Meticulous Care

Meticulous Care

"These two old scholars are truly learned."

"Earning the xiucai degree nowadays is like an army of thousands crossing a single-log bridge. It is no easier than getting into a Project 211 university in my previous life. These two old scholars have attained no shallow mastery in traditional Chinese learning."

As the cultural lessons proceeded in a clear and accessible manner, even Li Dingguo, who had lived two lives, listened with great interest and felt deeply moved.

He had also been a university graduate in his previous life, but that did not mean he could look down on these two old xiucai scholars.

On the contrary, he could not even recognize all these traditional Chinese characters, which were virtually identical to those in the history of his previous life!

Leaving aside the Confucian classics, just calligraphy and the rudiments of traditional Chinese learning were enough to keep him studying for quite some time.

Still, that was hardly strange.

More than ninety-nine percent of university students in his previous life had been the same.

China's long-standing historical and cultural heritage, the countless precious legacies of civilization left behind by their ancestors—twenty-first-century university students were basically all outsiders to them, ignorant of nine questions out of ten.

Yet that had been caused by the broader environment of the time. It was an unavoidable circumstance, not something that could be called right or wrong.

After an initial literacy lesson lasting half a shichen, Li Dingguo turned the pages of his book as he followed the two old xiucai scholars, reciting the introductory texts with rising and falling cadence while identifying the characters, and he could not help feeling deeply stirred.

With the foundation from his previous life, coupled with mental attributes twice those of an ordinary person, Li Dingguo could not claim to remember everything at a glance. But after comparing the text and reading and looking over it several times, he had basically already recognized the traditional characters they had just taught.

Still, he did not dare stand out from the crowd. He continued listening attentively to the earnest teachings of the two old scholars and studied with utmost seriousness.

Li Dingguo was quite interested in China's ancient culture, and his enthusiasm for learning was no less than that of any orphan boy here.

On one hand, it was because he truly did not understand it.

On the other, he genuinely wanted to seize this rare chance to become a truly cultured man.

Now that he had such an opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the true ancient culture of Chinese civilization, he naturally would not let it slip away.

Only by knowing books could one understand reason.

Amid the incomparably harmonious atmosphere of study, an entire shichen passed before they knew it.

"Class dismissed."

Only when the old scholar's voice rang out did Li Dingguo come back to himself from his focused studies.

The dozen or so gifted orphan youths rose one after another and bowed respectfully to the two old gentlemen.

A light utterly different from before now shone in their eyes.

This was the power of knowledge.

Even though they had only just begun their education, some rather obvious changes had already appeared.

The boy sharing Li Dingguo's desk was almost exactly as tall and strongly built as he was.

This fellow was called Ai Nengqi.

Without needing to think further, Li Dingguo already knew that he was Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son with the highest martial prowess in the history of his previous life.

In terms of martial strength alone, Ai Nengqi undoubtedly ranked first among Zhang Xianzhong's Twelve Protectors.

He was the same age as Li Dingguo, merely a few months younger.

The four monstrous prodigies recognized by Zhang Xianzhong had all been arranged at the first two desks nearest the two teachers, seated side by side at the very front.

At the desk beside them sat the other two prodigious talents: Liu Wenxiu and Zhang Huier.

Sun Kewang, the foremost of Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons, naturally would not appear here.

In the history of Li Dingguo's previous life, although Sun Kewang had been Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, he had actually been a full four years older than Zhang Xianzhong!

That was not strange.

Cases where an adopted son was older than his adopted father were common throughout history, so there was nothing much to say about it.

Historically, although Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons were the most famous among his subordinates, that did not mean he had only four adopted sons.

He had taken in a total of twelve adopted sons, known as the Twelve Protectors.

Most of these adopted sons had stood out from the Children's Camp under his command before being taken in by Zhang Xianzhong.

It was precisely with the aid of these fiercely loyal and exceptionally capable adopted sons that he had gained complete control over the rebel army under his command.

In the history of his previous life, in terms of the rebel army's cohesion and control alone, Zhang Xianzhong was unquestionably number one in the final years of the Great Ming Empire.

At the very least, while Zhang Xianzhong was still alive, no major internal upheaval had ever occurred.

"I wonder whether that fellow Sun Kewang has already gone to join Zhang Xianzhong?"

"But even if he hasn't, it should be soon."

Li Dingguo could not help speculating to himself.

In the history of his previous life, Sun Kewang had not only been the earliest adopted son to follow Zhang Xianzhong, but also the foremost among the four adopted sons.

Judging from that, Li Dingguo's assumption was not wrong.

What was rather remarkable was that the four prodigious youths here were all the same age, differing only by a few months.

From what Li Dingguo had learned, he was the oldest by birth month, followed by Liu Wenxiu, then Ai Nengqi, with Zhang Huier the youngest.

Yet their physiques were among the tallest and strongest of all these youths.

Li Dingguo guessed that this should be connected to the martial arts aptitude of the four of them.

Although the two old scholars conducting the alternating lessons had already announced the end of class, Zhang Xianzhong, who had risen with everyone else, did not leave.

He gestured for the two old xiucai scholars to go first, then said to the sixteen gifted youths, "Your temporary quarters from now on will no longer be the large storeroom you were staying in before."

"I have already arranged for several side rooms beside this schoolroom to be cleared and cleaned."

"Also, I had people prepare two new sets of clothes, shoes, and socks for each of you! I even had them fill the bathhouse beside the side rooms with water for you to wash yourselves!"

"In a moment, I'll have someone take you there and assign you rooms, two people to each room."

"You will follow the order of your current seating arrangements. No forming groups on your own."

"You all reek from head to toe, and you do not even have shoes. Remember this! From now on, every day you study here, you will scrub yourselves clean for me!"

"Since you have become cultured people, when conditions permit, you must seriously learn etiquette! Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trustworthiness—you must learn every aspect of them! Manners in speech and conduct are also required studies for cultured people!"

"Of course! Martial arts training is the top priority. Do not neglect martial cultivation by focusing on lesser matters!"

It could not be denied that Zhang Xianzhong had practically worried himself sick over nurturing these gifted orphans.

But if he wanted them to mature as quickly as possible, he had to consider every detail in every respect. It was an unavoidable necessity.

They were now like blank sheets of paper, understanding almost nothing. Everything had to be learned from the beginning. Especially during this crucial early stage, only sufficient patience could help them grow into capable individuals as quickly as possible.

After speaking, Zhang Xianzhong shouted loudly toward the door. Two trusted subordinates who had long been waiting outside strode in and led the sixteen gifted youths away to settle into their new quarters...