He ran all the way back, his eyes gleaming with excitement, brighter than the stars in the sky, his face flushed.
His stamina hadn’t been built up yet. After running for a while, blood rushed to his head, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Brother Yang! I’m skipping class tomorrow!”
His voice was loud and hoarse.
Lu Yang pulled him inside. “Did you run out to pick a fight?”
Xie Yan nodded vigorously, his excitement growing with each question.
Lu Yang’s interest piqued, he poured him a cup of tea.
Running a shop required discipline.
Opening and closing times needed to be reliable. Regular customers couldn’t be left out in the cold.
Since it wasn’t closing time yet, they sat inside the shop for a while.
Xie Yan was sweating profusely. After sitting down, sweat poured off him.
Even his hair was damp with moisture, dripping wet.
Seeing this, Lu Yang grew concerned. “What happened? Who did you get into such a fight with?”
Xie Yan wiped his face, removing some sweat, only for more hot sweat to flow out.
Lu Yang hurriedly called out to his mother, asking her to boil some hot water: “Wash Xie Yan down!”
The buns were still steaming at home. Hot water was available in the pot, and the water in the stove was bubbling away.
Hot water could be fetched immediately.
Xie Yan felt utterly miserable. He told Lu Yang, “It’s good news. I went to Yuan Ji’s house today to confront him. He had nothing to say, so he came out to beat me. Luckily, I ran fast. Let me wipe off this sweat, and I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Lu Yang tilted his head: “……?”
How impressive. Only a few days in, and he’s already daring to chase someone to their home to yell at them.
Was this really the same frail, pitiful, helpless little top scholar from his family?
To him, it was merely a few days of growth. To Xie Yan, it was the culmination of long-accumulated strength.
With village affairs resolved, the boulder crushing his shoulders had been shattered. Returning to his studies, he’d momentarily been stunned into silence. But when he snapped back to reality, he recalled past experiences, understood the stakes, and knew what scholars feared. He’d prepared for nearly a month. When he couldn’t find anyone at the county school, he’d gone straight to their homes to confront them.
If they were going to be criticized anyway, he might as well make sure their discussions about their essays and literary talents followed them wherever they went. Chasing them home to berate them would be even more effective!
Xie Yan went to wash up, while Lu Yang lingered near the front gate, waiting for closing time. Mr. Ding stood at the doorway, habitually pushing his ladder toward his shop, signaling Lu Yang to take down the sign.
Lu Yang paused, then chuckled. “Thanks, old buddy. You’re too kind. Just these next couple days—I’ve got my own ladder now. No need to borrow yours anymore.”
Having his own ladder meant others could open and close their doors more freely, without having to wait for his schedule. Otherwise, moving it back and forth was a hassle, and he’d have to leave it outside for a while.
Mr. Ding exchanged a few polite words with him, asking, “Business’s been good, huh?”
Lu Yang chuckled happily, “Pretty darn good! Selling like hotcakes!”
Mr. Ding beamed too, his face crinkling with laughter. After Lu Yang took down the sign, he lingered at the doorway.
He was a frugal boss. His husband usually kept watch over the distillery and rarely came to the shop, so Lu Yang managed the storefront.
There was also a shop steward who handled daily affairs. Only when Lu Yang was busy elsewhere would the steward take over, greeting customers and seeing them off.
On the seventeenth day of the second month, the afternoon exams ended. Even before leaving the exam hall, the students already knew how they’d done.
Today, he kept the shop open a bit longer. When Lu Yang came to board up the shop, Boss Ding was already shouting out his wine offerings.
Lu Yang couldn’t help but admire him. He casually asked, “Fancy some peanuts?”
Boss Ding paused briefly before nodding.
Before closing, he bought thirty pounds of peanuts from Lu Yang, giving his business a little boost.
Lu Yang had worried he might have bought too much, since in the past ten days, including sunflower seeds, he’d only sold about eighty pounds total.
“It’s different here,” Ding Boss explained. “I’ve got more people drowning their sorrows in liquor.”
The wealthy went to restaurants; the less fortunate wandered the streets. Pairing a bag of peanuts with their drinks meant they could drown their sorrows without upsetting their stomachs. He was sure they’d sell out.
