Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 20: Gift-giving is an art

The midday meal was still delivered by a servant to the door of that dilapidated house, then set down like throwing away garbage before they left.

Two coarse porcelain bowls. This time, the contents were slightly more "abundant" than last night's thin porridge.

It was half a bowl of coarse rice, the grains dry and hard, topped with a few wilted pickled vegetables.

Zhao Rui stared at that bowl of rice, his expression shifting several times, before he finally picked it up and fiercely shoveled the food into his mouth with chopsticks, chewing as if he had a grudge against someone.

He was hungry.

Dignity was no match for hunger.

Su Ming still ate quietly and seriously, as if savoring some rare delicacy.

"Second lesson in Cognitive Restructuring: Sublimation of Suffering." Lin Yu's voice sounded lazily in Su Ming's mind. "Disciple, you must imagine this bowl of rice as a whetstone. Every chew is sharpening your character. Every swallow is consuming humiliation, transforming it into motivation for your progress."

"See? Thinking like this, don't you feel like you're engaged in a great cultivation practice? Even the pickled vegetables become Zen-like."

Su Ming ignored his master's nonsense, simply eating every last grain of rice in his bowl clean.After finishing the meal, Zhao Rui slammed his bowl heavily onto the broken table and spoke in a muffled voice: "My aunt came secretly this morning."

Su Ming looked up at him.

"She... she gave me some money." Zhao Rui pulled out two strings of copper coins from his chest, probably about two hundred wen. He placed the money on the table, his eyes avoiding contact. "She said we should be smart when we go to register at the County School. It would be best... best to buy uncle a gift to calm his anger."

His voice grew quieter as he spoke.

Just yesterday he thought his uncle was detestable, but today he already had to think about how to please him.

"Buy what?" Zhao Rui scratched his hair irritably. "At the best 'Drunken Immortal Pavilion' in town, a single jar of good wine costs one tael of silver! With our meager money, we can't even afford the wine jar!"

Su Ming looked at the copper coins on the table without speaking.

"Master, this is an opportunity, but also a trap," he said to Lin Yu in his mind.

"Correct." Lin Yu's tone was unusually serious. "Gift-giving is a skilled craft. Done right, it's a stepping stone; done wrong, it's dirty water thrown on your own face. Your companion here is clearly an amateur."

"Disciple, let me ask you, what are we most lacking right now?"

"Money, resources, a stable cultivation environment," Su Ming answered.

"Wrong!" Lin Yu firmly rejected this. "What we're most lacking is 'information'! Information about the Zhou family, about Qingshi Town, about that upcoming Child Scholar examination!"

"Zhao Rui wants to use these two hundred wen to buy Zhou Kang's 'favor'—that's a classic case of barking up the wrong tree. Someone like Zhou Kang, who looks down on everyone, if you give him something worth two hundred wen, he'll only think you're even poorer and more unsophisticated. Even if you gave him something worth two hundred taels of silver and he accepted it, he might not think any better of you."

Su Ming listened quietly.

for the second branch. Above him are the main branch, and the

"Then this gift..."

give a gift, but not to him." Lin Yu chuckled. "Disciple, I'll teach you a move called 'Catering to Preferences, Precision Strike'. We need to

Ming looked at Zhao Rui and spoke: "Buying wine is

Rui was taken aback, then asked irritably: "Then what do you suggest we buy? Scholar's four treasures? That's even more expensive! A decent inkstick alone

Yu's tone, his voice calm. "Let's not rush to buy anything

"Gather what information?"

thinking became clearer. "For example, what tea they prefer

he stared at Su Ming as if looking at a

a gift could involve so many twists

do we

corner of the city, old locust tree, Xu's bookstall. There are many people and loose tongues there, plus plenty of

added: "The money your aunt gave shouldn't be

words, but eventually found himself nodding

corner of the city was indeed much quieter

old locust tree spread like an open umbrella. In its shade, a white-haired old man had laid out a blue cloth

copies, with yellowed pages and crude

the bookstall of the

four plainly dressed scholars were

his eyelids before lowering his head again to doze off,

Ming squatted down and picked up a handwritten copy

precisely, you must first understand the 'user profile'. These county records are Qingshi

flipped through quickly—his purpose wasn't to memorize, but to

up a book and randomly flipping through it, but his eyes kept glancing at several scholars nearby who were talking in

thin man say: "Have you heard? Director Zhou

Master Zhou is about to take the academy examination, but he

tall, thin man curled his lip. "That thing is vague and elusive—who can explain it clearly? Director Zhou himself is an expert in this field, and even he can't teach it well. What hope do the rest of us

keep your voice down.

were soft, every word clearly reached Su

finger, which had been turning pages,

Son, Zhou Yulin. Trouble, 'Investigation of Things'

silently noted this

'market

Su Ming's heart stirred.

discussed agricultural matters—how to breed seeds,

this have to do

to extend knowledge! It's about exploring the principles of things! While others research lofty topics like wind, rain, thunder, lightning,

sprout faster after soaking in warm water? Why

sky, we'll dig for gold from the earth! This is called 'differentiated

breathing became slightly