Chapter 11: He Couldn’t Tolerate Being Called As Stupid As A Pig

No one knew how Xiao Jin had reported this to Qiao Balian, but since he had already spoken up, it meant the matter was settled. He even domineeringly took Wu Chengyun’s seat, and the teacher pretended not to notice.

Wu Chengyun, frightened, quickly packed up his things and rushed to an empty seat in the back.

As soon as Xiao Jin sat down, he started complaining that the space was too cramped—his long legs didn’t fit. He knocked on the desk, signaling the students in front and behind him to move their desks and make room.

Those in the front and back were more than eager to get as far away from Xiao Jin as possible. They hurriedly moved away, which also left Lu Shujin with a much roomier space.

Lu Shujin looked completely baffled, unable to understand why Xiao Jin had suddenly appeared there.

Perhaps her dazed expression was too obvious, because Xiao Jin found it amusing. He leaned back lazily and said, “Thanks to you, I’ve been punished to copy the commentary of ‘To know what you know and to know what you don’t know is true knowledge’ fifty times. This punishment is your responsibility. And to prevent such incidents from happening again, I’ve specifically come to Jiazi Hall to study. Every extracurricular essay you write, I will personally read. If you write nonsense again, I’ll beat you up.”

Only then did Lu Shujin recall the mess she had caused. She quickly nodded and picked up her brush to begin the punishment.

But she had a vague feeling that Xiao Jin’s reason for coming to Jiazi Hall wasn’t so simple. She couldn’t help but test the waters and asked, “Young Master Xiao really came here just to review those essays?”

Xiao Jin shot her a sideways glance. “Why are you asking so many pointless questions?”

Then his gaze dropped to her paper, and he picked out a flaw with clear displeasure. “Is your handwriting really this ugly? Rewrite it.”

Lu Shujin wanted to say, Your handwriting is even uglier than this.

But she didn’t dare say it. Besides, she had only written one line on the page—there was no need to argue. So she neatly pulled out a new sheet and began again.

Of course, Xiao Jin hadn’t come to Jiazi Hall just for that trivial matter.

Qiao Balian had long planned to transfer him there, but Jiazi Hall was full of bookworms and had stricter management than other classes, so Xiao Jin had always refused to come.

However, the poorly written essay he turned in a few days ago had thoroughly enraged Qiao Balian. On top of that, after he smashed Liu Quan’s arm, Qiao Balian used the incident as an excuse to force Xiao Jin into Jiazi Hall under stricter supervision. If he refused, Qiao Balian threatened to gather all the students and read his essay aloud to everyone.

Xiao Jin could accept being called lazy and undisciplined, but not stupid as a pig.

So, he had no choice but to come here and suffer in silence. Naturally, he couldn’t tell anyone about such an embarrassing reason, so he made up an excuse.

It was all Lu Shujin’s fault anyway. At this thought, Xiao Jin glanced coldly at the bookworm next to him and snorted through his nose.

Lu Shujin had no idea what kind of mood he was in again. She just kept her head down and focused on writing, trying her best not to provoke him. Fortunately, Xiao Jin didn’t cause her any more trouble. For the rest of the time, he remained quiet—either dozing off with his head propped up or reading with his head down.

He reads books?

Lu Shujin was curious. She subtly turned her head and glanced sideways, wondering what kind of book Xiao Jin would be reading.

She had just caught sight of a few words on the cover—A Widow’s Affairs—when Xiao Jin caught her red-handed.

“What are you sneaking looks at like a ghost?” he snapped.

Lu Shujin froze. To ease the embarrassment of getting caught, she tried making conversation:

“Who would’ve thought that the elegant and charming Young Master Xiao enjoys these kinds of books? What’s it about?”

Xiao Jin looked completely unbothered and casually replied, “It’s about a widow managing flood control and agricultural work.”

Lu Shujin asked in surprise, “Really?”

“What do you think?” His tone was still calm. “If I told you the dog at my house put on armor and led an army to war, would you believe that too? The title spells it out plainly—what else could it be about? It’s just a young widow farming with the man from the Li family, turning soil with the guy from the Wang family, and then tucking under the covers with them to sleep.”

Lu Shujin’s ears turned bright red, and her cheeks flushed hot like they were on fire. At the same time, she felt a bit irritated.

Honestly, she should’ve known—even with just her toes—that Xiao Jin wouldn’t be reading anything remotely proper.

Xiao Jin glanced sideways at her and, seeing how her pale neck and the tips of her ears were burning red with her head lowered, found it amusing.

“You’ve never read it?” he asked.

Lu Shujin didn’t want to say a single word to him right now, but she also didn’t want to provoke him. So she just pressed her lips together and nodded slightly.

Xiao Jin deliberately teased her: “Then I’ll bring a few more next time.”

Lu Shujin screamed inwardly: Even if I go blind, I won’t read those!

For the rest of the time, Xiao Jin read his books of sages, and Lu Shujin copied her commentaries. The two stayed out of each other’s way.

When the bell rang to signal the end of class, the teacher left with his book, and the atmosphere in the classroom loosened up a little. But because of Xiao Jin’s presence, things still felt especially strange. He was like a second teacher sitting in the classroom. Normally, once the teacher left, the students would pair off to chat, talk about what to eat, or share interesting gossip. But today, after the bell, only hushed whispers could be heard. Everyone was wary of Xiao Jin, stealing glances at him as they hurried out of the classroom, only speaking freely once they were outside.

Lu Shujin set down her brush, twisted her wrist a few times, and got up to head toward the food stall. She had spent nearly all four of her silver ingots trying to gather information and buy bedding earlier, so her savings were thin again. Until she found a way to make money, she had to live frugally.

So she bought a sesame flatbread barely bigger than her palm and hurried back.

When she returned, Xiao Jin still hadn’t left the classroom. A few people were standing around him.

As she got closer, she saw that the books on the desk had been replaced. Now there were writing brushes with white jade handles, an inkstone carved with gold-threaded patterns, and soft, fine xuan paper laid out.

She couldn’t tell the quality of the ink and brush, but even the most expensive paper she had seen at the shops didn’t look as pure and beautiful as the stack now sitting in front of Xiao Jin.

The students gathered around him were the same ones who often followed him around—they were the ones she had seen being punished to sweep the ancestral hall the other day.

Lu Shujin didn’t rush back to her seat. Her eyes swept over the faces of the people gathered, and sure enough, she spotted a skinny, monkey-like boy among them. She stepped forward.

The group was still speaking with Xiao Jin when Lu Shujin’s sudden appearance interrupted their conversation. She circled around two of them and stood directly in front of the monkey-like youth, saying, “Could I speak with you for a moment?”

The atmosphere instantly quieted. The boy blinked in surprise, looking at Lu Shujin first, then glancing at Xiao Jin, as if seeking his leader’s permission.

Xiao Jin didn’t ask anything. He simply lifted his chin slightly in a gesture of approval.

“Let’s talk at the door, then,” said the boy, pointing outside.

The two of them walked to the entrance. As soon as they reached the spot, before the boy could speak, Lu Shujin took the initiative.

“Your uncle—is he a constable?”

The monkey-like youth’s eyes widened in shock. “How do you know that?”

“You said so yourself,” Lu Shujin replied. “Back when we were cleaning the ancestral hall a few days ago.”

The boy blinked, then nodded. “That’s right. He works in the Wanlong District.”

Lu Shujin pulled a piece of paper from her sleeve and carefully unfolded it. It revealed a face—while not exquisitely drawn, the features were fairly clear. Though it lacked fine detail, the likeness was decent. She said, “Would you be willing to ask your uncle for help in finding the person on this paper?”

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