Chapter 4 On the Role of Reading

Proofread by Fu Tianying

In light of past deceptions of Ma Tian'en, Ma Chaosheng was skeptical of Ma Tian'en's words that he picked up a master for himself when he went out due to the worry of being cheated again by an employed false teacher. However, after talking with Wu Zhong, Ma Chaosheng found him a man full of wit, who might know everything in heaven above and the earth underneath. And it was more important that he was able to tell what he knows in colloquial words, which was very different from hired pedantic old Confucian scholars before. Under the guidance of those scholars, Ma Tian'en, needless to say, was unwilling to learn while Ma Chaosheng himself was annoyed to listen to such fusty thoughts. It was a great surprise to pick up such a nice master. What's more, Wu Zhong said that he would take part in imperial examinations, so he could only teach Ma Tian'en for a short time. If he ranked first in the examination, he might be a firm support for Ma Tian'en, right? So, in Ma Chaosheng's opinion, it was really a good deal.

Ma Chaosheng sent someone to clean up a room for Wu Zhong, and decorate the room in a way that an intellectual may be fond of. He then told Ma Tian'en that it was him who invited the master, so he should not say no concerning study matters. After that, he solemnly handed a lengthened and thickened ferule to Wu Zhong, which could be used to teach Ma Tian'en a lesson without considering any consequences.

Ma Tian'en felt more like he had fallen into the pit and did not know whether there was a chance to back out. In the study, Wu Zhong was seated in the head seat with the ferule in his hand. And his expression towards Ma Tian'en was just like: I will give you a lesson if you don't obey me. The feeling in his eyes, with which Ma Tian'en was familiar, was the same as his when he wanted to train a horse.

"Men have ambitions. Some aim at killing enemies in the battlefield at the cost of life; some aspire to be officials of the emperor for benefiting the people; and others resolve to go into business for the glory of family. How about yours?" asked Wu Zhong slowly and gently.

Rolling his eyes, Ma Tian'en thought now that he could not force the teacher to leave, he would like to make him so angry that he would go away himself. So he answered, "My ambition is very simple, which is to be a toff to drink and gamble in company of beauties. Simply speaking, I just want to kill time. You know, we can at most live for one hundred years, so it is better to enjoy the pleasures of the moment rather than live so tiredly. Just as the saying goes, eating, drinking and be merry each day."

As expected, Wu Zhong smiled with sneer. Ma Tian'en hurried to add highly colored details, "It is a waste of time to teach a student like me, who doesn't want to make any progress at all, so you'd better go away with money, or it will be detrimental to your imperial examinations."

To his surprise, Wu Zhong asked him, "You said you wanted to be a toff, so how much do you know about a toff?"

"A toff? Isn't it a person who is addicted to drinking, gambling and flirting with women?"

"No, no. What you said is just superficial. Rites, music, archery, horse-riding, calligraphy, mathematics, how many of six arts have you mastered? A real toff must be excellent in throwing, archery, bird fighting, cuju (literally kick ball; the earliest form of football played in ancient China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam), drinking games, tea art, horse riding, etc. You mentioned gambling, so how many ways of gambling do you know? Just taking dice as an example, it has many types, such as Liubo, Chupu, Shuanglu, Wumu, Touqiong and Caizhan (The six ones are all ancient Chinese gambling games). Well, how many have you been proficient in?"

Hearing that, Ma Tian'en's eyes were lit up because he thought he met a master-hand: "I can't believe that you and I are in the same boat. I will take you to the gambling house some other day. If we cooperate, we will win the money of all."

But Wu Zhong refused with indifference, "Who said that I would gamble? I have never gone gambling."

"Then why do you know so much about gambling?" asked Ma Tian'en.

"Well, because I read. As the saying goes, a scholar knows the world without going out. So even though I am not a gambler, I know more about gambling than you. Another saying is that there are gold and beauty in books. If you, who don't like reading, accidentally saved a beautiful woman, you may only go forward to say, 'Dear lady, you are so beautiful that I have fallen in love with you at first sight. How about marrying me?' Saying so, you would be scolded as a satyr prodigal, and what the lady may answer, 'I will make a grass knot or champ a ring to repay your kindness in the world to come.' While if you have read, you can say: 'I see you dim as the moon mantled in filmy clouds, and restless as snow whirled by the driving wind, and then...'"

"And then? The lady will say that she has nothing but her promise to marry me to repay my kindness, and then she will go with me, right?" asked Ma Tian'en, with his eyes full of hearts.

"If you have read, you will know doing favors should not expect benefits, so you will have no such improper thoughts. You have read too little!" Wu Zhong answered, standing up with awe-inspiring righteousness.

"You...it was you who said like that... Is that how a scholar teases me?"

"True, I have read more than you, so naturally I can make fool of you, so you'd better study hard." Said Wu Zhong while he took out The Book of Rites and handed it to Ma Tian'en, "You should learn rites first. Just read the book, and I will interpret it to you later. If you wonder about something unclear, think it over before asking me for help. I'd like to study more important issues, please don't disturb me."

Then, Wu Zhong got out of the study and locked the door.

Ma Tian'en was too angry to jump up, "Liar! What kind of scholar he is! What a teacher! He just annoyed me before he ran away, leaving me a fu*king book."

"Open the door! Roll over and open the door for me!" Shouted Ma Tian'en. But no servant came. Well, all servants were warned by Ma Chaosheng to completely cooperate with Wu Zhong. Ma Tian'en spun around in anger, but she had no idea because even the windows had been locked thoroughly.

Ma Tian'en shouted too much so that she was very thirsty. Fortunately, there was a pot of tea on the desk, she poured it into a cup and gulped it quickly. She found the tea smelled and tasted better than usual, but she discovered nothing special when she opened the teapot. Is the tea made by a scholar better?

Ma Tian'en gave up the idea of escaping from the study; instead, she started to read The Book of Rites left by Wu Zhong since she had nothing to do. Gee, it was so different from what he saw before! There were notes in small characters, clear explanation which was easy to understand, and some simple drawings, which looked very interesting. What's more, one or two little puzzles were presented in each page, which would be answered in the next page. It brought much fun.