Xie Ning pouted his lips and refused loudly.
Shen Wang was already determined to find him something to do—otherwise, with him climbing trees one moment and catching fish the next all day long, that simply wouldn't do. He gently shook his head. "No."
Xie Ning resorted to his old trick, tears coming on cue.
Seeing this, Wen Qingyuan wanted to step forward and offer some words of comfort, but a single look from Shen Wang stopped him cold, leaving him frozen in place.
Butler Liu gave Wen Qingyuan a reassuring look, signaling him not to worry.
This time, however, no matter how much Xie Ning cried and fussed, it had no effect whatsoever.
Shen Wang remained completely unmoved, watching him with a blank expression and saying nothing.
"…Wah wah… hic…"
Xie Ning sobbed and sniffled—he had eaten a bit too much earlier and couldn't help it.
The corner of Shen Wang's mouth twitched, but his expression remained stern.
Xie Ning blinked twice, realizing there was no chance, and sighed with his lips pursed, forced to accept the outcome.
After these past few days, Shen Wang had come to understand him somewhat. Worried that the new tutor wouldn't be able to handle him, he deliberately stayed nearby to observe on the first day of class.
As it turned out, Xie Ning was indeed well-behaved. He sat upright at his desk, looking quite serious as he held a brush and scribbled away.
Shen Wang stood outside the window, squinting slightly to get a better look.
A big turtle was clearly drawn on the paper.
Beside it was an arrow, pointing directly in the direction where he was currently standing.
Shen Wang took a deep breath.
He skillfully comforted himself inwardly—he hadn't expected the boy to study seriously anyway; as long as he could sit still, that was good enough.
Compared to Xie Ning's good behavior, Teacher Cen standing at the front was the one drenched in cold sweat.
Teacher Cen held a book in his hands, speaking haltingly, "Today we will study… uh, study the Three Character Classic…"
As he spoke, he occasionally stole a glance at Shen Wang's expression by the window. Seeing his dark face, he was so frightened his mind went blank, completely forgetting what he was supposed to say next.
Shen Wang furrowed his brow and turned to ask Butler Liu, "Where on earth did you find this man? His skill doesn't seem up to par."
Upon hearing this, Butler Liu smiled slightly. "My lord, as long as you're not standing here, I'm sure this tutor's skill will improve."
Shen Wang: "…"
Then he straightened his expression, cleared his throat, and said, "…Since you're having class, I won't disturb you."
With that, Shen Wang looked at Xie Ning and gave him a warning glance, telling him to be more serious.
Xie Ning didn't care at all. He responded with a tongue-out, face-making gesture.
Once Shen Wang left, Teacher Cen let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Alright, now let's begin studying the Three Character Classic," Teacher Cen said with a light cough.
As soon as the words fell, Xie Ning obediently folded his hands on the desk and sat up straight.
Half an hour later.
Butler Liu tiptoed in, carrying a cup of sweet and sour plum juice, and placed it in front of Xie Ning.
"Young master, you can have a sip if you're thirsty." Butler Liu looked at him with great affection, then quietly withdrew.
Teacher Cen's grip on the book tightened slightly, but in the end, he said nothing.
Another half hour passed.
Butler Liu brought in a plate of pastries. This time he said nothing, but everything was understood without words.
"Eat some if you're hungry."
Xie Ning nodded, taking a sip of plum juice and a bite of pastry in turns.
Teacher Cen reached out a hand, as if about to speak but hesitating.
"Teacher, what's the matter?" Butler Liu asked.
Teacher Cen looked at him, shook his head without a word, and continued the lesson.
Xie Ning propped his chin on the table, appearing still, but his mind had long since wandered off.
Why was it that whenever the teacher spoke, he got so sleepy?
Xie Ning struggled to keep his eyelids open, refusing to let them fall, but the increasingly incomprehensible content soon overwhelmed him, and his head suddenly dropped with a jerk.
Butler Liu, who had been watching his every move, immediately stepped forward and caught his cheek with his hand.
Teacher Cen watched the scene before him, unable to contain himself any longer. He tossed the book in his hand aside and snorted coldly, "I won't demand that you tie your hair to a beam or prick your thigh with an awl, but this kind of indulgence I cannot tolerate. In my class, no eating, no drinking, no sleeping—these are the most basic rules of propriety."
Xie Ning's drowsiness instantly fled. He reflexively stood up, hung his head, and apologized, "I'm sorry, Teacher."
Hearing this, Butler Liu wore a disapproving expression. "Our young master is still young—why does he need to work so hard?"
"Which scholar hasn't worked hard since childhood?" Teacher Cen retorted.
Butler Liu quickly waved his hand, not wanting to argue with him. "Go collect your wages at the door in a moment."
Teacher Cen flicked his sleeves. "Conveniently enough, I no longer wish to teach either."
With that, he turned and left.
Xie Ning's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, somewhat bewildered.
Then Butler Liu crouched down in front of Xie Ning and said with a smile, "We won't study today. Tomorrow, this old servant will find a better teacher for the young master."
Actually, Xie Ning didn't want a new teacher. What he wanted was to not study at all.
Of course, that was impossible.
Butler Liu, true to his reputation as the one who managed all the affairs of the household, was remarkably efficient.
That evening, when Shen Wang returned, Butler Liu reported the matter to him. Shen Wang had no objections—his thinking was simple and straightforward.
