Chapter 102

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Chapter 102: Memory

Third Master Qu and Yu Deyi were both taken aback. They asked at the same time: “Are you saying that Zhang Xiaohu only borrows one book each day, returns it promptly the next morning, and then borrows another? And he’s borrowing them one by one without any specific purpose?”

The manager nodded in agreement.

Third Master Qu pondered for a moment but couldn’t figure it out. He waved his hand and said: “Forget it. I’ll find time to ask him directly. Anyway, you’re just keeping records. The fist and sword manuals aren’t anything rare. He’s now part of the martial arts hall, so let him read them. I’ve noted the issue, and you’ve done well. Just keep an eye on things in the future. You can go now.”

The manager, pleased with Third Master Qu’s praise, hurriedly left.

After the manager left, Third Master Qu asked Yu Deyi: “What do you think?”

Yu Deyi smiled and replied to Third Master Qu: “Uncle already has an idea, yet you still want to this nephew?”

Third Master Qu smiled without responding.

Yu Deyi continued: “Zhang Xiaohu is probably borrowing the manuals for his younger brother. Although his brother has inborn divine strength, he cannot practice martial arts in this life. Reading those manuals is just to satisfy his curiosity. Let him read. Even if he goes through all the manuals in the library, could these commonly circulated manuals make him a martial arts master? If so, wouldn’t it be easier for the manager to advance to a martial arts master than anyone else? Reading a manual for a month would make me suspect that Zhang Xiaohu’s younger brother is really practicing martial arts or analyzing marital techniques, but a manual a day? He’s just flipping through them to pass the time. Imagine lying bored in a room, unable to read. Why don’t we just let him read books to kill time. He only has the pictures in the manuals to look at, like flipping through a picture book.”

Third Master Qu smiled and gave a thumbs-up, saying: “Deyi, you’ve improved a lot. Correlating different pieces of information to arrive at the most logical conclusion is very commendable.”

Yu Deyi modestly replied: “Uncle praises me too much. It’s just the mismatch of information that made the library manager suspicious. The manager is quite diligent and careful.”

Third Master Qu said: “Deyi, you’re right. What’s the most important thing in the martial world? Information. Having information is as valuable as having peerless martial arts skills.”

The two exchanged a look and burst into laughter, truly confident in their understanding.

But is the reality so simple?

Not necessarily!?

What is Zhang Xiaohua doing?

He’s worrying about having too many complete martial arts forms in his mind.

It’s amusing to think about it. Not long ago, he was troubled by not being able to remember a single complete set of a martial technique. Now, the situation has completely reversed, and he’s troubled by having too many complete martial techniques.

My original intention was to learn various martial arts moves and link them together to form a complete set. But now that I have memorized so many complete sets, how can I link them all together?

What a headache.

Zhang Xiaohua’s injury has improved considerably, and moving his arm occasionally no longer causes him to scream in pain. At this moment, he is sitting on the kang, staring idly at the ceiling. He has already finished reading a new martial arts manual, which he has tossed aside.

Zhang Xiaohu is still practicing martial arts, truly embodying the saying “A boxer never lets go of his punches, and a singer never leaves his songs”.

After thinking for a long time without coming up with a good solution, Zhang Xiaohua had to temporarily give up. His attention finally shifted from the ceiling to Zhang Xiaohu’s martial arts practice. Suddenly, he was startled and shouted: “Second Brother, why aren’t you practicing the Six Harmonies Fist anymore?”

Zhang Xiaohu heard Zhang Xiaohua call him, so he stopped, wiped his sweat, and said with a smile, “I’ve not been practicing just Six Harmonies Fist for a few days now. You probably just didn’t notice. I took your advice to heart. Even though I might not be as proficient in other martial techniques as the Six Harmonies Fist, it’s still worth learning and referencing from them.”

Zhang Xiaohua said joyfully: “Second Brother, your martial arts must have improved a lot. I’m so envious. I’m scratching my head about how I should improve my martial arts. It’s really frustrating. By the way, the moves you were practicing just now looked familiar. It seemed like the Nan Zhi Fist.”

Zhang Xiaohu was taken aback and said: “How do you know that?”

Then he realized: “Oh, you must have read that martial arts manual.”

Zhang Xiaohua nodded and said: “The second manual you brought me was the Nan Zhi Fist manual. I remember it clearly.”

