Chapter 503: Dealing With
Editor: Atlas Studios
Liu Dahei looked a little awkward. He hadn’t expected Qi Haoran to take his words seriously. Who knew that this kid would really be thick-skinned enough to mention it? He glanced at him to warn him not to go overboard since they were still respectively officials and bandits now. Moreover, they were on his territory.
Qi Haoran pretended not to understand and went forward to put his arm around Liu Dahei’s shoulder as they walked into the city. He said in a friendly manner, “Chief Liu, I encountered a calamity this time. You’ve got to help me. These brothers under me have only been focused on escaping recently and haven’t even had a sip of hot water…”
When Liu Dahei heard this, he panicked. Qi Haoran was a trump card for him and Lin Man. He was anxious to know Qi Haoran’s current strength, so he was not in the mood to probe and delay any longer. With a wave of his hand, he brought him back to his residence.
The bandit guarding the door had been shrinking his neck and watching from the side. When he saw that they had left, he hurriedly called for someone to inform Chief Yang.
Liu Dahei let his subordinates make arrangements for Qi Haoran’s men while he brought Qi Haoran into his study. When he saw Fei Bai and a regiment commander following behind him, he stopped in his tracks. Qi Haoran waved his hand nonchalantly and asked Fei Bai and the regiment commander to make arrangements and restrain their men. He followed Liu Dahei into the study alone.
Liu Dahei couldn’t help but praise the other party’s courage in his heart. He also left his men outside.
Liu Dahei closed the door. When he turned around, he saw Qi Haoran flipping through the books on his shelf in disdain. “What’s the use of reading these books?”
Qi Haoran flipped through the books and realized that they were very new, so new that there were no signs of them being flipped. He pursed his lips and said, “So it’s just for show.”
Liu Dahei’s face darkened slightly, a little displeased. He looked at Qi Haoran gloomily and did not speak. He was illiterate. This was his weakness and also the greatest source of his inferiority complex. Even that rough fellow, Lin Man, could read. He was clearly so smart, but he hadn’t had the chance to learn to read. It was because of this reason that newcomers would always choose to follow Lin Man over him because of this reason. Even if Lin Man could not compare to him in all aspects, those people would be bewitched by his appearance and resume.
Qi Haoran did not know the darkness in Liu Dahei’s heart. Neither was he aware that Liu Dahei had already killed him seven or eight times over in his heart. He only threw the book back on the bookshelf in disdain and said, “These books are no good. I suggest that if you want to learn to read, you should just read the ‘Three Character Classic’, ‘The Analects’, and ‘I Ching’. Of course, if you want to learn how to train soldiers and fight in wars, you’ll have to read a lot of books.”
Liu Dahei suppressed the tyranny in his heart and said casually, “Don’t you descendants of aristocratic families all have to read the four books and five scriptures? Why do you only recommend that I read these two books? Or is it that in your eyes, us bumpkins are unworthy of reading the four books and five scriptures?”
“It’s not like we need to take the Imperial Examination. Since we have no interest in them, why should we read those books? If one wishes to be literate, just the Three-Character Classic is enough. If one wishes to know how to conduct themselves in life, ‘The Analects’ will serve that purpose. And when it comes to leading troops to war, the ‘I Ching’ is a must-read. For example, I have to know the contents of these three books so well as to be able to memorize them backwards. However, my Big Brother never asked me to memorize the other books, only requiring that I read them once.” Qi Haoran said confidently, “I don’t dare to say anything else, but in terms of leading troops to war, other than General Yuan and my Big Brother, I believe that no one can compare to me.”
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Liu Dahei looked up at Qi Haoran, who was oblivious to the fact that he had offended him. After a moment of silence, he said, “I thought you were looking down on me for being illiterate…” So it turned out, he was genuinely giving him advice.
Slightly stunned, Qi Haoran tilted his head and sized him up. He pursed his lips and said, “You’re so burly, but why are you still so sensitive? There are many people in this world who can’t read. Do I have to look down on all of them? Besides, you’re not old. If you want to learn to read, just start now. Is your room full of books really just for show?”
Liu Dahei said bitterly, “I’m already 32 this year. It’s too late for me to start learning to read now.”
Qi Haoran said disdainfully, “You’re only 32 years old and you speak as though you’re already in your twilight years. Even in his sixties, Cao Cao said that ‘An old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand miles; an old hero still cherishes high aspirations’. If you start studying now, no matter how poor your aptitude is, you should be able to finish learning all the words in five years. After you finish reading ‘The Analects’ and recognize all the words, you can go on to read other books and learn from them.”
Liu Dahei was taken aback. Although he did not understand what Qi Haoran meant by “An old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand miles”, he had heard of Cao Cao and also understood the rest of the sentence. He lowered his head and pondered. In the end, he stood up and bowed to him. “Thank you for the reminder, General Qi.”
Qi Haoran was secretly speechless. It seemed that Ah Ling’s words were still very useful. If he encountered similar situations in the future, he could actually use them.
Secretly feeling smug, Qi Haoran completely forgot how he was scolded by Mu Yangling back then.
Back then, Qi Xiuyuan did not have such low expectations of Qi Haoran from the beginning. It was all because this kid had stagnated in his studies no matter how much he was whipped. When the whipping stopped, he would even regress. Qi Xiuyuan could only settle for the next best thing. He did not ask him to memorize the four books and five scriptures, but he had to at least read them well and complete the homework that his teacher had assigned him.
