Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 798: The Best Supporting Actor
There was only the rustling sound of writing in the Jiuzhang Hall. When Zhang Dakua looked out the door, he found that no one looked back, which was very different from the situation in his own Banshan Hall. So, although he still didn't have much good feelings for Ji Jiu, he couldn't help but secretly admire the quality of the students here.
There was no way those brats in Banshan Hall would be so obedient under his control... He was not Zhang Chen, nor Zhu Er. He did not have that kind of family background, let alone the capital to be so rude!
So he came here now, just to get someone to watch the fun with him, so that when he went back to the hall to peek and was caught, there would be no one to scold him. So, he stood there again and again but no one paid attention to him, so he had to cough softly. However, there was still no response, so he coughed a few more times and finally got scolded.
"What are you coughing about? You're not an old man!" Ji Jiu stood up and strode out unhappily, laughing directly, "Why, are you looking for a scapegoat to go with you to the teacher to get information? If you have the guts, go by yourself, why drag others along!"
Zhang Dakuo had always been at odds with Ji Jiu, and when someone told him his intention, he was immediately furious. But he turned around and took two steps when he heard Ji Jiu's unhurried voice from behind: "You are the head of the dormitory after all, why don't you just say that you have something to ask the teacher? You insist on dragging others with you, you are too timid, the teacher won't eat you!"
Too lazy to pay attention to the guy behind him, Zhang Daku simply walked forward without looking back. When he arrived outside the school hall, he instinctively looked around to see if Ah Liu was there. However, he could not find anyone for a long time. Instead, Ji Jiu who was following behind him mocked him in a low voice: "Isn't our little mistress busy with the admissions interviews at the girls' school these days? Of course, Brother Liu has to go over to take care of her."
Seeing that Zhang Dakuai still didn't seem to believe it, Ji Jiu said earnestly: "Don't worry, Sixth Brother is really not here. Even if he is here, he will let us go if we explain it clearly."
Zhang Daku was about to retort, but he saw Ji Jiu sneaking to the door and listening, even peeking inside through the gap in the door curtain. He was immediately stunned by the shamelessness of this guy. However, the next moment, he couldn't help it and simply occupied the gap on the other side of the door. But after staring for a long time, he found that the two people in the room didn't even change their posture.
Zhang Shou was sitting on the armchair behind the desk, writing something with his head down, while the blond boy was sitting on a chair beside him, flipping through the book in his hand intently while scratching his head as if he couldn't understand it. Both of them were concentrating , as if they didn't notice them spying outside.
Facing such a scene, Ji Jiu, who was always cunning , could still hold back, but Zhang Daku, who was impatient to begin with, how could he hold back? He stood at the door and stared for a long time without blinking, and felt his legs, neck, and eyes were sore. He was not paying attention and used a little more force on his hand that was clinging to the wall, and the result was...
Of course, it was impossible to break a piece of the wall off. On the contrary, he lost his balance and fell directly towards the door curtain. Ji Jiu, who was standing by, was stunned and subconsciously reached out to grab a handful of it. As a result, he failed to hold the big guy and was even dragged down with him.
So, when Zhang Shou inside heard the noise and looked up, he saw two people rolling in from outside the door, breaking through the door curtain. He didn't even need to think about it to understand what was going on.
Not only did they fail to eavesdrop, but they also fell down and got themselves into such an embarrassing state. They are simply two funny guys!
After Ji Jiu fell in with Zhang the big guy, he realized what had happened. To say he was ashamed and angry was an understatement. He even wanted to kill someone. He was eavesdropping outside the door, but this big guy could actually make such a farce. It was simply too embarrassing!
He stood up, lowered his head and stammered. As a result, the big guy who had caused him to fall into this embarrassing situation actually said confidently after getting up: "Teacher, you are in the same room with this guy, and Sixth Brother is not here. We are really worried about you! This golden monkey is weird, God knows if it will hurt you!"
No one will think you are dumb if you don't speak!
