Hot flashes

Zhou Heng went back and thought about it. He realized that he had been eating and living at other people's houses all these days, and even the clothes he was wearing belonged to them.

The old man treated him very politely, and the servants took good care of him. He didn't have to do anything. What was the difference between him and eating and drinking for free?

If someone offers something and he refuses, that would be really awful.

Besides, it's not like I'm teaching anything profound. It's just reading books and talking with the kids; it can't possibly be misleading them, can it?

Zhou Heng turned over and pulled the blanket up a little.

I'll teach you then.

The next morning, he went to the main hall to find the old man.

The old man was drinking tea when he saw him come in, and put down his teacup.

"Young Master Zhou, have you made up your mind?"

Zhou Heng nodded.

"Since the old gentleman has asked, I dare not refuse," he said. "It's just that my knowledge is shallow, and I'm afraid I'll delay Xiao Jue's progress."

The old man waved his hand.

"Young master, there's no need for you to be so modest." He smiled. "That child is clever, he just needs someone to keep an eye on him. It's his good fortune that you're willing to put in the effort."

Just then, footsteps came from the doorway.

Xiao Jue rushed in and was stunned by the scene before him.

The old man waved to him.

"You've come at the perfect time," he said. "From today onwards, Young Master Zhou will be your teacher. You must study diligently under his tutelage and not be lazy."

Xiao Jue was stunned.

He looked at the old man, then at Zhou Heng, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"real?"

The old man nodded.

Xiao Jue's face broke into a wide smile, which he couldn't suppress. He ran up to Zhou Heng, his eyes shining as he looked at him.

"You'll teach me?"

Zhou Heng felt a little embarrassed by his gaze.

"Hmm," he said, "but I'm not a very good teacher, so please don't mind."

Xiao Jue shook his head vigorously.

"No problem, no problem!"

The old man watched from the side, smiled, and picked up his teacup.

On the first day of class, Zhou Heng sat in Xiao Jue's study, looking at the brushes, ink, paper and inkstone laid out in front of him, and was at a loss.

A calligraphy brush.

He remembered learning calligraphy for a few days when he was a child. But that was so long ago! More than ten years ago, he had long forgotten it.

Zhou Heng sat there, staring at the pen, and remained silent for a long time.

Xiao Jue sat opposite him, resting his chin on his hands, staring at him intently.

"Sir, what's wrong?"

Zhou Heng came to his senses.

"Um," he said, "get me a charcoal pencil."

Xiao Jue was stunned for a moment.

"charcoal?"

Zhou Heng nodded.

"It's burnt charcoal, the finer and harder kind."

Xiao Jue blinked, asked nothing, stood up and ran outside.

Not long after, he ran back, holding a handful of charcoal sticks. They were black, thin, and hard, neatly arranged.

"Will this work?"

Zhou Heng took it and looked at it.

"OK."

He picked up a charcoal stick and drew it across the paper. It felt rough to the touch.

Xiao Jue looked at the dark charcoal stick, then at the black mark on the paper.

"Can this even write?"

Zhou Heng nodded.

"able."

Xiao Jue sat back down, picked up a brush, and wrote a few words on the paper.

"Sir, how is my writing?"

Zhou Heng looked down.

Those few words were crooked and twisted, like a few drunken ants crawling on the paper.

He remembered the old man's words, "crawling like a dog."

He suppressed a laugh and nodded.

"good."

Xiao Jue didn't detect the reluctance in his words and grinned happily.

After that, Zhou Heng began to teach Xiao Jue.

One hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Not too long, not too short.

At first, Zhou Heng didn't know what to teach. The Four Books and Five Classics? He hadn't even understood them himself. Poetry and prose? That was even worse.

Later, he thought about it and decided to teach something practical.

He flipped through the books on the old man's bookshelf, picked out a few books on mathematics, and browsed through them.

Upon closer inspection, a problem was discovered.

Their mathematics is incredibly complicated. A single problem can involve several twists and turns, using a bunch of complex terminology, and it takes a long time to arrive at a result.

Zhou Heng found it gave him a headache.

He recalled what he learned as a child—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, the multiplication table—simple, straightforward, and easy to learn.

So he put those complicated things aside and drew a multiplication table himself.

He handed the form to Xiao Jue.

"Memorize this."

Xiao Jue took the paper, looked at the numbers on it, and blinked.

"What is this?"

Zhou Heng said, "The multiplication table. Once you memorize it, you'll be able to do arithmetic quickly."

Xiao Jue glanced at it and began to memorize it.

Half an hour later, he raised his head.

"Sir, I've memorized it."

Zhou Heng nodded and gave him a few problems to solve.

Xiao Jue buried his head in calculations for a moment, then suddenly looked up.

"Sir, your method is really effective!"

Zhou Heng breathed a sigh of relief.

Over the next few days, he taught Xiao Jue simpler algorithms. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, vertical calculation, finding common denominators and simplifying fractions—these were all very basic things, but Xiao Jue listened with great interest.

He listened while calculating on paper. When he finished, he handed it to Zhou Heng to see.

Zhou Heng suddenly felt a pang of emotion.

This child is so smart.

He grasped things quickly and could apply them to other situations. He could teach something once, and Xiao Jue not only learned it but also figure out other uses for it on his own.

Zhou Heng never hesitated to praise.

"That's a good idea."

"This problem was solved even more cleverly than I expected."

"You're getting more and more amazing."

Xiao Jue grew increasingly excited by the praise, burying himself in calculations on the paper. He filled one sheet, then moved to another. He filled another sheet, then moved to yet another.

Zhou Heng watched from the side, occasionally taking a sip of tea.

I drank cup after cup of tea.

The sun moves from the east to the west.

Zhou Heng glanced out the window; it was already getting dark. The light inside the room gradually turned dim and yellowish. Xiao Jue was still hunched over his desk, his pen never stopping.

Zhou Heng cleared his throat.

"Xiao Jue".

Xiao Jue didn't hear him and continued writing.

Zhou Heng cleared his throat again.

"Xiao Jue".

Xiao Jue raised his head.

"gentlemen?"

Zhou Heng pointed out the window.

It's getting dark.

Xiao Jue followed his finger and looked over, then paused for a moment.

"So fast?"

Zhou Heng nodded.

"That's enough for today, it's time to rest."

Xiao Jue looked down at the stack of papers filled with writing in front of him, then looked at Zhou Heng, a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

"All right."

He put down his pen.