Chapter 87

Afterwards, Mu Erpang really added an extra half hour of study time every day after school. He used to take a nap before, but when the summer heat came, he stopped napping and instead used that time to practice calligraphy.

Soon after the summer passed, Shen Cui received the time gain reward, which required uninterrupted time to use. As a result, the tradition of napping was put on hold.

In total, his sleep time was compressed to only three hours a day. Apart from daily morning exercises and meals, all his waking hours were devoted to studying.

Shen Cui had a rough start on the first day and fell asleep while listening to him recite.

On the second day, she prepared her needle and thread. While Mu Erpang recited, she mended shoes beside him. With the needle and thread in hand, she managed to stay awake.

The “Book of Rites” had over five thousand characters. After about ten days, he became familiar with it and could almost recite it from memory. When Laobuyu taught this book, he would review it during morning reading, ensuring he could recite it effortlessly.

Later, after evening classes, he started previewing the “Book of Changes.”

The “Book of Changes” predicts fortune and misfortune using the eight trigrams of Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui.

Even the scholars of the time found it obscure and difficult to understand, very profound.

Shen Cui felt like she was listening to gibberish when he recited it. Even with her needlework, she couldn’t resist drowsiness. It became a reflex that whenever Mu Erpang recited it, her eyelids drooped.

Mu Erpang refused to let her accompany him, insisting he could manage alone.

Shen Cui didn’t push further because after accompanying him for so many days, her own health started to decline. Meanwhile, her chubby son’s stamina remained unchanged.

She even asked the system if his stamina not decreasing meant he wouldn’t get sick.

She worried that while her son might not fall ill, such little sleep could stunt his growth. Many scholars nowadays were frail and weak, with poor health, and there was a reason for that.

The system reassured her, saying, “Host can rest assured. The stamina value represents all health-related data. Subject 1 has not been affected in any way. Based on my estimation, as long as Subject 1’s daily sleep time does not fall below 2 hours, he will be fine.”

Making her chubby son sleep only two hours a day was something Shen Cui couldn’t bring herself to do — he wouldn’t develop any health issues, but he would be uncomfortable!

Every morning, Mu Erpang struggled to open his eyes due to sleepiness. It wasn’t until the morning exercises, doing some radio calisthenics and practicing archery, that he felt more energetic.

As a mother, how could Shen Cui bear to further reduce his sleep time? So she pretended not to know about it.

But she had to admit, her son’s constitution was truly exceptional, and he indeed had the capital to add more practice.

Shen Cui didn’t dare accompany him in his studies anymore, fearing she might ruin her own health. Instead, after Mu Erpang finished school, she made him a late-night snack.

Her chubby son, who used to weigh 60kg, had grown taller by a few centimeters over the past year and a half, but his weight had dropped to 55kg.

Although he still looked plump compared to others, his double chin and belly had shrunk considerably. Wearing the scholar’s robe sewn by Zhou Shi, he looked like a refined young scholar.

Shen Cui didn’t cook high-calorie meals for him — her cooking skills didn’t allow her to make fancy dishes. She simply made him steamed eggs or boiled eggs every day to fill his stomach.

By the end of April, Shen Cui had finished making the planned thirty pairs of shoe insoles and some other small items, raising her sewing skill to level 2.

After reaching level 2, she could make items to increase everyone’s luck value. After hearing about Wei Shu’s close call, she felt uneasy without boosting their luck.

However, reaching level 2 also meant that the production cost of her items increased significantly, requiring around seventy to eighty shopping points.

The academy only provided 60 shopping points per day, which wasn’t enough to cover these expenses.

Although Wei Shu ranked twelfth in the exam, the 500 shopping points rewarded by the system, combined with the ones Shen Cui had saved up and received daily, were all spent on leveling up her sewing skill, leaving her with empty pockets.

Shen Cui thought about leveling up the academy’s system as well. This way, the daily output would increase, and they could observe everyone’s chibi avatars’ movements within the city’s scope. Additionally, they would have an extra trainee and laborer position.

Wei Shu’s servant occasionally came over, but it was inconvenient because he always arrived after dusk and rushed back to the city under the cover of night.

The system was quite generous. Since Shen Cui thought about upgrading the academy, she didn’t encounter many tasks requiring shopping points in her daily life.

After a month and a half, Shen Cui had accumulated enough shopping points and successfully upgraded the academy system. The daily rewards increased from 60 points to 70 points.

……

At the end of June, Shen Cui received a letter from the old headmaster of Hongle Academy.

After leaving contact information earlier, Shen Cui had sent letters in the names of the academy and “Zhang Sheng”, both signed with the address of Cuiwei Academy.

The old headmaster replied to “Zhang Sheng”, urging “him” to practice calligraphy and study literature, and also sent some math problems for “him” to solve. His words were sincere, showing care for the younger generation, and he also suggested that “Zhang Sheng” could come to Hongle Academy for a while if he wished. Obviously, the old man hadn’t forgotten about this ‘young man’ with a turbulent destiny and exceptional talent in mathematics.

