Top Scholar

Chapter 87: The Shame of a Scholar

As the sun set, Su Lu and his four friends walked home from school every day.

But for Cheng Wantang, today was his last. He would still walk this road countless times in the future, but it would never be used for going to or from school again.

Everyone was in a bad mood, and there was an unprecedented silence along the way.

It was Cheng Wantang who spoke to Su Lu: "Brother, thank you for your guidance over the past month. I feel that I have made more progress than in the past year."

“Yes, brother,” Cheng Wanfan chimed in, “Our skills have improved a lot.”

"It's a pity the time was too short..." Cheng Wanzhou's eyes were swollen like peaches.

Su Lu sighed, "I'm ashamed to say, I still couldn't get Wan Tang to stay..."

"Brother, please don't say that. I'm truly grateful. Without your guidance, this exam was so difficult; I definitely wouldn't have gotten even half a point." Cheng Wantang shook his head and said.

"Now I only regret being so stupid back then, insisting on going against you. If I had been like Su Dan and the others from the beginning, and received your guidance, I wouldn't be in this situation. At least it's definitely not time to drop out of school now."

He looked up at the sky and sighed, "Alas, I only have myself to blame..."

"Don't blame yourself. Not studying won't make the sky fall. My second brother didn't go to school either, but he still became the second-in-command of the distillery." Su Lu patted his shoulder and encouraged him, saying, "We're both in Erlangtan, so we can see each other often and continue to be brothers."

"Brother, don't you dislike me?" Cheng Wantang asked softly.

"How could you say that! I cherish having such a loyal, hardworking, and studious brother!" Su Lu put his arm around his shoulder and said, "Since you call me brother, we're brothers for life!"

"Hey, brother." Cheng Wantang nodded emphatically, his eyes reddening as he called out several times.

"Yes!" Su Lu responded emphatically several times.

Su Dan, Cheng Wanfan, and Cheng Wanzhou were also deeply moved, and they joined together, arms around each other's shoulders, to sing the timeless hymn praising brotherhood:
"The blossoms of the pear tree are so beautiful. Among all people today, none are like brothers."

The grief of death is profound, and brothers are filled with sorrow. The plains and marshes are desolate, and brothers are seeking solace.

The ridge is still there, brothers in dire need. Even with good friends, I can only sigh.

Brothers may quarrel within the walls, but they unite to defend themselves. When good friends are present, there is no need for war…

~~
As they approached Erlangtan, a powerful inertia caused the five to instinctively separate.

"Sigh, the conflict between our two clans..." Cheng Wantang sighed. His clansmen would be angry if they saw them arm in arm like this.

"Let's resolve clan conflicts in our generation!" Su Lu said proudly. "There are hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty, but how many were born in Erlangtan? Once we leave these mountains and arrive in Luzhou, we will be the closest of fellow villagers; once we leave Sichuan, we will be staunch fellow villagers who stick together to conquer the world!"

"Brother is right." Su Dan's views had long been swayed by Su Lu. He nodded emphatically, "We should work together to break out of the mountains and explore the world together, instead of fighting amongst ourselves in this remote mountain village!"

"That's so true! That's exactly what I was thinking!" Cheng Wanzhou exclaimed excitedly, stamping his foot. "Why do we all fight and kill each other all the time? Wouldn't it be better if we all lived together in harmony?"

“Yes, internal strife is pointless.” Cheng Wanfan wholeheartedly agreed. “It will only deepen the conflict between the two clans, making things difficult for everyone.”

“That’s true.” Cheng Wantang agreed, “Brother is right. The world is so big. Instead of fighting amongst ourselves in this small mountain village, why not let us all go out and conquer the world together!”

After all, they had broadened their horizons in the academy and learned the words of the sages, so they were naturally no longer as narrow-minded as before.

That's the meaning of reading.

“Once our generation gains control of the narrative, we’ll put an end to these grudges,” Su Lu said in a deep voice.

“Okay, we’ll listen to you, brother!” Sanwan and Su Dan nodded emphatically.

Su Lu then said to Cheng Wantang, "Go back and see how your family is going to arrange things. If you're not happy with it, just say so, and we'll figure something out together."

"Okay, brother." Cheng Wantang nodded, a wry smile on his face. Disappointment was inevitable, since it was most likely Cheng Ji's distillery. He really didn't want to spend his whole life dealing with fermented grains...

Just as Cheng Wantang was about to express his thoughts, Cheng Wanzhou nudged his arm. When he looked up, he saw his grandfather, Cheng Xiucai, standing under the erythrina tree at the entrance of the village.

The sun was setting, the sky ablaze with crimson clouds, and the flowers of the coral trees were a vibrant red. But nothing could compare to the flushed face of Scholar Cheng…

Judging from his expression, he seemed to already know the outcome.

Su Lu thought to himself that the scholar was indeed different; the academy had even given him advance notice.

Actually, he was overthinking it. This wasn't a privilege reserved for scholars; rather, it was Mr. Zhang's words that moved the headmaster.

So the teachers from Zhu Liu Academy made a special trip to visit the children's homes, firstly to refund their tuition fees, and secondly to explain that the children's early withdrawal was not due to any wrongdoing. It was simply because the academy had adopted new rules to divert students deemed unsuitable for further study, allowing the children to adapt to society sooner and easing the burden on their families.

Although it was still cruel, at least it redirected the parents' anger towards the academy, preventing their children from suffering undeserved misfortune.

So this afternoon, a gentleman came to Erlangtan to inform Scholar Cheng…

But this arrangement backfired on Cheng Xiucai. The thought that his eldest grandson, whom he had personally taught, had been sentenced to academic failure after only four months filled him with anxiety and restlessness. He decided to wait for Cheng Wantang to return at the village entrance.

