vstars Chapter 186 Literary Classics
Chapter 186 Literary Classics
Yuan Bao and Princess Achu stood there, stunned, unable to recover for a long time.
The surrounding air seemed to have frozen, eerily silent.
Princess Achu broke the silence first. Her eyes widened, her face full of disbelief, and she exclaimed in surprise, "I never imagined that Zhu Erdan, who is usually cold-blooded and decisive in the signing office, was once a pitiful wretch who could be bullied by everyone."
Yuan Bao nodded slightly, his expression solemn, and softly echoed, "Yes, his wife also seems to have suffered a lot, her heart and eyes are full of heartache and love for Zhu Erdan."
Princess Achu's eyes suddenly sharpened, as if she had made up her mind, and she said loudly, "Never mind, I, Your Highness, am going to search his room thoroughly today and find out the reason why he went from being a fool to a smart person!"
After saying that, she flicked her sleeve and walked towards Zhu Erdan's room. Seeing this, Yuan Bao quickly followed, and the two figures soon disappeared at the end of the corridor of the Signatory Office.
Filled with curiosity, Yuan Bao and Princess Achu hurried to Zhu Erdan's room.
The moment the door opened, the two of them stopped abruptly, their expressions freezing instantly, both looking utterly astonished.
Yuan Bao snapped out of his daze, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. He couldn't help but tease, "Tsk tsk, Zhu Erdan is a respectable and registered official in Fengdu, yet he lives in such a simple and shabby house. It's quite surprising."
Upon hearing this, Princess Achu raised her eyebrows and said angrily, "I've heard the ghost messengers talking about how Zhu Erdan insisted on living in this dilapidated house. I don't know what he was thinking."
Seeing that Princess Achu was angry, Yuan Bao quickly smiled and comforted her: "Your Highness, please calm down. I was just saying it casually, I didn't mean anything by it. The most important thing right now is for us to find some clues and figure out why he became smarter."
"Yes, yes! Let's look for it quickly."
Princess Achu took a deep breath, suppressing her anger, and her gaze swept anxiously around the room.
Suddenly, Yuan Bao's eyes lit up, and he pointed to the corner of the room and said, "Hey, that's strange. This room is so dilapidated, how come there's such an exquisite and elegant cabinet here? There must be something fishy going on here."
Yuan Bao strode forward and bent down to examine the cabinet closely.
On the surface of the cabinet, in the dim light, several lines of tiny writing could be faintly seen.
She leaned closer to take a look and discovered that it was a word puzzle.
Yuan Bao frowned slightly, his gaze lingering intently on the small characters, his mind racing.
A moment later, the corners of her mouth turned up, revealing a confident smile, clearly having found a way to solve the mystery.
With a soft "click," the cabinet slowly opened.
On the top shelf of the cabinet, a yellowed letter lay quietly, its edges slightly curled, as if telling the story of the vicissitudes of time.
Yuan Bao reached out and picked it up, then gently unfolded it.
Upon reading the contents of the letter, her expression instantly turned serious.
It turned out that this was a letter of divorce.
Princess Achu witnessed everything and was instantly enraged, her already fair face turning bright red with anger.
Without a word, she snatched the divorce papers from Yuan Bao's hand, turned around and ran towards the signing office, muttering to herself, "That Zhu Erdan, his wife is so virtuous, how could he do something like divorcing her! I have to find him and get to the bottom of this!"
Seeing this, Yuan Bao sighed helplessly and could only quicken his pace to follow closely behind Princess A Chu.
As the leisure task progressed, Yuan Bao suddenly realized that the plot of the task was actually derived from the story of Zhu Erdan in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" that she had read when she was a child.
Zhu Erdan was born dull and slow-witted. As the years passed, even as an adult, beneath his tall and robust body, his mind remained that of a four- or five-year-old child, innocent and naive.
The wicked neighbors in the village, seeing that he was simple-minded and easy to bully, often found ways to tease and bully him.
Despite the various difficulties, Zhu Erdan was completely unaware of the malice behind them, thinking that everyone was just playing with him, and continued to respond with a silly smile.
When Zhu Erdan's parents were alive, they were worried that their son would have no one to take care of him in the future.
Before his death, he arranged for a woman of ugly appearance to take care of him.
Although the ugly woman was not particularly beautiful, she had a gentle, kind, and meticulous heart.
Since marrying into the Zhu family, she has devoted herself to taking care of Zhu Erdan, through cold winters and hot summers, without ever slacking off.
Under his wife's meticulous care, Zhu Erdan gradually learned what love and care meant.
From then on, whenever he encountered something delicious or fun, the first thing that came to his mind was his wife.
