The next day, Zhu Siqi returned to school and saw that Teacher Tan still looked unhappy. Zhu Siqi secretly found it amusing, knowing that good news would soon reach him.
Sure enough, close to noon, Tan Ming arrived at the school.
At first, Tan Tian thought something might have happened at home. After asking, he learned that his mother's illness had been cured—she had already regained sensation in her calves. When Tan Tian asked who had treated her, Tan Ming hesitated and gave vague answers, only saying that someone had cured her. Tan Tian was overjoyed and didn't think too much about it.
After lunch, Tan Tian took leave and rode his bicycle home with his father. He returned before school ended, his face glowing with happiness. Even the students noticed the change. When school was dismissed, he wasn't as long-winded as usual and let everyone go quickly.
Back on the mountain, Zhu Siqi began thinking about his own plans. There was nothing new to learn at school anymore. Although life was pleasant, he longed to return to his hometown. His savings still didn't seem sufficient—though in reality, four hundred yuan would already be enough for a trip to Mount Song and back home, but he didn't know the current prices. While saving money, he also needed something to do.
He remembered that he had memorized several foreign languages, but couldn't yet understand or speak them properly. Last time at the county Xinhua Bookstore, he hadn't found any instructional tapes. He'd heard that only the city had them. So he decided to go to the city to buy tapes. After two more market days, he would be able to leave the place where he had lived for twelve years.
The next day, he arrived at school just after five in the morning. Some teachers were already up, jogging on the field. Tan Tian was also awake—young people recovered quickly, and his mood was excellent. He was playing basketball with a few teachers. Seeing Zhu Siqi arrive so early, he was surprised.
"Zhu Siqi, why are you at school so early today?" Tan Tian asked.
"Teacher Tan, I'd like to ask for two days off to go to the city."
"Didn't you already go to the county last time? You still need to go to the city?"
"Yes. I couldn't buy what I needed there. I heard the city has it."
"All right. Be careful on the road," Tan Tian said, without asking further.
Zhu Siqi immediately ran back to the market. The bus to the county was just about to leave.
At the county bus station, he transferred to a bus bound for the city. The road conditions from the county to the city were much better than before. Though the distance was longer, it only took an hour and a half to reach the city bus station.
After getting off, he asked passersby for directions to the Xinhua Bookstore. They told him it was far away and required taking a vehicle. Not knowing which bus to take, he noticed small cars marked "TAXI" on the street. He knew these were taxis. Though he had never ridden one, he had read about them in books. He waved one down and took his first taxi ride in his life.
It cost him five yuan to reach the bookstore, which made his heart ache—traveling from the county to the city by bus also only cost five yuan.
The city's Xinhua Bookstore was much larger, occupying three floors. Books were neatly categorized. He browsed floor by floor, picking up anything that interested him.
On the third floor was a counter selling cassette tapes. The selection wasn't complete, but they had French, Russian, German, and Japanese instructional tapes. He bought beginner-level tapes for all of them, along with pronunciation guidebooks.
After leaving the bookstore, carrying a bag of books and tapes, he finally took time to observe the city. It was far larger than the county. The county had only three streets—just slightly bigger than the market town, with a few more shops. The city was completely different: concrete roads extended in all directions, vehicles moved constantly, and crowds filled the streets. Unlike the market town, where few people were around except on market days.
He bought a city map at a newsstand and activated his perception. Instantly, everything within a thousand meters appeared in his awareness. Though he couldn't see through some thick building walls, it was still impressive. Comparing the map with what he sensed, he quickly located himself and walked street by street. With his extraordinary memory and perception, he soon memorized every route and the location of every building in the city, forming a basic impression of it.
Seeing that it was getting late, he headed back toward the bus station. A bus to the county happened to be departing, so he boarded it. When he reached the county, it was already past five in the evening. If he didn't want to walk back, he would have to stay the night.
He considered staying at a guesthouse. After eating dinner at a restaurant, he went to the county's only guesthouse and asked for a room. They asked for his ID to register. He didn't have one and said he'd forgotten it. The young woman at the desk refused—no ID, no room. He was turned away.
