Chapter 76

Before the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Wei Shu and Wei Xi returned to the city.

They first greeted their relatives at home, put down some things, left some people behind, and then Wei Shu accompanied Wei Xi back to the village.

Shen Cui had calculated that they would be back soon, so she had already cleaned the student dormitory where Wei Xi lived a few days ago.

When they returned, Shen Cui immediately added both of them to the academy system.

Wei Shu didn’t need to be mentioned, as he didn’t need her to worry about it.

Because of the continuous travel in recent days, Wei Xi’s physical value had dropped from 67 to 64. However, as long as he didn’t get sick, or carry any hidden illnesses like the previous cough, there was no need to worry, and he would recover after a few days of rest.

She felt somewhat relieved, but then heard Mu Er Pang exclaim, “Why did Junior Brother bring such a large carriage?”

Only then did Shen Cui look carefully.

At the head of the Wei family’s caravan was a normal carriage, but behind it was indeed a very large one, about twice the size of a normal village ox cart! The horses pulling the carriage were also quite big, with three of them!

Wei Xi, eager to return, hurried down ahead of Wei Shu and explained, “It’s a little token from my parents. They specially asked us to bring it to donate to the academy.”

“Why would they send such a large gift from so far away?” Shen Cui, while polite, couldn’t help but stare at the carriage behind.

Being poor-minded, she had been struggling to write a manuscript for money for half a month, and had only come up with three sentences. Shen Cui felt ashamed.

After the carriage stopped, the Wei family’s servants on the carriage began to unload the goods in an orderly manner.

Exquisite wooden screens, various elegant wooden carvings, rolled-up paintings, beautifully bound sets of books, thick silk waist cushions… were all taken down by the servants, either carried or held.

Finally, there was a vertical small plaque, which Wei Xi personally took down.

The words on the plaque were not trivial, but the motto of the Cuiwei Academy.

The treatment of the motto had not been very good before. It had been written by Lao Buyu on paper and pieced together on the wall.

When choosing gifts before returning, Wei Xi had suggested making a vertical plaque for the motto.

In fact, in terms of appearance, the plaque of the Cuiwei Academy was also quite unattractive, but it represented the true academy and couldn’t be easily replaced.

The motto was important, but it was not equivalent to the face of the academy, so Wei Xi had someone make this.

The wood of this vertical plaque was even better, shining and smooth, and the four characters were not enough to describe it. It felt like wood but also like jade. Even someone who didn’t understand would know its value.

When this vertical plaque and those elegant calligraphy and paintings were hung in the hall, and several screens were placed between the desks, various wooden carvings were placed in the corners and on the desks, and the thick silk waist cushions were placed on each person’s chair, the dilapidated hall immediately gained a sense of elegance and generosity.

Shen Cui’s heart was really pounding. She pursed her lips, and her mind began to involuntarily calculate—how much money would all these things be worth if converted into silver?

Seeing that she hadn’t spoken, Wei Shu explained, “After returning home, my parents had the doctor check on Xiao Xi and found that his lung disease had improved. Thinking that this place is suitable for recuperation, they wanted to send some things to the academy to improve the environment, which would also benefit Xiao Xi.”

Shen Cui suddenly understood. It was a pity in her heart… If all these things were converted into silver and given to her, how many more practical things could she buy for the academy?

Of course, it’s not that these things were not good, but in Shen Cui’s opinion, compared to the essential consumables like brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, these things were more of a luxury.

With more silver income, she would have more freedom in shopping and could help Wei Xi recover his health more quickly.

But since these were gifts, she naturally couldn’t be picky, so she immediately dispelled her copper-smelling thoughts and smiled to thank them.

“Also, regarding the living expenses,” Wei Shu formulated his words, “my parents think that since I occasionally come here, it’s not good to only pay once, so from now on, they will pay twice a month, making it twenty taels. What do you think?”

Finally, there was a real income. Shen Cui calmly accepted the twenty taels of silver, but tears of gratitude welled up in her heart—she had not used any skincare products all year and had put all the money into helping Wei Xi recover his health!

“When you write back home, please convey my thanks,” she said as straightforward as ever, without any refusal, saving Wei Shu a lot of talking.

After Shen Cui left to inspect the newly renovated academy, Wei Xi glanced at Wei Shu somewhat smugly.

The two brothers now had more and more tacit understanding, and Wei Shu immediately knew what he meant: Look, what he said was right. Their mountain leader is not a money-loving person. She accepts money only to buy things for the academy, and now they have bought them and sent them over. The academy headmaster is really happy!

After settling Wei Xi, Wei Shu glanced at the utility room with some reluctance, but still said goodbye, “I’m going back to the academy today, and I’ll come over during the next break.”

