The Host is Clearly A Scumbag (Quick Travel)

Calculating accounts was very simple for Mingting, who lived with his brother-in-law, Wang Zhi, in the cloth shop.

When settling accounts, Mingting did mental calculations while Wang Zhi recorded the results. Several experienced accountants were responsible for cross-checking.

Originally, Boss Sun thought such a large volume of calculations would take Mingting at least three to five days to complete. But to his surprise, Mingting had finished everything by the evening of the first day.

In order to reassure Boss Sun, Mingting calculated them again the next day and it was all accurate without a single error.

"Little Wang, how on earth does your brother-in-law's brain work? This is truly remarkable!"

Boss Sun secretly resolved to treat Wang Zhi with even greater respect and to maintain good relations with Mingting.

He has traveled all over the country and can be regarded as a person who has seen the world, but he has never encountered someone as young and brilliant as Mingting.

Boss Sun happily paid Mingting two taels of silver. Noticing it was Mingting's first time in town, he even arranged for a young assistant to accompany him.

Shuanglian Town was large and populous, with wine shops, teahouses, cloth shops, grain stores, and general goods shops. Everything one could need could be found here.

The young assistant who accompanied Mingting was also very smart. He guided him around while explaining the town's layout.

After a full tour, Mingting finally stopped in front of a place called 'Wanjing Bookstore'.

"Thank you, brother. I'll go inside to read and return to the cloth shop on my own later." Mingting thanked the assistant politely and went into the bookstore.

Mingting first scanned the entire store.

Aside from books related to imperial examinations, the shelves held medical texts, arithmetic, geography, essays, miscellaneous records, and even a dedicated section for novels.

Since he was here, Mingting intended to stand out in this era and achieve something significant. And to do so, he would undoubtedly need to participate in the imperial examinations.

Only by reaching a high position would his words carry enough weight to genuinely contribute to improving women's status.

Mingting walked over to the section on imperial examination books and picked one up to skim through.

His reading speed was astonishing. His eyes flew over ten lines at a time, and he finished an entire book in no time.

There were seven or eight people reading in the bookstore, but Mingting was the only one flipping through books from start to finish so quickly without pausing.

Soon, Mingting's actions caught the attention of an older man and a young girl nearby.

"Dad, what is he doing?"

Su Lingyi watched Mingting curiously. She thought the young man's actions was utterly bizarre.

In such a short time, he had already flipped through an entire row of books and was now reaching for 'The Complete Commentary on the Doctrine of the Mean'.

Su Hengzhong frowned deeply, unimpressed with Mingting. To him, the boy didn't seem serious about studying, and it looked more like he was just playing around with the books.

Facing his daughter's question, Su Hengzhong said sternly, "He's just showing off. Don't imitate him!"

Mingting heard Su Hengzhong's remark but paid it no mind.

After quickly flipping through 'The Complete Commentary on the Doctrine of the Mean', he picked up 'Brief Annotations on the Book of Songs'.

Mingting's behavior thoroughly irritated Su Hengzhong.

'Where did this brat come from? How can he have such an attitude when reading books?!'

Su Hengzhong was a stickler for rigor and couldn't tolerate such an attitude toward learning. He strode over and stood beside Mingting, coughing twice.

Mingting glanced up at Su Hengzhong and felt that this man looked somewhat familiar.

Soon, he remembered this man would become the Minister of Works in the future, and even be appointed as the Prime Minister and earned the title of Grand Tutor Su.

Because of his unwavering integrity and habit of openly criticizing corrupt officials, he was eventually framed by Song Mingting on false charges, leading to his family's confiscation and his execution.

This was one of the antagonist's many crimes!

Mingting's impression of Su Hengzhong is that he is a technical talent.

During his time in the Ministry of Works, Su Hengzhong implemented a series of reforms, proving himself a pragmatic achiever.

The only downside was his personality, which is uncompromising, blunt, and stubborn as an ox.

While other high-ranking officials turned a blind eye to the antagonist's misdeeds and many ministers dared not speak up, Su Hengzhong was the one who regularly denounced Song Mingting.

Not only did he kneel outside the palace gates to remonstrate, urging the emperor to draw close to virtuous officials and distance himself from petty men, thereby embarrassing the emperor, but he also openly berated the original owner in court as a treacherous eunuch, earning Song Mingting's undying hatred.

Mingting hadn't expected to encounter Su Hengzhong here.

After carefully calculating the time, Mingting realized why.

This was during Su Hengzhong's period of mourning after his elderly mother's passing.

In a couple of years, he would return to office and directly assume the position of Minister of Works.

"Boy, is this how you read? Studying requires diligence and earnestness. Books are for learning, not for flipping through like toys!"

Su Hengzhong's thick eyebrows furrowed, his expression stern.

His slightly dark complexion and unsmiling demeanor would have intimidated most people, but Mingting remained unfazed.

"Old sir, just because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist!"

Mingting closed the book and did not back down despite the other party's imposing presence.

"No investigation, no right to speak! Old sir, your habit of criticizing without first understanding is not commendable!"

'Old sir? Was I that old?'

Su Hengzhong, who had just turned 40, let out an angry laugh.

He had to admit that Mingting's line, 'No investigation, no right to speak' resonated with him.

But the boy's refusal to admit his mistake even after being corrected was downright infuriating.

After this first exchange, Su Hengzhong gave Mingting an evaluation of 'skilled in sophistry'.

"From the moment you entered until now, you've flipped through seven books. Did your teacher never instruct you to read books carefully and savor the words?"

"You flipped the book so carelessly that you can't even read the words clearly, let alone comprehended them..."

The best way to face other people's doubts is to confront it head-on.

Mingting randomly opened a page and handed it to Su Hengzhong, then began reciting the text from the first line onward without missing a single word.

At first, Su Hengzhong didn't understand what he was doing. But when he realized the young boy was flawlessly reciting the entire page from memory, he was stunned.

"Old sir, not only can I read ten lines at a glance, but I also never forget what I've seen!"

Mingting pointed at the books on the bookshelf, "If you don't believe me, feel free to test me."

Su Hengzhong was taken aback, and then took a copy of 'Treatise on Cold Damage', which is a medical book, from nearby.

He flipped to a random page and handed it to Mingting. The boy skimmed it once and immediately began reciting it from memory.

At first, Su Hengzhong was skeptical, but upon careful comparison, he realized Mingting hadn't made a single mistake.

He then tested Mingting with a geography book next to him, and the result was still the same.

Mingting even flipped through a collection of supernatural tales, and after reading it, he confidently retold the story like a professional storyteller.

Su Hengzhong now knew that he had misjudged Mingting and felt a pang of embarrassment.

Even though the other party was just a young child, Su Hengzhong, who was a straightforward person, believed in admitting his mistakes, and he promptly apologized to Mingting.

"Ignorance is not a crime, old sir, you are too polite..."

Mingting quickly sidestepped to avoid Su Hengzhong's bow.

Since it was getting late, Mingting returned the books to the shelf and bid Su Hengzhong farewell.

"Goodbye, old sir! Oh, and I don't have a teacher yet!"

After saying that, Mingting dashed off like a gust of wind.

Su Hengzhong was very touched when he heard Mingting say 'ignorance is not a crime' and wanted to talk to Mingting more, but he didn't expect that this kid ran faster than a rabbit.

By the time Su Hengzhong stepped out of the bookstore, Mingting was long gone.