Chapter 99 – Suspicious (9)
T/N: Sorry, I misunderstood Li Hua’s intention in the last chapter. He wasn’t joking around. He deliberately chose the wrong meaning for that word for a different reason. You’ll see why in this chapter.
P.S. The original writing for that book is written in archaic Chinese, so it’s very difficult to understand. When that writing is translated into English, it has to be interpreted, so the ambiguity of the original text is lost. This is why Li Hua has several notebooks that are just annotations to explain what that book means. If Li Man didn’t previously study that book before, she wouldn’t know that Li Hua’s fake interpretation is wrong.
Li Man was dumbfounded when she heard these words. She suspiciously looked at him. “What? You weren’t trying to explain to me what that part meant, right?”
“Hmm?” Li Hua was still smiling as he said, “Don’t you find that funny? A square-shaped person, a false teacher…”
“Stop.” To Li Man’s eyes, he didn’t seem aware that he was saying nonsense. Li Man hurriedly raised a finger to gesture for him to stop and asked in shock, “Who told you this? Was it your teacher?”
Li Hua seemed stunned for a moment. Soon after, he nodded and asked, “What’s wrong? We always find it funny when that part is mentioned.”
Yeah, real funny. It’s your teacher that’s real joke. How could the teacher have explained that part like that? Even if the teacher was explaining that part literally, it was still wrong. Moreover, it wasn’t false. It should be no free time.
(T/N: The character for false/fake (假) looks similar to the character for no free time (暇).)
Li Man helplessly glanced at him. She took the book from him and pointed at the part, “Perhaps, your teacher was just joking with you guys. That’s not what that part means. The situation was probably like this. Zigong was feeling very angry and divulged that so-and-so was really bad. After Confucius heard these words, he didn’t agree. So he probably said something like, “Why do you have the free time to concern yourself about other people? Really, you’re too much. I don’t have the free time to do that. Also, that last character didn’t mean false, it was the character for no free time.”
Li Hua lowered his head. The expression in his eyes got deeper and deeper. Li Man’s vivid explanation had been clear and thorough. It was much better than his teacher’s stiff explanation. Had she really only learned a superficial amount?
“What’s wrong?” Li Man was worried that he wouldn’t believe her, so she added, “I’m not lying to you. If you don’t believe me, ask another teacher. Haha, fortunately this wasn’t a test, otherwise you would be doomed.”
Li Hua closed the book. There was no need for him to test her again, and he didn’t dare to try again either. In fact, a new idea sprung up in his mind. His wife hadn’t been a servant girl of a noble family. What servant girl would have such a high level of literacy? Her identity…
Li Hua suddenly didn’t dare to think to think any further.
“You…” Li Man suspiciously looked at him. This brat wouldn’t be testing her, right? If that was true, his acting skills were outrageously good.
Li Hua suddenly raised his head and smiled at her. “I thought it over. What you said sounds reasonable. I’ll ask my teacher about it when I go back to school.”
“Oh.” Li Man lightly sighed in relief and nodded.
“You…” After a while passed, Li Hua pretended to nonchalantly mention, “But my teacher has gone to a provincial city and won’t be back for several days.”
“My teacher is the most learned person in the near vicinity. I heard that a lot of his old schoolmates live in the capital.” Li Hua quietly observed her expression. When he said that last word, she didn’t show any strong reaction to the capital. This made him feel both relieved, but it also brought up more doubts.
“Oh.” Li Man heard noises by the window and guessed that Li Yan was working nearby.
Seeing that she wasn’t showing any reaction, Li Hua continued, “My teacher has also been to the capital. I heard that the capital is really big, and there are a lot of people. It has everything. It’s an amazing place that most people will never see and can’t imagine.”
“Oh?” Li Man’s interest was finally stirred up a bit. “Where’s your capital?”
She had no knowledge about this strange world and time. She couldn’t even figure out what dynasty it was. Since Li Hua had brought it up, she might as well ask some questions and see if she could figure it out.
However, Li Hua was somewhat dumbstruck. She actually didn’t even know where the capital was located? But, her accent clearly showed that she was someone that was originally from the capital.