Ji Jiu felt a splitting headache. Just when he wanted to explain that he did not have the same idea as Zhang Shou, he heard Zhang Shou laugh, "Just because his skin and hair are different, you call him a golden-haired monkey. Where is your composure as a son of an earl of a great country? Besides, you have been peeping at the door for so long, didn't you see that he was reading a book honestly?"
The blond boy on the chair couldn't help but raise his head and glared when he heard the golden monkey. He had learned a lot of basic conversations on the ship and also found out a little about the official system, but what he learned the most were the dirty words that the sailors used to curse at each other...
That is to say, the captain later decided to send him to Beijing, so he urgently found a young and smart scholar to teach him etiquette and speaking. Otherwise, as soon as he opened his mouth, the colorful curses would make the young man in front of him furious.
But when he heard Zhang Shou seemed to be blaming the other party, he immediately lowered his head. Even when he heard that the other person was the earl's son, he didn't care too much.
While on the ship, after some inquiries and cramming, he had compared the officials here with the situation in Florence - although he finally concluded that they were incomparable, because this Eastern country had a vast territory and a large population, and even if Florence included the cities it later occupied, such as Pisa, and those enclaves, it was still far behind.
Therefore, the earls, marquises, grand dukes and other nobles on his side were probably a world apart from the nobles here... Anyway, he was alone here and couldn't afford to offend anyone, let alone this so-called earl's son.
Since he couldn't afford to offend anyone, he just had to listen to the scholar Zhang in front of him. As long as others were willing to protect him, what did it matter if others cursed him? Would it hinder him from reading? Archimedes was still calculating math problems when the Roman army invaded. Now the butcher's knife hasn't fallen on his neck yet, why should he be in a hurry!
Although he had been reading the book for so long, his biggest regret was that he had not thought of a way to master Latin earlier! You know, Latin has always been known as the source of many languages, but after all, it is quite different from Italian and Tuscan, which he is proficient in.
But such a difference is controllable, he has enough confidence! Self-study is nothing, he has been self-taught since he was a child!
The blond boy looked calm and unconcerned with other people's criticisms. Adding to Zhang Shou's rebuke, Zhang Shou suddenly felt that his punch had hit cotton. He even forgot the purpose of coming here to find out. Fortunately, he was not alone. He was followed by Ji Jiu, who had a complicated mind.
"Teacher, I just came to ask. Didn't Eunuch Chen say that these books should be translated? Even if this young man from a foreign country can really understand it, he has a limited grasp of our language. We still need to contribute, right? I am here on behalf of the students of Jiuzhang Hall to ask if there is anything we can do."
Although Ji Jiu wanted to hide as far away as possible when he first saw this pile of heavenly books, he was much more cunning than Zhang Dagu, and he came up with such a legitimate reason without thinking twice.
However, he thought that he could get away with such a grand excuse, but Zhang Shou didn't say anything, and a sneer came from the side. He looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that the strange-looking blond boy was looking at him with a sneer on his face: "My Lord, are you sure you understand it?"
If Zhang was a big guy, he would definitely be furious at the irony of this, but Ji Jiu knew what it meant to not be too sure. Therefore, he did not show any anger on his face, but smiled at the other party.
"I am not the son of an earl, you are mistaken. I am just an ordinary student of the teacher, and I have only learned the basics of the arithmetic. Of course, I dare not claim that I can understand these arithmetic texts written in foreign languages. However, the teacher has more than one student. There are also many talented people in Jiuzhang Hall. Senior Brother Qi and Senior Brother Lu are extremely talented, and many others have used what they have learned in various fields. The most important thing is..."
Ji Jiu saw that the blond boy was frowning, so he didn't care whether the boy could understand or not, and said to himself: "The most important thing is that we are all willing to do our best to promote Ge's mathematics, even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the palace!"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" The blond boy finally couldn't help but stood up, his brows twisted into a knot, "What is Jiuzhangtang? What is Ge's Mathematics? And, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? Is it Principe ereditario?"
Although he had learned a lot of common sense during the nearly one year on the ship and on land, it was obvious that for a foreign teenager who grew up in a small town and had seen the life of ordinary aristocrats, it didn't matter that he hadn't fully mastered the language, but he couldn't understand many idioms that others said for granted, which was a fatal problem.
