Chapter 2: Light Rain in Li County
It was the third month of spring in Jinghe Ninth Year, and Li County had just experienced a light rain.
Inside the main hall of the Li County Weaving Institute, Liu Sheng sat at the lower end, listening to her Manager rambling on to his Manager, and quietly let out a yawn.
There was nothing she could do; she had stayed up until the early hours of the morning helping her Manager write this report, barely getting any sleep.
It was again time for the triennial evaluation period.
However, the Imperial Inspector sent by the Imperial Court this time did not follow conventional rules; he enjoyed conducting unannounced private visits and sudden inspections. Her Manager had only received news from an unknown source in the evening that the Imperial Inspector would be touring Li County first thing the next morning.
Thus, Liu Sheng, the most skilled writer in the Li County Weaving Institute, was caught and made to rush the draft, lest the Yuan Zheng of the dignified Weaving Institute stumble and make a fool of himself during the report.
So today, a situation where the Yuan Zheng should have alone received and reported to the Imperial Inspector, she, a small Siku of the Imperial Storage, also had to accompany him.
Nothing more than that, she was granted this 'honor' merely to prevent the Yuan Zheng from suddenly forgetting his lines.
She heard the Yuan Zheng of the Li County Weaving Institute, who looked over sixty with sparse white hair, respectfully complain to a middle-aged, refined scholar dressed in a dark red official robe, seated at the highest position:
"...Although Li County is not as prosperous or populous as places like the capital or Jiangnan, where human-induced weird objects frequently occur, due to its remote location, only a thousand li from the Northern Border, the Guai Qi is dense, and thus, there are also many naturally infected and produced weird objects, making them difficult to manage."
Then, he changed the subject, saying, "However, fortunately, with the Supreme God's protection, since this official took office, this official has worked tirelessly, diligently, day and night, and persevered without slackening, finally achieving some negligible results. Last year, the number of weird object outbreaks was seven, which was less than the average of previous years by..."
Liu Sheng softly reminded him in a voice just loud enough for the Yuan Zheng to hear, "Three cases."
"Ah, yes, three cases," the Yuan Zheng said smoothly without changing his expression. "But our case investigation volume reached one hundred and fifty-six cases. To solve the people's worries, everyone in the Li County Weaving Institute works from dawn till dusk and is extremely busy; moreover, the proportion of weird object eradication and purification has also increased from the previous three to twenty to..."
"Cough, cough, nine to twenty," Liu Sheng awkwardly whispered again.
"Nine to twenty," the Yuan Zheng said, not feeling embarrassed, with a righteous expression. "This official dare not say these achievements are outstanding, only that they are worthy of the common people."
Yes, although the Weaving Institute was named "Weaving," it did not engage in the business of weaving.
Over three hundred years ago, when Guai Qi erupted, countless living beings were killed by weird objects, infected by Guai Qi, and swallowed by weird places. Humans were no longer human, and weird objects were no longer weird objects. The Tang Country Imperial Court was helpless, only able to watch the people displaced, corpses strewn across the land, and the landscape scarred.
It wasn't until God Manifestation First Year that a gigantic god's face suddenly appeared in the sky. Wherever the god's eyes gazed, weird objects had nowhere to hide, and many weird objects entered a state of being contained, stopped, or even annihilated.
Although the god's eyes opened and closed unpredictably, leading to a continuous emergence of weird objects outside its gaze, that dark and bloody period had become history.
From then on, people bowed to the god's face in the sky, calling it "Supreme God," believing that the Supreme God, pitying humanity's suffering from the weird object disaster, had descended from the Divine Realm to overlook the world and deter weird objects.
Afterward, people also discovered that perhaps the appearance of the Supreme God brought Spiritual Qi, and talented individuals could gain abilities by communicating with the Supreme God through cultivation, resisting or even resolving weird objects.
Thus, Emperor Xuanwen organized a group of cultivators to eliminate most of the weird objects remaining in various places. Those that could not be eliminated were driven to the Northern Border, where high walls were built, known as the "Great Wall." Weaving Institutes were also established in various regions, all under the unified management of the Weaving Bureau in the capital, aiming to solve local weird object problems and protect the peace of the people.
This red-robed middle-aged scholar was the Imperial Inspector from the Weaving Bureau in the capital. He listened while drinking tea and nodding, seemingly oblivious to the small movements below, and said with a smile:
"The higher-ups have always been aware of these situations. Over the years, the Li County Weaving Institute has risen from two hundred and eighty-ninth to two hundred and thirty-eighth in the Weaving Bureau system. Yong Zhi, your contributions are indeed indispensable."
The Yuan Zheng was ecstatic. His surname was Zhang, his given name Xian, and his courtesy name Yong Zhi. For his superior to address him by his courtesy name meant skipping the formalities and treating him as one of their own. He quickly smiled and said he dared not accept such praise.
If he could gain the adult's favor, perhaps this evaluation would grant him an opportunity to report in the capital. Who knows, he might even be able to get a promotion and leave this godforsaken Li County.
