Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 94 You said his name is Su Zhe?

"Third Sister, it's been a long time."

Lu Beigu also smiled and bowed in greeting.

Han Ziyu's ankle injury seemed to have mostly healed; at least he didn't look awkward walking. He came up to Lu Beigu, but instead of bowing, he punched Lu Beigu's shoulder.

"Didn't expect that, did you? I asked you when you were coming to the state school, and I was waiting for you here!"

Lu Beigu smiled and said, "I really didn't expect that."

"Okay, let's go. I'll take you to the state school office to enroll first."

"I also have a few friends from the same county."

Lu Beigu pointed to the four people behind him: Zhu Zhen, Zhu Nanxing, Huang Jingji, and Lu Guangyu. They had all come together, and it would be inappropriate for him to just leave by car.

Although he only recognized Lu Guangyu among the four, Han Ziyu, being a local tycoon from Luzhou, didn't even blink and waved his hand.

"No problem, let's go together! After we're settled in, we'll have a welcome feast together!"

Afterwards, the group arrived outside the dock and saw two oxcarts decorated with curtains parked outside. Adorned with silk tassels, they were very ornate when they fluttered in the wind. The carriages were rectangular in shape from the outside, with corner pillars at the four corners, an arched top, and long eaves extending from the front and back that curved upwards. The design was dignified and grand.

Ox-carts and horse-drawn carriages are very different in many ways. The doors of an ox-cart are at the back, and the interior is furnished with soft cushions, mattresses, and pillows. There is a small table in the middle, and the spacious interior allows people to lie down on either side.

The cart is pulled by strong and gentle oxen, and the cart wheels are very tall, so you can hardly feel any bumps when it travels on city roads, which is much better than riding a donkey cart.

Han San Niang said, "The dormitories at the state school are divided into four-person rooms in the lower dormitory, two-person rooms in the middle dormitory, and single rooms in the upper dormitory. There are still more than half a month before the next dormitory assignment exam, so I guess they will all be assigned four-person rooms first. See if you can get used to it. If you can't, our Han family has plenty of properties near the county school, so you can try to apply to not live in the state school."

Generally speaking, students who pass the county exam to enter the state school first take a preliminary test to determine whether they are eligible to actively choose their teachers. Then comes the dormitory assignment exam. After the dormitory assignment is determined, students either choose their teachers according to their assigned dormitory or are passively assigned to a school.

"Thank you for your kindness, Third Sister," Lu Beigu said. "I heard about this when I came. It seems that the state school has very strict management of accommodations, and it is extremely difficult to apply for off-campus accommodation. So we discussed it and decided that it would be better for a few fellow villagers to live together, so that we can take care of each other."

Han San Niang nodded. This was something that should be included in the question, and she was just mentioning it casually to fulfill her duty as a host.

"Oh, right, there's something else I need to tell you."

At this moment, Han Ziyu asked, "Did you receive any information beforehand that, as is customary, county students would have a preliminary test before entering the state school every year?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"This year, Luzhou Prefectural School has invited Mr. Baisha to teach."

Han Ziyu explained, "Originally, students from every county could participate in the advance test, but those who passed and ranked first in the county exam would usually receive preferential treatment and be able to choose teachers from different dormitories. Usually, those who were admitted to the lower dormitory could choose teachers from the middle dormitory, and those who were admitted to the middle dormitory could choose teachers from the upper dormitory. However, Mr. Baisha did not like this format, so this year's advance test was canceled."

Lu Beigu was taken aback; he had been preparing for this for the past ten days.

If the preliminary test is canceled, wouldn't the special privileges he might receive as the top scorer in the county exam be wasted?
After all, others who had taken the preliminary test could only choose teachers from within their own dormitory, but as the top scorer in the county exam, he could choose teachers from across dormitories, which meant he had a significant advantage over his classmates in terms of teaching resources.

"Is there still a chance to actively choose a teacher, or even to choose Mr. Baisha?"

"Of course," Han Ziyu said. "Teachers from the state school will all be present at the welcoming gathering. The annual welcoming gathering is usually the process for state school teachers to choose their favorite students. This year, the quiz and the welcoming gathering are combined. Those who can get the top five in the welcoming gathering can actively choose state school teachers. The first place in the county exam can still choose from other schools."

