Chapter 204: The Person Who Watches the Stars
While teaching the little girl, Censor He got distracted.
Listening to the sound of the spring, he gazed at the sunset outside the window.
The sunset in Jingzhou was particularly beautiful.
The sun was round, red, and clear.
There were no clouds covering it.
It was very pretty.
Before he knew it, he had spent the entire day at the Jiang Family.
He had eaten breakfast, then lunch, and now he was waiting for dinner.
He was watching the sunset, and the little girl was watching the sunset too.
It was ridiculously leisurely.
Censor He thought to himself that she must not know his official rank, nor did she have any concept of it; she was too relaxed sitting in front of him, without a hint of nervousness.
Although he wouldn’t use his official authority to pressure others, the fact that the little brat opposite him didn’t care at all left him feeling a bit sour.
Thinking of his colleagues sitting together, exchanging words, thinking three times before saying anything, reflecting on whether there was any hidden meaning, careful and cautious—they wouldn’t even let their backs touch the back of the chair because it would hinder their thinking.
Only by keeping their backs upright in isolation could they heighten their sense of crisis and remain sharp.
But at this moment, he was leaning back in his chair, his back completely enveloped by the soft cushion.
The chairs at the Jiang Family were exceptionally large and comfortable, making one feel like a cat when sitting in them, wanting to curl up.
It was a bit too comfortable.
In reality, Censor He was also in a rather relaxed state at this moment.
Having rushed all the way from the capital to Jingzhou, it was impossible not to be tired.
His body was tired, and his heart was tired too.
Upon arriving in Jingzhou, he discovered that Jingzhou had major problems.
Because this city was different.
It was incompatible with the rest of the country, as if it had become independent.
Yet the people here had more smiles on their faces than anywhere else.
The little girl before him had a very sweet and peaceful smile.
Lazily.
A lazy feeling was contagious.
He couldn’t just accept good tea and sit around idly for the whole afternoon.
Censor He discovered that although the little girl was young, her eyes seemed to see through people’s hearts, and she seemed to understand everything.
Teaching a smart student, where you say one thing and she retorts with another, was actually of no use.
And it was too comfortable at home.
It made one sleepy and lazy.
Censor He stood up and said, “Let’s go, I’ll take you out for a walk.”
Jiang Mianmian liked going out very much.
If she really stayed behind closed doors every day, what difference would it make from being in isolation?
Being able to go out was very important.
The Jiang Family members eavesdropping next door realized that this Censor He was truly cunning; could it be that he had discovered them eavesdropping and didn’t want them to hear, so he was going out to teach?
Outside, it wouldn’t be appropriate for everyone to crowd around and eavesdrop.
Only Pang Ya could go along.
Jiang Feng also went along to act as a guide.
Jingzhou, shrouded in the afterglow of the sunset, was beautiful.
Vast and grand.
Especially when walking near the city gates and looking up from beneath the towering walls, the scenery was exceptionally different.
Jiang Feng rode a horse.
Censor He took his newly accepted student and rode in a carriage.
Jiang Mianmian comfortably enjoyed the evening breeze.
The carriage wheels moved at a steady pace, and the sound of them rolling over the stone slabs felt very pleasant.
Censor He sat inside the carriage. This carriage was very different; it was exceptionally soft. Even when passing over bumpy areas, the carriage shook and jolted, but his body felt nothing at all, as if it had just slid gently.
It did not make his lower back uncomfortable.
He thought seriously for a while, then asked, “Has this carriage been modified?”
Jiang Mianmian nodded. “Yes, Teacher. Every day when I take the carriage to school, I feel the road is bumpy. If we hit a small pothole, the carriage jumps, and it’s uncomfortable. So, I had someone add a spring—that is, those coils of thin iron. When we hit a bump, the carriage still jolts and presses down, but because it hits the spring, it gently bounces back, so it’s not that bumpy or uncomfortable.”
“A spring.” Censor He pondered the name, and the more he thought about it, the more ingenious it seemed.
He even thought about governing officials, the people, and the country; if there were springs to gently bounce back when things hit rock bottom, perhaps the transition would be smoother.
Jiang Mianmian didn’t say that if the pressure was too great, it would go bang and fly up into the sky.
They arrived at their destination.
Jiang Mianmian was very curious; there were still corners she hadn’t been to.
This was also part of the Jingzhou Yamen.
It looked more like a side room, located in a remote spot, like a small gatehouse.
Above the entrance hung a plaque with faded writing, which could faintly be identified as “Star Observatory.”
It had a rather mysterious feel to it.
Inside the Star Observatory, there was also a stone path, but it was clear that very few people came here.
Plants grew stubbornly from the cracks in the stone slabs.
Because they arrived in the evening as it was getting dark, she was even worried about stepping on some small animal.
Censor He noticed that the little girl didn’t seem afraid at all.
She walked forward step by step.
Jiang Mianmian naturally wasn’t afraid. Usually, in such places with dense vegetation, she would let Little Tree out. With Little Tree scouting the path ahead, she basically wouldn’t step on any strange little animals.
Jiang Feng observed their surroundings cautiously.
The group walked in, and it seemed completely unguarded.
They followed a path that led upward and climbed all the way up.
This path was clean, with no weeds; clearly, someone cleaned it every day.
But it was very narrow.
When the group reached the top, they found a small hut. A person was sitting at the entrance, gazing up at the sky.
Even when he saw them arrive, the person kept his head tilted, gazing at the sky.
The person’s posture was a bit strange.
Seeing that people had come, he only turned his head slightly, bowed, and then continued to gaze up at the sky.
His skin was very pale, almost sickly.
In front of him was a thick notebook, filled with densely packed dots.
“What is this for?” Jiang Mianmian asked with some curiosity.
“Recording the stars,” the man replied.
“Do you just look with your naked eyes?” Jiang Mianmian asked.
The man looked at the little girl with some curiosity—besides naked eyes, what other kind of eyes were there?
“Yes, every day after dinner, I come to watch the stars.”
“How long have you been watching?”
“Twenty-seven years.”
“Do you watch from right here?”
“Yes, the position cannot change.”
The man spoke while keeping his head tilted back, facing the sky.
At this moment, there were already faint, twinkling stars in the sky, not very bright.
The spot where the man was sitting had a deep depression from his backside.
The ground in front of him was the same.
Although it was a stone slab, a hole had been worn into it.
Jiang Mianmian flipped through the densely packed star charts. No telescope, let alone an astronomical telescope—just using his naked eyes, watching like this every single night, for decades.
Was it meaningful?
Yes, it was.
These charts were the foundation for the future.
Standing on the heights, one could see all the mountains below.
Censor He took a deep breath, feeling his breath flow much more smoothly.
Jiang Mianmian looked at the Star-Gazer.
He probably had cervical spondylosis—not the kind that curves downward, but the kind that curves outward and upward.
If he had a mobile phone and spent every day looking down at it, it should be able to cure his cervical spondylosis.
She also imitated the Star-Gazer’s posture, looking up at the sky.
Pang Ya also lifted her head.
Censor He lifted his head.
The Page Boy Jizi lifted his head.
Big Brother Jiang Feng lifted his head.
They stood in a row, gazing up at the starry sky together.
The sky grew darker, and the stars shone brighter, twinkling and blinking.
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