Standing on the street, surrounded by people yet far from home, he decided to walk back instead. He knew the way well after coming twice already. Leaving the county, he followed the road toward San Tang Market. The road grew darker as he walked, with the county fading into the distance behind him. He activated Yi Jin Yi Yuan Gong, extending his perception to a thousand meters. Though people were around, no one noticed him. In the darkness, even if they wanted to see, they couldn't. Darkness didn't affect him at all. He sprinted the whole way, reaching the mountain in just over an hour. The feeling was wonderful—at the sixth level, his true qi was purer and more abundant, endlessly flowing. Using his lightness skill, he was faster than a car.
After such a long journey, and since he had taken two days off, he rested and regulated his breathing before sleeping.
The next morning, he gathered medicinal herbs, refined pills, and only then took out the books and tapes he had bought.
He started with the tapes. His interest in foreign languages had grown. After studying world geography, he realized how vast the world was. If he ever wanted to travel abroad, not knowing foreign languages wouldn't do. He began with Russian. He already had a large vocabulary in these languages; listening and speaking were the only gaps. Using the pronunciation charts, he quickly learned to read aloud along with the tape.
The later parts of the tape contained listening passages. At first, he slowly matched the sounds with words in his mind, understanding only parts. Gradually, he understood more and more. By the final short story on the tape, he could understand it completely.
He realized that mastering knowledge that relied mainly on memorization was effortless for him. With a little time and the right method, he could learn it all.
Next came French, German, and Japanese. After finishing each tape once, he could basically understand them. Listening again, his pronunciation was even more accurate than the recordings.
Speaking and writing in these languages were now firmly stored in his mind, like data on a computer hard drive—ready to be accessed whenever needed.
He then opened the books he had bought. This time, instead of textbooks, he had chosen popular works: Thick Black Theory, How People Should Conduct Themselves, Social Etiquette, China Can Say No, Carnegie's Way to Success, a complete set of Jin Yong's The Deer and the Cauldron, and a map of China.
He read the first few books quickly, but not just to memorize them. He pondered their ideas, combining them with his recent experiences interacting with others, considering what he could apply himself. By the time he finished, it was nearly dark. With his master gone, he cooked and ate alone as usual.
After dinner, sitting on his bed, listening to the radio, he began reading The Deer and the Cauldron. It was a classic, and he was immediately engrossed in Wei Xiaobao's world. At exciting moments, he laughed out loud. This was his first time reading modern wuxia fiction. Though his master had given him novels before—like the Four Great Classics and older wuxia stories such as The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants—none were as lighthearted and humorous as this one. He read it rapidly, almost in one sitting.
That night, he slept soundly and dreamed vividly. He dreamed he had become Wei Xiaobao, fighting lamas at Qingliang Temple in Shaolin. He also dreamed of gambling—controlling the dice with his true qi, getting whatever numbers he wanted. Even when others rolled, he didn't need to touch the table; through his feet and the ground, he could still alter the outcome. He dreamed all night, and upon waking, he was still wondering how much money he had won in the dream.
When he arrived at school before morning study, he saw Zhu Aiguo, Wang Yu, and other classmates playing ball on the field. He joined them and took out several mechanical pencils he had bought at the city's Xinhua Bookstore, giving one to each person. They still used regular pencils, sharpening them with knives when the lead ran out. These new pencils worked like ballpoint pens—press the button and the lead extended. The classmates had never seen them before and eagerly played with them.
Though he no longer needed to learn from textbooks, knowing he would soon leave made him cherish his remaining school days. He spent as much time as possible playing with his classmates, feeling happy when they were happy. At the bookstore, he had also bought an electric blackboard eraser that automatically sucked in chalk dust using two batteries. He bought two—one for Teacher Liu Xuanwen and one for his homeroom teacher, Tan Tian.
Days passed like this, one after another. Zhu Siqi's routine hardly changed. On the mountain, he gathered herbs and made pills. At school, he listened to lessons and, most importantly, played ball with his classmates—students from other classes even joined them now. On market days, he wrote prescriptions and sold pills. When he counted his savings and found he had over a thousand yuan, he knew it was finally time to leave.