After uploading the first chapter of How a Bad Guy Is Made, Huang Yifan used the computer to look up some additional information.
Seeing that it was already ten o'clock at night, he prepared to go to sleep.
The next day was Sunday, still part of the weekend.
At this point, Huang Yifan was only in the first semester of his third year of middle school, so there were no makeup classes on weekends.
Perhaps starting next semester, the weekend would be reduced to just one day off.
Although it was a rare two-day break, Huang Yifan had no intention of resting. Life was less than a hundred years long, and there was still so much left to do.
Because he was still unfamiliar with many things in this world, Huang Yifan once again headed to the library.
"Student Yifan, you're the earliest one here today."
The old man looked at Huang Yifan with a smile and spoke.
"Old sir, you're joking. I'm not the earliest, you are."
"Alright, alright, I'm the earliest. Go on in."
Because Huang Yifan had left such a deep impression on him yesterday, the old man didn't even register him this time and directly let him into the library.
Romance of the Warring States.
Yesterday, Huang Yifan had read history. Today, he planned to take a look at Huaguo's Four Great Classics.
Anything that could be called a classic was surely something special.
With that in mind, Huang Yifan found one of the Four Great Classics, Romance of the Warring States.
Judging from the title, it should be about the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
However, there had been no such work in his previous life, so Huang Yifan wasn't sure.
Holding the thick volume of Romance of the Warring States, Huang Yifan read it carefully from start to finish.
This reading session lasted another entire day.
It wasn't until dusk approached that Huang Yifan finally finished the entire book.
Romance of the Warring States… heh, compared to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it really fell far short.
Although he had finished reading it, Huang Yifan still formed an evaluation in his mind.
After returning the Romance of the Warring States, Huang Yifan prepared to head home.
"Student Yifan, what book did you read today?"
The old man from yesterday walked over again and asked Huang Yifan.
"Romance of the Warring States."
"Romance of the Warring States?"
The old man looked a little surprised. "Romance of the Warring States isn't something a middle school student usually reads. You spent the whole day on it, don't tell me you were reading this book the entire time?"
"Yes! I read it all day, I'm exhausted. I finally finished it."
"What? You even finished it?"
"Yes, Old sir, is there something wrong?"
"Well…"
The old man shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just a bit curious. Since you've finished Romance of the Warring States, what do you think of it?"
"An evaluation?"
Huang Yifan shook his head as well. "I'm just a little kid. How would I dare evaluate one of the Four Great Classics?"
"Hehe, Student Yifan, I didn't expect you to be so mature. But if you ask me, there's nothing you shouldn't dare to comment on. The Four Great Classics may be called classics, but in the end, they're still novels written by authors. Since they're novels written by people, readers have the right to evaluate them, whether that evaluation is good or bad."
After saying this, the old man blinked at Huang Yifan. "What do you think, Student Yifan?"
"Alright, then I'll share my personal understanding."
The old man's words made Huang Yifan feel a sense of admiration. He hadn't expected this old sir to be so open-minded, able to treat classics with such calm detachment.
"I feel that Romance of the Warring States doesn't really feel like a novel."
"Not like a novel? Then what does it feel like?"
"Like a history book."
"A history book?"
"Yes, old sir! Reading Romance of the Warring States, I felt as if I were reading the history of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Although the author tried to write it in the form of a novel, I still feel that it leans far too heavily toward historical narration. In many aspects, the descriptions adhere too strictly to history, and the author has no independent ideas regarding the character prototypes; instead, they blindly cater to historical records. So in my opinion, this isn't a novel, it's a history book."
Huang Yifan wasn't entirely sure how to evaluate Romance of the Warring States.
But when compared to the Three Kingdoms from Earth, the difference was immediately obvious.
"Besides that, there are quite a few immature aspects in the author's writing. For example, judging from how Qin's opponents are portrayed, it's clear that the author's stance in writing this novel is on Qin's side, that is, he treats Qin as the protagonist. This in itself isn't necessarily a problem; Qin eventually unified the world, so making it the protagonist is acceptable, but when writing about the other states, he portrays their rulers and talented individuals as far too childish. Fine, if the ruler of Qi voluntarily surrendered, but even Zhao, Wei, and even Chu, the state famed for its talent, are all written as unbearably foolish…"
Huang Yifan was quite articulate, coupled with the fact that he had read countless web novels in his previous life, his ability to critique had grown significantly.
