Chapter 3
Before long, word spread through little Wushui County that the Jiang family’s eldest legitimate son was a prodigy.
After teaching me the Three Character Classic in five days, Grandfather began taking me everywhere to show me off.
“My grandson learned the Three Character Classic in five days!
“What? You don’t believe me? Test him, then! If he can’t answer, I’ll call you Grandpa!”
“…”
And so a queue of old men hoping to become my grandfather’s grandfather formed to quiz me.
They were destined to be disappointed.
Not only could I recite it, I could do so fluently. Whatever line they gave me, I supplied the next without hesitation.
My reputation as a prodigy grew still further.
One day, after teaching me to recognize characters and finding that I learned at astonishing speed, Grandfather couldn’t resist taking me out to boast again.
At the gathering, an old scholar with the lowest degree could no longer bear his smugness and sneered.
“You’ve barely begun, and already you call him a prodigy. Don’t you know there is always someone better?”
He brought over a four-year-old boy and pointed him out to Grandfather.
“This is my finest pupil. He’s every bit as good as your grandson. Dare you put them to the test?”
Grandfather naturally refused to back down and loudly accepted.
That was my first meeting with Jiang Mian.
He certainly lived up to his role as the male lead.
Only four, and already showing signs of a calm, unassuming disposition.
But he still had a long way to go against a soul from the modern world.
Of course, I won.
The old scholar even asked questions from the Thousand Character Classic, and I answered those fluently too.
Grandfather forgot his quarrel with the scholar and turned to me in delighted surprise.
“I haven’t taught you the Thousand Character Classic yet. How did you know the answers?”
Unruffled by praise or criticism, I smiled.
“You have business to attend to. When you’re busy, I read by myself. After a while, I remember it.”
A murmur swept the gathering.
An unreadable gaze settled on me from a distance.
Across a table, I nodded to Jiang Mian.
His expression was ugly.
Understandably. Only four, and already the best among his peers.
His birth might be shameful, but Father gave him plenty of money. Everyone around him fawned over him.
One setback at my hands, and he could barely hide his displeasure.
He had no idea this was only the beginning.
From that day on, people were forever comparing us.
What he had read, what characters I had learned—these became regular topics of conversation among the scholars.
Grandfather heard plenty of it too.
Thanks to me, he now thoroughly disliked Jiang Mian.
“I hear that boy’s mother is a kept mistress, with a dubious background. Hmph! An illegitimate child, that’s all he is. Two years older than you, and he has the nerve to be compared with you?
“My grandson is the God of Literature reborn! One day, he’ll be the top palace graduate!”
I brewed tea at leisure and gave him a mild glance.
What would he think if he knew that the disgraceful bastard he spoke of was the grandson he had cherished in the original novel?
Four years of comparisons passed without either of us being declared the better.
I was six now, old enough to attend school.
During those four years, Grandfather had realized he could teach me no more and searched everywhere for a tutor.
No one he found satisfied him.
As he put it, I was the God of Literature, a future top graduate. How could an ordinary tutor be qualified to teach me?
He’d only ruin my prospects!
Before we found a tutor for me, Jiang Mian found one for himself.
His new teacher was a pupil of the county magistrate, a man surnamed Fang who had passed the provincial examination at just twenty-five.
He met Jiang Mian by chance, was delighted by his promise, and immediately accepted him as a pupil.
He was now preparing for the metropolitan examination and, barring anything unforeseen, ought to pass.
The banquet celebrating their apprenticeship was held at the magistrate’s residence.
As Wushui’s foremost merchant, Grandfather naturally attended with me.
Jiang Mian, in a sky-blue robe, stood beside his new teacher. Like two upright pines, they drew envious looks from everyone.
Several guests recognized me.
With a sour edge to their voices, they said:
“There’s no one in all Wushui more accomplished than Graduate Fang!
“You two used to be evenly matched, but now Jiang Mian has Master Fang to teach him. He’ll leave you far behind.
“If you ask me, Old Jiang, you should prepare some generous gifts and take your grandson to visit Graduate Fang. Beg him to accept your boy as well.”
Jiang Mian happened to overhear.
His mother had been whispering in Father’s ear for days. Once he passed the entry-level examinations, it would only be a matter of time before he entered the Jiang genealogy.
And now he had Graduate Fang as his teacher. Flushed with success, he looked at me with considerably more arrogance.
“My teacher says he will take only one pupil in his lifetime. Me.”
The guests were astonished.
His final pupil, and his only one! The boy must be truly gifted, and dearly valued by Graduate Fang.
Grandfather was so angry that he stopped drinking and declared he’d find me a teacher a hundred times better.
His search continued into the second month.
Still no teacher—but the county examination was about to begin.