Edward Thompson stood up and walked over. Leaning down for a look, although the little rascal’s handwriting was crooked and childish, it was clear he had put in real effort after going back. Nodding, he patted the little rascal’s head and said, “Very good. From now on, everyone should learn from Jack and be a bit braver.”

The little rascal also had a sense of pride. With the teacher telling everyone to learn from him in front of so many friends, Jack Walker felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey. His chubby face flushed with excitement, and he walked back with his head held high and chest out.

With Jack Walker taking the lead, things became much easier. The other little rascals came up one after another to be checked. The results surprised even Edward Thompson. He knew that the previous Mr. Carter only had these kids recite things absentmindedly, far from actually recognizing characters. But this time, everyone had written the character “柳” correctly.

Did the story of the Monkey King really attract them that much?

The minds of little rascals are hard to guess, and Edward Thompson couldn’t be bothered to try. As long as they behaved, that was enough. Once they were all seated, sitting up straight and looking like obedient little angels, Edward Thompson finally asked, “Where did we leave off this morning?”

“To the West to invite the Buddha!”

The little rascals answered in unison.

……

……

The recent collective odd behavior of the little rascals in Willow Leaf Village had already caught the attention of all their parents.

Sometimes, they would see their own child holding a stick, relentlessly chasing the village’s black dog, shouting, “Howling Celestial Dog, where are you running?” “Howling Celestial Dog, prepare to die!” Now, whenever that black dog saw this group of little rascals, it would yelp and run far away.

That was just the beginning. Later, it even escalated to chanting at a spider, a centipede, or a scorpion. The little rascals would catch these creatures, point at them with a stick, mutter for a long time, then stomp them to death, laughing loudly and claiming they were slaying demons and exorcising evil...

Some even went further, somehow stealing a gourd from somewhere, sneaking up behind someone and shouting, “Willow XX, if I call your name, do you dare answer?”

If anyone else had done such things, they would have been tied up and roasted over a fire long ago. But since it was their own children acting crazy, no one could bring themselves to punish them, and some people’s faces had grown noticeably more wrinkled from worry in recent days.

Of course, for parents whose children previously couldn’t even recognize a single character, seeing them now able to write their own names on the ground with a stick, and casually spout phrases that sounded mysterious and impressive even if they didn’t understand them, left these parents utterly astonished.

And the source of all this was the new teacher at the school.

It was said that Grace had recently gone down the mountain and snatched him as a husband. Some had seen him from afar—handsome, slender, as if a gust of wind could blow him over, but apparently quite capable. Even the little rascals that Mr. Carter couldn’t handle were now obedient under his hand. It was downright uncanny.

Some parents even worried that the scholar had cast some kind of spell on their children. After all, scholars were always a bit mysterious. Out of caution, they forbade their children from going to school.

But to their utter shock, as soon as they said their children couldn’t go to school, the kids immediately threw themselves on the ground, rolling around, smearing snot and tears all over themselves, wailing as if their lives depended on it, refusing to get up unless they were allowed to go.

Edward Thompson hadn’t expected that the little rascals would be so quick to imitate what they’d just learned, already mastering the Monkey King’s trick of throwing a tantrum in the Hall of Heavenly Kings. This new tactic was something the adults, with no prior experience, simply couldn’t handle!

Helpless, everyone banded together to find Second Great Uncle, urging the old man to hire a new teacher. If this went on, who knew what their children would turn into!

“What are you panicking for? He’s a scholar—do you need to teach him how to teach?” The white-haired old man lay at the door, sunning himself, and impatiently waved them off. “Go do what you’re supposed to do, you bunch of blockheads. Don’t worry about this anymore.”

After everyone left in frustration, the old man stretched lazily, a contented smile appearing on his wrinkled face as he muttered, “It’s so nice not to have those little brats pestering me all day…”

Although there was plenty of discord within the Liu clan, when it came to major village matters, aside from Grace Walker, the person they listened to most was this old man.

As the oldest member of the Liu clan, Second Great Uncle held absolute authority in the village.

Since Second Great Uncle had spoken, no one stopped the little rascals from going to school anymore. Thinking about the changes in their children over this period, they couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.

That handsome scholar, though only the husband Grace had snatched back, probably… really did have some true ability…

Chapter 13: The Strange Scholar

At this moment, the handsome scholar whom the little rascals’ parents thought had some real ability was wearing an apron, humming a tune, and busily working in the kitchen at a leisurely pace.