Shen Cui agreed, “That’s great, Ah Zhou is going to your academy to deliver clothes, could you please take her with you?”

The Wei family had a carriage, and both Zhou Shi and Wei Shu were completely on the way, which would save Zhou Shi a lot of time.

Wei Shu naturally didn’t mind, but Zhou Shi was somewhat introverted. In the past, when Wei Shu came over, she would deliberately avoid him and only come over during meals.

During meals, if Wei Shu didn’t mention Mu Yunchuan, Zhou Shi wouldn’t start a conversation, or even make eye contact with him.

If Zhou Shi had to go into the city with him, she would probably be very uncomfortable.

Giving her a separate carriage and returning separately? Wei Shu was just thinking about it when he saw Zhou Shi already holding a small package walking to the side of the carriage, smiling and saying, “Then I’ll trouble Young Master Wei.”

Wei Shu had overthought things.

There were two carriages—one originally for the gifts and the other for Wei Shu and Wei Xi’s journey here.

They each took a carriage back, but there was no need to separate and return in two trips. They went back to Qingzhu Academy together.

Near Qingzhu Academy, there was a mounting stone established by the headmaster when he founded the academy. When they arrived there, they each got off their carriages.

During the fifteen-minute walk to the entrance, Wei Shu couldn’t help but be a little curious. Zhou Shi, who was a bit awkward when making the clothes earlier, was now capable of handling orders on her own?

But he wasn’t a particularly curious person. After dropping Zhou Shi off at the academy gate, Wei Shu told the steward to find someone for her and then went in first.

Back at Cuiwei, with all the academy personnel gathered and the new year begun, it was time to start studying in earnest.

Shen Cui conscientiously stayed behind.

After activating the Enhancement, Lao Buyu first checked Wei Xi’s homework.

During the month Wei Xi was away, most of his time was spent on the road, so Lao Buyu didn’t assign much homework.

He was just supposed to memorize a dozen pages of text and practice some calligraphy.

Wei Xi hadn’t been negligent and hadn’t missed any of his assignments.

After checking his work, the academy resumed classes as usual.

Shen Cui continued with the beginning of the story she had squeezed out earlier, feeling less at a loss now. With the Wei family now providing double the living expenses for the next month, while the silver was not a lot, it was also not so scarce.

She just needed to find something to do for herself, to stay focused and fulfill her role as an Enhancement switch.

Later, Zhou Shi came back with a happy smile. Song Shusheng was very satisfied with the small design she had added, not only paying the final payment without hesitation but also treating her as a fellow enthusiast in design, giving her some other design sketches to choose from. He asked her to make what she could and gave her a direct deposit of one or two silvers.

Later, when Song Shusheng left, the students who shared a room with him, including the ones who had taken the military coats, were very satisfied with the products and naturally very curious.

Several young students couldn’t understand Song Shusheng’s explanation of the principle of drawstrings and ties, so they directly tried on the clothes themselves.

As they were close friends who studied together day and night, Song Shusheng didn’t get angry with them. He just smiled and asked them to be careful not to damage the clothes he had worked so hard to obtain.

After trying them on, the student who had a figure even more slender and graceful than Song Shusheng’s looked even more handsome in the novel design!

So, the next time Zhou Shi went to deliver clothes, several more people followed suit and ordered customized clothing.

A Qingzhu Academy could support a whole street of academies, so don’t underestimate the purchasing power of these students. Except for someone like Mu Yunchuan, who was a special case, any student who wasn’t particularly wealthy had some spare money.

Zhou Shi’s small workshop gradually gained some reputation. Of course, this is a story for another time.

Back to the present, in late January, Wei Shu came to Cuiwei Academy.

He looked at the storeroom with a fiery gaze last time, and Shen Cui specially cleaned it up for him.

Moreover, she knew that changing the layout would not affect the effectiveness of the simulated room, so she also evenly distributed some of the things sent by the Wei family in it, to enhance the investors’ simulated test experience.

But unexpectedly, this time Wei Shu went straight in and announced some news – he would be taking the exam in February!

Even though she was mentally prepared early on, Wei Shu’s expression at this moment was more serious than usual.

Almost at the same time as she learned this news, Shen Cui received a system prompt –

[System Task: Participate in a county exam.]

[Note: Participation by any training subject is considered completion. Completion will upgrade the system. The better the ranking, the more complete the system upgrade functions.]

At the same time, the system also thoughtfully listed on the screen the current qualifications of training subjects 1, 2, and 3, indicating that training subject 3, Wei Shu, was now more suitable for the exam and had the highest probability of achieving a good ranking.

Shen Cui: ??? How embarrassing, isn’t this just a free reward?!