Top Scholar

Chapter 48 Enrollment
The sixteenth day of the first lunar month is the official registration day for students at the academy.

Su Lu and Su Dan came to town again, and both families sent four armed men to accompany them.

The tuition fees for the two boys combined amounted to seven or eight strings of cash, which was a huge sum of money! How could their families feel at ease letting two teenagers take so much money out with them?
Su Lu was too busy taking exams when he last visited the academy to properly explore it. This time, he finally had the chance to look around carefully.

The academy occupies a vast area, with all the buildings and courtyards made of white walls and black tiles, adopting a traditional axial symmetry and multi-courtyard layout.

The first courtyard, located between the main gate and the second gate, is a spacious square with a straight passage in the middle. On the left is a special shrine for worshipping Confucius, and on the right is the Minglun Hall, used for gatherings and lectures.

Su Youcai told Su Lu that this followed the tradition of having a temple on the left and a school on the right. Although Taiping Academy was not an official school, it was still built strictly according to Confucian rules.

After passing through the second gate, you enter the second courtyard, which was the place where the written exam was held. It was also divided into two sections by a corridor, with two rows of spacious and bright buildings on each side. This was where they would have their classes in the future.

New students register here. The three lecture halls, Mingzhizhai, Duxingzhai, and Shengshenzhai, have their doors open, and each has a list of new students posted at the entrance.

Su Lu and Su Dan were both assigned to the Sheng Shen Zhai. They went into the lecture hall, where the academy's teachers processed their registration.

After the two saluted, Su Lu produced their only military register. He was a month older than Su Dan, making him the elder brother in this 'family'...

In fact, the teacher was used to this; he had even encountered five students sharing one household registration. After verifying the names, family backgrounds, and dates of birth of the two students, he had them sign the roster, then gave each of them a slip of paper and told them to go to the office inside the main hall to pay the fees.

They were given a copy of the school rules and told to memorize them, as they would be checked when school started tomorrow.

Inside the main gate is the third courtyard, which is also the central location. Daonan Hall, where the academy's teachers and administrators work, and the most important library are located here.

On either side of Daonan Hall were the administration office and the rope and ink room. The former was for handling various miscellaneous affairs of the academy, while the latter was the teaching office, which students feared.

The two queued outside the office for a while, paid two strings of cash for tuition and 1,500 cash for miscellaneous fees, and then received two brand-new sets of white round-necked blouses with black trim, a black crepe turban lined with lacquered silk rattan, and two black overlocked cloth belts.

The academy had very strict requirements. Students were not only required to dress neatly while on campus, but also to wear the uniform colors and were not allowed to wear their own clothes. Therefore, two sets of academy uniforms were issued for changing into dry and wet clothes.

In addition, all assignments to be submitted must be written in the academy's standardized workbooks and calligraphy practice books. These books will be distributed as needed, with each student initially receiving two copies, and then receiving new copies based on the old ones.

Even the ink used for writing had to be the ink sticks uniformly distributed by the academy, showing that everything was formal and standardized.

Of course, all legitimacy comes at the cost of money...

~~
After collecting the items, the two arrived at the fourth courtyard.

This is the dormitory for teachers and students, and there is also a row of 'semi-dormitories'.

At the entrance of the "Half-Study Dormitory," a couplet hangs: "Diligence leads to mastery; idle play prevents one from soaring to great heights; apply what you learn; do not waste your intelligence on bookworms."

So it's probably a study room or something like that.

Following the note given to them by the stewards, the two found the dormitory with the character '壬' on it. When they went inside, good heavens, the entire dormitory was just a large communal sleeping area.

By this time, many students had already arrived at the dormitory. Some were making their beds, while others were chatting to break the ice.

Su Dan glanced at the bunk numbers on the wall and exclaimed in surprise, "Goodness, ten people sleep in one room."