Zhang Xiaohu said, “One of the martial arts masters at the martial arts hall is skilled in Nan Zhi Fist. I heard him say that this Nan Zhi Fist is more about defense than offense, so I decided to learn it for reference.”

“Oh, I see.” Zhang Xiaohua said thoughtfully, then asked: “Second Brother, can you perform it from start to finish, slowly? I want to take a look.”

Zhang Xiaohu replied: “Of course, watch closely.”

With that, he took his stance and began to perform the moves. After a few, he asked: “Is this speed okay?”

Zhang Xiaohua frowned and said: “Slower, please.”

So Zhang Xiaohu slowed down even more, performing the Nan Zhi Fist moves one by one.

However, when he finished, Zhang Xiaohua’s frown deepened, and his face showed even more confusion.

Zhang Xiaohu couldn’t help but ask: “What’s wrong, Xiaohua? Is there a difference between my moves and what’s described in the manual?”

Zhang Xiaohua, puzzled, said: “Second Brother, it’s not that there’s a difference. It’s that they’re exactly the same.”

Zhang Xiaohu asked in confusion: “If they’re the same, what’s the problem?”

Zhang Xiaohua said: “Second Brother, you don’t understand. Actually, I don’t quite understand it myself. Do you remember how when I learned other martial arts techniques, they were never exactly the same as how people taught them? There were always subtle differences in my memory of the moves. But how come these techniques memorized from the manual, are exactly the same as in the manual? I have a strange feeling about this.”

Zhang Xiaohu said: “Your way of learning martial arts is really peculiar. Most people aim to learn the techniques exactly as they are in the manual. You seem to prefer them to be different. What kind of feeling are you talking about?”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled wryly and said: “I don’t know, it’s just a feeling that something is not quite right.”

“Well, if something feels off, it feels off. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. It’s getting late, and we should get some sleep.” Zhang Xiaohu said impatiently, not taking Zhang Xiaohua’s words too seriously.

After Zhang Xiaohu blew out the oil lamp, Zhang Xiaohua still couldn’t sleep. He lay in the darkness, staring into the void, trying to pinpoint that disharmonious feeling in his mind until midnight came.

In the following days, Zhang Xiaohua still couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He decided to set aside that feeling and focused on memorizing the martial arts manuals and painstakingly studying the foundational text <Shuowen Jiezi>. Under Li Jinfeng’s wise guidance, Zhang Xiaohua had become capable of studying this “most fundamental” primer independently. He had already worked through half of the thick book, much to Li Jinfeng’s silent amazement. Li Jinfeng thought to himself: “This kid is really something. He actually managed to memorize half of <Shuowen Jiezi>. If the scholars at the academy heard about this, wouldn’t they be so ashamed they’d want to jump into a well? Should I be jumping into a well too? Of course not. Without my brilliant teaching, how could this kid have realized his potential? My contribution is indeed significant.”

In fact, at this time, Zhang Xiaohua was now studying <Shuowen Jiezi> on his own. Li Jinfeng had given him additional materials, including some of the books he himself had read at the academy. Shamelessly, Li Jinfeng said: “These are all for the enlightenment of children.”

When Zhang Xiaohua argued that he hadn’t seen children in Guo Village studying such materials, Li Jinfeng would always respond with a mocking laugh, saying: “That’s the education level of Guo Village. The education level in Pingyang City is different. Many people rack their brains to send their children to Pingyang City for a reason. What’s the reason? It’s because of the uneven distribution of educational resources. The education level here in Pingyang City is higher. Not to mention the many schools in Pingyang City enroll that many local students. Children who come here for enlightenment have more opportunities to study in better academies. Even the introductory books here are not found elsewhere. You have the opportunity to study, yet you’re not focusing on it and are thinking about other things. Think about when you were a child and how much you longed to read books, and think about other children who want to read like you do now. Do you still have the nerve to not study hard?”

Zhang Xiaohua was struck by these words and, thinking about his truly ‘miserable’ childhood without books, became even more diligent in his studies under Li Jinfeng’s urging. He was just short of the extreme dedication of hanging his head from a beam and stabbing his thigh with an awl. Of course, this was because Li Jinfeng considered his injury and wouldn’t actually take such measures.

