Chapter 47

Seeing that everyone had gathered, Yue Zhongping laughed and said, "It's rare to have another person in the thatched cottage, it's getting more lively! Come, come, come, eat, eat. Lu Zheng, don't be shy. You're weak now, you need to eat more!"

Lu Zheng had a very good impression of Yue Zhongping. Hearing this, he nodded, reached out, and picked up a piece of chicken, about to put it in his mouth.

With a "slap," his hand was struck heavily, causing him to retract it in pain, and the piece of chicken fell back into the bowl. Lu Zheng looked up to see the戒方 (disciplinary ruler) that had appeared from somewhere.

Seeing this, Yue Zhongping said to Li Yi, "It's proper..." Li Yi interrupted with a stern face, "Don't interfere in teaching the students."

Mr. Yue could only close his mouth reluctantly, swallowing his words and making a helpless face at Lu Zheng. Li Yi, with a serious expression, looked at Lu Zheng and said, "Every action should be proper. There are chopsticks on the table, why are you using your hands?" Lu Zheng's face turned red, and he felt so embarrassed that he wanted to find a hole to hide in.

But Li Yi didn't let him off, continuing, "The etiquette of eating forbids touching food with your hands. Do you know that?"

Lu Zheng remained silent, his head drooping even lower, almost touching the table. Yue Zhongping, seeing this and worried that Lu Zheng would feel awkward, laughed and said, "Yes, yes, there are chopsticks on the table. Lu Zheng, use the chopsticks. Your hands are dirty, Mr. Li is just looking out for you!"

Li Yi didn't care about Mr. Yue's attempt to smooth things over. His voice, though calm, was still relentless, "What are you looking at with your head down? The teacher is asking you a question, answer me. Do you know?"

The teacher wouldn't let up, and Lu Zheng couldn't avoid it. He had no choice but to shake his head lightly, indicating that he didn't know, and braced himself for a scolding. To his surprise, Li Yi's tone softened, "Do you remember the vows of discipline from this morning? 'Act without doubt.' What is 'doubtful action'? When you don't know what to do and force yourself to do it, that's 'doubtful action'! Since you don't know what to do, why don't you ask? If you ask, won't you know?"

Lu Zheng was taken aback and asked himself the same question. Why didn't he ask when he was unsure about how to eat the food? This must be what 'doubtful action' means!

Lu Zheng's principle when encountering problems was to avoid asking others if possible. If he had to ask, he would choose someone he was close to. Since he was a bit afraid of Li Yi, he naturally wouldn't ask Xiner or Mr. Yue in front of everyone.

This time, Li Yi didn't ask for an answer, but said directly, "Whenever you don't know something, ask. Avoid being clever on your own. Remember this well, act without doubt! Don't hang your head, eat!"

Lu Zheng nodded lightly with his head down, but feeling ashamed, he couldn't bring himself to look up. After nodding, he remained motionless. Yue Zhongping laughed, "Alright, alright, life is full of ease! Lu Zheng, you should learn from Uncle Yue. Be thick-skinned, eating is the most important!"

Xiner also called softly, "Big brother..."

After a moment, Lu Zheng suddenly looked up and said to Li Yi, "Teacher, the student was wrong. The student knows what to do now."

These two sentences were said with great courage, and Li Yi finally nodded in satisfaction, then said, "You only know a little. Every action should be proper. Even the etiquette of eating is profound. Besides not touching food with your hands, remember: don't talk while eating, don't wolf down your food, don't chew with your mouth open; don't suck on bones, don't throw bones on the ground; don't mix rice with soup; don't use different spoons; don't make noise while chewing or drinking soup, and don't let your spoon clink against the bowl..."

Li Yi recited a long list of dining etiquette, making Lu Zheng's head spin. Xiner remained silent, listening along with him. Mr. Yue smiled and kept his distance, clearly not planning to interject.

Lu Zheng's legs, which were kneeling, started to feel numb and painful, making him very uncomfortable. He had to endure it. Moreover, Lu Zheng thought that although Xiner was a bit playful, her every move was elegant and noble, while he was just a wild boy, far inferior to her. Thinking of this, he decided to follow the teacher's instructions and learn diligently. Fortunately, he had a good memory; otherwise, he wouldn't have remembered all that Li Yi said. Finally, Li Yi said, "That's enough for now, or the food will get cold, which is also against etiquette." Everyone then started to eat.

Mr. Yue cheered and was about to reach for the food with his chopsticks when Li Yi slowly added, "Lu Zheng, what I just said about dining etiquette applies to you, but not to Uncle Yue. Don't follow his example!"

Mr. Yue's chopsticks fell to the ground!

This meal was probably the most difficult one Lu Zheng had ever eaten. He thought that if it were Tang Xiaojiu, he would have started cursing long ago! It felt like his hands were tied, and every move was wrong. Several times, he almost broke the dishes, but strangely, the bowl that he saw flipping over the table somehow jumped back onto the table without spilling any soup.

Lu Zheng was puzzled and suddenly saw Mr. Yue winking at him with a mysterious smile. He understood and gave a grateful look, then secretly glanced at Li Yi, who was sitting straight, carefully chewing a piece of fish, looking very content and seemingly unaware of the trick.

