Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Investigation of Things Is Easy
The next day, Hong Er arrived again—right on time, as if punctuality had been hammered into his bones. He handed Li Xue Dong a stack of books and relayed Teacher Shao’s words: Investigation of Things depended on insight. Teacher Shao had chosen a few beginner texts, along with two notebooks of his own reflections from his early studies. Li Xue Dong was to read them first, then write up his thoughts and send them back. Teacher Shao would read them and decide the next step.
Little Nan was so delighted she nearly bounced. This was exactly the sort of teaching she liked—clear, efficient, and easy to take advantage of.
That night, Li Xue Dong practiced handwriting at the table while Little Nan curled in the corner by the stingy little lamp. She read until midnight, eyes bright and mind steady.
Investigation of Things was laughably simple.
After she finished every book and both notebooks, she sorted her thoughts and, following her own method, began teaching Li Xue Dong in secret—little lessons in the gaps between chores and sleep.
Li Xue Dong was intelligent enough—barely. And with Investigation of Things, the key wasn’t memorizing; it was how you thought, how you approached a problem. With Little Nan, a terrifyingly capable tutor, explaining it one-on-one, he spent ten days or so and understood most of what Hong Er had brought—seven or eight parts out of ten.
He took two more days, wrote a careful reflection, and handed it to Teacher Gao first.
Teacher Gao read it three, four times, frowning deeper each pass. He recognized every character. Put together, they might as well have been bird tracks.
Still, he sealed the pages in an envelope, pressed on wax, and asked an acquaintance heading into town to deliver it to the Hong family.
Early the next morning, Hong Er was back. The moment he saw Li Xue Dong, he thumped him on the shoulder hard enough to rattle his bones.
“And you said you weren’t smart!” he boomed. “You’re incredible! Teacher Shao couldn’t stop praising you. He was still talking about it over breakfast—said your understanding was deep, your reasoning was crystal clear, and you’d already grasped the essence. You hid this talent on purpose, didn’t you?”
“N-no, I… I’m stupid, I…” Li Xue Dong turned red from ears to neck. If he didn’t deny it, it felt dishonest. If he denied too hard, it felt suspicious. His hands hovered uselessly, unsure where to land.
It really wasn’t his own ability.
Hong Er laughed louder, one hand still patting him while the other planted itself on his hip like a victorious general.
“Grandfather said you’re from a poor backwater place and probably aren’t used to social talk. Looks like he nailed it. Come on—I teach you. You’re supposed to say: ‘Brother Hong, you flatter me. Even a fool thinks a thousand times and stumbles on one good idea.’”
“Y-yes.” Li Xue Dong seized the lifeline and repeated it exactly, word for word, like a well-trained parrot. “Brother Hong, you flatter me. Even a fool thinks a thousand times and stumbles on one good idea.”
Hong Er stared at him for one heartbeat.
Then he exploded.
He doubled over, clutching his stomach, stamping his feet as he laughed. “Ahahaha! You… yes, yes, that’s it. That’s exactly it. I’m not laughing at you—I’m—ahahaha! Forget it. From now on, I’ll teach you. Properly.”
When he finally caught his breath, his eyes were still smiling. For the first time, Hong Er thought that a man this honest could be… entertaining.
He slipped an arm around Li Xue Dong’s shoulders. “Teacher Shao asked when you’re free. He wants you to come see him so he can talk with you face-to-face—figure out what you should study next. When can you go?”
“I’m free anytime, I…” Li Xue Dong glanced back without thinking. He didn’t see Little Nan. He did see Teacher Gao.
“If it’s convenient for Second Young Master, you should go now,” Teacher Gao said, beaming, and waved him forward.
“Then we go now.” Hong Er didn’t hesitate. “Get on the horse. You don’t need to know how to ride—just sit steady. We won’t gallop. We’ll walk.”
He didn’t ask for more objections; he simply made the decision and carried it out. An attendant helped Li Xue Dong up, and the two of them rode off toward the county town.
The last time Hong Er had tried to befriend Li Xue Dong, the whole thing had been so awkward it stuck to his ribs. Afterward he’d told Grandfather everything, down to the exact words that had made Li Xue Dong turn scarlet.
Grandfather had only sighed. Li Xue Dong had no parents, lived in extreme poverty, and had no one in his clan who cared. All his strength went into studying. Of course he knew nothing about worldly manners.
And yet, with no guidance in Investigation of Things at all, he’d still taken eighteenth place in the prefecture exam. That meant he was smarter than most—and probably smarter than Hong Er himself. When dealing with someone like that, Grandfather said, don’t calculate. Give sincerity.
If sincere kindness couldn’t move him, then either the Hong family had no fate with him… or he simply wasn’t worth befriending.
That advice had loosened something in Hong Er’s chest. He stopped trying to be clever and simply decided to be earnest.
Now, watching Li Xue Dong ride beside him—thin as a reed, gripping the saddle like it might vanish—Hong Er thought, not unkindly, that he was interesting. Too timid, though. He’d have to be careful with him. Look after him. Make sure he wasn’t crushed.
Back at the schoolhouse, Little Nan hid behind the door and watched her brother disappear down the road. Only when he was truly gone did she let out a long breath and pat her chest.
She was nervous enough for the both of them.
She went to the kitchen to help Auntie Huang with chores, but her mind kept drifting. Her brother was honest and sheltered; a trip to the Hong family could easily overwhelm him. Still… Hong Er seemed like a genuinely good person. That was something.
By dusk, a large Hong family carriage rolled to a stop outside the Gao family school. Li Xue Dong climbed down, and the coachman unloaded two medium rattan trunks.
They carried the trunks into the main hall first.
One was packed with books. The other held fine paper and ink, a high-grade inkstone, and more than ten excellent writing brushes.
Teacher Gao examined them one by one, his expression growing more and more complicated.
This wasn’t charity; it was a statement. Just the brushes and ink alone were worth a shocking amount of copper cash.
No wonder the Hong family had risen so quickly—within ten or twenty years, they’d gone from an ordinary household in Kun Shan County to a clan people called one of the county’s pillars. That kind of leap didn’t happen by accident.
Teacher Gao gave Li Xue Dong careful instructions, the way a man might speak to someone holding a treasure and a lit candle at the same time. Take only what you need. Use it sparingly. The academy exam was brutal. If you failed once, you’d likely have to take it again, maybe more than once. Plan long-term.
Li Xue Dong nodded so hard it looked like his head might fall off. The paper was the finest kind—he couldn’t bear to waste a single sheet.
He carried several books and two bound volumes back to their small room among the side chambers. He and Little Nan lived in the westernmost cubby.
The two volumes were model essays for Investigation of Things. One collected the top three papers from recent academy exams in Liang Zhe Circuit. The other held top-ranked papers from the provincial exam.
Little Nan took them like a dragon scooping up gold. She read carefully, finished, and nearly laughed out loud.
This subject was so easy it was insulting.
If the exams only tested Investigation of Things, she could sweep first place from start to finish and still have time to nap.
She swallowed her laughter, smiling to herself, and kept reading.
Under the dim lamp, Little Nan sat on the floor, leaning against a table leg, absorbed in books and model essays. Li Xue Dong sat on the chair beside her, brow knotted, fighting through the practice papers she set him.
A Nan’s questions were cruel.
And there were so many.