Top Scholar

Chapter 231 Year End
The year fears the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon fears the half-moon, and people fear the cold at the age of forty-nine.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is over, and the end of the year is just around the corner.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Heshan Academy held its year-end examination.

In Zhengyi Zhai, it was still the same group of classmates from the beginning of the year.

Heshan Academy has abolished the three-tiered ranking system, and Headmaster Zhou announced that the three-tiered ranking system will be used starting next year.

On the one hand, now that Zhu Liu has become Zhu Chuanlu, there is no longer any competition between the two. On the other hand, Headmaster Zhou will vigorously promote the 'valuable legacy' left by Headmaster Zhu, and of course he will no longer be so smug.

However, if that were all, the Three-Stage Promotion and Demotion Method wouldn't have been abandoned halfway; it would have had to be completed from beginning to end. This awkward situation was caused by the students of the Zhengyi School.

Objectively speaking, their grades have been improving by leaps and bounds.

In the February monthly exam, four students ranked in the top thirty.

In the March monthly exam, eight students ranked in the top thirty.

In April, eleven students were ranked in the top thirty.

The May monthly exam had thirteen students.

In the June monthly exam, he ranked fifteenth...

The students in the top thirty of the two schools are now evenly matched, and with Su Lu and Zhu Zihe leading the way, Zhengyi School is not inferior to Chengxin School in terms of high rankings.

At this time, the academy wanted to promote the fifteen students of Zhengyizhai to higher ranks according to the rules, but this was met with their collective resistance.

The students' reasons were also quite valid—

Some said they didn't want to transfer from a thriving class to one that was constantly declining...

Some say that our good grades are not a reason to punish us.

Some say that Mr. Liu teaches better, and they're afraid that their skills will decline if they go there...

During the national mourning period, stability was paramount, and the academy dared not act rashly. If anything went wrong, no one would dare blame the former headmaster; Headmaster Zhou would be in deep trouble.

Finally, they had no choice but to reluctantly announce that, due to the national mourning period, the fasting and prayer times would be temporarily suspended...

As a result, the academy didn't mention the matter again until the end of the year. It wasn't until yesterday that the decision was officially announced: the promotion and demotion system is obsolete, and the grading system will be established instead!
Inspired by this, the students of Zhengyizhai were greatly encouraged, and their writing flourished, resulting in their best exam results ever.

Before leaving get off work that evening, Mr. Liu received his year-end exam results and could hardly believe his eyes.

Of the top thirty, a full twenty-one were his students! Among them, eight were in the top ten!
What pleased him even more was that of the other nine students, six were in the top forty and three were in the top forty-five...

He knew his students would do well, but he never expected them to do this well. Mr. Liu held the report cards and looked at them again and again, his eyes filled with tears, and he murmured:

"You really did it! That's wonderful, wonderful..."

He suddenly choked up and whispered:
"Turns out I'm not a complete waste after all..."

Tears then flowed uncontrollably, falling drop by drop onto the report card.

Liu Dachuan quickly wiped away his tears and used his sleeve to dab the report card. Even though it was just a copy, he still didn't want to ruin it.

He couldn't wait to share the good news with his students, but when he strode into the lecture hall with the report cards in hand, he saw thirty chairs neatly upside down on the tables, and not a single person in sight.

Mr. Liu couldn't help but laugh. He was so happy that he had forgotten that he was already on holiday.

This good news can't be shared with colleagues; your achievements will only make them uncomfortable. Mr. Liu is a kind person; although others often make him uncomfortable, he believes in treating others as you would have them do unto you.

With no one at home, Mr. Liu suddenly realized that he had no one to share his feelings with, and he couldn't help but feel a little down.

"Alas, how pathetic..." he sighed, then went back to his preparation room and finished all his work before leaving.

As I left the academy, dusk was falling, and the streetlights were just beginning to illuminate the streets, but the shops were still open. There were night markets at the end of the year, and stalls selling firecrackers, Spring Festival couplets, and all sorts of New Year's goods lit up their lanterns one after another.

An old man selling roasted nuts and seeds tapped his bamboo clapper, his calls trailing off with the distinctive southern Sichuan accent. "Sugar-roasted chestnuts! Salt-roasted beans! Freshly roasted walnuts, so crunchy and delicious!"

The chestnuts in the wok were crackling and popping, and the rich aroma of roasted chestnuts filled the air, making the children who were shopping for New Year's goods with their parents unable to move away.

Mr. Liu couldn't stand this; it reminded him that he was all alone.

And the Spring Festival, the hardest time for those living alone, is just around the corner...

Mr. Liu had originally planned to have a nice meal at a roadside stall, but now he was in no mood to celebrate. So he bought a handful of alkaline noodles from a noodle stall, stuffed them haphazardly into his pocket, and fled the peaceful night market.

As Mr. Liu fled back to his alley, he smelled the rich aroma of stewed mutton. The smell seemed so familiar that he couldn't help but sniff, only to discover that it was his favorite red broth mutton.

At this time of year, his wife would always cook him a pot of stew to satisfy his cravings...

In a daze, he seemed to see smoke rising from his own chimney, as if his wife had never left.

