Chapter 10: Discovering the Reason for Skipping School

“I know the way, Village Chief. I’ll take you there.” Liu Dazhu, having just received his wages, was full of energy like a rooster injected with adrenaline.

Everyone thought to themselves: Liu Dazhu really does know the town inside out.

Da Ya asked the village chief, “Village Chief, are you planning to study at the academy?”

Xiaojiu tucked the money into her pouch and replied, “No, I’ve never been to an academy before. I just want to see what it looks like.”

A’dou touched his own 100 wen with envy and said, “I want to go too. My dad says if you study and pass the exams, you can become an official and won’t have to be a farmer your whole life. But he also says we don’t have enough money to afford school.”

Da Ya looked envious too. Their village was so poor that even boys couldn’t afford to study—let alone girls.

Zhao Hu clenched his fists and flexed his non-existent biceps, saying, “I don’t want to study. I’m going to learn martial arts and become the greatest hero in the world!”

A’dou rolled his eyes. “Not possible. The Village Chief is the strongest.”

Zhao Hu still sounded confident: “Then I’ll be the second strongest hero in the world.”

“I’m not going,” Wang Zhengyi, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up, flatly rejecting the idea.

It was clear that he was very resistant to the idea of going to school. But when Xiaojiu asked the system if his refusal to study completed the task, there was no notification—meaning he didn’t actually hate studying.

So why?

If it were a fight, Xiaojiu would’ve charged in first without hesitation. But using her brain? Forgive her—her zombie brain had been on standby for a long time.

Just as the group was about to ask Wang Zhengyi why he didn’t want to go to school, a few boys aged about twelve or thirteen approached from the opposite direction.

One of them, dressed in a blue silk robe, sneered, “Well, well, if it isn’t that bumpkin from the countryside. What, done hauling cargo at the docks? Now you’re selling candy on the street?”

A boy in a black silk robe added mockingly, “Born to be a peasant, reeking of dirt and sweat, and still dares to come to a place of learning like this? Sharing a classroom with us? What bad luck!”

Another boy looked them up and down with disdain. “Look at those shabby clothes. You’re dirtying the academy with your presence.”

…

Their faces were filled with contempt and disdain, their eyes full of ridicule, their tone dripping with cruelty and sarcasm.

Xiaojiu and the others turned red with anger. Xiaojiu had always thought ancient scholars would be humble, courteous, and refined.

But these guys were no different from the gossiping aunties in the neighboring village.

“Do all scholars talk like this?” Xiaojiu asked Wang Zhengyi, confused.

Wang Zhengyi, at this point, just wanted to go back to the village—he didn’t want to stay here a second longer.

The boys heard what Xiaojiu said, too.

They sneered and said, “You’re this peasant’s little siblings? No wonder you all look so pathetic. Is this your first time in town? A bunch of clueless country bumpkins.”

Several people burst into exaggerated laughter.

Da Ya and the others had always thought scholars were superior, so they immediately felt at a loss, clutching the hems of their clothes tightly, heads bowed, their faces flushed red.

But who was Xiaojiu? She immediately put her hands on her hips and shot back, “What’s wrong with being from the countryside? Did we eat your rice? Why do you care? Didn’t your teacher ever teach you to respect the elderly and care for the young?”

Zhao Hu chimed in as well, “Exactly! If you’re so good at studying, then why don’t you go win the top spot in the imperial exam!”

The few young men were surprised that these country bumpkins dared to talk back. “Do you know who we are? Wang Zhengyi, do you still want to return to the academy?”

But Wang Zhengyi had already made up his mind not to go back, and he had nothing to fear now.

“I’m not going back to the academy. I used to think studying would make people wiser, but after seeing people like you, forget it. I’d rather be a farmer — at least farmers know how to behave properly and have some manners.”

“Fine, fine, very well. We’re leaving.” The few boys saw that the surrounding onlookers had started pointing fingers and whispering about them, so they quickly decided to withdraw.

Xiaojiu asked Wang Zhengyi, “Are all the students at your academy like that?”

Wang Zhengyi replied, “More or less. They look up to the rich and step on the poor. Someone like me, a peasant, is just their punching bag at the academy. I don’t want to become someone like them, so I won’t go back.”

Everyone fell silent, especially A Dou. He had always envied Wang Zhengyi for being able to study in town, but now he felt that staying in the village, teasing cats and playing with dogs, wasn’t so bad after all.

It was getting late, so they decided to head back to the village and return to town later once Aunt Liu finished sewing the pouches.

Once they were seated in the ox cart, Xiaojiu asked the system, “Did I complete the task?”

‘Congratulations, Host. Task completed. Reward: 50 points + one lucky draw.’

“System, I want to open a school in the village so A Dou, Wang Zhengyi, Da Ya, and Zhao Hu can all study right here in their own village. That way, they won’t get bullied by outsiders.”

Although Xiaojiu wasn’t fond of studying herself, she knew that reading could expand one’s knowledge and broaden one’s horizons. She didn’t want the village children to be stuck in their small mountain village for life. She hoped that when they grew up, they could do what they truly wanted and see the vast world. As the saying goes, Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles.

‘Congratulations, Host. You’ve taken another step toward becoming a qualified village chief.’
The system was quite pleased — the host needed to see more of the world. Only then could her vision go beyond the tiny confines of Taoyuan Village.

‘Would you like to spin the prize wheel now, Host?’

“Spin it,” Xiaojiu said.

A few seconds later, the screen showed that the draw had ended. The prize: one detoxification pill.

Xiaojiu found the system’s prizes increasingly strange.