Translator: Lordbluefire
In the following week, nothing exciting took place in Sun Mo’s life. He also gradually got to familiarize himself with this game character’s identity.
This character was also called Sun Mo. He had become a recommended-candidate [1] at the age of 20 and was now teaching in a school in a county. He came from a poor family and had a wife who was his childhood friend.
The two of them were very lovey-dovey. Other than teaching, Sun Mo would spend the rest of his time at home revising his studies. He planned on heading to the capital to take the imperial examinations the year after the next, trying to get the advanced-scholar[2] title.
Sun Mo sat by the window, looking at the overcast moon, a little lost in his thoughts. What was the condition to clear this stage?
His character’s background was too simple, and Sun Mo was unable to detect anything from it.
“Is it to bring prosperity to this Song Dynasty? Or to overthrow it?”
Sun Mo took a sip of tea.
The country he was in was also called the Song Country, but the emperor’s surname wasn’t Song. Moreover, the country hadn’t gone into decline to a state where the people led horrible lives.
Taking reference to China’s history, this Song Country would still have 30 or 40 more years to go.
“Husband, it’s getting late. You’ll still have to teach tomorrow. Let’s rest early.”
Mei Niang was urging him again.
“You can go to sleep first!”
Sun Mo felt a little troubled. He was a gentleman, so the greatest torment he felt was to have to share a bed with her every day. Although his wife in this game wasn’t as beautiful as An Xinhui or Mei Ziyu, she could still be given a score of seven out of ten. Most importantly, she was gentle and virtuous and always placed Sun Mo first.
It could be said that Mei Niang’s every day circled around Sun Mo. She went to great lengths to make sure he could eat and sleep well.
“If this goes on, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to hold back!”
Sun Mo took in a deep breath and then was hugged from the back by Mei Niang.
“Husband, did I do anything wrong? Why have you been looking troubled over the past few days?
Mei Niang’s voice was filled with fear.
“Don’t think too much into it. It’s just things concerning the county’s school. Things aren’t going very well.”
Sun Mo lied.
“If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to go. I can just make a few more embroidery pieces every month.”
Mei Niang’s heart ached for her husband, and she hugged him even tighter. She even rested her face on his back.
“…”
Sensing Mei Niang’s love, Sun Mo suddenly felt a little immersed in this game.
“Husband, the water is getting cold. Come over and wash your feet!”
Mei Niang pulled Sun Mo to the bed. After having him sit down, she took off his shoes and socks, soaked his feet in the wooden basin, then helped him to wash his feet.
Her small hands were very smooth, making him feel intoxicated.
…
Sun Mo decided to make a move. No matter what, he should look for An Xinhui and the others first. Therefore, he decided to continue copying books.
Even if this was a world in the game, Sun Mo still believed that the Dream of the Red Chamber[3] would be a great hit.
After all, the reason such classics could be passed down until today meant that it had the charm that would never decline. It would always be a hit in any era.
In the classroom, the young children were shaking their heads and reading the Three Character Classic while Sun Mo was writing Dream of the Red Chamber. Since he didn’t leave, the students didn’t dare to slack either. All of them looked at Sun Mo with aggrieved gazes.
“Brother Sun, Brother Sun, your wife is in trouble!”
A distinguished-talent [4] who had been on friendly ties with Sun Mo and had drinks with him twice dashed in and shouted out with an anxious expression.
Sun Mo panicked and shot up to his feet. “Brother Wang, what happened to my wife?”
“I’m not sure either. Your family’s Uncle Yan has come to send the news!”
Distinguished-Talent Wang urged, “Hurry up and go take a look!”
Uncle Yan was the helper that Sun Mo had hired to take care of miscellaneous stuff at home after he had passed the examination and become a recommended-candidate. They didn’t have any other servants at home.
The moment Sun Mo stepped out, Uncle Yan started crying.
“Old Master, things are bad!”
