The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

"Junior sisters, from now on, your senior brothers will take care of all your meals, right?" Zhang Hao winked at the other junior brothers in Class 2 of Xiaotian.

After all, he had limited funds and couldn't afford to go upstairs for special meals every day.

A quick-witted senior brother immediately added, "Yes, yes, we senior brothers guarantee that you will be able to eat the food on the second floor of Ya Shi Ju every day."

They are all wealthy people, so they just need to take turns going up to the second floor to reserve a spot each day.

"This... isn't a good idea! I'm helping my senior brothers not to freeload!"

Zhuge Yunshu genuinely wanted to help, after all, in her view it was just a matter of explaining the questions.

“Junior sister, please stop refusing. Just consider it as us doing this for peace of mind!” Lu Jin’an said.

"Well then, alright! Thank you for spending money, senior brothers."

Since her senior brothers have all said so, she can't very well refuse, right?

Although he looked helpless, he was actually delighted inside. He didn't have to spend money or wait in line, and he could still eat delicious food. Who wouldn't be happy in his shoes?

When Zhuge Yunshu and his group arrived at the second floor of Ya Shi Ju, they found that the table where Senior Brother Lin had previously reserved a spot was already filled with many dishes.

When he saw Zhuge Yunshu and Wang Yi in the crowd, his eyes lit up. "You've finally arrived! If you hadn't come soon, the food would have gotten cold."

Then he introduced, "These are all the signature dishes of the second floor of Ya Shi Ju. Is there anything else you would like to eat? I'll go order some more." He then looked expectantly at Zhuge Yunshu and Wang Yi.

"Senior Brother Lin, there's no need to trouble yourself. This is more than enough." Zhuge Yunshu shook his head repeatedly as he looked at the large amount of food.

"There's enough food, but please bring more rice!" Wang Yi added.

Hearing Senior Sister Yi's instructions, Zhuge Yunshu looked at her with emotion. This was truly the best and most considerate senior sister in the world.

After all the dishes were served, everyone began to eat.

Zhuge Yunshu tried every dish and had to admit that the chef on the second floor of Ya Shi Ju was truly skilled.

This was probably the most sumptuous meal she had eaten during her trip to town.

After a while, Zhuge Yunshu put down his chopsticks with satisfaction and said apologetically, "I do eat a little more than others."

The senior brothers looked at the five bowls piled up in front of their junior sister. These were more than just a little big!

After eating and drinking their fill, Zhuge Yunshu and his group went to the library next door.

The town's library is somewhat similar to a modern school library, with a desk area on each floor for readers to use.

Furthermore, each student in the town's school can only spend one hour a day in the library and can only borrow three books a month.

At this time of day, most students in the town are either eating or have borrowed books and returned to their dormitories.

Therefore, there are still quite a few empty spaces on the first floor of the library.

After Zhuge Yunshu and the others found a suitable place to sit down, they began to discuss the problems they had encountered that day.

“Junior sister, look, these are all parts we don’t understand.” Zhang Hao held up a handwritten copy of “The Great Learning” with annotations in front of Zhuge Yunshu.

"Oh, you guys even looked at tomorrow's lessons in advance," Zhuge Yunshu said in surprise as she flipped through the pages.

"There's no way around it, the teacher's explanations are too fast, we simply can't keep up with copying them, so today we're going to discuss what we'll be learning tomorrow with everyone," Lu Jin'an said helplessly.

"Alright, let's begin!"

Zhuge Yunshu pondered for a while, thinking that she could use the simplest language possible so that her senior sister and fellow disciples could understand.

After thinking it over, Zhuge Yunshu took out the annotated "Great Learning" and began to explain it one by one.

By combining the explanations from renowned teachers within the system with those from Master Wang, and by appropriately referencing classical texts, the senior students quickly grasped the meaning of the sentences.

Seeing that some of his fellow students wanted to copy down the explanations of these sentences, Zhuge Yunshu slowed down his speech and repeated them again.

After mastering today's content, the students in Class 2 of Xiaotian discussed what they would learn tomorrow.

Zhuge Yunshu asked everyone to share their understanding based on the literal meaning of the words, so that all the students could participate in the discussion.

Those interpretations that were deemed acceptable were then refined further and copied onto paper. There were also interpretations that not everyone agreed with, leading to numerous arguments throughout the process.

Zhuge Yunshu particularly wanted to remark that it was fortunate that the town's library was not like modern times, where loud noises were forbidden.

Otherwise, they would have been driven out by the old man guarding them long ago.

And so, time slipped away quietly as the students immersed themselves in their studies.

Zhang Hao looked at Zhuge Yunshu with admiration, "Junior Sister Yunshu, if you ask me to go east in the future, I will never forget to go west. I didn't expect your explanation to be even simpler and easier to understand than what the Master said in class."

“Exactly, especially those allusions. The Master only mentioned them quickly, and although they sounded nice, we couldn’t keep up with his pace when copying them. Luckily, Junior Sister Yun Shu, you remembered them all,” Lu Jin’an said with delight.

"Today was truly enjoyable. I hope we can have the opportunity to discuss things together every day."

"..."

Wang Yi looked at Zhuge Yunshu and said, "Junior Sister Yunshu, I have benefited greatly from today. You are much more capable than I imagined."

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

She felt a little embarrassed by all the praise, since she had already learned and mastered this material.

Just then, the old man outside the library called out to them, "Your time has come. Pack your things and prepare to leave!"

When they arrived outside, they found a long queue, and everyone in the queue was reading a book.

Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but sigh, "Ancient scholars were too pedantic."

After bidding farewell to their fellow disciples, Zhuge Yunshu and Wang Yi went directly to their dormitory.

They took the 100 taels of silver notes that Senior Sister Su Chun had given them this morning and prepared to go find her to return them.

After all, 100 taels is not a small amount.

Upon arriving at the Zhongtian No. 1 dormitory, Zhuge Yunshu reached out and knocked on the door.

Soon a female student they didn't know appeared in front of them.

"Hello, senior sister. Is senior sister Su Chun here?" Zhuge Yunshu asked.

Upon hearing this, the senior student nodded and called into the dormitory, "Su Chun, two junior sisters are looking for you."

A moment later, a girl dressed in a light green dress came out.

This person is none other than Senior Sister Su Chun.

"Junior Sister Yun Shu, Junior Sister Wang, is there something you need from me?"

"Senior Sister Su Chun, may I speak to you in private?" Zhuge Yunshu asked.

Then they went to a less crowded part of the courtyard. Zhuge Yunshu looked around and said, "Senior Sister Su Chun, this is the 200 taels of silver you gave us this morning. We can't accept it."

"Why not accept it? I don't have anything else to offer, this is all I can use to thank you. Or do you also look down on me?"

Before she could finish speaking, she began to choke up.

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

Wang Yi: "..."

Although they had seen many people cry, this was the first time they had ever seen someone cry so beautifully.

But who can tell them how to solve this situation?

My head hurts!!!