Chapter 44

After the morning exercises, Lao Buyu and Mu Er Pang went to wash up.

Shen Cui and Zhou Shi were responsible for preparing the meal, which was a simple breakfast of porridge and side dishes. It was still not considered good, but it was just right for the morning.

Although there was a little disagreement with Wei Shu last night, Shen Cui still invited him to have breakfast before leaving.

Wei Shu was already sitting at the table, but when Wei Xi came over, he didn’t sit next to him. Instead, he sat next to Shen Cui.

Wei Shu looked over unhappily, but Wei Xi ignored him, holding his bowl of porridge and drinking it by himself.

The two brothers had just quarreled the night before, but such verbal disputes often occurred in the past, and the two brothers never held grudges overnight.

Today, Wei Xi’s behavior… Wei Shu probably guessed that he had heard his conversation with Shen Cui last night and was expressing his displeasure through his actions.

So he lost his appetite and said he would come back to see him next month. After saying this, he left the living expenses for Wei Xi and left.

When Wei Shu returned to the academy, it was already bright outside. At that time, everyone at Qingzhu Academy was in high spirits—representative students like Mu Yunchuan had all passed the county exam!

Although it was only the first round, passing the preliminary exam, for all the students it was still a good omen.

Several classmates who had a normal relationship with Mu Yunchuan before that were preparing for next year’s exam arrived outside his study room to seek advice.

Mu Yunchuan remained modest, saying, “The county exam is just a test of the Four Books, Five Classics, with questions on annotations, meanings, and poetry composition. You all have studied these for a long time, and your level is not below mine, so there is nothing special about it.”

“Brother Yunchuan is too modest. How can our meager knowledge compare to yours?”

“That’s right. What may seem ordinary to Brother Yunchuan could be valuable experience for us.”

After thinking for a while, Mu Yunchuan still felt there was nothing more to say and said, “The county exam is superficial, mostly based on the literal meaning of the books. If you understand those, you can pass.”

After asking questions for a while without getting the desired result, they laughed and exchanged pleasantries before dispersing.

Wei Shu had intended to complain to Mu Yunchuan about his brother’s unusual behavior, but then he thought that Mu Yunchuan was now focused on the upcoming provincial and imperial exams.

Since he had also been busy with social engagements for a while, it was not necessary to disturb him over such a trivial matter.

Wei Shu walked around the entrance of the study room and headed to the academy’s kitchen. He hadn’t been able to eat anything at Mu’s house yesterday, skipped breakfast, and now he was starving.

He arrived at an awkward time, as the time for breakfast was almost over but it was not yet time for lunch. The headmaster disliked lazy and unruly students, so even though it was a rest day, the students still followed their usual schedule, having breakfast early and starting to study. There were also not many people in the kitchen.

Not far from the kitchen, Wei Shu smelled the aroma of food. He used to think that the academy’s food was not good, but compared to last night’s meal, the aroma was now simply irresistible!

It was only his silly brother who could enjoy a pot of soup like that.

Thinking about it with a mix of anger and amusement, Wei Shu unconsciously lightened his steps.

As luck would have it, the students who had been chatting with Mu Yunchuan had also delayed their breakfast time and were the first to enter and receive their food.

After the cook left, one of them sneered, “The county exam is superficial. Your level is not below mine, so you can all pass…”

He was actually mimicking Mu Yunchuan’s tone from earlier!

Wei Shu stopped in the outer room, just one door away, and listened.

Top of Form

The others laughed along as the person mimicked Mu Yunchuan’s tone.

After finishing, he scornfully exclaimed, “What a joke! Passing a county exam and thinking you’re somebody.”

Immediately, someone chimed in, “Exactly! Just because he did well in the exam, he gets all conceited?”

Another person expressed regret without speaking ill, “I really wanted to seek advice. Everyone knows the county exam is not difficult for us. The real challenge is to stand out and be the top scorer! If he had been willing to share a few words, even the simplest insights would have been beneficial to us. I just didn’t expect Mu Yunchuan to refuse to say a word.”

“Han, don’t take it to heart. That’s just how he is. He may seem noble and upright, but he is actually indifferent to everyone. Not to mention us, even if Wei Shu were to ask, it would be the same.”

“Really? Wei Shu’s relationship with him is well-known. Saying they’re as close as brothers is not an exaggeration. Can he be treated the same as us?”

“Isn’t it just being ‘as close as brothers’? I’m afraid that if Mu Yunchuan frowns a bit or finds it difficult, Wei Shu wouldn’t dare to ask and would even feel like he’s being too nosy and apologize!”

With that, everyone laughed again, as if they had thought of something extremely funny.

Wei Shu’s face turned ashen with anger, but eavesdropping on others’ conversations was not the behavior of a gentleman. Even if he accidentally overheard others talking, he should have walked away immediately. If he were to cause a disturbance, he himself wouldn’t mind, but he was afraid it would bring trouble to Mu Yunchuan.

