274: Chapter 72: Maple Leaves Like Flames and Fresh Blood 274: Chapter 72: Maple Leaves Like Flames and Fresh Blood Making encouraging small talk could come off as undignified, so she opted for a more business-like tone.
Just a few seconds later, she saw new text appear on the paper.
“Yes, what’s up?”
Wow, talk about a quick reply!
Barely expecting the other party to be online, Li Mumu panicked for a second, then calmly penned, “Classmate Wang, what are you doing?”
“Reviewing my lessons.”
Literally dying of laughter here!
You, a notorious loafer, reviewing your lessons at eight or nine in the evening?
This guy’s really putting on an act.
Li Mumu almost burst out laughing.
“What about you?”
“I’m writing poetry.”
The other side was silent for a full three minutes.
Li Mumu, after all, needed a favor and didn’t want to keep the other party feeling awkward, so she wrote, “Classmate Wang, are you familiar with Jiang Yinyin’s parents?”
“Not really.
Have they caused a scene at your place?”
“Not really, but Yinyin had a nightmare the other night where she dreamed her parents turned into monsters and came to school to snatch her.
I’m a bit worried it might turn into a trauma for her.”
“Okay, I’ll check on them again later.”
He truly was a seasoned Jianghu person, understanding the gist without needing every detail spelled out.
Knowing such a person of decent character in this area would certainly make life easier here.
It’s just a pity that the guy had no talent, feeling nothing after taking a pill.
Thinking this, Li Mumu continued to write, “There’s another thing I heard, that a student in the school committed suicide by hanging.
Is it true?”
“Never heard of it, who told you that?”
Jiang Yinyin dreamed it, or rather she encountered it in her Outer Dimension… Writing it like this seemed a bit inappropriate, making herself look a bit neurotic, Li Mumu hesitated slightly in her mind.
“I’m just a bit concerned because I may also transfer to Qinghe Middle School in the second half of the year.”
“Really?
Why Qinghe Middle School?”
“It’s my father’s decision; he was the one who took Yinyin to meet Principal Zhou at your school for a long talk last time.
Maybe he thought the conditions there were good, and afterwards decided that I and my sister should attend this school, and take Yinyin along too.”
“All three of you are coming?”
“Why, not welcome?”
“Welcome, just thought you might not be very familiar with our school.
It’s indeed a good school, but you might not adapt well to the living environment.
If you have time, you might want to come and see for yourself before deciding.”
Li Mumu glanced up at the calendar.
“Sure, I’ll come over this weekend.”
“Need a tour guide?”
“Is there a fee?”
“Free, lunch included.
Need one?”
Heh…
The young man sure knew how to flirt; clearly an old hand at romance.
Li Mumu smiled and stayed silent.
“Sure, we’ll talk then.”
After writing that, she was ready to close her notebook, but due to a transmigrator’s QQ chat compulsion, she couldn’t help waiting a bit longer to see the other party’s closing remark.
About a minute later, a message came through.
“What poem did you just write?”
Ah, this…
Li Mumu tensed her toes instantly.
I was bluffing; don’t take everything seriously!
What should she reply now?
Write him a poem on the spot?
Or confess she hadn’t come up with a single line?
This isn’t like transmigrating to ancient times where you could easily fool someone with any of the Three Hundred Tang Poems.
“And me, a returned expatriate lady writing ancient poetry, doesn’t quite fit the character settings, does it?”
Copy a line from a video game?
Why do autumn leaves fall?
One cannot strip away nature, confusion too resides in our hearts.
Why do wars ignite?
For what do we battle!
Taoism naturally expels inner demons, protecting the nation and punishing the wicked…
This won’t do, it’s too cringeworthy.
But it can be modified!
Li Mumu thought briefly, then began to write fluently in one go.
“Maple leaves sway”
“as thoughts of family linger”
“Maple leaves dance”
“as letters from those yet to return”
“Maple leaves flutter”
“signifying the ceaseless wars.”
“Maple leaves fall”
“like blood soaking through the robes.”
…
So, what philosophical idea does this poem express?
Wang Yunxiao rifled through the reference answers in his Chinese workbook for a long time, finding nothing.
Sister, your hobbies touch on my blind spots!
Young ladies of the future generally fancy things like travel, baking, photography, shopping…
Even if we step back ten thousand steps, the ancient maidens of noble families would learn the zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting.
This poetry… do the young women of the new era engage in such high-end hobbies?
How should I appear cultured?
I’m numbed, completely numbed by the late night.
Wang Yunxiao scratched his ears and racked his brain for a long time, grinding his teeth as he wrote in the notebook, “Is this a sentiment you developed after returning home?”
In truth, he didn’t fully understand which specific sentiment, but writing it this way would push the question back.
“Hmm”
What does hmm mean?
Tell me, what does hmm mean!
Just as Wang Yunxiao was on the verge of freaking out, new writing appeared on the notebook.
“It’s just a deep sentiment.
Our ancestors fought for their ideals and ultimately ended the rule of the feudal dynasties, allowing us to sit in classrooms in peace, enjoying the blue sky, white clouds, and brilliant sunshine.”
“During those past years, many people didn’t know why they fought.
They might have only been fighting to survive, so they took up arms and mindlessly rebelled, then died just as cluelessly.
Countless of our countrymen vanished meaninglessly in these internal conflicts.
They didn’t know about the vast world beyond the seas.”
Who can you blame for that?
Blame Xu Fu for not presenting a globe to Emperor Qin Shi Huang?
After reading these two explanations, Wang Yunxiao finally vaguely grasped the intent of Eldest Miss Li.
The sentimental woes of spring and autumn of a literary young woman, huh…
Recalling what Nurse Liu explained about the dimensions of the Dynastic World, Wang Yunxiao felt a sigh well up inside him.
Being raised abroad, the young lady presumably hadn’t witnessed such fierce and absurd scenes, hence, her naive fantasies about ancient wars.
Ideals, maple leaves…
At the end of the day, it’s all just about one thing: “money.”
The people in the city want the money from the outskirts, and those outside the city want the money from within.
“Ideals” are far too remote for those people.
Thinking this, he began to write, “Perhaps one day, when the children of the poorest villages in the most remote areas of the country can hold the same textbooks as we do, and sit in classrooms reading peacefully…”
As he wrote, the image of Principal Zhou involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
“…We have spent almost half our lives, shedding blood and sweat, to build our country into what it is today.
We’ve allowed young people like you to have the right to sit peacefully in classrooms, not having to suffer as we did…”
With the principal’s words still echoing in his ears, Wang Yunxiao paused for a moment, smiled, and erased what he had just written, then rewrote: “In the future, perhaps we could plant a few maple trees at school.”