"Speaking of which, that article submitted by the Li County Weaving Institute last month, what was it called again?" the Imperial Inspector suddenly asked.
Zhang Yuanzheng was full of doubts. Recently, he hadn't submitted any articles, had he?
Upon hearing this, Liu Sheng's heart skipped a beat. Surely, it couldn't be, could it?
The Imperial Inspector slapped his head and said, "That's right, it was called 'Analysis of Parsing Paths for Object-Type weird objects — A Study Based on weird objects in Li County's Inventory.' It was truly well-written, even the Official praised it endlessly, and he told me to take a good look during my visit to Li County, to learn from Li County's experience, especially from Yong Zhi on how to discover talent and develop research work."
As he spoke, he reached into his Storage Pouch and pulled out a brand new volume of "cultivation theory," handing it to Zhang Yuanzheng.
Zhang Yuanzheng hadn't even read this article himself, so how could he learn about developing research work?
Zhang Yuanzheng forced a smile and took the publication, but in his heart, he was gritting his teeth.
Meanwhile, Liu Sheng stretched her neck, staring at the publication in the Yuan Zheng's hand, feeling a little nervous.
This article was precisely from her hand, the result of her research during the two years she had been at the Weaving Institute.
She had presented it to Zhang Yuanzheng, but he had said that he was busy with official duties recently and planned to read it later. He kept postponing it until it was buried at the bottom of the pile of dossiers and documents on his desk, completely forgotten.
So, Liu Sheng had no choice but to find the most cutting-edge and influential journal in Tang Country concerning cultivation research, "cultivation theory," with an impact factor of over ten, and sent her submission through the spiritual communication method herself.
The spiritual communication method was a newly introduced spell for sending and receiving letters. Although letter transmission was instantaneous, Liu Sheng thought that generally, peer review would take three to six months. Therefore, when she heard the Imperial Inspector mention an article, she was skeptical, thinking it unlikely to be hers.
Unexpectedly, the review for "cultivation theory" was so quick this time. Sent last month, it was published this month and had attracted such great attention that even the Official knew about it.
Zhang Yuanzheng also had some suspicions. He saw that this article was published directly as the first piece in the February issue, indicating its importance. Then, looking at the byline, he turned to Liu Sheng, forced a benevolent smile, and said, "Little Liu is indeed a talent produced by our Li County Weaving Institute."
With one sentence, he first characterized Liu Sheng as someone cultivated by the Li County Weaving Institute.
The Imperial Inspector seemed to just notice Liu Sheng behind Zhang Yuanzheng. She looked no older than eighteen, slender and delicate, with a small, oval-shaped face whose most striking feature was a pair of round eyes, though she clearly looked exhausted.
He couldn't help but think of his own young daughter at home, who was about the same age and equally vibrant. Yet, this young woman had already written an article published in "cultivation theory," while his own daughter still acted like an uneducated, trouble-making young master. He sighed inwardly, thinking how comparisons were truly infuriating.
His gaze lingered for a moment, then he showed an approving smile and said, "So this young friend is Liu Sheng. No wonder Yong Zhi brought her along for his report today. Talented individuals should indeed be highly valued, and she is so young. Truly, heroes emerge in their youth."
Liu Sheng quickly said she dared not accept such praise.
"Yes, yes, she's not even twenty yet. She graduated from Hanshan Academy and only passed the exam to join our Li County Weaving Institute two years ago. She was admitted exceptionally because of her extremely high resilience and Comprehension Ability. After she joined, we assigned her to be the Siku in the Imperial Storage," Zhang Yuanzheng introduced to the Imperial Inspector.
Zhang Yuanzheng remembered it so clearly because not many new people had joined the Li County Weaving Institute in recent years. Recent Xuezis preferred to take exams for Weaving Institutes in prosperous areas, where there was more money, more work, and easier promotion.
"If she hadn't been rooted in the Imperial Storage for so long, she wouldn't have been able to write such an article," Zhang Yuanzheng quickly added, fearing that the Imperial Inspector might think he was mistreating talent.
Being a Siku was not a good job. To put it plainly, it was a warehouse Manager specifically in charge of weird objects. Excessive contact with weird objects could easily lead to contamination and invasion, causing one to become insane, lose their mind, or even transform into a new weird object.
If Liu Sheng hadn't possessed extremely high resilience, meaning a very strong ability to resist weird object forces, she might have already lost her sanity after two years in the warehouse, let alone write articles or conduct research.
The Imperial Inspector also understood this principle very well and asked Liu Sheng, "Hanshan Academy is also a good academy. Being able to get in shows that your talent is not bad. But you are still young, why didn't you continue your studies? Perhaps you could have participated in the imperial examination and entered the National Academy?"
Although being a Siku in the Weaving Institute was considered an iron rice bowl, it was not an official rank. How could it compare to being assigned through the National Academy? For example, Zhang Yuanzheng became a county chief right after graduation, enjoying a seventh-rank treatment, and now manages the county Weaving Institute, promoted to the sixth rank.
Liu Sheng bowed and calmly replied, "To answer your question, Sir, it is because this official cannot communicate with the gods."