Chapter 62

After representatives from various academies explained the situation to those who were unaware, it was like pouring water into a hot pan—it exploded instantly.

To put it bluntly, even if those academy elders and scholars harbored grievances, they were reluctant to speak out due to etiquette and status.

But the young scholars were full of youthful vigor, daring to speak their minds. Some of the scholars who hadn’t participated in the event were also discontented.

Everyone had followed the rules for the past three years of hard work, yet Cuiwei Academy somehow found a mathematical genius. Just with that one exceptional performance, they were breaking the rules?

Although it was indeed within the rights of judgment, ‘Zhang Sheng’ not only had one disability, but even so, he had caught the attention of the old Headmaster . What did that mean? Were the rest of them normal people unable to match him?

If this matter were brought before the old Headmaster, he would naturally say that ‘Zhang Sheng’ alone could solve that particular problem, and what did disability have to do with it? Others simply couldn’t compare.

However, they didn’t have the guts to bring it up openly. The discussions continued fervently below, with pointing and whispering.

Today’s news was only circulating within the venue, but once the representatives returned to their respective academies and the news spread further, if someone deliberately exaggerated it, who knew how it would be distorted?

The old headmaster was of advanced age, belonging to the same generation as Master Luo Buyu and Master Ling Qingming. When their masters were still around, they had a close relationship with the old headmaster. Although he had no ulterior motives this time, Luo Buyu couldn’t bear the thought of him being criticized and blamed for their own sake.

Luo Buyu pondered for a while before motioning for Shen Cui to come over.

Shen Cui approached and heard him say with some difficulty, “I know the old master favors you greatly. For you, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain fame. But for him… public opinion is formidable.”

Luo Buyu hesitated, feeling reluctant. After all, with Zhang Sheng’s talent, if he could be appreciated by someone like the old mountain elder and affiliated with a good academy, he could definitely breeze through the subsequent competitions without being subjected to the current criticisms.

Shen Cui understood his meaning. Luo Buyu wanted to voluntarily withdraw from the upcoming competition, but he couldn’t bear the thought of ‘him’ being overlooked. It was a dilemma.

Originally, ‘he’ hadn’t come to seek fame. The fact that the old headmaster had ensured Cuiwei’s passage through the retest and received the system reward was already an unexpected joy.

Moreover, everyone in their academy was aware of their level. There was no chance of winning in the next round of competition.

There was simply no need to consume the good reputation that the old master had accumulated throughout his life for a competition they were destined to lose.

Moreover, becoming famous would bring no benefit to ‘him’, only harm.

‘He’ nodded repeatedly, indicating his agreement.

Luo Buyu then took ‘him’ to express their intentions to the judges—they were grateful for the old headmaster’s favor, but their academy had only recently been established and lacked a solid foundation. Making it to the current stage of the competition was already very fortunate for them. Therefore, they decided to voluntarily withdraw from the upcoming competition.

If they withdrew, the fact that the old headmaster ensured Cuiwei’s passage through the retest would only be seen as a minor incident, and it wouldn’t affect the subsequent competitions. The attention of everyone would then shift to the semifinals and finals, and the matter would be resolved peacefully.

“Have you thought it through?” The old headmaster didn’t look at Luo Buyu but turned to Shen Cui. “In the preliminary and retest stages, with many participating scholars, individual talent may not stand out. But in the later stages, if you can advance to the finals, or even excel in the ‘mathematics’ round, your future prospects will be completely different from now.”

The young man before him wore a half-worn robe and only had a wooden hairpin on his head. It was evident that he was not well-off.

If he could make a name for himself this time and achieve a good result in the academy competition, finding a decent job would be effortless.

If they stopped now, at most, in a few months, no one would remember him.

Opportunities like this were fleeting. The next academy competition would have to wait three years. In three years, many things could happen. If another mathematical genius emerged later, he would have no chance.

Even if the old mountain elder admired him, his advanced age meant it was uncertain if he would be a judge in the competition three years later. Besides, others probably wouldn’t give him such an opportunity just because of his outstanding mathematical talent.

Shen Cui nodded earnestly and bowed to the old headmaster again, thanking him for his kindness.

Seeing ‘his’ attitude so open and without any trace of reluctance or resentment, the old headmaster’s appreciation for ‘him’ increased a bit more.

The old headmaster actually wanted ‘him’ to return with him to Hongle Academy, but it wasn’t feasible at the moment. If he did so, it would appear as if he were favoring the young man for personal reasons. Although the old headmaster wasn’t afraid of others’ opinions at his age, he didn’t want them to misunderstand the sincere and pure-hearted young man as a scheming flatterer.

He handed Shen Cui a stack of envelopes made by Hongle Academy. “Take this. If you encounter any difficulties or have any academic problems, feel free to write to me… And you need to practice your calligraphy.”

Shen Cui respectfully accepted it and nodded earnestly again.

After speaking with him, the old headmaster turned to Luo Buyu and chuckled, “Why are you so timid? Come over and talk.”

Luo Buyu and Ling Qingming were senior brothers in the same academy. The old headmaster used to address Ling Qingming as ‘Brother Ling’. Now, addressing Luo Buyu like this made his preference clear.

