Top Scholar

Chapter 94 Crisis Resolved
The gate to the courtyard was open, and the children filed home.

They were just jumping around and squeaking, completely resembling monkeys.

"Brother, your story is amazing!" The boys exclaimed, watching the monkeys' retreating figures. "We were all completely captivated!"

"Yes, I've never heard such an exciting story before," Su Lang exclaimed. "It makes me want to go to a community school class."

He has already completed his elementary education and has been studying at home this year, following the methods taught by Su Lu, in preparation for taking the academy exam again at the end of the year.

"Then you can forget about passing the exam." Back with her friend, Su Dan was unusually sarcastic. "Unless you want to review the 'Three Hundred Thousand' (a classical Chinese text)."

"We might even have to help Mr. Cheng break up the fight," Cheng Wanfan teased.

“That’s a good idea,” Cheng Wantang said with a smile to Su Lang. “Then we can work together to be your left and right protectors.”

"Goodness, the big brother is lecturing on the podium, and we're standing on either side of each other?" Su Lang flexed his biceps and said, "Then no one dares to cause trouble."

"This isn't a class, it's a religious ceremony!" Cheng Wanzhou said speechlessly. "What if you scare the children?"

"Hahaha..." The boys burst into laughter. After fighting side by side, the estrangement between the two sides had indeed been greatly reduced.

After everyone finished laughing, Su Lu asked, "Do you think this method will work?"

"It works, it definitely works!" Cheng Wantang exclaimed. "Didn't you see the little brats have all turned into monkeys? They'll behave themselves so they can hear the rest of the story."

“That’s right, don’t worry, brother.” The boys nodded in agreement.

"I'm afraid they'll revert to their old ways in just a few days," Su Lu said with a wry smile to Cheng Wantang.
"You just reminded me that it's indeed necessary to arrange a teaching assistant from your side for my brother, and to remind them if things don't go well... So, are you interested?"

How could Cheng Wantang not know that this was his brother's good intention? If it weren't for his grandfather's illness this month, which kept his father from dealing with this matter, he would have already sent him to the brothel as an apprentice...

These days, no matter who you are or how much knowledge you have, you have to be taken advantage of for three years before anything else happens.

Between becoming an apprentice in the wine shop and becoming a teaching assistant at the community school, he would choose the latter even if he had to choose a thousand times over. So he nodded emphatically and said, "I'll go!"

"Are you agreeing or insulting me?" Su Lu joked.

“Brother, you know me…” Cheng Wantang said with an embarrassed smile, and the brothers burst into laughter as well.

"However, where will this tuition fee come from?" Su Dan asked softly.

"Don't worry about it, just ask your grandfather to solve it!" Su Lu waved his hand and said, "If my brother can gain a foothold in the community school, our Su family won't need to run a clan school, which will save us a lot of money."

“If my brother can’t stand firm, the clan school will have to be reopened.” He paused, then smiled confidently.
"I'm sure our old clan chief wouldn't want to see this happen either, would he?"

"I understand, I'll go back and talk to my grandfather." Su Dan nodded, then whispered, "I just feel bad for Hai-ge'er."

Hai Ge'er was a senior student even more senior than Su Man. He had taken over Su Youcai's class before, but after only two days of teaching, the clan school closed down, and he had to go home and be unemployed again...

If the clan were to pay to support a member of the Cheng family but neglect the unfortunate Hai-ge'er, his grandfather, the old clan chief, would be the subject of gossip.

"Then please bring them all up!" Su Lu thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Sixty children in one class is too many right now. It would be better to divide them into three classes according to their progress. The three teachers can teach them separately, and the effect will definitely be much better than putting them all together!"

"Of course!" the boys agreed wholeheartedly. When they were in elementary school, which one of them hadn't dreamed of such a thing? With the older and younger students mixed together in one class, it would not only be chaotic all day long, but they also wouldn't learn much at all.

But there's no way around it, there's only one master, and we can't split him up...

Now that Su Lu has proposed adding two more teachers to the community school, they naturally applauded, since it wouldn't cost them any money anyway.

"The expenses for both gentlemen cannot be borne entirely by your family. I will also talk to my grandfather when I get back..." Cheng Wanzhou is also willing to do his part for peace between the two races.

"That's right, we can't let the Su family outdo us!" Cheng Wanfan shouted.

"You're being unpeaceful again!" Cheng Wanzhou said, giving him a light punch with his little fist.

"Hahaha..." The moonlight spilled over the Chishui River, and the night wind from Wumeng Mountain carried the laughter of the boys throughout Erlangtan.

~~
It was already past midnight when they got home. For once, Su Lu didn't open his book chest. After washing up, he carried Madam Zhu into Chun Ge's room.

Scholars are all night owls. Chun Ge'er was already in bed, reading a copy of "Supplement to the Great Learning" that Su Lu had borrowed from the academy by the light of an oil lamp.

Seeing Su Lu enter, he frowned and said, "What are you doing?!"

"Brother, let's sleep together tonight," Su Lu said with a grin.

"What? You're not going to study anymore?" Chun-ge asked warily. This wasn't the time for him to insist on sleeping with Qiu-ge.

"Can you read all day long? You need to relax sometimes. Let me tell you a story," Su Lu said with a smile.

