Top Scholar

Chapter 56 The Dark Horse and the Talent Scout

Now 'Cheng Sanwan' is truly in a difficult position. Especially Cheng Wanfan, who picked fights for no reason and even missed with both punches, making him look like a clown.

But if they stop reading, wouldn't that just mean they want to embarrass Su Lu? That would be even more embarrassing...

"Read it!" the students urged.

Cheng Wanfan had no choice but to bite the bullet and recite: "To understand this is to know when to stop, and one's will will have a clear direction. This is the obvious truth."

"This one's not bad either." The classmates echoed their approval once more, with Qiao Feng, the second-ranked student in the class, commenting:

“By quoting Zhu Xi’s commentary, the connection between ‘knowing where to stop’ and ‘having a fixed mind’ is clearly pointed out, and the principle contained in the question is clearly presented, without the need to ponder the metaphor. This is the typical example of ‘clearly breaking through’!”

"What about Anpo?" The classmates were completely intrigued. How come a guy who could only hand in a blank paper yesterday suddenly had a breakthrough today?
"Break through secretly—fish without a net, take with moderation." Urged on by his classmates, Cheng Wanfan could only mutter in silence.

"This is excellent!" Lin Zhihong nodded in praise: "Borrowing the story of Confucius's 'fishing without a net, shooting without roosting' and connecting it with Zhu Xi's commentary 'taking with moderation, concealing the meaning within the allusion and annotation,' the theme is hidden within the allusion and annotation, rather than being stated directly. It is a very standard 'subtle revelation'."

"This is really good!" Qiao Feng exclaimed, "With this 'Hidden Break,' it feels like a wonderfully exhilarating story is about to be written!"

"Da Su, is this really the first time you've solved a problem?" The classmates all looked at Su Lu with curiosity.

"Yes. Just as the three Cheng students said." Su Lu nodded.

"Hahaha, what did I tell you?" Li Qiyu laughed triumphantly at the Cheng brothers, "Bulls look down on people, dogs look down on people!"

"Don't say that," Su Lu said gently. "The three Cheng students are urging me to improve. This is the first time I've tackled a problem, and I'm completely clueless. I don't know if I'm right or wrong, so I need your guidance."

He then cupped his hands in greeting to the students and said, "Please feel free to offer your guidance."

"No problem, no problem, let's correct each other." The classmates returned the greeting. Their impression of Su Lu had greatly changed. Putting everything else aside, his dignified yet humble demeanor alone made the three troublemaking Cheng brothers pale in comparison...

Cheng Wanfan reluctantly returned the homework to Ma Zhaizhang, and returned to his seat with an incredulous look on his face. He whispered to his two brothers:

"Is it really possible for someone to learn how to solve a problem overnight?"

"Impossible, then he'd be a child prodigy."

"A child prodigy can come from a military household? I'll eat the inkstone..."

"That's right. If he were a child prodigy, how could he have come in last place?"

"That's weird."

"It's alright, time will tell, we'll see."

~~
In fact, not only the "Three Chengs," but Mr. Zhang also found it strange. The next day during the lunch break, he called Su Lu to the preparation room again.

"Did you solve this problem?" Zhang Yanqiu pointed to his workbook.

"Yes." Su Lu nodded and said, "This student does not know whether it is right or wrong, please criticize me, teacher."

My classmates' abilities are limited after all. Just because they think there's no problem doesn't mean there really isn't. It's more reassuring to consult the teacher.

"While it lacks refinement, it's basically correct." Mr. Zhang finished speaking in a low voice, then scrutinized Su Lu and asked, "Have you seen this question before?"

“Teacher, the book ‘On Learning’ that you gave me is the first article of its kind that I have ever encountered.” Su Lu replied, “Yesterday was the first time I tried to solve the problem using the method you taught me.”

"Oh?" Mr. Zhang looked suspicious. He had named Su Lulai, so naturally he didn't believe that the boy could learn to solve the problem overnight.

