Good Man Operation Guide

After the examination, Zhao He seemed to have lost all his vital energy. Fortunately, he still had some martial arts foundation in his body, so he didn’t fall directly onto the person who came to meet him once he stepped out of the door like others but could still sit in the sedan chair steadily.

As soon as he sat in the sedan chair, his tiredness finally hit him and he directly fell asleep. When he woke up, he was not surprised to find himself lying in bed.

Zhao He yawned and got up. He could smell the odor from his body since he hadn’t taken a bath for a long time. Frowning at first, he struggled to get out of bed to move his arms and legs. In a daze, he planned to go to bathe when suddenly, he stopped walking and clapped his hands.

Ah!

How could he just fall asleep like that? He should have asked about Brother Lin before sleeping!

He barely lasted through with his strong body, but Brother Lin was so weak… What if he didn’t make it…

Forgetting to even take that bath, Zhao He hurriedly went outside. As a result, as soon as he pushed the door open, he happened to meet a book boy who was bringing in a cup of tea.

“Young Master! You’re awake!”

When the book boy saw him, he immediately cried out with surprise. He placed the tea on the table and said, “Master, you really scared us. You’ve slept all day. Now that the exams have just finished, all the physicians have been called away. I really didn’t expect that Master Lin, who had always been in poor health, would be safe and sound, while you actually collapsed, Young Master.”

Zhao He was just about to ask after Lin Shiheng, but he sighed in relief after he heard this sentence.

“Is Brother Lin really ok? When I came out, I already thought that it really was too cold in the capital. If it weren’t for the hot pot base and the copper beads, I would probably have suffered until I was half-dead.”

“He’s fine, Master Lin is fine. Right! Young Master, let me tell you ah…”

The book boy has always been with Zhao He; so naturally, he knew how bad the relationship between him and Hu Chuan was, and now that his young master had woken up, the book boy was immediately unable to conceal the gloating and murmured about Hu Chuan vomiting blood in front of the examination entrance.

“This matter has already spread all over! At that time, Master Lin was also there, and from the appearance of it, it looked like it was a dispute with Master Hu. Because of this, many people mistook Master Hu’s vomiting of blood was due to Master Lin. But Master Hu expressed that it had nothing to do with Master Lin, and it was because of his own frail body that he vomited blood after being in the examination room for so many days.”

Book Boy said so with a smile on his face, a look full of joy. So Zhao He, who had been staring at the book boy while being mentally shaken by the incident, rolled his eyes and weakly lifted his hand to knock the book boy on the head.

“Are you so happy about Hu Chuan’s accident? I can hear you laughing through your teeth.”

“How can I not be happy? Before, Young Master was ostracized in the academy. Wasn’t it precisely because of them? Young Master spent so much time inside the academy, but because they stirred things up, someone like you, who liked to make a wide range of friends, had such a hard time making even a single friend…”

“Go go go.”

Zhao He knocked on his head again, “When making friends, it’s better to be precise than to have many. Can’t you see that Brother Lin and I are good friends? When you’re making friends, you have to find people like Qinzhi who are pure and kind-hearted yet also share your interests. Most of those people in the academy are only pedantic scholars, how would I even be interested in them.”

The little book boy quirked the corners of his lips but made no reply.

The door to the room was pushed open, and a scholar in a white cloak came in with a smile, just in time to hear those words which were added in passing.

“That’s not what Brother Zhao said to me before when we were drinking and chatting.”

Zhao He immediately remembered that scene when he became drunk and spat out all the grievances he had suffered at the academy to Lin Shiheng.

What had he said at that time again?

It shouldn’t have been about that time cold water was thrown on his blanket in the middle of winter by someone, right?

“Well …”

Lin Shiheng yawned and smiled as the book boy retreated outside, “Now we just have to wait for the rankings to be released. I wonder if we passed…”

“What’s the point of thinking about it if the test has already been taken.”

Zhao He suddenly sighed in relief when he saw that Lin Shiheng didn’t plan to continue the previous topic. If he hadn’t been drunk, he definitely wouldn’t have told anyone about this matter of him being bullied.

“Brother Lin, I heard that Hu Chuan was quarreling with you before he vomited blood. How was it that the people didn’t go on to misunderstand you?”

The handsome scholar, who had removed his white cloak and placed it on the chair, seemed to be very confused and bewildered as he tilted his head and slowly knelt to sit. As he picked up the teapot and poured the tea, he asked curiously, “Why would they misunderstand me?”

Zhao He wasn’t too surprised at this reaction. After all, Brother Lin had always been such a pure and good-natured person. So even if people talked about it, he probably wouldn’t become angry.

However, remembering that Hu Chuan wasn’t a friendly character on any scale, Zhao He asked again, “Brother Lin, although I know it has nothing to do with you, before he vomited blood, what exactly did that Hu Chuan argued with you about?”

If Lin Shiheng tells him now then later, if Hu Chuan’s trio came to attack back, he could still help to think of a way to counteract it.

“In fact, it also wasn’t anything serious.”

Lin Shiheng took a sip of tea, “It was just that the hot pot base had smelled too fragrant. And since I sat behind Brother Hu, it affected him.”

Zhao He was stunned, he also knew how fragrant the hotpot base smelled. Although the taste was indeed good, if the taste was 8 points then the aroma was 12 points, so even if you were not hungry, you would still want to eat it. Therefore, once you smell it, you wouldn’t be able to help but crave it.

Was it really because of this smell that Hu Chuan became angry?

Ah, that man is too petty…

To actually vomit blood because of a bite of food. Tsk tsk.