[TL_Note: Both are idioms that describe extreme dedication to studying, derived from historical stories about scholars who used these methods to stay awake and focus on their studies]

When there is effort, there are rewards. In this grueling learning environment, Zhang Xiaohua achieved remarkable results. Although he hadn’t undergone any formal exams, his conversations with Li Jinfeng were filled with references to classical texts and idioms, making it hard to believe that just a couple of months ago, he was nearly illiterate. Now, his youthful face exuded a scholarly aura, and his bright eyes occasionally revealed flashes of wisdom, making anyone who saw him think he was a well-learned student.

These were just the surface aspects known to Li Jinfeng and Zhang Xiaohu. As for Zhang Xiaohua’s achievements in studying the martial arts manuals, they were even more extraordinary. Initially, Zhang Xiaohu borrowed one manual at a time, but later, the library steward showed some signs of exhaustion and allowed him to borrow two at a time, thinking it would delay him for a couple of days. To his surprise, Zhang Xiaohu returned the very next day. The steward was utterly speechless, and since he had already reported this to Third Master Qu and he hadn’t issued any instructions, he resigned himself to the inconvenience. He recorded more books, having figured that having rested more in previous years, he was now paying some interest in the form of extra work. Thus, he stopped complaining and allowed Zhang Xiaohu to borrow one or two manuals daily, with the routine of returning them daily remaining unchanged.

In fact, Zhang Xiaohu himself was puzzled. Initially, he thought Zhang Xiaohua was genuinely studying and memorizing the manuals, as he had discussed Nan Zhi Fist with him. But later, he noticed that Zhang Xiaohua only looked at the manual briefly as night approached and discarded it by the time the lamps were lit, without practicing any moves (Well, Zhang Xiaohua wanted to, he simply couldn’t). This wasn’t studying martial arts, it was more like looking at a picture book to pass the time.

When Zhang Xiaohu started borrowing two manuals, Zhang Xiaohua continued to go through them one by one, discarding them after reading. This solidified Zhang Xiaohu’s suspicion that his brother was merely passing the time or searching for suitable techniques to practice once he recovered. He wanted to admonish Zhang Xiaohua to take it more seriously, but as soon as he thought about how his injury wouldn’t heal, Zhang Xiaohua would realize that he couldn’t practice martial arts anymore. “Forget it, let it be.” Zhang Xiaohu thought to himself: “Borrowing books can be a way to exercise my body. Maybe, as he reads, it’s just for recognizing characters. Maybe he’ll grow tired of it and lose interest in martial arts, fulfilling Li Jinfeng’s wish for him to become a scholar instead. That would be best.”

However, Zhang Xiaohu dreaded the day when Zhang Xiaohua would discover he couldn’t practice martial arts. How would he comfort him then?

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Time flew by, and with everyone’s care, Zhang Xiaohua’s injuries gradually improved. The doctor from the clinic visited regularly to change his bandages and check on the recovery of his bones. By the time the weather began to cool, his wrist injury had healed significantly. The fractures in his palm and fingers were still recovering normally, and though Zhang Xiaohua occasionally moved his hand, it was not very painful. Thanks to Zhang Xiaohu’s meticulous care, Zhang Xiaohua’s bones did not heal unevenly or crookedly, which greatly satisfied the examining doctor.

In truth, Zhang Xiaohua’s injuries were extremely severe. Following the instructions from Third Master Qu, the doctor did not explicitly state that if the inner energy in Yu Deyi’s Purple Sand Palm had fully hit Zhang Xiaohua’s unprotected fist, his fist would have been shattered beyond repair, rendering it useless. Yu Deyi just borrowed Zhang Xiaohua’s fist to retract his strength and had only used 20 to 30% of his inner strength when striking Zhang Xiaohua’s fist, which resulted in fractures in the bones of his wrist, fingers, and palm, not just in the joints. Thus, although Zhang Xiaohua’s hand was not completely ruined, it could not bear force. Any excessive force could easily break the newly healed bones, making it impossible for him to practice martial arts.

Thus, when Zhang Xiaohua asked the doctor again about when he could start practicing martial arts, the doctor frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said: “Just wait a little longer. We’ll talk about it later. When the weather is completely cool, then you might be able to practice martial arts. However, remember that within the next three to five years, you must avoid using force, whether in practicing martial arts or any other activities. Otherwise, the bones might break again.”

Zhang Xiaohua was extremely happy to hear that he could practice martial arts once the weather cooled down. He barely paid attention to the doctor’s advice about avoiding using force for three to five years and simply planned to practice lightly.

So, he looked forward to the cool weather every day.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaohu, seeing his brother improve day by day, was naturally very happy. However, another concern was troubling him.