If that's the case, it really won't have much of an impact, because according to several classmates, very few people pass the advance test every year. If there are five spots, the probability of passing is actually much higher than with the advance test.

Moreover, the top scorer in the county examination could still choose a teacher from a different dormitory; the special privilege he had earned through his hard work was not invalidated.

But there's a problem here.
"Is Mr. Baisha considered a teacher in the dormitory? If so, does that mean that even if someone who ranked first in the county examination is selected at the welcoming gathering, they still have to achieve at least a middle-level dormitory in the dormitory assignment exam to be considered successful?"

"Of course." Han Ziyu's answer was very certain: "Mr. Baisha does not teach mediocre people. If someone is the top student in the county examination and can be among the top five in the welcoming gathering, but fails to get into the middle dormitory in the dormitory assignment exam, then they are not qualified to be taught by him. If a student is not the top student in the county examination, then they must get into the upper dormitory on their first attempt in the dormitory assignment exam."

Han Ziyu and Zhou Mingyuan have studied at the state school for so many years, yet they still can't guarantee that they will be able to get into the top dormitory in every dormitory assignment exam, which shows how competitive the state school is.

Students who did not rank first in the county examination, unless they had absolute confidence in themselves, would probably be afraid of wasting their chance if they failed to get into the upper dormitory in the first dormitory assignment exam, even if they were eligible to choose Mr. Baisha.

"understood."

Lu Beigu nodded slightly and asked, "When is this year's welcoming gathering?"

"Tomorrow is it! You think there's still time to prepare? But the reward will definitely be great, you'll see when the time comes. By the way, the new students from the state schools of Meizhou, Rongzhou, and Jiazhou have all arrived today."

Among the four routes in Sichuan, Yizhou and Zizhou are both located in the Sichuan Basin and were originally inseparable. Mei, Rong, Jia, and Luzhou are all distributed along the Yangtze River, so they have very close economic and cultural exchanges.

The state colleges of these four states take turns hosting a welcome gathering each year. In addition to their own freshmen, some senior students, and teachers, the host state college also invites outstanding freshmen from other state colleges to participate.

"Wait a minute!"

Lu Beigu sensed something was off: "So this top five refers to the top five among all the new students from the four state academies?"

"Of course," Han Ziyu laughed. "You didn't think it was just Luzhou, did you? There are less than twenty freshmen from the three counties combined. If the top five get to choose a teacher, isn't the difficulty much lower than the pre-test?"

That makes sense.

Of the four states, there should be about seventeen to eighteen freshmen from the state itself. Adding the outstanding freshmen from the other three states, there should be about fifty people. To be among the top five out of fifty is about as difficult as taking a pre-test. In previous years, only one or two people or no one passed the pre-test, with an average pass rate of only one in ten.

At this moment, Lu Beigu suddenly had a thought and asked.

"Does Brother Han know which new students Meishan County sent this year?"

"Someone did mention the list to me."

Han Ziyu pondered for a moment and said, "Quite a few people came to Meizhou this year. The top scorers in the county examinations from Qingshen, Meishan, Pengshan, and Danling counties all came. There are three people from Meishan County. I think it's Cheng Jianyong, Yang Yaozi, and another one, Su Su something?"

Is his name Su Shi?

“Su Shi? How could it be Su Shi? He was in the same year as me, and I went to Meizhou for the freshman gathering that year.”

When Han Ziyu mentioned this name, she seemed to be lost in thought, as if recalling some memory.

"At that year's New Year's gathering, Su Shi won first place without any controversy. You have no idea how amazing the scene was."

"Is it Su Zhe, not Su Shi?"

"It seems so!" Han Ziyu slapped her forehead and remembered. "You said his name is Su Zhe, right?"

Lu Beigu took a deep breath.

He's just one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, don't panic. Besides, he's not even at his full potential. Su Zhe is the same age as me, seventeen, still quite naive.

"Yes, Su Shi's younger brother."

"How did you know?"

I saw it in a book.

(End of this chapter)