Sima Yi and Sima Lang sat down with their books to read. As they started, both frowned. The books they were used to reading were concise and profound, carefully crafted due to the laborious nature of writing on bamboo slips. Every word was precious, and the authors rarely added unnecessary details. Any ambiguity was left to the reader's interpretation, which often led to different schools of thought and interpretations, sometimes causing debates and even splits.
Chen Xi, however, wouldn't allow such things to happen. And now that books weren't being written on bamboo slips anymore, there was no need to be so concise. As a result, these books were filled with what they perceived as unnecessary content, much to the dismay of the Sima brothers. Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin, who were reading nearby, were similarly displeased. They weren't familiar with the concept of "filler," but if they were, they'd certainly be outraged at how much "fluff" these books contained. They'd probably curse the author for diluting the content and wonder if the author had "watered down" the books to make them this way.
Despite their discomfort, all four of them were book lovers and forced themselves to finish reading the books. In the end, they came to a consensus: the books were quite good, but the author had deliberately added too much filler, which made them frustrating to read. It was easy to miss the important points if you didn't read carefully.
"Opposition and unity," Sima Yi murmured to himself. The concepts he had learned from this book could be summed up in this one phrase.
"All things follow a pattern of logic," Zhuge Liang said, closing his book with a look of awe. "Once you grasp the underlying patterns, everything becomes simpler."
"Thick and thin, black and white, opposites yet unified," Sima Lang echoed, feeling as though something was missing but deeply moved nonetheless.
"The internal and external, direct and indirect, essential and non-essential, necessity and chance, all these various connections," Zhuge Jin sighed as he closed his book. "This library truly lives up to its reputation as a national treasure."
The four didn't bother reading any more books. They needed time to process the shocking revelations they had just encountered. They knew the content of these books was profound and genuine, far beyond the wisdom of the books they had read before. Aside from the unnecessary filler, there was nothing wrong with the material. However, they suspected that the reason these books were deemed "less important" was precisely because of the filler. It seemed that great talent sometimes went hand in hand with eccentricity.
"Kongming, what do you think?" Sima Yi asked, turning to Zhuge Liang, who was still deep in thought.
"Stripping away the filler, the book I read encompasses everything I've ever studied," Zhuge Liang replied with admiration. "What about yours?"
"Mine is the same. I admire the author who wrote such a book, even if he sometimes adds irrelevant content," Sima Yi said with a wry smile. "I wonder whose private collection this came from."
"You four seem to have finished your reading. I'll be taking those books now," Cai Er announced cheerfully as she approached them. "These books can't be taken out of the library. Do you want to copy them?"
"No need, I've already memorized it," Sima Lang replied, bowing slightly in gratitude. He understood that without Cai Er's help, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to read such valuable works.
"…" Cai Er was momentarily stunned. She had always envied her elder sister's photographic memory, and now four people with the same ability had appeared before her.
"By the way, Cai Er, you mentioned these books are only of moderate quality. Could we possibly see the higher-quality ones?" Sima Lang inquired, instantly capturing the attention of the other three. If what they had just read was considered mediocre, they were eager to find out what the top-tier books contained.
"Oh, the higher-quality ones? Didn't you notice all the filler in these books? If you remove that, what you're left with is the higher-quality content. It's all Chen Zichuan's fault—he said authors get paid by the word, so the books have become bloated like this," Cai Er grumbled in frustration.
Actually, this was just something Chen Xi had mentioned offhand—paying authors based on word count for the books they produced.
Lately, Fan Jian had been busy recording books for Chen Xi, and as a result, she didn't have much time to edit. This led to an abundance of filler in the books, which hadn't been streamlined into concise, profound statements. To Cai Er, it seemed like the author had lost his mind and was trying to scam people.
That was why Cai Er's admiration for the author had diminished significantly. Though she acknowledged that the material was excellent, even with the added fluff, the stark contrast between the concise books she had previously read and these watered-down versions made her feel like she was being cheated.
"So, this was written by someone alive today?" Sima Lang asked, shocked.
"Yeah, by someone who has no sense of integrity anymore. If they had just written properly, they would've gained the admiration of many. But instead, they had to pad their books with nonsense, forcing me to go back and edit them into something respectable," Cai Er complained bitterly.
Sima Lang was left speechless. A person of such talent was struggling for money? Just by reading this one book, he could tell the author was a true genius!
"Who knows? Maybe the person just loves money," Cai Er replied dismissively. Her admiration for the author had completely turned into disdain for the unnecessary filler.
"Cai Er, could you tell me where this person lives?" Sima Lang asked respectfully. Meeting such a remarkable individual would be the regret of a lifetime if he missed the chance.
"I don't know where he lives. No one in Fenggao does. And who knows how he even gets his money," Cai Er responded, clearly frustrated by the mystery surrounding the author. As a devoted admirer, she felt powerless.
Seeing Cai Er's expression, Sima Lang realized she wasn't lying. This person was indeed a recluse, someone who didn't want to be found.
"Sigh, to think I might never meet such a great person," Sima Lang lamented. The other three nodded in agreement, sharing his regret.
"Enough with the sighing. The library is about to close. If you stay here any longer, the city guards will come to chase you out. My sister can summon five squads of them at any time," Cai Er warned them.
"Thank you, Cai Er," the four of them said in unison as they bowed. "We'll leave now."
Once outside the main entrance, Sima Lang struck up a conversation with Zhuge Liang. Before long, they reached an agreement: they would each transcribe the books they had read and exchange them to further expand their knowledge.
"Zhongda, what do you think of Taishan?" Sima Lang asked.
"It's a treasure, but not suitable for me. I need to travel the world and find my true lord. Liu Xuande is not the one for me," Sima Yi sighed. "Such a pity about these books. I bet you're feeling the same way, brother."
"Indeed, Liu Xuande is truly blessed by fortune," Sima Lang sighed, glancing back at the library. "With such treasures here, the flourishing of the literary path is near!"