You need to ask him immediately what happened!
But just as he was about to speak, he saw the two Su family boys mingling with Wan Tang and the others. He had no choice but to swallow his words, not wanting to be laughed at by outsiders. "Grandpa," Cheng Wan Tang approached Cheng Xiucai nervously.

"Sir," Cheng Wanfan and Cheng Wanzhou greeted him respectfully.

Su Lu and Su Dan quickly disappeared home.

With no outsiders around, Cheng Xiucai snorted and said, "Why are you getting involved with the Su family again? Is this never going to end?"

"Why did you say 'again,' sir?" Cheng Wanfan asked, taken aback.

"Ahem, that's not the point." Realizing his slip of the tongue, Scholar Cheng said angrily, "Remember to distance yourself from them from now on! If I see them again, I won't let you off the hook!"

“Sir, we are classmates, and going to and from school together can help each other.” As Cheng Xiucai’s former beloved student, Cheng Wanzhou naturally shouldered the responsibility of expressing his dissent.

"You dare to talk back?!" Cheng Xiucai's face darkened, startling Cheng Wanzhou so much that he almost cried out.

"Please calm down, sir. That student Su is a very nice person. He has been guiding us in our craft recently, and we have all benefited greatly from it!" Cheng Wanfan quickly stepped in.

His words were better left unsaid, as they directly touched a raw nerve with Cheng Xiucai, infuriating him so much that he slammed his cane into the ground as if he were about to disappear into the earth, shouting, "Can't I guide you? Why do you have to ask him?!"

"Of course, the teacher's teaching is excellent, but Su's guidance always hits the nail on the head, enlightening us." Cheng Wanzhou is the kind of person who is gentle on the outside but sharp on the inside; if you make him cry, he will definitely hurt you in return.

“The students who received his guidance all improved, but we regressed instead of progressing, so we had no choice but to ask him for advice as well.” Cheng Wanfan also said, “As a result, our rankings all improved this time.”

"If I had learned from him earlier, I wouldn't be in this situation now!" Cheng Wantang complained directly to his grandfather.

"Nonsense! I've spent my whole life studying the eight-legged essay; how could I be inferior to a child?!" Scholar Cheng was furious.

"Grandpa, your ideas are outdated!" Cheng Wantang blurted out without thinking.

"You!" Cheng Xiucai nearly fainted, feeling dizzy and unsteady on his feet. Cheng Wanzhou and Cheng Wanfan quickly supported him.

"Please calm down, sir," one of the two men said, trying to comfort Cheng Xiucai.

"That's enough, let's not say anything more," someone advised Cheng Wantang. "It would be troublesome if we upset the master again."

"Sigh..." Cheng Wantang turned his head away, not daring to utter another word.

His grandfather studied too hard when he was young, which resulted in him developing vertigo, hence the need to be carried in a sedan chair when going out. Thanks to proper care over the years, he rarely has flare-ups. But then, during a trip to the temple fair over the Lunar New Year, he had another attack on the way back…

The repeated ups and downs over the past six months have caused me to miss a lot of my social studies courses.

Cheng Wantang quickly summoned a sedan chair and carried the ill-tempered scholar Cheng home.

His father, Cheng Chengcheng, then invited a doctor from the clan to give his grandfather over a hundred acupuncture needles, turning him into a cactus-like figure...

After struggling for a full hour, Cheng Xiucai finally stopped feeling dizzy and leaned against the pillows, sighing deeply.

"Father, at least have some porridge, right?" Cheng Chengcheng advised from the side. "What the teacher said is also true. Since Wan Tang is not cut out for it, it is the right thing to do to get him down to work as soon as possible."

Cheng Xiucai ignored him and said only to Cheng Wantang, who was kneeling on the ground, "Bring me your workbook."

"They're not studying anymore, so why bother with homework..." Cheng Wantang muttered under his breath.

"Just take it when I tell you to, stop talking so much nonsense!" Cheng Chengcheng kicked him, making him stumble.

He dropped out of school after four months and went home, infuriating his father. Cheng Chengcheng was seething with anger. Cheng Wantang dared to say another word, so of course he got kicked...

Cheng Wantang was actually seething with anger. From how he treated his aunt to being expelled from school, he harbored a lot of resentment towards Cheng Xiucai, otherwise he wouldn't have been constantly arguing with his grandfather.

But after being kicked, he behaved himself and obediently brought all his workbooks.

Cheng Xiucai took it, put on his hat, and began to look through his grandson's compositions one by one.

At first, his writing naturally reflected his own style, but later he was gradually influenced by the academy and made progress day by day, though very slowly...

Cheng Xiucai hadn't realized this problem before, but now, in retrospect, he discovered that his grandson was too heavily influenced by him, unconsciously falling back into old patterns. That's why he was making three steps forward and two steps back, always lagging behind others...

He couldn't help but sigh in frustration. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have given his grandson so much extra help beforehand.

People like Cheng Wanfan and Cheng Wanzhou, who always attended large classes and rarely received private tutoring, wouldn't have such a heavy historical burden.

Cheng Xiucai understood why his grandson was throwing a tantrum, and sighed, "Get up, don't kneel."

After saying that, he continued browsing. When he turned to the middle of the third book, his eyes suddenly lit up. He found that his grandson's articles were completely different. They had become clearly structured, with each layer building upon the previous one, explaining the principles quite thoroughly.

Cheng Xiucai glanced at the date beside him and said, "Did you take any smart drugs on April 18th?"

"No, it's because that day, Su started giving me pointers," Cheng Wantang recalled vividly.

(End of this chapter)