Chapter 055
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
The scene shocked most of the examinees.
Unsurprisingly, everyone held the same belief as Teacher Meng that it was [1] impossible to answer all the questions within the time limit. Not to mention, since Teacher Meng had actually accepted the paper, Xue Tingxiang must have also answered everything correctly, and with impeccable calligraphy at that.
In that instance, many felt even more anxious than before. Some sped up their writing, others kept checking the hourglass, and, well, there was really no need to elaborate on everyone’s reaction.
Suddenly, a low cry rang out. One of the examinees stared at his paper with an ashen face; he must have written down the wrong answer by mistake.
Draft papers were not provided to students during these quarterly examinations, and students were not allowed to bring their own either. In short, every student only had one chance of getting their answers right. In other words, corrections would be counted against them, as would untidy smudges and ink blotches. With the limited space to write down lengthy answers, if you made more than 2 errors for a single question, you might as well have not answered it.
Because space was limited, with 50 questions crammed onto one paper, you might allow yourself one error at best. If you made more than 2 mistakes, you would lose any chances of getting an ‘A’ grade. This was why the person who had made the error reacted so bitterly.
Naturally, some may wonder why students who have yet to pass the Tong Sheng exam would be graded so harshly. In fact, this was Qingyuan Academy’s way of cultivating students’ time management skills and ability to work under pressure.
Upon entering the examination hall, not a single smudge or error was allowed. No matter how well-written your essays were, if the calligraphy wasn’t neat, your paper would receive an automatic rejection. For now, the test only covered classical texts and memorised content. If a student couldn’t write well on memorised information, how could they do well on independently written essays? No amount of time would be enough if they didn’t know the classics inside out.
After this incident, many of the students deliberately slowed down their pace and were more cautious in their writing. That’s right, this kind of high-pressure exam tested not only their skills, but also their mental fortitude.
Of the students within the exam hall, few escaped this mental pressure. Among them were seasoned examinees who had taken the exam many times, as well as Mao Badou and his two companions.
That’s right, in the recent two weeks before the examination, whenever the dorm mates grew tired of memorising their texts, they would quiz each other or make up small tests for the others. On such occasions, Xue Tingxiang had always reliably finished faster and seemed to mock them with his beautifully rendered calligraphy. They had long since been accustomed to his demon-like abilities.
Therefore, when Xue Tingxiang had gotten up to leave the exam room, all three could only roll their eyes at this typical show-off behaviour. Mao Badou snickered and cursed under his breath. Li Datian shook his head and sighed, while Chen Jian lowered his head and worked on his own paper more seriously.
The quarterly exam brought joy to some and despair to others. However, no matter the outcome, one would only know the full truth once the test results were out.
According to custom, the results were posted up the following day, stuck onto the pillars just outside the lecture hall. The Academy were especially quiet that day, even as students milled about as usual. By now, most already have a good idea what their results would be after poring over their books and checking their answers.
These were questions with objective answers that tested one’s memorising skills, so it was easy to find out just how well one scored. Students only have to give themselves points for all the questions they answered correctly while deducting any errors or corrections they made.
Li Chao was quite smug about his result. He even made a point to walk past Xue Tingxiang and friends as he made his way towards classmates he was on good terms.
As the dorm mates watched, Li Chao grandly greeted the group of students, perfectly certain that he would receive an A grade.
Since that bunch of young bucks were barely in their teenage years, Xue Tingxiang was reluctant to pick a fight with them. Still, it was amusing to see this person strutting about. After all, Li Chao receiving an A grade was meaningless. After all, the bet was whether Mao Badou could pass the test for A Class.
As always, Mao Badou was never one to sit still. Once the exam was over, he immediately dragged his dorm mates back to their room to boast about how he was certain that he would make it to Class A this time.
He was so sure of his success that he did not even bother to consult any books before making his grand announcement to his friends. Whether his success was due to their impromptu quizzing sessions or that he had come across similar questions during their study time was unclear, but Mao Badou was very confident of his success.