It had been nearly four months since they left Guo Village, and they had not sent any news back home. Thinking about how their parents were eagerly waiting for news, Zhang Xiaohu felt anxious. When they first arrived, they had not settled in and had not thought to send a message home. Then, with his younger brother’s injury, he couldn’t let their family know. Now that Zhang Xiaohua’s condition had greatly improved, it was time to report to his family that they were safe. However, being in Pingyang City without any relatives or acquaintances, and not knowing anyone returning to Lu Town, how could he send this message?

As Zhang Xiaohua’s injuries improved, his learning entered a new phase. His tutor, Li Jinfeng, who had once come every day, was now visiting every few days. On each visit, he brought Zhang Xiaohua a substantial number of “introductory” books to read and asked him about any difficulties he encountered, providing answers one by one. Besides reading, Zhang Xiaohua has also been practicing writing. Each time, he showed his writing to Li Jinfeng. Li Jinfeng would inquire about Zhang Xiaohua’s reading progress and examine his increasingly smooth and mature handwriting. He would often click his tongue in amazement, but Zhang Xiaohua was unsure what to make of his reactions. He simply thought that perhaps his writing wasn’t satisfactory and resolved to work even harder in his studies.

Unbeknownst to Zhang Xiaohua, every visit from Li Jinfeng, while intended to encourage and supervise his studies, was a journey of frustration and self-doubt for Li Jinfeng. Each time he saw Zhang Xiaohua’s remarkable progress, he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh, lamenting: “Why was there a Zhuge Liang if there was a Zhou Yu?” Is this what they call a legendary genius? It was indeed disheartening for a normal person.

[TL_Note:This is a reference to a famous line from Chinese literature and history]

What truly pained or excited Li Jinfeng was that the basic textbook <Shuowen Jiezi> had been thoroughly memorized by Zhang Xiaohua. What kind of student is this? Li Jinfeng couldn’t imagine someone memorizing the dictionary with such zeal, this could only be the work of an extraordinary person.

When Li Jinfeng asked how Zhang Xiaohua managed to memorize it, Zhang Xiaohua responded with nonchalance. He explained that although it was difficult at first, the subsequent material was just a recombination of earlier words and phrases, and with diligent study, it became manageable. In the final stage, he even reviewed dozens of pages at a time. Li Jinfeng was so amazed that he opened <Shuowen Jiezi> again to ensure he hadn’t mistakenly picked up the wrong book.

Of course, he was also pleased with the effectiveness of his teaching method and began to fantasize about a future where, if he were to become unemployed, he could look for a job in early education, which seemed like a promising part-time opportunity.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaohua had no idea of Li Jinfeng’s thoughts. He was simply focused on doing what ordinary children in Pingyang City would do, without any particular joy. His true passion remained deeply embedded in his study of the martial arts manuals.

The martial arts manuals from the library had all been borrowed by Zhang Xiaohu, which meant that Zhang Xiaohua had read every single manual available at the Lotus Escort Agency’s Martial Arts Hall. At this point, Zhang Xiaohua had memorized over a hundred sets of martial arts techniques that were currently circulating in the Jianghu. Each set was complete, without any omissions. Zhang Xiaohua’s memory during this period had not disappointed him. Now, when he woke up in the morning, he no longer needed to constantly recall the previous day’s manuals, because he knew that, as long as he wished, the little figure would demonstrate any technique he wanted to see from start to finish at any time.

Despite being unable to practice the techniques himself, Zhang Xiaohua was very satisfied with his current life. He enjoyed three meals a day without any reduction in quality, thanks to Yu Deyi’s consideration, which greatly improved Zhang Xiaohua’s opinion of him. Occasionally, when Yu Deyi came to visit Zhang Xiaohua, he was met with a friendly and pleasant demeanor, unlike the initial resentment. Reflecting on it, Zhang Xiaohua realized that Yu Deyi’s oversight, though serious, was likely an honest mistake. According to Li Jinfeng, these young masters often had such minor flaws, but compared to others, Yu Deyi’s apology and actions were much better. For instance, Zhang Xiaohua had long held a grudge against the bullies of Lu Town.

In comparison, Zhang Xiaohua no longer harbored any hatred towards Yu Deyi. Not to mention, he had reviewed countless martial arts manuals due to his injury. Thinking about this, Zhang Xiaohua was so pleased that he smiled in his dreams.