CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33: THE DISCOVERY OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT BOOK

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

As they walked back, they encountered many children watching the excitement, all shouting "Teacher Lin, Teacher Lin."

Xiao Chong asked casually, feeling good, "Is Madam Lin still a teacher?"

Lin Wanwan replied, "That’s right. After I came down from the mountain, I settled in the clan. My learning had to be put to some use, so I set up a clan school here to teach the children of our family to recognize a few words and understand some manners."

"How considerate of you," Xiao Chong praised lightly.

Shu Qi secretly complained in his heart that teaching literacy was fine, but teaching manners might not be so. This Madam Lin kept calling the young master ’sir’ all the way, which was quite amusing.

In the Tang Dynasty, calling one’s father ’sir’ was the norm, but calling an official usually involved using their surname and position. Lin Wanwan, influenced by modern costume dramas, didn’t realize she had made a faux pas.

Xiao Chong had already noticed the tall wall on the eastern side of the village and raised his chin lightly, "Is that where the clan school is?"

"Yes, just there."

At this moment, little Qingyu woke up, resting her little head obediently on Lin Wanwan’s shoulder, curiously looking at the handsome young gentleman beside her.

Xiao Chong gave the little one a gentle smile, but unexpectedly, the little one, unmoved by good looks, directly turned her head away, leaving Xiao Chong with her round little head.

It was the first time Xiao Chong encountered such indifference, and he couldn’t help but touch his nose awkwardly.

As they stepped up the stairs and crossed the threshold, everything inside the courtyard came into view. Shu Qi was once again amazed, "This school actually has glass embedded in it! And the colors are so transparent! Good heavens, how much did this cost?"

The Clan Leader of the Lin Clan took pride in this, as it was the school of the Lin Family Manor.

In the Great Tang, there was glass, but it was called ’liuli’ instead, and it wouldn’t be called glass until the Jin and Yuan periods.

Lin Wanwan sometimes paid attention to the terminology, but sometimes she directly called it glass. Therefore, the mud-booted fishermen of the Lin Family Manor, seeing glass for the first time, naturally followed suit and called it glass.

However, the knowledge of the Xiao family’s retinue was evidently superior to everyone in the Lin Family Manor, as they identified it as ’liuli’ at first glance.

This wasn’t surprising, after all, the ancestors of the Xiao family were emperors and crown princes. Such aristocratic families, with a deep foundation, naturally had capable personal attendants.

Lin Wanwan chose window glass that wasn’t purely transparent but had a hint of blue. Inside, one could see outside clearly, but from the outside, it was like looking into a mirror, the stronger the light, the more evident the effect.

People in the clan now loved coming to the school to use the free mirror because copper mirrors were expensive, and very few women in the entire clan could afford one.

Shu Qi, struck by the glass on the school windows, restrained her previous disregard for Lin Wanwan. This person must also be from an aristocratic family, hiding here, otherwise, how could she afford all this?

But Xiao Chong didn’t care much for these external possessions; he didn’t spare any extra attention to the glass.

However, when he opened the Three Character Classic on the children’s desks, he couldn’t help but be moved and softly recited, "At the beginning of man, nature is inherently good. Nature is similar, but habits are distant... What a wonderful primer!"

After a brief perusal, Xiao Chong sighed, "Madam Lin, who wrote this book?"

Lin Wanwan was particularly unaccustomed to others calling her Madam Lin, after enduring it a few times, she opened her mouth, "Master Xiao, you can call me Madam Wan, or Teacher Lin, as my clan members do."

Xiao Chong: "...Alright."

Lin Wanwan continued, "This book, like the Thousand Character Classic, was taught to me by my teacher, but I don’t know who the author is, I never asked."

Xiao Chong said, "This book is excellent, integrating the classics, history, philosophy, astronomy, geography, ancient sages and philosophers, literature, and history into one, written in a concise, catchy, easy-to-remember style, perfect for enlightenment. It should be promoted."

Lin Wanwan said, "Yes, this book is indeed suitable for enlightenment."

"I wonder if Teacher Lin would be willing to have it printed by a bookstore?"

Bookstore printing in the Tang Dynasty was commercial publishing, unrelated to the government.

Lin Wanwan laughed, "Of course, I would love to! But I don’t know whom to seek for printing, so please do help me, sir."

Xiao Chong touched his nose and said, "The Xiao family does have a bookstore, I’ll have someone notify the shopkeeper to discuss the follow-up with you. Given that Teacher Lin has both high-yield grain and excellent enlightenment books, I’ll definitely report your contributions to the court."

Lin Wanwan had been waiting for these words, as they practically granted her official recognition from the Tang Dynasty, so she happily said, "Thank you, Master Xiao!"

Xiao Chong smiled broadly, "Teacher Lin doesn’t mind if I jot this down in advance, do you?"

Lin Wanwan generously waved her hand, "Copy it as you like! This is for you."

With that, she took the Three Character Classic from her desk and handed it to Xiao Chong, who said calmly, "No need, books are precious; keep them for the children. I’ve already memorized it."

Instant memorization, oh my! No wonder he’s a descendant of the great Xiao Tong!

"...Alright." Lin Wanwan appeared calm on the surface, but internally she was quite shocked.

Back in her study days, it was always frustrating to compete for scholarships against academic prodigies. Some people are more talented than you and work just as hard; isn’t it tiring to compete with them?

As the sun set, Kun Lun drove the carriage to take Xiao Chong and his attendant Shu Qi back to the County Government.

Even though Xiao Chong declined to be seen off, saying he could walk back, Lin Wanwan insisted as it was a great opportunity to build a good relationship with the County Magistrate, and she couldn’t let it go!

That night, Lin Wanwan returned to the modern era, firstly to collect the custom cotton and linen ancient-style school uniforms, and secondly to deliver the seafood she had been collecting over the days to Xie Yuting. He was a famous chef, knowledgeable and generous, and she had already established a stable partnership with him.

Nowadays, the fish caught by the clan are all first chosen by Lin Wanwan. She offers a fair price, doesn’t rip them off like the merchants in the outer restaurants, and the clan doesn’t have to spend time and effort delivering them, making her the best choice.

Aside from these two tasks, she also replied to some unanswered WeChat messages to prove she was doing well.

"I need to find a way to have some freelance job in the modern era as a cover," Lin Wanwan said to herself as she took a taxi back to the villa after delivering seafood, unwrapped the courier boxes, threw them away, then sat in front of the computer to search for Xiao Chong’s information.

Indeed, among historical figures, there was one with the same name, but it wasn’t the one she knew. She also looked up descendants of Xiao Tong, but couldn’t find any traces of him either.

"Hmm, such an influential figure, yet history left no record?" Lin Wanwan sent a WeChat message to Lu Shouyue, asking him to help investigate someone.

Lu Shouyue was an expert in archaeology and history; surely he has more detailed records on Xiao family’s descendants. Truly good information is gated, stored in university libraries.

When Lu Shouyue saw the message and tried calling back, she was out of service, so he put down the phone, pondered for a moment, and chuckled, "Interesting."

Today, having met the first official since coming to the Tang Dynasty, and a descendant of a prestigious family at that, Lin Wanwan was quite excited. It was as if she was witnessing history—the fact that he was handsome and outstanding was also one of the reasons.