“Otherwise, we wouldn’t have let you stay for free.” A classmate jumped down from his bunk, grinned, and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, “I am the imposing Li Qiyu, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

"Erlang Su Lu".

"Second Brother Su Dan," the two brothers introduced themselves. Li Qiyu was fairly handsome, but his eyes gleamed with a sly light when he spoke. His thin lips held a slight mocking smile, like a skinny monkey stealing peaches. He was anything but imposing.

"I've heard so much about you." Li Qiyu exchanged pleasantries with Su Dan, then cupped his hands in a salute to Su Lu and said with a smile, "So you're Brother Su, who's even more famous than the first place winner."

"Yes, it's a great honor to share a room with Brother Sun Shan!" At this moment, an annoying voice rang out. Su Lu looked over and, sure enough, it was the three boys from the Cheng family.

The Cheng brothers already harbored resentment towards their aunt's affair.

Before they could even calm down, they heard that their husband's daughter was in danger of being taken away by the Su family again.

Moreover, the one who supposedly poached Su Lu's boyfriend was none other than Su Lu's father, a shameless old man.

Such repeated provocations! It's like slapping the Cheng family's face on the ground repeatedly, and then spitting on them...

Do they really think there are no men in the Cheng family?!

They were filled with rage, how could they not target Su Lu?

~~
Su Lu had seen the list at the entrance of Sheng Shen Zhai and knew that three boys surnamed Cheng were on it. He really couldn't understand how the classes were divided. Was it so that people of the same clan could live together and gang up to bully others?

The generational naming system of the Cheng family for these generations is "Pi Cheng Wan Shi". The Cheng brothers, who are scholars, belong to the "Pi" generation. These students are their grandsons, and are named Cheng Wantang, Cheng Wanfan, and Cheng Wanzhou respectively. To be fair, their names are all very grand and impressive, and must have been given by the scholar Cheng.

I just don't know which 'Wan' this buck-toothed kid is?
“Yes, cherish it. When you’re old, you can rely on this to make your grandchildren proud!” Before Su Lu could speak, Su Dan retorted directly. This cunning fellow wasn’t just a bully at home.

"Hahaha!" The other two 'Wan' immediately burst into laughter, saying, "It's more like telling a joke about Brother Sun Shan to a grandson." "He won't last three months at the academy before he's kicked out! He'll definitely be the biggest joke of this year."

"Not just this year, this will probably set a new record for the fastest graduation." 'Sanwan' said in unison, instantly suppressing Chewing Essence.

Although the other roommates did not join in the commotion, they all looked at Su Lu with schadenfreude, as if they were looking at a charlatan pretending to be someone else.

Only Li Qiyu spoke up for Su Lu, saying, "Don't be so quick to judge. Haven't you heard the saying, 'Those who come after may surpass those who came before, and who knows who they will be?' Who dares to say that Brother Su can't do it?"

"He actually surpassed us?" One of the "30,000" sneered at his classmates, "Let me tell you frankly, none of the students in the Erlang Su family have ever learned how to write a composition based on a given topic!"

"I see, that's really troublesome." The classmates nodded, understanding why 'Sanwan' looked down on Su Lu so much... He was already last in the class and hadn't learned how to write essays based on given topics, so he would definitely be eliminated by the cruel exams after entering the school.

Su Lu knew what they meant. After receiving the academy's regulations, he glanced at them and knew that this year they would be using the "ascending the fast and ranking method" to assess students.

This method originated from the "Three Dormitories System of the Imperial Academy" in the Song Dynasty, developed into the "Ascension to the Dining Hall System" in the Yuan Dynasty, and was inherited and adopted by the Imperial Academy in the current dynasty as the "Ascension to the Dining Rank System". It was introduced to our academy by the newly appointed headmaster, and this year is the first time it has been used.

