Chapter 22
The Scholar in White
The little girl was dressed in ordinary clothes. The clothes on her body were rather oversized, and the sleeves were very long. She had rolled them up a few times, but they still reached her wrist.
Children of ordinary families had to buy bigger clothes.
Children grew up very quickly. If they bought bigger clothes, they did not have to spend more money to change them.
In the Great Chu Country, it was very common for such a young child to help his parents.
Although the Great Chu Country advocated studying, not many ordinary families sent their children to study.
At most, they would study in a private school. Even that was already considered cultured.
When Great Chu started advocating studying, many commoners had excitedly spent a large amount of money to send their children to study. In the end, they realized that this line of work was very competitive.
After spending money and failing to make it, they ended up still doing what they had to do. Few people continued to keep at it.
As time passed, other than a small number of commoners, most of them gave up.
This was also related to the strength of the Great Chu Country.
The Great Chu had just been pacified, and the Emperor was quite ambitious. He wanted to develop in various places, but in the end, some flaws appeared.
Of course, there were still many scholars, but not so in a remote county like Sheng County.
For example, Nanhua Dao, the holy land of scholars, had the most scholars and was also a popular place for Confucianism.
When Xu Bai saw the little girl walking over, he couldn’t help but pat her head.
Cuteness could be eaten by both men and women, old and young.
Especially when he saw the little girl’s cute big eyes, Xu Bai’s masculine heart instantly exploded.
“Big brother, what do you want to eat?” This was the first time the little girl had encountered such a situation. She timidly took a step back and stammered.
This big brother was very good-looking, but he had a very fierce aura.
She had never faced such a big scene before. It was already not bad for her to be able to say a complete sentence.
“Two buns and a bowl of plain porridge.” Xu Bai smiled.
“Big brother, wait a moment.” The little girl nodded vigorously and skipped away.
Xu Bai smiled again as he watched the little girl leave.
What could be more delightful than a bouncing little girl?
Early in the morning, Xu Bai’s mood improved.
Not long after, the little girl brought the buns and porridge to the table.
Xu Bai patted the little girl’s head again before digging in.
He finished the meal quickly. He still had to rush back to comprehend the progress bar.
By the time he had finished eating and paid the bill, there were already many people at the stall.
Xu Bai rubbed his stomach. His appetite had been satiated. It was time to work hard.
However, after taking two steps, he stopped and looked in a certain direction.
A woman in white walked out from the end of the street and came to the stall.
“Two buns, takeaway.”
The woman’s face was covered by a white veil, so her face could not be seen clearly.
But the voice was pleasant.
Xu Bai only took a glance and was about to turn around and leave.
He was deliberating in his mind.
The woman’s white clothes were not cheap.
Those who could wear silk were considered well-off.
Especially since the woman had an emerald jade pendant hanging from her waist. It looked very expensive.
“Sister Liu, you’re back.” The little girl jumped over excitedly.
The woman surnamed Liu patted the little girl’s head and smiled. “It’s the holidays. Of course I have to come back and take a look. Xiao Yue’er, you’ve grown up a lot.”
Xiao Yue pouted, “Sister Liu went to Nanhua Dao for two years. Of course, Xiao Yue grew taller. Kids grow fast.”
As she spoke, Xiao Yue held Liu Xu’s hand, the happiness on her face never fading.
Hearing their conversation, Xu Bai left silently.
Along the way, he did not stop anywhere else and went straight home.
“Nanhua Dao, scholars, Confucianism?”
His predecessor still had memories of scholars.
The scholars in this world were not weak.
On the contrary, scholars focused on gods. By cultivating a mouthful of Great Qi, they could exorcise and slay evil.
The so-called Great Qi was not a martial artist’s Genuine Qi, but was activated by the gods.
It was more like an aura than a substantial Genuine Qi.
“There are people from the Nanhua Dao in such a small county.” Xu Bai stroked his chin.
Although the Dao was the last in the Jingzhou Prefecture of the Great Yue Country, the Nanhua Dao was more famous than some prefectures. After all, it was the birthplace of scholars and the holy land of today.
It could be said that in Nanhua Dao, you could randomly throw a brick and it would hit a scholar. From this, it could be seen how many scholars there were.
“Forget it for now.” Xu Bai thought for a moment and took out the manual he had obtained from Tie Suanxian. “Accumulating progress bars is more important.”
The matter of scholars had nothing to do with him. Thinking too much would only add to his worries. He might as well continue working hard.
Lying on the bed, Xu Bai silently flipped through the manual.
…
The next day.
Xu Bai returned to the routine of his old life.
Every day, he ate, accumulated the progress bar, and slept.
After waking up the next day, he ate and worked on the progress bar before sleeping.
Originally, he wanted to spend a few days without sleep to complete the progress bar.
However, the appearance of the woman in white made him wary.
No matter what, he had to ensure that he was in a good state. He had to ensure that he did not lose out on anything.
To him, not sleeping for a few days was at most a little exhausting, but even a trace of exhaustion could easily become fatal.
The slightest negligence may lead to a great disaster. Xu Bai didn’t want anything to happen to him because of exhaustion.
He was still working as hard as usual. Other than eating during the day, he worked on the progress bar.
What was worth mentioning was that he went to the steamed buns stall to eat every day and became familiar with the little girl called Xiao Yue.
The first time he touched Xiao Yue’s head, Xiao Yue was a little scared, but as time passed, Xiao Yue did not resist at all.
The little girl was still young. She was around six or seven years old, which was the age of innocence. Compared to some people who claimed to be inexperienced in the world, Xiao Yue was the one who was truly inexperienced.
To Xiao Yue, a good-looking big brother was definitely not a bad person.
Moreover, when the big brother touched her head, it was so warm.
Of course, Xu Bai didn’t know about this. Otherwise, he would have taught Xiao Yue a lesson.
Today, Xu Bai came to the stall to eat as usual.
“Big brother, your buns and porridge.” Xiao Yue placed the buns on the table, her face full of joy.
Ever since they became familiar with each other, Xiao Yue was no longer as shy as before. Moreover, she understood Xu Bai’s routine. Every time, before Xu Bai could say anything, she would bring two buns and a bowl of porridge.
She was just a girl from a poor family, but the big brother was so close to her. Xiao Yue could not help but feel happy.
After placing the items on the table, Xiao Yue did not leave.
She raised her head, stood on her tiptoes, and closed her eyes.
She looked like a child waiting for an adult to praise him.
Xu Bai reached out and patted Xiao Yue’s head, “Xiao Yue is so well-behaved.”
After receiving her daily praise, Xiao Yue skipped away.
Xu Bai began to eat. As he ate, he did not forget to look around.
The woman in white surnamed Liu was not around. He had not seen her since the last time they met.
Of course, Xu Bai was only curious.
Whether she was there or not had nothing to do with him.
After finishing his meal and paying the bill, Xu Bai left the bun stall.
Today, he could finish perusing Tie Suanxian’s manual.