Top Scholar

Chapter 59 The Poor Newcomer

Seeing his father wallowing in self-doubt, Su Lu felt deeply distressed. The Yangtze River flows on, the new waves pushing the old aside, the old waves dying on the beach. Only the new wave laughs; who hears the cries of the old?

However, he still insisted that Comrade Youcai was a bit too young to consider himself a "veteran," and then advised him: "The inscription on Tang's basin says: 'If you can improve yourself one day, improve yourself every day, and keep improving yourself.' Therefore, a gentleman should abandon the old and embrace the new."

After Su Lu finished speaking, he suddenly realized that his way of speaking was starting to resemble that of a scholar, with his mouth constantly quoting classical texts.

This is not good; it needs to be changed...

"Though Zhou was an old state, did its mandate ever change?" Su Youcai said with a wry smile.

“That’s right, it’s not too late to change course.” Su Lu said in a deep voice, “If Father doesn’t mind, I can teach you the knowledge I’ve learned every night.”

"You want to become my teacher instead?" Even if Su Youcai was unpretentious, he still had his own set of rules. He said, half-laughing and half-crying, "How absurd! This is completely turning the tables!"

Su Lu, however, said in a serious tone: "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me. Regardless of rank or age, wherever the Way exists, there the teacher exists."

“That’s true…” Su Youcai didn’t want to argue with him, so he waved his hand and said, “You should focus on yourself. You’re already lagging behind in your studies, how can you be half-hearted?”

“It won’t interfere with anything. Anyway, I tell my second brother about it every day, and it’s very beneficial for me.” Su Lu remembered that he had told Su Youcai about the 'Feynman Learning Technique'. “Right, brother?”

"Hoo hoo..." Su Tai didn't give him much face.

"Alright, I know you mean well," Su Youcai patted Su Lu on the shoulder and said, "but I've already resigned from my teaching position. Let me take a break from books for a while."

He rested his hands behind his head, gazed at the waning moon obscured by lingering clouds outside the window, and recited in a melancholy tone:

"A lingering star accompanies the moon through the sparse window; twenty-seven years have passed, yet my ambition remains unfulfilled."

"In my childhood, I studied the classics until the leather thongs broke; looking back, I only find my temples are now frosted with age."

"..." Su Lu thought to himself, you don't have a single gray hair, okay? But I can understand, can you be called a scholar if you don't exaggerate?
"For twenty-seven years I've been confined to my study, stagnating and making no progress. To be honest, I'm tired of it. Now, when I talk about scriptures, my mind becomes a mess, and I can't calm down at all." Su Youcai said with a sigh, "You're currently in the midst of your studies, so you wouldn't understand this kind of pain even if I told you."

“Then Father really should take some time off to relax.” Su Lu understood this perfectly.

"It's so good that you understand your father." Su Youcai smiled at his son with relief and said, "I want to do something else first, keep myself busy to make a living, and see if I can forget those deeply ingrained things in my mind. If I can, I will come to learn from you, and I hope you will not hesitate to teach me then."

"Of course, no problem..." Su Lu was no ordinary person. He looked at Su Youcai suspiciously and asked, "Father, have you already found someone else?"

Based on his understanding of his father, he believed that the family would not give up the meager but stable income of being a teacher when they were struggling financially.

"No way, don't make wild guesses." Su Youcai quickly denied it, "It's not easy for an old scholar like me, who can't even kill a chicken, to find a suitable job."

"If you can't do it, then go work for your godmother," Su Lu suggested.

"Ahem, this is an adult matter, kids shouldn't worry about it." The old man became increasingly embarrassed, coughing repeatedly, and said, "Go to sleep now."

Su Lu had no choice but to stop talking. After washing up and lying down, he said to his restless father, "There's something else... My elder brother is going to take the provincial examination, which will probably cost us some money."

“Of course. Chun-ge’er left before the New Year and has been away for two months. Even if he’s been frugal, he must be short of money by now.” Su Youcai sighed. “Otherwise, given his personality, he probably wouldn’t be staying at your uncle’s house.”

Because the house my uncle is living in now was bought by my aunt's family.

A good man doesn't live off a woman, unless he has bad teeth...

"or?"

"How about it?" the father and son said in unison, clearly thinking the same thing.

"This matter has to be decided by you. It's all agreed that it's specifically for your schooling," Su Youcai said. "If we don't take it out, no one will say anything."

"Let's take it out. I'm already very touched that my uncle and aunt have this kind thought. My brother is so devoted to me, how could I bear to see him suffer in embarrassment outside?" Su Lu laughed. "Besides, it's still a long time before the next tuition payment. I don't believe that our family will still be worried about this little bit of money then!"

He wasn't confident in himself, but rather in his incredibly capable godmother.

“That’s true, there’s still plenty of time. Let’s give your older brother some emergency relief first.” Su Youcai agreed.

~~
The next day, Su Youcai took out three strings of cash.

"What are you doing?" the uncle asked.

“Everyone says that the provincial examination is the most expensive, and Chun-ge’er must be broke by now. Brother, take this money to him.” Su Youcai pushed the wallet in front of his uncle.

"That won't do!" The uncle quickly pushed the money back to Su Youcai. "Didn't we agree that this money was specifically for Qiu-ge'er's schooling?"

“Qiu-ge’er’s tuition has already been paid, and it won’t cost much for him to commute.” Su Youcai pushed it back again. “He offered it himself, it’s pointless for you to keep pushing it back, brother.”

"Qiu-ge'er is such a sensible child," the uncle exclaimed. "The more he acts like this, the less I can bear to take the money."

The eldest aunt tried to speak several times, but held back. She had saved another two taels of silver since the New Year… mainly from the wedding gifts she received yesterday.