"Nonsense! Diligence leads to mastery, while idleness leads to ruin. You must never slack off in your studies. Don't think you're something special just because you've achieved a little success..." Chun Ge'er scolded with a stern face.

"Then I'll leave?" Su Lu pretended to turn around.

"Since we're already here, let's not do it again," Chun-ge said, sniffing. "Did you wash your feet?" Su Lu then lifted his leg, stretched his toes out next to his head, and said with a grin, "Smell them!"

"You have no manners and are becoming more and more unruly!" the eldest brother scolded angrily. Even so, he still stepped aside and let him sleep inside.

"I'll sleep outside," Su Lu said.

"Go inside. What if you roll down at night?" Su Man ordered.

“Brother, I’m not Jin Bao’er…” Su Lu said with a wry smile.

"In my eyes, you're all the same," Su Man snorted.

"Okay." Su Lu had no choice but to obediently climb into the bed and lie down next to Su Man.

Seeing that he had only brought his bamboo wife and was lying directly on the bamboo mat, Su Man shook his head helplessly. He thought for a moment, then got up and walked to the bookshelf, took out the key to open the cabinet from last time, and took out an item wrapped in three layers of blue cotton cloth.

"Look up." Su Man habitually raised his head twice before Su Lu raised his head and placed the object behind his head.

"Isn't this the pillow my elder brother used to have in Luzhou?" Su Lu lay down on it, but even through three layers of cloth, it still felt uncomfortable. "Is this a porcelain pillow or a stone pillow?"

"And the Immortal Pillow," Su Man said calmly. "Just know it's good for you, don't ask any more questions."

"Sigh, okay." Su Lu was used to listening to his older brother, and if he wasn't allowed to ask, he wouldn't.

"What story do you want to tell? Hurry up and tell it!" Su Man put the book back on the table before lying down next to him.

"Let me tell you a story about the Monkey King..." Su Lu began to tell the story vividly again, but this time he continued until Sun Wukong returned after completing his studies...

Su Man thought Su Lu was going to use a story to teach her a lesson, but he didn't expect that he was really just telling a story. What she didn't expect was that she was listening to it with great interest!

Even after Su Lu fell asleep from exhaustion, he was still thinking about monkeys.

"How shameful! Su Man, Su Man, you've fallen so low!" Chun Ge'er pointed to his own nose and muttered, "How can you be so distracted when the shame is still fresh in your mind?"

He secretly vowed, "From this day forward, I will never listen to the monkey's story again!"

~~
The next day was the day the results of the June exams were released, and the students gathered in front of the notice board as usual.

The top three remained unchanged, but the Hu brothers and Wu Tong both dropped one place.

The fourth-place finisher who pushed them down was none other than Su Lu, who had been tenth last time.

Seeing that he had achieved fourth place this time, Su Lu was even happier than last time. Because the questions were too difficult last time, most people didn't do well, so his tenth place might have been a fluke. This time the questions weren't difficult, everyone performed as expected, and he still managed to get this ranking. This showed that his level had indeed improved!
If I keep working hard, the crisis of dropping out of school should be resolved...

The classmates congratulated their "godfather," and Lin Zhihong laughed, "Next time, I'll surpass me and Afeng and challenge Zhu."

"Hahaha, I can't wait!" Qiao Feng laughed loudly as well.

"Don't say that, I think it would be very difficult for me to pass the test," Su Lu said modestly with a smile.

"Brother's level has already surpassed ours," Lin Zhihong said, convinced. "It just needs a little more polishing to perfect the details."

“That’s right.” Qiao Feng nodded and said to Lin Zhihong with a happy expression, “Actually, we should be very fortunate that we ranked above you in the monthly classes four times. Such a great achievement is probably unparalleled.”

"That's true," Lin Zhihong said, deeply agreeing.

"Haha, I know, you guys are trying to flatter me to death." Su Lu was embarrassed by their praise and laughed at his classmates, "Let's all calm down and study hard. Rankings aren't important, what's important is getting into university in the future!"

"Brother's words are so pleasing to the ear!" the classmates exclaimed happily. "Let's work hard together!"

Looking further down the list, Su Dan had also improved from twenty-fourth to twentieth place. Although not as dazzling as Su Lu, he had made steady progress step by step. Moreover, he already had four points, while Su Lu only had two and a half…

This time, the 24th place is Cheng Wanzhou, who was 28th last time, and he also got a full four points.

Ma Zhaizhang ranked twenty-sixth and also got one point, accumulating three and a half points.

This was all expected, so there was nothing surprising. The surprise came from Li Qiyu and Cheng Wanfan.

The two were ranked 27th and 35th respectively. This time, 36 people got a point, so they finally achieved a breakthrough and all of them got a point!
"Aww, we did it!" The two cheered and jumped for joy, hugging each other excitedly and even giving each other a quick kiss...

Everyone can totally understand their excitement, but it still feels disgusting.

Further down, the 37th to 50th places are in the half-division range.

Further down... after the elimination round of the last monthly class, only fifty students remained in the lower hall.

Of the fourteen students who received half a point this time, five will have to leave the academy forever.

The only saving grace is that three are in Duxingzhai, two are in Mingzhizhai, and none are in Shengshenzhai this time.

(End of this chapter)