Chapter 8 of 10

Chapter 8

13 min read3,237 words

Cai Yong came to the accounting room, completely ignoring what Xiaolan had said, and cheerfully called out, "Zijin."

"It's Old Master Cai," Qin Feng hurriedly stood up, seeing Xiaolan behind him, he secretly winked at her.

Xiaolan's face turned red, and she puffed up in anger, saying, "Master, Qin Feng is slacking off."

Cai Yong came to ask for help with arithmetic formulas, and felt somewhat awkward upon hearing this. If it were a regular maid, he would have scolded her long ago. However, Xiaolan had grown up with Cai Yan, almost like a daughter to him. He could only say, "Xiaolan, do you have any evidence that Mr. Qin is slacking off?"

Xiaolan quickly went over and flipped open a recent ledger, saying, "Of course I do. Master, look, the accounts for these few days haven't been organized and filed. What else could it be if not slacking off?" She had been secretly suffering at Qin Feng's hands, and now that she saw an opportunity to get back at him, she looked at him with a gleeful eye.

"Oh!" Cai Yong saw that the accounts indeed hadn't been organized and filed, and it would be quite troublesome to accumulate so much.

Qin Feng smiled slightly and took the ledger. On the first page was a record: on the 20th, the household bought 100 dou of rice; 21 dou were spent the day before yesterday, and 18 dou were spent yesterday. This was simple for him. He picked up a pen, wrote 100 on top, 21 below, and then 18 below that. "Hmm, borrow one to make ten, hmm, the remaining stock is 61 dou." It took him only a moment to calculate the result.

The other accounts were similar, just with different items like vegetables and alcohol. In less than half the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Qin Feng had clearly calculated the current stock of dozens of items. To him, if it were business accounts, it might be a bit challenging, but household accounts were not difficult at all.

Cai Yong and Xiaolan were dumbfounded.

"Mr. Qin is indeed a master of arithmetic. It's been many years since I've seen Master so surprised by something," a servant whispered to a companion.

"Cough, cough, Xiaolan, you can go back now. And you, all of you, go down first," Cai Yong said.

Qin Feng winked at Xiaolan, who stomped her foot and left in a huff.

"Mr. Qin, I spent the whole night studying your vertical multiplication and division method. I only managed to figure out the single digits, but I'm still unclear about the tens and hundreds. I came to ask for your guidance..." Cai Yong, seeing no one else in the room, said. He never thought he would have to ask a young man for help at his age, and his face turned slightly red.

Qin Feng thought Cai Yong was really there to check on him, but it turned out he was here for this. Ancient people, truly ancient, with rigid and inflexible minds. He took out a piece of paper and taught Cai Yong the detailed vertical calculation format for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division again, "Remember? Even for thousands and ten thousands, it's the same. Practice makes perfect, just practice more when you get back."

"Yes, old...!" Cai Yong's face turned red as he spoke, and he hurriedly took the paper and left. Today was truly embarrassing. He, Cai Yong, a master, was always respected wherever he went, but he almost called Qin Feng "teacher" just now. Embarrassing, he should avoid Qin Feng in the future.

Qin Feng, seeing such a great scholar as Cai Yong come to seek his help, felt quite pleased. His confidence boosted, he thought about working hard and striving for a career in government, which was not entirely out of reach.

...

"Dead Qin Feng, stinky Qin Feng." At this moment, Xiaolan returned to her young mistress's room in a huff.

Cai Yan was tuning her qin in the room. Seeing her come in, she said, "Xiaolan, who made you angry?"

"It's all because of you, Miss, making me suffer at Qin Feng's hands again, no, twice." Xiaolan's face instantly turned red, and she felt a tingling sensation in her chest, saying, "I went to see Qin Zijin..."

Cai Yan, seeing that she really went to see Qin Feng, knew the outcome and quickly put down her qin, saying, "Oh, what happened afterward..."

