Chapter 174

When he mentioned this incident, he expressed genuine anger and shame.

Lu Yang hugged him and asked, “Why did it suddenly escalate to the instructor? Who bullied you?”

Xie Yan did not mention bullying, only rules.

“After passing the county-level examination, students are assigned to either the prefectural or county school for further study. At the time, I ranked first and should have been assigned to the prefectural school. However, the chief examiner spoke to me, and I was too timid to respond. He told me to return home and stay with my parents for another two years, so I ended up at the county school. The county school is also a government-run institution, and attending classes there is the only way to receive the silver and grain allocated by the court.”

If you didn’t attend the county school, you couldn’t receive it.

His family’s top scholar could have gone to the prefectural school, but he chose to stay at the county school. By taking that spot, someone else was pushed out.

The monthly allowance was five taels of silver, which didn’t sound like much. But calculated annually, it amounted to six taels. For an ordinary family, that was enough to live comfortably. For a scholar, it covered the cost of a few books and some writing supplies. It wasn’t a small amount.

Simply for the sake of silver, his family’s top scholar wouldn’t have to endure such hardship.

Lu Yang asked another probing question, and Xie Yan vented his grievances to him.

“I’m useless. I went out and didn’t get any silver or rice, and I even lost the money I had guaranteed.”

On the first day of school, he came back crying.

Seeing this, Lu Yang knew he wouldn’t say more, so he didn’t press him. Instead, he comforted him, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Losing out is a blessing. Now that it’s been exposed, it’s better than being dragged away during the exam. As you said, this is ultimately a hidden danger. Let’s just forget about the money.”

He encouraged him further, aligning himself with him: “Those meddlers are clearly jealous of you. Talented people are the ones who are envied. My son, the top scholar, is a capable and talented person!”

He then addressed the matter of the compensation: ” It doesn’t matter. With their character, if you guarantee for them, I’m worried you’ll be dragged down. Just refund the money. Guaranteeing for them would require getting up early and staying up late. It’s better to have more free time to spend with me.”

Xie Yan kept wiping his eyes.

He told Lu Yang, “There’s sand in my eyes.”

Lu Yang saw through it but didn’t say anything.

Money matters are trivial, and losing money isn’t a big deal. But if something could make his family’s top scholar so upset, there must be something else going on.

Lu Yang drank a bowl of medicine at night. After finishing it, he waited for the pills from the clinic to be prepared, so he wouldn’t have to boil the medicine anymore.

He emptied his stomach and waited for the medicine to take effect.

He hadn’t eaten much, but he felt bloated every day. Lying down didn’t help his digestion, so he had to walk around.

He took Xie Yan to see the luggage, and everything that needed to be packed was already packed. Starting tonight, Xie Yan would share a toothbrush with him, as well as a face towel.

“Our courtyard is small, and there are all sorts of things scattered around. I haven’t dried the blankets yet. Once you arrive at the private school, find a place to dry them.”

There are dormitories, so there must be a place to air the quilts.

The painting didn’t move; it was static. But as Lu Yang looked at it, he felt as though the person in the painting was alive, and he could tell what actions they were performing.

When Xie Yan put brush to paper, he also idealized him. In every portrait, Lu Yang was smiling, his eyes and brows brimming with vitality.

Lu Yang asked him, “Is that how I appear to you?”

Xie Yan gave an affirmative answer: “Yes.”

He was lively and adorable, with a vibrant energy in his eyes even when sitting quietly. When he moved, he was like a little whirlwind, and it was hard to capture his movements.

Only by observing carefully could one keep up with his pace and observe the patterns of his movements.

Lu Yang looked at it twice, carefully put the paper away, but unfortunately, the paper was too small and too thin for him to keep, otherwise he could have put it in his small pouch and carried it with him. He had always enjoyed taking books apart, but books were expensive, and his parents felt sorry for them after he took them apart. His father often spanked his hands.

Back then, he didn’t understand. After all, he was just reading the books. What difference did it make if he took them apart? He didn’t throw them away; he always put them back together again.

Later, he realized that books that had been taken apart like that couldn’t be sold in the study, not even to his classmates.

So during the hardest times, his family had to sell their fields instead of books.

Otherwise, what was the point of keeping these books he had already memorized?

Over the years, he developed excellent skills. He was skilled at bookbinding, his work was beautiful, and the ledgers he made were neat and tidy.

Lu Yang told him, “I want small scrolls. Gather them all together. They’re about the size of a palm. Stick them vertically and roll them up. I can carry them with me and look at them from time to time.”

Xie Yan agreed.

After washing his feet, Lu Yang could climb onto the bed and curl up.

Xie Yan went to pour out the foot-washing water and returned with a small basin. A while later, Lu Yang felt hungry and asked Xie Yan for medicine.

Xie Yan went to the kitchen, retrieved the warm herbal decoction from the stove, prepared half a bowl of sugar water, and took two bowls of warm water for rinsing.

Lu Yang drank a bowl of herbal medicine in one gulp, drank two sips of sugar water to suppress the bitter taste, and rinsed his mouth several times. That was it for today.

Tomorrow they would move out. Xie Yan couldn’t sleep, so he massaged Lu Yang’s abdomen for a long time at night. Lu Yang was deeply asleep, pressing Xie Yan’s hand against his palm to stop him from massaging his stomach.

Xie Yan hummed in response but still couldn’t fall asleep.

When he was studying at the county school, he was very reclusive, focusing solely on his studies. Besides his schoolwork, he loved reading the books in the county school’s library.

He was familiar with several study rooms in the county town. If a place had good books, he would go there to read them.

He wrote quickly, so he didn’t spend money on books. Instead, he found paper to write them down on, making it convenient to annotate or revise them. He collected the papers and bound them into a book.

So there were few books and many papers on his desk. He didn’t easily discard the drafts, occasionally reviewing his past thoughts and ideas, which he found interesting.

At that time, he lived a confused life, paying no attention to the people and events around him. He felt that the world was quiet, and all he needed to do was read books.

Now things are different. The world is noisy, and there are many bad people.

If he is willing to look, he can discover many details. What happened at the county school today was by no means a coincidence.

He was truly angry. Regarding the matter of silver and rice, as long as they followed the rules, he wouldn’t say anything. But what grudge did they have against him that they had to prevent him from continuing with the imperial examinations?

Xie Yan thought a lot about it. He didn’t remember much about those people’s daily behavior, but their essays were still fresh in his mind, making his head ache as he pulled them one by one from the depths of his memory.

Since it was a matter of reading, he would resolve it in the manner of a scholar.

That night, Xie Yan couldn’t sleep.

The next morning, he rose early.

As usual, he didn’t call Lu Yang. He quietly got out of bed, dressed in the dark, and went out. He first went to the kitchen to help his mother start the fire and steam the buns and bread.

There was no need to boil the herbal medicine today; the last dose had been finished. They left a pot empty to cook breakfast.