Chapter 91: Much Depends on Oneself

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng froze for a moment. He looked at Tang Mingjing, feeling confused.

Tang Mingjing blinked and asked, “Sir, why are you looking at me?”

“You only wanted to ask this?” Chen Changsheng asked.

Tang Mingjing nodded. “Besides this, nothing troubles my mind.”

Chen Changsheng couldn’t help but chuckle and shook his head. “Think carefully. Sometimes, an opportunity comes only once.”

Tang Mingjing’s heart jumped. He understood his teacher’s meaning.

So he said, “Actually, my dad also told me to treat you well and hoped to get your guidance. But to be honest, Mingjing has no great ambitions. Reading more books, helping the family more, not leaving all the work to my dad—that alone makes life good enough. So I have only this one request. I hope you can grant it, sir.”

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng said, “If your dad knew of this, he’d chase you around trying to hit you.”

Tang Mingjing scratched his head and laughed. “If you don’t tell him, dad won’t know.”

“You, you…”

Chen Changsheng sighed. “Fine. I will help you then.”

He raised his hand and began to calculate.

A short while later, he suddenly paused.

Tang Mingjing looked at him. “Sir, did you figure anything out?”

Chen Changsheng lowered his hand. “I did calculate something.”

Then his tone changed. “However… this matter doesn’t actually need my help.”

“Ah?” Tang Mingjing was stunned, confused.

Chen Changsheng said, “A whetstone makes a blunt blade sharp. The solution will naturally come later. If I helped now, it would just be… overkill.”

Tang Mingjing felt joy in his heart. “Thank you, sir!”

Then he asked, “But… can someone destined to help our Tang Manor?”

Chen Changsheng smiled at him. “You’ll find out when the time comes.”

Tang Mingjing understood he shouldn’t press further. It was enough to know his family would face smooth sailing ahead, and his dad wouldn’t be so weary as he was now.

Chen Changsheng then said, “Since I didn’t really help with this, you may ask one more thing.”

Tang Mingjing thought, but couldn’t think of another question.

Chen Changsheng suggested, “Perhaps you could ask about yourself?”

Tang Mingjing paused. “Sir, I won’t ask about fortune telling… but may I ask, if I knew about my own future, would it change my destined path?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “What happens depends on you. Let me tell you a story.”

“Please do, sir.”

“Many years ago, an old Daoist Priest traveled to a place. There he saw a rich family whose son did many bad things. The son asked the priest, ‘Old priest, tell me, what rank will I hold in the future?’ The priest saw this man carried an extremely evil aura. So he told him, ‘You will rise to the highest rank, enjoying glory and riches.’ The son believed it completely, thinking he was sure to become a high official. So he drank and had fun all day, and soon wasted all his family’s wealth. He never held any office his whole life.”

“Another time, a poor old woman asked about her son. The priest said the boy was useless, doomed to achieve nothing. When the old woman returned home, she started treating her son badly, giving him less food. The son didn’t understand why, but he worked even harder at his studies. Finally, he became the kingdom’s prime minister.”

Tang Mingjing’s heart skipped a beat. He pondered for a moment. “So… was the Daoist Priest correct?”

Chen Changsheng did not answer directly. “Destiny is mostly decided by heaven… but much also depends on oneself.”

Tang Mingjing thought about these words for a long time.

Suddenly, he understood.

He stood up and bowed deeply to his teacher.

“Mingjing… has learned his lesson…”

In the end, Tang Mingjing did not ask for his fortune to be told.

Once he grasped his teacher’s meaning, he understood that so-called destiny wasn’t truly fixed.

The root of everything lay within oneself.

Tang Mingjing stood to escort his teacher out.

Chen Changsheng waved him off. It was just a few steps, no need for such courtesy.

After watching his teacher leave,

Tang Mingjing returned to his study. He wrote down the sentence his teacher had shared and looked at it for a long time.

“Much also depends on oneself…”

“So that’s how it is.”

Sir truly is a man of great wisdom.

Yun Xiang followed Sir closely all the way back to the room.

Earlier, while at the door, she had overheard bits of their conversation inside. It wasn’t that she meant to eavesdrop; the words simply reached her ears.

Yun Xiang asked, “Sir, are you a… mystic?”

“What makes you think that?” Chen Changsheng asked.

“Just a guess,” Yun Xiang said.

Chen Changsheng smiled. “Just think of me as a lousy fortune teller.”

“You aren’t!”

Yun Xiang argued back. “Sir, you’re clearly amazing. Earlier today, I saw with my own eyes…”

She suddenly realized she’d said too much and stopped her mouth.

Chen Changsheng gave her a warm smile. “Seeing it is seeing it. Nothing you can’t say here. With me, there are no such rules.”

Yun Xiang felt a little ashamed. She nodded and followed Sir into the room.

Once inside, Chen Changsheng noticed the preserved fruit on the table. “Why did you leave this here?”

Yun Xiang twisted her clothes in her fingers. “Sir, I can’t take this preserved fruit.”

“I don’t eat such things.”

Chen Changsheng said, “If you don’t take them, it’ll just go to waste.”

“But…”

Yun Xiang asked, “Then why did you buy it?”

“It was a whim. Curiosity at the time. Gone now.” Chen Changsheng said.

Hearing this, Yun Xiang genuinely believed him.

She had no choice but to accept the packet of preserved fruit and store it away carefully.

Then Sir had her sit down again to practice her writing.

For Yun Xiang, writing truly was hard. Her hand hurt badly after writing much. Still, over the past few days, she had learned many new characters.

Though her characters remained shaky, by the end, they looked better and better.

Chen Changsheng couldn’t help saying, “Well written.”

Embarrassed, Yun Xiang flushed red for a moment.

A little later, Yun Xiang seemed to remember something. She pressed her lips together, unsure if she should speak.

Noticing her distraction, Chen Changsheng asked, “Why did you stop writing?”

Yun Xiang put down her brush. “Earlier today, the Young Master asked me… if I would be willing to follow you from now on.”

Chen Changsheng paused at this, sighing inwardly. “This Tang Mingjing…”

“What did you think?” Chen Changsheng asked.

Yun Xiang blinked. “At that time, Yun Xiang didn’t answer. The Young Master just left without pressing further. But… as long as Sir doesn’t think Yun Xiang is lowly or worthless… Yun Xiang, Yun Xiang… naturally would wish to.”

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By the end, she had buried her head down, not daring to look up at Sir.

Chen Changsheng looked at her and thought for a moment. “Do I seem to think you are lowly?”

“No,” Yun Xiang answered.

Chen Changsheng said, “But the idea of you following me… it isn’t realistic. The road ahead for me is very long. You’ve just turned sixteen. Youth like this… wouldn’t following me be wasting your chance at life?”

“Out of ten people in this world, nine likely cannot walk the same path as me. That is my… destiny.”

Yun Xiang kept her head down. Tears welled up in her eyes, yet she fought not to let them fall.

How could she not understand Sir’s meaning?

Yet knowing it still made her heart ache.

Her voice came out tiny, just a whisper.

“Yun Xiang… understands…”