Top Scholar

Chapter 103 The Ultimate Counterattack!

In the younger sister's room, the godmother and her daughter had already washed up and gone to bed.

Although my aunt spoke roughly, she was very meticulous in her work. She washed the sheets clean and dried the quilts until they were fluffy and soft, and they even smelled of sunshine.

The mother and daughter were very comfortable lying there, but they couldn't fall asleep...

"Mother," Tian Tian whispered, looking at the roof beam.

"What's wrong?" The proprietress turned to look at her daughter.

"Can you really treat this place as your own home?" Tian Tian asked timidly.

"..." The proprietress was stumped by her daughter's question. After a long while, she gently stroked her hair and said, "Yes, you can. You have two older brothers here, and your family is very, very good..."

"What about our original home?" Tian Tian asked another soul-searching question.

This time, the proprietress answered quickly: "A home is made by people. Wherever my daughter and I are, that's where our home is."

"Hmm." Tian Tian nodded and sighed softly, "There are too few people in our family."

"There will be more," the proprietress said softly.

"Really?" Tian Tian's eyes lit up, and she counted, "Now there's my second brother, my third brother, and Uncle Su."

"Go to sleep." The landlady blushed, hugged her daughter, and patted her, forcibly putting her into sleep.

She, however, stared intently at the oil lamp on the table, where a tiny moth was drawn to the flame…

~~
The atmosphere in my uncle's room was quite different.

The eldest aunt sat cross-legged on the bed, rustling the twenty one-tael silver coins.

"Alright, stop counting. You can count it again and you won't get an extra ounce or two." The uncle pulled his feet out of the foot basin and said while wiping them, "He looks like he's never seen money before."

“I’ve never seen it. What’s wrong? In all these years, has the money I’ve ever had exceeded ten taels?” Auntie said, craning her neck. “The most I ever had was last year. I finally saved up eight and a half taels, but then I lost it all in a flash.”

"Are you feeling better now?" the uncle asked with a smile.

"That's right." Auntie said, taking out a money box from the bedside table, taking out a key to open the lid, and pouring out the copper coins, silver pieces, and paper money inside to count them. "We saved four taels and three mace and two qian in the first half of the year by being frugal. Two taels of this is for Qiu-ge's tuition."

"So all I can move is two taels and three mace and two qian." Auntie said, overjoyed, "That's great, now we have twenty taels more!"

“You haven’t even calculated my salary increase yet,” the uncle said smugly. “Although the monthly salary only increased by one shi (a unit of dry measure) from a junior officer to a senior officer, and even that was halved, your husband’s job isn’t based on a salary.”

"I know, it's like scraping the land." Even my aunt knew what she was doing: "How much can they scrape in a month?"

“I’ve inquired. When Commander Liu was in charge, after deducting the tributes to his superiors, he could still earn at least five taels a month,” the uncle said. “And during holidays, it would be even more.”

"So much? How much are you planning to scrape, husband?" Auntie asked.

"Originally, we planned to follow the rules. Those merchants felt the same way; they'd be grateful if I didn't raise prices," the uncle said thoughtfully.

"But now that we have this income, I think we should be lenient and go easy on them. Our family is now a family of scholars, and I can't ruin the children's reputation."

"How light is it?" Auntie asked. She knew nothing about things outside the family, nor would she meddle.

"We should only give what's due, and we can't break the rules," the uncle said, already having a plan. "As for myself, two or three taels a month isn't too much, is it?"

"If you think it's okay, then it's okay." Aunt nodded, then calculated, "Second Uncle pays the family two taels a month, Chun-ge'er pays one and a half taels a month, and what about Xia-ge'er? How much does he earn now?"

"What's the point of working at the distillery now? Everyone's working for free. How can the second-in-command get paid? Let's wait until the end of the year and see." The uncle said confidently, "I think the proprietress and Qiu-ge'er have a good plan. They'll probably make a fortune when they're all together."

"Alright, let's not count his for now." After doing the math, the eldest aunt stared in disbelief and said, "We have twenty-four taels in hand now, and we can still earn eight or nine taels every month, not even counting the year-end bonus."

As she spoke, she looked at her uncle with tears welling up in her eyes and said, "Husband, our family's life is really getting better!"

"You're only just realizing it now?" Uncle chuckled. "Now you understand what 'harmony in the family brings prosperity' means, right? Our good days are yet to come!"

"Yes, yes, we absolutely can't let him fall back this time." Auntie carefully calculated, "I need to carefully plan how to spend... First, I need to prepare the tuition for Qiu-ge'er for the remaining two years. Now that we have money, and the weather is starting to get cooler, we shouldn't let him travel back and forth anymore. Let him board at school starting next month."

"Mmm." The uncle lay down comfortably. Seeing that his wife was going to spend the night with him, he figured she wouldn't make things difficult for him, and he felt incredibly relaxed.

"Also, this summer, both roofs leaked badly, and the tiles will need to be replaced in the fall."

"Chun-ge'er and Xia-ge'er are both grown up now, we still need to save up another dollar to find them wives..."

"Oh dear, if we get another wife, there won't be enough rooms in the house, and we'll have to prepare to build a new house..." Auntie counted and found that there were quite a few places where money would be needed.

"Fortunately, there's no rush this year, we can take it slow." She said, caught between happy worries, "But if I can get this much more by the end of the year, I'll take care of all these things next year!"

Auntie, beaming with joy at the prospect of a bright future, asked Uncle with a chuckle, "Oh dear, husband, have I been thinking too much about the future?" Uncle: *snoring*

Jin Bao'er: "Hoo hoo..."

"Well, I'm the only one who's happy here." Auntie sighed helplessly, then hugged her money and grinned foolishly again.

