Chapter 54
The academy was united, and on that day, Lao Buyu began special training with the two children.

Earlier, Shen Cui had made a schedule for them, similar to modern schools, with classes every three-quarters of an hour and a fifteen-minute break between each class.

Now, since they needed special training, they had to temporarily change their strategy.

Morning reading, calligraphy practice, and evening lectures remained unchanged, following the original plan. However, they had to make use of all the time for morning exercises and breaks between classes.

Mu Er Pang practiced throwing pots. Arrows and pots were sold in the market, with only a small improvement that could make people more focused during practice. Shen Cui directly bought a set for him using shopping points.

Lao Buyu was right; he did have some talent in this area. His grip was strong, and just like when practicing calligraphy, he could eliminate all distractions and focus only on this one thing.

With the assistance of the system’s goods, he reached a state of forgetfulness during practice.

Of course, the accuracy of throwing pots still depended on him. It was not something that could be learned in a day or two. They started with the pot closer, and when he gradually mastered some techniques, they would move the pot farther away.

In the evening, when Lao Buyu lectured to Mu Er Pang, Wei Xi went back to his bedroom to practice the piano.

The soundproofing of the academy was poor, so even though the bedroom and the hall were not adjacent, Wei Xi still closed all the doors and windows, but some sound still leaked through.

Fortunately, Wei Xi was not someone who boasted. His piano skills were indeed not bad. Vaguely hearing his music was not torture but rather enjoyable, and it did not affect Lao Buyu’s lectures to Mu Er Pang.

The “music” category not only referred to music but also included six sets of dance music: “Yunmen Da Juan,” “Xianchi,” “Dashao,” “Daxia,” “Dahuo,” and “Dawu.”

However, those who understood music theory would have some knowledge of these dances. Wei Xi had to practice them himself, with occasional guidance from Lao Buyu.

Although the emphasis was on “music” and “archery,” they could not completely ignore the other subjects. So they also had to specially train in “calligraphy,” which was not something that could be rushed.

For someone like Wei Xi, who started learning at the age of four and had been practicing until now, he only had his own style and demeanor, far from being talked about.

Shen Cui spent more shopping points to buy a set of the system’s special copybooks.

The copybooks looked no different from those of this era, but they had a hidden effect: there was a certain chance that the user would be inspired to create their own style.

Like other products from the system, they only provided auxiliary effects, and it depended on Mu Er Pang and Wei Xi to make use of them.

As for “ritual,” it included the five types of rites: auspicious rites, funeral rites, military rites, guest rites, and festive rites.

Shen Cui really had no idea what it was about, and there were no auxiliary products found in the system. She could only let Lao Buyu teach them.

Finally, Shen Cui took the responsibility for “mathematics.”

As Lao Buyu expected, it was not easy to find someone who was proficient in mathematics and willing to affiliate with Cuiwei Academy. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Unless they were willing to spend a lot of money, like some modern sports teams that spend heavily to hire players from other countries to strengthen their team.

Moreover, after Wei Shu visited and learned that Cuiwei was also participating in the academy’s major competition, he advised Mu Er Pang and provided some information he had heard from outside—

Qingzhu Academy definitely didn’t need to find someone else to affiliate with to make up the numbers. But another academy in the county was doing just that, offering very attractive conditions. As long as they could satisfy the head of that academy and participate in the competition, regardless of the results, they would receive a subsidy of twenty taels of silver and free enrollment, including all tuition and living expenses.

That academy was just a small one, and they were already offering such good conditions. Cuiwei, which was far inferior in all aspects, would at least have to offer double the price.

The registration fee was already ten taels, and Shen Cui only had about ten taels left. She simply couldn’t afford that price.

So after Wei Shu mentioned this, he hesitated for a moment and said, “If Mrs. Mu is short of money, our Wei family can…”

Although it sounded like a fantasy for the makeshift team of Cuiwei Academy to participate in the competition, it was very unreliable. It was unclear who came up with this idea.

But since they had decided to participate, Wei Shu didn’t want them to lose too badly.

Even if it was just to make Wei Xi feel better, he wouldn’t hesitate to spend money.

But Shen Cui didn’t ask for his money. She just said, “Thank you for your kindness. I have an idea about this.”

She looked calm and composed, not at all anxious or impatient, so Wei Shu didn’t say anything more.

Later, after Wei Shu left, Shen Cui opened the system’s store and found something she had been looking at all night without sleep—the “Transformation Pill.”

The effect of this item is just as its name suggests; it can change a person’s appearance, including their gender, height, and weight.

Because this effect is not considered an enhancement, not only the cultivation targets can use it, but also other people within the academy system.

