Chapter 183: Wang Tiandong (Part )
Ever since he suffered the humiliation of being kicked in the crotch, Wei Jiacai and others seemed to have lost interest in Wang Tiandong. Although they still mocked and ridiculed him from time to time, they no longer deliberately made things difficult for him.

In this way, Wang Tiandong spent two months peacefully in school.

During these two months, by listening to Mr. Wang’s lectures, many of his previous doubts and confusions suddenly became clear, and Wang Tiandong felt that his knowledge was advancing by leaps and bounds.

Everything is going in a good direction.

But two months later, Wang Tiandong suddenly discovered that the teacher’s teaching content was somewhat repetitive, and the overall progress was much slower.

I originally thought that the gentleman was too old and had made a mistake, and would be able to correct it quickly. However, not only did he not make the mistake, but it became even worse.

Seeing that time was passing day by day, Wang Tiandong only had one year left. How could he bear to waste it like this? So after school one day, he spoke up to remind his son.

Unexpectedly, the teacher not only did not listen, but scolded Wang Tiandong, saying that he was disrespectful to teachers and even threatened to expel him from the school.

Wang Tiandong was so frightened that his whole body was shaking. His heart was colder than the autumn wind. He dared not say another word.

The gentleman remained the same in the following days.

Since the teacher spoke slowly, Wang Tiandong simply taught himself, and when he encountered something he didn’t understand, he would ask the teacher.

Unexpectedly, the teacher not only did not explain to him, but scolded him again, saying that he was not down-to-earth and was biting off more than he could chew.

After being reprimanded again, Wang Tiandong did not dare to seek advice from the teacher again and could only read books and study on his own.

But if this is the case, wouldn’t it be the same as what he did before in Shihe Village?
What’s the point of his fifty taels of flowers as a thank-you gift to his teacher!
“That’s it!”

Just when Wang Tiandong was feeling depressed and didn’t know what to do, he suddenly discovered a “shocking secret”!
It turns out that Mr. Wang’s lectures were not always repetitive and lengthy. For some people in the class, his progress was not slow and his explanations were extremely detailed.

Of course, this is not in the classroom, but these people have other time to go to Mr. Wang’s home and receive one-on-one guidance from Mr. Wang.

In the words of others, this is called special treatment!

Wang Tiandong suddenly realized at this moment that if he wanted to improve his knowledge in Wang’s private school, he had to receive special treatment. Only with special treatment could he have a chance of passing the imperial examination.

The previous Jinshi student received special training from Mr. Wang for seven or eight years before he was able to pass the imperial examination.

Wang Tiandong naturally also wanted to give special treatment to the student, but to do so he also had to prepare a thank-you gift to the teacher.

Moreover, this one costs one hundred taels of silver!

The previous fifty taels had already drained Wang Tiandong’s wallet. Where could he find another hundred taels?

I originally thought that entering the Wang family private school was like leaping over the dragon gate.

Now I know that there are different levels in this school.

Under the heavy blow of reality, Wang Tiandong was extremely depressed and even had no interest in listening to lectures for several days.

Fifty taels of silver in exchange for one year is equivalent to one or two hundred coins a day. However, he already understood most of what the teacher said, so what was the point of listening?

“no!”

He remained in this daze for more than a month, until the first snow fell. The thin outer clothes and the biting cold wind made Wang Tiandong suddenly wake up.

He couldn’t just give up like that, nor could he just waste fifty taels of silver in vain!

Maybe it was God’s will, maybe those who work hard will be rewarded, and he really found an opportunity.

Although Mr. Wang has a wife and two concubines, he has no sons, only a daughter who is only 28 years old and has not yet married.

According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, a girl could get married at the age of fourteen. Mr. Wang’s daughter was already sixteen, which was not young.

Wang Tiandong thought to himself, if he could marry Miss Wang and become Mr. Wang’s son-in-law, wouldn’t Mr. Wang still have to teach him well even if there was no thank-you gift?

Moreover, Mr. Wang has only one daughter. If he marries her, after Mr. Wang dies, won’t all the Wang family’s property be his?
Eating a family’s food is nothing new.

Although Wang Tiandong didn’t know Miss Wang, and he was an orphan who collected herbs, and he was not a good match for the Wang family. But in his opinion, with his talent and wisdom, it was not too high a match for Miss Wang.

After all, people have always said that a man with talent and a woman with beauty are the most important. For men, talent and knowledge come first.

The most important thing is that Wang Tiandong can only see this one way out at the moment.

“Let’s do it!”

After tossing and turning for several nights, Wang Tiandong finally made up his mind to marry Miss Wang and become Mr. Wang’s son-in-law.

Now that the decision has been made, the next step is how to turn the idea into reality.

The first thing Wang Tiandong had to do was to get to know Miss Wang.