But Confucius said: "Do not suspect others of deceit beforehand, nor assume others are dishonest." A gentleman does not suspect others of deceit beforehand, nor does he assume others are dishonest out of thin air.

As a Confucian scholar who was strict with himself, Mr. Zhang would not question Su Lu without reason, especially given the precedent he had learned. So he posed another question, asking Su Lu to solve it on the spot.

"Rules and regulations are the ultimate expression of order and harmony."

Su Lu pondered for a moment and slowly replied, "There are proper ways to use things in daily life, and then everything can follow its natural course."

The first sentence comes from the *Doctrine of the Mean*, "The Way is the principle by which daily things should be conducted," meaning rules and regulations. The second sentence comes from the *Collected Commentaries on Mencius*, "Everything has its inherent principle," implicitly referring to "the ultimate principle of squareness and roundness."
The entire sentence does not explicitly mention "rules" or "square and circle," but relies on Zhu Xi's commentary on "the principles that should be followed" and "the inherent laws" to subtly point out the logic that "rules lead to square and circle," precisely meeting the requirement of implicit debunking.

"Well done. It's not particularly brilliant, but it's flawless." Mr. Zhang had no more doubts and couldn't help but praise, "I can't believe you've only been learning how to solve problems for one day."

“It’s been two days now,” Su Lu said solemnly.

"Hahaha!" Mr. Zhang laughed loudly, looking at him with newfound respect, and said, "Could it be that you were born to write the eight-legged essay?"

"Sir, you flatter me. I've only scratched the surface," Su Lu said. "It's just that you taught me so clearly, which is why I understood." "Haha, my craft class is passable, isn't it?" Mr. Zhang was delighted to hear this and then asked curiously:

"Tell me how you solved the problem?"

Based on his many years of teaching experience, it would take a considerable amount of time to help a student with no prior experience in crafts understand the hidden meaning of the puzzle. Even more effort would be required to enable them to skillfully apply the puzzle-solving techniques.

The time required varies from person to person, ranging from half a month to more than a month, but this young man only took one or two days... It's simply unheard of.

He couldn't think of any other title besides "genius".

"The teacher taught that to solve a problem well, 'understanding the problem' is fundamental." Su Lu then truthfully replied:
"Students first determine the source of the question and clarify the core meaning to be expressed by referring to Zhu Xi's commentary. Then, using this as an anchor, they select from the Four Books and Zhu Xi's commentary to find the classic meanings that can form an internal resonance."

"Finally, to avoid criticizing the question, we use semantic mapping to indirectly present the main idea of ​​the question in two sentences, thus completing the implicit solution to the question."

"Hiss..." The words were clear, concise, and easy to understand. Mr. Zhang felt as if the clouds had parted and the sun had shone through; wasn't this kind of insightful thinking exactly what he had been searching for?
As the saying goes, "The master leads you through the door, but the learning is up to you." Since he began teaching, Mr. Zhang has often lamented that despite explaining things clearly, he can never seem to ensure his students fully grasp the concepts. Ultimately, how well they learn depends entirely on their individual comprehension…

After listening to Su Lu's thought process, he realized that it was because he was still too simplistic. He himself hadn't even organized his thought process...

Of course, this is not Mr. Zhang's fault. In fact, the teaching methods of Taiping Academy were already quite advanced. It just lacked a scientific and systematic pedagogical theory.

Mr. Zhang never expected that he would be enlightened by a student who had only been there for two days. He actually stood up, cupped his hands in thanks to Su Lu, and said, "Thank you for your guidance."

"What are you doing, sir?" Su Lu quickly stepped aside.

"Master Changli said: 'Those who are born after me have heard the Way before me, and I follow them as my teachers.'" Master Zhang, however, said matter-of-factly: "Therefore, regardless of rank or age, wherever the Way exists, there the teacher exists."

"I have learned a lot." Su Lu quickly bowed deeply. He realized that no matter how authoritative the new headmaster was, he couldn't control how the teachers taught.