Shen Cui had actually studied the rules and some precautions for the academy’s major competition in the sleepless night before. Before Lao Buyu explained the content of the competition to the children, Shen Cui already had a good idea of the competition items.

Ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics—except for mathematics, which was basically the same as in later generations, as a modern person, Shen Cui had learned this from her predecessors.

The rules stated that everyone in the academy could participate, not just students.

So as the head of the academy, Shen Cui could directly participate, at most losing a bit of face—instead of enhancing the reputation of the academy, it would be making a mockery of it if the head of the academy competed with half-grown children.

But Shen Cui was not concerned about saving face; she wanted practical benefits!

However, the original body was a farmer’s wife from a peasant background. It was understandable that she had changed her temperament or became a bit more literate under the influence of the academy. But it was unbelievable for her to suddenly become better at math than Lao Buyu, even though she was illiterate!

She didn’t discover this on her own!

Not to mention participating herself, even just teaching her two children would make Shen Cui worry about exposing her identity.

At that time, she was hesitating, and the system recommended this item to her.

Although this item was not considered an enhancement, it was not cheap. It could only be used once to change one’s appearance for 12 hours. It could be temporarily changed back midway, but the time reverted would still be counted in the effectiveness time. It was a disposable item, priced at 500 points.

But thinking of the system’s extremely tempting rewards, Shen Cui gritted her teeth and put it in the shopping cart.

The other day, she was still puzzled. The system had changed its approach and even cared whether she took the reward. The previous system had always only required her to complete the task, regardless of how she completed it.

It turned out that the system was waiting for her here, buying arrows and pots, buying copybooks, and even buying transformation props… Shen Cui had almost spent all her savings during this time.

And just buying these was not enough; she also needed to buy some teaching materials and online courses.

Although she was a graduate of a respectable university in her previous life, she was not young anymore. After leaving school for seven or eight years, she had returned all the school materials to the teachers. Now, her math level was at most above average.
Many things needed to be reviewed again. Without a fierce effort, Shen Cui couldn’t guarantee a win.

Of course, there was also the fact that the methods of question setting in ancient times were completely different from modern times.

For example, there was a paragraph in the “Su Mi Chapter” of “Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art” that went like this: “Regarding Su Mi: Su rates at fifty, li at thirty, yan at twenty-seven… Now there is one dou of Su Mi, and one wishes to exchange it for li Mi. How many are obtained?”

The information stated that the questions in the initial exam were simple and straightforward, so it wasn’t just about accuracy, but also about the speed of answering.

Presenting a modern person with such a question, they would have to translate it in their mind, which naturally put them at a disadvantage in terms of speed.

Therefore, they also needed to brush up on their classical Chinese foundation and study books like “Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art” from scratch.

So, while Lao Buyu and the children were training, Shen Cui, although she appeared to be the same as usual, was actually starting her mathematics and classical Chinese review in her mind while sitting under the coolness of the academy.

Suddenly, it was already midsummer, and in June, the weather got hotter day by day.

The system’s store recommended a new item for Shen Cui to cool off—the “Special Ice Mirror.” Its effect was very practical; the ice cubes placed inside could melt very slowly and had a cooling effect similar to air conditioning, reducing the indoor temperature by about two or three degrees.

With the major competition approaching, the overheated weather would definitely affect people’s learning efficiency.

Moreover, she had spent so many shopping points earlier; there was no need to save money on such a necessary item. Shen Cui’s purse was emptied once again by the system.

In late July, Wei Shu came to Shuiyun Village again.

Before, he used to come during the mid-term break, but recently, the hot weather made the back and forth journey too tiring, so he changed it to once a month.

He came not only to see Wei Xie but also to share good news. Mu Yunchuan had passed the academy exam and achieved the top honors, becoming a legitimate scholar!

Mrs. Zhou was overjoyed, standing still for a long time not knowing how to react.

As for Shen Cui and Lao Buyu, their reactions were more restrained.

At this point, Wei Xi would not unconditionally stand by Mu Yunchuan’s side. He felt that their reaction was too flat, and he was indignant.

After all, he had seen how hard everyone had worked during this time. Lao Buyu, Wei Xi, and even Mu Er Pang had all lost weight.

Even Shen Cui, as an “outsider,” had also slimmed down a lot, as if she was also deeply concerned about the academy’s major competition.

The news quickly spread back to the village, and guests came one after another to share the joy.

Afraid of delaying the special training, Shen Cui did not divert her attention to entertain guests, leaving Mrs. Zhou in charge of socializing.

Now that Mrs. Zhou was a legitimate scholar’s wife, no one would think it was impolite for her to entertain guests.

Suddenly, it was already the Mid-Autumn Festival in mid-August, and the date of the major competition was approaching.