He thought over and over again that if he directly proposed to Mr. Wang that he wanted to marry his daughter, he was afraid that Mr. Wang would not agree but would order his men to beat him up and then kick him out of the school.

Although Wang Tiandong thought that Mr. Wang was short-sighted and could not see that he was a good person, but the current situation was like this, so it was absolutely impossible to go directly to Mr. Wang.

It was the parents’ order and the matchmaker’s words. As for the matchmaker, Wang Tiandong didn’t have the money to hire one.

If the right way doesn’t work, you have to resort to unorthodox methods.

For example, directly contact Miss Wang herself.

The Wang family has only one child, and I think he or she is the apple of everyone’s eye. If Miss Wang chooses Wang Tiandong, Mr. Wang, as a father, will have to compromise for the sake of his daughter’s happiness.

After all, Miss Wang is already quite old and it is impossible for her to stay in the pavilion forever.

The next question is how to get to know Miss Wang.

Although the school was right next to Wang’s house, the two courtyards were not connected.

In fact, even if he entered the Wang family, as an outsider, it was impossible for him to enter the inner house and meet Miss Wang.

Since he couldn’t get in, he could only wait for Miss Wang to come out of the Wang family.

But even if the ladies of noble families went out, they would be accompanied by maids and old women, and they would ride in carriages or sedan chairs, and they would rarely show their faces on the streets.

In this case, how could Wang Tiandong have any chance?
“You are such a brave thief.”

At night, at the corner of Wangjia Alley, a little maid of about thirteen or fourteen looked at Wang Tiandong with a sneer on her lips.

“It’s not the courage of a thief, but the sincerity of his heart.”

Wang Tiandong smiled, took out five taels of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into the maid’s hand.

Apart from the fifty taels of silver he and Lu Nanxing had received as a thank-you gift to his teacher, Wang Tiandong still had some silver left over. In order to prepare for an emergency, he had not dared to touch it.

This time, in order to bribe Miss Wang’s maid, he gritted his teeth and took out five taels of silver.

“Haha, although you are poor, you are quite generous.”

Weighing the silver in her hand, the little maid couldn’t help but smile.

Wang Tiandong also smiled and bowed again.

“Generous or not, no matter who you are, I ask you to help me. When I succeed, I will never forget your kindness and will repay you a hundredfold.”

“Alright, I’m not greedy for your money, nor am I asking for your repayment, but I see that you are really sincere to my lady, and your appearance is also acceptable.”

Putting the silver in her pocket, the little maid looked around and then spoke in a low voice.

“In two days, the young lady will go to the Yin Temple outside the city to pray for blessings. I will be the only one with her then.”

“I see! Thanks, sis!”

Upon receiving this confidential information, Wang Tiandong was very excited and bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.

When Wang Tiandong got home the next day, he washed his clothes first. Since he had no change of clothes, he could only spend the day wrapped in a quilt, and naturally he could not go to school.

However, Wang Tiandong believed that he was already familiar with what Mr. Wang was talking about, so it didn’t matter whether he listened or not.

Besides, as long as he could win over Miss Wang, he would be the son-in-law of the Wang family in the future, so why would he care about one or two days of classes?

When the day the maid told him came, Wang Tiandong dressed cleanly and got ready, and arrived at Guanyin Temple, ten miles outside Xiangfu County, in advance.

He waited at the temple gate until noon, when he saw a carriage approaching. First, a maid came down, who was the maid of the Wang family that Wang Tiandong bribed that night.

Then, the maid helped Miss Wang out of the car, and they walked into the temple together.

Because she was wearing a hat that covered her face, Wang Tiandong couldn’t see what Miss Wang looked like, but he thought she looked fine.

After all, Mr. Wang is so rich, whether he is marrying a wife or taking a concubine, why would he choose an ugly woman? If the mother is beautiful, the daughter born will naturally not be bad either.

The more he thought about it, the happier he became. Wang Tiandong immediately followed him in. The coachman was waiting outside. As he had said that night, Miss Wang was only accompanied by her maidservant. The master and servant went straight to the main hall.

In front of the huge Guanyin statue, Miss Wang took off her bamboo hat and handed it to the little maid next to her. Yingying knelt on the cushion, clasped her hands together, looked pious, and muttered something.

“That’s okay.”

Wang Tiandong had already followed and finally saw Miss Wang’s true face, but he was a little disappointed.

Miss Wang’s mother was naturally beautiful, but unfortunately Miss Wang looked too much like her father.

But then Wang Tiandong gave up this idea.

The reason why he wanted to marry Miss Wang was because he was attracted by the Wang family’s assets. What did Miss Wang’s appearance matter?

As long as he gets the Wang family’s assets, he can take in two beautiful concubines in the future.

