My Wife Is A Sword Immortal-Chapter 1148 - 709: The Eve of the Rest Day

Zhao Rong saw two trees on his way back.

One was a jujube tree, and the other was also a jujube tree.

Both were growing in front of the Zunjing Pavilion.

This Zunjing Pavilion is not far from Zhu Yourong’s Yilan Pavilion. Unlike the vast collection of books at Book Mountain Book Tower, the pavilion only houses ancient and simple classics and the classics interpretations of predecessors. It caters to the scholars in the academy who are pursuing Confucian classics, making it less lively compared to the tower. People come and go sporadically. There are quite a few pavilions in the academy that focus on singular Confucian classics like this.

However, Teacher Yan had recommended this place before, and Zhao Rong had visited a few times, indeed finding several interesting collections of classics, benefiting greatly. Now returning from Yilan Pavilion, it was a good time to return the books he had borrowed.

Before entering, Zhao Rong glanced again at the two jujube trees outside the pavilion.

Previously, when he came to borrow books, the jujubes were still unripe, but now it’s harvest season, and the jujube trees are lush with branches and leaves, towering with greenery. The jujubes hanging among the leaves are like green clouds with red spots, each about the size of an egg, presumably very sweet.

The counter on the first floor of Zunjing Pavilion was empty, with only a few scattered shadows of scholars behind rows of gray wooden bookshelves, either reading or daydreaming. The atmosphere inside was as quiet as the sunset glow outside. Zhao Rong was not surprised, the pavilion had a grand name but little popularity. The academy’s miscellaneous section had only assigned one working old servant here to handle daily cleaning and register book rentals at the counter.

Looking at these shelves that were as tall as people, Zhao Rong felt a pang of sympathy for the wooden ladder under the old servant’s feet, wondering who would outlast the other. Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that the servant was actually a hidden master, like a sweeping monk, merely wanting to experience a simple life here, being the universe’s strongest position as a library administrator, who could say otherwise?

Zhao Rong returned the books on his own, walked to the counter, and didn’t see the tall and skinny old servant he had met several times before, who seemed to have dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the booming fishing industry, wasting no time. So Zhao Rong took a book return form from the table, registered the details, neatly stacked it, and turned to leave.

Passing by the two jujube trees at the entrance again, someone did not immediately leave but slowed down, looked around, and seeing no one coming, Zhao Rong rolled up his sleeves and leapt onto a tree, swiftly starting to pick jujubes.

"From being green to mature, from small to plump, I can’t let you sulk alone, I must lend a hand." Zhao Rong picked up a ripe jujube, took a bite, filling his mouth with sweet flesh, nodding earnestly with muffled words, "When I go back, I’ll have Brother Yushu and Brother Teng Ying help too..."

He remembered there was also a jujube tree in front of his family home in his past life, where he would cool down in summer, pick jujubes in autumn, shake off snow in winter, and enjoy a garden full of blooms in spring.

Leaning against the trunk, Zhao Rong finished eating a jujube cleanly, then got active again, adhering to the humanitarian spirit of not wasting food. The crispy jujubes on the two trees were plucked bare as if by a fierce wind.

A moment later, Zhao Rong on the tree was embracing a bulging bundle made from his clothes, nodding in satisfaction, and was about to jump down when he unexpectedly turned around, bumping into the expressionless gaze of the tall and skinny old servant, who was sitting at a desk on the second floor of Zunjing Pavilion, with a window that directly faced the two jujube trees. Zhao Rong didn’t know how long the servant had been watching.

"..." The half-eaten jujube in Zhao Rong’s mouth fell.

The atmosphere between the inside and outside of the window was momentarily awkward...

Eventually, someone still left safely without blushing or being chased away in embarrassment.

Actually, when Zhao Rong was on the tree, ready to engage in a stare-down, he was prepared to surrender all the fruits of his crime, but before he could awkwardly speak, the tall and skinny old servant inside had already turned away, opened a booklet at hand, and began writing, seemingly continuing his work.

So Zhao Rong, in mutual understanding, acted as if nothing had happened, jumped down the tree, left a basket of jujubes on the counter downstairs, and then left, following the rule of "finders, keepers."