As for the letter to Shen Cui, it was equally rich in content. Although they had never met, the old headmaster showed great kindness to Shen Cui because of her special attention to “Zhang Sheng”. He was willing to exchange insights and experiences with her.

Shen Cui’s humble insights were no different from a child’s babbling in front of him, but the old man never scorned her. Instead, he encouraged her in his replies and offered guidance.

Shen Cui didn’t have much money, so she usually entrusted the letters to traveling merchants. Typically, it took over a month for a letter to arrive.

The old headmaster, however, seemed to have his own channels. His replies arrived in half the usual time.

They had been exchanging letters for about six months now.

When the results of the provincial examination came out in April, Shen Cui wrote to share the joy of Wei Shu passing the exam with her academy.

This reply was thicker than the previous ones, so Shen Cui opened it eagerly.

The first thing she saw was the old headmaster’s congratulations, followed by the exam questions from the county and provincial examinations, which Shen Cui could use to test her academy students.

Not only were there questions from their county, but also from other counties!

This stack of exam questions was invaluable! It seemed only a prestigious old academy like Hongle Academy could collect and selflessly share such a vast array of questions in such a short time.

Shen Cui’s admiration for the old headmaster grew, and her eyes welled up with tears.

She continued reading until the last page, feeling a bit puzzled.

The old headmaster mentioned in his letter that their academy would organize a study tour, and one of his students had special circumstances. He wasn’t sure if Cuiwei Academy could accommodate them.

He made it clear at the end of the letter that he wasn’t trying to exchange this favor for the exam questions; he just happened to mention both matters in the same letter.

If Cuiwei Academy couldn’t accommodate them, it was fine. Their students could still attempt the exam questions and write to him if they encountered difficulties. He didn’t want them to feel burdened.

Shen Cui was puzzled by this matter and called Lao Buyu over for advice.

Lao Buyu explained, “After the academy competition, in the year without the academy-level examination, the academy that took the top spot can send representatives to other participating academies for learning and exchange. Other academies must share their experiences openly. In return, they also share their own insights to achieve mutual benefit through exchange.”

It was understandable. This was like a bonus for winning the academy competition, and it also promoted interaction between participating academies.

But Lao Buyu was also puzzled. “Usually, prestigious academies like Qingzhu Academy, with abundant educational resources, are the ones that host such study tours. Why did the old headmaster send students to our academy?”

It wasn’t that they were underestimating themselves, but academies of similar levels should engage in exchange for it to be truly mutually beneficial.

Sending student representatives from Hongle Academy to Cuiwei Academy was almost like charity. Why would the old headmaster lower himself to this extent and specially request this?

They exchanged puzzled glances, unable to comprehend.

“Nevertheless, it’s still a good thing. The student representatives sent out by Hongle Academy represent the reputation of their academy. They must be talented individuals who will shine in such a prestigious institution. The letter didn’t go into too much detail to avoid leaks. Let’s wait until they arrive, and then we can inquire about the reasons.”

Shen Cui nodded. She genuinely admired the old headmaster, and with the academy competition and the exam questions, it was like receiving his favor twice. It was time to repay the kindness.

Although she didn’t understand the reasons yet, she had already decided to take good care of them.

Later, Shen Cui wrote a reply expressing her gratitude and stating that there were no inconveniences on their end, welcoming the old headmaster to send someone over anytime.

This time, she spent twice the usual price to hire a courier to deliver the letter, and it reached Hongle Academy within half a month.

By then, the old headmaster had received dozens of replies from other academies, all indicating that the study tour was welcome. However, when it came to individual requests, they politely expressed inconvenience.

The old headmaster had a headache over this matter.

The day Shen Cui’s letter arrived, a tall, skinny young man who helped with odd jobs in the academy brought it to the old headmaster.

Seeing that his mentor’s white hair had increased, he felt extremely guilty and whispered, “Teacher, perhaps… perhaps we should forget about it. I can go back to farming and herding cattle to make a living.”

The old headmaster, usually very gentle, had a stern expression upon hearing this. “Farming and herding cattle to make a living? Is this the result you wanted after studying diligently for ten years in the cold room?”

The young man’s eyes reddened, showing a hint of unwillingness, but he still said, “But I don’t want you to be so troubled because of me.”

“Don’t speak such nonsense,” the old headmaster’s tone softened again. “The matter of the provincial examination… it’s not something you deliberately caused. I’ll find you a temporary place to stay, and once this matter is over, you can come back.”

The young man turned away to wipe his eyes, and at that moment, a mischievous student came to the old headmaster to confess his faults in studies. Upon entering and seeing the young man, he instinctively exclaimed, “Moisture Blood, why are you here?!”

After his exclamation, the student realized the headmaster was also present and immediately regretted it, covering his mouth in embarrassment.

The young man, nicknamed “Moisture Blood,” also blushed.

Normally, the old headmaster would have reprimanded the student for his impudence. While Hongle Academy had a good atmosphere and there wouldn’t be any retaliation, it would only confirm the rumors that “nothing good happens when he’s around.”

However, at that moment, the old headmaster, who had just opened the letter from Cuiweig Academy, didn’t pay attention to this. He just smiled and said, “Good boy, you finally have a place to go!”