132 His Brother Seems Bewildered

“Why do you want copies of my handwriting?” Xie Heng asked as he raised his eyebrows.

Zhao Chuchu fluttered her eyelashes and said playfully, “You are not mediocre. You will one day go far. Your handwriting will become treasures coveted by the masses. When that happens, even a thousand gold coins cannot purchase one. Now, when you have yet to become famous, it is not too much to ask for a few copies, right?”

“It is not too much to ask, but I want something in exchange.”

“What do you want?”

“I will let you know later after I think about it.”

“Can’t I buy them from you?”

“I will not sell my handwriting. However, if you do things that please me, I will write something for you. How about it?”

Zhao Chuchu felt that Xie Heng had some plan in mind.

However, she had no proof.

“Alright,” she replied.

Zhao Chuchu put down the book and looked at the books on the shelves.

Most sages had the same thoughts. Therefore, when Zhao Chuchu flipped through the books, she noticed that the contents were similar to those of books tested in the Imperial Examination of her previous life.

However, these books contained more than just the thoughts of the sages.

“Did you write all these annotations?” asked Zhao Chuchu as she looked at Xie Heng.

Xie Heng nodded.

This youth had a bright future of endless possibilities ahead of him.

Most of the annotations of the classics and books that the candidates read were usually left behind by generations of scholars before them.

Xie Heng had written his own annotations!

How was she so sure? It was because there were signs of many corrections.

“I feel I might still have a chance to ride your coattails.”

“Ride my coattails?”

Xie Heng was momentarily stunned. When he imagined the scene of her doing so, he blushed suddenly.

Zhao Chuchu immediately knew why he was blushing.

She was speechless.

“I mean that, as a capable person with authority, I wish for you to look after me.”

“Sure,” answered Xie Heng without even thinking.

He answered so decisively that, for a moment, Zhao Chuchu wondered whether she had sold herself away!

She recalled why she was there and took out two cans of toddler formula. Both had their labels removed.

“This is milk formula. Drink a cup every morning and night, and it will help you grow taller and stronger.”

Xie Heng felt weird when he heard this. However, he chose to remain silent and did not retort.

The writing of the Wei Dynasty was the same as the writing of Zhao Chuchu’s previous life. They also used simplified characters. Only their writing direction was the same as history; they wrote from top to bottom and from right to left.

When she was hoarding resources, she stored many things in bulk. Hence, besides weapons that were hard to get her hands on, she had everything.

Zhao Chuchu thought for a moment and passed a set of books to Xie Heng. They were the Four Books and Five Classics.

“These are the contents of the Imperial Examinations from where I came from. Do you want to look at them?” asked Zhao Chuchu as she placed them on the bookcase.

Xie Heng looked at them. He was not used to such typesetting.

However, the fine printing and small print astonished him.

He exclaimed, “Who copied these books? Their handwriting is so neat and tidy.”

She explained, “They aren’t copied by hand. Aside from students in schools, no one from where I came from copied books. We used a tool called a machine. It can print tens of thousands of books a day.”

“There actually exists such an intricate tool?”

“Sadly, you don’t have the conditions to make one such machine here. However, I know the technique of printing. Although it is rather tedious, compared to copying books, it is far more efficient.”

“Tell me more.”

Zhao Chuchu gave a simple explanation of movable type printing.

Xie Heng was once again astonished.

The Wei Dynasty did not have such a thing. Even paper was a luxury.

If an ordinary person wanted to become a scholar, they required the assistance of an entire clan.

To a large extent, the Imperial Examination had set a high threshold. Someone without money wanted to study? It was too difficult for them to do so.

Xie Heng took up a copy of the Analects. After casually flipping through its contents, his gaze became serious.

It was as though he had obtained a treasure. Although he was not used to horizontal typesetting, he could overcome this.

“Chuchu, I want to have a look at these books. If you are interested in any books in my collection, feel free to take them.”

When Zhao Chuchu heard this, she turned around. Xie Heng had already sat down and was reading intently.

She was speechless.

He lived up to his name of being an academic prodigy. He could enjoy such a complex and dry book.

She did not disturb Xie Heng. She chose a few history books and left his room.

Xie Heng kept reading until the evening before emerging from his room.

Zhao Chuchu could tell that he was in an excellent mood.

“Chuchu, let’s have steamed buns for dinner.”

When Zhao Chuchu, who was prepared to help Xie Heng, heard this, she thought she had misheard him.

Didn’t he hate steamed buns the most?

Why is it that he was eating uncharacteristically today?

“Sorry to trouble you.”

After saying this, Xie Heng turned around and returned to the house.

Even Xie Jun felt this was strange. He quickly whispered to Zhao Chuchu, “Sis, what happened to my brother? He seems to be in a good mood. Is it a happy thing to be locked in a room for the entire afternoon?”

“Oh, maybe your brother has obtained valuable wealth?” suggested Zhao Chuchu. Be it in productivity or technology, the Wei Dynasty was lacking.

A government burning people alive to control the plague outbreak would not be very advanced.

“Is that so?” said Xie Jun with suspicion.

He felt that his brother was just bewildered.

For the next two days, Xie Heng always stayed in his room.

Zhao Chuchu felt that she did not know Xie Heng well. After all, aside from when she was in school, she rarely touched these books.

The potatoes were planted along with the sprouting sweet potatoes.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to transplant the seedlings.

Zhao Chuchu was not anxious to reclaim Tripe Mountain. Therefore, even Chen Dashi returned to help with the farm work.

The Niu brothers plowed Xie Heng’s acres of land.

“Chuchu, you already want to plant these seedlings when they are only this big?” asked Niu Tongsheng, somewhat worried. Zhao Chuchu really did not know how to farm. Who transplants the seedlings to the field when they are still so small?

“This is fine. If we wait until they grow too tall, it will be difficult to keep them alive.”

Zhao Chuchu squatted down in the field, pulled out the seedlings, and arranged them neatly in the pan.

Xie Heng also put down his books and wore his working clothes to help Zhao Chuchu in the field.

Many of the villagers of Lengshui Village came over to spectate.

The idea of throwing seedlings was unheard of.

No one knew where Zhao Chuchu got this bizarre idea to plant rice like this!

Each village had gossipers who would provoke couples into disputes despite no one offending them.

One of them said, “Da Lang, why aren’t you teaching Chuchu? Who plants crops like this? You have quite a several seedlings here. You must have spent quite some money. What a waste. You won’t even have a harvest!”

Another gossiper admonished, “As a husband, you are weak. If it were my man, he would have already hit me. You are so good-tempered to allow Chuchu to do as she pleases. No matter how much money you have, you will not be able to handle such a loss, no? Junjun still needs medication. How can you squander your family’s wealth like that?”

“In my opinion, Chuchu, if you don’t know how to farm crops, you can ask others to do it for you. Why do you need to throw your money into the ditch? Money doesn’t just drop from the sky. You can’t do as you please just because Da Lang focuses on studying all day!”

…

Lengshui Village’s gossipers stood in the field, yapping away to rile up Xie Heng’s anger. It was as though they would not stop until Xie Heng beat and scolded Zhao Chuchu for bringing shame to the family!

Xie Heng stopped what he was doing and said, “As long as Chuchu is happy, she can do anything she wants with our money.”

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