The midday meal was still delivered by a servant to the door of that dilapidated house, then set down like throwing away garbage before they left.

Two coarse porcelain bowls. This time, the contents were slightly more “abundant” than last night’s thin porridge.

It was half a bowl of coarse rice, the grains dry and hard, topped with a few wilted pickled vegetables.

Zhao Rui stared at that bowl of rice, his expression shifting several times, before he finally picked it up and fiercely shoveled the food into his mouth with chopsticks, chewing as if he had a grudge against someone.

He was hungry.

Dignity was no match for hunger.

Su Ming still ate quietly and seriously, as if savoring some rare delicacy.

“Second lesson in Cognitive Restructuring: Sublimation of Suffering.” Lin Yu’s voice sounded lazily in Su Ming’s mind. “Disciple, you must imagine this bowl of rice as a whetstone. Every chew is sharpening your character. Every swallow is consuming humiliation, transforming it into motivation for your progress.”

“See? Thinking like this, don’t you feel like you’re engaged in a great cultivation practice? Even the pickled vegetables become Zen-like.”

Su Ming ignored his master’s nonsense, simply eating every last grain of rice in his bowl clean.

After finishing the meal, Zhao Rui slammed his bowl heavily onto the broken table and spoke in a muffled voice: “My aunt came secretly this morning.”

Su Ming looked up at him.

“She… she gave me some money.” Zhao Rui pulled out two strings of copper coins from his chest, probably about two hundred wen. He placed the money on the table, his eyes avoiding contact. “She said we should be smart when we go to register at the County School. It would be best… best to buy uncle a gift to calm his anger.”

His voice grew quieter as he spoke.

Just yesterday he thought his uncle was detestable, but today he already had to think about how to please him.

“Buy what?” Zhao Rui scratched his hair irritably. “At the best ‘Drunken Immortal Pavilion’ in town, a single jar of good wine costs one tael of silver! With our meager money, we can’t even afford the wine jar!”

Su Ming looked at the copper coins on the table without speaking.

“Master, this is an opportunity, but also a trap,” he said to Lin Yu in his mind.

“Correct.” Lin Yu’s tone was unusually serious. “Gift-giving is a skilled craft. Done right, it’s a stepping stone; done wrong, it’s dirty water thrown on your own face. Your companion here is clearly an amateur.”

“Disciple, let me ask you, what are we most lacking right now?”

“Money, resources, a stable cultivation environment,” Su Ming answered.

“Wrong!” Lin Yu firmly rejected this. “What we’re most lacking is ‘information’! Information about the Zhou family, about Qingshi Town, about that upcoming Child Scholar examination!”

“Zhao Rui wants to use these two hundred wen to buy Zhou Kang’s ‘favor’—that’s a classic case of barking up the wrong tree. Someone like Zhou Kang, who looks down on everyone, if you give him something worth two hundred wen, he’ll only think you’re even poorer and more unsophisticated. Even if you gave him something worth two hundred taels of silver and he accepted it, he might not think any better of you.”

Su Ming listened quietly.

“So our target can’t be him.” Lin Yu’s voice carried a confident, strategic tone. “He’s just a Record Keeper for the second branch. Above him are the main branch, and the Zhou family head, that County School Director Zhou Wenhai. Zhou Kang is just a minor gatekeeper; we don’t need to waste our ammunition on him.”

“Then this gift…”

“We’ll give a gift, but not to him.” Lin Yu chuckled. “Disciple, I’ll teach you a move called ‘Catering to Preferences, Precision Strike’. We need to make these two hundred wen produce the effect of two thousand wen!”

Su Ming looked at Zhao Rui and spoke: “Buying wine is inappropriate.”

Zhao Rui was taken aback, then asked irritably: “Then what do you suggest we buy? Scholar’s four treasures? That’s even more expensive! A decent inkstick alone could feed us for a month!”

“We won’t buy expensive things, only the right things.” Su Ming imitated Lin Yu’s tone, his voice calm. “Let’s not rush to buy anything yet. First, we’ll gather information.”

“Gather what information?”

“Find out what your uncle Zhou Kang, and the Zhou family head Zhou Wenhai, usually like.” Su Ming’s thinking became clearer. “For example, what tea they prefer to drink, what books they read, or… what troubles they might have.”

Zhao Rui’s mouth hung open as he stared at Su Ming as if looking at a monster.

He had never imagined that giving a gift could involve so many twists and turns.

“This… how do we find that out?”

“Go to the place that copying youth mentioned yesterday.” Su Ming stood up. “West corner of the city, old locust tree, Xu’s bookstall. There are many people and loose tongues there, plus plenty of scholars. We might hear something. Also, we can check if the books there are really cheap.”

He looked at Zhao Rui and added: “The money your aunt gave shouldn’t be wasted.”

Zhao Rui was completely baffled by his words, but eventually found himself nodding inexplicably: “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

The west corner of the city was indeed much quieter than the main street.

A massive old locust tree spread like an open umbrella. In its shade, a white-haired old man had laid out a blue cloth on the ground with several dozen books scattered on it.

Most books were handwritten copies, with yellowed pages and crude binding.