If this teacher didn't work out, just replace him. If that one didn't work either, replace him again. With all of the capital city, how could they possibly fail to find a teacher who could teach Xie Ning?
The next day.
Xie Ning was dragged out of bed early, his eyes still bleary, and before he knew it, he was already seated in the classroom.
He forced his eyelids open, stood up, and greeted, "Hello, Teacher~"
The new teacher had a square face, was stern and unsmiling, and looked extremely serious, with a hint of aloofness about him.
Upon hearing Xie Ning speak, he gave a very cold, slight nod.
For the rest of the time, even though Xie Ning was drowsy, he still sat obediently at his desk.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced out the window. Two birds were perched there, chirping away, but the next moment, they both flew off.
Having lost his object of observation, Xie Ning slumped in dejection. He wished he could fly away too.
Yesterday, he had promised Wei Zhao he would go play with him, but now he was forced to sit here in class, without even having had the chance to tell him.
If Wei Zhao kept waiting for him and he never showed, would he cry?
Xie Ning's thoughts jumped around wildly, completely unaware of the danger approaching.
A huge shadow fell over him. Realizing what was happening, Xie Ning stiffened, bit his lower lip, and dared not move a muscle, momentarily forgetting to breathe.
But the scolding and beating he imagined never came.
The teacher merely looked at him with a flat, emotionless gaze.
Xie Ning thought he hadn't been caught and secretly let out a sigh of relief, his mind still on Wei Zhao.
He picked up his brush, ready to doodle on the paper.
But he hit a wall on the very first character. Xie Ning frowned, desperately searching his mind…
Search failed.
bao… jiu (revenge) ji hua…
Xie Ning stared at it with the utmost seriousness, nodded in satisfaction, and then prepared to continue writing his next plan.
Step one: find out the names of those who bullied Wei Zhao.
Then lure them out.
Then Xie Ning got a knock on the head.
His plan, which he had just finished writing, was picked up by the tutor, who stared at it for a long while before letting out a cold snort.
Some kind of incomprehensible scribble.
The tutor showed no intention of returning the paper to Xie Ning. He casually folded it twice and tucked it into his sleeve.
Then came the most merciless words in the world: "Write ten large-character sheets after class every day. Get distracted once, add ten more. Eat once, add ten more. Today, you owe thirty sheets in total."
Butler Liu, who had just been about to deliver some new pastries, paused mid-step, silently tossed them back to the servant behind him, and hurriedly gestured for him to take them away.
Xie Ning was on the verge of tears. He jerked his head up, wanting to say something soft to plead for mercy, but the moment he met the tutor's gaze, his lips seemed glued shut.
Then Xie Ning weakly replied, "Okay… wuwu."
Class time was only two hours a day, and it passed in the blink of an eye.
Xie Ning had originally planned to go explain things to Wei Zhao right after class, but ever since he learned just how—much—homework he had, he felt completely drained.
He cried while writing.
Butler Liu came over to tell him to rest for a bit, but he shook his head, focused solely on finishing quickly so he could go find Wei Zhao.
He didn't notice at all that the sky outside had gradually darkened.
Naturally, he also didn't notice Xiao Bai sneakily snatching a few sheets of his hard-earned work and bolting off.
But even with all his efforts, by the time night fell and Shen Wang returned home from his shift, Xie Ning was still fighting on.
And the paper that had been confiscated in class naturally ended up in Shen Wang's hands. He opened it with two fingers and stared at it with a grave expression.
Xie Ning looked guilty and pitiful, occasionally stealing furtive glances at him.
Seeing him like this, Shen Wang laughed inwardly—finally, he seemed a bit like a child.
He feared no one, ran wild all day, yet actually listened to the tutor.
If a snake had a vital spot, Shen Wang felt like he had found Xie Ning's. The corner of his mouth curled up slightly.
But he controlled his expression well, showing no emotion, and tapped the first character on the paper. "What does this mean?"
Xie Ning leaned in to look, thinking he didn't recognize the character, and patiently taught him, "Bo-ao-bao, it's the character 'bao'!"
His eyes were extremely earnest.
"…"
Shen Wang turned his face slightly. For some reason, he felt like he was being treated like an idiot.
He just took it as one of Xie Ning's quirky little ideas—the boy often came up with strange things.
Perhaps all children were like this, thinking one thing then another, completely baffling.
Xie Ning, seeing him stay silent for so long, fidgeted with his fingers and asked weakly, "Father, aren't you going to scold me?"
"Why would I scold you?" Shen Wang raised an eyebrow.
"Because… because I didn't study seriously, I'm a stupid child…" Xie Ning's voice grew softer and softer.
Shen Wang couldn't quite articulate what he was feeling—only that his heart had been wrenched in that moment.
Could it be that this was the kind of life he had lived before? Walking on eggshells, being scolded or beaten at the slightest provocation for not doing well in his studies.
After a long pause, Shen Wang looked at him with serious eyes, his tone carrying a solemnity he himself hadn't noticed. "From now on, no one will ever call you stupid."
As long as he was happy, nothing else mattered.
Hearing this, Xie Ning was momentarily stunned, then nodded like a robot.
But inside, his heart was blooming with joy.
He knew it—his mother had to be lying! His father never thought he was stupid, and he wouldn't stop loving him just because he couldn't memorize the multiplication table!