Chapter 167: Rapid Reading, Photographic Memory
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Ying opened the gate.
“Mistress, Manager Tian and the others dug out something when they were laying the foundation.”
Su Ying’s eyebrows twitched. Surely they did not dig up another coffin? “Let’s go and take a look.”
By the time Su Ying rushed back, Tian Mu and his men had already carried everything out from the ground.
“Mistress, you are here.”
Su Ying looked at the boxes that had been dug out and couldn’t help feeling curious. “These are all dug out from the ground?”
“Yes. There are more below.”
Su Ying took the opportunity to look into the pit. There were still a few people digging with all their might down there.
“All of you step back. I’ll go and see what’s inside.” Su Ying took out a cloth and covered her mouth and nose before slowly walking over to the boxes.
As the boxes had been buried underground for too long, the surface of the boxes had been corroded. When she got close, she could smell the stench of rotten wood.
She picked up a sickle and hacked off the lock on the box before slowly opening it.
Everyone looked curiously in the direction of the box. Perhaps they all hoped that there would be gold, silver, and jewelry inside, but the result was destined to disappoint them. Arranged neatly inside were stacks of books.
Su Ying picked up a book and flipped it open. She couldn’t really understand the cryptic language on the pages.
Then, she opened the other boxes. They were all filled with books too. This discovery disappointed many people present. In this place, these books were the least valuable.
However, Su Ying didn’t think so. She didn’t know who had buried these books in this place, but since they had already dug them out, she would keep them with her for the time being.
“Number Ten, go to the Tiger Base nearby and ask them to bring a few carts over. Then send these boxes back to my place.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
To Su Ying’s surprise, when they had dug up all the boxes, there were as many as thirty to forty of these boxes.
It was hard for her to imagine how an exiled person could bring so many books to this godforsaken place.
As there were too many boxes and they had to be stored properly after delivery, Su Ying decided to go back with the carts.
When they returned to the courtyard, everyone was astounded when they saw Su Ying bringing back so many boxes.
“Chu Yun, come down.” Su Ying shouted from the courtyard.
Chu Yun heard the commotion and walked out of the house. He was also very surprised when he saw the boxes in the courtyard.
He walked downstairs, went up to the boxes and asked with a puzzled look, “What is this?”
Su Ying opened the box beside her. “They are all books.”
Chu Yun was extremely shocked. He picked up the books in the boxes and flipped them open. The more he looked through them, the more shocked he appeared. It was as if he could not believe it. He opened the boxes one by one. Some of the books in the boxes had rotted, but most of them were still legible.
“To think that I can still see such books in this place. It is really…” It was too astounding.
All this while, Chu Yun’s expression had always been indifferent. Except when interacting with Xiao Jin, he was always humble and polite to everyone, but in reality, he did not care and would maintain a certain distance. It was rare to see him reveal a joyous expression.
“What books are these?”
Chu Yun’s slender almond-shaped eyes were filled with joy. “Many of them are rare and single-extant copies. I thought some of these books were lost long ago. I’d never imagine that I would see them here.”
Su Ying wasn’t interested in studying these unfamiliar books. When she saw that Chu Yun liked them, she allowed him to handle these books himself.
Not surprisingly, Chu Yun agreed eagerly.
“Have you finished writing the rules and regulations that I asked you to write earlier?”
“Yes, I’ll go and get it for you now, Mistress.” Chu Yun said with a nod as he held the single-extant copies.
Su Ying’s expression froze momentarily. This was the first time this fellow had addressed her as “Mistress.”
Chu Yun went upstairs and brought some books down. “These arc all the general rules. There are many more detailed ones that I can’t finish in a short time, but I will further refine them.”
Su Ying nodded. “Alright.”
She carried the books into the house and slowly flipped through them.
She had previously told Chu Yun that it was best to use easy-to-understand vocabulary when writing the first edition. After all, most of the people in the Tiger Base had never had an education. She was afraid that they would not understand if the books used complex language.
Su Ying had only read half of it when Xiao Jin and the others arrived.
The daylight in the room was blocked by a tall figure. Su Ying looked up and saw Xiao Jin walking in.
“What are you looking at?”
“Looking at the rules and regulations Chu Yun wrote. You should take a look too.” Su Ying handed him the other books. Her eyes hurt from reading so many words.
Xiao Jin took one book and flipped through it.
Su Ying noticed that he was flipping through the pages very quickly, and before she could even finish a single page, he had already read several pages. This made her feel that he was just skimming through the pages without paying attention to the contents.
She grabbed the book from his hand and said, “You have read it all?”
Xiao Jin nodded with some bafflement. “I did.”
Su Ying frowned. “I don’t believe you.”
Xiao Jin gave a soft laugh. “Then ask away.”
Su Ying looked at the content he had just read with some doubt. “What does Rule Number 67 say?”
“Those who break into houses to commit robbery will be sentenced to five to ten years in prison.”
Su Ying deliberately flipped to the pages in the front. “Rule Number 50.”
“Those who rape women will be sentenced to 30 lashes and three years in prison.”
Su Ying asked a few more questions, but Xiao Jin was able to answer them word for word. This time, she had no choice but to believe that he had really read the contents.
Good heavens. He could not only do rapid reading, but he also had a photographic memory to boot. Su Ying tossed the book to him. “I’ll leave this to you then. If there’s any problem, you can tell Chu Yun.”
Xiao Jin raised his eyebrows. “Aren’t you going to read?”
“I’ll read them slowly later.” She could already smell the aroma of the braised pork wafting in from the kitchen. If there was anything else, she would wait until she was full.
Xiao Jin shook his head helplessly as he watched her leave. He picked up the book on the table and continued to flip through it.
Early the next morning, Meng Zi and two middle-aged men came to Su Ying’s place.
“Uncle Meng, why are you here so early in the morning?”
Meng Zi smiled. “Your Aunt Tian made some rice cakes early in the morning. She asked me to bring some over for you. I heard that you have two children. This rice cake is sweet, so it should be to the children’s liking.”
“Aunt Tian has gone through a lot of trouble.” Su Ying invited them into the house.
Bai Shuang quickly brought the freshly-prepared hot water over.
After Meng Zi drank a mouthful of water, he didn’t hesitate and went straight to the point. “Madam Su, I came here today to tell you that our North District is agreeable to merge with the East District.”
Su Ying had guessed that Meng Zi and the others would agree in the end, but she hadn’t expected them to agree so quickly.
“It just so happens that we’ve already written out the rules and regulations yesterday. All of you please take a look.” Su Ying handed them the books.
After the few of them took the books and read through them, looks of approval crept across their faces. If these rules and regulations were implemented, they believed the public safety in the Tiger Base would definitely become better and better.
After roughly reading through the book, Meng Zi closed it. “Madam Su, tell me in detail.. How do you intend to carry out this big merger?”
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