Mei Niang had gone out today, wanting to buy a few new embroidery patterns. However, she encountered Pang Jili, a second-generation profligate son who was well-known in this county.
Mei Niang had been taken liberties with, and in her struggle to protect her chastity, he had used her hairpin to pierce Pang Jili. She had even hurt her own face in the process.
“What?”
Sun Mo was shocked and ran toward home while asking, “Is Mei Niang badly hurt?”
“Mei Niang isn’t badly hurt. Pang Jili’s injury isn’t serious either. However, it’s troublesome to have offended the people of the Pang clan.”
Uncle Yan’s head ached.
Pang Jili was Imperial Tutor Pang’s most doted youngest son. This time around, he had come home to pray to his ancestors. In less than a month, he became the county’s greatest devil and had harmed quite many unmarried ladies from noble houses.
Sun Mo rushed back home and saw many people crowding around the door, whispering amongst themselves.
It was over for the Sun family now that they’d offended that second-generation profligate.
“Mei Niang!”
Sun Mo dashed into the house.
A few of their neighbors were by her side, talking to her.
“Husband!”
Mei Niang’s tears flowed down at the sight of Sun Mo. “I’ve caused you trouble.”
“Don’t say that!”
Sun Mo hugged Mei Niang. There was a red scar on her face that was about six centimeters long. She could be said to be disfigured, and this made Sun Mo even angrier.
“Sun Dalang[4], hurry up and think of a solution. That devil isn’t someone who’d be willing to suffer a loss.”
“That’s right. Why don’t you guys go to the countryside and hide for a few days?”
“Hurry up and leave!”
Some neighboring aunties reminded them kindly.
“Dalang? What kind of address is that? It sounds so unlucky!”
Sun Mo frowned. but he knew that this was the way people from the Song Country addressed each other.
Hearing the severity of the issue from the women, Mei Niang felt even more scared.
“Let’s go to the government office to file a lawsuit against them!”
Sun Mo got up, planning to prepare a written complaint.
“Sun Dalang, you’re really foolish. That Pang Jili’s grandfather is the imperial tutor. How would our magistrate dare to accept your complaint?”
An auntie sighed. (This Sun Dalang has spoiled his head from all the studying.)
“I know!”
What if it was effective?
But before Sun Mo was done, constables had arrived at their door.
“Teacher Sun, we came on the magistrate’s orders to arrest the criminal who hurt Pang Jili!”
The middle-aged constable went straight to the point.
Sun Mo’s countenance instantly turned dark. Wasn’t this revenge too fast? He immediately went up and took out two pieces of shattered silver from his pocket, secretly stuffing them to the constable’s hand. “I’ll go with you!”
Hearing this, Mei Niang panicked.
“Husband!” Mei Niang came pouncing over, grabbing onto Sun Mo’s arm. “Don’t!”
“Be good, I’ll be back very soon!” Sun Mo smiled.
“This…”
The constable frowned.
“I’m sure you understand what the situation was. I’ll go with you to meet the magistrate!”
Sun Mo spoke up.
The constable hesitated.
“You won’t get anything from helping Pang Jili. Moreover, I’m a recommended-candidate and am just 20 years old this year. Even if I become an advanced-scholar ten years later, I’ll just be 30 years old.”
Sun Mo lowered his voice and weighed the pros and cons for the constable. He seemed to be saying, (I have bright prospects. If you help me out now, I’ll definitely repay you in the future.) However, there was also a hidden meaning behind his words. (If you were to force me right now, then I’ll definitely repay you 100 times over in the future.)
“Teacher Sun, let’s go!”
The constable quickly made the decision. It was better not to offend a 20-year-old recommended-candidate. Moreover, they were only supposed to catch the suspect. In the worst-case scenario, they could just drag it out for a few days until the situation cleared up before they came again.
“Teacher Sun, if you have any connections, you better bring them up now! Your wife has really gotten into big trouble this time around!”
The constable reminded him..