"Not telling you!"

"You naughty girl."

"Alright, stop tickling, I'll tell you. Mr. Qin, he's amazing. He just listed a few numbers, and in less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, he clearly calculated the accounts for over ten days..." Xiaolan, for some reason, started to speak well of Qin Feng.

"Mr. Qin indeed has extraordinary talent..." Cai Yan recalled the first time she met Qin Feng and the music he played, becoming even more curious about him.

Two days passed quickly. On this day, Qin Feng was bored and thinking about Cai Yan, so he wandered to the inner courtyard. The pleasant sound of the qin came from a flower bed, and he saw Cai Yan practicing in a small pavilion.

As the saying goes, to win a girl's heart, one must have a thick skin. Qin Feng walked out and bowed, saying, "I apologize for the intrusion."

"Oh, it's Mr. Qin." Cai Yan quickly stood up to greet him.

"Hmph!" Xiaolan, seeing him walk over, turned her head away.

"Miss Wenji, hello." Qin Feng smoothly walked in and said politely.

"Mr. Qin, your 'Xiao Xiang Shui Yun' is so beautiful. Could you teach it to Cai Yan?" Cai Yan said shyly, her face turning red. She wasn't sure if Qin Feng would teach her such a unique piece of music.

"I would be honored. Miss, you are naturally beautiful, and playing this piece from your fingers would be a great honor for the music." Qin Feng was truly honored, as it would give him a legitimate reason to visit Cai Yan. A good teacher and friend, perhaps even more.

"Mr. Qin." Cai Yan bowed. Xiaolan, seeing her young mistress bow to Qin Feng as a disciple, pouted her lips high.

"Miss, you are too polite." This was a rare opportunity, and Qin Feng walked over and sat down. He didn't really know how to teach, so he had to improvise, explaining each note to Cai Yan. To his surprise, Cai Yan was very intelligent and understood after one explanation, and could play it simply after two.

Qin Feng, finding it easy to teach, began to explain more advanced techniques for better sound quality, such as yin and rou, which he had summarized from the future. Although he couldn't perform these techniques perfectly himself, theoretically, he was a thousand years ahead.

Cai Yan, who would become a great qin master, already had her skills at a high level. When she compared her previous techniques with the ones Qin Feng adjusted, she felt that her previous methods were barely satisfactory and couldn't compare to Qin Feng's adjusted methods.

Mr. Qin is indeed remarkable, to know such profound techniques. What kind of person is he?

Teaching and learning complemented each other. These techniques couldn't be learned in a short time, so Qin Feng came every day to teach Cai Yan modern qin techniques. Each meeting was polite and proper, and they gradually became familiar with each other.

After becoming familiar, Qin Feng would tell Cai Yan some interesting stories from the future while playing the qin. This often made her and Xiaolan laugh, and Xiaolan gradually stopped being hostile towards Qin Feng. She focused on her role as a matchmaker, subtly bringing the two together.

With a thousand years of knowledge, Qin Feng had something new to share every day. Cai Yan found it interesting, and every morning she looked forward to his appearance. Gradually, in her eyes, Qin Feng became a man who knew astronomy and geography, was skilled in qin and arithmetic, and could write strange characters (hard pen calligraphy, hehe).

At some point, Cai Yan's image of Qin Feng grew taller and more impressive in her heart.

One day, after Qin Feng and Cai Yan played a piece of qin music, they chatted.

"Mr. Qin, Miss, are you still here? The literary gathering in the front garden is about to start," Xiaolan said as she came in.

"Mr. Qin, you should go quickly. My father rarely holds a literary gathering, and many scholars will be there. It's a rare opportunity," Cai Yan said tactfully. She knew Qin Feng was talented and wanted him to seize this opportunity.

"Alright, I'll go and take a look." Qin Feng said, bowed, and walked out. He thought to himself, "Cai's literary gathering, I wonder who else will be there."

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