Chapter 46

While the children were taking the exam, Lao Buyu circled around the examination room a few times before going to find Shen Cui in the outer room.

“Madam, where did these test questions come from? Did you really come up with them yourself?” Although Lao Buyu already thought of Shen Cui as an extraordinary woman, no matter how extraordinary she was, it was impossible for her to come up with such meaningful test questions with so little knowledge.

“Where else could they come from? Naturally, I found a way to get them from outside. Master should understand.”

Lao Buyu did understand. Earlier, when he was short of money, he was very skilled in copying books, writing letters, naming things, and setting test questions.

“I think the questions you’ve come up with are quite good. I imagine they must have been quite expensive?” Shen Cui neither confirmed nor denied it.

“I actually came up with the questions myself.” Lao Buyu felt a bit embarrassed. “Although it’s a bit tiring, all the expenses of the academy are covered by the little fat sheep’s living expenses. You also refused my offer to pay.”

“Coming up with test questions is time-consuming and laborious. Master has already taken on the task of educating two students, which is hard enough. Money is just a worldly possession.”

Shen Cui spoke freely, but she still felt a twinge of pain in her heart. If it weren’t for the system forcing her to organize the monthly exams herself, she would have assigned the task to Lao Buyu’s men!

But buying the test question bank was the right way to go. There were many places where it would be useful in the future, and there was also a benefit – just like many standardized tests in later generations would not allow teachers to write the questions, as the thinking of the teacher and the students they taught were synchronous. If you couldn’t break free from this fixed mindset, you couldn’t accurately assess the students’ true level.

The room in the academy didn’t have much soundproofing, and the children were still taking the exam in the hall, so the two didn’t chat much and went about their own business after they finished speaking.

Lao Buyu continued to invigilate the exam, while Shen Cui remained in the sun on the rocking chair in the courtyard.

Before lunch, the three students handed in their papers one after another.

After handing in their papers, Zhou Shi brought over the lunch box.

The lunch box was also bought by Shen Cui from the system store. It was made of ancient wood, with a large capacity, heat insulation, and preservation.

Lunch was still simple. Because the weather had gradually become warmer recently, Zhou Shi made a cold cucumber salad, stir-fried some vegetables, and made a minced meat and tofu dish. It was simple and refreshing, yet appetizing.

The three students had been using their brains all morning and were hungry. Even Wei Shu quickly finished a bowl of rice.

After lunch, Wei Shu asked Shen Cui to speak with him on the side –

He had taken the exam in the morning sitting in Lao Buyu’s seat in the hall, which was closest to the door, so he had also heard some of the conversation between Lao Buyu and Shen Cui.

It was only after hearing those few sentences that Wei Shu’s doubts were dispelled. It turned out that the meaningful test paper was “created” by Shen Cui in this way.

Although he had some disagreements with Shen Cui, Wei Shu did not like to take advantage of others.

Scholars regarded money as a hindrance, and if they got involved with money in their interactions, they would feel that they were no longer noble or elegant.

If the “question setter” was someone else, Wei Shu would definitely have to think carefully about how to repay the other party’s kindness.

Top of Form

But he recently didn’t have much mood, and felt that it was not necessary to face Shen Cui. Wei Shu directly took out a five-liang silver ingot and placed it in front of Shen Cui.

“Thank you for inviting me to participate in the small exam. I have no valuable items, so I can only offer a little money for ink and paper.”

Before Shen Cui could respond, the system immediately popped up a warning in Shen Cui’s mind and spoke, “[Host, how can you exchange system-produced items for money? This is strictly prohibited! If the host forcibly engages in a prohibited behavior by the system, the system has the right to punish the host.”

The so-called punishment was the kind of headache that made Shen Cui feel like her head was about to explode, which she experienced when she tried to reveal the system to Mu Er Pang.

Shen Cui immediately replied, “[When did I exchange the system’s things for money? Did I sell exam questions? Didn’t I say it was for ink and paper? The ink and paper in our house are all bought from legitimate bookstores!”

The system paused and said, “[Although you didn’t sell directly, but… because you provided the output of the system, that’s why Wei Shu gave you money.”

“[Let me explain it to you. The so-called buying and selling is also a transaction. Wei Shu did give me money, but what did I give him? Did I give him the exam paper? He left the exam paper here after answering it. Did I stuff knowledge into his brain? Those so-called exam questions are originally from the Four Books and Five Classics of this plane.

Just doing the questions without teaching him anything, his knowledge is not learned from me. Can friendly exchanges between scholars be called ‘buying and selling’? I don’t believe it. Let me ask Wei Shu if he is trading with me, doing business with me?”

The system was confused by her words and hummed lightly before organizing its language.

Shen Cui continued, “[There’s something I haven’t told you yet. Do you have the copyright for these exam questions? It’s said that the questions are based on the annual scientific examinations of this plane, so they are not the output of your interstellar civilization.

