181: Chapter 177: Return to School 181: Chapter 177: Return to School Chen Hai left Qian Feng’s house and went straight back to his own home in Chenjiaping.
Before he left, Qian Feng had stuffed an envelope made of kraft paper into his hands.
It was only after arriving home that he finally had the chance to take it out and count its contents.
A thick stack of banknotes, a full hundred of them.
No wonder the envelope felt so bulging when he held it.
“Just gave him a few pointers, and he actually gave a full ten thousand as a reward.
This Qian Feng is quite generous!” he mused with a wry smile.
As for the self-proclaimed upright civil servant Qian Feng, where he got so much money from?
Chen Hai couldn’t be bothered to think about it, it was none of his business after all.
“An old saying goes, ‘Take people’s money, relieve their disasters!'”
“In three years, when Qian Feng’s official career comes to an end, if he has good luck and can find me, perhaps I will consider giving him some guidance and help him find a way out,” Chen Hai thought as he put away the ten thousand yuan.
For the average person in this day and age, earning ten thousand yuan was extremely difficult.
And yet, for Chen Hai, aside from the time spent traveling, he had stayed at Qian Feng’s house for less than an hour.
His parents had gone to Liuyuan County and he had no idea when they might return.
With nothing better to do, Chen Hai pulled out the “Little Five Thunder Skill” from under his bed and started to flip through it again.
In the morning, he’d only glanced over the book briefly.
After learning that the proper practice of this skill needed to wait until the first Spring Thunder Day of the following year, he had put the book away without continuing to read.
Now, with plenty of time on his hands, he studied the book much more carefully.
The incantation for the Little Five Thunder Skill was actually very simple.
“Thunder God and Lightning Mother, swiftly bestow divine powers, follow me to drive out evil, boom boom boom boom boom, I invoke Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad, abracadabra.”
Such incantations might seem somewhat adolescent.
But many spells in Taoism are basically like this, nothing out of the ordinary.
Besides the incantation, practicing the Little Five Thunder Skill also requires understanding the Thunder Map, Thunder Jue, and the Spirit Official Jue.
The so-called Thunder Map involves writing the character “Lei” (“thunder”) according to stroke order.
Then, starting from the bottom left of the “Lei” character, one draws a large circle clockwise around it, with three smaller clockwise circles drawn fluidly within.
To master the Thunder Map just requires diligent practice, and it’s actually not very difficult.
As for the Thunder Jue and Spirit Official Jue, they are two seal formations that must be executed while practicing the Little Five Thunder Skill.
The Thunder Jue requires the right hand’s palm to face upwards, fingers naturally straight, with the middle finger and ring finger of both hands raised upright.
The left and right hand poses should be the same.
Then, the right hand’s index and little fingers overlap the left hand’s index and little fingers respectively; the middle and ring fingers of both hands rest side by side, the inner side of the left thumb presses against the pad at the tip of the right index finger, and the tip of the right thumb is tucked over the crease at the base of the right index finger.
The Spirit Official Jue, on the other hand, is formed by extending the middle finger straight, with the tip of the index finger pinching the back of the first joint of the middle finger, and the inner side of the thumb pinching the crease of the first joint of the middle finger, with the thumb and index fingertips facing each other, while the ring finger and little finger are curled into the palm.
Although Chen Hai couldn’t formally start practicing the Little Five Thunder Skill yet, he could fully master these elements like the Thunder Map and Thunder Jue before the actual practice began.
After all, he had nothing else to do, so he began to ponder the secrets of practicing the Little Five Thunder Skill.
Chen Zhonghua and Jiang Meixian didn’t return until the following afternoon.
They said that in the county, there were indeed a few homeowners willing to sell their houses.
However, the ones priced reasonably were too old and shabby for their tastes.
The houses that they did like were priced out of reach, and they couldn’t come to an agreement for the time being.
Chen Hai didn’t rush them on this matter.
After all, buying a house is a big decision and couldn’t be rushed like purchasing groceries.
As long as his parents were willing to buy a house and move to the county, Chen Hai would be satisfied!
The specifics of how to go about it?
That would depend on Chen Zhonghua and Jiang Meixian themselves, and Chen Hai didn’t want to interfere too much.
In the evening, sirens wailed from the direction of the village office.
Around eight o’clock at night, Jiang Meixian, who had gone out to chat with others, brought back news that Chen Erleng had been handcuffed and taken to the county by police officers from the county town.
It seemed Qian Feng was quite reliable, and his efficiency wasn’t bad either!
