“The hearing of a blind person is indeed better than that of ordinary people, but just because someone has good hearing doesn’t mean they’re really blind, so there’s no need to worry too much.” Unknown Elder saw that Edward Brooks had already turned pale with fright and quickly tried to comfort him. Over the past half month, he had come every day to bring him wine and meat; just for this kindness alone, he couldn’t scare him like this. For the first time, Unknown Elder felt a twinge of guilt.

But that bit of guilt only lasted a few seconds. Unknown Elder always cut corners whenever possible—except, of course, when it came to drinking and sleeping.

“You’re right, and what you said might not even be true.” Edward Brooks relaxed a little. This old Daoist, really—he was already troubled enough, and yet he still came to scare him.

“Exactly, I was just talking nonsense, don’t take it seriously. Come on, let’s drink, let’s drink.” Unknown Elder laughed up at the sky, grabbed the wine bottle, and clinked it against Edward Brooks’s.

“Huh, someone’s coming to the temple.” Edward Brooks suddenly perked up his ears.

“At this hour, who would come to the temple? You must have misheard. Looks like you’re still far from being as sharp-eared as the Divine Ear… haha.”

“Daoist, are you there?”

But not long after, a voice suddenly came from the main hall in front, instantly freezing Unknown Elder’s smile in place.

Chapter 8: Tailor-Made (Part 1)

Because of Unknown Elder’s story about the Divine Ear of the Qing Dynasty, these past few days Edward Brooks had been most concerned about his own eyesight. He was afraid that he might suddenly go blind without warning, so he specially went to Xinhua Bookstore to buy an eye chart and hung it in his dormitory. Every day, whenever he had time, he would test his vision, worried that he might end up like that Nie Ye, whose eyesight gradually deteriorated until he became blind.

But what Edward Brooks didn’t expect was that not only had his eyesight not worsened at all, it had actually gotten better and better. Back in college, he had 200 degrees of myopia, but now, even without glasses, he could see the 1.0 symbol on the eye chart. This made him both surprised and delighted. It was all because of Unknown Elder scaring him so much. As a Chinese major, he had actually forgotten the saying “sharp ears and bright eyes.” Only when your ears are sharp can your eyes be bright.

His eyesight improving instead of declining put Edward Brooks in a great mood. Yesterday was the midterm exam, and he spent the whole day grading papers at school. Thinking that it was the fifteenth of the month and Unknown Elder wouldn’t go hungry, he didn’t go to Sanqing Temple. As soon as school ended today, he bought wine, two jin of flatbread, and one jin of marinated dried tofu and headed to the temple. Although Edward Brooks was technically a government employee, his salary wasn’t high, and eating meat every day was simply unaffordable.

Speaking of the midterm exam, a few words must be said. Although Edward Brooks hadn’t thrown himself into his class with all his heart, he was diligent and responsible in his teaching. And thanks to his hearing, he could monitor what was happening in the dormitory as well. Whether students in his class were whispering or making small moves, he could hear it all clearly. Afterwards, he would call out the culprits and scold them. At first, the students were unconvinced—they were clever and only acted up when no one was watching. But Edward Brooks could repeat everything they said word for word, and even describe their little actions as if he’d seen them with his own eyes. After a few times, the students in his class were thoroughly awed.

Gradually, his class became the most disciplined in the whole school. With good discipline came good grades. In this midterm, although none of the top three in the grade were from his class, the average score was the highest in the grade. Exams test not only students, but also the performance of teachers. His class’s average score being first in the grade earned David Clark a round of praise at the meeting, and also put pressure on the other teachers from the normal school. Their classes’ results weren’t ideal, and David Clark said, “College students are indeed different—not only is their class discipline good, but their grades are excellent too.”

For example, there was a student named Matthew Hall. When Edward Brooks first took over, in the first unit test, his scores in Chinese, Math, and English were all “a world away” from passing. But now, after more than half a semester, his scores were hovering around the passing line. At this rate, he’d soon catch up. For a new teacher like Edward Brooks, it wasn’t a pity to have no top students in his class, but having no failing students was truly something to be proud of.

When Edward Brooks arrived at the side room with the wine, Unknown Elder hadn’t come yet, but he didn’t mind. He set everything out, especially opening the wine bottle to let the aroma waft out, then sat and waited for Unknown Elder to arrive.

Soon, Edward Brooks heard a hasty shuffling sound getting closer and closer. A smile immediately appeared at the corner of his mouth—he could just imagine Unknown Elder’s eagerness after smelling the wine.

“Coming!” Before Unknown Elder even entered the room, Edward Brooks called out a greeting from the next room.

“Are you human or ghost? I haven’t even shown myself and you already know it’s me.” Unknown Elder looked astonished. To get a taste of the baijiu, he’d sped up everything today—including his facial expressions.

Edward Brooks wasn’t surprised that he could hear his footsteps, but the fact that he was still more than ten meters away and Edward Brooks could greet him from the next room—that was truly astonishing.