The higher one climbs in the imperial examinations, the greater the expenses become; two taels of silver is indeed insufficient. If the second son's three strings of cash could be added, making five taels would be ideal.

"Alright, stop with the fuss!" In the end, the old man made the decision: "We're family, no need for formalities. This money will be given to Chun-ge. And without fail, we'll take five hundred coins from the eldest son's monthly salary and save it. In half a year, won't we have enough for Qiu-ge's tuition?" "That's a good idea," the eldest aunt said with a beaming smile. "They're all my children, I won't shortchange any of them."

However, in the end, my uncle only accepted two strings of cash.

Because he also had a secret stash of money...

The second son and his father had already brought out all their savings; if he were to keep anything hidden, would he still be human?

Although my uncle can be quite unreasonable at times, he never fails in matters of principle...

~~
At the end of February, my uncle set off with my aunt on a donkey.

It was a donkey carrying my aunt, don't misunderstand.

The journey was too arduous, so the others could only send their best wishes from afar.

Before leaving, my aunt steamed two large pots of flatbread, enough for the family to eat until she returned.

With his aunt away, the task of cooking fell to Su Tai. Xia Ge'er was skillful and could easily stir-fry a dish, prepare porridge, and heat up a pancake.

Speaking of Xia Ge'er, there's something else that made Su Lu both laugh and cry.

The students at the academy had varying levels of financial resources, but most came from wealthy families; those who weren't rich wouldn't have been able to send their children to the academy. Many students took a liking to Su Lu's book box and inquired where he had bought it.

Su Lu had planned to introduce a few business deals to his second brother, hoping to rip them off a little. However, when he proudly announced that his second brother had personally crafted the items, the potential buyers hesitated for a moment before backing out.

"What's going on?" Su Lu didn't quite understand the young man's mentality, so he asked his two friends to help analyze it: "Why did they lose interest when they heard that it was made by my second brother? Do they even care about brands? Maybe next time I should say it was a custom order from 'Tai Kee Woodware Shop'?"

"What brand?" Li Qiyu asked, sipping the loquat-flavored 'Golden Jade Dew' that Su Lu had offered, not understanding what it meant. "Is it a ci (lyric) or qu (musical) tune, or the top-ranked piece in 'Maple Forest Evening'?"

"You guys... uh, us young people, do you want to buy products from big brands as much as possible?" Su Lu said, "For example, if you want to drink sweet water, just drink Sweet Water Diary."

"No way? I haven't heard of anyone having this problem." Su Dan shook her head and said, "Maybe city people can have it, but in our rural area, nobody would know which shop it is..."

Li Qiyu took a sip of sweet loquat juice and said with a satisfied smile, "It's so juicy. As for the brand, it's really just because of you."

"What do you mean?" Su Lu asked hastily.

"Think about it," Li Qiyu said in a shrill voice, pointing and whispering, "carrying a book box as conspicuous as yours around the academy. What would people say about him?" "The same book box as Sun Shan! Who could stand that?"

"Don't talk about my brother like that," Su Dan said, displeased.

"Can you handle it?" Li Qiyu asked him.

"..." Su Dan remained silent.

"Sun Shan's style bookcase..." Su Lu chewed on these six words, his breathing becoming a little heavy. "You can't get over this joke, can you?"

"Brother, I didn't mean to upset you, you were the one who insisted on asking." Li Qiyu felt embarrassed, since the other party had treated him to such a delicious 'Golden Jade Dew'.

"It's alright, I understand." Su Lu quickly calmed down and said calmly, "I'll let them know that my name is Su Lu, not Sun Shan!"

"Good, that's ambitious!" Li Qiyu quickly encouraged him, "The best way is to improve your ranking in the monthly exam in ten days! As long as you're not last, no one will call you Sun Shan anymore."

"Hmm." Su Lu nodded, but it was indeed quite difficult.

Because the class had a weekly exam every ten days, where the teacher would set questions and give tests, followed by a critique of the students' essays, Su Lu was well aware that his own writing skills were still far behind everyone else's.

His only real chance to compete is with these two people in front of him... so much so that they are often said to be "birds of a feather flock together".

"How about..." Li Qiyu, feeling obligated to his brother and unwilling to see him suffer, slapped his thigh and said, "This time I'll deliberately go easy on you in the monthly exam and put you second to last!"

Seeing this, Su Dan couldn't let someone with a different surname have all the credit, so she gritted her teeth and said, "Count me in, and you can get one more spot!"

"..." Su Lu was moved by the boy's reckless friendship, but still resolutely refused, saying, "Nonsense! I don't need you to be my scapegoats! Our goal is to surpass others, not to be each other's bottom!"

"That would be great, but the chances are slim," the two muttered to themselves.

Su Lu couldn't help but sigh... Alas, top schools really are a waste for so-called poor students. How proud Su Dan was when she was standing out in the clan school! She was always ready to argue, a veritable human debater, but now she's so dejected.

"Alright, I've come up with a set of essay-writing secrets during this time. I'll teach them to you during the Qingming Festival holiday in a couple of days, and it should at least help you escape the bottom-ranking situation!" To boost his classmates' morale, Su Lu had no choice but to use the best techniques he had learned from his top instructor.

"That's great, brother! You're my savior!" Su Dan cheered excitedly upon hearing this; he had been waiting for this day for a long time.

"Well, while others are visiting graves, we're having class..." Li Qiyu was speechless. The last-ranked student said he would teach the second-to-last student the secret to getting out of the bottom.

If you have this secret method, why don't you use it yourself?

P.S. It will be available for purchase at midnight on the 11th. Before it goes live, I'd like to ask for some more monthly votes!
(End of this chapter)