Chapter Ninety-Seven: Lingering Zither Notes

Fu Bao’s days at the academy were filled with color and delight. Yesterday had been horse-riding; today was instrumental music.

A series of sharp, grating clangs cut off the music teacher’s flowing lecture.

“Lin Cenbao, what are you doing?” The music master’s temple throbbed with irritation. What on earth was this little girl up to?

“Master, you just said that plucking the strings would produce a lovely sound and make one feel as though they were dreaming, so I wanted to try!” Fu Bao said with her wide eyes. As soon as she finished speaking, she plucked the strings again.

The music master: “...”

This child.

“Ahem—don’t touch it for now. Listen to your teacher first. When you’ve truly understood it, then you may play it.”

“Oh.”

And so, amid the master’s endless talking, Fu Bao fell asleep.

In her dream, she found herself once again beside a lotus pond, where carp frolicked and an ethereal mist drifted about. Suddenly, a white-robed man appeared on the bank. Music sounded in her ears, clear and captivating, so beautiful that it was intoxicating. Fu Bao listened as she walked toward the man. Before she could reach him, the music abruptly ceased, and the man turned around.

“Lin Cenbao, how dare you sleep in class!”

Ah—Fu Bao saw the music master’s face.

Then she jolted awake in fright. When she lifted her head, the music master was standing right before her, glaring down.

“Huh? Master, are you done?”

The music master: “...”

That evening, Bai Jie saw that Fu Bao was listless, so he placed a chicken leg into her bowl. But even after eating it, Fu Bao remained droopy.

“Bao’er, what’s wrong?” asked Madam Bai. This child was usually the liveliest of them all. What was with her today?

“Mm... Great-grandmother, is the academy well soundproofed?”

“It’s quite good. Why?”

“That’s good then.”

Fu Bao nodded and instantly regained her fighting spirit. She ate another chicken leg.

Madam Bai was left utterly puzzled.

Until—

A burst of zither music spread through the Bai residence, and then Madam Bai finally understood what Fu Bao had meant at dinner.

At that very moment, Fu Bao was in her own little courtyard, playing the ancient zither sent over by Huazhi. She was thoroughly absorbed. The master had punished her for sleeping in class and ordered her to practice a piece to play for him the next day. Because of it, she had even eaten one less bowl of rice.

Clang—gong—clang—gong—

A stream of demonic noise poured into everyone’s ears. In an instant, the young and old of the Bai household were all awake. Seeing Fu Bao with her eyes closed, utterly enraptured, everyone: “...”

In the end, Fu Bao was washed clean again and tucked back into bed.

She pouted.

Fine, it wasn’t that she refused to practice. It was just that her great-uncle would not let her.

With that thought, she rolled over and fell asleep.

The next day—

“Come, Lin Cenbao. Play the piece from yesterday.” The stern music master held a ruler in his hand and had been waiting early for Fu Bao to arrive.

“Master, I practiced for a long time yesterday. Are you sure you really want to hear it?”

“Stop talking and play!”

“Oh.”

Fu Bao pressed her chubby hand down on the strings, and then the music master was carried out and rushed straight to the clinic.

“Huh? Where’s the master?” Hadn’t he said he wanted to hear her play? Fu Bao found that the master had vanished after her performance. How strange.

This lesson, Fu Bao was stumped by an age-old riddle.

“Now then, there are chickens and rabbits in the same cage. There are thirty-five heads above and ninety-four feet below. How many chickens and how many rabbits are there?” The master announced the problem from the front. All the young ladies below lowered their heads in thought.

A chicken has two little claws and one head. A duck has two little claws and one head too. Two of them make two heads, four claws...

If you eat one of them...

Come to think of it, the chicken leg her little cousin had given her last night was really delicious. Could she have another one today? She should be able to. Great-grandmother would give her one. Duck feet were tasty too.

“Lin Cenbao, where is your answer?” The master’s roar dragged Fu Bao out of her sea of delicious food.

“Ah! It’s here.”

The master looked down.

“...”

The page was covered with chicken legs.

“What is the meaning of this paper full of chicken legs?” The arithmetic master forced down the vein throbbing at his temple.

“It’s like this! One chicken leg represents one chicken. As for the ducks, they’re the chickens left over after taking away the chicken legs from the thirty-five...” Fu Bao explained.

The arithmetic master: “...”

What nonsense.

Still, the idea did not seem entirely without merit.

Fu Bao’s chicken-leg-covered paper was taken away by the arithmetic master. She even received a couple of compliments for it.

The other young ladies, hearing the master praise Fu Bao so highly, looked down at the arithmetic sheets in their own hands and pressed their lips together.

Thus, before long, the arithmetic master discovered that his classroom had become a restaurant.