Chapter 153

The new students who were called out and questioned by the professor at the back suffered a bit.

Everyone had just entered this official academy, and it was the first day of school, so they were all somewhat nervous.

But when the professor was very kind to Mu Er Pang, everyone relaxed a bit.

As a result, because Shen Ao Shuang didn’t come, the professor was not happy and became stern, displaying the dignity of a teacher who had been teaching for many years.

Perhaps feeling that on a day like today, someone dared to be absent directly, the professor felt that this year’s new students were not so honest.

So when he asked questions again, he didn’t specifically choose those simple questions, but instead raised many difficult ones.

Mu Er Pang listened and also sweated for the students in the same year, because some of the questions were indeed tricky.

Even if he was asked, he could not think of the answer immediately like before, in just a few moments.

So this roll call with questions attached stumped several new students all at once, and even Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen almost couldn’t pass.

For the students who didn’t answer the questions, the professor didn’t scold them. He just asked them to write an article on the topic after class.

The first day of school left a bad impression on the professor, and the new students were at a loss, thinking that the top-ranked examination cases in the capital didn’t have such difficult questions, so why were they facing this?

They dared not complain about the professor, nor would they shift their anger to the lucky Mu Er Pang.

They only blamed Shen Ao Shuang, who was absent for no reason!

To be absent on such an important day was really not taking the rules of the academy seriously.

The new students who had been scolded were sullen, waiting to see Shen Ao Shuang come later and be reprimanded by the professor.

The result that disappointed them was that Shen Ao Shuang did not come in the morning.

After the morning class ended, it was time for lunch and a break.

Wei Shu, Mu Er Pang, and Ren Shun went to the cafeteria together, and Ren Shun’s brother also came to call him.

Mu Er Pang and Ren Shun thought that Zhao Xiuwen was not familiar with the academy yet, so they simply joined forces with Zhao Xiuwen and formed a group.

Because it was the day new students entered the school, the chefs in the cafeteria also displayed their skills, and the dishes were even more abundant than usual.

Vegetable dishes cost three wen per small portion, half-meat dishes cost five wen per small portion, while fully meat dishes like lion’s head and diced braised pork started at ten wen.

The prices were indeed quite fair, but if you wanted to eat well, with both meat and vegetables, a meal would cost more than ten or twenty wen.

When Cui Fei and the others took Mu Er Pang to familiarize himself with the academy, they also exchanged some meal tickets for him.

Mu Er Pang first exchanged one or two taels of silver for meal tickets. At this moment, he calculated in his mind that if he ate well every meal, it would probably cost him four or five taels of silver a month, which was really not a small expense for his family.

But before he could worry, Wei Shu and Cui Fei had already bought several portions of food, not giving him a chance to pay.

Ren Shun’s brother, Ren Hua, did the same, taking care of his brother and Zhao Xiuwen, and bought the food.

Mu Er Pang, Ren Shun, and Zhao Xiuwen looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh.

Afterward, they found a large table, put the food together, and sat together to eat.

During the meal, everyone always found some topics to chat about.

Moreover, because there were many new students, everything seemed fresh, so the atmosphere in the cafeteria was much livelier than usual.

During the meal, Mu Er Pang heard someone discussing Shen Ao Shuang.

Someone snorted, “On the first day of school at the academy, Shen Ao Shuang dares not to come directly, embarrassing the professor. Truly living up to his name, he’s arrogant to the heavens!”

“If you ask me, if he looks down on the academy, he shouldn’t come. There are plenty of people who want to get in but can’t.”

“Exactly. If he’s so capable, why didn’t he make it to the top of the list?”

People were discussing one after another, and Mu Er Pang exchanged glances with Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen.

They three were treated as if they were invisible by Shen Ao Shuang, especially Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen, who had taken the county exam with him.

However, they were not the kind of people who liked to talk behind others’ backs, so they did not participate in this topic.

After lunch, there was nearly half an hour of nap time.

Those who lived in the academy naturally went back to the dormitory to take a nap, while day students usually went to the classrooms or took a walk around the academy to digest their food.

Ren Hua, Ren Shun, and Zhao Xiuwen were all boarding students, so they all went back to the dormitory.

Wei Shu suggested taking Mu Er Pang to the archery range to practice archery.

Mu Er Pang was already very interested when he went there in the morning, so he immediately agreed when he heard the suggestion.

Although it was still the beginning of autumn, the weather was much more comfortable than during the scorching heat of summer.

Therefore, there were quite a few people who shared their thoughts.

When they arrived at the archery range, there were already people using all the dozen or so targets.

However, Wei Shu was well-liked in the academy, so after some people practiced for a while, they gave up their spots to him.

Wei Shu thanked the other party and then took Mu Er Pang forward.

The bow he used was purchased separately after arriving at the academy, knowing that there was a venue here, and it was usually stored in the academy.

“This bow weighs one stone. You should try if you can pull it. If it’s not suitable for you, I’ll have someone find you another one later.”

The small bow that Wei Shu had given Mu Er Pang in his own academy was completely inadequate for him now. But because the courtyard was small, there was no need to change it.

Mu Er Pang nodded as he tried to pull the bow and set the arrow.

Seeing that he could pull it by himself and his movements were very standard and standardized, Wei Shu also said something, reminding him, “If you come here by yourself in the future, be careful. You have to wait until everyone has stopped shooting and notify everyone before you can go pick up your arrow. After all, stray arrows can easily injure people. And some people’s arrows here have been sharpened. Look how far apart these two targets are. If you walk around aimlessly towards the target, people on this side may not notice!”

Mu Er Pang chuckled and said, “Brother Wei, why do you still see me as a child? Do I look so silly that I don’t know this is the archery range and should be careful?”

As he spoke, he let go of the bowstring, and the arrow shot out with a ‘swoosh.’

Although it was a new bow and a new venue, Mu Er Pang was not familiar with it, so this arrow did not hit the bullseye, but after all, he had been practicing for several years, so the arrow did not miss the target.

Wei Shu pinched his face and smiled, “I think you were even cuter when you were smaller before. Now, sometimes you seem even more mature than me.”

As the two were chatting and laughing, they suddenly heard someone shout, “Who’s there?! Are you looking to die?! Get away!”

They immediately stopped smiling and looked over.

Sure enough, someone was walking towards the target, while the others in front of the targets had not stopped shooting yet!

Walking around like this could be deadly!

Wei Shu hurried over to notify the others who were pulling the bows and shooting arrows.

Others only noticed the person near the target when Wei Shu pointed it out, and they were all shocked and broke out in a cold sweat.

But fortunately, they noticed in time, and everyone stopped shooting, so nothing really happened!

With this interruption, everyone was still frightened, and seeing that the lunch break was almost over, they all stopped thinking about practicing archery and put away their things to go to the classroom.

On the way back to the classroom, Mu Er Pang didn’t say much, so Wei Shu said gently, “Did it scare you? See, I didn’t scare you, but there are really people who are so reckless. But don’t worry too much. I’ve been in the academy for so long, and this is the first time I’ve seen someone so reckless.”

Mu Er Pang shook his head and said, “I wasn’t scared. I just felt that person’s figure was familiar. It seems like… Shen Ao Shuang.”

Mu Er Pang’s memory was now extremely good, better than Wei Xiu’s, but slightly worse than the photographic memory of Mei Ruochu.

When he said he felt like the person was Shen Ao Shuang, Wei Shu knew that the person was indeed Shen Ao Shuang!

“This person, skipping classes and walking around the archery range. No wonder your classmates have complaints about him. He was in the same county and academy exams as you…”

Mu Er Pang nodded, “Two exams in the same venue, it must be fate. Although he ignored me when we met, probably because I outperformed him in both exams, I don’t care if he gives me a good face or not. When I see him later, I’ll have to warn him a few words, teach him that he can’t wander around there. Stray arrows won’t care about his pride and talent, and they could really cost lives!”

As Mu Er Pang said this, he entered the classroom and returned to his seat.

As a result, he never had the chance to warn Shen Ao Shuang, because he didn’t show up in the afternoon either.

Mu Er Pang didn’t expect this. After all, they saw him at the archery range. He clearly came, but didn’t go to the classroom for class… What’s going on?

The professor had noticed him and even called on him during the afternoon class, knowing he hadn’t come again, which really made him furious!

If it weren’t for the fact that this academy was an official one and the professor’s power wasn’t very great, it’s very likely that just because of today’s incident, the professor would have wanted him to drop out!

Before the sun set, Shen Cui felt that the weather wasn’t as hot, so she left the house and came near the academy.

After all, it was her son’s first day of school, and as a mother, she wanted to come and pick him up.

She came early, and even bought a bag of fruits, planning to wait outside for about twenty minutes. As a result, as soon as she arrived, she saw a young scholar coming out of the academy.

The two met head-on, and Shen Cui couldn’t help but ask him, “Is school over so early today?”

The young man seemed preoccupied and only realized at this moment that Shen Cui was trying to chat with him.

His face blushed when asked, and he stammered, “Um… School, school probably hasn’t ended yet. I’m not very sure either.”