A King Unto Himself
The plum rains that started after the Dragon Boat Festival show no signs of stopping. The Affiliated High School high school will have two days off before the college entrance examination, which will begin on the 7th.
June 5th, Bingwu month, Guihai day, plum rain season.
After several days of rain, the room was damp, and the blankets inevitably felt damp, making it uncomfortable to sleep. Liu Chang'an lit a charcoal fire in the room to drive away the dampness. The temperature was low both indoors and outdoors, so lighting a fire would prevent him from feeling too hot.
Liu Chang'an remained calm. He got up early and stir-fried some dried Mustard Greens and shredded pork. He also made a plate of fried noodles and ate them. Then he began to write a piece of calligraphy, Zhuge Liang's "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops".
After finishing writing, the paper was thrown into the stove before the ink had dried. This is how many famous masters throughout history have handled their works. For many people who cannot obtain even a single word of calligraphy, it is nothing more than a casual stroke. Not every piece of calligraphy or painting is satisfactory, nor can it be considered to represent their peak level.
The loaches in the puddle outside the door are still lively and energetic, thanks to the soybean residue that Zhou Dongdong feeds them every day. Some of them have even started to regain their ability to burrow and dig in the mud at the bottom of the water. Compared to eels, loaches are cuter. Although eels are delicious, they are rather disgusting in appearance.
Liu Chang'an brushed another layer of tung oil onto his oiled paper umbrella, heated it by the stove for a while, and watched the oily and shiny surface of the umbrella shine before he took the umbrella to Boss Lan's bookstore to find books.
Boss Lan wasn't at the bookstore; his wife said he'd gone to Baisha Park to play chess.
Baisha Park is built on a small hill in the city, with a pavilion on the top. Naturally, it has been associated with many stories and legends. In many places in China, a story from a historical record or poem is enough to be developed into a so-called cultural attraction. With thousands of years of history, countless literati, emperors, generals, legends and myths, any place can be used to create cultural tourist attractions. A temple or shrine is built, and in collusion with travel agencies and tour guides, people start making money.
Relatively speaking, Baisha Park is more aptly named. Beneath the park lies the White Sand Ancient Well, a well that has never run dry for over a Ming Dynasty years. It was first named White Sand Ancient Well around the Ming Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, many poor families drew water from here to sell throughout the city, relying on it for a living. Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, many water sellers lived near the well, thus forming White Sand Street. Liu Chang'an used to come here to draw water for making tofu and brewing wine. In recent years, people have had enough of various types of tap water, and more people are coming to White Sand Ancient Well to fetch water again. Often, retired old men get up early every day to fetch water, and occasionally one of them falls and spills water everywhere, ending up in the hospital, only to be scolded by his son and daughter-in-law.
Liu Chang'an, holding an umbrella, slowly walked up to the top of the park. At the top, there was a hundred-meter-long corridor and several pavilions and towers. There, middle-aged and elderly photography enthusiasts were carrying various equipment to photograph a middle-aged woman. In the middle-aged woman's beautiful dream, a cheongsam and colorful silk scarves were of course indispensable.
Liu Chang'an watched for a while as the lovely girl waved her silk scarf, displaying her graceful figure. Her full belly and plump waist and hips, which could not be contained by her cheongsam, were also quite adorable.
Boss Lan was playing chess in the pavilion at the very back, and judging from his expression, the situation looked bad.
"My chess skills have simply become rusty over the years. Back when I was in charge here, who among you could rival me?"
"Old Lan, just admit defeat. This place is no longer your domain."
"Again, again! I refuse to believe it!"
"I'm not playing anymore. You've lost three games in a row already. If you keep losing, I'm afraid your blood pressure will spike!"
Liu Chang'an tugged at Boss Lan and waved his hand, "Boss Lan, let me have a go at him. I'll use the three-tenths of the skills you taught me."
Boss Lan was taken aback for a moment, vaguely feeling that this scene was similar to when he met Professor Liu back then, and he couldn't help but step aside.
"Young man, if you only have 30% of Old Lan's skills, I'll give you a handicap!" The other party didn't dare to be arrogant, but since he was being helped by Boss Lan, how powerful could he really be?
After a while, Boss Lan burst into laughter, "Serves you right for being so arrogant! You even let a pawn win, and now I've broken your legs!"
There was nothing left to struggle with in the game, and the opponent restarted amidst the jeers of those around them.
Of course, the one who lost by giving up a pawn was not satisfied, so they played another game, but the result was the same. Liu Chang'an then dominated the small pavilion, defeating one opponent after another, making Boss Lan's face beam with pride. After all, Liu Chang'an was playing with the reputation of "three-tenths of his skill".
After the partnership ended, Boss Lan sighed and faced reality, "Back then, your father and I were the undisputed champions of this chess corner in Baisha Park, taking turns ruling. Now, all these defeated rivals are swaggering around..."
Boss Lan rubbed his eyes, recalling his past, and of course, Professor Liu, who had effortlessly destroyed the other party with a few words.
Liu Chang'an didn't expose whether he was a one-man show or a rotating lord, but simply smiled and said, "I want to ask you something. What happened to the female student who had a scandal with Professor Liu back then?"
"Why are you asking this?" Boss Lan looked at Liu Chang'an strangely. "The things of the previous generation are all in the past."
"I was just asking."
"I'm not entirely sure either. I'll ask around. It happened so many years ago... My wife said she ran into her a couple of years ago." Boss Lan nodded and tapped the chessboard. "It's on me. Shall we have two more games after we finish eating?"
"No problem, I'll show you the Liu family's ancestral secret technique."
"You really have a family secret technique? I thought your dad was just bragging back then."
Is he a braggart?
"There aren't many people who can boast as much as him. He even said he has an ancient manual for 'Dream Enters Divine Mechanism.' When I asked him where it was, he told me it was buried somewhere he forgot where... Maybe one day an archaeologist will dig it up... Haha, I think you're much more honest than him."
He's telling the truth.
"..."
Liu Chang'an and Boss Lan played chess all day. A while ago, Liu Chang'an went to Taiwan. He knew that Su Xiaocui was vague about some things. He never liked to force others and didn't care much about what the other party was hiding. However, it reminded him of some experiments he did when he was Professor Liu. Although he felt that they were meaningless at the time, they might not be completely useless for what he wanted to do now.
Qin Peng entrusted Qin Yanan to him. Since he had promised to take care of her, he couldn't use the same methods that worked on Su Xiaocui, could he?
Back home, Liu Chang'an took the rattan book box out from under the bed, opened the diary and flipped through it, and also found the experimental log. Unfortunately, these logs were filled with trivial and boring topics, and the data texts that actually recorded the key information could not be brought out of the laboratory.
Fortunately, the college entrance examination is just around the corner, and I still want to apply to Xiangtan University. Maybe I'll have the chance to revisit those long-forgotten diaries.