After taking a few deep breaths, Wei Shu turned and left the kitchen.

He was furious and felt unjust, but he didn’t want his roommates to notice. Instead of returning to the study room, he found a place to sit.

Somehow, he thought of what he had seen and heard at Cuiwei Academy the day before.

He thought of Shen Cui hiding under the tree with Wei Xi, of Mu Er Pang joking with Wei Xi, and of Mu Er Pang quietly watching over Wei Xi, afraid that he would wake up with a headache…

The night before, when he asked Shen Cui how she dared to compare herself to the headmaster, he was actually saying that a grassroots troupe like theirs dared not compare themselves to Qingzhu Academy.

But Shen Cui remained open-minded and asked him back, why couldn’t they compare themselves to the academy?

Now it seemed that in terms of atmosphere, Qingzhu Academy was slightly inferior.

Of course, Wei Shu didn’t suddenly think that the grassroots troupe was better than Qingzhu Academy. After all, Cuiwei Academy had a simple population, while Qingzhu had a large scale, with dozens or even hundreds of students from all over the place, making it unpredictable, and naturally there would be more right and wrongs.

Perhaps it was right for Wei Xi not to come here. He was sensitive and stubborn. If he encountered such ugliness, he would certainly not complain to his brother, but silently endure it. Who knows what he would become.

Wei Shu was overwhelmed with emotion for a moment, his mind in chaos. Without realizing it, he had already sat outside until lunchtime.

Although Mu Yunchuan was diligent in his studies, he still needed to eat. On his way to the kitchen, he saw Wei Shu and approached him, asking why he was sitting here alone.

Wei Shu snapped out of his jumbled thoughts and smiled, “It’s nothing. I didn’t sleep well in the village yesterday, and I feel a bit uncomfortable today. I’m just sitting here to get some fresh air.”

He looked like he had something on his mind, but since he didn’t say anything, Mu Yunchuan didn’t ask further. He smiled gently and nodded slightly, asking how Wei Xi was doing in the village.

If this question had been asked earlier, Wei Shu would have inevitably complained about his brother being as clueless as if he had been drugged, just enjoying himself in such harsh conditions!

But now, after what had just happened, Wei Shu hesitated and said vaguely, “I think he’s quite happy there. Lao Buyu and your brother are treating him well. As for your stepmother… she won’t mistreat him for the sake of money.”

Mu Yunchuan nodded again, naturally. Before, only Zhou Shi helped her watch over the family’s situation. Now that Wei Xi was there, the Wei family wouldn’t sit idly by, so it could be considered a form of supervision over Shen Cui.

They walked to the kitchen together, and the other classmates, upon seeing Mu Yunchuan, once again congratulated him or jokingly called him “Mu, the top scorer.”

Mu Yunchuan’s attitude remained unchanged, neither arrogant nor humble, responding modestly and cautiously.

Wei Shu wanted to say something several times, but each time the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back.

After the meal, they went back together.

Wei Shu somehow thought of the motto of Cuiwei Academy.

When he left in the morning, he saw the vigorous calligraphy of Lao Buyu hanging in the hall.

He deliberately took a few more glances. It wasn’t that Lao Buyu’s calligraphy was exceptionally good or unique, but rather the words were quite amusing. They were not in scroll form, but several sheets of paper pieced together and pasted on the wall.

The motto of an academy posted in this way seemed somewhat shabby.

But in any case, that sentence had indeed stuck in his mind.

After hesitating for a while, Wei Shu finally opened up and asked, “Speaking of which, I received a letter from home asking when I would be ready for the next step. I think I won’t be in the same year as you, so at most, another year or two, and I should be ready. You will graduate before me, so I thought about learning from you.”

Mu Yunchuan, meticulous as ever, had long noticed that Wei Shu was absent-minded during the meal, wanting to say something but holding back.

This was what he wanted to ask about.

Mu Yunchuan pondered for a moment and said, “The county exam is based on the Four Books and Five Classics, and it’s all about memorizing and reciting. You and I have been classmates for many years, and I know that your knowledge is not inferior to mine, so there should be no problem.”

It was almost identical to his response to others earlier!

Wei Shu felt bitter and a strange chill in his heart.

“I see… that’s how it is.” He lowered his eyes and smiled faintly.

…

At the end of February, Shen Cui received a very unusual daily task from the academy.

It wasn’t about cooking or sewing, nor was it about leading morning exercises or accompanying study sessions. Instead, it was to organize a monthly exam.

The system had issued a monthly exam task before, stating that there would be one every month.

But at that time, the system provided the questions, and she acted as the intermediary to test Mu Er Pang according to the system’s questions.

This time was different. She was asked to organize it, and she had to come up with the questions herself.

Now that Mu Er Pang had started studying the Four Books, it was already beyond her scope, let alone adding Wei Xi, who was preparing for the exam without any problems.

A single exam paper had to test two people with completely different levels, and it had to accurately measure their true abilities.

This wasn’t testing the two children; it was clearly testing her!