Then, he walked straight to Miss Wang and pretended to worship Buddha as well, but he deliberately dropped a piece of paper from his sleeve, which fell directly at Miss Wang’s feet.

Miss Wang saw it and picked it up subconsciously. There was a poem written on it:

A troglodyte, a Han female in the Jiaojiaohe River.

She stretched out her slender white hands and worked on the loom.

……

There was no language in Yingying.

“What a wonderful phrase.”

After reading it silently in her mind, Miss Wang couldn’t help but sigh.

Then he turned to Wang Tiandong and returned the poem.

“Sir, you dropped something.”

“This is a poem I wrote recently. I almost forgot about it. Thank you so much, Miss.”

Wang Tiandong looked serious, but his eyes were on Miss Wang.

This poem “Distant Altair” was certainly not written by him, but he guessed that Miss Wang had never read this poem before.

After all, it was a long time ago. Besides, Wang Tiandong had already asked the maid. Although Miss Wang liked poetry, Mr. Wang was very strict about it. There was only a collection of Tang Dynasty poems in her boudoir.

Even if Miss Wang knew about this poem, it would not matter. Wang Tiandong had already thought of an excuse to cover it up.

In short, cater to the person’s preferences.

Since Miss Wang likes poetry, he presented her with a poem.

And it is a love poem about love between men and women.

Which girl doesn’t have love in her heart? Miss Wang is only 28 years old, how could she not have any thoughts about this?
In fact, Wang Tiandong originally thought about composing one himself, but in just two days, he didn’t come up with any good lines.

As the saying goes, “A stroke of genius comes by chance.” Poetry is something that needs to be inspired. If you write it on the spot, you will be at a disadvantage.

Moreover, Wang Tiandong admitted that he focused his energy on economic articles and did not spend much time on poetry.

“The young lady just said this is a well-written poem.”

Wang Tiandong said softly with a smile on his face.

“Does the young lady also understand poetry?”

“I don’t understand poetry, I just like it.”

“Haha, Miss, you are too modest. Everything in the world starts with love.”

“Sir, this is a very interesting statement. This is the first time I have heard of it.”

Miss Wang smiled and handed over the poem again.

“The property returns to its original owner.”

“No no no.”

Wang Tiandong waved his hands repeatedly and said with a smile.

“A wise bird chooses a tree to inhabit, and the same is true for poetry. It is only valuable in the hands of those who like it. Since the young lady likes this poem, I will give it to her.”

“How can this be possible! How can I keep your things!”

Miss Wang opened her eyes slightly wide, a look of surprise on her face.

It is against etiquette for men and women to give gifts to each other privately, let alone this kind of poetry that describes love between men and women!
“Why not?”

Wang Tiandong, however, spoke in a serious and eloquent manner.

“Although I wrote this poem, it has been lost. Miss, you picked it up from the ground. It is you who picked it up. How can you not keep it?”

“This……”

All these twisted theories and heresies made Miss Wang a little confused.

The key is that she really likes this poem.

He pondered for a moment, said nothing, and put the poem into his sleeve.

Then he turned around and walked out of the hall.

Seeing that Miss Wang accepted his poem, Wang Tiandong was very excited.

Although it is not a token of love, as a love poem, it does have some meaning. Since Miss Wang accepted it, it means there is something going on between them!
“Miss!”

Thinking of this, Wang Tiandong hurried over, deliberately passed by and whispered something.

“Pray to Buddha with sincerity, don’t forget to return the vow in a few days.”

“It’s natural.”

Miss Wang whispered something, took the hat from the maid and put it on, without looking at Wang Tiandong beside her.

Wang Tiandong did not leave, but asked another question.

“When will the young lady come to fulfill her vow?”

“How can I know when my wish will come true? If so, how can I know when to fulfill my wish?”

Miss Wang smiled and spoke softly again.

“If we are destined to meet, we will meet again.”

“See you again if we are destined to…”

Looking at Miss Wang’s back as she hurried away, Wang Tiandong felt excited again.

After a moment, he came back to his senses and a smile appeared on his lips.

What’s the point of meeting again if we’re destined to? He never believed in fate or anything like that. He only believed that everything depends on human effort!

However, if I could see Miss Wang again, the matter would be mostly settled.

As for how to see it, it is actually simple.

Others may not know the time when Miss Wang will fulfill her wish, but how could her personal maid not know?

However, that little maidservant was extremely cunning, and if one wanted to get any information from her, he would probably have to bleed again.

“How can you accomplish anything great if you are stingy with these few taels of silver?”

He only had a dozen taels of savings left, but thinking of the benefits of marrying Miss Wang, Wang Tiandong made up his mind.

Then he turned around and bowed in front of the statue of Guanyin.

He straightened his body, took a deep breath, stood up and left.

(End of this chapter)