novelraw Chapter 322: How Could He Not Know?
Chapter 322: How Could He Not Know?
His heart and mind were completely consumed with thoughts of the Beautiful Delicate Lady.Even if I risk my life, can I really do it in ten days? he wondered. Then again, since Big Brother said it’s possible, it must be! Yes, if it works out, and I really become an official, I must marry a woman even more beautiful than Xiao Hong from the Bai Fang Pavilion! She must have a slender waist, long legs, and large breasts, and be pretty too. Of course, she also needs a big butt—good for childbearing.
As he dwelt on these thoughts, his breathing gradually became ragged. His mind was filled with memories of sleeping with Lady Hong.
Xiao Hong, as a Brothel courtesan, possessed many enthralling and unforgettable qualities. For example, she was gentle, kind, and considerate. She had large breasts and a big butt, and her skin was soft and white like giant steamed buns. He could never get enough of her. Most importantly, Xiao Hong was skilled in bed.
Previous courtesans would either cry at the sight of his manhood, end up unable to get out of bed, or absolutely refuse to see him again. Some even started crying and begged the madam to find someone else to serve them after just one look at his crotch.
Only Xiao Hong could keep up with him.
Until at last, Xiao Hong would roll her eyes back, muttering unintelligibly as her body convulsed. He, too, would shudder all over as they climaxed together.
Xiao Hong... Xiao Hong... Tiger muttered.
Monster and Rat next door must be asleep by now, he thought. His crotch was uncomfortably swollen, and his rough hands slowly snaked under the quilt.
Then, the bed began to rock violently.
After an indeterminate length of time, Tiger finally let out a long, deep sigh. He crudely wiped himself with his underpants and tossed them out from under the covers.
Then he lay back, content, ready to meet women in his dreams.
My future wife, just you wait! I’ll come marry you once I’m an official!
With that thought, he pulled the blanket over himself and haphazardly fell asleep.
「The next day」
Before Tiger could wake up, Rat and Monster had already arrived.
As they entered, a strong, indescribable smell permeated the room.
Rat glanced at the underpants on the floor and disdainfully tapped Tiger’s head. "You damn kid, dreaming of women, eh?"
Monster made a face of disgust. "TSK TSK TSK... Tiger, you’re really..." So disgusting!
Monster carefully stepped over the underpants, holding up the hem of his robes, and approached the bed. "I’m telling you, Tiger! It’s not a big deal to fantasize about women!"
"If you can stick it out, once we’re done here, let’s go to... the Bai Fang Pavilion. We’ll call ten women at once and have our fill of fun, how about that?"
Rat looked at Monster with contempt. "Ten? You’ve got some nerve saying that! Tiger and I could, but can you?"
Monster had always been androgynous; it was truly hard to tell if he could or couldn’t.
Upon hearing this, Monster exploded. "What’s that supposed to mean? Even though I’m pretty, I’m still all man! As for whether I can or can’t... Rat, want to find out?"
The moment Rat heard this, his skin crawled. "UGH... no, no, no, thanks! I’m not interested in you. It doesn’t matter if you look like a woman, it’s a no from me!"
Monster slapped him. "Who are you calling woman-like? What woman is as handsome as I am?"
Rat was stunned by the slap. He paused for a moment, then glared sideways at Monster. "PSH! You’re delusional! What’s the use of good looks if you lack manliness? That doesn’t make you a man!"
He quickly waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, alright, I’m done talking to you!"
Turning to Tiger, he said, "You damn kid, still not up? How many women did you sleep with in your dreams?"
Tiger had been awake for a while but just didn’t want to get up.
Opening his eyes, he replied gloomily, "Sleeping with women is easy... but learning to read is so damn hard!"
Rat and Monster exchanged a look, then, as if on cue, began to slap and punch him from both sides.
"Get the hell up!" Rat yelled. "I’m sticking with you to learn. You think you can give up before I do?!"
"Exactly!" Monster chimed in. "Rat, if he doesn’t get up, keep hitting him!"
Monster and Rat, for the first time in what felt like a thousand years, stood on the same side.
Tiger was incredibly annoyed and, with a swing of his arm, pushed them both away. "Go, go, go! Get out!"
"Fine, I’ll go learn, alright?"
Rat snorted. "That’s more like it!"
Tiger got dressed. The three of them went out and randomly grabbed something to eat.
They returned in half an hour, just as the tutor arrived.
This tutor was some oddball Xia Tingfeng had found from who-knows-where. He reeked of the pedantic sourness typical of a destitute scholar.
His expression didn’t change in the slightest as he watched the three of them bow and scrape before him. His face was stern and unyielding.
My attempt to curry favor failed, Tiger’s heart sank.
The task for the second day was to memorize a poem. It was quite simple, just four lines, totaling twenty characters.
Tiger’s eyes bulged. "Twenty characters? My full name is only three characters, and I spent all day yesterday writing them. Now you’re telling me to learn twenty characters today!"
No matter how one looked at it, going from three characters to twenty was a significant leap.
The tutor was also irritated, puffing out his beard and glaring at him. "Not learning? Fine! Then I shall leave!"
And with that, he actually made a show of departing.
Tiger felt his knees go weak and quickly begged for mercy. "No, no, no! I’ll learn, I’ll learn, okay?"
He didn’t even dare to use his usual arrogant "I" anymore.
Rat and Monster gloated from the sidelines.
Suddenly, the tutor’s gaze shifted to them. "Laughed enough? You two, don’t get too smug. You’re in the same boat!"
They both shivered and quickly stifled their laughter. "Yes, Tutor!"
The tutor nodded in satisfaction and placed the page with the poem before them. "Copy it. Write down the characters on it first. Later, I will explain it line by line!"
"Yes, sir!"
The three of them bowed their heads and began laboriously copying.
That day, Tiger worked late into the night.
Luckily, he could now hold a pen. His grip was steadier than on the first day, and he wrote all the strokes correctly, without mistakes. Moreover, his writing looked neater than it had on the first day.
With the final copy, he finished writing, put down the pen with a semblance of dignity, and blew on the ink. "Hey! I never thought in my entire life that I could actually write!"
Rat, sporting dark circles under his eyes, said, "Stop showing off. I’m dead tired! Come on, let’s go to sleep!"
Monster had already left.
After a while, only Tiger remained in the room.
Once the ink was dry, Tiger carefully folded the paper and put it away safely.
Right, when I get the chance, I’ll burn this for Mom to see. I can write now...
After doing all that, Tiger also went to sleep.
These kinds of days continued for ten days.
And indeed, by the time those ten days were over, Tiger had learned over two hundred common characters. He could recognize, read, and write them, and his handwriting was even quite neat.
He could recite a poem, a song poem, and an essay from memory.
The poems and song poems were manageable, but the essay, which was just over two hundred characters, took Tiger a full five or six days to learn.
Fortunately, it was all worth it. Tiger wasn’t foolish. Studying day and night, how could he possibly not learn?