At least Mr. Zhang is still setting an example by teaching and educating people, and has not been affected by the headmaster.

“I’d like to ask you to help me revise my lesson plans and the phonetic notation scheme later…” Mr. Zhang looked at this promising student with admiration, but then frowned and said, “Sigh, let’s wait until next year. You must find a way to stay this year.”

"Yes, the student council will try their best to get eight points." Su Lu nodded, then couldn't help but ask, "Sir, do you think the chances are good?"

"To be honest, the chances aren't great." Since Su Lu was no ordinary person, Zhang Yanqiu spoke frankly: "In the monthly exam, you need to be judged as 'excellent in both rhetoric and reasoning' to get a point. Your thinking is clearer than most people, and your understanding of the classics is also very solid. I'm not too worried about your reasoning. As long as you work hard, getting 'excellent in reasoning' shouldn't be a problem."

"But in terms of writing style, one must refine it through countless revisions, eliminating the dross and extracting the essence, before one can achieve even a small degree of success. This is not something that can be grasped in a short time." After saying this, Mr. Zhang changed the subject and asked Su Lu, "How is your teaching level?"

"Excuse me, sir, what is meant by 'matching lessons'?" Su Lu once again displayed his incomprehensible ignorance.

"It's just about making students match couplets." Mr. Zhang was speechless: "How many days of elementary school did you even attend?"

“Sir, I haven’t been there,” Su Lu replied truthfully.

"What?" Mr. Zhang exclaimed in disbelief, "Then how did you get in?"

"With the support of my father and brothers, I crammed for three months," Su Lu said honestly. "I couldn't even memorize all the exam content, so naturally I didn't have time to practice writing couplets."

"Three, three months?" Mr. Zhang held up three fingers, paused for a long time before laughing in relief, "That explains why you were able to learn the secret technique in just one day, but you don't even know how to match the lessons."

"Yes. Students have wasted too much time, and I don't know if they'll ever have a chance to catch up," Su Lu sighed.

"If others don't have it, you definitely do!" Mr. Zhang's eyes lit up as he looked at him as if he had found a treasure. He had initially thought this was a bottom-of-the-class 'vice-monitor,' but it turned out to be a potential dark horse.

Upon seeing this thing, which talent scout could resist? Mr. Zhang suppressed his excitement and said, "Go back to class first, and come over after school every day. I will give you extra homework."

"Yes, thank you, sir." Su Lu was also very happy; he couldn't wait to receive special guidance.

~~
In the afternoon, Mr. Zhang explained four more methods for solving problems and, as usual, assigned homework.

After Su Lu handed in his homework this time, the three Cheng brothers dared not provoke him again...

He went into the side room and asked the teacher to assign him extra homework for the day.

“I’ve been thinking about it today, and having you memorize one essay a day was too little. Starting tomorrow, I’ll increase it to three.” Mr. Zhang had already made up his mind and instructed, “In addition, starting tonight, you need to strengthen your antithetical couplet training. It’s not about rote memorization of ancient antithetical couplets or prosody primers, but about having someone give you questions on the spot.”

"You must start by practicing individual characters and words, until you can practice matching sentences and paragraphs, until you can get everything right." Fearing he might not understand his plan, the teacher explained further:
"The eight-legged essay is essentially a form of parallelism. A good eight-legged essay reads with alternating tones and harmonious rhythms, which is supported by the parallel structure. Even if it is full of nonsense, once it is paired with the eight-legged style, it will sound sonorous and resonant, and so-called 'literary talent' is mostly reflected in this. Therefore, your most urgent task is to improve your parallelism skills!"

P.S.: The parallelism at the beginning of the next chapter was something I put together on the spot. It took me three hours and a lot of brainpower, so please don't think it was copied and pasted. Also, the eight-legged essays are all...

As I said before, unless the plot requires plagiarism, this book will be as original as possible.

(End of this chapter)