~~
The results of the mid-year exams were released the next day.

As usual, the students gathered in front of the notice board early in the morning.

When the rankings were posted, everyone was in an uproar.

The number one spot on the list, which had remained unchanged since the start of the semester, has finally changed hands!
It was no longer Zhu Zihe, nor Lin Zhihong, nor Qiao Feng—but Su Lu, who was last in the class when he enrolled!

Although everyone knew this day was destined to come, no one expected it to come so soon.

In just six months, Su achieved a remarkable comeback, going from last place to first! And he surpassed Zhu Zihe, who was previously the undisputed leader with a commanding lead!
"Congratulations to Su for winning first place!" Not only his classmates from Sheng Shen Zhai, but also his peers from Du Xing Zhai congratulated Su Lu.

Stories of ordinary people achieving success against all odds have always been popular, especially when the person who achieves success is a rich young man from a big city, making it even more relatable!
Only the people of Mingzhizhai still said things they didn't mean, like "What's so great about getting lucky once in a while..."

In fact, they also thought Su Lu was remarkable, but they had to say the opposite out of respect for Zhu Zihe.

To everyone's surprise, Zhu Zihe was unmoved and simply said in a low voice, "Gentlemen, do not deceive yourselves; you will only make yourselves a laughingstock."

Then he stared intently at the first model essay and said, "Look at his essay, do you see even a hint of luck in it?"

Everyone looked over as instructed, and someone, as usual, began to recite:

"The Dao pervades the universe, and its principles are subtle and profound! Expensive practices are used to understand the Dao, and they contain hidden meanings. The superior man progresses from the manifest to the subtle, and thus the Dao is revealed..."

After listening to the essay section, the peers exclaimed in admiration, "Su's writing is still insightful and unparalleled!"

The classmate then began reading the eight-legged essay section:
"...The interplay of knowledge and concealment is essential; like a kite soaring to the heavens, it reveals the Way. The manifest and the subtle are seamlessly connected; like a fish leaping in the abyss, it conceals the truth. Extensive learning and careful inquiry explore the vast and profound; thoughtful reflection and clear discernment delve into the hidden and obscure. To discuss the hidden and concealment without the teachings is like climbing a tree; to abandon the concealment and discuss the teachings is like chasing after trivialities!"

"Excellent! Excellent!" the classmates cheered. "Student Su has mastered the eight-legged essay! Not only is his reasoning brilliant, but his parallel prose is also exceptionally beautiful!"

The classmate then recited the rest of the text in one breath:

"Fei represents the traces of the Way, encompassing the six directions; Yin represents the true principle, encompassing the mind. To travel far, one must start from the near, following Fei to enter Yin. To ascend high, one must start from the low, through Yin to understand the whole. The traces of the sage are the constant principles of the gentleman."

"It encompasses all things, and penetrates even the smallest details; its manifestation and concealment are perfectly integrated, revealing the Dao. Its manifestation and concealment complement each other, and knowledge and action are united. The virtuous person practices what they preach, and their virtue flourishes!"

Equally profound and brilliant in its conciseness... at least at their level, there's nothing to criticize.

"The final section is especially brilliant!" The classmates exclaimed in admiration, "What a wonderful line, 'Mutual support between Fei and Yin, unity of knowledge and action, a gentleman's practice brings prosperity!' Even the teacher probably couldn't have written these lines!"

“I think ‘The sage’s path is the model of the gentleman’s constant virtue’ is even more thought-provoking!” Some classmates disagreed, but there was an undisputed consensus that Su had finally completed the evolution of parallel prose, achieving a brilliant beginning and a powerful ending!

Even this time, the parallel prose, especially the ending, is more brilliant than Mao Zi's!
If he doesn't get first place, who will?!
~~
When everyone looked at Zhu Zihe's article again, although it was as excellent as ever in terms of geography and diction, and even improved from the last time, it was indeed inferior to Su Lu's article.

At this moment, everyone saw Zhu Zihe walk up to Su Lu, bow deeply, and say, "Brother Qiji, I admit that you have a slight advantage this time, but I will not admit defeat! You must beat me at least once more to prove that it was not a coincidence before I will admit that I am your defeated opponent!"

After saying that, he turned and left, just like before.

Su Lu remained silent, rubbing his nose helplessly.

Qiao Feng chuckled from the side, "Why is this guy so dramatic?"

"He's not entirely lacking in gentlemanly manners," Lin Zhihong said with a smile, "but he's particularly self-centered."

"Isn't that just a spoiled brat?" Li Qiyu was always quick to tease. As soon as he said that, everyone knew Zhu was doomed; he'd be stuck with that nickname at the academy forever.

"You did really well on the test, why are you criticizing others?" Su Dan flicked Li Qiyu on the back of the head. He had improved from twentieth to sixteenth place this time, and was in a very good mood.

"Of course!" Li Qiyu said proudly, "My brother taught me for half a year, and now it's time to see the results!"

He went from twenty-seven to twenty-three, and now he speaks with his head held high in front of his older brother when he goes home.

Everyone else also improved; Cheng Wanzhou rose from twenty-fourth to nineteenth place.

Ma Qianli improved from 26th to 25th place.

The one who made the most progress was Cheng Wanfan, who jumped from thirty-five to twenty-seven and narrowly won another point.

"As expected, the lower the starting point, the greater the room for improvement..." Li Qiyu teased his fellow sufferer.

"Go to hell." This time, Cheng Wanfan didn't kiss him, but kicked him in the butt.

P.S. This chapter is an extra chapter for the new patron, thank you for the support of the new patron 'Liu Er 1979', please arrange extra roles as soon as possible!
(End of this chapter)