Cai Wenji’s Girlhood

Feeling that this topic could finally be put to rest, Cai Yong breathed a sigh of relief and changed the subject:

"That's enough for today's lesson on the zither. Let's start learning Confucianism..."

Yuan Shu's one-hour lesson quickly came to an end, but today, he didn't leave immediately.

Since Zhou Yi was still in Cai Yong's study learning the zither, Yuan Shu planned to wait for him to finish and offer him a ride in his carriage, strengthening their bond as fellow disciples.

At this moment, Yuan Shu was sitting idly on a stone bench in Cai Yong's courtyard, absentmindedly playing with the teacup a servant had just brought over.

"You're Yuan Shu? The new disciple my father just accepted?"

As Yuan Shu sat in boredom, a crisp and lively girl's voice suddenly rang in his ears.

Following the voice, he looked over and, sure enough, saw the porcelain-doll-like Cai Wenji standing beside him.

Gazing at Cai Wenji, Yuan Shu suddenly had the urge to check her attributes. He wasn't sure if he could access a young girl's stats, but he decided to give it a try.

He spoke to the system: "System, check Cai Wenji's attributes."

"Ding! System received the request. Querying the attributes of the beauty, Cai Yan.

Query successful:

Beauty Name: Cai Yan

Current Attributes:

Strength: 9 Leadership: 12 Intelligence: 60 Politics: 10 Charm: 75 Luck: 72

Peak Attributes:

Strength: 28 Leadership: 45 Intelligence: 79 Politics: 51 Charm: 95 Luck: 20

Cai Yan's Favorability Toward the Host: 0 (Strangers)

Cai Yan's Skills:

Sound Discernment (Awakened): Cai Yan possesses an exceptional musical talent, mastering various instruments. Intelligence increases by 10 when learning music, and fluency in playing instruments is doubled.

Literary Brilliance (Awakened): Cai Yan is intelligent and quick-witted. Intelligence increases by 10 when studying literature, and the emotional resonance of her literary works increases by 50%.

Grief and Indignation (Unawakened)

Heartbreak (Unawakened)

Seeing Cai Wenji's attribute panel, Yuan Shu was secretly amazed.

At her peak, Cai Wenji's charm reached an astonishing 95, even surpassing Zou Rong's base charm.

Even her current charm of 75 was incredible, considering she was just a nine-year-old girl.

Her skills were impressive as well, living up to the title of a talented woman.

However, her peak luck was only 20, a drastic drop from her current 72.

When Yuan Shu saw her two unawakened skills, he felt a deep sense of sorrow.

What kind of misfortune would force such an adorable little girl to awaken those two tragic abilities?

Yuan Shu made a silent vow in his heart—he would never let Cai Wenji awaken those two skills in this lifetime.

Feeling a strong sense of affection for his young junior sister, Yuan Shu smiled and said to her:

"That's right, so you have to call me senior brother. Got it?"

Cai Wenji pouted, snorted, and said,

"I'm not calling you that! I've heard so many people say that Yuan Shu is a bad person, acting arrogantly in Luoyang.

What was that nickname again? Oh right, 'The Ruthless Specter of the Road.' I really don't understand why my father took you as a disciple."

Hearing Cai Wenji's words, Yuan Shu's face darkened.

Damn it, did Xu Shao's evaluation of him spread this fast?

Now it seemed like all of Luoyang, including even young girls like Cai Wenji, knew about it.

Determined to leave a good impression, Yuan Shu put on a gentle smile and said:

"Little junior sister, sometimes what others say isn't necessarily true.

Think about it—our master is so intelligent. If I were truly a bad person, would he have accepted me?"

Cai Wenji greatly admired her father. Hearing Yuan Shu bring up Cai Yong made her hesitate slightly.

She said to Yuan Shu:

"My father praised your literary talent and even said you wrote an amazing poem called Ascending the Heights.

I asked him to read it to me, but he refused.

Tell me about this poem—if I think it's good, then you're a good person."

Cai Wenji's words left Yuan Shu speechless.

What did she mean by if the poem is good, then he's a good person?

Was a young girl's sense of morality really this simple and pure?

A young girl chasing after talent is just like one chasing after looks—essentially the same concept. 

However, while "Climbing High" is a great poem, it depends on who is reading it. 

A great scholar like Cai Yong, who has experienced the warmth and coldness of human relationships for nearly fifty years, would certainly appreciate it. 

But a young girl like Cai Wenji, who is not even ten years old, would definitely not like it. 

So, Yuan Shu said somewhat awkwardly: 

"You're still too young. 'Climbing High' isn't suitable for you." 

Hearing Yuan Shu brush her off like this, Cai Wenji was quite displeased and said: 

"Then recite one that is suitable for me. That shouldn't be difficult for you, right? Even my father says you're talented in literature." 

Right now, Cai Wenji was in her youthful prime, and with her well-off family background, she still had that proud and willful attitude of a young girl. 

This was completely different from the Cai Wenji who had endured hardships later in life. 

Yuan Shu actually preferred this version of Cai Wenji, finding her very adorable. 

After thinking for a moment, he said to her: 

"Aren't you fond of music? How about I sing a song for you?" 

Cai Wenji looked at Yuan Shu suspiciously, clearly not convinced, and asked: 

"You can sing?" 

She had been observing Yuan Shu's reaction to listening to the qin earlier and noticed that he was completely tone-deaf, utterly clueless about music. 

How could someone like that possibly know how to sing? 

Yuan Shu reached out and patted Cai Wenji's little head, saying: 

"Of course! Singing is the most suitable for you." 

Cai Wenji didn't like being patted on the head at all. She instinctively took a step back and pouted: 

"Then go ahead and sing! If it's bad, that means you're a big liar!" 

Yuan Shu thought to himself, "What kind of songs do little girls like?" He decided to go with something cute. 

Clearing his throat, he began to sing: 

"Two little tigers love to dance, 

Little rabbit obediently pulls the radish, 

I learn to walk from the little duck..." 

"Stop! Stop right there! Don't sing anymore!" 

Before Yuan Shu could even get through a couple of lines, Cai Wenji forcefully stopped him. 

He looked down at the petite girl in front of him and asked: 

"What's wrong, little junior sister?" 

Cai Wenji looked extremely displeased and said: 

"What kind of song is that? It's for toddlers, isn't it? Are you trying to fool me with this?" 

Seeing her serious expression, like a little adult, Yuan Shu couldn't help but laugh and said: 

"Isn't this perfectly suited to your age? I was worried that if I sang something too difficult, you wouldn't understand it." 

Hearing this, Cai Wenji plopped down onto the stone bench, swinging her little legs, and said proudly: 

"Go ahead and sing! No matter how difficult the song is, I can understand it." 

Yuan Shu thought to himself, "This little girl keeps calling me 'you' so casually, not even addressing me as senior brother. Looks like I need to show some real skill to restore my dignity as her senior." 

Ah, it's time to plagiarize the works of the greats again. 

Honestly, Yuan Shu still felt a bit ashamed doing this. 

But there was no other way. If he wanted to maintain his authority as a senior, this was the only option. 

To impress this young prodigy while also being a song he actually knew how to sing, the only choice was Su Shi's "Prelude to Water Melody – When Will the Bright Moon Appear." 

This song had been covered by many famous singers, and Yuan Shu was very familiar with it. He refused to believe that this masterpiece of a literary giant wouldn't be able to captivate a little girl like Cai Wenji.