Finally, after the meal, Lu Zheng's legs were so numb that he couldn't stand. Mr. Yue and Li Yi left first. Lu Zheng sighed in relief, stretched his stiff and numb legs, and sat on the ground, complaining to Xiner, "Eating like this is worse than starving to death!"

Xiner stood up gracefully, her legs not at all numb. She walked over with a smile, "Big brother, you're too nervous. The more nervous you are, the more your legs will hurt. Let me massage them for you!"

Lu Zheng was startled and quickly stood up, saying, "No, no, I'm fine. By the way, Xiner, what should we do with the dishes? Where should I take them to wash?"

He remembered that Li Yi had mentioned that disciples should serve their teachers. With the teachers gone, the dishes naturally fell to them. Lu Zheng didn't want Xiner to wash the dishes, so he stepped forward.

Xiner giggled, pulled his hand, and they left the pavilion. She pointed and said, "Big brother, look!" Lu Zheng turned and saw that the pavilion was empty, with no table or dishes in sight, which surprised him. He wondered where everything had gone and who had prepared the food. He guessed that Mr. Yue was the only one with free time, but he didn't seem like someone who would cook.

Xiner wrinkled her nose, "Big brother, I don't know either. But Mom said that Uncle Yue and the teacher are very powerful, famous in the cultivation world, even more powerful than the top ten cultivators!"

Lu Zheng thought it made sense. These two were like immortals, and he shouldn't be surprised. He also secretly aspired to have such great abilities to avenge his brother. As for the top ten cultivators, he wasn't particularly interested and didn't ask.

After the meal, during the break before the afternoon class, Lu Zheng and Xiner went to catch butterflies. When they reached the flower field, Lu Zheng noticed another issue. He remembered that the courtyard didn't seem that large when he saw it from the Two Worlds Mountain, but the flower field stretched endlessly, which was quite mysterious. This seemingly ordinary thatched cottage was full of wonders for him.

In the afternoon class, Li Yi took out a book and had Lu Zheng read it. After teaching him once, he asked Lu Zheng to try to recite it. After confirming Lu Zheng's excellent memory, Li Yi gave him a book called "Character Interpretation" and taught him how to use it to learn characters, then left him alone.

In the following days, Lu Zheng spent his mornings studying "Character Interpretation." Soon, he could read various books without any obstacles. Li Yi was greatly surprised by his astonishing memory and then started teaching him how to write.

Every day, Lu Zheng and Xiner went to class together, read "Character Interpretation," practiced writing, and played in the courtyard after class, catching butterflies and chasing dragonflies. They were almost inseparable. Time passed quietly, and three months had gone by.

Teacher Li Yi had told Lu Zheng that Mr. Yue needed time to prepare the antidote, but he hadn't mentioned it in three months. Lu Zheng occasionally thought about it, but since his body was fine, he didn't ask. He thought Mr. Yue would tell him when the antidote was ready, and he didn't need to worry.

During these three months, Lu Zheng became more familiar with the thatched cottage. He finally recognized the characters on the pillars at the entrance of the Heavenly Circle and Earthly Square Pavilion. The left pillar read, "Look up to observe the celestial phenomena," and the right pillar read, "Look down to observe the earthly laws." These characters were not on all four doors, so this must be the main entrance.

As for what these phrases meant, what were celestial phenomena and earthly laws? The sky had the sun, moon, and stars, but no elephants. The earth had flowers, grass, stones, and ants, but what laws were there to observe?

Lu Zheng remembered reading about "heaven and earth" in the book "All Things," with phrases like "Heaven's way is strong, Earth's way is nurturing" and "Heaven's way is square, Earth's way is round." Although he understood each character from "Character Interpretation," he still didn't understand the meaning. Teacher Li Yi didn't like answering questions, and whenever Lu Zheng asked, he would say, "That's not for you to ask now, we'll talk about it later." Lu Zheng had to give up.

The thatched cottage was full of mysteries that Lu Zheng couldn't understand. He knew he knew very little, so he studied even harder. Although he still didn't understand the various wonders of the thatched cottage, they became a part of his daily life.

The thatched cottage had no rules, or it had rules everywhere. According to Lu Zheng and Xiner's discussion, the thatched cottage could be divided into two parts: where the teacher was and where the teacher wasn't. Where the teacher wasn't, there were no rules, and they could be a bit more relaxed. Where the teacher was, there were strict rules and the戒方 (disciplinary ruler), and they had to be very cautious. Teacher Li Yi usually disappeared after assigning homework, which was good, but the戒方 (disciplinary ruler) was always present.

The戒方 (disciplinary ruler) had caused Lu Zheng and Xiner a lot of pain and tears. It appeared at any time and place when they did something wrong or against etiquette.

At the beginning of class, Lu Zheng found that after assigning homework to him and Xiner, Li Yi would ask if they had any questions, give some answers and guidance, and then disappear.

Once the teacher left, Lu Zheng started doing his homework diligently, but soon he wanted to talk to Xiner. As he leaned over to speak, the戒方 (disciplinary ruler) that Li Yi had placed on the table suddenly appeared in front of him and hit his head hard, almost making him cry.

Xiner, seeing this, quickly turned around and reminded him, "Big brother, even though the teacher isn't here, the teacher's戒方 (disciplinary ruler) is very powerful. How could you forget?" As she spoke, the戒方 (disciplinary ruler) hit her head, scaring her into sitting still and writing.