However, the moment the young man left the dormitory, he would put on a dejected air, acting as though life had lost all flavour. Therefore, it was not surprising to see Li Chao strutting about. He and everyone else most likely believe that Mao Badou had really lost the bet.
Enough with the unnecessary details.
The next day arrived quite soon. As students went through their morning routine and attended classes, some would try to peek outside to check what was happening. Teacher Meng was not in class that day, so the students were left to self-study. It was likely that once the man appeared, he would come bearing the results of the previous day’s exam.
The moment they saw Teacher Meng walking calmly towards them in the distance, the entire class suddenly grew noisy.
One of the male servants following him had a piece of red paper in his hand. The two of them stopped at the pillar in front of the study hall, and the servant pasted the red paper onto the pillar. Teacher Meng glanced over the paper, pausing so slightly over one name before turning away. The pause was so subtle that no one noticed it at all.
All eyes were on him the moment he stepped into the study hall. Teacher Meng stroked his beard slowly once before nodding to himself and saying, “Well, go and have a look.”
The student nearest to the door shot out faster than a rabbit. Like the collapse of a floodgate, students poured out of the study hall. Some grinning apologetically at Teacher Meng, aware of their uncouth behaviour.
As the students crowded in front of the announcement sheet, only those in front could read it clearly. The ones at the back could only catch glimpses of the heads of people gathered at the front.
“Six students made it to Class A this time!” someone exclaimed.
There was a reason for such excitement at Qingyuan Academy. ‘Made it to Class A’ did not just mean getting Class A results, but that they had achieved results good enough to be admitted into Class A.
In fact, it was not difficult to achieve an A grade. Anyone who had studied at the school for 2 years could enter Class A. The real challenge was standing out among the excellent students within Class A. So long as a student had a deep enough understanding of the classics, they may be promoted to Class A and start learning the finer points of essay writing. Naturally, their basics had to be strong, and their calligraphy, top-notch.
In other words, while there might be many ways and reasons for students to make it into A Class, it was rare to have more than 3 people making it into the top-tier slot. 6 was almost unimaginable.
At that unexpected exclamation, people instinctively surged forward to have a look.
In the next few moments, cries of ‘you stepped on my foot’, ‘he bumped my head’ filled the air. Students who were at the front had to brace themselves from being crushed against the pillar.
“Don’t push, don’t push!” shouted the students at the front. “We’ll read the names out to everyone!”
There was a sudden hush as everyone waited.
Then, a trembling voice read out, “Xue Tingxiang, Chen Jian, Li Datian, Li Chao, Zhou Chuan, Mao Badou.”
The crowd was stunned. Leaving aside the fact that 4 of the 6 names mentioned were from the same dormitory, 3 were senior students who had never achieved a top grade before, while 1 of them had only been at the academy for 3 months.
Before anyone could properly process this information, two manservants came forward with papers and a small pot of paste.
“Make way, make way.”
A path opened up for the servants who were carrying more papers with them. They were there to paste the top-scoring exam papers. This practice was to prevent accusations of private arrangements and tampering, while encouraging other students to reflect on their own papers by observing the answers of more successful candidates.
Thus, the moment the servants moved away, the students surged forward again, eager to see what had been posted.
Well, it turned out that students who achieved Class-A-worthy grades really did have outstanding Class A qualities. Aside from making no mistakes on their answers, their entire paper was neat, clean, and the words looked like they had been stamped on. Each character was well-written and pleasing to the eye.
Once everyone had a clear look at the exam papers, some sighed regretfully to themselves while others stayed silent. Just then, a voice rang out, “This is Mao Badou’s paper. Just when did his calligraphy become so good? Don’t tell me someone wrote his answers for him?”
At the Academy, aside from studying the Four Books and Five Classics, students were expected to practice their calligraphy skills as well. That was because one’s calligraphy reflected one’s character, and it was no exaggeration to say that one’s calligraphy was a reflection of oneself.