Moreover, compared to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Romance of the Warring States really wasn't written very well.
From Huang Yifan's understanding of the Warring States period, countless stories could have been mythologized.
Jing Ke's assassination attempt on Qin, Crown Prince Dan of Yan bidding farewell at the Yi River, Yue Yi conquering seventy cities of Qi; these deeds could easily rival stories like the burning of linked camps in the Three Kingdoms. Unfortunately, such a history that could have been elevated into legend was only mentioned in passing in the Romance of the Warring States. Damn it, is it really necessary to focus only on Qin Shi Huang to create highlights? Couldn't you properly shape a classic rival?
This long-winded critique went on for over ten minutes.
At first, the old man didn't take it seriously. Although he had encouraged Huang Yifan to comment freely, he still believed that for a middle school student, whether he could even understand the book was another matter entirely. After all, Romance of the Warring States was a novel written during the Ming dynasty. Although it wasn't written in classical Chinese, it still used ancient vernacular, which wasn't easy to understand. However, as Huang Yifan continued critiquing more, speaking with greater insight, and growing increasingly interesting, the way the old man looked at him completely changed.
There was surprise.
There was shock.
And afterward, there was even a bit of agreement.
The old man had never imagined that a middle school student so young could have such insights.
What's more, these insights actually seemed quite reasonable.
Of course, if Huang Yifan had said these things to others, they might have scoffed at him. No matter how logical the analysis, it would likely be ignored. After all, these were the Four Great Classics, works worthy of being called classics. If no one could write better than them, then what right did you have to say they were poorly written?
However, the old man had taught for decades and had always regarded cultivating students' independent thinking as his mission. He greatly hoped that some students would think differently from himself.
Unfortunately, after so many years of teaching, most students' thinking remained quite orthodox, with very few stepping outside that framework.
To the old man, Huang Yifan was precisely someone who had stepped beyond orthodox thinking.
"Impressive, truly impressive."
Yesterday, the kid's ideas about a battle between the Yellow Emperor and the Flame Emperor, and Hou Yi shooting down nine suns, had already kept the old man awake at night.
He hadn't expected that today, Huang Yifan would shock him even more.
Now it seemed that this kid wasn't just spiritually gifted; he clearly showed signs of becoming someone exceptional.
"Very good, Student Yifan. Your insights are unique. We can continue our discussions another day. It's getting late, head home now."
"Yes."
Huang Yifan nodded and left the library.
"Old principal, what are you thinking about?"
After Huang Yifan left the library, a middle-aged man suddenly appeared in front of the old man.
"Wang Yang, so it's you, brat. What, as the current principal of the middle school, do you actually have time to come see me?"
The old man, startled out of his thoughts, glared at him and said.
"Old principal, listen to you. Without your guidance, how could I have become principal? No matter how busy I am, I still have to make time to visit you."
"Alright, alright. Ever since you became principal, you've learned how to flatter people. Who did you learn that from? Let me ask you, do you know a student named Huang Yifan?"
"Huang Yifan?"
Wang Yang stroked his chin. After a moment, he said awkwardly, "Um… old principal, which class and which grade is this student in?"
"So you don't know."
The old man sighed in disappointment. "I thought you were fairly capable, and that under your leadership the school might cultivate more talented individuals. But who would've thought that a student with such talent could be right under your nose, and you've never even heard of him."
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Glossary
1 - The Spring and Autumn (770–476 BCE) and Warring States (476–221 BCE) periods were transformative eras in ancient China following the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, characterized by political fragmentation, constant warfare between feudal states, and profound intellectual development (the Axial Age), culminating in the consolidation of power by the state of Qin, which unified China and founded the imperial era. These periods saw the rise of powerful states, major military and bureaucratic reforms, and the emergence of foundational Chinese philosophies like Confucianism and Legalism, all while supporting significant agricultural and population growth.
2 - Chinese ancient vernacular refers to the everyday spoken language, distinct from formal Classical Chinese (wenyan), which evolved from Old Chinese (the language of the Zhou Dynasty) and became the basis for written vernacular literature like novels, especially from the Tang/Song dynasties onward, moving towards modern Chinese, with examples seen in Buddhist texts (bianwen) and popular story scripts (huaben). It was characterized by more polysyllabic words and grammatical structures closer to speech, contrasting with the terse, single-character focus of Classical Chinese.
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