This was the bookstall of the one surnamed Xu.

Already three or four plainly dressed scholars were squatting on the ground, intently flipping through books.

When Su Ming and Zhao Rui approached, Old Xu just lifted his eyelids before lowering his head again to doze off, seemingly unconcerned about anyone stealing his books.

Su Ming squatted down and picked up a handwritten copy of “Qingshi County Records”.

“Well done, disciple.” Lin Yu praised. “To strike precisely, you must first understand the ‘user profile’. These county records are Qingshi Town’s ‘product manual’.”

Su Ming flipped through quickly—his purpose wasn’t to memorize, but to find useful information.

Zhao Rui imitated him, picking up a book and randomly flipping through it, but his eyes kept glancing at several scholars nearby who were talking in low voices.

They heard a tall, thin man say: “Have you heard? Director Zhou has been in a bad mood lately.”

Another square-faced man responded: “What else could it be? It’s about his precious son Zhou Yulin. Young Master Zhou is about to take the academy examination, but he just can’t produce an enlightened essay for the ‘Investigation of Things’ subject.”

“Investigation of Things?” The tall, thin man curled his lip. “That thing is vague and elusive—who can explain it clearly? Director Zhou himself is an expert in this field, and even he can’t teach it well. What hope do the rest of us have?”

“Shh, keep your voice down. Don’t let anyone hear.”

Though their voices were soft, every word clearly reached Su Ming’s ears.

Su Ming’s finger, which had been turning pages, paused slightly.

“Director Zhou, Zhou Wenhai. Son, Zhou Yulin. Trouble, ‘Investigation of Things’ subject.”

He silently noted this in his mind.

Lin Yu’s voice became excited: “Here it comes! Here comes our opportunity! This is our ‘market demand’! Disciple, that ‘Essential Farming Techniques’ book you bought yesterday is now our only ammunition!”

Su Ming’s heart stirred.

“Essential Farming Techniques” discussed agricultural matters—how to breed seeds, how to compost, how to distinguish seasonal periods.

What did this have to do with “Investigation of Things”?

“Fool!” Lin Yu sounded exasperated. “What is ‘Investigation of Things’? Investigating things to extend knowledge! It’s about exploring the principles of things! While others research lofty topics like wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and celestial movements, we’ll take the opposite approach!”

“We’ll start from the most humble ‘farming activities’! For example, why do seeds sprout faster after soaking in warm water? Why do different soils produce different crops? Doesn’t this count as Investigation of Things? It absolutely does!”

“While others are drawing pies in the sky, we’ll dig for gold from the earth! This is called ‘differentiated competition’! Understand?”

Su Ming’s breathing became slightly rapid.

He understood.

He put down the county records and continued searching through the bookstall.

Finally, he spent two wen to buy the cheapest handwritten copy available—”Miscellaneous Discussions on Plants and Trees” that explained plant identification.

Zhao Rui watched dumbfounded: “You’re buying this?”

Su Ming nodded, carefully storing the book away.

“Let’s go buy the gift,” Su Ming said.

As the two left the bookstall, Zhao Rui couldn’t help asking: “What exactly are we going to buy?”

Instead of answering directly, Su Ming led him into a general store.

He walked around the shop, then finally his gaze settled on a bundle of seemingly ordinary hemp rope and some of the cheapest coarse pottery jars.

“Master, will this work?” Su Ming asked in his mind.

“It will work! It will work perfectly! Disciple, you’ve already grasped the essence of ‘Way of Survival’ gift-giving!” Lin Yu’s voice was full of satisfaction. “Remember, the gift itself isn’t important—what matters is the ‘story’ and ‘pretext’ it carries!”

Su Ming spent ten wen to buy a small bundle of hemp rope and two palm-sized coarse pottery jars.

Zhao Rui was completely stunned.

“Su Ming, are you… are you sick? We’re going to give these things as gifts? My uncle will definitely chase us out!”

“These aren’t for your uncle.” Su Ming said calmly. “These are our ‘bait’ for Director Zhou.”

Looking at the thoroughly confused Zhao Rui, he patiently explained for the first time.

“We’re insignificant people with weak voices. Wanting to see Director Zhou is harder than climbing to heaven. If we directly give gifts, he won’t accept them. So we need to create an opportunity to meet him and make him interested in us.”

“I just learned that Director Zhou’s son is struggling with ‘Investigation of Things’. And that ‘Essential Farming Techniques’ book I bought yesterday happens to contain some unusual methods about crop growth.”

Su Ming pointed to the pottery jars in his hand and the newly purchased “Miscellaneous Discussions on Plants and Trees”.

“We’ll use these jars to try growing something in the courtyard. Then use the methods recorded in this book to make some special fertilizer. When the time comes, we just need to let this matter ‘accidentally’ reach Director Zhou’s ears.”

“A poor boy from the countryside, not studying the classics, but tinkering with plants in the courtyard, and actually achieving some results. Do you think Director Zhou, who’s worried about his son, might become a little curious about us?”

Zhao Rui listened blankly, his mind completely empty.

He felt like he was listening to fantasy.

Yet he also felt that every word Su Ming spoke carried a strange magical power that made it impossible to refute.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep