Chapter 89

The items at the booth were divided into two categories. One category could be exchanged with one to ten cloth strips, which were some cheap trinkets. The second category included practical and exquisite items like writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

The organizers of the lantern riddle event set it up this way because few people could solve ten riddles in a row. Most people only had a few cloth strips, so they could only exchange for gifts priced lower than their actual value.

Although the tall and thin youth didn’t solve the final extra question, he still had the first fifty cloth strips.

If he exchanged all these cloth strips for writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, the organizers would incur some loss.

Seeing that the youth was alone and unfamiliar, the stall owner hesitated, saying, “Red paper is fine, but others also want to exchange for writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. If you take them all, what about others? Young man, I don’t think you’re someone who takes advantage. Please understand the difficulty we face as business owners.”

The youth blushed and stuttered, “I really need… Could I pay you back later when I have money?”

The stall owner still seemed reluctant and troubled.

Hearing this conversation, Shen Cui couldn’t stand by. She stepped forward and spoke up, “Stall owner, what do you mean by that? Since you set up such rules, it was clearly stated at the beginning that anyone who wins a red cloth strip can freely exchange it here. Now it seems like what to exchange and how to exchange depends on your mood? Otherwise, it would seem like you tries to take advantage?”

Shen Cui’s expression had always been somewhat stern. Usually, her temperament was mild, not showing much, but when she spoke out sharply, it was like showing her true colors, making it difficult to get along with.

Recognizing Shen Cui’s voice, the stall owner, embarrassed, said, “Madam, please don’t be upset… I didn’t mean it that way. You… you were the winning side, right? I thought since you hadn’t claimed them yet, it wouldn’t be right for someone to exchange all the writing materials. That’s why I spoke up…”

“We don’t want to be Lantern King, nor do we want to exchange for other prizes. We just want to convert them to cash directly. So, there shouldn’t be a problem with this young man’s exchange request, right?”

“Yes, yes.” The stall owner reluctantly agreed, first giving Shen Cui ten taels of silver, then taking down the items the tall and thin youth wanted from the shelf behind and placing them on the counter. He also added some red paper as requested.

The youth thanked Shen Cui with a smile, wiped his hands on his clothes, and happily began to wrap the items.

Shen Cui put the silver into her purse and turned away from the booth. A few steps away, she noticed Wei Shu hesitating, deliberately not coming forward.

She glanced at him, and Wei Shu motioned for them to step aside. He whispered, “Remember what I told you earlier, about the unlucky guy who caused the fire in the examination hall and helped me retrieve my purse? That’s him. But it seems like he hasn’t noticed me. Let’s leave quickly, so he doesn’t recognize me and end up fleeing in a panic like last time.”

Everyone looked sympathetically at the disheveled youth and agreed with Wei Shu’s idea of leaving.

But Shen Cui didn’t move. She had a vague guess about something but wasn’t sure. She said, “You guys wait here. I’ll go over and ask him a couple of questions.”

Returning to the booth, the youth was still happily wrapping his items. Sensing Shen Cui approaching, he showed a warm smile and asked, “Madam, did you change your mind and want something else? I can share some with you.”

Shen Cui said no and cautiously asked, “You seem somewhat familiar. I hope you don’t mind me asking, are you from the Hongle Academy?”

The youth’s smile froze on his face. “How did you know?”

Glancing behind Shen Cui, he noticed the others standing at a distance. Though he couldn’t see their faces clearly, they all appeared to be scholarly.

He turned red with embarrassment, stammering, “You… You aren’t the Lady Chief of Cuiwei Academy, are you?”

Shen Cui nodded with a smile, then turned and waved to signal the others to come closer.

The youth’s face turned even redder. He moved his bare foot backward and shifted his body outward, looking as if he wanted to run away, except he was missing a shoe.

“Bowing to the Lady Headmaster,” he could only endure his embarrassment and salute, “and to the Master.”

As he recognized Wei Shu among the group, his ears turned red as well.

“Alright, let’s go. Give him all the stuff, and we’ll talk properly when we get back.” Shen Cui assigned tasks to everyone. Thinking that it wasn’t right for him to be missing a shoe, she sent Mu Er Pang to buy him a pair.

“Thanks to Mother’s insight. Otherwise, if we had listened to Big Brother Wei and just returned, who knows how much effort it would have taken for him to find our house.”

Mu Er Pang suppressed his laughter, took a few coins, confirmed the youth’s shoe size, and went to the neighboring street to buy a new pair of cloth shoes.

After the youth put on the new shoes, Zhou Shi and Wei Shu helped him organize the prizes he exchanged from the table.

By this time, the lantern festival was coming to an end, so the group headed back to the village.

On the way, everyone was curious about what had happened, but encountering and recognizing each other in such a situation was already awkward enough, so they refrained from asking out of curiosity.

Upon returning to the academy, Zhou Shi went to the kitchen to boil water for the youth to wash up, while the others went into the main hall.

Shen Cui introduced, “Our academy is small, with just a few rooms. You can explore and recognize them all later. The last table is prepared for you, and writing materials are on the shelf in the room. Feel free to use them. In the dormitory, we have communal sleeping arrangements, and the bedding is already aired out. Other daily necessities have also been provided. If you’re missing anything, just let us know. As for the rest…”

She paused for a moment, smiled, and said, “I can’t remember for now. I’ll tell you when I remember.”

In fact, while Shen Cui was speaking, the youth had been hesitant to speak several times, but he didn’t want to interrupt her. Finally, he spoke up, “Please wait a moment. I have a letter from our Chief to deliver to you. After reading it… decide what to do.”

Shen Cui nodded and gestured for him to take out the letter.

The youth apologized, then reached into a hidden pocket in his robe and took out an oil-paper package. He handed it to Shen Cui.

The package was tightly bound with three hemp ropes, very securely but dirty and wrinkled.

Shen Cui didn’t mind. She found scissors and opened it on the spot.

The familiar handwriting of the old Chief caught her eye. After reading only a few lines, Shen Cui couldn’t help but show a surprised expression.

Since entering the room, the youth hadn’t sat down or touched anything. He carefully observed Shen Cui’s expression as she read the letter, noticing that something was off. He awkwardly shifted towards the door.

Shen Cui caught sight of his movement and quickly said, “Please don’t misunderstand. That’s not what I meant.”

The letter from the old mountain leader was written meticulously, ensuring that it was delivered personally to avoid falling into the wrong hands. It covered every detail.

This young man had been watched over by the old mountain leader since childhood. He possessed exceptional talent and outstanding literary skills, and he was incredibly diligent.

However, as the old mountain leader had mentioned before, his situation was unique. His uniqueness lay in his extreme misfortune.

In everyday life, things were somewhat manageable. At most, he would trip easily while walking, lose money when going out, fall into the river easily, or accidentally bite into stones while eating…

For Shen Cui, this level of misfortune was already more than enough, far from being considered “manageable.”

Then she read on and discovered that when the boy was around twelve or thirteen years old, the old headmaster leader thought he was ready to graduate and allowed him to start participating in examinations.

But with every examination, his misfortune seemed to worsen. He broke his arm, sprained his ankle, was even hit by a carriage, and each time suffered serious injuries that required him to be carried back before even entering the examination hall.

Now almost eighteen, he had only managed to pass the county-level examination once, despite enduring a sudden high fever during the test. But after that, he couldn’t achieve anything more substantial. Hence, he still hadn’t obtained even the title of a scholar.

This year, his misfortune manifested in his shoes being cut by a soldier during a search. Nevertheless, he managed to enter the examination hall smoothly, and it seemed luck was finally turning in his favor. But as soon as he lit his candle in the examination hall, a sudden gust of wind blew, knocking over his candlestick… Though he called for help in time, preventing a disaster, the fire scorched half of his examination paper, and he was promptly escorted out.

Upon learning about this, the students of Hongle Academy didn’t ostracize him, but they were somewhat wary of him. They were all aspiring candidates for the imperial examinations, afraid of being affected by his bad luck. As a result, almost no one dared to interact with him.

Several parents of students even came to the academy multiple times, hoping the Headmaster would send him away. After all, his misfortune had previously only affected him, but now it seemed to be spreading to others.

If a fire were to break out in the academy, wouldn’t it be even more worrying? Everyone admitted to Hongle Academy was an outstanding individual, with high expectations from their families.

Moreover, the young man himself felt guilty. After the provincial examination, he requested to leave the academy, stating that he would rather return to the countryside to farm and herd cattle than see the old headmaster troubled because of him.

In the end, the old Headmaster had no choice but to send him away from the academy.

The old headmaster didn’t elaborate much in the letter to avoid any misunderstanding if it fell into the wrong hands, solidifying his reputation for bad luck. However, news about the fire during the provincial examination spread quickly, and other academies were wary of accepting him.

Finally, the old headmaster mentioned that if Shen Cui’s side minded his presence, they could let him stay for a few days or temporarily find another place for him to stay. The goal was to give him some peace of mind and not burden Shen Cui’s academy.

They didn’t need to invest any more educational resources in him because his talent didn’t require anyone’s worry.

Although the whole story was bizarre and convoluted, Shen Cui wasn’t particularly surprised since Wei Shu had previously mentioned the incident with the provincial examination catching fire. What surprised her was that this young man was named Mei Ruochu! He was the “child prodigy” that Lao Buyu had mentioned before!

Back then, Lao Buyu had expressed sympathy for him, thinking he was a “child prodigy” in childhood but would fade into obscurity as he grew older.

But unexpectedly, Mei Ruochu didn’t fade away; instead, he seemed to be engulfed in misfortune… Well, that wording was a bit strange, but in any case, he was still the child prodigy!

Shen Cui gave him a reassuring smile and explained, “I noticed your name is Mei Ruochu, and I found it a bit coincidental since our master mentioned you before. I didn’t expect to meet you today.”

“Are you Mei Ruochu?” Lao Buyu, who had been trying to appear mature and reserved in front of the new student, couldn’t hold back his excitement upon hearing this. He had remained silent since encountering the young man and became even more animated after hearing his name.

Startled by Lao Buyu’s sudden burst of enthusiasm, Mei Ruochu took a step back nervously and replied awkwardly, “Y-yes, I am.”

“Great! Fantastic!” Lao Buyu became even more excited. “I heard about your name while traveling outside, but when I went to your house, they said you had already left.”

Mei Ruochu’s expression dimmed. “When I was seven, my parents encountered mountain bandits and… they’re gone. The family fortune was divided among my uncles, and I was sent to Hongle Academy.”

This… this was indeed a bit too tragic.