At this moment, a word burst out instinctively. When the blond boy saw the two people who had just broken in looking at him with extremely strange eyes, he suddenly realized that what he said was also incomprehensible to them.
However, if there were other fellow countrymen in this huge country, it would be fine, but since he entered the country, he had never met anyone with the same hair color as him. Therefore, he did not think that it was a big deal that he could speak a little of their language while they did not understand his language. He only felt unusual frustration.
He had heard the legend of the Eastern country since he was very young. It was said that there was gold everywhere, milk flowing in the rivers, and honey on the trees. However, since the journey was too long, almost no merchant ships could reach there. It was also said that the powerful army there would throw everyone who arrived into a dark jail. But some people said that the Eastern country was simply fake, and the Eastern merchant ships were also fake.
But this time he found that the black-haired and black-eyed Orientals on those boats were almost as mysterious and powerful as each other. His father paid a tragic price and added a good topic of conversation to the legend of the East. Now, he has stood on the land of the East, but he can only hear about it, and he is still unfamiliar with it. The most important thing is that he can't recognize their words at all!
When he first saw those square-like words, he felt like he had come to another world!
Therefore, calming himself down, the blond boy immediately explained: "In our place, the word is prince... But, I'm curious, does your prince also read this kind of book?"
"Of course!" Seeing that he had aroused the other party's curiosity, Ji Jiu glanced at the big guy proudly, as if to say, you see, I am still the best, and then he coughed lightly and said, "Our Crown Prince is diligent and studious, and he is also a student of Master Zhang. He is very talented in mathematics..."
Without even thinking about it, Ji Jiu burst out a long string of words praising the Third Prince, so that Zhang Dakuo couldn't help but look at him sideways, as if scolding, you flatterer. But what kind of face is he? He didn't care about Zhang Dakuo's cold eyes at all, and spoke a lot, not caring whether others could understand him.
Zhang Shou did not interrupt, but just sat there with a smile, looking at the blond boy who was obviously confused by Ji Jiu's speed of speech. He knew everything about the European royal families and nobles in those days, even though he didn't need to say it.
Proficient in languages and heraldry, very interested in literature, art and poetry, and willing to support science and art? Ugh... The curtain of the Renaissance has just been opened not long ago, and the darkness of the Middle Ages has not completely passed. Where did so many elegant nobles come from? Moreover, the Age of Exploration has not yet begun, and the gold and silver from the Americas have not been shipped back. Only a small group of people are rich!
Many royal families and nobles have no surplus food, so where do they get elegance and knowledge? There are far more nobles who are unlearned than those who are educated!
Therefore, when Ji Jiu finished speaking, Zhang Shou casually mentioned the Third Prince's schedule and course schedule. This time, the blond boy's shocked expression could no longer be concealed.
The courses Zhang Shou mentioned did not have any particularly profound terms, such as agricultural science, gardening, shipping, etc. He could roughly understand what they meant even by guessing, which was very impressive. As for the words "classics and history", although he did not understand them very well, seeing that Zhang Shou put them first, he guessed that they were history and literature, and he could barely pass them.
Finally, Zhang Shou finally explained what the Jiuzhang Hall that someone had just asked about was: "Your Highness the Crown Prince was once a student of Jiuzhang Hall. As for Jiuzhang Hall, it is where I teach students Ge's mathematics. Ge's mathematics is a mathematics system created by my teacher, Master Ge, combining Chinese and foreign mathematical classics, and the things in these books are also included."
What was taught in Jiuzhang Hall was actually what he was trying his best to understand now!
So, the blond boy immediately dropped the book he was just reluctant to put down, and subconsciously rushed towards Zhang Shou, but he was still a little slow, because the big guy he had ridiculed before actually dodged and blocked in front of Zhang Shou, looking at him as if he was an assassin. Fortunately, he reacted very quickly and shouted out his feelings.
"I also want to attend the Jiuzhang Hall!"