Unfortunately, the one who took Chen Erleng away was a police officer from the county, not from the town.
On this matter, Qian Feng had surely lost the ability to lead, and the credits he could claim would understandably be much lessened.
However, as a seasoned player in the bureaucratic game, Qian Feng had his reasons for proceeding as he did!
Chen Hai wouldn’t interfere, nor was he in any position to interfere!
After all, he had very little understanding of the underlying rules in the bureaucracy.
…
On the last day of September, having stayed at home for three or four days, Chen Hai finally rushed back to the Capital City in haste.
Of course, with enough money in his pocket, he didn’t take the train but flew directly instead.
Although he had to transfer several times and only after arriving at Shachang City could he find an airport for a direct flight to the Capital City.
Even so, it was still much more time and effort-saving than taking the train.
October 1st was the National Day of Yanhuang Country.
Inside the Capital Political and Legal University, the first-year students who had just finished military training could now enjoy a few days of leisurely rest.
Not until October 4th did Chen Hai, a new student of the Astronomy Department, finally begin his first major class.
Perhaps because the Astronomy Department was somewhat unpopular and had so few students, the first class was a mix of first and second-year students.
Despite this, the classroom seats were still sparse.
Sitting at his desk, Chen Hai glanced around; though he did not count precisely, he was sure that the total number of students from both years in his department probably did not exceed thirty.
Of course, part of the reason for the gloominess was that some students from the department simply didn’t attend the class.
To be honest, Chen Hai himself had considered skipping the class.
After all, he really couldn’t muster any interest in earnestly returning to a classroom and being a student again.
However, considering this was the first major class since his university admission, after much hesitation, he finally bit the bullet and came.
“Astrometry, Celestial Mechanics, and astrophysics are the three main branches of the Astronomy Department…” standing on the podium, leading the class was Professor Sun.
“Students, especially those of you who have just enrolled this year, after listening to my introduction of the Astronomy Department, do you have any thoughts?” Professor Sun asked with a smile after briefly introducing the department.
“Professor Sun, I would like to know, among the major subjects of the Astronomy Department, which one involves looking at the stars?”
The people in the classroom looked at each other, but it was only Chen Hai who raised his hand and asked the question to Professor Sun on the podium.
Strictly speaking, following the traditional system of Tao Cultivation, medicine, divination, and astrology could be considered as branches stemming from Taoist Skill.
Speaking of astrology, Chen Hai’s first thought was Stargazing Skill.
It was for this reason that he suddenly asked this question.
After all, although he was completely clueless about Stargazing Skill at the moment,
it seemed to him that if there was an opportunity, observing the stars could be of a little help.
Professor Sun, on the podium, looking at Chen Hai as if seeing an idiot, fixed his gaze upon him!
Judging by his expression, it was as if Professor Sun feared that the Astronomy Department had inadvertently admitted an idiot.
“Astrometry measures the positions and distances of celestial bodies, Celestial Mechanics studies the relationships between celestial bodies, and astrophysics looks into the shapes, physical states, structures, chemical compositions of celestial bodies…” without directly responding to Chen Hai, Professor Sun gave a brief introduction to the various subjects within the department.
After his eyes lingered on Chen Hai for a moment, Professor Sun continued: “The student who mentioned looking at the stars, you are probably referring to astronomical observation!”
“This field provides foundational theories for physics with phenomena and processes that would be unavailable in the laboratories on Blue Star.”
“The physical processes occurring in the universe are certainly more varied than any that could be witnessed on Blue Star.”
“However, I must remind you, be careful with your words in the future; calling astronomical observation ‘looking at stars’ might make people from other departments laugh at you,” said Professor Sun, emphasizing this point several times with complete seriousness.
When he truly began lecturing, Chen Hai realized that the Astronomy Department was far from as simple as he thought.
Not only did one have to learn various astronomical knowledge, but it also involved physics, making the task of mastering astronomy an enormous one.
Professor Sun taught in a traditional, lecturer-centered way, seemingly eager to cram the entirety of a four-year course into just a few days.
Being academically challenged, Chen Hai was initially interested when the lecture began.
But as Professor Sun’s topic deepened, he completely lost the thread of the lecture and couldn’t understand what was being taught!
His mind wandered, and he began daydreaming once again.
“Junior, classes have ended, everyone’s gone, and you’re still in a daze.
Haven’t you snapped out of it yet?”
It wasn’t until a long-haired senior sister chuckled and patted Chen Hai on the shoulder that he finally snapped out of his reverie.