Therefore, students would often compare their handwriting with each other, which was how most people knew Mao Badou’s hand writing. It was not that his calligraphy was bad; it was just that it had never been this good. People who had seen his papers before agreed that though his writing was not bad, there were usually some ink smudges or fingerprints on it. They knew this because Teacher Meng had used Mao Badou’s paper as a lesson on what not to do when answering a test paper.
Thus, the question in everyone’s mind was, were these bold and elegant letters written by the usually messy Mao Badou?
Where were the ink stains and fingerprints that were part of his usual style?!
The one who had cried out just now was Li Chao, whose joy in achieving an A grade could not overcome the shock of disbelief at Mao Badou’s achievement.
That’s because Mao Badou’s achievement meant that he had lost the bet and had to pay the other 5 silver taels. You must know that though his family was not poor, he only received a meagre few hundred coins as a monthly allowance. Where was he supposed to scrounge up 5 silver taels, ah?!
“Li Chao, you’ve lost, so just admit it. No need to go around making baseless accusations. Everyone was present at the same exam hall, Mao Badou included. Who do you think he could have asked to answer that paper for him?”
“But…”
“Unless… you think Teacher Meng is deaf as well as blind? Do you think he won’t notice if someone else had written Mao Badou’s paper for him?” Li Datian demanded, his words leaving Li Chao red-faced and speechless.
Other students started to chime in, “That’s right, that’s right, since you’ve lost, just pay up. No need to talk about anything else.”
Mao Badou was so excited about his success that his leg practically bounced with excitement as he stared smugly at Li Chao’s face, who went alternatively red and then pale white. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Xue Tingxiang suddenly cut in to say, “Enough, let’s go in.”
That was when the four of them turned to enter the classroom. The other students suddenly remembered that Teacher Meng was still inside and returned to the study hall as well.
“For those who have achieved Class A, do not be arrogant or complacent. For those who have yet to make this achievement, do not be discouraged. The 6 of you will now enter Class A. I hope that you will continue to study diligently and achieve success soon.”
The 6 students bowed deeply to show their gratitude, saying, “We are deeply grateful for your teachings, Teacher.”
Teacher Meng smiled and nodded. It was only then that they returned to their desks, packed up their bags and left Class B.
Now, let us leave these young men aside and see what is happening on Zhao’er’s side.
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After seeing Xue Tingxiang off, Zhao’er could no longer contain her eagerness to head towards the land she had just bought.
Since this small hill had become private property, boundary stones had to be set up. When she reached the hillside, she traced her steps around the so-called boundary stones.
These stones were simply large stones with a splash of red paint on them. Because the stones had been newly set in, the soil around the stones was still soft and needed to be compacted down.
Zhao’er explored the hillside twice with Heizi before rushing back home, her mind buzzing with excited plans on how to properly utilise the hill.
After checking out the landscape, Zhao’er’s plan was to divide the hill into three sections: One section would be dedicated to growing fruit trees, another for raising chickens and the final bit for vegetables. There was a spring on the hill, so water supply was not an issue. This was the main reason why Zhao’er had her eye on this hill.
One of the more important tasks was to fence up the place to prevent villagers from trespassing or stealing the crops. Some sort of shack or house would have to be built on top, but since she did not have the funds for a building, she decided to postpone that for the time being.
Now that the plans had been laid out, what better time than now to get things done? As soon as she could, Zhao’er got hold of Gao Sheng and asked him to hire a few villagers to set up the fence. Since there were plenty of thorn bushes scattered about after the general clean-up, those could be used to build a temporary fence. If there were not enough thorn bushes, they could gather some bamboo from a nearby wooded area to complete the fence. The first priority crops would be vegetables. Within a month after planting, they could be sold for money, depending on the weather.
That still left the question of who should tend to the crops. Backyard vegetables were usually tended to by the women of the household, but for large projects like this, they would need to hire someone.