Qi Xiuyuan had already asked Qi Haoran’s teacher to reduce the difficulty of his homework. However, with the temptation of training the soldiers and hanging out with his friends, Qi Haoran still suffered in the face of those homework. He could only flip through his textbooks and complain. When he faced Mu Yangling, he couldn’t very well say that he was stupid. So, he could only claim to be extremely busy and thus had neglected his homework. Then, he said that because of his age, he probably wouldn’t improve much in the future, and wouldn’t be able to study much even if he wanted to.
This made Mu Yangling look down on him because Qi Haoran was only 14 years old when he said that. Thus, she’d used Cao Cao as an example and told others that at the age of 60 years old, Cao Cao still had great ambitions. In contrast, Qi Haoran was only 14 years old, but he couldn’t even do well in minor matters like studying and achieving literacy.
Actually, Mu Yangling wanted to mention another famous person in history. That person seemed to have only started to read and write after turning 30 years old. In the end, he even took the Imperial Examination and made something of himself. However, Mu Yangling couldn’t remember who that person was, much less remember if it was before or after Song. If this person existed after the Song dynasty, wouldn’t she be citing the example of a person who didn’t exist?
In order not to make this mistake, Mu Yangling could only use Cao Cao as an example. Although it was not totally apt, fortunately, Qi Haoran heeded her words. Although he would still complain after that, he stopped finding all kinds of excuses to avoid studying.
Mu Yangling did not expect that after so many years, these words would be used by Qi Haoran to encourage a bandit chief. She also did not expect that this bandit chief would study hard because of this and become a famous Confucian general in the future.
After encouraging Liu Dahei, Qi Haoran kindly picked out the ‘Three-Character Classic’ and ‘The Analects’ for him, as well as a few other books worth reading and military strategies books for him. “These are worth reading.”
After walking around the study and seeing that Lin Man had yet to arrive, Qi Haoran said unhappily, “Lin Man is too slow. Or are your men too incompetent and you haven’t found him yet?”
Liu Dahei, who was holding the books excitedly, looked at Qi Haoran suspiciously. “How did General Qi know that I got someone to inform Lin Man?”
Qi Haoran pursed his lips. “It goes without saying since I signed the contract with the two of you. When I entered, you weren’t in a hurry to ask me questions. Clearly, you were waiting for Lin Man. However, I’ve already patiently waited for such a long time. Why isn’t he here yet?”
Liu Dahei was helpless. ‘Since you’re so smart, why don’t you be smarter and pretend not to know?’
‘There are so many books in the house. Even if you randomly pick one, you can talk to me for an entire day, right?’ At this moment, Liu Dahei was not sure if Qi Haoran’s alternating between cleverness and stupidity was deliberate or natural.
“Why don’t you call for a feast first and we’ll wait for him while eating?” Qi Haoran said hesitantly. He didn’t want to ask for it explicitly, but he was really too hungry. Although he had brought dry rations these two days, how could they dare to eat freely?
They only ate 30% full and kept the remaining dry rations in case of an emergency. This meant that he had not eaten a full meal for a month. And now, it was lunchtime. The fragrance of the food kept wafting in from outside, causing his stomach to constrict. Qi Haoran couldn’t pretend not to smell the fragrance even if he wanted to.
Liu Dahei looked at Qi Haoran’s stomach and nodded. Then, he opened the door and went out to get someone to order a table of food from the kitchen.
Although Liu Dahei was anxious, he did not ask about Qi Haoran’s current situation to prevent Lin Man from suspecting him. After all, this was a matter between the three of them. It was already a taboo for him to bring Qi Haoran and his men back without asking Lin Man. He did not want to further upset Lin Man over this matter.
However, he did not expect Lin Man to take such a long time to come.
Liu Dahei was displeased, but on the surface, he continued to discuss the topic of studying with Qi Haoran with a smile. Now, he understood that Qi Haoran did not look down on them like ordinary scholars did. Instead, he hated studying.
When the dishes were served, Lin Man finally arrived, reeking of makeup.
Qi Haoran sized up Lin Man, who had dark undereye circles, and chuckled. He said in understanding, “Did Chief Lin recently marry?”
Lin Man was stunned. Then, he pursed his lips in disdain and said, “Is there even a need to marry a wife now? If you want a woman, just go to the brothel and many women will come flocking to you.”
Qi Haoran frowned slightly and nodded without saying anything else. At that time, Liu Dahei said disdainfully, “You only talk big, but you’re probably feeling bitter inside. Who doesn’t know that it’s not that you don’t want to marry a wife, but that no good woman is willing to marry you? If a good woman marries you now, I think you’ll definitely lick her boots and wouldn’t dare to go to the brothel.”
Lin Man snapped angrily, “You make it sound like you can marry a good wife. If you have the ability, try marrying one.”
Liu Dahei snorted and said, “I can’t, but I tell it like it is. Unlike some people who don’t even dare to admit the truth.”
Lin Man snorted and did not speak. Turning around, he asked Qi Haoran, “General Qi, why are you free to visit us? Did the Imperial Court make any new moves?”
Speaking of serious matters, Liu Dahei restrained his emotions and looked at Qi Haoran.