You two master and disciple are a bit terrifying!

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Only then did Li Shu contentedly let go. “Master, you’re the best.”

Xi Sheng sounded somewhat helpless. “Then let’s get started soon. Marshal Wei is waiting for it.”

Li Shu successfully dragged Xi Sheng and Yun Qin along with them to make the telescope.

Wei Shian approached Xi Sheng and asked, “Xi Sheng, why did you agree to Little Li’s request?”

Xi Sheng merely replied indifferently, “So we can finish the telescope sooner.”

Wei Shian eyed Xi Sheng suspiciously. How could he possibly believe that?

Yun Qin looked at Li Shu, then at Xi Sheng, and whispered into Li Shu’s ear, “Brother Li, Elder Xi is truly good to you. I never thought he would agree to such a request.”

“My master is just like that—stubborn in speech but soft at heart. If you wear him down a little, he’ll agree.”

“That’s because you’re the one wearing him down. If it were anyone else, this trick definitely wouldn’t work.”

Wear him down a little and he would agree? That was not necessarily true. Elder Xi did not accept just anyone’s requests.

Of course, not everyone had the courage to wear Elder Xi down.

Li Shu could not help laughing. “I’m his beloved youngest disciple. I’m simply taking full advantage of being the favored one.”

Yun Qin nodded slightly. Elder Xi truly doted on Brother Li.

Yun Qin himself had grown up cherished by his elders and understood such affection very well.

Elder Xi could practically be said to dote on Brother Li as though he were his own child.

Wei Shian and Xi Sheng, walking ahead of them, had heard every word of their conversation, but neither said anything. They tacitly acknowledged Li Shu’s words.

Wei Shian could understand Xi Sheng’s attitude toward Li Shu. Li Shu truly deserved it.

Li Shu always kept others in his heart. Take Wei Shian himself, for instance: glass, telescopes, alcohol, magic cubes, jade figurines—every one of those things had required an immense amount of thought, and some could practically be called priceless.

Yet simply because Wei Shian needed them, Li Shu had given them to him without hesitation.

Even the smaller gifts had touched him deeply. He often only had to lift his eyes to see the magic cube or the jade figurine. They made it impossible not to feel the thought Li Shu had put into them, and the way he kept them in mind.

Those little objects might not have been made from especially expensive materials, but crafting them had required a great deal of care.

Xi Sheng had known Li Shu longer than Wei Shian had. The things Xi Sheng had received from Li Shu could only be more numerous, allowing him to feel even more keenly Li Shu’s thoughtfulness and concern.

At their age, they had weathered too many storms and witnessed too much deceit. That only made them more capable of recognizing the sincerity behind Li Shu’s efforts.

Wei Shian asked curiously once more, “Xi Sheng, I feel as though you put more thought into Little Li than you did into your first few disciples.”

“Do I?”

“You do. Which of your previous disciples did you always keep by your side?”

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“I was once the chief minister and had many matters to attend to.”

The implication was that Xi Sheng now had more free time.

Wei Shian did not believe that explanation for a moment. Xi Sheng might claim to have resigned from office, but when it came to affairs in the capital, his information was more reliable than anyone else’s.

For example, Uncle Lin, who was always at Xi Sheng’s side, might very well be carrying out some important assignment from Xi Sheng at that very moment.

“Little Li came along and made me glass, telescopes, magic cubes, and all sorts of things. Has he ever made you anything?”

Xi Sheng cast Wei Shian a glance. “Nothing much. He realized in winter that my legs were uncomfortable, remembered it, and immediately had a heated brick bed installed for me.”

“In summer, when he knew I was hot, he made ice for me.”

“When the house was being built, he even left a room for me. Afraid I would be bored, he often sent me interesting little objects.”

Wei Shian: “…”

Why had he asked? What good had come of it?

Now he was green with envy!

“Xi Sheng, why are you walking so slowly? Can’t you move faster?” Wei Shian took several great strides ahead, speaking irritably.

He now understood why Xi Sheng indulged Li Shu so much.

That boy Li Shu really had a way with people.

Wei Shian glanced back at Li Shu, who was chatting happily with Yun Qin. Even that celebrated young nobleman from the Yun family had been grinning from ear to ear.

If the Yun family saw Yun Qin like this, they might think their academy had led him astray.

He had arrived as an elegant young gentleman and would be returning able to scale walls, grinning like a rogue.

Wei Shian had no idea how they would explain this to the Yun family.

In truth, Yun Qin was merely smiling normally. It was just that he usually maintained the reserved bearing of a noble young gentleman, with a rather restrained expression, and rarely smiled.

Xi Sheng ignored Wei Shian. All he saw was a man whose face had been utterly transformed by jealousy.

Over the following days, the four of them often gathered in Wei Shian’s workshop.

Yun Qin and Xi Sheng needed far less time than Li Shu and Wei Shian, so the two of them would read books nearby.

Whenever Yun Qin asked Xi Sheng for guidance, Li Shu could listen in as well.

Li Shu even asked the two of them to read their books aloud while they studied, so that he could learn something too.

Yun Qin hurriedly said, “Brother Li, I’ll read to you!”

Asking Elder Xi to read to him—Brother Li truly dared to make any request.

Wei Shian stopped what he was doing and said to Li Shu, “Can’t you just concentrate on your work? If you get distracted listening to the books and ruin the glass panel you’re almost finished polishing, that will be a terrible loss.”

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“Adoptive Father, you’re underestimating me far too much. Don’t worry, I won’t ruin it.”

“When I’m listening to a book, only my ears are occupied. It won’t affect my hands.”

Wei Shian: “…”

He was polishing the glass with such painstaking care, and after hearing Li Shu say that, he sincerely felt that the boy was asking to be beaten.

“You can listen to two people reading at once?” Wei Shian asked skeptically.

“Isn’t that what having two ears is for?”

Wei Shian’s eyes widened slightly. He wanted to ask whether Li Shu had even heard himself.

Xi Sheng’s eyes lit up instead. “In that case, you can try. During the break, I’ll quiz you on the contents of both books.”

Yun Qin and Wei Shian: “What?!”

The master and disciple were both terrifying!

Li Shu: “…”

It seemed he had just dug a pit for himself.

Xi Sheng did not even give Li Shu a chance to object. He immediately said to Yun Qin, “Yun Qin, read to him.”

Then Xi Sheng began reading his own book.

Yun Qin cast Li Shu a sympathetic glance before reluctantly reading aloud from his book as well.

With two different voices reciting books beside him, Wei Shian’s eyes went blank for a moment. He was merely a man engaged in practical scholarship—was it really necessary to put him through this?

Did they truly not realize how much they were invading his territory?

The expression on Li Shu’s face did not change, and his hands never stopped moving. He even adjusted his hands to follow the rhythm of their reading—and worked a little faster.

When the day ended and they were preparing to disperse, Xi Sheng began testing how well Li Shu had learned while polishing and listening at the same time.

Master and disciple went back and forth in questions and answers.

Yun Qin and Wei Shian could only stare in stunned disbelief, utterly bewildered.

How could using one’s mind for three things at once produce such results?

Yun Qin felt that he might be able to divide his attention between two things, but not in this way.

Simply being able to remember the contents by listening alone was enough to surpass most people. Yun Qin thought he could remember most of what he heard, but he could never remember everything—especially not when two books were being read aloud at once.

Once again, Yun Qin experienced just how extraordinary his brother’s talent was.

Elder Xi was frightening as well. Brother Li had proposed such a method, and Elder Xi had actually agreed to it—and truly tested him afterward.

They really were worthy of being master and disciple.

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