Chapter 256

When Xiao Qi woke up, the sky was already pitch black.

She had slept for a whole afternoon.

When she woke up, her whole body ached and she didn't even want to move.

This was normal given how extremely she had overexerted herself physically.

Her stomach was also very hungry.

But she still didn't feel like going to eat.

She opened her eyes. The dormitory was dark and the street lamps outside the window twinkled, looking somewhat like scattered stars.

After being in a daze for a while, Xiao Qi finally regained her senses.

She had participated in a marathon race and won. She broke the record and was about to receive a prize of over one million yuan. Even after deducting 20% in taxes, there would still be over nine hundred thousand left.

This was money she could legitimately take out and openly give to her parents.

Despite the aches all over her body, she also felt extremely carefree and refreshed. She lay spread-eagled on the bed.

She quietly looked up at the dark ceiling. There wasn't much to see but she still felt it looked nice.

After a while, she suddenly remembered that she still had a little follower who was missing.

She hurriedly picked up her phone.

She discovered there were actually several missed calls. She hadn't heard any of them at all, probably because she had been sleeping too soundly. They were calls from her dormmates.

Honey was the earliest, followed by Wei Cheng, and then Yun Shu, as well as the class monitor...

Her student Liang Jiajia had sent her a WeChat message, saying she had gone out to eat with Lu Chao and would buy food for her.

Lu Chao wanted to thank the little girl for the TikTok video she had forwarded and so he offered to treat her to a meal. As a member of the impoverished class, Lu Chao didn't expect that the one he was treating was actually a little rich girl. The little rich girl ordered very extravagantly. Lu Chao looked repeatedly at the balance of his living expenses, wondering if he had enough and if he would have to borrow some money from his classmates first. He wondered if he would have to eat dirt after this meal. In the end, it turned out that the little girl had paid the bill herself.

She said it was to thank him for helping carry things and looking after her teacher.

She said she was not very sensible and usually acted very casual in front of Teacher Xiao Qi. Whenever her teacher bought her meals or fruit, she never offered to pay. Jiajia probably was quite used to her teacher paying, including the previous time when she had treated her teacher to a meal in Lüshan City and her teacher had ended up paying.

Although the teacher was her private tutor and did some part-time work, Jiajia felt that her teacher didn't seem short on money and was very generous whenever spending money, quite similar to her own mother, and also very close.

But Brother Lu Chao was not very familiar and moreover seemed to be in financial difficulties, so Liang Jiajia had paid the bill.

It was probably just an intuition.

On the contrary, this left Lu Chao feeling rather embarrassed that a little girl had to treat him while he was still a university student.

On the way to take her back, he had bought two cups of herbal jelly, only then feeling somewhat reassured.

Xiao Qi got up, washed up, and still felt soreness all over but didn't go back to lie down. Instead, she took out her writing brush, ink stone, and rice paper.

On her last trip with the calligraphy club president to Meng City, the president had introduced her to many nice things. Her current full set of equipment was at least one level above what she previously had.

Before writing, she poured some water and gently ground the leftover ink on the ink stone.

Her hands were a little sore but she ground for a while, looking at the viscosity until it seemed about right.

Xiao Qi dipped her brush in the ink, dabbed off the excess on the tip, then held the brush over a sheet of rice paper, but suddenly didn't know what to write.

She felt somewhat bold emotionally but her body couldn't keep up.

She felt the boldness had passed.

Compared to participating in a top ten singers competition with an audience of thousands, taking part in a marathon race probably meant being watched by tens of thousands.

Such attention made Xiao Qi feel the pressure was quite big.

Looking at the rice paper in front of her, she thought of an essay she had seen on stele inscriptions before - "Broken Kiln Rhapsody", also known as “Rhapsody on Destiny”, by the Northern Song dynasty official Lü Mengzheng.

The line “Heaven has unexpected storms, people have disasters and blessings each dawn and dusk” was so familiar that nearly everyone knew it. Xiao Qi had looked it up before and discovered this line had originated from “Broken Kiln Rhapsody”.

The essay was a bit long at over 700 characters, probably why it had not been included in textbooks. Although Xiao Qi had never recited it, she had copied it many times when practicing calligraphy and was very fond of it.

At that moment, she felt this essay best suited her state of mind.

She needed to quiet down and also give herself a warning and self-reflect.

She dipped the brush in ink as characters one by one emerged on the rice paper:

"Heaven has unexpected storms, people have disasters and blessings each dawn and dusk.

The centipede has a hundred legs yet cannot outrun the snake; The rooster has two wings yet cannot fly higher than the crow.

There are those poor first who later become rich, old and strong yet little worn by age.

Learned articles fill their bellies yet white hair and no success in the exams;

Meager talent and little learning yet passing top as a youth.

A gentleman poor from the start, born with bones and frame destined thus;

Suddenly rich, the petty man cannot shed his poor cold skin.

I once lodged in Luoyang, begging monk’s meals in the morning, sleeping in broken kilns at night,

With no clothes to cover my body, no food to fill my hunger,

Scorned by those above, detested by those below.

Now I reside in the court, an official of the highest rank, one of the Three Dukes,

My body may bow before one but I stand over tens of thousands.

Favored by those above, embraced by those below!

Alas! For a person living in this world, wealth and nobility cannot be fully enjoyed, poverty and humbleness cannot be falsely claimed.

Hear and obey as Heaven and Earth cycle round again and again!”

The author Lü Mengzheng was poor in his youth, living in broken kilns, without clothes to cover his body or food to fill his belly, looked down upon by all. Yet he did not give up but focused wholeheartedly on his studies, succeeded as top scholar in the exams, and attained the highest ministerial position, spoken of by everyone as a noble person, yet he was not arrogant. Whenever reading or copying this essay, it always evoked considerable feeling. Xiao Qi felt the most important message was that one should not be too pessimistic or give up on himself in adversity, nor should he be too complacent and wasteful in smooth going. Only this way can one expect lasting long-term success.

It was said this essay was written by Lü Mengzheng for the Crown Prince after he became the Prince's tutor, to advise and warn him. As a crown prince and future emperor, he studied diligently and humbly. How could an ordinary commoner like herself have any reason to be arrogant? Xiao Qi did not set down her brush until she had carefully copied the essay three times.

She felt her whole mindset was much improved, no longer adrift but like her feet had landed on the ground again, steadied and composed.

Just then there was a knock at the dormitory door. Her student Jiajia had returned.

“Teacher, open the door quick! I bought lots of delicious food!”

Xiao Qi opened the door. Jiajia was holding steaming hot dishes and laid them all over the table. There were also two cups of red date and brown sugar soup.

“The red date drink was bought by Brother Lu Chao,” she said.

Just a moment ago when she had felt hungry without any appetite, the sight of the beef and green pepper rice dish steaming away instantly made Xiao Qi feel terribly famished, as if she could eat at least two servings, no, three.

There were not three servings unfortunately, but her student Jiajia understood her teacher well enough. Besides the rice, there was also noodle soup, hot pot, pancakes, and a pile of fruit.

Xiao Qi ate with gusto, giving a satisfied burp at the end, substantial and gratified.