Chapter 128: A Scholar’s Uselessness

The woman alternated between scolding and pouring out the worries she’d carried for Li Fangchang over the years.

She truly treated him as her own son—perhaps even more so than her actual child, investing far more effort and care into him.

Li Fangchang wasn’t ungrateful; he too regarded this woman as his mother.

So, even now, as a grown man, he didn’t mind when she scolded or beat him. He knew it was her way of expressing love.

At this moment, the storm raged outside, while the flickering candlelight cast shadows in the kitchen. The three children huddled together in the corner, listening to Aunt Zhou’s emotional recounting, their own tears quietly falling.

Li Fangchang sat with his head bowed, his face hidden, his thoughts unreadable.

Aunt Zhou’s voice choked as she spoke, and her words were punctuated by bouts of sobbing. Time slipped by as she talked until her voice grew hoarse, and she was wracked with coughs.

Suddenly, Li Fangchang moved. He poured a cup of warm tea, handed it to his aunt, and then fetched a clean cloth. Kneeling down, he brought the cloth to her feet.

“What are you doing?” Aunt Zhou, having sipped the tea, set the cup down and pulled her feet back. “The floor’s covered in mud, and now your robe is dirty! Get up!”

“Aunt, where were you standing outside just now? Your hem and shoes are completely soaked.” As he spoke, Li Fangchang carefully dabbed at the damp spots on her clothing with the cloth.

“Hah! You brat, finally trying to curry favor?” Aunt Zhou snatched the cloth from his hand. “Move aside! Your clumsy hands will ruin my clothes.”

Li Fangchang stepped back, raising his head with a faint smile. “Aunt, I’ve decided. I won’t take the imperial exams anymore. I’ll listen to you—I’ll settle down, start a family, and focus on making a living.”

Hearing this, Aunt Zhou’s hand froze mid-motion. After a brief pause, she resumed wiping her clothes. “Oh? What made you come to your senses all of a sudden?”

“It’s nothing, really. I just don’t want to see you worry about me so much anymore…” Li Fangchang chuckled bitterly. “I’m not cut out for it anyway. Just managing to pass the xiucai exams was already impressive for me.”

“I remember when I was little, you always bragged about how smart I was. You took me everywhere, showing me off. Some people genuinely praised me, while others envied me so much their teeth itched.”

“But later, when I failed the exams over and over again, those who liked to gossip stopped holding back. They said it was karma—that you couldn’t even look after your own son, yet you wasted all your effort on me, a useless burden.”

“They mocked you for boasting about me when I was young, saying it amounted to nothing because I couldn’t even pass the juren¹ exams and was just a poor scholar.”

“I saw you argue with them about it so many times… I wanted to pass the juren exams, not just for myself, but to shut them up and give you a reason to hold your head high.”

“But they weren’t wrong… I’ve failed so many times, wasted all our family’s savings, and accomplished nothing.”

“A scholar is useless in a hundred ways—I didn’t believe that before, but now… I have to admit it might be true.”

Bang!

Aunt Zhou slammed the cloth onto the table and said sternly, “Fangchang! A scholar may be ‘useless in a hundred ways,’ but doesn’t that still leave ninety-nine ways to be useful?”

“Why let the words of idle gossip weigh on your heart?”

Swish!

Aunt Zhou suddenly stood up, patted Li Fangzhang on the shoulder, and said with a hearty laugh, “Keep preparing for the juren exams. I can’t wait to see you return home in glory so I can strut around showing you off again.”

“When that happens, I’ll make sure those gossipers grind their teeth in envy!”

“Huh?” Li Fangzhang frowned and hesitated. “But, Aunt…”

“‘But’ my foot!”

“Move aside!”

Aunt Zhou grabbed her rolling pin, tucked it into her waistband, and picked up an oil-paper umbrella by the door. Smiling, she said, “Starting tomorrow, I’ll go around bragging again. If you dare embarrass me, you’ll see how I’ll deal with you!”

“I’m off now. Keep an eye on these three kids. Don’t let them run outside and get spooked by the storm. If they catch a cold, it won’t just be me coming after you!”

With that, she left in a hurry without waiting for Li Fangzhang to reply.

Li Fangzhang chased her to the door, watching her figure fade into the rain. His heart felt heavy, and tears welled up in his eyes.

“Little ones, how about I teach you some lessons today?” Gu Ning’an called out with a smile, waving them over.

Tang Zi responded first, excitedly saying, “Great! A change of teacher, a change of pace.”

Wang Sheng frowned, “Isn’t this a bit improper? Our teacher’s still upset. Look at him—he’s about to…”

“Ah!” A sharp cry interrupted him as Wang Sheng clutched his foot and glared at Tang Zi. “Why did you step on me?”

Tang Zi smiled sweetly, pulling Wang Sheng by the arm and covering Sun De’s mouth, just as he was about to quote, “Confucius said…”

“Little Sheng, keeping quiet won’t kill you,” she said.

Dragging the two boys toward Gu Ning’an, she added, “Sir, we’re in your care today.”

Gu Ning’an draped a straw raincoat over the “three little quails” and led them to another room. “I’ll take care of them; Teacher Li, feel free to do as you wish.”

Li Fangzhang held back his tears, bowed, and said, “Thank you, Mr. Gu.”

Bang!

Shortly after Gu Ning’an closed the door to the wooden study, a faint, almost imperceptible sound of crying echoed through the rain.

Inside the study, arranged like a small classroom, there were four desks: one at the front and three at the back, resembling a modern-day setup of a teacher’s podium and students’ desks.

The three children took their seats, while Gu Ning’an sat opposite them.

Wang Sheng, still worried about his teacher, kept glancing toward the door. He couldn’t help but say, “Can Teacher Li handle being alone? Should I go keep him company?”

Tang Zi shot him a glare. “What do you know? Teacher Li has his pride. He held back his tears because we were there.”

“Confucius said, ‘A man sheds no tears lightly, unless the time calls for it,’” Sun De chimed in.

Wang Sheng frowned and stood up. “What! Teacher’s going to cry? I’ll go cry with him!”

“Sit down!” Tang Zi’s eyes narrowed.

Wang Sheng swallowed hard and obediently sat back down, though his face still showed his concern.

“Alright,” Gu Ning’an said, tapping the desk lightly with his finger, “trust your teacher. He’ll be fine on his own. Let’s begin class.”