According to the regulations, all new students are assigned to the lower dormitory and study the Four Books for two months. After that, there is a test every month. Those who excel in both reasoning and writing are considered top grade and receive one point; those who excel in reasoning but have average reasoning are considered average grade and receive half a point; those who have average reasoning do not receive any points no matter how excellent their reasoning is.

There are ten monthly exams throughout the academic year. Only those who accumulate eight points can be promoted to Zhongzhai students; those who fail to accumulate eight points will be expelled immediately. Just by reading the school rules, one can feel how brutal the upcoming competition will be.

These classmates became so aggressive largely because they felt immense pressure after seeing the new rules.

Thirteen or fourteen-year-old boys only know how to vent their emotions by attacking others—Su Lu, the 'worst of the worst', is naturally their best stress reliever.

“Li Qiyu… Oh, I remember now—” At that moment, a classmate suddenly shouted, “You’re second to last!”

The dormitory erupted in an uproar, and another classmate chuckled, "No wonder Li has been defending Sun Shan. He's afraid that once he's gone, you'll become Sun Shan!"

The buck-toothed '10,000' then chimed in, 'This is called one thing after another, one mountain after another.'

"Hahaha!" A group of teenagers burst into laughter, some even rolling around on their bunks with glee.

With a bang, Su Dan angrily kicked the bed board and shouted, "With your kind of character, you still want to take the imperial examination? Dream on!"

"Don't look down on me! I just think highly of Brother Su, so what?!" Li Qiyu yelled angrily.
"Let's make a bet. What will you do if Brother Su is still at the academy at the end of the year?!"

"Calling me Grandpa is fine too," the classmates laughed.

"I don't care if you treat me like a grandson. Just give me one or two taels of silver each." Su Lu pointed at the seven people opposite him and said with a smile, "Next year's tuition will depend on you all."

"What if you lose?" '20,000' asked him back.

"I'll crawl all the way out of the academy from here!" Su Lu said fiercely.

“Alright, it’s a deal!” ’Thirty Thousand’ slapped the board, and ’One Thousand’ and ’Two Thousand’ nodded in agreement.

With the atmosphere already set, the other four had no choice but to follow suit.

"Whoever breaks this oath will never pass the imperial examination and become a scholar!" Su Lu and the seven sons of Renshe clasped hands and made a solemn oath.

The seven naive boys didn't realize for a moment that they had been tricked by the old fox—if Su Lu were to be kicked out of the academy, he would definitely never pass the imperial examination. Therefore, there would be no need for him to keep his vow.

As long as they remain in the academy, they dare not break their oath, so Su Lu is guaranteed to profit, while they are guaranteed to lose...

Su Lu usually didn't want to lower himself to the level of teenagers, but these brats were too annoying and he had to teach them a lesson.

After both sides took their oaths, the tension in the dormitory subsided, but they were clearly divided into two factions.

Li Qiyu was very enthusiastic and prepared to help his two companions, Su, make their beds, but suddenly realized that the two had come in empty-handed.

"Hey, where are your bedding rolls?"

“We don’t live on campus,” Su Dan replied. His family wasn’t well-off either, so he could keep Su Lu company. Having asserted their claim to their bunks, it was time for them to leave.

"Huh, you guys don't live on campus?" Li Qiyu stared in disbelief, pointing to himself and saying, "Then I'll be facing seven opponents at once from now on?"

"Don't worry, we'll be back to support you anytime you need us." Su Lu patted Li Qiyu on the shoulder, giving him some encouragement.

"Then you must come back often." Li Qiyu said with a sorrowful expression, reluctantly seeing the two off from their dormitory.

"Little Li, don't lose face!" Chewing Spirit encouraged him with the slogan of the Erlang Su family: "Don't be a coward, don't lose face!"

"..." Su Lu was speechless for a moment. This cousin of his was also someone who was afraid that the world was not chaotic enough.

Fortunately, the academy had strict rules: "Fighting will result in immediate expulsion," so at least Xiao Li didn't have to worry about getting beaten up...

(End of this chapter)