Several days later, after lunch class.

  Chen Ke brought out half of the manuscript of "Dictionary" and found Wang Fang.

  King Fang heard years ago that they were working on a "dictionary". What is meant by "dictionary" is a big book! It can also be used as a standard book!

  Even great Confucian scholars dare not lightly use this character "dian", yet a few ignorant fools actually have the audacity to say they want to create some kind of "dictionary", it's laughable and pitiful, truly helping out those who don't know their place!

  But several dolls can persist for years without stopping, and Wang Fang appreciates this perseverance. At this moment, seeing that they have finally finished the draft, he has already made up his mind to praise them as the main thing, even if their content is ridiculous. Who knows, decades from now, one of these children may compile a real "Dictionary"?

  Wang Fang smiled elegantly, and first flipped through it briefly. The entries were all old tricks, nothing special, but the order of the phonetic arrangement was seen for the first time; that initial character table was also a first sight... Looking at the neat and meticulous classification, the dizzying numbering made Wang Fang secretly sigh, how many years of hard work would it take to reason out these characters?

  With this seriousness and persistence, his expression also became solemn, and he asked: "The phonetic notation symbols you mentioned in the example, are they these ancient characters?"

  "Yes." Chen Kui did not use the Latin alphabet for phonetic notation, but instead used annotative symbols such as 'ㄕㄘㄨㄜㄛㄗㄐ'... This is actually the Chinese phonetic notation that has been passed down for the longest time, and the two are essentially the same, only with a different appearance.

  Moreover, the phonetic symbols are also derived from ancient characters and can easily confuse scholars.

  Then, Chen Ke started from the most basic pronunciation to explain the phonetic notation method to Wang Fang. At first, Old Master Wang just thought it was interesting, but as he listened, his expression became serious, and he didn't even let him go to class... This erudite scholar quickly understood Chen Ke's method, which was still based on the traditional "sound, rhyme, tone" principle, but greatly simplified the fanqie method... making it much easier to learn. This method is completely feasible, but no one has ever thought of it before.

  From now on, phonetics will no longer be a profound and frustrating subject, but will become the basic knowledge for students to enter... He even thought that perhaps the whole world would be changed by this small dictionary!

  "The Great Way is simple!" After a long time, Wang Fang sighed endlessly and said: "It can be called a classic!" After finishing speaking, he straightened his collar, bowed down to Chen Ke and solemnly kowtowed: "I, on behalf of all the scholars in the world, on behalf of all the common people, thank you, Third Brother!"

  "Teacher," Chen Ke hastily bowed and said: "The student was killed..."

  "This bow is just a small matter, but in the future, who knows how many people will come to thank you." After standing up straight, Wang Fang laughed with his whiskers raised: "I've long known that you're not an ordinary person, but for several years, you didn't show your true abilities. It turns out that it's 'three years of silence, one cry and the world is shocked'!"

  Chen Ke couldn't help but blush with shame, thinking to himself, "Those were all little sister's accomplishments."

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Have you finished compiling this dictionary?" Wang Fang slowly turned the pages and said.

  "It's finished." Chen Ke said: "The second half has not been copied yet." In fact, it was a defensive heart that could not be without, even Wang Lao Fuzi, whom he had always admired, couldn't give him all the manuscripts at once.

  "Hmm," Wang Fang nodded, looked for another half an hour, and slowly said: "This dictionary, from the point of view of use, has reached perfection. The only thing that is not perfect is these explanations... A discerning person can see at a glance that most of them are copied from rhyme books."

  "The teacher is right." Chen Ke humbly accepted the teaching: "In other aspects, as long as you are patient and meticulous, you can do well. Only in the aspect of interpretation... The students are really shallow and powerless, they can only follow the example."

  "I've seen you all work hard on the exam, and that's already quite good." Wang Fang said with a sigh: "But it will still make this classic lose a lot of its luster."

  "Please, teacher, correct it for me." Chen Xiaoqiang asked respectfully.

  "I'm not allowed to add a single stroke." Wang Fang twirled his mustache and smiled, "Although I'm just a rustic fellow, I do have some reputation. If I were to participate in the revision, you'd cry before you even had time to react."

  "How could that be? I don't mind..." Chen Xiao said with a smile, but actually he had been worried that the old man would intervene and had already thought of a countermeasure.

  "The melon field does not take off its shoes, and the plum tree does not straighten its crown." Wang Fang burst out laughing: "You don't mind, but I do!" He then composed himself and said seriously: "If you're not ashamed of my shallow learning, stay here for a while and help me revise this dictionary again."

  "Thank you, Teacher, for your great kindness!" Chen Ke was overjoyed and wished he could throw his arms around Wang Fang and give him a big kiss.

  He informed his brothers and Chen Ke stayed on the mountain that day, starting a day-and-night revision work.

  It is said that he revised it, but in fact, the main work was done by Wang Fang. Old Master Wang dictated the revised draft, and he just wrote it down.

  Following the old gentleman's suggestion, Chen Ke revised only more than 7,000 commonly used characters. As for those nearly 20,000 rare characters, it was enough to continue using the explanations in "Guangyun". Wang Lao Fuzi had been teaching for decades, his learning was very solid, and when revising the character entries, he was sometimes faster than Chen Ke's writing speed.

