Eating big melon is so refreshing

Day after day, month after month.

The sound of reading aloud can be heard in Class C and Class D. The teacher’s teaching method is: the teacher leads the reading, the students follow, the students read by themselves, and the students recite.

Class D only needs to recite "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names" and "Thousand Character Classic" word for word. Class C not only needs to be able to recite but also to write, and know the origin of each story. In addition, "Standards for Being a Good Student", "Enlarged Collection of Wise Sayings" and "Jiaoxue Qionglin" have been added.

After learning and understanding the meaning of all these, students will be promoted to Class B to formally study the Four Books and Five Classics. The Four Books are "The Great Learning", "The Doctrine of the Mean", "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius"; the Five Classics are "The Book of Songs", "The Book of History", "The Book of Rites", "The Book of Changes" and "The Spring and Autumn Annals".

If one wants to pass the county examination at the age of eight, one must memorize the Four Books and Five Classics by heart before the age of eight, and understand the allusions contained therein. Most importantly, one must be able to write eight-part essays, and write them in an original and distinctive way so that people's eyes light up when they read them.

Examiners all have aesthetic fatigue. If you write an article mediocrely, they will definitely give you a big cross. If the content of your article is brilliant but your handwriting is poor, the examiner will also give you a big cross if he or she is impatient!

Xiao Chunya felt that memorizing was no problem, but writing good calligraphy was really difficult. Fortunately, she did not need to take the imperial examination, and there were very few women studying, so even if the words she wrote were a little unpleasant to the eye, she would be understood by others.

There are three girls among the thirty people in Class C. After Lord Ximen fell from power, Grand Tutor Wu was also imprisoned, and Ximen Qianqian and Wu Wan'er disappeared from the list.

Now, in addition to Zhao Chunya, there are also Zhou Miner and Qi Rongrong. These two are daughters of wealthy businessmen. The most important purpose of coming to the county school to study is to catch a rich husband.

The target person is Lin Shaoxuan from Class C!

"Why not Master Mingyue?" Xiao Chunya was a little surprised. She shared gossip with her brother, "Lin Shaoxuan has a good appearance, but his family is very poor. In order to cover his daily expenses, he copies books every day."

"Investment is only suitable for poor people, isn't it?"

Xiao Qiulin glanced at Lin Shaoxuan's face and found no change at all.

Xiao Chunya tilted her big head and said, "So it's investment! The people here are so smart. They know how to invest at such a young age." She admired him very much.

"Sister, do you want to invest too?" His tone was uncertain. It would not be worthwhile if the person investing was such an unlucky and miserable guy like Lin Shaoxuan.

Xiao Chunya shook her head directly and said, "There are already two people vying for investment, so I won't join in the fun."

"What investment?" Fat Luo came over. He got the first place in Class D in the monthly exam at the end of March, and was promoted to Class C as he wished, but the brother and sister were ranked in front while he was at the back.

"Medium! In the middle!"

On April 12, the results of the Qingzhou prefectural examination will be announced. On April 14, the county government office will be notified, and the county school will also be the first to get the news.

“Who won?”

"Wen Daya, Jiang Shangzhou, Li Yue!"

Class A was excited. The results of these three people were neither the best nor the worst. Ten people went out this time, and three of them won the prize. That's a winning rate of 33%, which is a bit hard to describe.

"Gu Yue and Cheng Li were both in the top three in the monthly exam, how could they fail?"

"Yeah, did something happen?"

A voice exploded above the students' heads, "I know the reason. Senior Brother Gu Yue and Senior Brother Cheng Li were assigned to the stinky number. The provincial examination lasted for three days. They could bear it on the first day. They went home and vomited and recovered. Who knew that there were too many people going to the toilet on the second day, and they couldn't bear it and foamed at the mouth on the spot."

Whose voice is this? It sounds a bit familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere before!

The students in Class A and Class B were still guessing, and the students in Class C were staring at Xiao Chunya. They didn't see her speak a word, so could this sound be a secret transmission?

No, secret transmission should be a one-to-one transmission. Many of them heard it, so this is her inner voice!

"Junior sister, you were making a noise just now..."

I wanted to ask if this was Xiao Chunya’s inner voice, but when she said the word “important” it became “Aba Aba”, what’s going on?

"Brother, what do you want to say?"

"Brother Lu stuttered when he was nervous." A clever guy next to him patted his deskmate and said with a smile, "We were lamenting the impermanence of life. Who would have thought that Brother Wen Daya, Jiang Shangzhou, and Li Yue, who usually have average grades, would pass the exam and become Tongsheng."

"Oh." Xiao Chunya responded, and her inner voice continued, "Based on the performance of these three brothers, they would not have been able to pass the examination. It was because on the second day of the provincial examination, I don't know why so many people had diarrhea, and they all performed poorly, so these three brothers took advantage of the opportunity."

That's it!

"Huangyang County is a small place. Every year, there are only 100 people who sign up for the county exam. The top 20 are admitted, which means only 20% of them pass the exam."

Xiao Qiulin said, "There are more than 300 candidates for the Qingzhou Prefecture's provincial exam every year, and the top 45 are admitted, which means a 1.5% pass rate."

Xiao Chunya blabbered, "Our Huangyang County has always been at the bottom. The first place in our county exam might only rank 20th or even lower in Qingzhou Prefecture."

Luo Xiaopang gave a trio of remarks, blah blah blah, "There is still a glimmer of hope for the prefectural exam, but it is basically hopeless for the academy exam. Every year, there are about 800 people taking the academy exam, and there will be an increase of 40 people every year. Only the top 45 will be admitted as scholars. No one in our Huangyang County has passed the exam for 20 years."

Although being a Tongsheng also counts as an achievement, the family's land is not tax-exempt, and the annual labor service cannot be reduced. If there is any benefit, it is that one can open a private school to recruit students and no longer have to work in the fields under the wind and sun.

After working hard for more than ten years, none of those who passed the examination for the title of Tongsheng would be willing to give up taking the examination for the title of Xiucai. Even an old man with white hair would try his best to take the examination. Those whose families were well-off would take the examination every year, while those whose families were not well-off would take the examination every few years.

Examinations, examinations, examinations. The provincial examination was the most tragic. How many scholars regretted their whole life because they failed to pass the examination.

"That voice just now... was that Haruko-chan?"

"Shh, don't let her know."

Studying is boring and tedious, and being able to hear the gossips of my junior sister is a magic weapon to relieve boredom.

The few students who were originally drowsy are now full of energy and prick up their ears. Xiao Chunya lived up to everyone's expectations and ate another melon. "Since Master Wei learned that his wife was pregnant with the third child, he has been burning incense every day to pray for a girl. Unfortunately, the baby is still a boy. Master Wei was very miserable and cried like a baby in confinement. This angered Madam Wei and she beat him up again. He is now bruised and swollen. When others ask him about it, he says that the grape trellis in his backyard has collapsed!"

Hahaha! The grape trellis fell down = the master was beaten by the master's wife, everyone understands.