However, just as Lu Changsheng began to use a branch as a pen and the ground as paper, he suddenly froze in place.
"What's wrong, Changsheng?"
Wang Heihou waved a hand in front of him.
"It's nothing!"
A complex expression flickered in Lu Changsheng's eyes, and he lost all inclination to practice writing.
"Let's do it another day!"
Wang Heihou felt a bit baffled, but upon hearing Lu Changsheng say that he could join them in catching fish by the river that afternoon, all his annoyance instantly vanished.
...
"I never expected 'unlocked' to mean this!"
Lu Changsheng looked at the interface.
The entry following his innate bone structure was now different from before.
"Name: Lu Changsheng"
"Age: 9/55"
"Bone Structure: 1/10 [Genius (Replaceable)]" (Note: Talent grades currently visible: Inferior, Mediocre, Sub-par, Average, Superior, Genius [Replaceable - Unlocked!])
His bone structure talent had changed to "Genius".
The word "Unlocked" after "Genius" had vanished.
At this moment, the word "Replaceable" appeared slightly brighter.
Lu Changsheng gave it a light tap.
His bone structure reverted to the previous "Superior" grade.
Switching back and forth, a vague understanding dawned on him.
"Superior refers to my talent for catching fish, while this Genius rating must be my talent for studying and learning characters!"
"So, this is the true core utility of this golden finger!"
The bone structure talent does not represent all-encompassing talent, but rather aptitude in a specific domain.
"In other words, if I go into business, it will display my business talent; if I go to study, it will display my scholarly talent; if I practice martial arts, it will display my martial arts talent!"
Its functionality had suddenly become much more powerful.
"If I can attain longevity, perhaps—I can become a true all-around genius in every sense of the word!"
"Ah, I'm reaching too high. There are thousands of paths in life, and trying to master everything with the energy of a single person is hardly an easy task."
"Still, that my scholarly talent is at the genius level is somewhat unexpected!"
...
That afternoon, after leading Wang Heihou and the others to catch fish, Lu Changsheng set to work practicing his characters.
"I don't know what criteria the Master Chen uses to select students, but just to be safe, I need to make things as thorough as possible!"
Lu Changsheng analyzed and practiced the characters methodically.
The book in Wang Heihou's possession had twenty-odd pages—not many—and yielded 168 unique characters.
The rest were mere repetitions.
Lu Changsheng foraged for some dark green berries.
The villagers called them "Blackheart Fruit"; their juice was dark and slightly sweet, but mildly toxic—though it wouldn't kill anyone, eating them would give you diarrhea for a whole day.
He mashed the Blackheart Fruits, used their juice as ink, found a flat stone, and faithfully copied the characters onto it.
Two days later, several slate slabs already graced the corner of his courtyard, placed there by his own hands.
If a small mountain village lacked anything, it certainly didn't lack open space. Once laid down there, they formed Lu Changsheng's little study.
Whenever he had a spare moment, he took his whittled stick as a pen and sketched the strokes one by one.
When the time came to face Master Chen, he would only need to match the characters one by one to complete his reading and writing lessons.
Seeing that he hadn't neglected his farmwork or fishing, the elderly couple let him be, leaving him to his writing and drawing.
Thus, Lu Changsheng steadily committed new characters to memory.
He spent two days engraving the characters in his mind, and then half a month imbuing them into his very bones.
He reached a point where he could write them effortlessly the moment he picked up a pen.
That evening.
The family was eating dinner.
Aside from wild greens, there was a full pot of fish soup.
It wasn't particularly flavorful, but it was at least nourishing.
Father Lu's expression was much softer than usual.
His eldest son was hardworking and bore grievances without complaint.
His second son was good at catching fish and even aspired to read and write.
Though he didn't expect him to amount to anything scholarly, having that drive was what mattered most.
As for Xiao Heitu, there was nothing much to say.
Once she was raised, finding her a good family would be fulfilling his obligation to her.
"The crops in the fields are growing well. In another month or so, we'll have a harvest, and the family will finally have some income," Father Lu said mildly.
"When that money comes in, we'll save it for the eldest to take a wife!"
The previous money was originally meant for Lu Haozi to marry a wife, but Father Lu had given it away to someone else.
Aside from Mother Lu occasionally muttering under her breath, no one else voiced any objections.
In this household, Father Lu still called the shots.
A mixture of bashfulness and joy appeared on Lu Haozi's face.
Taking a wife was his only ambition in life right now.
"Erdan, how are you coming along with your character studies?" Father Lu glanced over at him.
"Mm, I feel like I'm doing all right!"
Lu Changsheng replied.
"Come out with me in a bit!"
Father Lu said.
After finishing their meal, the two of them went out and headed to Zhao Deshui's house.
After some polite greetings, a woman led the two into the courtyard, where they met Zhao Deshui.
"Old Lu! So late, have you eaten yet?"
Zhao Deshui wore a smile on his face.
To Lu Changsheng's surprise, Zhao Deshui looked somewhat haggard.
"Old Zhao, last time I asked you to help me ask around about Master Chen taking on students, do you have any leads yet?"
After some small talk, Father Lu couldn't help but ask.
Zhao Deshui wasn't annoyed; he merely shook his head. "Old brother, you're too impatient. Learning to read and write isn't a matter of a day or two. Those who enter Master Chen's gates mostly want to achieve some real accomplishment through their studies, so how could they possibly leave so soon?"
Lu Changsheng stood behind his father, remaining silent.
When the older generation conversed, a junior cutting in would be looked down upon.
He knew just from this that there was likely no hope of a result for now.
Sure enough, a moment later, Zhao Deshui subtly dropped hints to send them away.
"I need to get ready to rest. If there's any result with this matter, I'll let you know in advance!"
"Alright then!"
Father Lu departed with a look of disappointment.
"Sigh~"
Zhao Deshui's wife saw the two out, and upon turning back, she saw Zhao Deshui heaving a heavy sigh. She couldn't help complaining, "I told you not to accept it in the first place, not to accept it! Now look at you, caught in the middle, aren't you?"
Zhao Deshui was already irritated. Hearing this, he glared at her and snapped, "What does a woman like you know! Ah Qing has been having a mediocre time at Master Chen's residence. We finally bumped into an opportunity where they need some support from our end. If this succeeds, we can all rise to a higher level. If we don't act now, an opportunity like this will be hard to come by in the future!"
"That may be how it is, but with so many families waiting, we can't just keep dragging this out forever!"
Zhao Deshui's expression turned even uglier.
He paced back and forth in the room for a long while before gritting his teeth. "We drag it out for now. If there's truly no other way, we'll just have to turn to Ah Hu!"
"You—" Zhao Deshui's wife's expression shifted slightly. "You still dare to get involved with that man? Aren't you afraid—"
"It's still better than having them harbor a grudge against me!" Zhao Deshui said.
...