After consulting with Gao Sheng, it was decided that he would take charge of this project. Since he often suffered mistreatment at home, it would be better for him to build a simple grass hut on the hillside and live there. He could also use his free time to oversee the crops and look after the area.
However, that still left the question of getting someone to tend to the crops full-time. In the end, Gao Sheng recalled a young man named Liu Sheng, someone he had known since his childhood days.
Liu was one of the fairly uncommon surnames in Yuqing Village, whose financial situation was even less well-off than the Gao. Liu Sheng was an honest and straightforward fellow who could not handle tasks like delivering vegetables or interacting with strangers. Gao Sheng had been worrying about how to help this friend when this opportunity fell into his lap.
As someone who could not leave his farming job for too long, [1] the job of sowing and tending to young vegetable plants was well within the scope of his time and ability.
Zhao’er also had a person in mind. Her uncle, Xue Qingbai.
Xue Qingbai was an honest and simple-minded hard worker. Zhao’er knew that she could trust him to work on the vegetable plots without any issue. With how the second branch had been helping out the fourth branch so much in terms of business, it did not look good for them to overlook the third branch so much. Moreover, Zhou’shi had been looking at her with hesitant eyes, seemingly wanting to say something, yet too embarrassed to do so. Even so, Zhao’er understood. This way, both sides could assist each other without losing face.
After everything had been agreed upon, Zhao’er set out to look for Xue Qingbai.
When Zhao’er explained the situation to Xue Qingbai, her uncle accepted the offer for work without hesitation.
Since the business was still in its infancy, Zhao’er could not offer much in terms of pay and offered him one silver tael per month with the promise to adjust the wages depending on the situation. Then, she entrusted the work of looking after the hill to Xue Qingbai, including the job of supervising Liu Sheng.
The next few days after that were very busy. The business of delivering vegetables [1] to town could not be halted and was handled by Gao Sheng and his friends. Meanwhile, Zhao’er stayed back to help set up the fence and get the soil ready for the vegetable planting.
[2] When Xue Tingxiang finally returned for his break, he did not see Zhao’er at home. Later, he learned from Sun’shi that Zhao’er was busy building fences and planting vegetables on the hillside.Thus, after setting his school bag and belongings in their room, he closed the door and made his way to the hillside.
The little hill had changed a lot from the last time he had seen it. The beginnings of a fence taller than a man’s height surrounded the hill, with gaps waiting to be filled. Xue Tingxiang ducked through one of these gaps to find that the hillside had been cut into neat terraces and lined with neat rows of plants. [1] The vegetables that Zhao’er was so eager to bet her future on .
As he walked along one of the many pathways, he heard voices from afar.
Xue Tingxiang made his way forward until he came to an open space where several people had gathered.
There was Xue Qingbai, Zhou’shi, Gao Sheng, Jiang Wu, Zhao’er, as well as several youths from the village. Everyone was staring up at a house made of mud brick walls and a thatched roof with smiles on their faces.
Zhao’er said, “Sheng’zi, I didn’t know you’re this good at building houses. It took only one day to get this place up.
The house was not large. From the outside, it looked like it only contained one room. However, it was still quite a feat to build a single-room house in just one day. In the first place, a person had to create the mud bricks with good yellow clay and chopped straw, which then had to be thoroughly dried in the sun, before they were covered in a layer of mud, and then dried a few more times for the bricks to actually be usable.
Later, the bricks could then be stuck together with sticky rice paste to form the wall. More mud could be applied from outside for reinforcement. This way, a mud house would be sturdy enough to last for several years. The reason why Gao Sheng could build the house in one day was that he had bought the mud bricks from the villagers.
Gao Sheng laughed, “This is all thanks to everyone’s help. With so many hands at work, no wonder the house went up so quickly. Qiang’zi, you had better not leave tonight. I shall go to the village to get some ingredients, we shall have a feast here tonight.”