If he finds a beautiful wildflower in the fields, he will happily run home and hand it to his wife; if he happens to get a sweet pastry, he will carefully tuck it into his bosom and run home, looking at his wife with anticipation as she tastes it.
The gears of fate turned quietly, and one day, the Black and White Impermanence, due to negligence, mistakenly dragged Zhu Erdan's soul into the underworld.
The underworld is gloomy and terrifying, teeming with ghosts and monsters.
Zhu Erdan, however, was oblivious and showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he looked around curiously.
Judge Lu personally investigated and discovered that Zhu Erdan's lifespan had not yet ended and he should have returned to the human world.
Perhaps out of pity for Zhu Erdan's pitiful background, Judge Lu waved his hand and used his supernatural powers to give Zhu Erdan a heart with seven orifices.
Yuan Bao still feels lingering fear when he recalls reading this story.
Back then, even in broad daylight, she would never dare to go to the toilet alone.
As soon as she closed her eyes, a gloomy scene of the underworld would appear in her mind, and the mournful cries of ghosts seemed to echo in her ears, making her hair stand on end and her whole body covered in goosebumps.
After receiving the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart, Zhu Erdan seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.
The naivety and foolishness of the past have completely faded away, replaced by a calm and reserved temperament, with a wise light shining in his eyes.
He held his wife's hand tightly, his gaze firm, and promised with deep affection: "My wife, from now on, I will make sure you live a rich and peaceful life, and I will never let you suffer any more grievances."
From then on, Zhu Erdan embarked on the path of the imperial examinations, relying on his intelligence and outstanding knowledge.
He studied diligently day and night, writing tirelessly, and his thoughts flowed freely and his writing was brilliant during the examinations.
In every imperial examination, he ranked at the top, overcoming all obstacles and successfully obtaining official rank.
The news sent shockwaves through the entire village.
Those mean neighbors who used to tease and bully him now all changed their tune, coming to fawn over him with smiles on their faces.
They brought lavish gifts and spoke obsequiously, trying to get close to Zhu Erdan as if his past misdeeds had never happened.
Faced with these people's changes, Zhu Erdan simply smiled indifferently and did not take the past grievances to heart.
In his heart, only his ugly wife at home was the most important.
As always, he treated his unattractive wife with utmost care and consideration.
He would discuss all matters, big and small, with his wife, who was not conventionally attractive; and every time he returned from a trip, he would bring back a small item that she liked.
However, the ugly wife's heart gradually began to stir.
In addition, her husband's colleagues also advised him to remarry a woman who was both talented and beautiful, but he refused.
But as she watched her husband become increasingly outstanding, her feelings of inferiority grew stronger.
She felt that she was ugly and lacked talent, and was not worthy of the intelligent and promising Zhu Erdan.
After countless sleepless nights, the unattractive wife finally made a difficult decision.
With tears in her eyes, she picked up her pen and, with trembling hands, wrote a letter of divorce.
After writing the letter of divorce, the ugly wife gently placed it on the table, then slowly walked to the roof beam, picked up a rope, and ended her life.
She felt that only by leaving could Zhu Erdan have a better future and find a woman who was truly worthy of him.
The ugly wife made a snap decision to hang herself, and just as her life was hanging in the balance, Zhu Erdan happened to push open the door and enter.
He caught a glimpse of his ugly wife hanging from the rope, and his pupils instantly contracted as terror and despair overwhelmed him like a surging tide.
"My wife!" Zhu Erdan roared, his voice filled with fear and grief, rushing forward without regard for anything else.
He frantically untied the ropes with both hands and feet, then embraced his ugly wife's gradually cooling body, his movements urgent yet careful, as if he were protecting the most precious treasure in the world.
With trembling hands, Zhu Erdan gently laid his ugly wife on the bed, pressing on her chest and calling out softly, using all his strength.
Finally, the ugly wife slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly woke up.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Erdan burst into tears, which flowed freely like a flood breaking through a dam.
He held his ugly wife's hand tightly, staring at her with eyes full of heartache and reproach: "Wife, why are you so foolish?"
In my heart, you have always been the irreplaceable and most important person.
No matter how I have changed, this sentiment will remain unchanged until death.
Without you, what meaning do I have, even with countless achievements and honors?
The ugly wife raised her head and looked at Zhu Erdan. Looking into his eyes, which were full of deep affection and sincerity, tears welled up in her eyes again.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she said, "My husband, I... I just feel that I am ugly and uneducated. Now that you are so intelligent and successful, I am really not good enough for you, and I don't want to be a burden to you."
Zhu Erdan was filled with helplessness. After much deliberation, he had no choice but to ask Judge Lu for help.
