Yang Guo listened, unable to help admiring her three parts in his heart.
This Female Zhuge... was truly difficult to deal with.
She clearly had her guard up against him.
Yet every single word claimed to be for his own good, and every single sentence was completely reasonable.
How could anyone refute that?
Yang Guo understood in his heart, but on the surface, he was as submissive as a little lamb:
"Guo'er understands. Aunt Guo's intentions are entirely out of deep care, all for Guo'er's good."
Seeing his respectful attitude, Huang Rong nodded in satisfaction.
She opened 《The Analects》, flipping straight to the opening chapter, 《Xue Er》.
Huang Rong sat to the side, teaching Yang Guo sentence breaks and correct pronunciation word by word.
She led him through a full reading with cadence and inflection.
Yang Guo finished reading the last sentence along with her.
He suddenly lifted his eyelids, a flash of sly brightness glinting in his eyes:
"Aunt Guo, how about we make a deal?"
Seeing his expression, Huang Rong knew what kind of trick this kid was scheming in his belly again.
Huang Rong raised her slender eyebrows:
"Speak."
Yang Guo pressed his hand onto the open 《Xue Er》 chapter, leaning forward with a grinning face:
"Before lunch today."
"If your nephew can recite this entire chapter from memory without missing a single word—"
"—how about you teach me one martial arts move?"
Huang Rong appraised Yang Guo's confident demeanor, her heart stirring slightly.
"This child is so full of himself. Eight out of ten, Sister Mu taught him this primer in private back when they were in Jiaxing."
Huang Rong closed the pages, looking at Yang Guo with a half-smile:
"Guo'er, don't try your tricks on me."
"Aunt Guo just said that only by studying well can you practice martial arts well. You want to bargain over just one article?"
"How about this: whenever you can recite all twenty chapters of 《The Analects》 thoroughly from memory, word for word—"
"—Aunt Guo will personally pass down a supreme skill unique to Peach Blossom Island to you, and I will never break my promise!"
"Ah? The whole book?"
Yang Guo looked down at 《The Analects》 in his hands, then looked up at Huang Rong:
"Aunt Guo."
"Isn't this bet a bit too high?"
Huang Rong smiled.
"What?"
"Weren't you very confident just now?"
Yang Guo coughed once:
"I thought you'd add two or three chapters at most."
"Who knew that as soon as you opened your mouth—"
"—you'd carry off the whole pot."
Huang Rong looked at his stunned appearance, a triumphant smile curling at the corner of her lips.
She pushed the book in front of Yang Guo:
"Memorize it slowly. Aunt Guo won't rush you."
With that, Huang Rong flicked her sleeves and stepped lightly out the door.
Once the door closed.
Yang Guo stared at 《The Analects》, remaining quiet for three breaths.
Then, the corners of his mouth curled up bit by bit.
"The whole book, huh..."
He casually flipped it open and read a few pages, nearly bursting out laughing.
Some of these chapters were things he had already learned in his past life's textbooks.
Although the character forms were different.
And sentence breaks and annotations differed somewhat from modern teaching materials.
Yet he was thoroughly familiar with the core content.
Add to that the fact that he was a humanities student in his past life.
His memory was exceptionally good to begin with.
Memorizing texts...
That was his bread and butter.
Yang Guo leaned back against the chair, feeling entirely confident.
Competing in text recitation against a high school student who had survived morning self-study, evening self-study, monthly exams, and weekly tests?
Was that "5 AM to 10 PM" high school life just for show?
Aunt Guo.
You might have underestimated the terror of modern students being dominated by textbooks.
Three Years of Gaokao, Five Years of Mock Exams.
That wasn't suffered in vain.
Besides, having cultivated the 《Nine Yang Manual》 for half a year...
His mental energy was far sharper than before, and he memorized things much faster.
Yang Guo lowered his head and read through it twice.
Then he closed the book and recited silently.
Getting stuck, opening it, reading again—repeating the process.
Before long.
He had already mastered more than half of the twenty chapters.
...
As noon approached.
Guo Fu poked her head out from behind the doorframe, her two big eyes rolling around:
"Brother Yang! My mother just steamed some sweet osmanthus cake, it's really sweet, do you want to eat some?"
"Let's go to the kitchen together to snatch some fresh and hot ones!"
Outside the door under the veranda, Da Wu and Xiao Wu pressed tightly behind her like two black door planks, their eyes glowing green with jealousy.
Yang Guo was crossing his legs and flipping through the book.
Seeing this, he suddenly calculated in his heart that for the sake of future security, he wanted to test this young lady's temper.
Without even lifting his eyelids, he casually responded:
"Sure."
Guo Fu instantly grew happy:
"Then let me go with you."
Yang Guo didn't get up, merely saying casually:
"I still need to finish reading this page."
"Sister Fu."
"Could I bother you to bring back two pieces for me?"
Guo Fu froze for a moment.
If it were anyone else on a normal day, who would dare order her around to do the slightest chore?
Yet looking at Yang Guo's lazy demeanor, paired with his exceptionally handsome appearance, she didn't feel anything was wrong at all.
Guo Fu clapped her small hands, answering crisply:
"Sure! Just wait, I'll pick the big pieces for you!"
With that, she spun her body around and skipped off.
Yang Guo looked at her retreating figure, getting a slight read on her.