Next to him, an elderly woman said, “This child is always coming up with odd plans on the fly. We have nothing here; how do you plan to cook this feast?”
“Not to worry, Mother. I have bought an iron pot. Later, I will go and get some vegetables from the villages. As for rice, flour and other ingredients, I’ll have someone buy them. Tomorrow, I shall buy more pots, some bowls, cutlery and everything else.”
The thin, weak-looking woman shook her head, but her smile remained on her face even as tears welled up in her eyes.
Zhao’er hurried over to say, “Why are you sad on such a good day, Aunt Gao? Now that Sheng’zi has a house, all he has to do is save up for a couple of years, and then he can build a bigger house and marry a wife. You can take your time and pick out a wife for him for that moment.”
“Alright, alright, Aunt Gao is not sad,” said Aunt Gao as she dabbed her eyes with a corner of her sleeve and beamed at everyone.
Just then, Zhou’shi said, “Isn’t that Ting’zi?”
Everyone turned to look. That was when they saw a young man slowly approaching from a distance.
As the sun set , the sky took on an amber cast. The light from the waning sun glowed red against the light green scholar’s robes, which fluttered slightly in the breeze, giving the youth a slightly transcendent appearance. The look of utter composure on the youth’s face added to the sense of unworldliness that caused everyone to stare in amazement.
“Ting’zi’s growing more and more handsome each day,” Zhou’shi sighed.
Her little sigh broke the spell, and Zhao’er hurried forward with a look of consternation on her face. “I forgot that it’s your free day tomorrow. How did you get back?”
“Ox cart.”
“Ox carts are so bumpy and slow. Aren’t you tired? You should have rested at home. Why come up here at all?”
The girl’s mouth nagged with concern even as she circled around the youth, like a young wife worrying about her new husband.
Jiang Wu’s expression dimmed. Suddenly, he said, “It is my fault too. I forgot as well. I had been so busy with your sister that I forgot. I should have gone to town to pick you up.”
His voice was loud and crisp. The words showed a certain degree of intimacy that could have been misinterpreted, but considering how close the Xue and Jiang families were, no one thought much about it.
Only Xue Tingxiang heard the hint of provocation in the young man’s words. A dark light appeared in his eyes as he smiled at Zhao’er and said, “Zhao’er, I have good news for you.”
“What good news.”
“I entered Class A.”
“Truly?” At his nod, Zhao’er’s expression was filled with joy. She whirled around to call out, “Aiya! What a wonderful thing! Our Ting’er is clearly better than the rest of them! You’ve only been to school for how many days, but already entered Class A!”
Though the rest of them were not too clear about how things worked at Qingyuan Academy, Zhao’er’s show of excitement made it clear that this was a huge achievement, and they all rushed forward with their congratulations.
Zhao’er said, “Right, right, no one’s going home today. Let’s start a fire here and have a celebration for Ting’zi and Sheng’zi! Sheng’zi, you don’t have to buy anything. I was just about to tell you that we have everything needed at home. I just bought some meat yesterday, and there’s plenty of flour and rice too. Later, you go down to the village and borrow two tables and some bowls, chopsticks and chairs. Aunt Gao and I will do the cooking.”
“Today we’ll have the chance to taste Zhao’er’s cooking!”
The young men cheered before hurrying off to borrow tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks. Meanwhile, Zhao’er had gone back home to fetch the necessary ingredients for their feast.
With so many hands at work, everything was quickly assembled.
Since they have not built a proper stove for the house yet, Gao Sheng built a temporary mud stove in front of the door for their little celebratory feast. [1] Once everything had been set up, Zhao’er, Aunt Gao and Zhou’shi got busy cooking while the rest of them sat around and chatted on the side.
[1] Partway through, Zhao’er lifted the lid off a pot, releasing a burst of fragrant white steam, drawing the attention of the people chatting on the side. She had been stewing chicken, and the smell caused some people to start salivating.“I heard that Zhao’er Sis’s cooking was good, but I never tasted it before,” remarked a round-faced youth.