Did you get the consent of the original question setters? Did you share the 500 shopping points I spent with them?”

Those question setters have mostly passed away. How can I share the profits with them?”

“I don’t know about that, but I suspect you’re violating the Copyright Law. Of course, I don’t know if your advanced civilization has this law. Oh, right, you also sold me books before. Are the copyrights of those books okay?”

The system was completely confused by her arguments and hesitated for a while before saying, “Yes, currently, the system’s other outputs are products from the interstellar civilization, but the imperial examination system is special and must use the teaching materials of this plane.

The system charges the host, just like those books before, it’s not selling knowledge itself, but selling the additional benefits given by the system. For example, for the same book, if a student from this plane reads it, they will increase their talent by 1 point. But if they read it from the system, they will gain an additional 2 points. Doesn’t the host know this?”

The more the system talked, the more it felt justified. It paused for a moment and then said confidently, “So, what the question bank sells is not just questions, but a system. After the exam, the system collects the exam papers and provides ‘reference answers’—which simulate the thinking of examiners from past imperial examinations—to mark the papers and help the students grow faster. Those examiners have all passed away and are completely simulated by interstellar technology. They are 100% system-generated, so there is no issue of copyright as the host mentioned.”

“I see!” Shen Cui said, pretending to understand. “This makes even more sense! What you sold me was not just questions, and I only let Wei Shu do the questions. I didn’t provide the system’s marking services, give him reference answers, so what did I sell to him?”

“You… I…”

After waiting for a while and confirming that the system wouldn’t punish her, Shen Cui happily accepted Wei Shu’s money for ink and paper.

Later, Lou Buyu began to review the exam papers. Wei Shu’s mind was in turmoil, and only doing questions or reading could calm his mind for a while, so he immediately went into the main hall.

Shen Cui touched the silver ingot in her sleeve, thinking about how easy it was to earn money!

Of course, there were limitations. After all, the imperial examination system was like crossing a single-log bridge with thousands of troops and horses, fighting for just a few spots.

If other people were allowed to participate in such simulated exams and leaked the questions, it would be tantamount to invisibly reducing their own advantages.

This was why Qingzhu Academy strictly prohibited students from leaking exam questions. Predicting questions had always been a matter of relying on one’s own abilities. If you let others take a bite, you would have to take one less bite yourself!

So, at most, only one temporary examinee like Wei Shu could be added. He was tight-lipped and reliable because of Wei Xi, and could barely be considered half of their own. The only person who could make him confused was Mu Yunchuan.

Mu Yunchuan was going to take the second exam in a month. At this moment, not to mention Wei Shu, even the head of Qingzhu Academy dared not randomly set questions for him.

The system wasn’t stupid enough to allow this. It quickly realized this point and knew that Shen Cui could only make a little profit from this loophole, but wouldn’t use it to amass wealth. So, it became calm again.

“Lou Buyu has started reviewing. Although he has high talent, he is not at the level of the examiners of this plane’s imperial examinations. Does the host not convey the system’s reference answers? Of course, the system will only review the exam papers of two trainees! Since Wei Shu is not within the system’s training, the system will not provide him with this service!”

Shen Cui smiled without saying a word, still lying comfortably on the rocking chair.

In jest, how could she say that she had spent money from outside to get a test paper? Coming up with insights that only an imperial examination examiner would have, that was truly unthinkable!

With the question bank in hand, she would wait for an opportunity to befriend other knowledgeable people and use the information gap to come up with reference answers.

The system remained silent for a while before tentatively asking, “[Host, could it be that you deliberately told Wei Shu that you wrote this exam paper, and then waited for Lou Buyu to ask you, taking the opportunity to tell Wei Shu those words that cost a lot of money? Although Wei Shu and the host are not on good terms, his character is still decent. If he feels he has taken advantage, he will naturally offer some ‘ink and paper expenses’.”

Although it was a probing question, the system used a affirmative tone at the end.

Shen Cui did not deny it.

Wei Shu misunderstood that Lou Buyu wrote the exam paper and wanted to thank Lou Buyu.

Although it was easy to see through, Lou Buyu was quite convinced by Shen Cui. As long as Shen Cui communicated with him, he would definitely help her.

If Wei Shu thought it was Lou Buyu who wrote the paper, although he would have a much better impression of Lou Buyu, he would not think of offering any ink and paper expenses, as it would be an insult to the identity of a scholar. Then, none of the later events would have happened.

“Reading makes a man wise!” Shen Cui said with a smile, “After accompanying my son for so long, I feel like I’ve become a little smarter too. I see you’ve also refreshed your knowledge of Blue Star, so you’re smarter than before!”

The system directly said it was going offline and asked Shen Cui to call it if she needed anything.

“What are you going to do? Without chatting with you in my head, I’m so bored!” Shen Cui said.

The system said in a bad mood, “Go read! Read that ‘Copyright Law’ you mentioned a hundred times!”

Heh, it’s quite sarcastic!