Chapter 56: Comfort

After the monthly exam results came out, Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu returned to Bai Lao's house.

"I heard you did well this time?" Bai Lao asked Zheng Fa.

His expression was less praise than quiet pride.

"That's thanks to your esteemed guidance," Zheng Fa replied smoothly.

At these words, Bai Lao's face wrinkled into a radiant chrysanthemum.

"I have a friend who also struggles a bit with his studies…" Zheng Fa suddenly said, seizing the moment.

"Stop!" Bai Lao raised a palm, eyebrows slightly furrowed: "I refuse."

Zheng Fa hadn't expected the old man to be so wary—he hadn't even finished speaking before being turned down.

He wasn't in a hurry; he merely glanced at Bai Lao and said nothing, waiting.

Sure enough, seeing Zheng Fa stay silent, Bai Lao grew restless: "You really won't say it?"

Zheng Fa looked at the old man with feigned confusion: "Didn't you just tell me to stop?"

"How about you beg a little more?"

Zheng Fa spoke as he'd hoped: "Do you have any simplest, fastest way to solve those symbol diagrams?"

"What kind of 'fastest' way?"

Zheng Fa opened his mouth but didn't know how to explain.

Tang Lingwu understood and kindly provided the precise translation: "Three long, one short—pick the shortest; three short, one long—pick the longest…"

Bai Lao's face darkened: "No wonder you brought up some 'friend'—I'm a professor at Jingcheng University. You want me to teach you to guess? You're insulting me with these shady tricks!"

Zheng Fa really did want this guessing technique—for the Seventh Young Master.

In two months, the Seventh Young Master must enter the Immortal Gate; starting from Elementary Math now would be impossible—he could only rely on guessing, no, on great and miraculous probability theory.

Even if not for the Seventh Young Master himself, given Lady's demands, Zheng Fa had to secure another safeguard for him.

As expected, upon hearing this request, Bai Lao shook his head rapidly, his small curls flailing in the air as if screaming his refusal.

Zheng Fa gave Tang Lingwu a meaningful glance.

Tang Lingwu understood at once and assumed the Song Crane Stance.

Zheng Fa placed his hand on her back.

Watching from the side, Bai Lao asked curiously: "What are you two doing?"

"I thought of a shortcut," Zheng Fa smiled warmly. "To help her advance faster."

"…?" Bai Lao blinked. "How much faster?"

"According to my estimate, she'll master the Song Crane Stance in half a month," Zheng Fa mused.

Bai Lao's eyes widened slightly—he remembered Zheng Fa previously saying Tang Lingwu, young and physically fit, should progress faster than he had, but even so, the Song Crane Stance would take at least two or three months to enter.

Now only half a month?

"This…," Bai Lao rubbed his hands, hesitating: "Could I… maybe try this method too?"

"That won't do—how could I use such shady tricks to insult you, esteemed elder?" Zheng Fa's refusal was as sincere as could be.

"Actually… it wouldn't hurt to insult you a little."

After saying this, Bai Lao stared at Zheng Fa's unchanged smile, gritted his teeth, turned, and entered the study. When he returned, he held a black-covered notebook.

"What's this?"

"I don't know those tricks, and I couldn't teach them to you—but this will help you learn faster," Bai Lao said sternly, handing the notebook to Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa flipped through the notebook.

Inside were Bai Lao's summaries of patterns derived from the symbol diagrams—not guessing rules, but identifying which basic Yuanfu each diagram likely evolved from, based on its distinctive patterns.

"For all but the most complex diagrams, these methods are 80–90% accurate."

Zheng Fa nodded. The notebook wasn't thin; Bai Lao had written it with great care—each Yuanfu matched with its characteristic patterns, each pattern accompanied by a dozen example diagrams.

Seeing how slowly Zheng Fa was progressing with topology, Bai Lao had skipped the theory entirely and gone straight to application.

"So this is…?" Zheng Fa thought, recalling it came from Bai Lao's study: "You had this ready?"

"I was just bored writing my book, so I summarized some things," Bai Lao coughed awkwardly, eyes darting away.

Zheng Fa knew the old man had put in considerable effort; his expression softened slightly.

"Don't get so sentimental," Bai Lao muttered uneasily, then added: "I see how much you care about this stuff—you're desperate."

Zheng Fa fell silent. He was indeed desperate—not just for the Seventh Young Master, but to escape the Zhao family through the Symbol Dao.

"Remember," Bai Lao warned again, "this is just a minor trick."

Zheng Fa took the notebook and bowed deeply to Bai Lao, earnestly.

"I said—don't get so sentimental," Bai Lao waved him off uneasily, then added, looking at Zheng Fa: "I told you before—I didn't want to take you on."

"You said I wasn't cut out for math."

Bai Lao pointed at the notebook in Zheng Fa's hands: "I'd planned to give you this later—but since I'm giving it to you now, I'll say this.

