Top Scholar

Chapter 86 Elimination
It's true that Su Lu stole the spotlight from Zhu Zihe, but everyone was more concerned about their own performance.

Su Dan's ranking improved from 28th last time to 24th this time, securing another point.

This time, only 28 people got one point, which is significantly less than the 35 people who got one point last time.

Cheng Wanzhou was ranked twenty-eighth.

Cheng Wanzhou was ranked thirty-third last time, but this time he improved by five places and luckily gained a point. He couldn't help but feel extremely fortunate that he had pulled back from the brink and swore brotherhood in time, otherwise he would have definitely failed this time.

His gaze towards Su Lu was practically melting. Cheng Wanzhou's grammar had improved dramatically over the past month, all thanks to 'Teacher Su's' special training!
Ma Zhaizhang was just as lucky as Cheng Wanzhou. He had made some progress this time, rising from thirtieth to twenty-seventh, narrowly holding onto his spot by one point. He was overjoyed and put his arm around Su Lu's shoulder, saying, "Thanks to my brother's lucky book box!"

Don't let his seemingly innocent appearance fool you; he's actually quite shrewd and would never reveal the secret of Su Lu's tutoring to outsiders.

Li Qiyu was unlucky. He ranked 41st last time and 34th this time, improving by seven places as he hoped. But the cutoff score had gone up... so he unfortunately only got half a point again.

There are only seven monthly classes left, which means there's only half a minute of leeway left—the pressure is immense! He's definitely not happy anymore…

Su Dan patted his shoulder and comforted him, "It's okay, you and my brother still split the money equally..."

"How can I compare to my older brother?" Li Qiyu said, laughing and crying at the same time. "My older brother's career is on a straight upward trajectory, while mine has been stagnant."

Cheng Wanfan, who has buck teeth, improved from 50th to 42nd place. Although he still only got half a point, the improvement was significant.

Unlike Li Qiyu, who looked dejected, Cheng Wanfan was overjoyed. Because anything below forty-fifth place meant zero points. If it weren't for Su Lu's special training that improved his ranking, he would definitely have gotten zero this time.

In this month's exam, besides Su Lu, the one who made the most progress was actually Cheng Wantang, who jumped from fifty-third to fortieth place, a rise of thirteen places. He also finally earned his first half point!
The problem is that he had previously scored two zeros... Half a point was not enough to keep him in the academy.

This time, however, Cheng Wantang didn't lose his composure like before. Instead, he calmly accepted everything. Because he was mentally prepared. He knew he had absolutely no chance of scoring one point eight times in a row…

So when the results of the last exam came out, he was destined to be eliminated. He was already content to have achieved a decent ranking and scored points in such a difficult exam.

From 45th place onwards, everyone gets zero points. And the last time someone got zero points was from 52nd place…

As a result, a total of ten students are going to be expelled today...

Two of them are in Sheng Shen Zhai, three are in Ming Zhi Zhai, and the remaining five are in Du Xing Zhai.

~~
The three schools were shrouded in gloom and filled with the sadness of parting.

The young classmates had just formed a bond. Moreover, the pressure from the "ascension to higher levels of fasting" fell on each individual; it was a battle against oneself. The departure of classmates would not increase their chances of staying.

Moreover, the teenagers didn't have such complicated calculations; their hearts were filled only with reluctance to part and sorrow for their kind.

In the Sheng Shen Zhai classroom, classmates surrounded Cheng Wantang and another classmate who was about to leave, unsure how to comfort them. Everyone looked sorrowful; those with a gentle nature like Cheng Wanzhou burst into tears.

Mr. Zhang stood outside the school, listening to the sobbing inside, and for the first time hesitated to go in.

In fact, Sheng Shen Zhai did very well in this exam. Both its overall performance and the number of students who remained were the best among the three Zhais.

At the start of the school year, their overall grades were the worst...

Sun Shan and the student before him were both in his class, how could they not be bad?

His ability to lead his class to a remarkable turnaround in just four months is unprecedented in the academy's history. He has also received high praise from all the teachers, with Vice Headmaster Qian stating that he has been ranked first in the first half of the year's teaching performance evaluation!

But Mr. Zhang was not happy at all; he felt sorry for the two children who were going to be expelled from school.

Because they were both diligent and eager to learn, and they never slacked off for a single day!

But Mr. Zhang was powerless to help... In fact, after the results came out yesterday, he went to see the headmaster, hoping for leniency and to allow his two children to study for a few more months to see how they fared.

Zhu Liu shook his head and said, "It's meaningless. Even if you give them a few more months, do you think they can go from being lagging behind to being outstanding like Su Lu?"

"..." Mr. Zhang was a man of integrity and could not lie through his teeth, so he could only shake his head and say, "People's talents vary greatly, and talents like Su Lu's are one in a million."

"Then what's the point of keeping them here for a few more months?" Headmaster Zhu spread his hands and said, "What good will it do them besides wasting time and money to study the eight-legged essay for a few more months?"

Mr. Zhang was speechless.