Although he felt that Hu Chuan made a mountain out of a molehill, a good friend was still the most important after all. So Zhao He spoke righteously, “Brother Lin doesn’t have to worry about those rumors outside. If someone really blames you for Hu Chuan’s vomiting blood and misunderstands, I will definitely argue for you!”

“Why argue?”

Zhao He sighed in his heart because his Brother Lin was truly too simple-minded but this purity also seemed a bit too much. A scholar’s reputation was most important to them. Although Lin Shiheng didn’t have much of a relationship with that Hu Chuan, they were in the same examination room, so they were also considered to be classmates. If others insisted that he vomited blood from anger, wouldn’t Brother Lin have to bear a bad reputation on his back?

But it doesn’t matter, even if Brother Lin didn’t care about these hollow rumors, he must help out.

Thinking of this, Zhao He immediately looked serious.

“Of course, you must argue! Otherwise, what if you are misunderstood by others, Brother Lin?”

“Others are others, they have nothing to do with me.”

Lin Shiheng smiled warmly and looked a little embarrassed as he hung his head slightly before taking a sip of his tea, “Besides, there isn’t a misunderstanding.”

“Brother Lin, you don’t have to blame yourself. It is Hu Chuan who is narrow-minded. I know you are a kind person, but reputation is a lifetime thing.”

The handsome scholar who took off his white cloak to reveal the blue clothes inside pursed his lips and smiled before putting his cup down, he spoke warmly, “Brother Hu was right. I deliberately tried to use food to affect his rest.”

Zhao He almost suspected that something was wrong with his ears. He stared at the person in front of him.

A gentle smile, clear and warm eyes, a temperament like an ancient gentleman, as elegant as orchid…

How could such a person do such a, such a…

“You… you did it on purpose?”

Lin Shiheng smiled sheepishly, “Actually, it really wasn’t too intentional…”

“Before the exam, I offered the hot pot base to Brother Hu, but Brother Hu refused to accept it, so I can’t be blamed.”

Phew!

Zhao He heaved a sharp sigh of relief. He knew it! How could a gentleman like Brother Lin do something to plot against someone?

He tried to calm down the excited mood from just now and waved his hand, “Brother Lin, next time you speak, don’t sound like you’re so breathless like just now. How was this ‘being deliberate’? It was clearly Hu Chuan who was ungrateful and blaming you. You don’t know what kind of person he is, so how could you know he was going to refuse before you asked him.”

“I knew.”

“Brother Hu had always been enemies with Brother Zhao. Naturally, he wouldn’t have believed me as I was a good friend of Brother Zhao. I said I want to gift him the base before the test precisely to make him regret not taking it once he smelled it.”

When Lin Shiheng saw Zhao He’s dazed, stiff and incredulous gaze, his eyes revealed some confusion, “Why is Brother Zhao looking at me like this? Wouldn’t you have done so if it had been Brother Zhao?”

“This, this is not…”

Zhao He smirked, “Hu Chuan and I have an old grievance, and I didn’t want to dispute it with him at first. But it turned out that he was really going to try and ruin me at every opportunity, so of course, I had to make the first move…”

He just didn’t expect… Lin Shiheng, who he always thought was so pure and innocent, had actually silently plotted against Hu Chuan.

Zhao He thought about it, then suddenly there was a flash in his mind, and he clapped his hands and stood up.

“Brother Lin! Could it be that you were already plotting against Hu Chuan since you asked them to make the hotpot base?”

“If that’s the case, you’re too powerful, Brother Lin!!”

Faced with Zhao He’s praise, the scholar in blue somewhat bashfully revealed a shy smile, “Brother Zhao is overpraising, it’s just an average ability.”

Zhao He was so excited that he sat down again with a thump and slapped the table, “How is this an ordinary ability?! If I had a brain like yours, I wouldn’t have lost half my life before when Hu Chuan and the others tortured me!”

“You wouldn’t know but the three of them would stay together every day. Whenever someone else was there, they would treat me incredibly well, but when there’s no one around, they would do all sorts of tricks. So when people were around again, people would only see how they were good to me and give me an expression as if I was a bastard who didn’t know what was good for me. To begin with. the people in the academy were already reluctant to associate with me, so with such a disturbance, they despised me even more.”

Lin Shiheng raised his eyebrows slightly, “When the late emperor was around, he began to promote the status of merchants. We obviously have descendants of merchants going to study. Even if some people have grievances, at least they should maintain peace on the surface. Why was Brother Zhao’s academy so full of stubborn people?”

Zhao He shrugged, “Brother Lin wouldn’t know but our side of Wei County was once occupied by the now-defunct Eastern Dynasty. It was only 35 years after that our ancestors finally won back the land. Therefore, Wei County was more deeply influenced by the previous dynasty than other places, thus the status of merchants is not as high as other places. Otherwise, my family would not be as adamant in having their children become officials.”

“I am a merchant’s son, so it was originally already rather embarrassing at the academy. Although the teachers would not despise me, they also wouldn’t favor me. At that time, if I hadn’t known I was the only one at home who could study, I would have long wanted to go back.”

Lin Shiheng listened thoughtfully, but Zhao He was full of excitement after speaking.

He was not at all afraid of Lin Shiheng, who had silently made a big move with his excellent methods. The only thing left was excitement and thrill after the previous hint of disbelief faded away.

Of course, he was excited. Brother Lin was on his side after all. If he could teach him a trick or two, when he met those three again in the future, he definitely wouldn’t be so overwhelmed every time.

“Brother Lin, since you are so powerful, can you teach me how to deal with Hu Chuan? I’m not saying to plot against them or make them lose an arm or a leg, just make them feel a bit more humble…”

“That’s simple.”