For ten whole years, he had no idea how much he had written down, but then, an accident occurred during an experiment just a month ago...

Nathan Foster recalled the experiment from a month earlier, where a neuron nano-memory chip was to be implanted in his brain. If successful, the amount of knowledge stored in his brain would usher in a new era.

As a result, he became a pioneer—and also a martyr.

Nathan Foster touched the back of his head with lingering fear, then couldn’t help but laugh. This was Andy Foster’s head—how could that chip possibly still exist?

John Foster was sitting right across from him, and he couldn’t help but look again at yesterday’s poem, “Reminiscing about the Prince,” 《忆王孙》.

The poem was beautifully written, actually blending the works of Song Yu, Qu Yuan, Du Mu, and Li Qiao into one. That could only be achieved through extensive reading. Where had this little country rascal read such books?

John Foster couldn’t figure it out, and Nathan Foster was vague in his answer, only saying he had memorized some lines from randomly flipping through books at the town’s bookstore.

To achieve such results just by browsing a bookstore—John Foster could only describe it as miraculous.

What a remarkable child, John Foster thought with deep emotion. He had almost missed out on this rare prodigy yesterday.

At that moment, the tea boy Little Grace brought in a pot of hot tea. John Foster poured a cup, smiled, and pushed it in front of Nathan Foster, pulling him back from his memories of a past life.

“Thank you, Third Grandpa!”

Nathan Foster put on a well-behaved look, picked up the teacup and took a sip. “Ah!” He immediately jumped up, scalded by the boiling water in his mouth—he couldn’t spit it out, nor could he swallow, leaving him in a most awkward state.

He finally managed to swallow the tea, only to feel his tongue had gone numb from the burn.

He turned and glared fiercely at the tea boy Little Grace. That brat must have done it on purpose to embarrass him.

Little Grace covered his mouth, snickering, made a face at him, and slipped out.

John Foster saw Nathan Foster’s awkwardness with the tea and couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“You have to drink tea slowly, savoring it in small sips. You were too hasty just now!”

“At home, I always drink it with a big ladle,” Nathan Foster muttered.

“That’s not drinking tea—that’s guzzling like a cow!”

John Foster chuckled, picked up his tea bowl, gently blew on it, took a careful sip, and then asked, “Have you ever wondered why I want to take you to the capital?”

Nathan Foster grinned mischievously. “Maybe Third Grandpa thinks the journey is boring and wants to hear more stories about Marshal Tianpeng.”

John Foster blinked and asked with a smile, “So, do I have to pay to hear these stories?”

Nathan Foster blushed. So Grandpa hadn’t forgotten about that!

He thought for a moment, then grinned slyly. “Usually I do charge, but I’m just worried that if I only ask for one coin, Third Grandpa might be embarrassed to pay.”

John Foster pointed at him and laughed, “You little rascal, are you a little money-grubber? I never noticed before!”

Realizing that this great-uncle wasn’t a strict person, Nathan Foster’s little fox tail began to show. He stopped pretending to be obedient and simply reverted to his true self.

Nathan Foster lay on the deck with his hands behind his head, gazing at the white clouds outside the window, and said, “Third Grandpa, have you ever heard the saying, ‘Money isn’t everything, but without money, you can do nothing’?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“From some miscellaneous book—I forgot the title.”

John Foster pondered for a moment and said, “Liking money isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When I was young, my family was so poor we couldn’t even afford porridge. Back then, I was just like you, hoping to have lots of money when I grew up. But after experiencing so much, I gradually understood a truth.”

“Is it ‘A gentleman loves wealth, but acquires it in the right way’?” Nathan Foster asked with a grin.

John Foster was momentarily speechless, then pointed at him and laughed, “You little trickster, it’s like you can read my mind! Now I regret bringing you along—hurry up and get off the boat!”

Nathan Foster pretended to be terrified and hugged the table leg. “Third Grandpa, I’ll tell you stories for free—not even a single coin! Isn’t that enough?”

John Foster was amused by Nathan Foster’s mischievousness and couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He suddenly realized he liked this version of Nathan Foster even more.

...

The benefit of traveling by boat was that it was easy and comfortable, without the fatigue of carriages and horses. But the downside was obvious—it was slow. By the time they reached Changzhou County, it was already dark, and the passenger boat docked for the night.

The lamp in the cabin was already lit. There were only three of them in the group: besides John Foster and Nathan Foster, the grandfather and grandson, there was also the tea boy Little Grace.

Little Grace was the same age as Nathan Foster, an orphan who had been with John Foster for two years, and was as close as a grandson to him.

Inside the cabin, Nathan Foster and Little Grace sat under the lamp copying calligraphy, while John Foster sat to the side watching them write.

To be honest, Nathan Foster’s handwriting was truly terrible, like deformed chicken claws, while Little Grace’s regular script was a hundred times neater and more beautiful.

But it was precisely because Nathan Foster’s writing was so bad that John Foster decided to take him to the capital.

He knew that with handwriting like Nathan Foster’s, there was no way he could pass the entrance exam for the Yan Ying Academy. He wanted to use this time to give him some proper guidance in writing.

Of course, he could also write a letter to Director Liu, but if he did that, another outstanding child would surely be squeezed out. That wouldn’t be fair, nor would it align with John Foster’s principles.