Lu Pan, dressed in a black robe and exuding a mysterious aura, appeared before them.
When the ugly wife saw Judge Lu, she knelt down with a thud, her eyes full of pleading and pleas: "Judge Lu, please have mercy and give me a beautiful head. Only in this way can I be worthy of my intelligent husband now."
Lu Pan frowned slightly, a complex look flashing in his eyes. In the end, he sighed and used his supernatural power.
At first, Zhu Erdan was overjoyed to have a wife with a beautiful new head.
However, as the days went by, Zhu Erdan felt that his wife was becoming more and more of a stranger.
Her demeanor, manner of speaking, and tone of voice were completely different from before.
The tacit understanding and intimacy that once existed between the couple gradually faded away.
Although my wife was ugly in the past, she had a gentle, kind, and caring heart. But now, my wife is stunningly beautiful, yet she seems to be separated from me by an invisible barrier.
Time flies, and Zhu Erdan reached the end of his life.
On their deathbed, he and his wife were filled with remorse. They knelt before Judge Lu and pleaded, "Judge Lu, please give me back my original heart and my wife's original head. We were wrong. Now we realize that the most precious thing is the ordinary days we once had."
Lu Pan looked at the couple calmly and slowly spoke, his voice deep yet seemingly penetrating to the heart: "People are always insatiable, only learning to cherish things when they lose them."
After completing this leisure task, Yuan Bao felt a mix of emotions.
While the story is deeply moving and thought-provoking, the process is too lengthy and time-consuming, and the rewards are rather unremarkable and unappealing.
She secretly snorted inwardly, thinking to herself, "This casual task deserves a bad review!"
"This is outrageous! All that effort for this worthless little thing? It's incredibly disappointing."
But as soon as he finished complaining, Yuan Bao felt a sudden unease and a strange sense of panic.
She suddenly realized that this system was incredibly powerful; what if it could see into her innermost thoughts?
Upon realizing this, Yuan Bao instantly cowered, his eyes darting around cautiously, glancing left and right as if the system might pop out from some corner at any moment to interrogate him.
After much hesitation, Yuan Bao decided to test the waters. She cleared her throat and, feigning composure, asked, "Little 9, tell me... can you tell what I was thinking just now?"
As soon as she spoke, she became extremely nervous, her heart pounding in her throat. Her eyes were glued to the phone screen, and her fingers unconsciously tapped lightly on the edge of the screen, waiting for Xiao 9's reply.
A moment later, Xiao 9's calm voice, as always, came steadily through the phone's earpiece: "My lady, if you have any complaints, just say them out loud. There's no need to worry too much."
After all, everyone has their own preferences, and it's perfectly normal if the task experience doesn't meet your expectations. However, we hope you will pay more attention and make careful choices when selecting tasks in the future.
Then, Xiao 9 continued to explain: "It is indeed a characteristic of this type of casual task that it takes a long time."
However, there is a deeper meaning behind it.
It aims to help current and future players gain a deeper understanding of China's brilliant historical and literary classics.
Think about it, by completing these tasks, everyone can enter into a classic masterpiece like "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" in a unique way and experience its charm. This can be considered the system's small contribution to the inheritance of culture.
As Yuan Bao listened to Xiao 9's explanation, her tense nerves gradually relaxed, and the annoyance on her face faded, replaced by a thoughtful expression. She bit her lower lip lightly and nodded slightly, gaining a new understanding of this seemingly tedious task.
"That makes some sense," Yuan Bao murmured, a hint of relief in his voice.
She looked up, her gaze drifting through the window into the distance, her thoughts wandering.
"I used to think that playing games was just for fun and to get rewards, but I never thought that I could also come into contact with these classic stories."
After a moment of silence, Yuan Bao spoke again, with a hint of curiosity and anticipation: "Little 9, will there be similar tasks to interpret classic literature in the future?"
If I could know more about the mission beforehand, I might be more interested.
After saying that, she stared intently at her phone screen, her fingers unconsciously tracing the surface, eagerly awaiting Xiao 9's response, as if she couldn't wait to embark on the next culturally rich gaming journey.
"There will definitely be more tasks like this in the future, so please keep an eye on the task panel."
If you have a particular interest in a certain type of literature, such as Tang and Song poetry, or Ming and Qing novels, please let me know.
Once any related tasks are launched, I'll notify you immediately to ensure you don't miss out.
Xiao 9's voice is gentle and friendly, as if carrying a touch of warmth.
Hearing this, Yuan Bao's face lit up with a bright smile, her eyes filled with joy and anticipation. She quickly replied, "Yes, yes, yes! Little 9, you're so kind and thoughtful! Thank you! Mwah!"