...

Zhao Rong returned with a full load, munching on ripe jujubes on the way back while continuing to flip through the books Zhu Yourong had given him.

Unexpectedly, this was a booklet documenting the roster of teachers in Linlu Academy, roughly recording personal information about the teachers in the academy. Naturally, it wasn’t very detailed, but it was enough to get a general understanding of the academy’s ’faculty,’ making future choices of mentors easier.

"No wonder she suddenly mentioned the matter of apprenticeships, turns out she prepared for it early on."

Zhao Rong nodded, then quickly scanned the booklet, finally finding several names of teachers circled in red, certainly recommended by Zhu Yourong. But what surprised Zhao Rong was that there was actually a familiar face among them.

"The old Sacrificial Officer? Didn’t he retire and no longer take on apprentices?"

Zhao Rong muttered, and before long, he chuckled and shook his head.

He discovered that all the names circled by Zhu Yourong were teacher knights with high prestige in the academy, similar to the old Sacrificial Officer, at least the academy’s six gentlemen. Naturally, their status and rank were extremely high, but correspondingly, the difficulty of apprenticeship was also not small... In fact, Zhao Rong had always thought about apprenticing with Teacher Yan to study Confucian classics, even though his current goal was to stand out as a Reading Seed from the current Mochi scholars.

"She seems to have misunderstood."

Zhao Rong sighed, but thinking about it, it was ultimately her good intention, so he quietly put away the roster...

When he returned to East Fence Small House, the sky was already tinged with the last touch of crimson from the setting sun, and Zhao Rong saw the crowded figures in the open yard from afar.

"Came just in time." Zhao Rong quickly stepped into the yard, glanced at Yu Huaijin, Xiao Hongyu, Wu Peiliang, and others, then quietly headed towards the water jar by the well. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

He bent over his back to everyone, fetching water to wash the jujubes, while joking, "Come on, who was the traitor that leaked military secrets, spreading word of my handsome acquisition of a batch of treasure jujubes, attracting everyone?"

Everyone laughed, and Yu Huaijin, leading the group, glanced at the jujubes and curiously asked, "Did the teacher give these? Are there still jujube trees in Yilan Pavilion that haven’t been eaten by Jingzi?"

"Not quite. These were picked when passing Zunjing Pavilion, usually no one picks them or eats them, so it’s a pity for ripe ones to go uneaten, thus I accepted them with a smile." Zhao Rong answered truthfully.

Yu Huaijin nodded and didn’t ask further.

Zhao Rong picked up a jujube and wiped it on his shoulder, tossing one to Jia Tengying, "Brother Teng Ying, why are you staring foolishly and watching your Fish senior? Go make tea, how long have they been waiting? Leaving so many brothers idle here."

"Oh, oh, oh." Jia Tengying, squatting behind the others, froze as if regaining his backbone, immediately rushing to the back kitchen.

"It’s fine, we haven’t waited long." Yu Huaijin shook her head.

Zhao Rong nodded, then ordered behind her, "Make sure to bring out our best tea leaves to entertain the group."

Jia Tengying couldn’t help but turn back, "Our... tea leaves?"

Zhao Rong replied without batting an eye, "Don’t worry, you have it, that’s enough."

Jia Tengying: "..."

Yu Huaijin, Xiao Hongyu, and others couldn’t help but glance at the freeloader roommate and the bachelor.

Zhao Rong maintained his usual calm demeanor, and didn’t immediately ask if they were there for something. He divided the clean jujubes among everyone, bit into one himself, and jokingly said:

"You all came at a bad time, today there’s only jujubes and hot tea to serve, the kitchen is closed. Brother Teng Ying likes to chew on morning steamed buns, can’t have everyone chewing together, right? As for me, tomorrow or the day after is a holiday, tonight my wife specially came, waiting for me at the residence outside, should have hot food prepared for me when I go out and eat later. As for Yushu... well, he’s like a rich dog, he can generously contribute a meal, let his attendant student buy some delicacies... Wait, where is he?"

Zhao Rong looked around, realizing that the fellow who loved freeloading food and drink from East Fence Small House wasn’t there in the yard...