Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 21: This is called differentiated competition

Zhao Rui looked at the bundle of coarse hemp rope and two ugly clay pots on the table, feeling like his brain couldn't process what he was seeing.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found he couldn't utter a single word.

He was certain Su Ming had gone completely mad.

Being robbed by mountain bandits, then humiliated by the Zhou family—this series of blows had finally driven the usually quiet youth over the edge.

"Su Ming, you..." Zhao Rui's voice came out dry and strained, "We... we're really going to use these?"

"Mhm." Su Ming responded briefly, already carrying the clay pots to the corner of the courtyard.

That corner was piled with old fallen leaves and mud. He brushed aside the surface layer of loose soil with his hands, revealing the relatively moist earth beneath.

"Disciple, pay attention to your technique, make it look professional." Lin Yu's voice echoed in Su Ming's mind, like a director coaching actors on set, "Don't dig like you're unearthing sweet potatoes—there should be a sense of ceremony. You're not playing with mud right now, you're constructing a 'micro-ecological circulation system'."

Su Ming's hands paused briefly, then he followed Lin Yu's guidance, making his movements slow and methodical.

He first laid a layer of small stones at the bottom of the clay pots, then carefully filled them with soil. When they were half-full, he gently compacted the earth with his fingers.Zhao Rui just stared blankly.

He watched as Su Ming carefully picked out three shriveled beans from that precious bundle he guarded so closely.

These were the last remaining provisions they had brought from the village.

Su Ming pressed the beans one by one into three different clay pots, then covered them with a thin layer of soil.

Throughout the entire process, his expression remained intensely focused, as if he were carving a priceless work of art.

"He's mad, completely mad." Zhao Rui slumped weakly onto the bed board, covering his face with his hands.

Lin Yu continued his on-site instruction, "Disciple, remember, from now on, this isn't called planting beans—this is called 'Investigating Things to Extend Knowledge: Comparative Examination of Plant Growth.' The pot on the left, watered daily, is called the 'Natural Way Group.' The middle pot, using the hemp rope you bought to draw water for continuous moisture, is the 'External Intervention Group.' The right pot, not watered initially, left to struggle on its own, is the 'Adversity Survival Group.'"

"Listen to those names, that commanding presence! Old scholars like Director Zhou eat this stuff up! What is this called? This is called professionalism!"

Hearing his master's twisted logic, the corner of Su Ming's mouth twitched involuntarily, but his hands never stopped moving.

After arranging everything properly, the three crude clay pots stood side by side in the corner, looking both pitifully shabby and strangely peculiar.

Just then, the courtyard gate creaked open a crack.

Zhao Chunlan poked her head in, and upon seeing the two youths in the courtyard, forced a strained smile onto her face.

She carried a small cloth bundle, quickly entered, and shoved it into Zhao Rui's hands.

"Rui'er, these are a few steamed buns to fill your stomachs for now." She lowered her voice, her eyes filled with worry and apology, "Your uncle... that's just how his temper is, please don't take it to heart."

Her gaze fell upon the three strange clay pots in the corner, and she froze for a moment.

"What... what is this?"

Zhao Rui's face instantly flushed bright red, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.

up at that moment, calmly meeting Zhao Chunlan's gaze as

is merely conducting

Zhao Chunlan looked even more

saying: 'One leaf can reveal autumn's arrival, one tree can show the forest's nature.' All things that grow follow their own principles. Therefore, emulating

composed of the explanations Lin Yu had taught him

of it, but she caught the terms "academic inquiry," "Investigating

standing straight-backed, at those clear, bright eyes that remained undimmed despite adversity, she suddenly felt a strange

understand, she felt

stammered, offered a few more words of

she left, Zhao Rui jumped up

to Aunt! What great way! What Investigating Things! It's just

Su Ming looked at him, enunciating each word clearly, "how

left speechless,

dining hall,

as water. Nearly fifty years old with temples slightly graying,

was his only son, Zhou Yulin, who currently kept his head bowed, not even daring to touch

the Second Branch sat in a lower seat. Seeing his elder brother and nephew's expressions,

Brother, speaking of which, there's recently been an 'Investigating Things' master appearing in our

Wenhai lifted his eyelids slightly but said

own, "It's my wife's worthless nephew and a companion he brought along. That companion is called Su Ming, also recommended by Teacher Zhou. This kid, who knows what nonsense he read in some wild text, has started planting beans in broken clay pots in the courtyard, even grandly calling it 'glimpsing the great way of Investigating Things'! It's absolutely

to chuckle dismissively

Wenhai's reaction

down his chopsticks, his gaze sharp as he stared at him, "The

unnerved under his stare, "That old fellow

Kang tremble, "Teacher Zhou has been like half a mentor to me! He is

face instantly paled. He never imagined his elder brother would get so angry over a rural old

turning instead to his despondent

tell me, what is Investigating

Investigating Things to Extend Knowledge means exhaustively studying the

Zhou Wenhai nodded, then asked, "Then

in the classics

table abruptly, "The principles are in all things between heaven and earth! You spend all day clinging to old texts, delving into profound discussions of wind, thunder, and stars, yet you can't explain why a blade of grass grows or why a drop of water freezes! Your essays have splendid rhetoric but no foundation whatsoever! This is

with shame, his head bowing even

the anger

just said, that youth named Su Ming, what is he doing?" His tone

in a cold sweat, not daring to show any further disrespect as he stammeringly repeated exactly what his wife had described—Su Ming's explanations about the "Natural

every sentence he spoke, Zhou Wenhai's eyes

face was full of shock

adversity as guides to examine their principles... Excellent! What a magnificent 'one leaf can reveal autumn'! This youth is extraordinary! To have

stood up abruptly and began pacing back and forth in the

Teacher Zhou indeed didn't misjudge his person! This examination method, seemingly simple and unadorned, goes straight to the heart of Investigating Things! The great way is supremely simple! Why didn't I think of it! Why didn't I think of

and Zhou Yulin

planting" had become, in the family head's words, a "great way" that "goes straight to the heart of Investigating

stopped pacing, his burning gaze fixed on his

"Yulin!"

"Your son is here!"

"Go! Go to the backyard! See for yourself! No, not just see—go to learn! Go seek instruction from that Su