maintained his status as Huang Xingtong's best student. At his age, he passed the imperial examination, which was quite young even among the scholars of Jiangnan throughout history.

He always thought he must make Huang Xingtong proud, so after passing the imperial examination, he returned and privately confessed his feelings to Huang Xingtong, wanting to ask to marry Huang Chu.

Things changed after that.

Zhu Xiaoxu didn't know what was wrong. What puzzled him most was this: on the surface, nothing seemed to have changed, and Huang Xingtong treated him as usual. But after the proposal, Zhu Xiaoxu felt that Huang Xingtong didn't seem to care as much as he did about their master-disciple relationship. He seemed perfunctory; many of his compliments sounded the same as usual, but Zhu Xiaoxu always felt that he was absent-minded.

The most crucial point is that Zhu Xiaoxu couldn't tell whether his mindset changed after being rejected, which led him to perceive Huang Xingtong as someone else, or whether Huang Xingtong had always been like this from the beginning.

This absent-mindedness grew stronger day by day, until Zhu Xiaoxu finally began to believe that Huang Xingtong looked down on him.

He covered Huang Xingtong's collar, no longer bothering to examine the matter further. He took a half step back, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "This student doesn't know where I went wrong to displease you, sir."

Huang Xingtong looked at him for a while, "You just heard what I said, Shi Tou is my student."

Zhu Xiaoxu remained silent, only bowing even deeper.

"Then remember this: he is, you are not. You were never going to be."

Zhu Xiaoxu did not expect that Huang Xingtong would not give him a clear answer, but would respond to him in such an almost insulting way.

He subconsciously looked up into Huang Xingtong's eyes. He couldn't see any emotion in Huang's eyes, but he could see a memory.

It was as if he had achieved his goal with just a few words among his fellow disciples that afternoon, and no one could blame him. Huang Xingtong, who was right outside the window at the time, knew exactly what he had done.

Huang Xingtong turned and left.