Top Scholar

Chapter 53 The Boy with a Blank Paper
Regardless of how the other students felt, Su Lu was certainly enlightened. Mr. Zhang's resounding words completely dispelled his disdain for the rigid, formulaic essay style!

Indeed, some people think they have great abilities, yet after a lifetime of diligent study, they can't even master a single 'mechanical and rigid' article. Their true abilities are questionable.

There's a saying that goes, "The strong never complain about their circumstances." Since the eight-legged essay is a requirement for the exam, then train yourself to write an excellent one and stand out!
Su Lu was filled with excitement, feeling a surge of heroic ambition to brave the rapids and see who would rise to the top, but unfortunately, he was immediately doused with cold water...

After the break, Mr. Zhang gave the students a very simple question: "Filial piety and brotherly love are the foundation of benevolence." He asked them to try to write a solution and instructed them to:

"Just two sentences are needed to explain the relationship between 'filial piety and brotherly love' and 'benevolence as the foundation,' and they must conform to Zhu Xi's annotations without adding a single word of personal opinion."

This wasn't difficult for most students, and even Su Dan knew a little bit about it. Only Su Lu was completely clueless; he had no idea what "solving the problem" meant or how to solve it...

Actually, if he really wanted to write something, he could have written at least a couple of sentences. But Su Lu felt that writing randomly was pointless, so he handed in a blank paper.

~~
So, unsurprisingly, he was kept after school again...

Amidst the gloating gazes of Sanwan and the others, Su Lu followed the teacher into the side room for lesson preparation.

Mr. Zhang pointed to the blank paper he handed in and asked, "How do you explain this?"

“Teacher, I don’t know.” Su Lu said honestly, “I don’t know what ‘breaking the question’ means. I don’t know, so I dare not write it down.”

"What? You don't know?" Mr. Zhang said incredulously, "Although I'll only explain the basics tomorrow, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've still seen pigs run, right? You've studied elementary education for so many years, how could you not know these most basic things?"

“Sir, I have never attended elementary school,” Su Lu said with a wry smile. “I really don’t understand what ‘breaking the question’ means.”

"Impossible. I can't be wrong! You have the strongest scholarly air about you in the whole class." Mr. Zhang shook his head decisively.

"Does the gentleman mean I'm the most like a bookworm?" Su Lu couldn't help but smile wryly.

"No, it's a unique quality that comes from spending a lot of time with books—inner clarity and outer gentleness." Mr. Zhang took off his turban and examined Su Lu, saying, "It's what they call 'a person with a wealth of knowledge naturally exudes elegance,' but how can you be so ignorant?"

Su Lu said with embarrassment, "Sir, you flatter me. I am only fourteen years old and started studying late. Perhaps I am a bit dull and gave you the wrong impression."

"Strange. Could it be that my physiognomy skills are no longer accurate?" Mr. Zhang shook his head in confusion.

“Sir, no matter what, this is my situation,” Su Lu said, bowing deeply. “Please teach me how to catch up.”

"You're too late. The exam is in two months. How could you possibly accumulate eight points?" Mr. Zhang sighed, helpless.

“Sir, I believe that anything is possible with human effort. I will not give up until I have completely lost hope!” Su Lu bowed deeply again and said sincerely, “I also beg you not to give up on your student.”

Mr. Zhang felt that gentle and peaceful yet profound scholarly air again. Besides, as a teacher, how could he give up on a student who was eager to learn on the very first day?

"Sigh, alright. I'll try my best to teach you, but how much you learn depends on your own comprehension." Zhang Yanqiu sighed, rummaged through his desk, picked up a thick, blue-covered, thread-bound book, and handed it to Su Lu.
"This book, 'On Learning', from the Southern Song Dynasty, is specifically about solving problems. The opening chapter, 'On Secrets,' contains discussions on problem-solving by prominent Neo-Confucian scholars. When it was reprinted in the fifth year of the Chenghua era, it also included the words of various writers from the current dynasty. Go back and take a good look at it tonight, so you won't be completely clueless in class tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir." Su Lu took the book and bowed deeply for the umpteenth time, saying, "I will make up for this basic knowledge as soon as possible."

“Actually, an essay of only a few hundred words, if you break it down and explain it in detail, the rules are just the same.” Zhang Yanqiu sighed again and said, “Knowing how to write an eight-legged essay is easy, but writing a good one is extremely difficult.”

“Take it one step at a time. Even a slow horse can cover ten days’ journey if it perseveres.” Su Lu said calmly, “Teacher, you only need to tell me how to improve, and I will do my best.”

“Okay.” Mr. Zhang nodded and said, “The method is very simple, it can be summed up in four words—memorize more and practice more.”

"What are you carrying?" Su Lu asked.

“The famous essays, manuscripts, and other writings are all available in the academy’s library. You can borrow them. As the saying goes, ‘If you read a thousand or so ancient poems, you can recite them even if you can’t compose them.’ Once you’ve memorized a thousand essays, you will naturally be able to imitate and learn from them until you can write your own articles.”

"As for diligent practice, it naturally means writing more. But don't start by writing the whole text; that's too difficult and won't develop your skills. You need to learn how to 'break the topic' first—it consists of two sentences that explain the gist of the topic. It sounds simple, but it's the key to the whole piece and requires the highest level of skill."

"Once you've mastered the opening paragraph, try writing the 'response paragraph'—about three to five sentences that connect the preceding and following paragraphs and open up the whole piece."

