Chapter 4

John Rockefeller was a man of decisive action, a trait that was evident even when he was just sixteen years old. As soon as he arrived at school, he went to complete the withdrawal procedures and then left. By the time school was over and Scrooge had just returned home, John Rockefeller was already at his doorstep.

"Scrooge, I've already enrolled in a business school. I'll be starting there on Monday, which is just two days from now. I really appreciate your help. However, let's get down to business. At noon, I signed a contract with Uncle Joseph. Now... well, let's start by catching up on the lessons you missed while you were sick. I've already inquired about the content of those days. Well, I haven't taught before, but I'll do my best. Let's get the books out before it gets dark."

In fact, John Rockefeller was not a good teacher. Scrooge could clearly feel that, although he had a good grasp of the knowledge, his ability to explain was not great, and he often struggled to express himself clearly. Fortunately, for Scrooge, especially in subjects like mathematics, these were child's play. Moreover, unlike in school, Scrooge was not willing to hide his advantages in front of Rockefeller. He felt that if he showed some talent in these areas, the chances of Rockefeller accepting him as a partner in the future would be higher. As a result, Rockefeller was soon amazed by Scrooge's mathematical talent.

"Scrooge, have you done this exercise before?" Rockefeller's eyes widened as he saw Scrooge glance at the problem and write down the answer immediately.

"No, I haven't," Scrooge replied without looking up, starting to write out the equations on the paper.

Rockefeller looked at the equations Scrooge had written and realized they were the steps to solve the problem he had just answered.

"You already got the answer, why are you doing this?" John Rockefeller asked, puzzled.

"Ah, John, you know, I did it in my head just now. Mental calculation is not as reliable as written calculation. Although I believe I didn't make a mistake, it's still necessary to do it in writing to avoid errors... Ah, you see, the verification is complete, and I indeed didn't make a mistake," Scrooge replied calmly, as if it were a habit of his.

As expected, Scrooge's serious and meticulous attitude had an even greater impact on John Rockefeller than his immediate answer.

"Scrooge, you're right. To do anything, one must have such a serious spirit. A person with such a spirit will surely succeed. Today, you were actually my teacher. Thank you, I will remember this spirit," John Rockefeller said, looking earnestly into Scrooge's eyes.

Scrooge felt a bit embarrassed by John Rockefeller's gaze and quickly said, "John, we still have other subjects to cover, like literature..."

By "literature," it actually referred to English. Scrooge's English was quite good in his previous life, and he had even studied in the United States for a while. For him, high school English was not a problem, but the catch was that it was the 18th century, and the English of that time, especially the written language, was quite different from that of the 21st century. The difference was like that between classical and vernacular Chinese. Therefore, high school English was something Scrooge needed to study seriously.

However, John Rockefeller's level in literature was even more limited compared to his mathematics, making it even more difficult for him to teach Scrooge.

"John, you need to improve your literature skills," Scrooge said as he closed the book when it was almost dark, "If you only plan to be an accountant, your current level of language and expression is enough, but if you want to advance further and start your own business, better expression skills are very important."

"Yes," John Rockefeller nodded in agreement, "I didn't realize it before, but now that I'm helping you catch up, I see it as a real issue. Scrooge, do you have any suggestions?"

"Let me think...," Scrooge pondered, "Read more books, but that's not easy since books are expensive. Um, go to the church to listen to the sermons, talk to the priests, and learn from them. That might be a good method."

"That's a great idea. I go to church every week, but I haven't noticed it. Maybe I should pay more attention in the future," John Rockefeller stood up, "Tomorrow is Sunday, and I can't wait to go to the church. Scrooge, let's go together. You just survived a great ordeal, and you should go to the church to thank God."