Lu Yang naturally praised his business acumen before carrying the shop sign to the back courtyard.
Their home was small; bathing and such happened right in the room.
They were husband and wife, so Lu Yang didn’t think much of it and walked straight into the room. Only then did Xie Yan close the door. He bolted it shut, and Lu Yang couldn’t push it open.
Lu Yang snorted.
Just wait. Sooner or later, he’d strip that stingy top scholar bare. He’d light a big lantern and stare to his heart’s content!
Xie Yan was sweaty all over. Wiping down left him feeling sticky, so he ended up taking a bath.
He wanted to wash his hair too, but decided to endure it tonight and wait until morning.
The matter was discussed at the dinner table, letting his mother hear the commotion too.
The private academy had originally scheduled a day off mid-month, but it coincided with the county exams. The master postponed it by two days, granting the exam day as a rest.
Xie Yan had been busy writing essays lately. He transcribed and critiqued the essays of Yuan Ji and the others.
Wu Pingzhi even helped him acquire recent drafts from other scholars at the county academy. Xie Yan annotated them all, keeping copies for his records.
With regular lessons, he managed this only in spare moments, leaving him no time to return home even at noon.
Knowing the academy’s rest day schedule wouldn’t change—the fifteenth off, returning on the seventeenth—he brought these essays to visit the academy during the break.
“They’re all gone. Just this morning, they got beaten up. Their families went to the county school this morning to request leave so they could recuperate at home for a few days,” Xie Yan said, letting out a few silly chuckles before continuing, “It was those five young scholars who asked me to vouch for them earlier.”
Lu Yang couldn’t wait: “Hurry up and tell us!”
Zhao Peilan even set down her chopsticks, determined to hear the whole story before eating.
Xie Yan sped up his speech, recounting the entire sequence of events.
After the “Imperial Examination Answer Manual” went on sale, the group saw the title and recalled Xie Yan’s high fee for his guarantee. He had promised to give them a copy of the manual, but when they calculated the price difference, discontent arose. They grumbled about it.
Xie Yan had charged 160 cash coins per person, while Yuan Ji charged only 80 cash coins—half the price.
Yet the Handbook sold for five hundred cash coins. This price gap stung their pockets.
Their grumbling led Yuan Ji to discover that Xie Zhuozhi, the Handbook’s author, was none other than Xie Yan. Furious, he berated the entire group of candidates.
If it had been mere scolding, it might have ended there. But he went on to disparage the book as utterly worthless.
“They ran into each other at the bookstall and apparently had another heated argument,” Xie Yan recounted.
After that altercation, the five students reasoned: Yuan Ji claimed the book was useless, and since he wasn’t taking any exams now, they’d already bought it—might as well let them have a look.
They saved a few coins and thought they could put the matter behind them.
Though few recognized Yuan Ji in the street brawl, everyone knew he was a scholar-gentleman. He considered it a personal disgrace and refused to budge, even threatening to withdraw his sponsorship.
With the exam approaching, such a promise couldn’t be made lightly.
The five candidates apologized profusely, but Yuan Ji remained unyielding.
They thought it was just an angry outburst, but when roll call came this morning, Yuan Ji truly refused to vouch for them.
Without a scholar’s endorsement, the five candidates couldn’t enter the exam hall. All their hard work this year would be for nothing.
By the time roll call ended, dawn had broken.
They confronted Yuan Ji, who was surrounded by his classmates and friends. Unafraid, he pulled out the Imperial Examination Answer Manual from his robe, flung it at them, and told them to take the book and get lost.
The five had pledged four hundred cash coins as collateral. By accepting the book as payment, he effectively deducted one hundred coins from their debt.
They say scholars may die but not be disgraced. Yuan Ji’s move ignited their fury, and the group soon tangled in a brawl within the alley.
“Clothes torn to shreds, hair disheveled, shoes snatched off by someone unknown, even belts lying discarded on the ground!” Xie Yan struggled to recount the scene of the fight.
Lu Yang imagined it and remarked, “They truly brought shame upon their scholarly dignity.”
Xie Yan’s face flushed crimson.
Zhao Peilan took “disgraceful” at face value, nodding repeatedly. “Not like scholars at all.”
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