Of the youths seated together, Gao Sheng was likely the only one who had the privilege of tasting Zhao’er’s cooking.
He laughed heartily. “Well, you can get to taste it soon.”
Just then, Zhao’er scooped up a small piece of chicken with a spoon, blew on it and held it up to Xue Tingxiang’s mouth, saying, “Come now, try and see whether it’s done.”
In fact, with Zhao’er’s cooking skills, there was no need for her to [1] even taste something to know if her food was properly seasoned, let alone whether it was cooked or not. This was a long-standing habit borne out of the Xue family’s communal eating practice, where food money was sacrificed to fund Xue Qingshan’s education. Zhao’shi was especially stingy when it came to eggs and meat dishes, and [1] would keep a careful eye on the cooking process to make sure no one was eating on the sly.
Therefore, whenever Zhao’er was in charge of cooking, she would do this just so that Xue Tingxiang would have one extra bite of meat without anyone accusing them of stealing food.
The action was perfectly normal to both of them, and neither thought much of it. However, the people watching thought differently. A slightly chubby young man sighed, “Uncle Tingxiang and Elder Sis Zhao’er’s relationship is too good, ah!”
This young man was also a surname Xue fellow. In terms of seniority, he was actually Xue Tingxiang’s nephew, even though he was two years older. Even still, he would address Xue Tingxiang as ‘uncle’.
Others laughed and teased back, “You should call her Aunt Zhao’er, not Elder Sis Zhao’er. How dare this fellow mess up the generation lines? You try that in front of your father tomorrow, he’ll beat you to death!”
“They aren’t married yet, so it’s still fine,” Xue Hu said defensively.
“Even if they aren’t married yet, she is still your aunt. Next year, you had better call her ‘aunt’ properly, and I will make sure Big Sis Zhao’er gets you a large red envelope.”
Gao Sheng was obviously just teasing Xue Hu. Everyone around them laughed, except for Jiang Wu, who remained silent. Gao Sheng cast a glance at him and could only privately sigh .
He cast his sight [1] back towards the cooking area. The sky was already darkening, making the flames appear particularly dazzling. The youth was saying something, and the young girl had a smile on her face. Even as he watched, they exchanged more whispered words before smiling at each other.
Unlike others, Gao Sheng grew up [1] watching many childhood friends getting together and considered himself more knowledgeable about these things than others.
Zhao’er was recognised by many youths as the flower of Yuqing Village. She was good-looking, had a good personality, was hardworking, fair, and though a little fierce when provoked, was always ready to greet the day’s challenge with a smile on her face. Though some of her actions were unconventional, she was well-liked by people of all ages.
Of his many childhood friends, 8 out of 10 of them were interested in Zhao’er. Even so, their interest went nowhere since everyone was aware that she had long since been promised to someone else. No one dared to interfere or make a move.
In the countryside, there was a clear understanding that foster daughters were basically bought into the family as a child bride. Therefore, even without a formal wedding ceremony, she was still considered a daughter-in-law. Because coveting someone else’s wife would invite the scorn and condemnation of others, Gao Sheng only started to realise that Jiang Wu was interested in Zhao’er.
Since they had all grown up together, Gao Sheng dared not say anything. If this matter were exposed, not only would Zhao’er have a hard time, but it would also be hard for Gao Sheng to properly remain friends with Jiang Wu.
He could only hope that Jiang Wu would be able to properly think things through and let go of things that should be let go of.
Just like him.
“Alright, alright, enough chatting. Time to eat. You boys come here and help serve the food,” Zhao’er announced as she banged on the iron pot with a large ladle.
The ‘boys’ chuckled and quickly got up to help serve the dishes.
[Gumihou: It’s always a pleasure to translate this work]
[1] Additional details for clarification [2] Deleted some duplicated information
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