Mr. Liu couldn't help but laugh at himself. Around this time last year, he felt utterly hopeless and wanted to end his life, so he forced his wife to go back to her parents' home. This year, he was all alone, his house deserted and empty. He had brought this upon himself; how could anyone possibly cook him a pot of mutton?

However, when he reached his own front door, he saw warm yellow light leaking from the crack in the door...

Mr. Liu's heart skipped a beat. He quickly pushed open the courtyard gate and saw a bright fire burning in the kitchen, with a familiar figure busy around the stove.

Liu Dachuan rubbed his eyes hard and pinched his thigh to make sure he wasn't dreaming. His throat trembled for a while before he managed to utter the name with difficulty:
“Amei…”

The busy lady habitually responded with a "Yes".

She suddenly froze, clutching her blue apron with her back to him.

"Amei, why are you back?" Mr. Liu took two steps forward.

"If you think I shouldn't have come back, I'll leave after I finish cooking this meal," his wife said irritably.

"No, no, please don't go, I, I..." Mr. Liu didn't know how to express himself for a moment, but he braced his hands on the kitchen door, as if afraid that she would run away again.

"What's wrong?" His wife's tone softened.

"I've been looking forward to your return every day..." Liu Dachuan finally confessed, mustering his courage to ask, "Can you not leave?"

"Let's see how you behave." The teacher's wife then turned around and angrily accused him, "You heartless person, I've been with you through thick and thin for so many years, and you turn on me as soon as I nag you a few times."

"Yes, yes, I was such a jerk back then." Mr. Liu kept admitting his mistake. "Actually, I had wanted to go to my father-in-law's house to invite you back for a long time, but I was afraid of being scolded by my brothers-in-law."

“Scolding you is too lenient. If I hadn’t stopped them, they would have beaten you up long ago.” The teacher’s wife chuckled, then put on a stern face and said, “If your students hadn’t come to invite me time and time again, I would never have come back in my life.”

"My students?" Mr. Liu exclaimed in surprise. "Where are they?"

"We're here!" Familiar voices rang out from all directions. Students, laughing and joking, poured out of the main hall and side rooms, bowing to the two men in unison.
"Congratulations to the gentleman and his wife on reconciling their past grievances and growing old together!"

“You…” Mr. Liu’s eyes welled up with tears again.

"You are so lucky to have such a group of good students," the teacher's wife said with emotion. "They not only brought me back, but also cleaned the house inside and out, and even replaced all the furniture for you, saying that it's a fresh start."

"Oh, of course." Mr. Liu turned his head away, wiped away his tears, and then smiled with red eyes, "They are the best students in the world."

"The teacher is the best teacher in the world!" the students exclaimed in unison.

"No, no, it wasn't me." Mr. Liu still felt uneasy thinking about the student who had developed hysteria. "It was I who caused Zihua to develop hysteria..."

"Ta-da! Sir, look who this is!" Deng Dengying waved his hand.

The classmates parted to the left and right, and a handsome young man walked up to Mr. Liu, bowed deeply and said, "Wang Zihua greets you, sir."

"Zihua, it really is you!" Mr. Liu was overwhelmed by the many surprises he had received today. He quickly helped the young man up and looked him over, asking, "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry, sir. Actually, I was just confused by phlegm at the time," Wang Zihua said with a smile. "I recovered after resting at home for a while."

He said sadly, "My family is still worried and won't let me go back to the academy. They hired a teacher to let me study at home by myself."

"I'm so glad you're alright, that's better than anything!" Mr. Liu finally felt relieved and happily grabbed him, wiping away tears as he said, "You have no idea how I felt at that time. I really wanted to give my old life for you."

“Sir, it’s not your fault. It’s my own fault for being too weak-willed.” Wang Zihua shook his head with tears in his eyes. “I’ve come to understand this year. One must be determined and patient in order to achieve what one is capable of. So, if I want to accomplish something, the first thing I need to do is to make myself strong and not be easily defeated!”

He then bowed deeply to Mr. Liu and said, "Please, sir, accept me as your student one more time!"

“Okay, okay.” Mr. Liu nodded without hesitation. “Every good child deserves a second chance.”

"Thank you, sir!" Wang Zihua smiled happily.

"But from now on you'll have to call us seniors!" the classmates joked.

"Alright, alright, come and lend a hand!" Just then, the teacher's wife called out loudly from the kitchen, "The mutton soup is ready!"

As she spoke, she lifted the pot lid, and white steam billowed up. The bright red broth, coated with chunks of mutton, bubbled and steamed. The aroma of fermented bean curd mixed with the sweet fragrance of taro, making everyone's mouths water.

~~
The sheep were bought by the students using their savings.

Everyone at Heshan Academy is rich, and Su Lu is the poorest of them all, so of course he doesn't rely on tuition fees for food.

But they all valued this money, because it was earned through their hard work. So they all saved it up, and by the end of the year they had collected more than ten taels of silver, bought the sheep, and replaced all the junk in their husband's house.

After buying some preserved meats and other traditional New Year's dishes for my husband, such as smoked fish and pig's head, the money was all gone...

The teacher's wife was a generous person; she took out half of the New Year's goods they had bought and put them on the table, and then put a whole sheep into the pot.

Thankfully, the earthen stove was big enough that it could hold all the stew in one pot.

(End of this chapter)