This girl was indeed spoiled and hot-tempered normally.
But she hadn't reached the point of feeling wronged just because someone gave her a small task.
She could be steered, but it had to be done slowly.
If he guided her temper in a better direction while she was young...
His right arm would have a bit more insurance in the future.
This was a long-term investment.
However, this scene fell into the eyes of Da Wu and Xiao Wu at the doorway, causing the brothers' mindsets to completely collapse!
Da Wu clenched his two fists until they crackled loudly, his anger soaring to the sky.
He crossed into the room in two strides, raising his foot and violently kicking over the small bamboo stool by the table!
Da Wu pointed at Yang Guo and cursed furiously:
"Yang Guo, you insolent fool! What kind of thing do you think you are! Do you really think you're a young master?"
"How dare you order Sister Fu around like a maid!"
"Are you even worthy to eat the pastries she brings?!"
Yang Guo blinked and said:
"Bringing two pieces of cake..."
"...makes her a maid?"
Xiao Wu also stepped forward:
"It's just not allowed!"
Yang Guo looked at the two brothers, understanding a bit.
This wasn't standing up against an injustice for Guo Fu.
They were just jealous.
Just in time, Guo Fu hadn't gone far.
Hearing the commotion, she doubled back:
"What are you shouting about?"
Da Wu immediately reported:
"Sister Fu!"
"Yang Guo actually ordered you to bring him cake!"
Guo Fu looked baffled:
"I know."
"I want to."
Da Wu opened his mouth, suddenly unable to follow up.
Guo Fu frowned and said:
"I'm bringing Brother Yang two pieces of cake."
"What does that have to do with you?"
Da Wu's face turned even redder on the spot.
Rebuffed face-to-face by Guo Fu, he lost all face.
Especially with Yang Guo sitting beside them with an indifferent attitude.
Da Wu grew even more furious in his heart. He took a step forward:
"Yang Guo!"
"Master taught me new moves today."
"Do you dare trade a few moves with me?"
Yang Guo lazily flipped a page of his book, not even raising his eyelids:
"I don't dare."
The stomach full of harsh words Da Wu had prepared instantly got stuck in his throat, leaving him frozen on the spot, thinking:
"This isn't right!"
"According to jianghu rules, shouldn't he glare fiercely at me on the spot?"
"How could this kid give up so directly without even a struggle?!"
Guo Fu was also stunned, blinking her big eyes:
"Brother Yang... are you really scared of him?"
Yang Guo took a sip from his teacup, looking immensely sincere:
"Aunt Guo just instructed me to quietly read books and understand principles."
"I'm reading my book properly, why would I fight with an ignorant little brat?"
Seeing this, Xiao Wu immediately fanned the flames: "If you don't dare, my brother will beat you up even more!"
Da Wu was originally looking for a way out, and goaded like this, his ferocity erupted instantly.
"Yang Guo, eat my fist!!"
The fist aimed straight for his chest.
Yang Guo remained seated in his chair.
He didn't even put down the book.
He merely glanced at Da Wu's footwork, knowing full well in his heart.
"Too rushed, and his lower base is floating."
"On the same level as street hoodlums who get hot-headed in a brawl."
Yang Guo stretched his foot out to the side, lightly hooking it.
Da Wu was charging too hard to stop himself.
Tripped by the foot, his whole body pitched forward.
Without even touching a corner of Yang Guo's clothes, Da Wu took a heavy faceplant directly onto the green brick floor, nearly knocking out his front teeth.
Guo Fu was stunned at first.
Then she bent over laughing.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Da Wu!"
"How did you fall all by yourself?!"
Da Wu lay on the ground, his ears burning red.
He hurriedly scrambled up:
"You ambushed me!"
Yang Guo placed the book on the table.
"I ambushed you?"
"I was sitting down."
"You charged over."
"And then you fell by yourself."
"How can that count as me ambushing you?"
Seeing his brother suffer a loss, Xiao Wu panicked instantly as well.
"You're bullying my brother!"
With that, he also charged forward.
Looking at that stance, Yang Guo felt helpless.
Xiao Wu reached out to grab Yang Guo's shoulder.
Yang Guo sidestepped his body.
Using 《The Analects》 in his hand, he swung it along with the motion.
Snap! He lightly slapped the back of Xiao Wu's neck.
It sent him dizzy and disoriented directly.
He landed flat on his butt on the floor.
Da Wu, panting heavily while leaning against a pillar, pointed at Yang Guo and shouted:
"You... this isn't martial arts at all!"
Yang Guo nodded openly and honestly:
"That's right, of course it's not."
"When did I ever say this was martial arts?"
"This is just back in Jiaxing..."
"...moves I often used to hit stray dogs."
Da Wu immediately seized on the key word, saying angrily:
"Are you calling us stray dogs?!"
Yang Guo looked innocent:
"I never said you were stray dogs."
"You are Uncle Guo's disciples."
"And I'm a bit older than you."
"By age, it's only right for you to call me Big Brother Yang."
Da Wu and Xiao Wu gnashed their teeth, glaring at him.
Yang Guo sighed:
"Forget it, forget it."
"It doesn't matter if you don't call me that, but I'll still view you as junior martial brothers."
"Alright then, Big Dog, Two Dog..."
"Cough..."
"Da Wu, Xiao Wu."
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