Ethan Bolton didn’t wait for Peter Hill to finish his words of tearful gratitude before interrupting: “Passing the county exam is thanks to your family’s scholarly background, it doesn’t have much to do with me. The prefectural exam will be much harder. Lucy, since you’ve gotten into the Shuntian Prefecture office as a clerk, help Little Peter ask around and see if you can get his essays shown to some good teachers. If fate allows, maybe they can correspond by letter—even if they can’t meet in person, correspondence works too.”

“Got it!” Lucy Reed agreed readily. “We’re brothers, Little Peter, don’t worry, I’ll do my best to find out!”

Before the overjoyed Peter Hill could thank him again, Ethan Bolton changed the subject.

“By the way, Lucy, you’re in the household registration office this time, right? If you can check the capital’s household records, could you do me a favor and look up the marriage contracts of the noble families’ children in the capital? I remember my mother mentioned that, under our dynasty’s system, marriage contracts have to be filed with the authorities. A so-called capable relative of mine in the capital claims to have found me a great marriage among the top nobility, and it’s scared me so much I can’t even sleep.”

Outside, Emily Brooks had already left and returned. She’d been secretly annoyed that Ethan Bolton had clearly heard her laughter but acted as if he hadn’t. Only when she heard this last part did she suddenly understand.

Ethan Bolton had trained a young man who passed the exam to become a minor official in the Shuntian Prefecture office—clearly, it was originally to investigate his own background! But now, for her sake, he hadn’t even bothered to look into his own origins, and was instead investigating their marriage contract first.

But what did he mean by “so-called great marriage” that scared him so much he couldn’t sleep! Infuriating! Was she some kind of monster?

Chapter 11: The Falling Flower Is Willing, the Flowing Water Is Unfeeling

Gathering a group of country children who were too young to work, having them memorize poems, recite multiplication tables, and learn basic literacy—this was originally just something Ethan Bolton did on a whim after realizing he needed to quietly get to know this new world.

He knew this kind of thing might not have much effect, and even the goal of enlightening the people’s minds was likely limited, but he figured doing something was better than nothing, and since he had plenty of free time, he did it earnestly.

But to actually pick out two boys from the farm kids watching him teach poetry and multiplication tables—boys who were quite sensitive to math and language—was a pleasant surprise. Among them, Lucy Reed had connections to take the clerical exam, and “family scholarly background” Peter Hill passed the county exam in one go. That was pure luck.

So, since Miss Brooks hadn’t disturbed his teaching, he didn’t pay much mind to her listening in—or rather, eavesdropping—outside.

After instructing Lucy Reed, he began teaching the two boys about plane geometry—even if they might never use it in their lives, he always believed that developing mathematical logic would benefit a person for life.

Of course, as for how much Miss Brooks outside could understand, that was out of his hands.

Sure enough, as Emily Brooks listened, she poked her head in. However, when she saw Ethan Bolton with his back to her, standing in front of a white wall, using a water-dipped cotton string to write and draw, it wasn’t long before Miss Brooks was completely lost. And that wasn’t all—Ethan Bolton drew diagrams while dictating problems, and she couldn’t understand a word!

Especially when Ethan Bolton used the cotton string dipped in water to draw straight lines, tied a brush to the end to draw circles, and made all sorts of complex diagrams that would disappear as the water dried—her head spun even more. She couldn’t help but admire the two farm boys sitting below. After all, Ethan Bolton only said things once—how good did their memories have to be to keep up?

Soon, she noticed another detail she’d missed—Ethan Bolton was drawing with his left hand! Thinking of the clumsy handwriting in the copybooks on the bookshelf, she finally understood why someone as elegant as him had such poor penmanship.

Practicing sword or knife with the left hand is doable, but writing with the left hand is definitely hard!

She was lost in thought for quite a while, and when she snapped out of it, she saw the two boys sitting on small stools, each with a wooden sand tray on their knees, writing and drawing with wooden sticks. Only then did she realize they were copying down the problems this way. When she saw them bent over, deep in thought as if solving the problems, she finally couldn’t help but give a soft cough.

However, while Ethan Bolton did turn to look toward the door, his reaction made her quite annoyed. Not only did he not come out to answer her questions, he put his finger to his lips and gestured for her to be quiet.

That was the last straw—she glared at him fiercely, then turned and left.

Last night at dinner was like this, this morning was the same, and just now, when he had Lucy Reed go investigate the marriage contract, Ethan Bolton also used being too scared to sleep as an excuse. Now he was even complaining that she was too noisy!

“It’s just a few problems—write them out clearly and hand them out, what’s with all the mystery… ah!”

The more Emily Brooks thought about it, the more indignant she felt, and she couldn’t help but complain out loud. Suddenly, someone jumped out in front of her, startling her. When she saw it was Sam, she realized not only had she come back, but she’d also been caught eavesdropping on Ethan Bolton’s lesson at the door, and her cheeks flushed red.

Seeing Sam silently step aside to let her pass, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although she’d previously disliked how silent this guy was, now she truly appreciated it—at least she wasn’t quite so embarrassed at the moment!