The Host is Clearly A Scumbag (Quick Travel)

For the past few days, Mingting had been searching for a way to make money.

Given the current financial situation of Jiang Xiao'e's family, there was no way they could support three males studying for the imperial examination.

No matter which dynasty, taking the imperial examination is a very costly thing.

The family used to own dozens of acres of fertile land, but after selling most of it to pay for Jiang Xiucai's medical treatment, only ten acres remained.

Jiang Xiao'e and He Gu toiled day and night growing crops, vegetables, and raising livestock, but in the end, they could only barely support a few mouths in the family and there was nothing left to save.

Mingting was here to repay kindness, so how could he let his benefactors break their backs in the fields, working themselves to the bone?

Wouldn't that just be sucking his benefactors' blood in a different way? That would completely defeat the purpose of repaying his gratitude.

So, after coming to the cloth shop, Mingting had set his sights on the loom.

At first, Boss Sun had dismissed it as a young boy's wild fantasy.

But when he saw the determined light in Mingting's eyes, something inside him shifted. For some reason, he suddenly felt that Mingting might just be right.

"Mingting, if you have any ideas, just say them. Whether it's money or manpower, I'll support you."

Gritting his teeth, Boss Sun made what would later be remembered as the most pivotal decision of his life.

Many years later, when Boss Sun, who became the richest man in Han Province, taught his children and grandchildren, he would tell them a simple but profound rule: Never underestimate a young man with fire in his eyes and dreams in his heart.

Boss Sun's real name is Sun Wei. He told Mingting not to stand on ceremony and to make himself at home.

Sun Wei had always trusted his intuition implicitly, and this time, he decided to place his bets on Mingting.

Mingting stared at Boss Sun's honest, round face for a long moment before nodding, "Thank you for your generous support, Boss Sun! If I need anything, I'll ask for your help."

Mingting's demeanor was neither submissive nor arrogant, and he looked so confident that even Sun Wei was surprised.

Sun Wei didn't dare to neglect it. He allocated a special room for Mingting and had people prepare brushes, ink, paper, rulers, and other tools.

Mingting understood Sun Wei's intentions perfectly, which was no different from gambling.

If Mingting did succeed in inventing a water-powered loom, Sun Wei, as the investor, would naturally get priority access for his cloth shop.

And if Mingting failed, it was just a bit of wasted money, which was nothing significant to the Sun Family.

'What an old fox.'

Mingting shook his head and began pondering how to design the water-powered loom. He locked himself up for several days and ate, drank, defecated and urinated in the room.

What Mingting didn't know was that during these days, someone had been searching for him relentlessly.

"Haven't you found out who that kid is?"

In the Su Residence in the eastern part of town, Su Hengzhong stood up after hearing his steward's report.

Ever since returning from the bookstore that day, Su Hengzhong had found himself dwelling on Mingting's two phrases, 'No investigation, no right to speak' and 'Ignorance is not a crime'. The more he thought about them, the more profound they seemed.

Not to mention, Mingting was a genius with a photographic memory.

Without any formal instruction, he had already achieved such a level of learning… that in itself was remarkable.

Su Hengzhong couldn't help but feel a sense of regret for letting such talent slip away.

He originally thought that Mingting was a regular at the bookstore, but he didn't expect the shopkeeper to say that he had never seen Mingting before, and that was his first time coming there.

Su Hengzhong went to the bookstore and waited for two more days, but Mingting never showed up.

After that, he sent his steward to inquire around town, trying to find which family had a child with photographic memory, but after searching high and low, no such person turned up.

"Alas, what a miscalculation…"

Disappointed again and again, Su Hengzhong regretted not stopping Mingting that day to ask his name. Because of that, he had lost such a promising seedling.

"Master, do you want to take him on as a student?"

Mrs. Su had been married to Su Hengzhong for many years and had never seen him like this, so she couldn't help but grow curious about Mingting.

"Is that child really that outstanding?"

"Composed, neither servile nor overbearing, and with a temper that won't tolerate injustice."

After some thought, Su Hengzhong gave a fair assessment.

"He appears mild-mannered, but in truth, he's very proud and highly competitive. Geniuses always have some temper of their own."

If Mingting weren't strong-willed, he wouldn't have immediately proven himself after Su Hengzhong's criticism.

Even though he had been publicly humiliated, Su Hengzhong couldn't help but admire Mingting very much.

Especially now, when he still couldn't find him… the regret gnawed at Su Hengzhong, making Mingting seem even more exceptional.

"I think he was scared away by Dad's scowl."

Su Lingyi imitated Su Hengzhong's stern expression when he had criticized Mingting, "Mom, you have no idea how terrifying Dad was at that time! Anyone else would've been frightened out of their wits."

The fact that Mingting hadn't been intimidated by her husband's infamous temper only deepened Mrs. Su's curiosity. She really wanted to meet this boy.

Su Hengzhong was not angry when he was teased at by his wife and daughter.

It was rare for him to take a liking to a promising youngster and consider taking them as a disciple, only to miss the opportunity due to sheer bad timing.

Su Hengzhong was stubborn by nature, so he simply went out and waited in the bookstore again.

This time, luck was on his side, and the moment he entered, he spotted Mingting. Su Hengzhong couldn't help but smile.

But when he thought of his purpose, he immediately returned to his seriousness, pretending to browse books as he casually made his way to Mingting's side.

At that moment, Mingting was reading, 'The Classic of Agriculture and Sericulture'. When Su Hengzhong entered the door, Fengtian had already reminded him.

After committing the book's contents to memory, Mingting put the book down and looked at Su Hengzhong naturally.

"Old sir…" Mingting greeted Su Hengzhong with a smile.

"Are you interested in agriculture and sericulture?" Su Hengzhong nodded approvingly, "Agriculture and sericulture are vital to the people's livelihood. This book is well written and worth reading."

"Old sir, you've read 'The Classic of Agriculture and Sericulture' too?"

Mingting immediately engaged him, and the two began conversing.

When Su Hengzhong learned that Mingting was studying the book because he was interested in weaving and wanted to study whether water power could replace human labor in textile production, he realized how wrong his initial criticism of Mingting had been.

'How was this boy 'superficial'?'

'He was clearly brilliant… full of ideas, capable of turning theory into practice, and willing to roll up his sleeves and get things done!'

This was exactly the kind of person Su Hengzhong admired most.

When Ming Ting took out the blueprint for the water-powered loom he drew, Su Hengzhong was instantly captivated.

Amateurs see the spectacle, while experts see the craft.

Even the blueprint requires tremendous effort.

Su Hengzhong fired off a series of technical questions, and Mingting answered each one methodically, with clear reasoning, which is proof of his deep study and research.

In no time, Su Hengzhong looked at Mingting as if he was looking at a fragrant cake.

He felt that if he was trained well, Mingting might be able to invent even more things to benefit the nation and its people.

"Theoretically, it's feasible."