Chapter 101 Easing

The three students who lived with Zhou Chengyu felt a little uncomfortable when he came in with a lot of things. These days they knew that some people in the school were leading the way in ostracizing Zhou Chengyu. Although they didn't have that much malice towards Zhou Chengyu, they rarely greeted him in order to avoid trouble.

Zhou Chengyu didn't care what their feelings were. He tidied up all the snacks and took out his own snack box, which contained mints and nuts that Song Yushu had prepared for him.

"The results of the ten-day exam are out, and Senior Brother Shen is still number one in Class A!"

"Senior Brother Shen has been ranked first in Class A since he came to the academy. This ranking is expected and there is no suspense!"

"Oh no! My ranking dropped! I'm doomed!"

Some students gathered around the ranking list were happy, while others were sad.

Zhou Chengyu and the others stopped checking their rankings. He was currently in Class C. Compared to Class A and Class B, Class C was specifically for the first batch of students. After studying in Class C for three months, students were assigned to other classes based on their rankings in three ten-day exams. If their ranking was high, they would be assigned to Class A; if it was lower, they would be assigned to Class B.

Of course, once you're in the top class, you can stay there forever. Every year, the college holds a unified exam. If your ranking drops, you'll naturally be moved out of the top class. This is to give students a sense of urgency and prevent them from slacking off after entering the top class.

"Fifth in Class C," Zhou Chengyu thought the ranking was acceptable. As long as he could maintain his ranking in the next two ten-day exams, the probability of being assigned to Class A was still quite high.

After returning to the school, Zhou Chengyu heard far fewer questions. The young masters who used to nitpick at him would just snort when they saw him.

After the teacher came in, he specifically mentioned the top ten students this time, and Zhou Chengyu naturally left a good impression on him.

Upon returning to his residence, Zhou Chengyu was surprised when the three students who shared the room with him took the initiative to greet him.

"Zhou Chengyu, can you tell us how you usually study? You were the last one to arrive here, and I saw you were struggling a bit. How did you catch up so quickly?"

Liao Yunfei, who ranked lowest in the room, couldn't help but ask.

Zhou Chengyu didn't hold back and took out his daily study plan.

Liao Yunfei looked at the table filled with Zhou Chengyu's daily tasks and was speechless for a moment, looking at Zhou Chengyu with new respect.

“My situation is different from yours, so I naturally need to arrange every hour. You don’t need to do the same as me. Just arrange it according to your own pace,” Zhou Chengyu said, worried that they might blindly increase the intensity of their studies, which would be counterproductive.

"We misunderstood you before, I'm sorry," Liao Yunfei first apologized to Zhou Chengyu, and the other two followed suit.

Zhou Chengyu knew they were doing this to avoid trouble, and now that things were out in the open, he generously forgave them. After all, they would be living together for several more years, and it wouldn't be good if their relationship became too strained.

Song Yushu was unaware that Zhou Chengyu had already changed his situation at the academy through his own abilities, and now his shop business was just starting to pick up.

The restaurant offered half-price deals for three consecutive days, and the food was indeed quite good, meeting the requirements of these scholars. As a result, there were quite a few students coming and going.

The surrounding merchants had originally hoped to see her make a fool of herself, but they were surprised to find that she had actually established herself. They were quite enthusiastic when they saw Song Yushu.

Of course, these enthusiastic merchants are not in the same industry as Song Yushu, and Song Yushu's good business will not affect them.

"I wonder how those three are doing in the prefectural city now," said Wei's mother, who now runs a restaurant in the county town. Ever since Song Yushu took the children to the prefectural city, she has been saying this every day.

"Mother, didn't the guest just say they wanted less spice? Are you confused again?" Sister-in-law Wei said helplessly.

"Oh my! It really is! Quick, send the guests a plate of snacks over," Mother Wei said, finally snapping out of her daze.

"Please don't do this, old man. This is the umpteenth time this month. Business at this restaurant has been slow since my sister went to the city. If this continues, all the customers will leave. If you're worried about them, why don't you send someone to ask them? Go and visit them when you have time."

For once, Sister-in-law Wei was reliable. Seeing that her mother-in-law seemed distracted, she could only offer her advice.

"Alright, it's been a while since I've seen them, and I miss them terribly. As for going to the prefectural city, let's forget about it. There's still a lot to do at this restaurant. Let's wait until she's settled in the prefectural city before making any plans. Let's not cause any more trouble."

Mother Wei quickly cheered up and began to greet the guests.

"What?! They actually took Chengyu to the prefectural city! That damned Wei family! They must be afraid we'll acknowledge Chengyu back! My precious grandson! Waaah..."

Seeing that she couldn't reunite with her grandson, the scholar, Old Mrs. Zhou burst into tears.

“Mother, this prefectural city is so big and far from here. It’s clear they’re determined not to acknowledge us. Let’s stop making trouble.” Zhou the eldest didn’t want to make any more trouble. The Zhou family hadn’t come out on top the last two times. Now that they’ve run all the way to the prefectural city, are they supposed to run after them?

"You make it sound so easy, but that's an opportunity for the Zhou family!" Old Mrs. Zhou said unwillingly.

"I think you're overthinking things. There are so many scholars in the world, does that mean every one of them can become an official? Don't you remember how glorious Zhou Chengli was back then? In the end, he still became a cripple. I think it's better to farm," Zhou the eldest said disdainfully, thinking of Zhou Chengli and Zhou the second who had disappeared without a trace.

Old Master Zhou actually managed to persuade Old Madam Zhou, so at least she didn't have to go through the trouble of going to the prefectural city to look for someone.

Little did they know that Zhou Chengli and his son, who had left the village, were currently in the prefectural city seeking a doctor to treat their legs.

Zhou Chengli's biggest problem was his mental illness, which was caused by his leg injury. So after receiving the hundred taels, Zhou Lao Er took him to the prefectural city to seek medical treatment.

The expenses in the prefectural city were high, but fortunately the doctor was very skilled. After two months of treatment, Zhou Chengli's complexion had become rosy. Although he could not walk on his own, he could take a few steps with the help of the handrail.

When Zhou Lao Er saw his son able to stand up, tears streamed down his face. His hair was now gray and his eyes were full of wrinkles, showing how much effort he had put into his son Zhou Chengli. All those efforts had not been in vain, at least allowing Zhou Chengli to live like an ordinary person.

Zhou Chengli was well aware of his current situation. They had spent nearly fifty taels of silver to treat his leg, and finally, there were results. Now, he had turned over a new leaf and no longer thought about the past. He only wanted to live like an ordinary person, to take care of his father in his old age and see him off in his final days, so that all the worry he had done for him would not have been in vain.