  The old man leaned on the recliner, one hand holding a dictionary and the other holding tea, looking relaxed and comfortable, but in fact exhausting his mind endlessly... until Qingming Festival was announced to be completed. In just one month, the white hair on the old man's head and the wrinkles on his face had increased significantly, and he had lost weight all over.

  This month has been a great torment for Chen Ke as well. He had actually hoped that his younger sister could come and help him out for a while, but to his surprise, she didn't even show up once, which made him very puzzled.

  But in any case, at the moment of completion, both the master and apprentice were very excited. Coinciding with the holiday, Chen Ke cooked a few signature dishes, opened a bottle of fine Xifengjiu liquor, and the two sat down to enjoy a leisurely drink together amidst the gentle breeze and drizzle.

  This was Wang Fang's first taste of Chen Ke's craftsmanship, and he couldn't help but praise it. Seeing the old man in high spirits, Chen Ke took the opportunity to ask him to write a preface for his dictionary.

  This is naturally a great honor, but Wang Fang flatly refused: "To make this dictionary popular all over the world, my weight is not enough."

  "What's the big deal?"

  "The relationship is big, silly boy!" Wang Fang chuckled and said: "The dictionary has been compiled, but it's just the first step. When will it be widely used in the world? Who will eventually enjoy the honor of being different? Everything is unknown."

  "Please instruct me, teacher." Chen Ke poured wine for Wang Fang and said.

  "If it's published in a small place, with someone like me writing the preface, it will be hard for people to know about and recognize it. The longer your masterpiece is buried, the more likely it is that someone will plagiarize it... Plagiarism isn't difficult, just change the packaging. By then, you'll only be able to watch as others deceive the world and steal fame."

  "How can we avoid it?" Chen Ke sucked in a breath of cold air and said.

  "There are many things to do, such as going to big places for publication, having famous people promote it, and if possible, becoming an officially designated book would be even better." Wang Fang smiled and said: "But it can all be summed up in one sentence, just ask a celebrity to write the preface, and all problems will be solved!"

  "What kind of celebrity are you?" Chen Ke asked with wide eyes.

  "Of course, the bigger the better," Wang Fang stretched out a palm and retracted two fingers: "The best, the best, can be one of those three."

  "Which three?"

  "Guān Jiā, Fàn Gōng, ōu Yáng Yǒng Shū." Wáng Fāng said seriously.

  "Hmph..." Chen Ke almost fell onto the table, bitterly smiling and saying: "Teacher, you really dare to think that."

  "I don't even dare to think about it, what's the difference between humans and salted fish?" Wang Fang slightly opened his collar, revealing his arrogant demeanor: "You've read enough books, staying in this small place of Qing Shen won't bring you any more benefits. Reading ten thousand volumes is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles, are you brave enough to leave Sichuan and meet those big shots?!"

  "Teacher, can you really get me to meet an official?" Chen Ke was almost ready to worship this old man.

  "Hmm... seeing officials at home is indeed a bit unrealistic," Wang Fang smiled awkwardly, and then said with a smile: "But Fan Gong and Ouyang Yongshu are now both demoted to local posts, it's not difficult to see them."

  "I remember," Chen Xiao suddenly said: "The teacher and Ouyang Gong are fellow students of the same year!"

  "Hey......" Wang's face twisted into a strange smile as he muttered: "Same department is true, but good friends isn't quite right."

  "Aren't you always exchanging letters?" Chen Ke said with wide eyes.

  "He only came and went once, and it was after his exile that I wrote to comfort him, and he replied with gratitude." Wang Fang felt extremely embarrassed, and said in a low voice: "It's not easy to run a school, and we shouldn't put gold on our faces. This academy has long been surpassed by the official schools."

  "It's not easy being a teacher..." Chen Ke nodded heavily, not feeling that Wang Fang was insincere at all, but instead admiring the old man's frankness even more.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  However, after living twice and being familiar with the situation. I'll write another letter for you to take with you when you go see him, and he will definitely meet with you.

  Wang Fang looked at Chen Ke and said: "But there's something that might be troublesome for you to know. Both Fan Gong and Ouyang Yongshu are considered leaders of the Junzi Party. Whoever you ask to write a preface for your work will be classified as belonging to their party. No one dares to say whether this is good or bad for your future."

  As he spoke, he drained his cup of fine wine and said: "Think carefully about it..."

  "No need to think about it anymore." Chen Ke also picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and smiled: "Being able to meet Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu is exciting just thinking about it, what's there to hesitate about?!"

  "What a carefree young fellow!" Wang Fang applauded and exclaimed: "Bring me pen and ink, I'll write you a letter of recommendation right away!"

  "Is..." Chen Ke had just responded when the courtyard door was knocked urgently, followed by a flustered voice: "Mountain Elder, student Chen Chen requests an audience."

  "My brother..." Chen Ke was suddenly startled.

  "Come in, the door isn't closed." Wang Fang said in a low voice.

  ----------------------------------------------------- Divider -----------------------------------------------------

  At night, one watch as usual...