Zheng Fa rarely saw such seriousness on Bai Lao's face.

"I didn't want you because you're not like her," Bai Lao said, gesturing to Tang Lingwu beside him.

"This girl is simple-hearted; you, full of calculations," Bai Lao's gaze returned to Zheng Fa: "You have two problems: impatience and hoarding."

These words were harsh. Tang Lingwu opened her mouth as if to speak for Zheng Fa.

"I'm not criticizing this boy—given his background, complexity is natural," Bai Lao stopped her.

"But this won't work in scholarship. I already told you about your impatience. Now, about hoarding—I truly wish you'd come here just for a friend."

"You're a martial cultivator—on the Jianghu, whoever has the strongest fists rules. Everyone hides their divine arts and secret manuals, wanting only themselves to practice."

Zheng Fa thought of the prevailing customs in the Xuanwei Realm and nodded.

"But scholarship is different, Zheng Fa—remember this," Bai Lao fixed him with his gaze: "In scholarship, our enemy is never another person—it's the mysteries of the world, the unsolved problems."

Zheng Fa began to understand his meaning.

"Why do I want to write a book?" Bai Lao continued, "Because when I studied mathematics, I read many others' books. I know that without these books, I could not have achieved what I have today. I climbed the mountain by standing on the shoulders of my predecessors. I am old now, and I also wish to be a shoulder for others to stand on."

"I understand." Zheng Fa said to Bai Lao.

He knew Bai Lao's good intentions, but to be honest, at least in the Xuanwei Realm, he could not meet Bai Lao's requirements, at least not yet.

"No, you don't understand. Do you know? In my eyes, we academics are merely a league of failures—the world is vast, science has no end. Perhaps tomorrow the truths we believe in will become fallacies; perhaps humanity will never see the truth of the world. One could say our failure is inevitable." Bai Lao shook his head and said, "So we must not only accept failure, but also huddle together for warmth. There is a saying that might be wrong elsewhere, but is right for us: if you want to go far, you must walk together."

"Your words, old sir, I will keep in my heart." Zheng Fa said solemnly.

He considered himself incapable of doing so, but that did not stop him from thinking Bai Lao was right.

"No, you don't understand." Bai Lao suddenly revealed a mischievous smile: "Everything I just said was nonsense. The most important thing is—since we will all fail, let us not be troubled by temporary successes or failures."

Zheng Fa suddenly raised his head, looking at Bai Lao: "How did you, old sir, see through it?"

He finally understood why Bai Lao suddenly said these things—after meeting the Lady, he had some knots in his heart, but Zheng Fa considered himself good at hiding his emotions; others could not tell.

Now he realized that whether giving him that notebook or speaking these words about failures, Bai Lao was probably trying every way to comfort him indirectly.

Bai Lao pouted, pointing behind Zheng Fa: "This young girl told me secretly."

Zheng Fa turned around, seeing Tang Lingwu standing behind him, holding milk tea and offering it to him, her face expressionless: "Drink this."

He fell silent for a moment, took the milk tea and drank a sip, then stared into Tang Lingwu's eyes and said, "Very sweet."

Bai Lao muttered behind him: "I said taking on students is troublesome; you have to do the hard work of ideological guidance... Wu Gong isn't even mastered, what a huge loss!"

"Grandpa Bai... your words earlier were a bit one-sided, weren't they?" Tang Lingwu seemed puzzled by Bai Lao's earlier words: "Isn't the academic world all beautiful? I've seen many news reports about plagiarism and copying."

Both she and Zheng Fa understood that those words earlier were not truly nonsense.

Don't look at how this old man didn't want to take students before and still doesn't want to now; from his opportunistic teachings, the two of them could also feel the old man's expectations for them.

Hearing Tang Lingwu's question, Bai Lao pointed at Zheng Fa, his expression puzzled: "Is this fellow's Wu Gong just for show?"

Zheng Fa translated Bai Lao's words in his mind:

Everyone in the scientific world is a decent person.

But if someone doesn't want to be decent, Zheng Fa can help them become decent.

When he woke up, he was back in the Xuanwei Realm. Gao Yuan suddenly stared at Zheng Fa and said, "Zheng Fa, why do I feel you smiled much more this morning than the past two days?"

"I was a bit unhappy the past two days, but today I decided to do something that makes me happy." Zheng Fa nodded and said.

"What thing?" Gao Yuan asked curiously.

"You've been studying mathematics for a while now. I think, let's have a surprise exam today to celebrate!"

Gao Yuan suddenly turned his head to look at Zheng Fa.

Seeing the smile that came from the bottom of Zheng Fa's heart, a question mark slowly appeared on his face: "You use exams to be happy?"

"No, I use you to be happy." Zheng Fa answered sincerely and unkindly.