It would have been hard for Cui Xiaoxin to believe everything she had seen if it had not happened right before her eyes.
How had a useless young man transformed into a heaven-blessed prodigy in just a few short days?
If everything he had done before had been genuine, then his learning ability was truly astonishing. Even those prodigies who never forgot anything merely committed things to memory; it was difficult for them to draw inferences from one example and understand everything by analogy as he did.
If everything he had done before had been an act, a disguise, then what had been his purpose in doing so?
Li Mu Yang's pitch-black complexion was like a deep, bottomless curtain of darkness, irresistibly drawing people in to investigate its secrets.
Cui Xiaoxin felt a deep sense of defeat. Her delicate face was clear and beautiful, her gaze resolute, as she looked at Li Mu Yang and asked doubtfully, "Did you come up with all these solutions yourself? Or did you see them somewhere?"
"I came up with them myself," Li Mu Yang said.
After thinking hard, he shook his head again and said, "It feels like I've seen them somewhere. But where I saw them is strange even to me—how could I have seen such difficult, obscure questions? And how could I know so many different ways to solve them?"
"The problem I gave you was a puzzle. I know that Li Keyan, the Empire's most renowned arithmetic master, knows seven solutions. One of my elders has studied this field for many years and knows nine. Yet among your eleven solutions, several were methods I had never even heard of, and I couldn't even determine whether they were correct. Those solutions seemed to come from other countries, or perhaps from the even more distant Xisi Empire. Li Mu Yang, have you been to another country? Or have you read some secret academic classic?"
"No." Li Mu Yang shook his head again. "I've never been to another country, and I've never seen any secret academic classics. You know what my situation was like before. If I were that capable, how could I—how could I have been called a Pig for so many years?" Li Mu Yang gave a bitter laugh. "What man with even a shred of self-respect would be willing to have people point at his nose and call him a Pig?"
"That is precisely what I find strangest," Cui Xiaoxin said. "I've heard of people who suddenly awakened overnight and became national scholars. Perhaps you suddenly had an epiphany as well. If you can maintain this pace of learning, then even with so little time, you might be able to get into a very good school."
Golden light shone from Li Mu Yang's eyes as he looked at Cui Xiaoxin with a face full of anticipation. "Really? I can get into a good university?"
"Of course," Cui Xiaoxin said. There was one thing she did not say aloud: You don't even know how impressive you are now. If that arithmetic lunatic at home found out that a problem he had spent his whole life studying and playing with had been surpassed overnight by a high school student, he'd probably cut off his own ears.
Li Mu Yang grew excited. "If there really is hope, then I'll work even harder during this period. When the time comes, I'll apply to Xifeng University with you. We'll go watch the sunset together by Weiming Lake."
It was both a request and a promise.
Seeing the burning light in Li Mu Yang's eyes as he looked at her, Cui Xiaoxin pondered for a moment before nodding. "Then let us meet by Weiming Lake."
"That's wonderful." Li Mu Yang was so excited that he could hardly contain himself. For the first time in his life, a dawn had appeared before him, bringing hope powerful enough to melt both body and heart. "It's still early today. Let's study a little longer. Give me a few more problems, preferably the key questions that will appear on the future examination."
Cui Xiaoxin understood Li Mu Yang's state of mind, and the trace of wariness in her heart dissolved in an instant. "When I had nothing else to do, I looked through the Empire's Literary Examination papers from the past ten years. I'll select some of the most frequently appearing question types for you to solve—"
"Come on, come on! The more, the better!" At that moment, poor student Li Mu Yang was filled with an intense desire to learn.
Cui Xiaoxin glanced at Li Mu Yang, lightly brushed back the wisps of hair across her forehead, and once again bent over the desk to write out the questions.
Her graceful, flowing handwriting appeared on the draft paper, creating a feeling of peace and delight.
Because of her frequent visits, Cui Xiaoxin and Li Sinian had grown quite familiar with each other. With Li Sinian's active advances as well, the two of them soon became close girlfriends.
