Chapter 28 (1/2)

“I want to become someone my father can be proud of!”

Lu Zhiruo’s eyes were filled with hope. This was her dream.

“So you came out alone by yourself to learn?”

Sun Mo had some admiration for this girl. On the way back, the two of them chatted a little. He knew that she was from the Sheng Capital, and it would take close to half a month to travel to Jinling by horse carriage. She hadn’t reached 14 years old yet but dared to travel alone. Her guts were admirable.

“Ahh, uhh.”

At the mention of this, Lu Zhiruo’s countenance immediately turned dim. It hadn’t been easy for her to meet that great teacher, but her aptitude turned out to be too bad, and the great teacher only took a glance at her before waving his hand to send her off. He couldn’t even be bothered to say anything.

“The Central Province Academy’s student recruitment meet will be held the day after tomorrow. You can take a look. You might be able to find a better great teacher then.”

Sun Mo hoped that Lu Zhiruo could recognize reality and head back home earlier. After all, given her aptitude, even intern teachers might give her the cold shoulder as well. 2

(Although you have breasts, it isn’t any help to your studies!)

Sun Mo sighed. If Lu Zhiruo’s breasts could be considered as her aptitude, then she’d be looking down on the rest of the world.

“Teacher Sun, you’re a good guy!”

Lu Zhiruo felt very thankful.

Sun Mo had initially planned on letting Lu Zhiruo look for an inn near the school, but she wasn’t willing to do so. Left with no other choice, Sun Mo could only look for Li Gong, who then cleared up a warehouse to let her stay there temporarily.

“This is where I usually rest. No one will come, so feel free to stay here.”

Li Gong’s face was full of smiles, afraid that Sun Mo might not be pleased with his service.

Sun Mo waved his hand, and Li Gong took his leave. However, before he left, he couldn’t help but throw a glance toward Lu Zhiruo. (Oh my god, the man who marries her in the future would be so fortunate.)

“Take this money, you can use it first.”

Sun Mo took out five silver taels and gave it to Lu Zhiruo. When they had caught the thief and gotten back the loot, he knew that this papaya girl didn’t have much money left. This might be the reason why she refused to stay at an inn.

“No! No!”

Lu Zhiruo waved her hand and rejected, wearing a horrified expression.

“Take it. Are you expecting me to send you food every day?”

Sun Mo frowned.

Seeing that Sun Mo was angry, Lu Zhiruo jumped up like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on. She explained, “No, I didn’t have that intention!”

“Then take it.”

Sun Mo asked Lu Zhiruo for her home address so he could get someone to come and fetch her. However, when he mentioned this, Lu Zhiruo would lower her head and pretend to be dumb. Therefore, he could only give up on this thought.

After returning to the dorm, Sun Mo went through his luggage and realized that he didn’t have much savings left. Therefore, it was important for him to earn money quickly. Otherwise, his standards of living would plummet.

If this was in the past, given his educational background, it’d be easy for him to work as a home tutor for a few days. However, he couldn’t do this in Jinling. It was because he hadn’t taken on a permanent role yet.

“Am I only left with the choice of writing [Journey to the West]?” 2

To be honest, Sun Mo didn’t wish to do this. However, he thought of the homeless Lu Zhiruo. He had to help her out, right? This was like he had picked up a lost kitten from the roadside. He had to keep it for a while. If he didn’t even have the money to buy dried fish for its snack, then the kitten would look down on him as well.

“That’ll settle it then. It’s better to write ‘Journey to the West’ than to become a masseur!”

The ancient massage technique was very amazing, and he could definitely be a world-class masseur. However, Sun Mo felt that if he were to do this, the system would definitely be the first to die from laughter.

The morning sunlight had just appeared when Ludi carried a bowl of soup and a plate of pig trotters, leaving the dorm. Teacher Zhou Shanyi’s impression of him was quite good. As long as he continued to keep things up, he’d definitely be able to get an ‘excellent-grade’ rating. It’d increase his chances of being able to stay in school.

The only thing he wasn’t happy about was the teacher’s rating on his braised meat. What did he mean when he said that it’d be better if Ludi were to add some goji berries and caterpillar fungus? That would be heterodoxy. It’d spoil the natural taste of the braised meat. 4

Moreover, only middle-aged people would drink goji berries steeped in water. (You’re already an old man and no longer need that. Even if you were to eat goji berries every day as you would rice, you’d still age and slowly lose strength.)

At the thought of this, Ludi couldn’t help but increase his force exertion in his arms, being narcissist of his healthy body that was filled with vitality, and then…

He felt gloomy. A papaya girl was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall. She propped her legs up and hugged them with her arms. With her head resting on her knees, she slept comfortably.

Glistening saliva trickled down the corners of her lips, landing on her pants. It made a huge wet patch on it.

“Would you guys cut it out?”

Ludi felt that Zhang Sheng and Sun Mo were truly shameless. To think that they’d spend money on actors to boost their reputation so that they could stay back in school. He, on the other hand, was very upright.

At the thought of this, Ludi felt that the braised meat he was holding became even more fragrant.

“Uh?”

Lu Zhiruo rubbed her eyes, looking up with a dazed expression. As she had been sitting there for too long, her shoulders felt a little sore. She instinctively shook and rubbed them, moving her body.

“Oh my god!” Ludi almost screamed out. Was this the legendary child-like complexion? “Who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for Teacher Sun, Sun Mo!”

Lu Zhiruo quickly stood up. After saying that, she even bowed. “Hello Teacher!”

Ludi was stunned. He hadn’t been called a teacher before. Everyone would refer to him as ‘Teaching Assistant Lu’, and it somehow sounded like the words ‘pig trotter braiser’. Other than making Ludi feel upset, this title also made him swear that he’d become a substitute teacher as soon as possible, followed by the yearly teacher-in-charge and then a great teacher. He would then get the intern teachers to braise pig trotters for him.

To suddenly be called a teacher by a student, Ludi felt as if he had drunk iced sour plum soup on the hottest day of the year. The feeling of exhilaration went right down into his bones.

“Sun Mo, someone’s looking for you!”

Ludi shouted out and then flashed a smile that he had been practicing for a while. “I am Ludi. If you have any problems in the future, you can come to ask me.”