Chapter 205: You in the Eyes of the Stars
There is nothing new under the stars.
After watching the stars for a while.
Censor He, who spent long periods working with his head bowed over his desk, felt his neck was particularly sore, yet also strangely refreshed.
Scholars of this era possessed a certain kind of romance.
Whether gazing at the stars, the sea, or the mountains, they all loved to compose poetry.
Summer Solstice.
The weather was warm.
The starry sky was pure.
With stars filling the sky, if you looked up for a moment, it was as if the stars were responding to you, appearing in greater numbers.
Before long, they formed vast swathes.
The weather was too hot, but gazing at the starry sky seemed to bring a moment of coolness.
Standing high up.
Though, in reality, it was only a little bit higher.
But it was enough.
One felt closer to the stars.
And further from the city.
The feeling of looking at the human world was somewhat similar to looking at the stars.
The streets of the human world were bustling, the houses bright, and from a distance, they also looked like starlight, flickering on and off.
Censor He did not compose a poem, nor did his elder brother.
It seemed that composing poetry still required talent.
Jiang Mianmian had memorized a few poems, but fitting them to the occasion didn’t seem easy, so she gave up.
If she plagiarized one and her father thought she was suited for the path of a talented woman, making her compose poetry every day, she would die of misery.
Jiang Mianmian lacked determination in everything she did, looking exactly like a good-looking weakling.
She couldn’t do it herself, but she greatly respected those who could.
Just like the Star-Gazer before them—an early astronomer of humanity, the one who had recorded the Big Dipper. He watched the stars, recorded them, and knew every one of those distant stars as well as he knew his own family, as if they were his own nephews and nieces.
The stars were so far away that, with current technology, they were forever untouchable.
It was like a myth.
Yet he still observed and recorded them every day, for decades, one day after another. This was not a figure of speech; it was exactly what he was doing.
When his predecessor died, the duty was passed to him, and when he was on the verge of death, he would pass it on to the next person.
It was likely that when he sensed his end was near, he would first select a successor, bringing along a youth who was like he had been in the past, observing the stars daily. After guiding them for a time, then one day, he would lie down under the stars and depart.
That youth would continue to gaze at the stars until he became middle-aged, then old.
This was the continuation of civilization.
Even without poetry, it was moving.
The group watched the Star-Gazer on the mountaintop, viewed the dense starry sky, and looked at the dense star charts.
They looked at the Star-Gazer, who had the opposite of cervical spondylosis, as he waved goodbye to them with his head tilted back.
They left.
He was left alone on the mountain.
Gazing up at the starry sky.
The stars shifted and moved.
On the way back, Censor He looked at his thoughtful student, feeling smug in his heart.
To deal with such a lazy student who had too many distracting thoughts, one had to use a heavy hammer.
One had to let her see real life, to take her to experience it for real.
Only then would she understand.
Censor He, when he first saw the Star-Gazers, was also greatly shocked.
After the shock came admiration.
It also strengthened his determination to study.
Whenever he wanted to slack off, the image of that person gazing at the stars would appear in his mind—in the wild plains, on high mountains and dangerous buildings, by rivers, lakes, and seas—they gazed up at the starry sky alone, day after day, for decades.
And he would feel that he had to persist.
Rising early to study, sometimes, when feeling groggy, he would soak a cloth in cold water, cover his face with it, and wait until he was clear-headed enough to continue reading.
There was no such thing as heaven-sent talent or a born top scholar; there was only unremitting study through winter and summer, persistent effort, and eventual success.
Every one of his successes was well-deserved.
Today, he taught the secret of his initial success to his newly accepted student.
He hoped she understood.
The carriage swayed.
No matter how long it swayed, this world still felt strange, and seeing the ancients in long robes wandering about always felt like a dream.
Yet today, she had seen the formation of the dream and seen the dream-weavers.
So many stars, recorded day after day—was there any meaning to it?
Perhaps when you blinked, a star flickered, that being a violent explosion in the distant cosmos, which seemed to have nothing to do with you.
Perhaps when you blinked, a star vanished.
As if it had never existed.
But someone had recorded it.
Its existence had left a trace.
At this moment, Jiang Mianmian felt her heart settle down quite a bit.
She used to feel that she was like a fallen leaf drifting on the vast ocean, not knowing where she came from or where she was going, with decay as her ultimate destination.
It seemed there was no meaning to striving.
But at this moment, she felt differently.
Through hard work and struggle, and eventual death.
It was different from an ordinary, mundane death.
We are capable of changing some things through effort; we are not useless.
Do not be so powerless.
And do not panic.
Even for the distant stars, their existence would leave a trace.
The sense of detachment and incompatibility she carried seemed to recede a little at this moment, becoming a bit more earnest.
Jiang Feng, who was riding a horse outside the carriage, was slowly leading the way. He too had been shaken by seeing the Star-Gazer.
Because he had once slept long in the underground, seeing endless darkness, he always possessed an endless stream of baleful energy.
It made him unable to love others.
He only wanted to protect his family.
But seeing the Star-Gazer, day after day, gazing up at the stars.
In that instant, perhaps the stars were looking at him, also a person buried in darkness.
Was he gazing at the starry sky, or was the starry sky gazing at him?
His heart was moved, and he became exceptionally quiet, watching the passing years of the world, the bustling crowds coming and going.
He still liked the bustle.
Bustling weddings, bustling funerals, all were fine.
Censor He saw his student deep in thought for a long time, felt that he had more or less achieved his teaching goal, and asked, “Do you understand now?”
Jiang Mianmian nodded.
“Oh! Understand what?”
“Sir, you need to look up at the stars more. Your cervical spine is not good. Do you often feel dizzy, and when you stand up after sitting, you feel a bit unsteady? These are all caused by your poor cervical spine and insufficient blood supply. In the future, look at the stars more; it will be good for your health.”
Censor He’s cheek twitched slightly…
Is there really nothing else you want to say?
Jiang Mianmian looked at her teacher’s expression, which was suppressing a slight anger, and continued, “Sir, your liver fire is a bit high, and your hands are shaking; you might have hyperthyroidism. It is best to eat lighter food daily, and you should eat less seafood.”
Censor He withdrew his shaking hand; this was caused by you making him angry, not an illness.
“Sir, I have decided. In the future, when I have nothing to do, I can practice medicine and save people—saving one counts as one. Everyone is like a star; inconspicuous, but when gazing at the starry sky, he is also a star in the eyes of the stars. Some stars are brighter, some are dimmer; some stars disappear, and new stars are born. The long river of history is like the Star-Gazer’s star chart, day after day, passed down.”
Censor He’s heartbeat quickened slightly again.
First angered, then shocked, then pacified.
Such twists and turns.
It was truly going to kill him.
“What are we eating tonight?”
“Noodles, the noodles my Mother makes are delicious.”
“Very good.”
“What are you holding in your palm?”
“My stars.”
“Speak like a human.”
“Ants.”
“Don’t come over…”
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