Scrooge knew that Rockefeller was a devout "Baptist" believer, at least on the surface. Although some of Rockefeller's actions were far from the teachings of Jesus, he appeared to be a devout believer, especially after he became wealthy. Through continuous charitable activities, he eventually made most people forget how he used deception and violence to deal with his competitors and吞并他们的产业；也让他们忘了，他是如何豢养私人军队，直接向罢工的工人开枪的。甚至到了百年之后，他居然变成了大善人的代表，被无数的媒体描绘为一个虔诚而慷慨的好人，又有谁会想到，他无非是把从人家口袋里抢来的钱拿出一小部分做了点“包装”而已。这真是让Scrooge想起了巴尔扎克的《高老头》里面“鬼上当”伏脱冷的一句名言：“人人生来就是这样，跟厨房一样腥臭。要想捞油水就不能怕弄脏手，只要事后洗干净就行，我们这个时代的全部道德仅此而已！”

不过伏脱冷先生那个时候还是没有真正的看透这个社会，虽然巴尔扎克先生所塑造的这个魔神般的人物已经很接近世界的真实了，他是那样的强有力，那样的精明冷酷，单论能力，决心，勇气，他都要远远超过他的那些诸如拉斯蒂涅那样的弟子们，但他还是在不断地失败，他的学生们一个个的飞黄腾达了，但他却总是不停地失败，直到很晚才爬到了一个秘密警察头子的位置。这是为什么呢？

在上辈子的时候，Scrooge也曾经和朋友讨论过这个问题，最后，他们讨论出来了这样一个结果，那就是：伏脱冷太骄傲了，以至于他在代表邪恶向善良致敬的时候太过迟疑。或者说得更明白一点，他不愿意表现得太过伪善，他不愿意掩饰自己的邪恶。他以为他可以在捞到了足够多的油水之后再去洗手，却不明白，在世界这个大厨房里，想要向上爬的人不但必须不断的“干脏活”“弄脏手”，也需要不断的洗自己的手，让它在任何时候都显得是那么的白那么的香。

相比之下，洛克菲勒就要高明得多，从他决定要和这个世界来拼一把的时候，他也许就已经明白，伪善是何等的重要了。

“好的，我们一起去。”Scrooge回答说，“我应该为教会做点事情以表达我对上帝的感激。”

“浸信会”是新教中较贴近底层的一种，在当时相对于其他的教会组织，它的信徒更为虔诚和狂热，而它的教士阶层也更加廉洁。当然它的规矩也更多，比如不抽烟，不喝酒，不乱搞女人什么什么的一大堆。总的来说，至少现在，这种教派名声不错。加入进去，倒是随时洗手的一个好办法。

第二天是礼拜天，Scrooge和John Rockefeller几乎在教堂里呆了一整天，他们帮助牧师们打扫教堂，Scrooge还向每一个来到的信徒们讲他是如何大难不死的，以及他对上帝的感激。等牧师布道的时候，他们专心地听牧师布道，仔细地观察他们的语言，语调，表情，肢体动作。而当布道结束后，他们又主动留下来，帮牧师们整理教堂，并就“灵魂”上的一些问题谦卑地向牧师请教。

当一切结束的时候，已经是傍晚了。在此之后，几乎每个星期，Scrooge和John Rockefeller都会到教堂里来，重复这一套动作。渐渐地，这一带的信徒们都认识了这两个年轻人，很多时候，他们都会微笑着和他们打个招呼，并且称赞他们的虔诚。

John Rockefeller已经在商业学校里开始学习了，他每天认真地学习知识，然后回来趁着天没黑把学到的东西教给Scrooge。而Scrooge在学习这些知识的时候的表现再次让John Rockefeller大为震惊。靠着扎实的数学基础，Scrooge总能很快地掌握哪些在John Rockefeller看来很复杂的记账技巧和账目处理。很多John Rockefeller苦苦研究了好久才明白的东西，Scrooge却能在几乎一眨眼功夫里就弄明白，甚至一些John Rockefeller自己都还没有全明白的玩意，Scrooge看看他的课本，然后再看看他的笔记，就立马明白过来了，甚至还能反过来教John Rockefeller。这让John Rockefeller惊讶之余也颇有点惭愧，自然也促使他下定决心更加努力。

其实，John Rockefeller的一些表现同样也让Scrooge赞叹不已。别的不说，就John Rockefeller做的笔记，其详实程度就让Scrooge自愧不如。John Rockefeller几乎将商业学校里的老师在课堂上讲的每一句话都记录了下来，看着他的笔记，几乎就等于和他一起去听了一节课一样。