Chapter 537 - 201: A Fool’s Luck (Part 2)
He chuckled and asked, "Why are your legs shaking?"
"They’re not shaking, are they? No, no, no, they are. It’s your solemn dignity, sir. Before you, this student feels as if he’s being crushed by five great mountains. This student is just... frightened by your commanding presence. Yes, that’s it. I’m frightened."
"You little rascal. You’ve got a silver tongue. Do you use that smooth talking of yours to sweet-talk young ladies often?"
De’an looked as if he’d been struck by lightning.
’What young ladies has he ever sweet-talked?’
’He’s at the prefectural school from dawn till dusk. Where would he go to sweet-talk young ladies?’
’There are girls at the school, sure, but they’re not ’young ladies’—they’re tigresses.’
De’an put on a pleading expression. "I’m as honest as they come, I would never dare get into any romantic entanglements. If my mother found out I was misbehaving, she’d skin me alive."
"So you’re saying you really haven’t been chasing after young ladies? You’re quite the chaste one, then?"
"Isn’t that how it should be? I plan to enter officialdom. It would be a terrible injustice if I let someone get a hold of something to use against me because of some dalliance."
"You’ve got big ambitions for a kid like you."
"HEHEHE, well, I’m a young man. What’s a young man without a dream? Whether or not the dream comes true is another matter. The important thing is to dare to dream!"
Mr. Sheng wasn’t sure which of his remarks did it, but he suddenly burst out laughing.
He laughed as he clapped De’an on the shoulder.
De’an flinched, his shoulders slumping, a pained look on his face.
’Instant karma really is a thing!’
’Yesterday, he was mocking Jing for not being able to take a few pats. He’d only tapped him a couple of times, but Jing went home and complained to his sister that De’an, jealous of him for becoming the top scorer in the provincial examination, had bruised his shoulder.’
’At the time, he felt like a bucket of dirty water had been thrown in his face. He was so angry he wanted to pick a fight with Jing.’
’Now he knew he had misunderstood Jing.’
’Sheng Mingchuan was getting on in years and looked feeble, but who knew his slaps packed such a punch? After just two claps on the shoulder, half his body was numb.’
’And he himself was a young man in his prime; his strength would only be greater than Mr. Sheng’s. Jing’s claim yesterday that he had struck him out of jealous revenge... suddenly seemed plausible?!’
The realization made De’an even more miserable.
Seeing this, Mr. Sheng’s laughter only grew more cheerful.
"Silly boy. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, and your abilities aren’t outstanding, but you truly have... fortune. Could this be what they call ’a fool’s luck’?"
De’an stared wide-eyed at Mr. Sheng. ’Just have a normal conversation, why resort to personal attacks?’
’How is his mind not sharp?’
’It’s not that his abilities aren’t outstanding—he’s quite excellent at other things. It was only in studying for the civil service examinations that he was inferior to Jing. Compared to the general populace, there wasn’t much difference. How could Mr. Sheng brand him a "fool" just because he failed this Provincial Examination!’
’He wasn’t a fool at all!’
’And he didn’t want any ’fool’s luck’ either!’
De’an’s face was full of indignation. Seeing this, Mr. Sheng burst out laughing again.
"Still not convinced, are you? Then tell me yourself, are you clever?"
"Of course I’m clever! I’m very clever. My mother has praised me since I was little, saying I’m the smartest one in the whole family."
"Are you sure she wasn’t being sarcastic? HAHAHA! Zhao Jing, you tell me. Is this little brother-in-law of yours a bit of a simpleton?"
"I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a simpleton. He’s just a bit airheaded, his mind isn’t focused on certain things. But as you said, sir, a fool has a fool’s luck. He’s perfectly fine the way he is."
"You, you... when all is said and done, you’re the slyest one of all..."
Mr. Sheng clapped Zhao Jing on the shoulder twice more, then left with a hearty laugh, heading toward the Wang Family Tea House.
Once Mr. Sheng was a good distance away, De’an grabbed Zhao Jing’s arm. "What was all that confusing nonsense you two were spouting? I couldn’t understand a single word of it!"
Zhao Jing gave him a meaningful look and chuckled. "You just need to remember that a fool has a fool’s luck. As for the rest, it’s fine if you don’t understand."
With that, Zhao Jing walked over to Chen Wanqing.
As he drew near, they took each other’s hands. Chen Wanqing whispered to him, "What were you two talking about? The Lord Prefect seemed quite happy."
Zhao Jing lowered his voice and briefly recounted the conversation.
Chen Wanqing was not De’an. As an outsider to the conversation, she immediately picked up on the undertones in Mr. Sheng’s words.
Still, she could hardly believe her younger brother could have such good fortune. "De’an and Kaiyan..."
"Shh, Sis, keep your voice down."
Chen Wanqing lowered her voice to a breathy whisper. "Why would the Lord Prefect have such an idea? Could it be that Kaiyan said something when she went home?"
Then she shook her head. "Kaiyan is much more open and cheerful than other girls, but when it comes to matters of love, I don’t think she would be so rash as to bring it up with Mr. Sheng."
Zhao Jing replied, "Is it possible that the Lord Prefect read between the lines and picked up on her feelings from something she wrote?"