“Once the topic is completed satisfactorily, then learn to write the ‘introduction’ – the introduction consists of about ten sentences, and from then on, one begins to ‘explain the topic’s meaning with the words of the sages.”

"From the initial introduction to the main points, this is collectively called the 'preface,' which serves as the introduction to the entire text. You can practice this section together to achieve a comprehensive understanding," Mr. Zhang concluded.

"Once the 'preface' is satisfactory, then you can write the whole piece. We'll discuss how to write the whole piece later. In short, starting with the simple and gradually moving to the complex is a good way to learn literature. Once you can write a good eight-legged essay, whatever you write—poetry or prose—will be done with the same precision and skill. But if your eight-legged essay is poorly written, whatever you produce will be nothing but wild and heretical teachings."

"Yes. I will remember your teachings, sir." Su Lu bowed deeply for the third time, then left the preparation room with the book "On Learning".

It was still early before dinner. In the lecture hall, many boarding students remained seated, finishing the homework assigned by the teacher while it was still light.

Upon seeing Su Lu return, the buck-toothed Cheng Wanfan chuckled and said, "On the first day of school, you were kept after class twice by the teacher. You're quite the character."

The effeminate Cheng Wanzhou snorted, "You're really disgracing Erlangtan." "You should just drop out of school and stop suffering like this," said the pockmarked Cheng Wantang coldly. "You have a much brighter future selling your sweet drink."

"You know quite a lot," Su Lu said with a smile, unperturbed. "Is the proprietress your aunt? She's suffered such a terrible ordeal, why haven't you shown your face?"

"The Cheng family are all selfish people." Jiao Jing'er had already packed Su Lu's book box.

Su Lu took the book box and slung it over his shoulder, saying calmly, "Don't say that, after all, my aunt is also a daughter of the Cheng family..."

Lore!

"You!" The three thousand men instantly blushed. They considered last year's marriage a great disgrace, and Su Lu was rubbing salt into their wounds!

"Alright, alright, we've all been classmates, let's not be so confrontational all the time." Ma Zhaizhang, with a square face, came in carrying a bucket and mop and said, "Everyone, go out, it's time to clean the lecture hall."

The Su brothers then left the school.

~~
On the way home, Su Dan asked with concern, "What did the master want with you this time?"

"I didn't know what 'breaking the problem' meant, so the teacher called me over to give me some guidance," Su Lu replied.

"Sigh, this day has been exhausting," Su Dan said with a wry smile. "Don't even mention me, I'm the same way."

“Yes, compared to them, we are far too weak.” Su Lu nodded and said, “You are better off; I was completely in the dark.”

"I'm not much better than you, I've just read a couple more books," Su said calmly. "I often consult with the teachers at the clan school."

"Then we must seize every minute and catch up!" Su Lu suggested. "The teacher said that to write a good eight-legged essay, one must memorize at least a thousand Cheng Mo essays! We can memorize them on our way to and from school, so that we can accumulate knowledge gradually and fill our minds with knowledge as soon as possible!"

"Great idea!" Su Dan, a study fanatic, exclaimed with delight, "Walking while reciting texts is a wonderful method of memorization?"

"Well, I guess so..." Su Lu said with a smile, "But it's already late today, let's hurry on our way so our families don't keep waiting."

"Okay!" Su Dan nodded, and the two of them took off their new clothes, changed back into their old clothes, and ran home.

By the time I got home, it was already dark.

Little Jinbao, however, was waiting for him on the stilted house, and as soon as he saw Su Lu come upstairs, he cheered and rushed down. "Sanguo's out of school!"

Su Lu caught Jinbao steadily, but noticed that there was a slightly older little girl standing to the side.

"Hello, Brother Qiu." It was He Tiantian, the little comrade-in-arms who sold sweet soup with me. Well, she's already ten years old, much older than Xiaodouzi and Jinbao'er.

"Tiantian's here," Su Lu said with a smile. "Is your mother inside?"

"Yes, I came with my mom." Little Tiantian nodded. After not seeing her for a few days, the little girl was a bit shy again.

"Come on, let's go inside." Su Lu then carried his younger sister and led her into the main room.

Inside the main room, the hearth was burning brightly, and an oil lamp was lit, illuminating the four walls.

The proprietress sat by the fire pit, chatting animatedly with the old lady...

The rest of the family was there, but they couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Upon seeing Su Lu enter, the proprietress smiled and said, "My son is back."

Su Lu knew immediately what she was there for, so he smiled and bowed, saying, "Your son greets his godmother."

That's right, the proprietress is here to formally acknowledge him as her godson.

After the Lantern Festival temple fair ended, Sweet Water Shop finally closed down. The owner's wife returned from town the day before yesterday and invited the creditors to her home. Each creditor paid 30% of the debt first, and she promised to pay off the rest by the end of the year.

The creditors had all heard that the proprietress had made money selling sweet soup at the temple fair, but they never imagined it would be this profitable. They calculated that if she could pay back 30% in just one month, wouldn't she be able to pay off all her debts in less than six months?

Besides, once the New Year is over, creditors are usually less anxious. With a 30% repayment guarantee, it proves the other party isn't going to default, so they're no longer in a hurry. They all agreed to the landlady's terms and happily took the money home.

The proprietress finally breathed a sigh of relief; now she didn't have to face creditors all day. After tidying herself up, she came to the door, feeling refreshed and ready to formally become the godparent!

(End of this chapter)