“Back when your master was still around, you were the one I worried about the most. I actually wanted to have a private chat with you when I came this time. But judging from the overall performance of Cuiwei Academy today, your master did a good job.”

Luo Buyu quickly said, “I dare not take credit. The majority of the credit belongs to our Headmaster. This ‘Zhang Sheng’ was also casually discovered by our headmaster, who then recognized ‘his’ talent and decided to give ‘him’ an opportunity.”

This time, having a female headmaster in the academy competition was considered quite rare and interesting by many.

The old headmaster also knew about this. Although he didn’t interact with Shen Cui directly, he felt a bit curious about her.

At his age, he didn’t need to worry about male-female interactions. He had someone fetch a stack of envelopes for Luo Buyu, asking him to pass them to Shen Cui. He mentioned that the two academies could regularly communicate and exchange educational experiences.

This was a common practice in academy competitions. Academies that appreciated each other would leave their own envelopes as tokens, allowing for communication and exchange of ideas, becoming a beautiful story among literati.

Cuiwei Academy hadn’t prepared for this, but their rules were few, and their people were simple. They could directly write letters without worrying about them being intercepted by others in the academy. Skipping the step of exchanging envelopes wasn’t a big deal.

With the matter resolved, the judges wanted to discuss the details of the next round of the competition. Now, Cuiwei Academy was truly out of the woods.

Luo Buyu and Shen Cui bid farewell and returned to their respective viewing platforms.

Lunch had been delivered after the last small-scale competition, but no one had touched it, waiting to hear the news.

After Luo Buyu explained the situation, Wei Xi and Mu Er Pang didn’t feel resentful about withdrawing from the competition. They knew they weren’t as skilled as the others.

However, everyone felt regretful for ‘Zhang Sheng’. After all, they hadn’t come seeking good grades or fame. But ‘Zhang Sheng’ had traveled a long way and endured many hardships on the road. The opportunity to showcase ‘his’ talents was right in front of ‘him’, yet ‘he’ chose to give up.

Shen Cui dipped his hand in water and wrote a poem on the table: “When the strong wind blows, there will be times to break the waves, and we will set sail straight to the sea.”

At this moment, when ‘he’ could write such a poem, no one doubted that ‘he’ was feigning indifference.

“What a good kid!” Luo Buyu praised as he patted ‘him’ on the back vigorously.

Shen Cui originally thought she looked pretty handsome, but when he patted her like that, she almost slumped onto the table. The “Eryong Dan” changed her appearance, but it didn’t completely reshape her body; fundamentally, she still had the fragile body of a woman.

Mrs. Zhou had already reheated the food and placed it back on the table.

Considering that when she got back home, her own chubby son would definitely want her to eat, Shen Cui only ate one steamed bun.

After finishing lunch, without giving Laobuyu any chance to persuade her to stay longer, Shen Cui made excuses that she had other matters to attend to, bowed, and took her leave in a hurry.

Mu Er Pang and Wei Xi both had a desire to make friends with Shen Cui. Seeing her leave right after the comparison, they looked at “him” reluctantly.

It was Lao Buyu who whispered to them, “By giving up such a good opportunity today, even if ‘he’ has a broad mind, his emotions must have been affected… ‘He’ ate less than the day before. If ‘he’ doesn’t want to show it in front of us, let’s not force it and let ‘him’ be alone.”

The two children nodded and bid farewell to “him”.

Shen Cui slowly walked out of the competition venue. At this point, others were also gossiping about “him” to some extent, but knowing that “he” had withdrawn on his own, they showed some self-awareness and didn’t resent “him” as much.

When she reached outside, Shen Cui quickly found a secluded place to change back.

Lao Buyu and the others were about to return to the village. Lao Buyu mentioned that Wei Xi seemed exhausted today and didn’t look too good, so they should hire a carriage to go back.

Shen Cui had rushed out in the morning without bringing any money. It would definitely be slower to walk back with just two feet. Moreover, hiring a carriage would attract too much attention.

So, instead of returning to the village, Shen Cui retraced her steps, pretending she couldn’t relax until she came to see the competition.

Soon, the group met outside the exam venue. Lao Buyu felt inexplicably guilty when she saw her— She acted freely without regard for trifles, there was nothing she wouldn’t dare to think or do, very ambitious. Giving up such a good opportunity, she must be somewhat unhappy.

Shen Cui was indeed not in a good mood, but it wasn’t because of this thing she had known about for a long time, it was because she was tired!

Playing two roles for two days in a row, she was exhausted.

But she couldn’t show this exhaustion in front of others. She had to force herself to be spirited, put on a smile, and praise Lao Buyu’s decision!

Afterward, they hired a carriage back to the village. Lao Buyu took the two children back to the academy, and Mrs. Zhou was sent by Shen Cui to clean off the dust at the academy.

When everyone had left, Shen Cui looked around, confirmed there was no one, lifted her skirt, and started to climb the wall— the gates were already locked when she came out!

After she climbed over the wall and into the main house through the window, she unlocked both the gate and the house door from the inside. With that, the grand competition at the academy came to an end.

And Shen Cui collapsed tiredly on the kang, finally having the opportunity to carefully examine the two rewards given by the system.