Cui Xiaoxin had also met Li Mu Yang's parents. They both seemed like wonderful people, and Li Mu Yang's mother was an exceptionally beautiful woman. Even in Jiangnan City, where beauties were as plentiful as clouds, she stood out strikingly.
If Li Mu Yang inherited both his parents' excellent genes, he would be a heartthrob among ten thousand—
Forget it. Sincerity was what mattered in friendship; one could not judge people by their looks.
When Li Sinian returned from school, she saw Li Mu Yang and Cui Xiaoxin sitting together discussing their studies, and smiled ambiguously.
She walked over to Cui Xiaoxin and said in a coquettish tone, "Sister Xiao Xin, you've been busy all day. Why don't you stop and rest for a while? Are you hungry? Let's go eat something first."
Cui Xiaoxin glanced at the dim sky outside, then set down the brush in her hand. "It is getting late. I won't eat anything. My family is still waiting for me to go home for dinner."
Cui Xiaoxin looked at Li Mu Yang and said, "When I came, I asked the doctor. He said your condition is no longer a problem and that you'll be able to walk tomorrow. Do you want to observe your condition a little longer?"
"What's there to observe? Haven't you been observing me these past few days?" Li Mu Yang felt that time was too short and only wanted to race against the stars and chase the moon. "The Literary Examination is only a month away. I can't afford to waste a single moment. Tomorrow—tomorrow we'll go to school."
Cui Xiaoxin thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll come pick you up tomorrow. We'll go to school together."
"Good." Li Mu Yang agreed happily.
Cui Xiaoxin had only taken a few steps along the path when a luxurious horse-drawn carriage silently arrived beside her.
A man dressed in a green robe leaped down and opened the carriage door. Cui Xiaoxin climbed inside and closed her eyes to rest.
She had spent the entire day tutoring him, constantly explaining and elaborating, sorting through her memories, guessing and predicting examination questions, selecting the essence of a decade's worth of the Empire's Literary Examinations, and answering one question after another from Li Mu Yang. Some of his questions were extremely childish, covering the most basic points in the textbook. Others were profoundly difficult, even exceeding the scope of what they were supposed to be learning.
Cui Xiaoxin was truly somewhat exhausted.
During the tutoring, Cui Xiaoxin once again felt Li Mu Yang's powerful learning ability with absolute clarity.
Previously, he had been like a tiny hole gnawed through a dam by insects and ants, slowly and thinly releasing the river water beyond it. Before long, the river water had washed the hole wider and wider, releasing more and more water. The tiny hole became a springhead, the springhead became a floodgate. As the release grew faster and faster, as more and more sections collapsed, and as the thousand-mile dike fell in a single day, towering waves would come surging forth. How many people in this world could stand against them?
"Uncle Ning..." Cui Xiaoxin opened her eyes and asked, "Tell me, are there geniuses in this world?"
"There are. Young Miss is a genius."
Cui Xiaoxin was stunned for a moment, then laughed softly. "But I was humiliated today, too."
"What?" The man in the green robe cried out softly. "That's impossible. We all know how wise Young Miss is. Even in the Imperial Capital, she is one of the outstanding members of the younger generation. The Three Bright Moons of the Imperial Capital—the Lu family's Lu Qiji, the Song family's Song Chenxi, and you, Young Miss of the Cui family. How could anyone possibly humiliate Young Miss? Old Ning absolutely refuses to believe it."
"But that was exactly what happened." Cui Xiaoxin looked out at the cherry trees. Massive clusters of cherry blossoms embraced one another, forming a wall of color. Under the illumination of the lights, they resembled a fantastical starry sky.
"Once the Literary Examination is over, Young Miss will return to the Imperial Capital," the man in the green robe said solemnly. "That will be the true moment when the bright moons compete to outshine one another."
Cui Xiaoxin's lips pressed together slightly as she suddenly remembered her promise to that dark-faced young man.
"Then let us meet by Weiming Lake."
Before you continue