"Besides, the standards I set are already quite lenient. Around the thirtieth place can get one point; around the fiftieth place can get half a point. There's still a full two points of leeway! If they can still be eliminated after only three monthly lessons under these circumstances, what level are these students? Do you need to say more? Do you expect them to pass the imperial examination?" Zhu Liu said, emphasizing his point.

Mr. Zhang was increasingly speechless. "So keeping them around is just a way to scam money. Do you want the academy to scam money?" Zhu Liu looked at Mr. Zhang.

Mr. Zhang shook his head.

"We'll have to send them away sooner or later anyway, so it's better to end it now than suffer for a long time. Hurry up and go back to find a job so you can start earning money for your family sooner!" Zhu Liu then laid out his theory clearly and logically.

"But has the headmaster considered this?" Mr. Zhang then slowly said, "Those children clearly haven't done anything wrong; in fact, they're more diligent than many of their classmates. Yet, they're being expelled after only four months of schooling. How will they see themselves? How will the people around them view them when they go back?"

Mr. Zhang took a deep breath and said, "They are clearly very outstanding children, yet they have to fall into self-doubt and be ridiculed by those around them who are far inferior to them. This is not fair, Headmaster!"

These words were unexpected for Zhu Liu. He crossed his arms and pondered for a while before finally speaking slowly:

"When you wanted me to make an exception and give Su Lu a higher score, I said that rules are rules, and if they are broken, there are no more rules."

Seeing that he was unmoved by reason, Zhang Yanqiu finally lost his temper, slammed his fist on the table, and shouted: "Your damned 'Method of Ascending Fasting' is utterly inhumane!"

The headmaster wasn't annoyed, but simply said, "You're right. But the imperial examination has always been an inhumane place, where success or failure is the only measure of worth. Only the strong are qualified to move forward! So I'm here to cultivate the strong, not to be a wet nurse for the weak."

"Even if you were to act as a wet nurse for the weak, it wouldn't be as petty and righteous as you! Your efforts in nurturing a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) would be far more meritorious than taking care of a hundred students! Putting aside everything else, after the Jinshi passes the examinations, you should request the court to dredge the Chishui River and restore shipping, so that our fellow villagers can all benefit!"

"..." In the debate, Mr. Zhang was clearly no match for Zhu Liu. And what Zhu Liu said was also true.

Seeing that Zhang Yanqiu was silent, Zhu Liu tossed him a betel leaf roll and took one for himself, slowly chewing it. He had been in Taiping Town for more than half a year and had also learned to chew this stuff to refresh himself and relieve boredom.

The two chewed on betel leaf rolls for a while. The atmosphere eased, and Zhu Liu slowly said:

"Everything has its advantages and disadvantages; we can only weigh the pros and cons. You should also see that in the four months since the 'Ranking System' was implemented, the students in the lower ranks have made great progress. Half of the students' essays have already surpassed those of their seniors in the middle ranks. Isn't this stark contrast precisely caused by the 'Ranking System' that you hate?"

“Indeed,” Zhang Yanqiu had to admit. “This brutal elimination system keeps students constantly on edge, forcing them to keep moving forward and never daring to relax for a moment.”

“They’ll still get complacent.” Zhu Liu slowly shook his head and said, “Do you know why the questions were particularly difficult this time? It’s because I found that after four months of adjustment, the students started to relax. Since they can easily get a point on a test, they naturally feel that the monthly exams aren’t so scary.”

“That’s why I need to make things a bit more difficult to intimidate them,” Zhu Liu continued. “The same principle applies: keeping those few children around will completely negate the deterrent effect of the Ascension Rank Method, causing more children to become complacent! On the contrary, sending them away will make all the children completely afraid to relax.”

He waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. Fairness is ruthless. You can't have both fairness and human kindness."

Mr. Zhang ultimately failed to persuade the headmaster...

~~
At this moment, the sound of the blackboard during class brought Mr. Zhang back to his senses.

He exhaled a long breath and walked heavily into the lecture hall.

"Stand at attention!" Master Ma shouted, leading the entire class to bow to Mr. Zhang.

Mr. Zhang looked at the two students and said softly, "You are both my good students. Always be proud of yourselves, remember that?"

"Yes, sir." Cheng Wantang and the other man finally couldn't hold back their tears.

"Let's finish today's class first and then talk about it." Mr. Zhang's eyes also reddened.

~~
The entire day was filled with an overwhelming sense of sorrow and parting.

At the end of the school day, Ma Zhaizhang, on behalf of all the students, gave commemorative albums to the two students who were leaving.

It was actually just two blank academy workbooks, but everyone wrote farewell messages on them.

Su Lu had originally intended to write something encouraging, like, "Mountains and rivers have their course, but our steps never cease; all experiences are but a prologue." However, when he put pen to paper, he changed it to two simple lines of blessing.
May peace always be with you, and may joy always be with you.

May the four seasons be prosperous and the years peaceful and serene.

In this day and age, what future do these children from the mountains have besides studying?

Leaving the academy, one can already see the end of their life ahead...

Finally, everyone reluctantly saw their two former classmates off at the mountain gate. After a tearful farewell, the two turned back again and again, leaving this beautiful yet cruel academy forever.

(End of this chapter)