If Charles Brooks were here, thinking about how he confidently declared yesterday that a farmer’s son knows nothing of poetry or literature, he’d probably die of embarrassment!

Miss Brooks suddenly had such an unrelated thought, then turned to ask Sam behind her, “Did Ethan teach you this?”

“Mm.” Sam’s answer was as succinct as ever. But that didn’t stop Miss Brooks from beaming with pride, feeling honored.

Ethan Bolton really is capable!

All along the way, she’d already experienced the mute-like personality of the Bolton family’s male servant and had been left speechless herself, so Emily Brooks couldn’t be bothered to ask more questions. But after just a few steps, she heard someone in a nearby courtyard reciting, “One times one is one, two times two is four.”

She couldn’t believe that someone in a rural farming family would know to teach children the multiplication table, so she simply stood outside the low fence and peered into the yard. There, she saw a little boy, in a childish voice, using a small stick to urge an even younger child to recite the multiplication table.

“How can you be so slow! The young teacher said, if you can recite it all perfectly, not missing a single line, you’ll get malt candy! Sweet malt candy!”

Although they said “young teacher,” Emily Brooks instinctively felt that the one teaching the multiplication table was Ethan Bolton, and the one teaching poetry was also Ethan Bolton.

Feeling even better, the corners of her mouth curled up, and she quietly left. Soon, following the silent Sam, she arrived at a house in the village that looked relatively tidy. She was just wondering what kind of lesson Ethan Bolton was teaching when she unexpectedly heard a cheerful shout.

“Thanks to the young teacher! My uncle just helped me find an opportunity, but I never thought I’d actually pass!”

Passed? Passed what? Could it be that Ethan Bolton could even teach students who pass the xiucai or juren exams? That would be truly impressive!

Emily Brooks was now extremely curious, but as she took another step closer, she heard Ethan Bolton laugh.

“You’ve spent three years reading and writing, worn out who knows how many tree branches, and spent so much money on paper and pens, just to develop decent reading and writing skills. And you’ve studied arithmetic for three years, practiced abacus for three years, and can mentally solve a hundred problems in a hundred breaths, rarely making a mistake. With this level of literacy and math, it’s rare even among your peers, and even among those older than you.”

“Besides, you said last time that the Shuntian Prefecture office is holding an exam for clerks this time. That’s a new policy from the newly appointed prefect, and the exam papers are set by his most trusted Song judicial officer. There may be some corruption among the clerks, but they still need a few to make up the numbers. Since you have connections, if you still can’t pass, your father should drag you to kneel in the ancestral hall!”

Clerk exam? What’s that supposed to mean? Emily Brooks was completely stunned, racking her brains but unable to figure out what kind of official a clerk was.

Just then, she heard another congratulation from inside.

“Lucy Reed, you owe it to the young teacher that you’re wearing an official’s robe now. Shouldn’t you set a table and treat the young teacher to a meal?”

Hearing the words “official’s robe,” Emily Brooks thought it over carefully, and the curiosity in her eyes instantly faded, replaced by gloom as she turned and left.

What was she even expecting? Just looking at Ethan Bolton’s terrible handwriting, it was clear his learning must be limited. So, being able to teach a minor official in a rural farming family was already quite an achievement!

If nothing else, as long as the Duke Zhao’s household could help him a bit, and as long as he wasn’t lacking in talent, he could definitely stand out… Of course, for that to happen, her father and elder brother would first have to return victorious and unharmed!

Chapter 10: Mathematics and the Eight-Legged Essay Don’t Mix at All

Inside the house, Ethan Bolton was smiling as he watched the two rowdy teenagers. Normally, he would have used his teaching stick to maintain order in the classroom, but at this moment, he didn’t stop these two happy farm boys. Usually weighed down by life’s burdens, they rarely smiled, but now they finally looked their sixteen years.

That’s right, at this moment, the two people in the room were both from farming families, and both were his age.

With an uncle working as a registrar in the Shuntian Prefecture’s household office, Anna Reed, nicknamed Lucy Reed, had some connections and grew up in the village.

The Reed family had farmed for generations, but only owned about ten mu of land. With many mouths to feed, it wasn’t enough, so they were tenants of the Bolton family—or rather, as Ethan Bolton now knew, the Reed family was probably actually tenants of the Duke Zhao’s household.

Seeing the two laughing and joking, he suddenly sensed something, turned his head, and saw that Sam had appeared at the door without him noticing. This kid had always been so elusive, so he just assumed there was some family matter, and immediately left the others to go to the door.

“She just left.”

Such a simple three words would leave anyone else confused, but after three years of dealing with people, Ethan Bolton could more or less guess that Sam was talking about that young lady. From Emily Brooks’s temperament, he quickly deduced that “left” probably didn’t mean returning to the Duke Zhao’s mansion in the capital, but that she had just been here and suddenly left.

Thinking of the celebration that had just taken place in the house, he quickly figured it out and smiled unconcernedly: “A wealthy young lady naturally can’t understand why a farm boy passing a lowly clerk’s exam is something to be so happy about. Let her think what she wants—it’s not like I’m asking her to stay in the countryside. Quietly follow her, just in case she runs into any trouble.”